A few days later, Li Shimin hurriedly summoned several important ministers to the Manna Palace. This made these ministers very puzzled, and they didn't understand why the emperor would suddenly summon them in such a hurry. During this time, nothing major happened in the court. However, there are only some doubts.

In fact, many times, not everything has to be said above the court. On the contrary, most of the time, Li Shimin directly convened these ministers and decided after a few people discussed. After all, many things, when they come to the court, must go through endless debates, and they may not be able to reach a conclusion. Also, there are things that need to be kept strictly confidential, and it is impossible for too many people to know.

This time, there were not many people summoned by Li Shimin, that is, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Wei Zheng, Eldest Sun Wuji and a few others. However, what shocked them was that the crown prince Li Chengqian was also here. You know, as long as it is such a small meeting, the things discussed are very important things. This is the first time the prince has appeared on such an occasion.

Although they were surprised in their hearts, the faces of the people were calm as usual. Sit there, waiting for the Emperor to speak.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I have invited you here today because of a great joy to tell all of you. Come on, bring the things up, and let the adults see them."

Seeing that everyone was already seated, Li Shimin said to everyone with a smile on his face. Then, he commanded outside. Immediately, several eunuchs walked in with a tray in their hand, and then put the tray in front of Fang Xuanling and them.

Seeing the emperor's smile on his face, he also said that there was a great joy. Everyone's hearts were also relieved. Then, they became curious, and when they saw the contents of the tray, they were stunned. What is in front of them, they are very familiar, but they really have not seen it.

"Your Majesty, could it be that the great joy you are talking about is this brick? Yes, though. How can this brick be so colored? Could it be that there is something special about this brick?"

Wei Zheng was very strange at first, stared at the brick in front of him carefully for a while, and then directly picked it up with his hand and carefully examined it. Are you sure. This is not the same except for the color, which is after ordinary bricks. began to ask Li Shimin directly.

"Hehe, Wei Aiqing is right, today's big happy event is this brick. Everyone Aiqing also saw that the color of this brick is different from the green brick. Truly. This brick is not a green brick, but a red brick as its name suggests. It was early this morning, and I had just come out of the kiln. The prince brought it back."

As soon as Li Shimin heard Wei Zheng speak, he didn't hide it, and said it directly.

"Red bricks? His Royal Highness the Crown Prince discovered a new method of burning bricks. And to see His Majesty so happy. According to Weichen's conjecture, this red brick. There must be something unusual."

Hearing Li Shimin say this, he looked at the emperor's happy expression. Fang Xuanling immediately realized that this must not be simple, otherwise, why would the emperor have summoned them with such fanfare.

"Hey, no, this red brick doesn't seem to be as strong as the green brick compared to the green brick. In this case, the problem must be the price. Dare to ask Your Majesty, I don't know how much it costs to burn such a red brick? ”

Fang Xuanling thought of the unusual red brick, and the rest of the people also thought of this problem. Wei Zheng even picked up a red brick directly, first broke it hard, but did not break it, and then directly used one of the red bricks to crash into the other before breaking it. Obviously, he was testing the quality of the red bricks.

However, he suddenly realized that, in fact, it was not what he had thought. On the contrary, this red brick, in terms of firmness, seems to be slightly worse than the green brick. However, this did not make him feel discouraged in the slightest, but asked Li Shimin again with some excitement.

To judge whether something is good or not, one is to look at the quality, and the other is to look at the price. Since the quality is not outstanding, and the emperor is so happy, there is no doubt that the cost of this red brick must be lower than that of green bricks, and it is much lower.

Hearing Wei Zheng's question, the rest of the people were immediately shocked, and they also became more focused.

"Hehe, Wei Aiqing, it's still so urgent. However, Fang Aiqing and Wei Aiqing guessed well. This red brick is indeed a little unusual, I tried it just now, in terms of strength, red brick and green brick are about the same, and even slightly worse than green brick, but the difference is not much. The key point is that it is above this price. Although it has not been specifically calculated, the cost of a red brick is definitely less than a penny, or even lower."

Seeing that Wei Zheng directly picked up two bricks and tested them in this manna hall, Li Shimin smiled bitterly in his heart. Of the ministers, he is the only one who will do so. However, Li Shimin did not mean to be angry at all, but was very happy in his heart. Then, he began to say that the price of this red brick came.

