Era: Craftsmen in the Siheyuan

Chapter 62: Hand-cranked coal and honeycomb briquettes (seeking further reading)
On the last day of the winter month, the north wind blows and the sky becomes cloudy.

When Xu Deyong woke up, the smell of alcohol had already dissipated.

It’s time to practice Sanjiu in winter.

Get up and exercise, hey hey hey.

Things are valued for their suction, and they are also valued for their hardness!
Only in this way can we achieve the state of internal hardness and external integration, and be able to move vertically and horizontally!

When Xu Deyong finished his squat exercise, He Yuzhu didn't come out. It seemed that he was still drunk.

He opened today's blind box with a thought.

"Ding!"

A kerosene lamp and a bottle of [-] milliliters of kerosene appeared in the space.

Xu Deyong couldn't help but raise his eyelids. Yesterday there was a power outage, but today there is a kerosene lamp. This blind box space is quite capable of doing things!
Thinking of the old kerosene lamp that was about the same age as mine last night, it was really time to replace it.

I went back and found an opportunity to take it out. Anyway, this one didn't look new, so I just said it was messed up outside. Grandma asked a few questions and passed away.

After breakfast, Xu Deyong looked at the burning briquettes stove, rubbed his chin and said, "Grandma, do you always burn these briquettes at home?"

Xu Nan glanced at him in surprise and said, "What are you going to do if you don't burn briquettes?"

As the saying goes, "People must be real, and fire must be empty."

These briquettes are not honeycomb briquettes, but solid briquettes. Not only does it consume coal to burn, but it is also difficult to start a fire. Each time you start a fire, you need about a pound of chopped firewood.

At that time, Sijiucheng alone used more than 2 million kilograms of firewood a year, and the extra coal consumed for burning briquettes was about 30 tons.

Crucially, among the more than 100 million cubic meters of garbage generated in the city every year, there are almost more than 60 cubic meters of cinder.

It's just terrifying!
"Black gold and ink jade, stone fire shines forever", "Nanshan Gaomo, Beishan red coal" were all advertisements for briquettes in the past.

At this time, there were still two industries, one was "those who shake briquettes" and the other was "those who sell loess".

Every autumn, "briquette shakers" come from the countryside. They carry large shovels and chopping shovels on their shoulders. Behind them, they hold a shaking basket one meter in diameter and thirty or forty centimeters deep and a large flower basket. pot.

These people come every year and know where to work, so they are familiar with the people in the alley.

Shaking briquettes is a hard job where you work hard to earn food. You only earn [-] cents a day, which is just enough to chew a wrap.

The briquettes in offices and factories with a large number of people are produced by "hand-cranking briquettes".

Small families in courtyard houses also make briquettes by themselves, and even primary and secondary schools use labor classes to mobilize students to make briquettes, which is called "do it yourself, have enough food and clothing."

The technology of hand-cranked briquettes is unambiguous, "seven parts of coal are shaken and three parts are shaken". It requires processes such as kneading coal slurry, spreading coal into pieces, spreading coal powder, cutting into pieces, and shaking baskets. It requires skillful use of large shovels, spades, and choppers. Tools such as shoveling, raking, shaking baskets, and turning basins all demonstrate amazing physical strength and extraordinary craftsmanship. It cannot be done by just anyone.

If the briquettes are not easy to burn, they are called "嘬瘬子". At this time, the briquette stove has a fatal problem: "You can eat it but not pull it out." If it is blocked at the bottom of the stove, you can't open it with chopsticks, so you can only carry the stove legs. , pour out the poor quality briquettes and re-cage them, which is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and you have to smoke again.

Only two mechanical briquette factories were built in Forty-Nine City in the past two years, and "mechanical briquettes" were gradually popularized in the market. In the 60s, the "hand-cranked briquettes" industry also gradually declined and disappeared.

Because igniting briquettes requires chopping firewood, the places that sell briquettes also sell chopping wood. The employees' daily work includes sawing, chopping, and palletizing wood.

There is also a kind of raw coal called "粟子", which is easy to burn and strong. The price is more expensive than briquettes, and ordinary people are reluctant to burn it.

At this time, "briquettes" had already appeared. They were designed by Texas worker Guo Wende in [-] and were originally named "economic briquettes", but they had not yet been popularized.

