In May of the first year of the Apocalypse, the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

Under the bright sunshine, the streets are neat and clean, and there is an endless stream of people.

May is one of the few comfortable times of the year in Beijing.

The Xiaoice River is approaching, and the cold wind in March is warm and cold; The Great Wall of the Ming Dynasty is a desert, and the sandstorms in April are dozens of times more terrible than later generations.

There is no scorching heat in June, and no thunderstorms in July.

May is the only exception of the year.

Wang Hongyu looked at the people in the capital at this time, listened to the authentic story of the storyteller next door, tasted the haggis close to the taste of later generations, and his heart was full of cherishment

Is Daming rotten?

Compared with later generations, it was really bad.

But everyone here is real, every smile, every struggle, every sigh, every dream is real.

Wang Hongyu likes a sentence.

"Take care of the things before you die, what to think about after you die"

If you are worthy of the people at this time and take on the responsibility of China at this time, you will have no regrets.

There are no regrets, but there will be reluctance.

How many times did the arrows graze the face, the countless times the sword hit the armor, the invective of Nurhachi, the roar of the reckless Gurtai, and the almost killing gaze of Huang Taiji.

It was only two months ago.

It's like a world away, but it's close.

Wang Hongyu gulped down the haggis soup and quietly walked to the shop in Dongzhimen to observe.

Goods are still coming in and out of the place.

Since Chengzu Zhu Di moved the capital to Beijing, the capital has developed rapidly.

However, its natural environment does have a certain gap compared with Jiangnan.

Productivity was limited and local food was not enough to sustain the megalopolis of more than 800,000 people.

The Grand Canal, which runs from Jiangnan to Tongzhou, is crucial.

Most of the building materials and timber go to Dongzhimen, so this is the place where the most manual laborers in the capital are located.

This winter, honeycomb coal helped everyone live a less difficult life, and also made a lot of money for themselves.

With a wave of his hand, Wang Hongyu asked Meng Biao to spend 8,000 taels of silver to invest in reproduction, not to increase honeycomb coal, but to invest it in coal mines in western Beijing and even Shanxi. From the other end of the industrial chain.

Looking at the Dongzhi Gate, two more shops selling coal were opened.

Presumably, someone saw a business opportunity, large-scale production, honeycomb coal technology content is mediocre, this winter must be oversupplied.

However, coal can be sold at a good price before honeycomb coal is unsalable.

This is the mind of the industry.

"My lord, why are you here?"

Meng Biao saw Wang Hongyu, who was observing the competitors on the street.

"Yes, it seems that you have not slackened, and you have always had people to watch your competitors."

Wang Hongyu patted Meng Biao on the shoulder, this veteran of the Sichuan Army failed to go out of the customs to participate in the war together, but he supported half of the business of the capital's industry and made a net profit of several thousand taels of silver. He also knows how not to be stingy, so each of his 50 craftsmen gave 30 taels of "year-end bonus".

30 taels is worth the income of an ordinary person working for 3 years. Which of these craftsmen will give up such a position, and which one will not want fifty taels and go to work as a servant in a large family?

Later, under his own instruction, he and Wei Zhongxian acted in a play of "partner splitting", which prompted Zhao Nanxing and Gao Panlong to be convinced.

I have to say that Meng Biao has helped him a lot and must be rewarded and reused.

The two briefly exchanged the current business situation.

Honeycomb coal can be easily copied, but the quality depends on the coal and the craftsmen, who are currently leading the way.

It has also put into operation several high-quality coal mines in western Beijing, and it is estimated that it will be able to make a lot of money this autumn and winter, after all, these new honeycomb coal companies in the city have to buy a large amount of coal.

These competitors want to squeeze us down, but they don't know that they buy raw materials to give us money, and the more they try to squeeze us, the more they help us to make money.

At this time, the winter in Beijing is different from that of later generations, and the temperature in Beijing at the beginning of the small cold season is similar to that of the current Bashang, or even colder. The freezing period is more than half a year, from September to March of the following year, and the home must be heated by a fire for seven months.

With the increasing population of Beijing, the demand for firewood has increased greatly, and there is no firewood to cut for dozens of miles in the suburbs.

Woodcutters who sell firewood for a living have to travel farther into the mountains to cut firewood, and it takes more than three days to make a round trip. Of course, it is impossible for a woodcutter to cut wood from the mountains and spend time carrying it to the city to sell it.

In this way, there were naturally firewood stacks, which collected timber and transported it to the city by horse-drawn carts and ox-carts by people who specialized in transportation, and there were firewood stacks that received firewood in Chengcheng.

That is to say, chopping, collecting, transporting, and selling firewood has formed a supply chain, and many people make a living from it, and the price of firewood is naturally getting higher and higher.

Residents in Beijing have long been a burden on their lives to buy firewood for cooking and heating.

Fortunately, Datong, Jingxi and other places have sufficient coal.

Coal burning is far more economical than charcoal, and charcoal is gradually being replaced by coal.

However, a new problem arose, that is, there were more incidents of gas poisoning after burning coal than when burning firewood, and many people dared to burn coal only during the day.

In fact, this is due to the illusion caused by insufficient knowledge: whether it is burning coal or wood, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide will be produced, and the smoke emitted during combustion is carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide will be produced if it is not burned sufficiently.

Carbon dioxide can suffocate people, and carbon monoxide can destroy the ability of hemoglobin to absorb oxygen, which is called poisoning, but it is actually suffocation.

So why are there fewer dead people when burning wood? Because the smoke is big, people will cough, and the smoke can also be seen, often the firewood at home will open the window or leave a vent, and the coal burning does not burn firewood, and the smoke is not large, so there is no vent.

When the coal is burned, there will be a lack of oxygen, and there will be insufficient combustion, and carbon monoxide will be produced that cannot be seen or coughed, and carbon monoxide poisoning will occur.

Similarly, the use of honeycomb coal should also leave vents, but honeycomb coal burns slowly, and the vents can be left smaller, or the doors and windows are not tight, and the air vents are not circulated.

Wang Hongyu specifically instructed Meng Biao that honeycomb coal is mainly sold to large households with large housing space and ventilation, as well as industries that are still engaged in production in winter.

But this market has not been completely opened.

Further deepening will involve construction aspects such as house renovation and flue renovation.

In later generations, Beijing only burned the stove with honeycomb coal, and there was a chimney to dissipate heat, and it was not cold in the house.

Later generations had galvanized iron rolled cigarette barrels, which were lightweight, easy to install and disassemble, and had good heat dissipation. Now it can only be replaced by a clay pipe, and the bend is not easy to solve, it is too heavy. And the heat dissipation is not good, and the heat is wasted directly from the roof, and the roof is damaged.

Wang Hongyu and Li Tiezhu discussed for many days, but they could only use the flue of the clay kang to connect the flame outlet of the cast iron honeycomb coal with the clay kang, and enter the chimney in the wall through the clay kang.

Therefore, an industry of flue construction engineering is about to emerge.