PS: The second chapter is delivered, I implore you children's shoes, a little mouse, collect it, Xiaofeng is grateful!

There are some things that Meng Yan can't control now, and he doesn't have the ability to interfere, all he can do is wait, and be familiar with the capital, Jinyiwei, and this era.

"Virtuous nephew, I know that if you stay in Nanya, I'm afraid you won't listen to me, so I found someone for you and asked him to take you to familiarize yourself with the capital first, after all, you have been away for ten years, and some places are different from before."

"Uncle Guo, are you afraid that I will run away?" Meng Yan said dissatisfied, "And get someone to spy on me?" ”

"If I'm afraid you'll run away, I'll just lock you up, why bother so much?"

"Okay, but I want to be smart, I don't want to be stupid!" Meng Yan agreed to come down.

"Remember to change into civilian clothes when you go out, he will be there in a while, you guys get familiar with it first!" After Guo Nu finished speaking, he turned his head and left.

"Hey, this thing, it's strange......" Meng Yan's heart moved, didn't he just say that he wouldn't let himself run around, why did he suddenly change his hexagram again?

However, even if Guo Nu wanted to tie his feet, it would be useless, he was not a person who was lightly bound by his hands and feet.

He can't mix in the major affairs of the court, but he can always make decisions about his own affairs.

Nanya is not a place to stay for a long time, you must first have a place to stay, to put it bluntly, it is to find a place to live.

Although Zhang Bao has a house and welcomes him to live there, he is currently in a difficult situation, and he is unwilling to involve these two people.

There are also Jiang Feng and others, these people followed him, and he promised them a future.

Their current expenses are still given by them, and it is not a matter to sit and eat, and you have to find a way to make money to support yourself.

How to make money, but also do some market research, although he is a soldier, but he still has some understanding of the economy.

Big business may not be able to do it, but it is still possible to make a small business well-off.

Meng Yan suddenly turned around and caught a glimpse of the stove that Guo Nu had just sent to him for heating, which was actually a large copper basin, with three feet underneath, and then charcoal was burning inside, if a big pot was set up on it, it would be able to cook rice and vegetables.

Then there was a pile of black coals, scattered in the corners of the wall, the size of a fist, with a dark sheen.

The Ming Dynasty began to use coal as fuel on a large scale?

Meng Yan couldn't help but be a little surprised in his heart, and then he himself was happy, when he was in school, the history exam was hovering at the passing line, and I am afraid that most of the knowledge he learned was changed to the teacher.

However, anyone with a little knowledge of physics knows that coal can only be used after a certain amount of processing.

Of course, it is not that it cannot be directly used as fuel, but because the quality of coal is different, some contain a large number of impurities, once the combustion is not sufficient, it will release toxic and harmful gases, and a large amount of waste will be formed.

Meng Yan squatted down, picked up a piece of coal, and observed it carefully, this was not processed coal, it was raw coal.

He couldn't help but think of the coal stove that every family used to cook when he was a child, which was small, lightweight, and very economical.

This kind of coal stove should not have appeared in the Ming Dynasty, and it is especially important that this kind of coal stove burns honeycomb coal.

Honeycomb coal is composed of raw coal, carbonized sawdust, lime, red (yellow) mud, charcoal powder and other mixed base materials and flammable accelerants composed of nitrate, potassium permanganate, etc.

Now that we are entering the cold winter, the people in Beijing must have a very large demand for coal, whether it is cooking or heating, a large amount of coal is needed.

So at this time, the price of coal must not be very low, because it is still in the era of artisanal coal mining.

I don't have much money in my hands, but I can't mine and dig coal kilns, but if I make honeycomb coal and briquette stoves, this is a business that can be done.

Raw coal can be purchased, other raw materials are not difficult to obtain, flammable accelerants can be replaced by others, and the effect is almost nothing.

If this is done well, it will also be a stable source of funds.

Just do it!

Meng Yan is a man of action, but before he does it again, he still has to do an investigation, the price of raw materials, market demand, and the price that the people can afford, etc., these preliminary work cannot be directly decided by patting his head.

Guo Nu is indeed a careful person, in addition to the necessary daily necessities, he also prepared a set of four treasures of the study, although the quality is very average, but this saves him a lot of trouble.

Spread out the slightly yellowed rice paper, there is still a gap between the quality of the rice paper in later generations, Meng Yan gathered what he wanted to do, wrote it down, and then memorized it in his mind.

"Knock Knock ......"

"Come in!" Meng Yan put down his pen like the wind, and he didn't raise his head.

"Ahem, you are Meng Yan?" A slightly hoarse, deep voice asked.

"I am, may I ask you ......" Meng Yan looked up and saw a slim young man, a little surprised.

Why is it said to be "slim and elegant", because Meng Yan can see at a glance that this is very likely to be a Xibei goods dressed as a man.

Pierced ears, no Adam's apple, and women's light sideburns, slightly upturned orchid fingers, full of loopholes all over the body.

Although there are flaws everywhere in Meng Yan's poisonous eyes, ordinary people really can't recognize them at first sight.

In particular, the large red birthmark on the left side of the girl's face, like an upside-down crescent moon, completely destroys the beauty of this face and the image of her whole person.

