Transmigrated into a female county magistrate during a famine, leading her country to prosperity

"Black Gold Charcoal", as the name suggests, the color of the charcoal is like black gold.

This charcoal is compact and heavy, with a very shiny cross-section. It is easy to ignite and has a strong flame. It burns almost without smoke, and the burning temperature is much higher than that of good charcoal.

Because of this, black gold charcoal has always been the most scarce coal in the Great Zhou Dynasty.

In previous years, only a small amount of reserves were occasionally found in the two prefectures of Mei and Qi, but since then it has been difficult to find any trace of black gold charcoal.

And today, someone actually dared to say in front of all the officials that black gold charcoal has appeared in the Great Zhou again?

All the officials stared at Shen Zheng. Someone asked on Yue Zhenchuan's behalf, "Sir Shen, you only heard a few words from the messenger and concluded that the Hunyuan Earth Burning was caused by black gold charcoal? You know, black gold charcoal is so precious. How could it be hidden underground?"

All the officials nodded in unison, with disbelief written all over their faces.

Black gold charcoal is not cabbage, so how can Shen Zheng say it is?

Faced with doubts, Shen Zheng did not argue with them. Instead, he turned to look at the emperor and said firmly, "Your Majesty, I dare to make such a statement only because of a word from the messenger."

The emperor thought for a moment and asked, "In Luoxia Village, is only the low-lying area on the west side hot?"

"In reply to your Majesty, that is exactly what happened."

Shen Zheng said, "Black gold charcoal is dense and heavy, often hidden in low-lying areas deep in the rock formations, which perfectly matches the topography of Luoxia Village. Furthermore, the geothermal heat in Luoxia Village comes quickly and intensely, and the reason for this is the spontaneous combustion of underground black gold charcoal."

The reason why she was so confident was that from the very beginning, she had guessed that there was black gold charcoal hidden in Hunyuan County.

The territory of the Great Zhou is vast, and its outline overlaps a lot with that of China in previous lives.

As early as when she was looking for limestone and feldspar mines in Liuyang Prefecture, she had a guess in her mind that the distribution of minerals in Da Zhou might be similar to that in China.

This guess was once again confirmed after she arrived in Beijing - Yue Zhenchuan once told her that limestone mines had been discovered in various prefectures around Shangjing.

In the past, China's limestone mines were also widely distributed, covering almost every major province.

Could it be a coincidence that things are similar again and again?

Shen Zheng thought, definitely not.

Therefore, with facts as support, she boldly inferred that there must be many coal mines hidden under the ground of Datong Prefecture today, but most of the black gold charcoal is buried deep underground and has not been mined yet.

All the officials were frightened by her, and the emperor was concentrating on what he was thinking.

Yue Zhenchuan was silent for a long time, then suddenly slapped his thigh.

"That's right! They all match!"

Everyone was startled and turned to look at him. The emperor asked, "Lord Yue, what happened?"

"Your Majesty, the situation must be just as Lord Shen said. The Hunyuan Earth Burning... is the spontaneous combustion of black gold charcoal!"

He raised a hand, growing increasingly excited as he spoke. "I just recalled that the locations where the black gold charcoal veins were discovered in Mei and Qi Prefectures are extremely similar to Hunyuan County! They are both located in low-lying areas, hidden deep within! Your Majesty, I am guilty. I was confused! If Lord Shen hadn't mentioned this, I would have forgotten this most important point! Please punish me, Your Majesty!"

With his evidence, the officials who had been skeptical just now all restrained their expressions and dared not doubt anymore.

Only Prime Minister Cui stood there, his face turning from blue to white, and then from white to gray.

His hands, hidden in his sleeves, gripped the tablet tightly, his knuckles almost digging into it.

He couldn't understand why Shen Zheng was always so lucky. It was clearly a sign of a disaster, but she managed to turn it into safety and good fortune!

If his eyes had been visible, Shen Zheng would have been stabbed through by him by now.

Shen Zheng smiled at him.

He then took two steps forward, standing beside Yue Zhenchuan, holding up his tablet and saying, "Your Majesty, the black gold charcoal underground is still burning. If the fire is allowed to spread, the deeper coal seams may be burned through, causing incalculable losses! I believe that the most urgent task is to prevent the fire and protect the charcoal to minimize the losses!"

Upon hearing this, Yue Zhenchuan felt as if he had been slapped hard in the face and woke up from a dream.

His face was filled with even more annoyance, and he knelt down, "Your Majesty! I, this old minister, am willing to go to Hunyuan County immediately to extinguish the black gold charcoal!"

At this time, his worry about "the vein being burned out" had already overshadowed his joy of "discovering black gold charcoal".

The emperor thought for a moment, then waved his hand and agreed: "Alright!"

After saying this, he glanced around the hall, his gaze landing on the Minister of War. "Lord Guo, Yu Jiusi has long since returned to the capital. He will assist in this matter. Pass on my decree, ordering Yu Jiusi to immediately assemble his troops and accompany Lord Yue to Hunyuan. There must be no delay!"

“I—I obey the order!”

In a blink of an eye, all the officials dispersed, leaving only the messenger still kneeling in the hall.

Looking at the empty dragon throne on the stage, he supported himself on the ground with his hands, moved from kneeling to sitting, his eyes wide open.

Isn’t it a disaster?

Isn't it the wrath of the earth?

How come in the blink of an eye... all the black charcoal came out?

How precious is black gold charcoal? If Hunyuan County has a considerable amount of black gold charcoal, and only a small amount was burned this time...

Is he also considered to have made great contributions in conveying the message and is he on the verge of promotion?

Who should we thank for this?

After thinking for a while, he turned around and faced outside the hall, his eyes following the figure.

"Please make way, gentlemen!"

On the ladder to heaven, Shen Zheng lifted the corner of his robe with one hand and shuttled among the officials.

When she was out of breath, she finally caught up with Yue Zhenchuan who was running, "Master Yue, I have something to say!"

Yue Zhenchuan turned around hastily, but his pace did not slow down at all. He just said, "Master Shen, you speak, I listen!"

As the two ran and chased each other, the sounds were soon blown away by the wind.

Eunuch Hong chased after them, raising his hand and shouting, "Master Shen! Master Shen! His Majesty has kept you here, don't forget!"

This ancestor, for the sake of black charcoal, even ignored the summons of His Majesty!

How can he explain this when he returns?

Shen Zheng turned his back to him and waved perfunctorily. Then he caught up with Yue Zhenchuan and said, "Master Yue, I have a method to preserve the charcoal. Please tell me if it is feasible."

After these words were spoken, Yue Zhenchuan suddenly slowed down his pace.

He said anxiously, "Master Shen, please speak!"

At this moment, he was in a state of confusion, and his mind was full of thoughts about rushing to Hunyuan County.

As for how to preserve the charcoal... he didn't even have time to think about it!

"Yu Jiusi needs some time to reorganize his army. Mistakes may occur in haste. Please don't worry. Listen to what I have to say first." Shen Zheng swallowed his saliva and led him to a corner of Tai'an Field. As they walked, he said, "This method is mainly divided into three steps."

Looking at her calm expression, Yue Zhenchuan suppressed his chaotic thoughts and listened carefully.

"Yu Jiusi is young and healthy, so let him lead a team and set off quickly."

She singled out Yu Jiusi and said, "You mentioned to me before that there are lime mines in Datong Prefecture. Once he arrives in Hunyuan County, he can first build a ditch to isolate the area of ​​spontaneous combustion, and then fill the ditch with wet mud and lime."

"Lime?" Yue Zhenchuan didn't understand for a moment.