It wasn't until sunset that the soldiers staggered away one by one. Chen Jianghe had already drunk and was lying on the bed, so Chen Yue had to personally take three family members to send the drunk military families home one by one.

On the way back, thinking of the situation in the homes of various military households, Chen Yue couldn't help but feel sad. Every family is so poor, adults and children are wearing tattered clothes, not much better than the Chen family's previous situation. The military salary issued by the imperial court was simply not enough to support the family, and it was often in arrears, and the military families had no other crafts to make a living, so they could only rely on selling coolies to earn some copper money, or relying on their wives to make ends for other people's families or sewing and mending, and living a difficult life.

The expenses in big cities are too great, and they all need money for firewood, rice, oil, and salt, and if they don't work for a day, they won't have food for a day, but that's it, when these military families heard that the Chen family was going to build a new house, they all put down their work and came to help. They are not trying to tie up with Chen Jianghe, a superior, but they are used to watching and helping each other on weekdays. They are all hereditary military households, and they have belonged to the same general banner since several lifetimes ago, and everyone has to help with something.

Looking at these people, Chen Yue suddenly understood why his father was reluctant to leave Beijing and go to the south with him, because this is home! There's a lot to worry about!

Chen Yue decided to speed up the process of the honeycomb coal business, because this business requires a large number of people, and while making money for his own family, he can also find stable jobs for these military households, so that they can end their life of starvation.

Early the next morning, the drawings of the honeycomb briquette machine and the coal stove were revised again, and Chen Yue discussed the matter with Chen Jianghe, who had already sobered up.

"Selling briquettes? What kind of money can be made on that! Chen Jianghe looked at Chen Yue puzzled, it is natural to make a profit, you can't sit back and eat, but what to do is better than selling briquettes, dirty and tired and not profitable!

"Daddy, you see that this is not an ordinary briquette, but honeycomb coal, cooking with it is fast and good, there is no need to make a fire every day, the most important thing is to save coal......" Chen Yue Balabala said the many benefits of honeycomb coal, but Chen Jianghe was confused.

"Okay, okay, I don't know what kind of honeycomb coal you have, you can do it if you want to. It's just that we can't delay the daily practice of martial arts, our Chen family wants to rely on this martial arts to make meritorious contributions and glorify our ancestors! Chen Jianghe waved his hand impatiently.

"Daddy, haven't you been working in the blacksmith all the time, see if you can make these two things?" Chen Yue handed the drawings of the briquette machine and coal furnace to Chen Jianghe.

Chen Jianghe took the drawings and glanced at them, and smiled contemptuously: "I thought it was something great, just this thing, it's very simple." What did Lao Tzu not fight in the blacksmith shop? Goose wing knife, phoenix tail arrow, three-eyed gun, chain crossbow, you are a little thing, it only takes half a day's work to give you a set! ”

"Then daddy, you can help me fight now!" Chen Yue said eagerly.

"Where is this thing made by Lao Tzu himself, Lao Zhang's blacksmith shop can be any apprentice." Chen Jianghe was quite unhappy, he thought about going to help Aunt Zhang today, and by the way, he would talk about the marriage between Chen Yue and Zhang Xiuer. Only when his son marries can he let go of a matter of concern.

"No, you have to build it yourself, and you can't let anyone help, let alone let others see the drawings." Chen Yue hurriedly shouted, just kidding, he still wants to monopolize the honeycomb coal market for a period of time, how can he let others see the drawings of the briquette machine!

As far as technology is concerned, the briquette machine has no technical content, but if there are no drawings and no physical objects for research, it is difficult to make it!

Chen Yue's insistence made Chen Jianghe pay attention to it, if this briquette business is really as profitable as Chen Yue said, this briquette machine is the secret recipe of his own business, and the drawings and production methods are naturally not easy for people to see. Chen Jianghe decided to build the briquette machine himself, and the process in the middle was absolutely not seen by anyone.

As for the location of the ironwork, it was placed in his own home, and Chen Jianghe planned to turn the newly built east wing into a blacksmith shop, and then buy the blacksmith furnace, wind box, hand hammer, anvil, sledgehammer, pliers, grinding stones and other tools needed for ironmaking. In the past two years, Chen Jianghe has been helping in Lao Zhang's blacksmith shop, and thinks that he has learned a full set of ironsmithing skills, whether it is the iron tools used by the people at home, or the military knives, guns and weapons can be built independently, and the technology is no worse than the blacksmith Lao Zhang, so he has always dreamed of having his own blacksmith shop, so that he can show his talents! In the past, there was no silver to think about, but now is the right time.

Chen Yue is very supportive of his father's idea, so as to ensure that the honeycomb coal technology will not be leaked! In the future, I will definitely take the road of joining the army, have my own blacksmith shop, and I can design and make all kinds of weapons by myself!

It was agreed with Chen Jianghe that Chen Jianghe would be responsible for building the blacksmith shop, and then make briquette machines and stoves, leaving Chen Mo and Chen Yan to Chen Jianghe to help at home, and Chen Yue himself would take Chen Ping to contact the matter of buying coal and the venue.

Doing a honeycomb coal business requires a lot of coal, and making briquettes also requires a large field, which is not possible in your own small yard.

Beijing's coal comes from the mountainous area around Mentougou in western Beijing, where there are dozens of coal mines, and there are thousands of miners who make a living by digging coal.

Coal merchants buy coal from mine owners, and then hire porters to transport coal to the capital in large carts, coal trucks generally enter the city from Xibianmen, enter the coal yards of coal merchants, mix soil and water to make coal briquettes, and then sell them to the entire capital.

Therefore, if you want to buy coal, you need to go to the coal yard in the Xibianmen area. Chen Yue took Chen Ping to the outer city to inspect it, and was shocked to find that there were dozens of coal yards within Xibianmen. It seems that the competition in the coal industry is very fierce.

It is said that it is most cost-effective to go directly to the Mentougou Coal Mine to buy coal, but then you need to go hundreds of miles to purchase it in person, and you have to hire a porter to transport it back after purchasing, which is too troublesome, so it is better to exchange some coal directly from the coal yard. Anyway, the coal needed at the beginning was not too much, and when the business became bigger, I would consider going to the coal mine to buy coal!

According to Chen Yue's inquiry, the price of buying raw coal in the coal yard is generally two catties per penny, and it can be cheaper if you buy it in large quantities. According to Chen Yue's estimates, if you buy raw coal at this price, you can make 100% profits after making honeycomb coal.

But before that, you had to find a place to make briquettes, and you needed a larger yard. It was too troublesome to find it by himself, so Chen Yue simply came directly to a dental shop specializing in housing rental business.