Flowers in full bloom

Chapter 381 Self-sufficiency

Next, it was the issue of feeding. For the time being, Wu Sansi would still take care of Hualei, after all, he was more experienced.

On the other hand, he also selected two literate slaves from the newly purchased slaves to learn fish farming from Wu Sansi. When they were able to take on the responsibility independently, he would let them manage the fish ponds on the barren mountain.

After releasing all the fry, Hualei felt relieved. Because the weather was so hot, Hualei stayed at home to rest except for the things that had to be done at the Ministry of Agriculture. After the heavy rain this year, the weather became unusually hot.

For the past six months, Hua Lei has been traveling between the farm and the barren mountains, and has been running back and forth between the Agriculture Bureau and the Ministry of Industry, so she feels a little tired.

Plus, maybe because of the hot weather and not sleeping well at night, Hualei's spirit has been a little sluggish these days. So she simply put down the things in her hands and rested at home, but the house was also quite hot and stuffy.

During the Great Sheng Dynasty, the imperial court would provide certain benefits every year to officials above the third rank, among which summer ice and winter charcoal was one of them.

At the corresponding season, the court would issue a fixed amount of ice cubes for free to officials of a certain rank. So every summer, the Zhenbei Marquisate would also receive ice cubes distributed by the court.

In the past, when Hua Lei was still living in the Marquis' Mansion, during the hottest period, the Mansion used ice cubes to cool down. Putting them in the bedroom at night could lower the temperature of the bedroom and allow people to sleep well.

Last summer, Rong Jin had Qingzao and Qingsheng deliver a batch of ice cubes to Hualei's family every few days for them to use at night. The ice cubes were stored in Hualei's own cellar and could be taken out and used when needed at night.

There wasn't a lot of hot weather last year, and the particularly hot period was only around 20 to 30 days, so the flower buds were able to tolerate it.

This year, Rong Jin had already sent ice cubes several times in advance and stored them in the cellar. However, Hua Lei felt embarrassed to ask Rong Jin to send ice cubes every year, so she refused.

However, Rong Jin always used the excuse that there were not many people in his mansion and they could not use up all the ice cubes, so he asked Qingzao and Qingsheng to send the ice cubes over. After they were sent over, Hualei was too embarrassed to ask them to take the ice cubes back.

So Hualei thought it might be more convenient to make some ice cubes by herself. This way Rong Jin wouldn't have to send ice cubes every few days.

However, saltpeter is hard to buy outside, only the Ministry of Rites of the imperial court sells it, and only officials of the third rank or above can buy it. This is also one of the benefits given by the imperial court to officials of the third rank or above.

So, Hualei asked Pei Laohou for help and went to the Ministry of Rites to buy some saltpeter. After the saltpeter was bought, Hualei started to make ice cubes.

First, choose a ceramic jar of appropriate size, because the thermal conductivity of the ceramic jar is relatively poor, which can slow down the melting rate of the ice.

Then, add the right amount of water to the pottery jar, and then put in the right amount of saltpeter. In order to make the ice more solid and durable, Hualei added the right amount of yellow and white sugar to the ice, which can lower the freezing point and make the ice more solid and durable.

Then keep stirring the water with a wooden stick to speed up the dissolution of saltpeter and the drop in temperature. When the water gradually cools down, you can gradually stop stirring and let the water slowly freeze into ice cubes. When the saltpeter is completely dissolved in the water, the temperature of the water will drop rapidly until it reaches the freezing point.

When the ice cubes are completely frozen, they can be taken out and stored in the cellar. They can be used at any time. After making enough ice cubes for five or six days, the buds stopped growing, and then asked Qingying and others to bring a wooden ice jar, take out the ice cubes, and put them in the study.

Before long, the stuffy study room began to cool down. Hualei was leaning on the small couch with a book in hand and eating the smoothie made by Qingying. She was having a very comfortable time.

In the afternoon, after taking a nap on the couch, Hualei felt much better. She looked at Mu Bingjian, lost in thought. She was just a small sixth-rank official, far from the free benefits provided by the imperial court.

Fortunately, the Great Sheng Dynasty still had a relatively tolerant policy. Saltpeter for making ice could be purchased with silver, so many wealthy families and merchants who were not of the third rank could ask someone to buy it for them.

However, whether it is the saltpeter used to make ice or the high-quality charcoal used in winter, the price is very expensive. I do not lack silver now, but too much silver will not hurt my hand.

Saltpeter is under control in the imperial court, so you can't touch it yourself. As for charcoal, you can solve it yourself. There are so many woods on the ownerless barren mountains. You can collect some and make charcoal yourself.

Moreover, there are many workshops in my own village that need firewood. Even if the charcoal is not good, it can be used. When the time comes, the bad charcoal will be used by the workshops, and the good charcoal will be used at home. If there is any surplus, it can be sold. This is simply a business with no cost.

So, Hualei found Uncle Fu and asked him to find someone to go to the ownerless barren mountain to collect more wood and repair and maintain all the trees on the North Mountain of his own barren mountain. There were originally many trees on the North Mountain, in addition to grapevines and kudzu roots, there were also many other trees.

We took this opportunity to cut down and clear away all the dead trees on the North Mountain. Trees that were too dense and affected each other's growth should all be cut down, and those whose branches needed trimming should also be trimmed.

On the other hand, Hua Lei drew a few more blueprints and asked Uncle Fu to find a few professional craftsmen to go to the back of Huaying Manor and build a few charcoal-making furnaces according to the pictures.

It looks similar to a stove, but there is no pot on it. Instead, it is built into a cone shape with mud and a few small vents on it, so that charcoal can be made.

Of course, there is also a simple way to make charcoal, which is to burn these thick wooden sticks to a certain degree of red, take them out of the stove, put them directly into water and then take them out. The residual heat of the charcoal will dry the moisture on the surface of the charcoal, but the charcoal made in this way is of relatively poor quality.

In addition to this method, you can also choose to use the ash to cut off the air method to make charcoal. Place the red-hot wooden sticks in the ash to cut off the air, so that the thick wooden sticks can no longer burn. After a period of time, take out the wooden sticks, and it will be made into charcoal. However, this production method is only suitable for the production of a small amount of charcoal.

To make a large amount of high-quality charcoal, you need to build a stove that looks like a flower bud. Put the red-hot mahogany sticks into the stove and seal the stove mouth. While blocking some air, the small hole on the top also keeps some air flowing in the stove.