Never heard that the Ming Dynasty Jinyiwei still recruits women?

Meng Yan was a little unsure all of a sudden, some of these people are more special, such as giving himself ruthlessly since childhood......

It's not right, Jinyiwei doesn't recruit this kind of person, but it's very common in the East Factory.

"In Xia Guo Yue, I was ordered by Lord Guo to be a guide for Brother Meng for a few days, and led Brother Meng to familiarize himself with the Jinyi Guard and the yamen in the capital, there are some taboos Brother Meng still needs to understand first." Guo Yue raised his head slightly, hugged his fists, and said.

"Yes, thank you Lord Guo, I'm sorry Brother Guo!" Meng Yan hurriedly stood up and clenched his fists and saluted.

"Brother Meng, what are you writing?" Guo Yue was familiar with himself, and when he saw Meng Yan writing, he stepped forward and asked.

"Oh, I'm bored, just practicing words!" Meng Yan smiled and covered his past.

"Oh, let me see what Brother Guo wrote?" Guo Yue said.

“……”

Meng Yan is not a petty family, this is called Guo Yue, maybe Guo Nu sent to spy on him, and what he wrote is not a big secret, but it is in simplified Chinese, and in this era, it is all traditional characters.

"What are you writing here, it's so strange!"

"I don't read much, and I write nonsense, which makes Brother Guo laugh!" Meng Yan hurriedly put it away and said.

Guo Yue glanced at Meng Yan with doubts, and found that there was nothing abnormal, so he said, "What are Brother Meng's plans for today?" ”

"I haven't been back for ten years, I want Brother Guo to lead me around, visiting Chang'an Avenue and Nanshi, how about it?" Meng Yan thought for a moment and said.

"That's no problem, but, Master Guo explained, no matter what you do, you have to be in my sight?" Guo Yue said.

"This nature is not yet a free body!" Meng Yan smiled slightly, Guo Nu's mouth was full of "virtuous nephew", but he still didn't worry about himself in his bones.

Maybe he is preparing with both hands in his heart, seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages, this is human nature, which is understandable.

Meng Yan has no need to be angry and angry because of this, people don't owe him, his fate still has to be in his own hands.

When you can't do it, it is also a strategy to use force.

Since you want to make honeycomb coal, you naturally have to go to the coal trading market, the coal trading market in the capital is in the area of Fuchengmen, because the coal in Xishan is transported into the capital through Fuchengmen, so there are naturally gathered some coal merchants.

The best quality coal was supplied directly to the Imperial City and the powerful lords, bureaucrats of all levels in the capital, and wealthy merchants.

The imperial court was afraid of destroying the feng shui dragon veins of Beijing, and forbade coal digging in Xishan, but the demand for coal in the capital was increasing day by day, and the transportation cost of buying from other places was unbearable, so the situation of illegal mining was strict.

Of course, ordinary people stealing must not have good fruits to eat, and those who steal generally have a backstage, and the princes and ministers in Beijing, but all those who have the ability, are digging coal in the kiln in Xishan, which is a business without capital, and digging is money, who doesn't do it?

Therefore, most of the coal dug out has to be sold for money, except for supplying themselves, and this forms a coal market.

Guo Yue is very strange, this Meng Yan is really a weird person, there are so many places in the capital, he just came to the dirty and black coal market, this is all black coal, what is there to see?

"Brother Guo, do we have a coal kiln in Xishan?" Meng Yan asked, digging coal is such a lucrative business, and there is no reason for a violent law enforcement agency like Jinyiwei not to be involved.

"Yes, but most of them are in the hands of the North Ya, and there are only three of us in the South Ya!" Guo Yue nodded.

"Oh, how's the yield?"

"On average, it's 10,000 catties a day!" Guo Yue said.

Meng Yan silently calculated in his heart, the population of the capital of the Ming Dynasty was at least five or six hundred thousand people, and there must be 100,000 households, not adding that each household needs at least two catties of coal to cook every day, and in winter, it is necessary to make a fire for heating, and the amount is doubled, so that the coal used for daily life is at least more than 200,000 catties!

In fact, it is definitely more than this number, if it is calculated according to three times, the huge city of Beijing will have to use 600,000 catties of coal a day, an average of about one catty per person, and an increase of 50 percent in winter!

A million catties!

Converted into tons, about 180,000 tons, Meng Yan is not very clear that there is still a difference between the Jin of the Ming Dynasty and the Jin of later generations.

If we actually calculate according to the weights and measures of later generations, this figure is more than 180,000 tons.

In fact, the total amount of coal produced by the entire Xishan Coal Mine in a year is only about 150,000 tons, and the coal market is basically in short supply.

The price of high-quality coal in the market is almost the same as the price of rice, so it is not surprising that this seemingly inconspicuous black bump of coal is targeted by the powerful.

It can't be mined on a large scale, the output will naturally not go up, and it is a necessity of life, the price is naturally expensive, and other alternative fuels are more expensive.

So there aren't many left to choose from.

Coal has become one of the necessities of life for the people of Beijing, just like people have to eat salty salt every day.