My father is Jiajing

Chapter 423: Daming has oil

Zhu Zaigui became interested, and he urged, "Why don't you take me to have a look?"

Zhu Zaigui was extremely surprised, and he also wanted to see how this Zhan Wa did it.

Teng Xiang immediately and attentively led the way to the neat machinery manufacturing team where Zhan Wa was currently.

When Zhu Zaigui and Teng Xiang came over, Zhu Zaigui could still hear some clanging sounds, which were obviously the sounds made by the workers who made the steam engines when they were making the equipment.

Zhu Zaigui watched the workers, with clear division of labor, assemble parts of different sizes together manually.

At the same time, Zhu Zaigui also found that this team seemed to have come to their senses. They did not simply rely on their strength to do the heavy work, but skillfully used the conditions in the equipment workshop to do the work more labor-savingly.

Teng Xiang shouted, "Where's Zhan Wa? Come here quickly!"

At this moment, a dark, thin, well-dressed young man was directing other workers to assemble a new steam equipment. "Everyone, pay attention. These machines are ordered by the Jin merchants. Everyone, please pay attention! Eunuch Teng has already told me that if this deal is successful, we will all get a reward of fifty taels of silver!"

Zhan Wa is very good at motivating the workers, and under his encouragement, the workers are more motivated.

Just when Zhan Wa was about to shout out another word to encourage everyone, he heard Teng Xiang's voice.

Zhan Wa quickly stopped what he was doing, said something to the people around him, and ran over immediately.

"I pay my respects to you, my lord, and to you, my father-in-law."

Zhan Wa was very smart and could tell at a glance that Zhu Zaigui was a more noble person than Teng Xiang, so when he spoke, he first greeted Zhu Zaigui and then Teng Xiang.

Zhu Zaiqi looked at Zhan Wa with a smile, "Are you Zhan Wa?"

Zhan Wa replied: "The villain is Zhan Wa."

Zhu Zaigui asked again: "Did you improve the steam engine?"

Zhan Wa glanced at Teng Xiang, who immediately said, "Just tell me what the prince asks you. Why are you looking at us? Our machinery farm has no secrets in front of the prince."

After hearing what Teng Xiang said, Zhan Wa couldn't help but relax a little.

Because according to the rules of the mechanical field, he cannot tell the secrets of the mechanical field to others. Once the secrets are leaked, the consequences will be serious.

Therefore, even though he could see that Zhu Zaigui was a noble man, when Zhu Zaigui asked him a key question, he still hesitated and glanced at Teng Xiang.

Zhan Wa cleverly bowed to Zhu Zaigui again and said, "I didn't know it was Your Majesty who came. Please forgive me."

Zhu Zaigui smiled and said, "Those who don't know are inadequate. Besides, the workshop is not a place for social etiquette. Safety is always the first priority in the workshop. If safety is not done well, then just wanting to see someone will make you bow. Wouldn't the workshop be in chaos?"

What Zhu Zaigui was talking about was a common rule among all the workshops in Shunyi and Xishan.

As long as they are in the workshop, all workers must put down what they are doing and bow to any official or manager when they see them coming, so as to avoid danger.

Zhan Wa did not expect that the high and mighty prince would also be subject to this rule. He looked at Zhu Zaigui with some surprise. At this time, Teng Xiang also said, "Do you know who invented these steam engines you made? It was the prince! The prince is a scholar who knows everything in the world. This steam engine was invented by the prince in his spare time. You can have this golden rice bowl now, which is also a reward from the prince."

When Zhan Wa heard what Teng Xiang said, he was even more shocked. He never expected that this steam engine was actually the prince's masterpiece.

Zhu Zaigui looked at Zhan Wa and was frightened. He said to Teng Xiang, "Don't say these empty words. I came here to understand your progress. What do you mean by praising me all the time? Do I do things just to get your praise?"

Teng Xiang was also shocked by Zhu Zaigui's words. He didn't expect that his flattery would actually hit the horse's hoof.

Teng Xiang quickly apologized, "Please forgive me, Your Majesty. I know I was wrong."

Zhu Zaigui waved his hand, "Stand up, you are the eunuch guarding Xishan, you must be dignified, don't kneel down at every turn. I don't care about these empty formalities, I only value your loyalty and ability. As long as you are loyal and capable, all problems are not a problem for me."

Teng Xiang bowed again excitedly and said, "Thank you very much for your teachings, Your Majesty."

Zhu Zaigui ignored Teng Xiang and continued to look at the stunned Zhan Wa. "Tell me how you did it?"

Zhan Wa said carefully, "When I was making these machines, I found that some of the connections were not smooth, so I made some bold changes. Then I used gum to remake some of the leaky joints. I also found that there is a kind of kerosene called petroleum. After being refined and adding some lard and other oils, it can better fit some jerky parts that are easy to wear together."

When Zhu Zaigui heard what Zhan Wa said, his eyes were filled with surprise, "Oil? There is really oil?!"

Teng Xiang was also a little surprised when he heard what Zhu Zaigui said. Petroleum, a black-brown ointment dug from the ground, had long been used as an ointment to treat livestock skin diseases. And because petroleum was easy to ignite, sometimes in order to save trouble and money on candles, people would burn this black-brown ointment as lamp oil.

Teng Xiang said, "Your Highness, do you have any questions? This stuff is all from the west. The palace doesn't use it because it smells bad, but in Xishan and other places, whenever they need lighting at night, they use this smoky oil to save money on firewood and candles."

Zhu Zaigui said excitedly: "Take me to see it quickly."

Originally, Zhu Zaigui thought that oil was a foreign word, but after hearing what Zhan Wa and Teng Xiang said, Zhu Zaigui realized that he was too narrow-minded.

Petroleum is a word that has existed in the Central Plains for a long time. In ancient times, its uses were very simple. It was either used as ointment to treat skin diseases of livestock, or used as lighting oil instead of more expensive firewood and candles.

It can be seen that oil has long been present in the lives of ancient people.

Just because of a cognitive error, Zhu Zaigui thought that this thing only appeared in modern times.

Teng Xiang took Zhu Zaigui to the sundry warehouse at the limestone field, and Teng Xiang had someone carry out a barrel of oil for Zhu Zaigui to check.

Zhu Zaigui looked at the oil being carried out. He excitedly reached out to open the lid, looking at the black-brown color and smelling its scent.

Zhu Zaigui asked excitedly: "Where did you get all this oil?"

Teng Xiang replied carefully, "All of it was obtained from the west, and some of it was obtained from the Tatars. Sometimes they have nothing to sell, so they will use this oil to replace the inferior lamp oil with ours. There are still several hundred barrels in the warehouse of the machinery yard, and there are also some in other yards. Since I knew that Zhan Wa could use this oil to make sealing oil, I asked people to start stockpiling it."

Zhu Zaigui laughed excitedly and said, "Well done! We must save it. We must save it. Give orders that if we meet someone willing to use oil as a payment in the future, we should take as much as we can. And we must find out where they got the oil!"

After saying these words, Zhu Zaigui looked at the barrel of oil as if it were a rare treasure, not minding at all that the black ointment would dirty his clothes and hands.

(End of this chapter)