"Iron? A thousand pounds? ”

After listening to the request made by King Yu to himself, Chen Zhi couldn't help but be shocked at first, and then his face was bitter, the cup he had just picked up was trembling, and the drink prepared by the maid for him was spilled a little.

"That's right, a thousand catties is enough."

Picking up the cup at hand and taking a sip, Li Yuanjia smiled faintly: "When I first arrived in Luzhou, there are some things in the house that require a lot of iron...... I heard that Chen Shenjun's family also has a pig iron business, so please help raise some. ”

"This ......"

His eyelids jumped violently, and while Chen Zhi was stunned, he didn't dare to speak for a while.

On Luzhou's side, the Chen family is indeed involved in some steel business, which is actually an open secret, and it is not very surprising that King Yu knows this, and of course it will not make Chen Zhi nervous. However, most of the iron produced by the Chen family was sold to the imperial court, and the rest was sold for their own use or to local governments, and the quantity was quite small.

So......

A thousand pounds, that's it?

How much iron can the Chen family produce in a year?

And entrusting himself to make a thousand catties of iron in one go, what does this king want to do? What do you need to do in the palace and need a thousand catties of iron?

Seeing Chen Zhi's face change greatly, Li Yuanjia was also slightly stunned, and suddenly realized in his heart.

If it weren't for the fact that he liked to read historical novels in his previous life and liked to wander around the Internet, Li Yuanjia wouldn't have known that steel was so precious in ancient times! In his memory, at the peak of the Tang Dynasty, the annual steel production was only 5,000 tons. If you use another estimate, it is even less, only 1,200 tons!

Considering that it is now the sixth year of Zhenguan, and the Tang Dynasty has only been established for more than ten years, and there are many wars and many natural disasters during the period, it is estimated that the level of several hundred tons will be supported......

Even if it's a thousand tons of steel, what is the concept?

In later generations, an overloaded truck could load hundreds of tons of steel, and a thousand tons was a matter of loading several trucks. And one cubic meter of steel weighs seven or eight tons, and a thousand tons is more than a hundred cubic meters, and if there is no gap filling, this thing is not even enough to fit a three-bedroom house!

Therefore, Li Yuanjia opened his mouth to be a thousand catties, which made Chen Zhi's face so ugly, because this number is likely to mean one thousandth of Datang Steel's annual output!

Of course, annual production is not the same as ownership.

After the steel is produced, as long as it is maintained, it can be used for many years, so in fact, Datang's ownership must be far more than 1,000 tons. But don't forget, Chen Zhi is just a small Sicang joining the army, where can he get so much iron for Li Yuanjia?

And......

Even if he could get it, such an important strategic material as iron, how much would he dare to give Li Yuanjia so much in one go?

What does the king want so much for? What are his intentions?

A thousand catties of iron, if you make a long knife, it means hundreds of handles, if you build a spear head......

"Sizzle......"

Thinking of Li Yuanjia's identity and the change in Xuanwumen that happened only a few years ago, the more Chen Zhi thought about it, the more scared he became, and his whole face quickly became pale, and there was no trace of blood, and even his whole body began to tremble in the back!

“……”

Seeing Chen Zhi's expression becoming more and more ugly, from the initial shock to panic, and then to the current fear, Li Yuanjia turned his mind, and immediately knew that he must be thinking crooked-he himself has been cautious for three years, where can he not understand?

But after all, he has been a prince for three years, Li Yuanjia didn't panic, he slowly picked up the cup and took another sip, and then chuckled: "Chen joins the army, don't think too much, I want these iron materials are really just to make some daily household utensils...... And a thousand catties is not for you to give enough at one time, just prepare slowly. ”

"Goo-dong!"

Chen Zhi, who was unusually dry at this time between his mouth and tongue, couldn't care about being nervous, put down the cup he hadn't drunk and said in a trembling voice: "King, I don't know...... How long is the deadline given? ”

"Don't worry, give me two hundred catties first, and give me the rest when they come."

At this time, Li Yuanjia, who also found himself a little sloppy, made amends, and gave a vague time limit after a slight groan.

He now finally understands why the people of the Tang Dynasty don't eat stir-fried vegetables.

Not to mention anything else, with the processing level of this era, an iron pot is five or six catties small, and more than a dozen catties are large, if it is really a family to do one, it is estimated that the army of the Tang Dynasty will not use iron weapons, and go directly back to the Bronze Age!

"How else to say that productivity is everything?"

If you think about it in a modern way, a thousand catties of iron must be useless, not only to build some iron pots, but also such a large territory of the government office, so many people in the palace, Li Yuanjia has so many ideas, just toss a thousand catties and it will be gone!

But after seeing Chen Zhi's performance just now, Li Yuanjia knew that he was a little too anxious.

So after saying those words and seeing that Chen Zhi's nervousness eased a lot in an instant, Li Yuanjia also sighed secretly: "Sister, in my previous life, a thousand catties of scrap iron was only a few hundred yuan, and when I got here, I can make an official from the seventh grade shocked, and my life as a prince is really ......."

Of course, Chen Zhi didn't know what Li Yuanjia was thinking at this time, although he was still a little panicked, but after having the other party's words, he was finally a little more down-to-earth, and after hesitating for a moment, he gritted his teeth and said: "Wang, after Zhi goes back, I will talk to my father about this matter, and ask him to make a decision!" ”

In any case, that's a thousand catties of iron after all!

No matter how bold he was, Chen Zhi didn't dare to agree, even if the other party was a high-ranking king.

"Hehe, it's fine."

Li Yuanjia was not in a hurry, and after taking a sip of juice, he spread his hands and said with a smile: "Chen joins the army, try the juice I specially asked someone to prepare for you, it tastes very good." ”

"King Xie...... Hey? This juice ......"

After listening to Li Yuanjia's words, he picked up the cup, and Chen Zhi was stunned again.

It was only then that he realized that something was wrong, that is, he had just held it in his hand, but it was very strange that he hadn't taken a sip of it because he was nervous! Because in addition to the color that looks like the juice of seasonal fruits, the most important thing is that the cup is cold and cold, and it is refreshing just to hold it in your hand.

After putting the cup in front of his eyes and observing it carefully, and after taking another sip, Chen Zhi's eyes widened even more.

The entrance is cold, and my heart is flying!

"It's summer, it's so cold...... Could it be that ice cubes were put in it? No, there is no place to hide ice in this office, how did King Xu make this so-called juice so cold? It can't be transported from Chang'an, right? ”

"Hehe......"

Looking at the surprised look on Chen Zhi's face, Li Yuanjia was not proud, but felt a little embarrassed.

In the original plan, there should indeed be ice in this cup.

After reading a lot of time-traveling novels, Li Yuanjia of course easily thought of using saltpeter to make ice, which happened to be used in this hot summer. It's just that when he really started to implement it, he found that maybe the amount of saltpeter that he collected in Chang'an but has been useless is too small, or maybe there are too many impurities, which is not enough to condense ice cubes at all.

However, the temperature has dropped a lot, and it can really make the juice cooler.

While thinking about collecting more saltpeter to try, Li Yuanjia, who was thinking about secrecy for the time being, put down the cup in his hand and said, "By the way, Chen joined the army, there is one more matter, I still need your help......