After traveling through time, I was spotted by the new emperor

Ye Wuwei sighed:

The civil service system of the Qi Dynasty was simple. The county government integrated the Public Security Bureau, Armed Forces Department, Tax Bureau, Industry and Commerce Bureau, Urban Management Bureau, and Health Bureau.

It does reduce a lot of financial expenditure.

"Are there any troops stationed near Anping County?"

"The nearest army to Anping County is in Jifu, over 500 miles away, and there are 800 soldiers defending the city.

In addition, there is the garrison at Chunyu Prefecture, which is over 1,200 miles away from Anping County."

Ye Wuwei was thinking in his mind:

There are only 800 soldiers guarding the city in a prefecture, and even if you go to borrow some, you won’t be able to find any.

As for Chunyu Prefecture, although Qi Wushuang did not say how many troops were stationed there, it was more than 1,200 miles away from Anping County, so it was not realistic to borrow people.

No wonder such a large coal mine in Black Wind Mountain could be privately owned.

Seeing Ye Wuwei didn't say anything, Qi Wushuang had an idea in his mind.

"Do you really want to save those people who were trafficked and forced in the coal mines?"

Ye Wuwei came back to his senses: "I think so, but it seems difficult to understand what the prince said."

“It’s hard to say, but it’s not hard either.”

Ye Wuwei was puzzled: "What do you mean?"

“It would be much easier if I knew who the real owner of this coal mine was. I could negotiate with them privately and ask them to release the person.

People in Qi Dynasty have to give some credit to my face."

Since Chu Fuchi hasn't found out who is behind the coal mine, why not let Ye Wuwei check it out?

"Since the prince said so, there is no need to find out who is behind this.

As long as the prince sends someone to negotiate with the apparent owner of the coal mine, they will report to the person behind the scenes to make the final decision."

Qi Wushuang thought to himself: This kid is quite smart and didn't let me lead him away.

"You have a point, but I don't want to have another opponent hiding in the dark. We must know ourselves and our enemies before we can decide how to act."

"Your Highness is still afraid of offending others?"

Qi Wushuang looked at Ye Wuwei:

"You don't have to provoke me with words.

I'm not afraid of offending people, but I don't need to make enemies everywhere."

Ye Wuwei picked up a piece of food with chopsticks and put it into Qi Wushuang's dish, saying:

“Your Majesty is wise and will not be deceived by me.

I will do my best to find out who is behind the coal mine. If I really can't find out, I will definitely not cause trouble for His Majesty."

Qi Wushuang looked at the dish on the plate. Ye Wuwei had just picked up the dish with his own chopsticks. Didn't this guy even use serving chopsticks when picking up food for others?

But remembering the days of food shortage in the army, Qi Wushuang still ate the vegetables.

……

Ye Wuwei went to the Black Wind Mountain Coal Mine the next day.

However, Ye Wuwei did not go directly into the mining area, but looked for natural coke near the coal mine.

Ever since he learned that there was a coal mine in Black Wind Mountain, Ye Wuwei had been trying to understand the use of coal in Qi Dynasty.

Through his inquiries over the past few days, Ye Wuwei learned that the main function of coal in Qi Dynasty was still as ordinary fuel, and it was not refined into coke.

Coke is necessary for smelting iron and firing high-quality porcelain.

During a previous training session, Ye Wuwei watched a video of how coal was made into coke. Although Ye Wuwei could not actually make coke, it was still useful to use that knowledge to fool people.

But the prerequisite is to find natural coke first.

Hard work pays off, and finally Ye Wuwei found some natural coke.

Ye Wuwei took these pieces of natural coke to the Black Wind Mountain Coal Mine.

Ye Wuwei gave one or two taels of silver to the guard of the coal mine:

"Brother, please go in and tell the steward that I know how to make coke from coal.

If we had coke, we could use it to smelt high-quality iron and produce porcelain on a large scale."

Ye Wuwei showed a piece of coke to the guard: "This is coke, made from coal."

The guard did not drive Ye Wuwei away directly for the sake of one or two taels of silver, but he did not believe what Ye Wuwei said at all.

Ye Wuwei saw through the guard's thoughts.

"I came here to seek wealth, and I wouldn't dare to cheat anyone without real skills.

Big Brother, just go in and tell him about it for me. If I succeed, I will never forget your kindness."

"How do you, at such a young age, know how to make this damn coke out of coal?"

"It was my father's research. It's a pity that he passed away after years of painstaking research."

The guard weighed the silver in his hand and took the coke: "You wait."

The guard took the coke and went to find the steward.

"A young man of about fifteen came in and said he had a method his father had developed to refine coal into coke.

It is also said that as long as there is coke, high-quality ironware can be smelted and porcelain can be fired on a large scale.

I thought he was a liar, but he gave me this gray thing and said it was coke.

I was also afraid that if he told the truth, it would cause a big mistake."

The steward took the coke and looked at it.

Although the manager had never seen coke, he knew that when firing porcelain with coal, the flame was difficult to control, so the labor workload was high and the yield was low.

As for iron smelting, although the manager didn't know much about it, the fact that someone from outside could say this meant that he had some knowledge.

"Did the person outside come alone?"

"Yes, a boy of about fifteen, bald."

"You bring him here to see me."

The guard brought Ye Wuwei to the steward.

The steward looked at Ye Wuwei.

The figure of the person in front of him was indeed about fifteen years old, but his calm expression and composed demeanor were not what a teenager could have.

"I heard you know how to make this out of coal?"

"Yes, this silver-grey lump in your hand is made from coal. My father named it coke."

"Who is your father?"

"My father was a porcelain maker. When he used charcoal to fire porcelain, the flame was difficult to control, so the surface of the porcelain he fired was uneven and the yield was low.

My father wanted to improve the quality of coal, and after more than ten years of research, he finally developed a method to refine coal into coke.

With the coke, the flame is more stable when burning, and the fired porcelain has more uniform color and texture, so porcelain can be fired on a large scale.

My father also used coke to smelt iron, and the resulting steel was harder and of better quality than iron smelted with coal."

Ye Wuwei lied without stopping.

The steward asked: "How is this coke made?"

“This is a long story, so I can only briefly explain it now:

Coal is heated to 950-1050°C in an airtight environment, and then dried, pyrolyzed, melted, bonded, solidified, and shrunk to produce coke.

The manager didn't understand a word Ye Wuwei said.

Seeing this, Ye Wuwei could only add in words that the steward could understand:

"The first step is to select coal that can be used for coking. Smoky coal should be used, not smokeless coal.

The second step is to purify the coal.

Coal contains debris such as dead stones, sand, bluestone, yellow sand, soil, sawdust, etc. All of these debris must be removed.

The third step is to use the pure coal for coking.

Do you understand what I am saying?"