The structure of the flush toilet is very simple, and the Englishman John Harrington invented the flush toilet in the 16th century. In 1775, a London watchmaker named Alexander Cumming improved Harrington's design, invented a valve mechanism, and developed a flushing toilet, which was patented for the first time.

As the city lord of Tianjing New City, Yang Peng thought of a lot of plans and finally figured out the structure of the flush toilet. For Yang Peng, drawing a structural diagram of a flush toilet is very simple.

The water tank switch of the flush toilet is very simple, take the design drawing drawn by Yang Peng, and basically find a qualified coppersmith to do it. Although there was no plastic in this era, copper could be used instead.

The ceramic body of the toilet is not a difficult task. In this era, the Great Song Dynasty was already able to make all kinds of ingenious porcelain, and firing the toilet barrel was also a piece of cake. Yang Peng found Cai Huaishui, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, handed over the design drawings to him, and asked him to find a few reliable porcelain craftsmen to make barrels.

There are porcelain burners in Cangzhou, and it only took seven days for Cai Huaishui to find someone to burn three barrels. Yang Peng dug a pit in the glass workshop, assembled the burned toilet barrel and the copper mechanism made by the coppersmith and installed it on the pit, and the first flush toilet in the Great Song Dynasty was born. Yang Peng threw a few balls of waste paper into the toilet, and as soon as he pressed the button to flush it, the paper balls were flushed into the puddle under the toilet.

Although there was no running water in this era, well water was readily available. There is a well dug for every ten villas in Tianjing New Town. Before using the flush toilet, the user needs to carry a bucket of water and pour it into the ceramic bucket at the upper part of the flush toilet. Because of the use of manual water filling, there is no need to do the float in the toilet tank. This float is the most complex part of the entire flush toilet technology, and not producing the float can save a lot of costs.

For flush toilets, it is important to fix the toilet, and the pipes must be aligned with each other. The cement produced by Yang Peng came into play at this time. As long as the barrel of the flush toilet is fixed with cement in the toilet, there is no problem that the barrel body is shifted and cannot be used.

After mass production, this new type of toilet will be sold to the people of Tianjing New Town on a priority basis. Yang Peng also arranged personnel to go to the palace to install the new toilet, Yang Tong, Zhao Jinxi, Ye Yu Hanyu looked at the installation team very strangely, and the other part of the people went to the mansion of Ye Yu Guanyin and Zhao Lihua to install the new toilet.

Septic tanks are dug under the villas in Tianjing New Town, and installing a flush toilet does not require the sewer to be modified. Yang Peng gave a preferential price to the people of Tianjing New Town: as long as you hold the waist card of Tianjing New Town residents to buy a flush toilet, the price is as low as two taels. This price also includes the installation fee and the cement material fee, as long as you pay two taels of silver and make an appointment, the construction team will come to the door to install flush toilets for residents.

This is basically the cost price, and Yang Peng hopes to use the flush toilet to improve the sanitary conditions of Tianjing New Town, and he does not expect this new thing to make much money for himself. In fact, for the residents of Tianjing New Town, the installation of toilets can not only eliminate the stench of toilets, but also allow people to have an extra small room at once - in the past, Yang Peng's small villa in Fanjiazhuang has a special bathhouse. Nowadays, when the toilet is equipped with a flush toilet, the toilet is not dirty or smelly. People can create a bathing space in the toilet, and the vacant bathing room can be made into a small room.

Spending two taels of silver can not only improve the sanitary conditions, but also free up a small room, which is a very good deal. The original bathhouse could be used for miscellaneous items and as a children's bedroom.

After Yang Peng installed the toilet for Huan Lide, the Huan family immediately got rid of the stench of the toilet and added an extra room. After the people of Sanheng Street, where Huan's house is located, visited the Huan's new toilet, they immediately spread the benefits of it. The people of Tianjing New City rushed to Fanjiazhuang's toilet shop one by one to pay money and make an appointment. Within a few days, almost all the people in Tianjing New Town registered to buy it.

The situation is different for private houses elsewhere in Cangzhou. Most of the houses in Cangzhou have not built septic tanks, and the installation of flush toilets requires temporary digging of septic tanks, which is a large amount of work. Without seven or eight taels of silver for civil engineering wages, this flush toilet would not be usable. Therefore, in Cangzhou Acropolis and other prefectures and counties, flush toilets have not become popular for the time being.

But Yang Peng believes that with the exemplary role of the people of Tianjing New Town, the people of the Ming Dynasty who like to follow the trend of new things, especially the wealthy people, will gradually install flush toilets.

