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

"It's just lime."

Shen Zheng said confidently: "Lime heats up and expands when it comes into contact with water, which can block the contact between air and the inner coal seam, thus suppressing the spread of some fires."

Yue Zhenchuan forced himself to calm down, nodded and wrote it down: "What about the next two steps?"

"The second step is to add water to cool it down." Shen Zheng paused and described: "Set up a stove outside the ditch to boil water. When the water boils, pour it onto the hot ground. At the same time, use a long pole to pick up wet linen and cover the ground to help cool it down."

"The third step is to take samples one by one in the order in which the ground cools down, and to dig shallow wells in low-lying areas to avoid blind exploration."

After that, she comforted Yue Zhenchuan, "Master Yue, the black gold charcoal is very durable and should be deep underground. It shouldn't burn much if it spontaneously combusts. In my humble opinion, the Hunyuan coal mine should be quite rich. After the fire retardant is successfully carried out, I hope you will conduct further exploration. Perhaps other mineral veins can be discovered."

Upon hearing this, Yue Zhenchuan wiped his face fiercely.

For the first time, Shen Zheng saw the look of helplessness on his face.

"I'm always a little unsure." He glanced around and whispered, "Lord Shen, you understand smelting and calcining, so you naturally know how important black gold charcoal is. If the Great Zhou truly had an inexhaustible supply of black gold charcoal, how much trouble it would save in future steelmaking. You should know it as well as I do."

It was precisely because it was too important and he was afraid of losing it that he panicked today.

Shen Zheng understood his feelings and whispered to him in a comforting voice, "Don't worry, Hunyuan's black gold charcoal will definitely be there."

"Why do you say that, Lord Shen?" The bewilderment in Yue Zhenchuan's eyes had not yet faded, but there was a hint of anxiety.

"Have you forgotten what the Minister of Public Security said?"

Shen Zheng looked towards the sky where the thin clouds had dispersed, her fingertip vaguely pointing to the west. "Luoxia Village is a large slope, and the lower it goes, the hotter it gets. This is a sign of a continuous mineral vein. If it were just scattered minerals, there would be no such regular heating."

Yue Zhenchuan's brows relaxed slightly.

She added, "And the entire Datong Prefecture is nestled between two mountains and a river. Lord Yue, you should know better than me that this is a treasured land. Haven't you ever wondered before... why hasn't such a precious place been 'filled with treasure'?"

If others hear this, it will be seen as real "feng shui theory".

But to those who have been doing geological surveys for many years, it has a different meaning.

A river is sandwiched between two mountains, forming a valley depression formed by the mountains squeezing each other.

Ancient plants and underground mineral gases are all buried deep here, and over time, they have formed continuous mineral veins.

Yue Zhenchuan's back shuddered when he heard this, and his expression was tinged with embarrassment of being seen through.

"Master Shen, you..."

Shen Zheng smiled and said, "When I was reading the geographical records, I had the same doubts as you. My Lord, please rest assured. Now... it's time for us to resolve our doubts."

She said the last sentence lightly, but it was like a big reassurance pill that hit Yue Zhenchuan's heart directly.

"Thank you, Lord Shen." Yue Zhenchuan bowed solemnly, his expression sincere. "If that's the case, when I return to the capital, I will definitely ask for merit for you and Yu Jiajiusi."

He thought that if Shen Zheng had not been leaving Beijing soon, the incident of preventing the investigation of the black gold charcoal might not have happened to him.

"It is you who should thank me, sir." Thinking of Yu Jiusi's drooping ponytail that day, Shen Zheng smiled and returned the greeting: "If that day comes, I hope you can ask for credit for Jiusi and don't worry about me."

She eats and drinks well in Tongan County, so this little achievement is not a big deal to her.

Yu Jiusi and Xue Mai, on the other hand, do need some achievements to make their career resumes look better.

As they spoke, the two of them walked towards the Suzaku Gate.

Eunuch Hong stamped his feet anxiously behind them, but did not dare to step forward to stop them.

Soon, the two arrived at the Suzaku Gate.

The sunlight outside the door was shining brightly, illuminating Suzaku Street.

Yue Zhenchuan seemed to have thought of something and turned around and said, "Master Shen, the situation in Hunyuan is urgent. I'm afraid I won't be able to see you off on your return trip. We say goodbye today, so please take care. I hope your journey goes smoothly and everything goes well after you return to the county. We'll meet again in the capital someday!"

Shen Zheng squinted her eyes due to the glare from the road ahead and smiled, "Then I...wish you all the best and smooth sailing."

Yue Zhenchuan nodded, turned around, and strode out of the Suzaku Gate.

As Shen Zheng looked away, a resentful voice rang in her ears: "Master Shen, have you... forgotten something?"

When he turned around, he saw that Eunuch Hong's jaw had dropped to his neck in hatred.

......

When Shen Zheng arrived at the imperial study, the emperor was reviewing memorials.

Without even looking up, he asked Shen Zheng, "What did you say to him?"

Shen Zheng raised her eyes slightly, looking at the mountain of memorials on the table, and said truthfully, "Your humble servant... and Lord Yue have discussed some fire-fighting strategies."

The emperor threw the approved memorial aside. He picked up another one and said in his usual voice, "Have you come to a conclusion yet?"

"Your Majesty, I have a rough idea."

After that, Shen Zheng briefly described the flame retardant method.

As he listened, the emperor put down his pen and looked up at her: "Why did you avoid my gaze just now in the palace?"

Her heart trembled, and she pretended to be stupid: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I am stupid and didn't know when Your Majesty said that..."

"Pretending."

The emperor snorted coldly, "Before Yue Zhenchuan volunteered to go to Hunyuan, I was watching you, hoping you would volunteer. Back then, you deliberately avoided my gaze, which would have been fine, but now, you actually dare to play dumb with me? How audacious!"

Listening to the emperor's straightforward statement, Shen Zheng's hair began to stand on end, knowing that there was no way to avoid it.

"I know I was wrong, and I beg Your Majesty to punish me."

She was about to kneel when the emperor stopped her, saying, "Forget it. Isn't there a saying among the people? If you, like a cow, don't drink water, I can't force you to drink. Besides, I didn't call you here today to punish you."

Hearing this, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief and asked carefully, "I wonder if His Majesty has summoned me..."

"Today at twilight hour, there will be a dinner in the palace." The emperor stood up and walked over with his hands behind his back. "Bring over the girls and boys from your house and let them come over."

Dinner?

Can I bring someone to eat?

After thinking about it for a while, Shen Zheng still couldn't figure it out.

So she asked, "Your Majesty, may I ask who else is attending the dinner tonight?"

Isn't this a blind date party or something?

It always feels weird.

Seeing her strange expression, the emperor's expression also became strange.

"Who else do you want? Yu Shizhang, Shen Xingjian, Liang Fu, aren't they enough?"

As Shen Zheng heard the names one after another, her eyes gradually widened, and the color in her eyes finally turned into disbelief.

"Your Majesty, what you mean is... that only I, my family, and the Earl will be present at tonight's dinner?"

So it wasn't a blind date party, but a farewell party prepared by the emperor for her?

Her reaction made the emperor very satisfied.

"Indeed. The young man from the Yu family should have been there, but he's been unemployed for a long time. I'm afraid he must have been very anxious. That's why I sent him to Hunyuan. If Hunyuan really has black gold charcoal..."