Of course, this did not pass through careful calculation, but only Li Shimin's approximate estimate. Moreover, this estimate is still the kind of estimate that is vigorously raised. Because, if you really want to calculate it, there are only two costs, one is the cost of fuel, that is, the cost of coal. Also, it's the labor cost.

"Less than a penny? How can this be ......., what the minister wants to ask is, how exactly is this done. If the cost is really so low, then green bricks will soon be replaced. ”

When the eldest grandson Wuji heard this, the cost was less than a penny, and he was also shocked. You know, the market price of this green brick is five cents a piece, and the cost must be more than four cents. This gap is huge, and besides, this red brick is not much worse than the green brick. As long as this red brick is listed, will the green brick still have a way to live? On the other hand, if this red brick is sold at the current market price, the profit will be high.

Thinking of this, his heart suddenly rejoiced. The emperor said just now that this was brought back by the crown prince. This time, even if you don't get a big benefit, at least you can get a big credit.

In fact, not only was the eldest grandson Wuji shocked, but the rest of the people, when they heard this cost price, they all glanced at Li Chengqian one after another.

"That's right, the price I estimated just now must be high. Among them, there are two reasons for this. One is that the production method of this red brick is different from that of the green brick. It is also a kiln brick, but the number of red bricks in a kiln can be several times that of green bricks, or even ten times that of green bricks. ”

"In addition to the different production methods, there is a more important reason. That is, the firing of red bricks does not require charcoal, which can greatly reduce the cost. Someone, bring it up. ”

Li Shimin didn't know exactly how the red bricks were fired, but he only knew that the output was large. Besides, even if he knew about the production process, he wouldn't say it. The main thing he wanted to talk about was the coal.

"Graphite?"

When he saw what the waiter had brought up, Wei Zheng was surprised again. However, except for Wei Zheng, no one else could recognize what was in front of him this time. After all, this thing is used less, so who wouldn't have to pay attention to it. However, I haven't seen it, but I've heard of it.

"Well, that's right, it's graphite. The red bricks are not burned with charcoal, but directly from this graphite. That's why the cost is so low. ”

"And today, I called all the Aiqing. It is mainly for two things, one of which must be for this red brick thing. Also, that's for this graphite. Graphite, I have heard of it before, and I even saw it with my own eyes. However, it has never attracted anyone's attention. Today, it has been proved that this thing is very useful, so it must be re-examined and taken seriously. ”

"Now, let's discuss how to deal with this red brick matter, and then discuss the graphite matter."

For other things, Li Shimin didn't want to waste more time, but went directly to today's topic. After all, these two things are both things that are related to huge interests.

When several ministers heard this, they also began to ponder. Of course, they all know what these two things mean. How to operate this is really necessary to have a good countermeasure.

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that this matter is indeed a great joy as Your Majesty said. In recent years, with His Majesty's hard work, the people have lived and worked in peace and contentment, and the policy of low taxes has been implemented to hide the wealth from the people. The lives of the common people are also getting richer day by day. In addition, the number of new people in our Datang is increasing day by day, so there are more and more people building houses. At this time, the appearance of such cheap red bricks is indeed a great thing for countless people of the Tang Dynasty. It can also alleviate the situation that the supply of green bricks exceeds demand. However, although it is a good thing, if it is not done properly, a good thing can become a bad thing. ”

Therefore, there is a problem here, the firing technology of this red brick. Should it be directly controlled by the imperial court, or let it flow into the people. However, when this problem was solved, the minister took the liberty of asking who is in control of this method of burning bricks."

The first to speak was still Fang Xuanling, and he suddenly thought about whether this thing was controlled by the imperial court or something else. And before that, you must know who this thing belongs to now.

"Well, this method of firing red bricks was developed by King Yong. However, King Yong has always been selfless, so he dedicated this law. ”

Li Shimin was also stunned when he heard Fang Xuanling's words, and then he spoke. However, he had already begun to be vigilant in his heart. On Li Feng's side, he also has to think about it. Don't get the time to do the same thing as last time. When the time comes, it will be a big problem.

But it's a bit unreasonable, the winemaking method that people have come up with, and they have dedicated all the benefits, or that kind of selfless dedication. In the end, people made their own wine at home, and they were tied up, which really doesn't make sense.

Therefore, this time, as soon as Li Shimin heard this, he immediately decided in his heart that he must properly arrange the affairs of the craftsman village.