For this kind of flush toilet, Yang Peng is not ready to keep it secret. This thing is too easy to imitate, unless the entire Great Song Dynasty has a patent system to protect Yang Peng's intellectual property rights, Yang Peng can't stop the counterfeiters at all. And Yang Peng's bearing as the king of Yan is not as good as before. Yang Peng hopes that craftsmen from other places will learn this new type of toilet as soon as possible, and he hopes that the people of the Great Song Dynasty will use this kind of flush toilet to improve their living and sanitary conditions.

Zhao Heng, an official of the Great Song Dynasty, stood in the newly built "bathroom" of the Qianqing Palace, looking at the flush toilet that Yang Peng paid tribute to in the bathroom, and was amazed. The toilets in the Qianqing Palace are very large and magnificent. A few days ago, Yang Peng sent Cangzhou craftsmen to dig a septic tank behind the Qianqing Palace. After the septic tank was dug up, it was sealed with cement by the craftsmen, leaving only a chimney made of white marble slabs for exhaust. In the Qianqing Palace, craftsmen built walls with cement and installed flush toilets to make a toilet.

According to Yang Peng, the toilet with a flush toilet is clean and hygienic, and it should be called a "toilet". Zhao Heng guessed that this was the meaning of washing hands after taking out Gong, so he called the toilet a toilet.

Originally, there were no toilets in the Qianqing Palace. The toilet used by the official family is called the "official room", which is kept by a special eunuch, and when necessary, the "official room" is passed on, and it is usually not placed in the dormitory. Compared with Yang Peng's flush toilet, the original "official room" is unhygienic and inconvenient.

Zhao Heng looked at the bathroom in the Qianqing Palace with joy, and said with a smile: "In the future, I won't have to use the embarrassing 'official room' anymore." Zhao Heng found a piece of waste paper, crumpled it up and threw it into the toilet. As soon as he pressed the button on the toilet sink, he saw the well water pouring out of the sink into the toilet, wrapping the paper ball and flushing it away.

Zhao Heng smiled: "Okay, it's really useful!" With such a bathroom, I don't need to be attended to by others in my private affairs, and the embarrassment is swept away, which is really a good thing. ”

Wang Jin blinked his eyes and asked, "Holy Lord, how did this Yan King invent so many new things?" Where did he learn it? is the reincarnation of Lu Ban, and I am afraid that it is not as skilled as King Yan. Zhao Heng stroked his beard and said, "I don't know why King Yan was able to invent so many new things. But I know that King Yan is a loyal man. Such a good thing as a flush toilet is clean and hygienic, Yang Peng first thought of installing it for me, and his loyalty can be seen. ”

Wang Jin arched his hand and said, "Emperor Shengming." Zhao Heng stroked his beard and said: "Let King Yan's craftsmen not leave, I will not be polite to King Yan, and let him install toilets for the prince, princess, queen mother and princess's palace." There are also two princesses, who have to install toilets! ”

In Heshan Township, Ningyang County, Shandong, dark clouds are rolling in the sky. The people of Heshan Township looked at the dark clouds in the sky one by one, hoping that these dark clouds could bring some rain to Heshan Township.

Ningyang County has not rained for three months. Without rain, crops will not survive. Irrigation alone cannot save crops by carrying water from rivers and wells. The rice crops in the field have dried up and turned yellow due to lack of water. If it doesn't rain again in half a month, this year's crops won't be harvested.

If there is no harvest, there will be no food to eat next year, and we will have to flee the famine. In the sixth year of Xianping, there was a great drought in Shandong, when several counties in Shandong were starving and the number of people was greatly reduced, and some people even exchanged their children for cannibalism. I didn't expect to survive the drought, it's only been two years, and Ningyang County is another drought.

This time the drought lasted for three months, and it was protracted, how many people will starve to death in Ningyang County this time? Liu Jiangui, a farmer in Heshan Township, looked at the dark clouds in the sky with his eyes blank, so nervous that he couldn't speak. Now Liu Jiangui is actually very tired, he was busy last night carrying water to irrigate his fields, carrying water from the Dawen River to irrigate his fields.

The Dawen River is also almost dry, only a little water in the middle of the riverbed, which looks like a small stream. It is not easy to climb from the embankment to the bottom of the riverbed to carry water, Liu Jiangui fell while walking yesterday, and when he fell, he wiped it on the ground, and fell a big hole in his arm.

However, even this hard work can only alleviate the gradual drying up of rice. The Dawen River is three miles from his fields, and he can only pick up two buckets of water at a time. After twenty trips back and forth, he barely watered a shallow layer of water on more than a dozen acres of rice. If you want to get a good harvest, this kind of irrigation is not enough.