Next year, Professor Lao Yanruo developed an automatic briquette pressing machine and began to promote it on a large scale.

At this time, the briquettes and stoves were not as convenient and reasonable as later generations. They were constantly improved during use. It was said that the sleeve furnace tiles inside would not be ready for about 60 seconds.

Even by the middle of next year, there will be more than 60 coal-burning households in Sijiucheng, of which only about [-] will be burning briquettes. People's habits cannot be changed in a short time.

As for gas, it will take another two years!

Many people may not know that "briquette" once won the "Classic Design Nomination Award" at the Beijing International Design Week in 16. At that time, it was nominated together with "Beidou Navigation Satellite" and "Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge", etc., which shows its importance!Xu Deyong said: "Grandma, let's burn briquettes."

"briquettes?" Xu Nan showed a puzzled expression, and then suddenly said: "You are talking about the kind of big briquettes with holes, right? You need a different kind of stove to burn that thing, and we have never burned it before and I'm afraid it won't burn. good."

Xu Deyong said: "That thing is easy to burn, and you don't have to shake out the ashes, add coal, and pull out the fire frequently. It also saves coal."

When Xu Nan heard what his grandson said, he was immediately moved. The key was that the last two words "saving coal" touched him!

"Is it really not troublesome and saves coal?" Xu Nan asked with doubts.

"Definitely." Xu Deyong said: "Don't worry about this, leave it to me."

Xu Nanshi nodded and said: "Okay, let me take a look first. If it's really like what you said, we will burn those big briquettes from now on!"

Xu Deyong took a look at his own briquette stove. It was just a simple iron sheet rolled and riveted together. The inside had to be plastered with mud. It was called a "painted stove" in the jargon. It didn't even have a chimney.

If your house is not tightly fitted, you will be poisoned by carbon monoxide.

Grandma is also very good at sealing the furnace. Otherwise, not only would it be troublesome to start the fire again every morning, but the thick smoke from the fire would be unbearable.

There must not be a few fires in this alley in the morning with thick smoke billowing out.

Well, this stove is not good either. It seems that everything needs to be redone. The stove and chimney will be bare, which will cost a lot of money.

Moreover, it was expensive to buy ready-made briquettes. Getting a manual pressing tool and buying coal powder and yellow mud to make it yourself was the choice of many ordinary people later.

Don't hand over money to grandma these days. The money for the stove and chimney must come from somewhere.

In the cold north wind, Xu Deyong was "fully armed" and rode out on a three-wheeler. The wooden tower clock was also fixed in the car.

I originally thought about asking my grandma to find a buyer, but I thought that since I couldn't afford the three melons and two dates, I might as well leave it to the entrusted bank. The longer the time, the longer it would take.

On a very cold day, people don’t go out except for those who go to work.

Xu Deyong rode all the way to deliver the wooden tower clock to the previous commission store at Caishikou, and the other party still recognized him.

"Hey, you're here. Have you repaired the clock?"

"It's a lucky thing, it's a lucky thing. If you have a long eye, I'll let you go."

The two chatted for a few words, and after inspecting the clock, they signed the consignment note and set the price at ten yuan. After the transaction was completed, the consigning bank took seventy cents.

Xu Deyong took a look around and found nothing he liked, so he said goodbye and left.

It's hard to do business in this cold weather. No, even Pian'erye, the foreign movie stall opposite the tavern, didn't open his stall.

Xu Deyong glanced at the closed door of the tavern and kept riding away.

After a while, a figure with a headscarf on his head and a floral cotton-padded jacket walked out of the alley.

Her pretty face was slightly pale, she bit her lip resolutely, looked around, and when she saw Xu Deyong's retreating figure, her eyes paused, revealing a look of contemplation.

Immediately, she walked slowly towards the grocery store at the corner of the street. She still had to live after giving birth.

There is no one around to take care of her, and she still has to take care of her children and her sick father-in-law.

She has to carry it all by herself.

She firmly believed that she could handle it.

It’s not like I can’t live without a man!
Damn it, He Yongqiang, when my mother is out of confinement, she will get a divorce even if her father-in-law doesn't allow it!

……

(End of this chapter)