Shen Yuntang asked, "What is this charcoal called?" ”

Bai Mei laughed, "Hui Shizi, this is silver silk charcoal, this charcoal is resistant to burning, and the smoke is small, I heard that it is made after silver silk wood is burned." ”

Shen Yuntang shook his head, it turned out that there was still this kind of charcoal.

Bai Mei burned the charcoal basin, put a special iron mesh lid on it, and then put the small copper stove on it, after doing this, Bai Mei raised her head and smiled and said, "The prince still feels cold?" If it's cold, the slave will add a charcoal basin to you. ”

I didn't feel it when I stood in front of the window just now, but when I sat down now, I just felt that my clothes were cold.

Shen Yuntang was originally afraid of the cold, in the past, there was heating and floor heating and air conditioning in modern times, even in winter, it can be beautiful and moving, but this Great Yan Dynasty is not modern, the heating facilities are the most primitive, and it is located in the north, which is drier and colder.

Shen Yuntang nodded.

Bai Mei walked out quickly.

Shen Yuntang had just looked at the account book for half an hour, got up and followed Bai Mei to the flower hall.

Passing by the ear room of the flower hall, I saw puffs of smoke coming out of the half-open windows of the small ear room, as if it was on fire.

Now the mansion is on fire, and almost all the buildings are wooden structures, and once the water is gone, the damage is heavy.

Shen Yuntang was startled and hurriedly walked over.

As soon as the curtain was lifted, I saw a few little maids who had just grown their heads sitting around a crude charcoal basin doing needlework......

The little maids were startled, looked up, and saw that it was the prince, and they all got up and saluted.

There were two people with crimson cheeks, obviously shy.

"Why are you all here?" Shen Yuntang breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was okay, his eyes fell on the charcoal basin with a large cloud of smoke, and his brows furrowed.

One of them, a little older, looked at the steady maid and stepped forward to reply.

"Back to the world, the slaves and maids are doing needlework here to keep warm, because ...... Because this room is small, you can put a charcoal basin on it, and it will be warm when there are many people...... Warm ......"

Shen Yuntang glanced at this small ear room, because it was a cubicle, it was indeed very small, spread a cotton blanket on the ground, and put a charcoal basin, it was indeed much warmer to sit together.

Nowadays, there is no cotton crop in this big swallow, and in winter, ordinary people rely on adding layers of clothes to their bodies to keep out the cold.

Only the rich family can afford to buy sheepskin rabbit skin, so this winter heating mainly relies on charcoal fire, and charcoal pots are luxury, not to mention burning kang and burning fire walls.

In winter, the price of charcoal is about as expensive as rice, and if ordinary people's homes do not save it in advance, they will not be able to afford charcoal when winter comes.

Although the noble family is hundreds of times better than ordinary people, it is the master, and the subordinates below have a prescribed rule, and there will never be the treatment of the master, not to mention the Yongxing Marquis Mansion, which is more difficult than the usual nobles!

Nowadays, these little maids burn a charcoal pot together to keep warm, also to save some.

But it is so warm, but it is easy to be poisoned by carbon monoxide, and inhaling smoke and dust for a long time is not good for the body and will harm the respiratory tract.

The little maid trembled, for fear of offending her master, and all of them lowered their heads, eager to bury their heads in the soil.

Shen Yuntang sighed in his heart, and shook his hand at a few people, "You guys do your thing!" ”

She turned and went back to her study.

I flipped through the account book sent by the housekeeper Uncle Nie.

Seeing that it is winter, there will be more winter materials needed in the house, and it seems that there must be a way to make money first.

Just thinking about it, Bai Mei has returned.

She led the two grandmothers to put another new charcoal basin in the middle of the study, and just turned around to get the silver charcoal, Shen Yuntang beckoned to her.

"Baimei, don't be busy yet, come, I'll ask you something."

Bai Mei wiped her hands with a handkerchief and walked quickly to Shen Yuntang's side.

"What's the matter with the prince?"

Shen Yuntang pointed to the charcoal basin beside him, "Grandfather and grandmother, what kind of charcoal is used in the second sister, third sister and fourth sister?" ”

Bai Mei was stunned, she didn't expect her master to ask such a small problem with charcoal, but her own master never cared about these before.

She paused, and when she saw the prince staring at her, she hurriedly replied truthfully: "The old marquis and the old lady use silver silk charcoal, and the charcoal in the yards of several young ladies is second-class red charcoal." ”

"Where's the copy?"

Bai Mei didn't expect her master to ask so carefully, she was the big girl who served in Shen Yuntang's yard, and she didn't know much about the things in other yards.

"This slave doesn't know."

Shen Yuntang bowed his head and continued to ask, "What kind of charcoal do the lowest-ranking maids in the mansion use?" ”

"Except for the first-class maids and housekeepers, who use white charcoal, the rest of the people use the most common black charcoal on the market."

It turns out that just one charcoal is divided into so many so many and so on.

"Go and bring me all kinds of charcoal used by the people in the house."

Bai Mei took the order.

In less than a quarter of an hour, Pak Mui and Wing Chun came in together.

Wing Chun is a sister, much more stable than Bai Mei, and when she came in, she gave Shen Yuntang a charcoal basin and put it next to her.

Wing Chun stood up, "I heard that the prince wants to see all kinds of charcoal?" ”

Shen Yuntang bowed his head, "Did you get it?" ”

"I took it, but the charcoal has smoke. The prince is just right, so don't touch these low-grade charcoals. ”

"It's okay, you burn a little less and I'll see the situation."

The two big girls had no choice but to take a new charcoal basin and put it far away, burning those different kinds of charcoal to Shen Yuntang.

At a glance, Shen Yuntang frowned, even the red charcoal, which is inferior to the silver silk charcoal, has a considerable smoke when burned, and as for the lowest black charcoal, it still has a smoky smell.

The charcoal is dry and fine, as long as it is a little damp, it will immediately overflow with smoke......

It didn't take long for the small study to be "smoky".

Seeing that the master's face was not good, Wing Chun hurriedly said: "Lord Shizi, the slave maid should order someone to move these pots of charcoal out." ”

Shen Yuntang waved his hand in disbelief.

Wing Chun hurriedly asked the little maid to carry the charcoal basin out, of course, these charcoal fires were not wasted, and they were directly rewarded to the subordinates in the Howling Wind House to keep warm.

The red charcoal used by the master and the white charcoal used by the big maids were enough for the little maids and the rough ones to make the mother-in-law happy for a day.

Shen Yuntang took advantage of the Wing Chun to go out and asked Bai Mei, "What is the price of these different types of charcoal?" ”

Bai Mei thought for a while, "The slave maid went out with the procurement office once, the silver silk charcoal is five taels of silver and a catty, the red charcoal seems to be one or two silver, and the white charcoal and black charcoal are two hundred and twenty wen respectively. This is the price in winter, and it will be cheaper if we hoard it in spring and summer, especially white and black charcoal. ”

Shen Yuntang: ......

This smokeless silver silk charcoal actually costs five taels of silver a catty! Grab the money!

Silver silk charcoal was originally weighed, and a pot of charcoal fire had to burn off a catty, and this pot of charcoal fire couldn't be managed for half a day, that is to say, she had to consume dozens of taels of silver a day alone?