Liu Jiangui didn't dare to rest during the day, and after sleeping for an hour, he got up again and prepared to fetch water. Liu Jiangui's crops are still close to the Dawen River, and he can get water after working hard. What about the fields far from the river?

There are a few men in the village who like to go to the town to listen to the "Dali Temple Bulletin", and Liu Jiangui heard them say that the whole of Shandong is in a great drought. In many places, the crops have all withered. Not only were there droughts, but there were also locust plagues in Qingzhou and Laizhou, and those locusts were overwhelming, and even the dry crops were not spared.

Liu Jiangui looked at the dark clouds in the sky with blank eyes, and secretly said that only a rain from the sky could save the people of Shandong. Suddenly, the second son of the Huang family next door ran over and ran to the door of Liu Jiangui's courtyard and shouted, "Liu Jiangui, go to the Dragon King Temple." Master He put out sacrifices and begged for rain! ”

Did Master He ask for rain? Liu Jiangui was overjoyed when he heard this, and threw down his flat shoulder and strode to the outside of the Dragon King Temple by the river. When he got there, Liu Jiangui found that hundreds of people had gathered outside the Dragon King Temple. The ragged peasants knelt on the ground and kowtowed to the idol in the temple of the Dragon King.

He Yuan, the largest landlord in Heshan Township, placed a pig's head, chicken and duck offerings on the shrine of the Dragon King Temple, and was offering incense to the Dragon King.

Liu Jiangui also walked in and knelt behind the villagers. He Yuanwai shouted loudly while offering incense: "Yang Peng, the king of Yan, caused trouble in Shandong to fiddle with public opinion, angered the heavens, and finally caused a great drought. However, we and other people are all innocent, and they are definitely not members of the Li Thief Party. I also ask the Dragon King to show mercy to the people of Heshan Township, manifest his spirit, and rain down to save the people of Heshan Township from famine in the coming year. ”

Liu Jiangui was stunned when he heard He Yuanwai's words, and secretly said What does this drought have to do with King Yan? This member hated Yang Peng to the bone, and he simply dragged the drought to King Yan. However, the people begged for rain at this time, and they were very respectful of He Yuanwai who paid for rain, and no one came out to refute He Yuanwai. He Yuanwai chattered for a while in front of the divine case, knelt on the ground and kowtowed, and inserted the three pillars of incense into the incense burner.

As soon as He Yuanwai wiped the incense, there was a rolling thunder outside the temple.

Thunder? It's going to rain? The people in the temple became excited, and they all looked at He Yuanwai in front of the god case. He Yuanwai was a clever man, kneeling in front of the god case and shouting loudly: "The dragon king has a spirit!" If the Dragon King resents the Li thief, he can bring disaster to Tianjing New City. The people of Shandong are by no means the party members of Yang Peng, the king of Yan, and I hope that the dragon king will rain down and save the people of my side. ”

After He Yuanwai said this, he kept kowtowing to the statue of the Dragon King. The people kneeling inside and outside the Dragon King Temple also followed He Yuanwai and kowtowed vigorously to the statue. As if he was very disappointed with He Yuanwai's words, the rolling thunder suddenly stopped. No matter how reverent the crowd was, the thunder never sounded again. Liu Jiangui looked up at the sky, but saw that the dark clouds were getting lighter and lighter, and they were gradually cracking. A desperate ray of sunlight pierced the scattered dark clouds and fell to the parched earth.

Liu Jiangui was greatly depressed in his heart, and suddenly fell helplessly on the ground. There is no harvest this year, and next year we will starve to death. The "Dali Temple Bulletin" said that Henan is also a big drought this year, and the harvest in Nanzhili is not good. Even if you go out to escape the famine, I am afraid that you will die in a lifetime, and if you can't say it, you will die in another country.

The sunlight shattered the illusions of many people, and the people looked at the blue sky in despair, one by one dumbfounded and speechless. After a while, some people hugged each other and began to cry.

Liu Jiangui sighed and was about to get up, but suddenly saw a panicked young man running in the distance. "Oh no! The Dawen River is broken! The Dawen River is dry! ”

Finished. Liu Jiangui seemed to be punched in the chest, and he couldn't react for a long time. He only felt that it was a little difficult to breathe, and suddenly he fainted in the darkness in front of him.

"There was a great drought in Shandong in March, and the red land was thousands of miles. The people's crops have all dried up, and next year's food ration may have been wiped out. The locusts in Qingzhou, Dengzhou and Laizhou cover the sky, and there is not a single grass left in the places they pass..."

At this time, Yang Peng's important subordinates had all taken their seats, Yang Peng nodded at Ye Yu Hanyu, Ye Yu Hanyu stood up and said: "The official family sent a holy decree yesterday, saying that there was a great drought in Shandong, and let us Tianjing New City fund disaster relief. This matter is very important, let's discuss how we will reply! ”

When they heard this, they were a little surprised. Everyone knows that Shandong has been dry for three months, except for a light rain in Dengzhou and Laizhou, and it can be said that there has not been a drop of rain in other parts of Shandong in these three months. The officials of Tianjing New City had long known about Shandong's plight from the Dali Temple Bulletin, and knew that all the crops in Shandong had been killed this year.

This year's crops are finished, and next year the farmers will have nothing to eat, so of course they need disaster relief. But this disaster relief should obviously be done by the imperial court, how can the official family throw the burden to Tianjing New Town?

Yang Peng's Hubu Shangshu Huang Guang is now Yang Peng's chief manager of munitions, in charge of the manufacture of various weapons and munitions, and is also a prominent official in Tianjing New Town. He knocked the dry tobacco on the tea table on the right hand, knocked the ash into the ceramic jar, and said loudly: "The official family collects taxes in Shandong, and we don't collect taxes in Shandong!" Our Tianjing New Town ran the "Dali Temple Announcement" in Shandong, stationed the army, and didn't earn a penny! It is all from Tianjing New City to make money, and it is impossible to make ends meet. No matter how much this disaster relief thing is calculated, it is not our turn to do it in Tianjing New Town! ”

Yang Peng's Ministry of Industry Shangshu Cai Huaishui said: "I think this is the truth! Cai Huaishui is now the general manager of Yang Pengmin's supplies factory, with tens of thousands of people. Over the years he has grown a goatee and has a rather majestic demeanor. At this time, he stroked his beard and said, "Lord, this matter cannot be done. There are more than 10 million hungry people in Shandong, and this is a bottomless pit. How much money does this porridge shed cost for a year? I'm afraid 20 million taels is not enough! How can we have so much silver? ”

When everyone heard Cai Huaishui's words, they all nodded. Zhan Jinguo and Zhang Xiang glanced at each other, stood up and said, "King Yan, this matter is impossible. Not to mention that it costs more than 20 million taels of silver to buy 1,000 stone rice at the market price for disaster relief, let's just say where to buy so much grain for disaster relief? If we buy 10 million stone of grain in a year, I am afraid that the price of grain will be pushed up to the sky. When the time comes, even if you have money, you won't be able to buy it. ”

Zhan Jinguo said loudly: "Lord Wang, the official family threw this burden to us, we can't take it!" Yang Peng looked at Zhan Jinguo and said lightly: "You don't need to worry about the problem of disaster relief food. This prince has his own way to solve it. Hearing Yang Peng's words, everyone was stunned. Relieving the hungry people in Shandong requires at least 10 million stone of grain, but King Yan said it lightly.

How did King Yan raise this thousand stones of grain? However, Yang Peng's methods over the years are really unpredictable, and everyone has a blind trust in Yang Peng. As long as King Yan says that it can be done, then it must be able to be done. The crowd then skipped the question of the source of food and began to discuss the benefits of disaster relief.

Cai Huaishui took a puff of dry tobacco and said, "King Yan, the official family wants us to provide disaster relief, even if we can get food, we can't do it in vain." 10 million stones of grain smashed down without a sound! We want to collect taxes in Shandong! ”

Zhang Xiang said loudly: "Cai Shangshu said well, the official family asked us to provide disaster relief, and we want to collect business taxes in Shandong, and we will pay flat fields, just like with Tianjing New Town!" In this way, the cost of disaster relief is recovered. Han Bing said: "Lord Wang, although the civil officials in Shandong are obedient and obedient on the surface, they still disobey us in their hearts. I think we can take this opportunity to come to Shandong to announce the right to appoint envoys. In the future, Shandong Xuanwei will make who to do, and the prince will decide, and those local officials will naturally not jump. ”

Hearing Han Bing's words, everyone fell silent. The right to appoint the Shandong Xuanwei envoy seems to be a bit too big. If the official family agrees to Yang Peng, it will completely divide the territory and turn Shandong into Yang Peng's independent kingdom. No matter how you look at it, this requirement is impossible. Han Bing looked at the silent crowd and said, "The sky is full of bargaining on the spot, and the official family has put forward such a ridiculous request for us to provide disaster relief, of course we have to repay him with a few difficult conditions." ”

Everyone was relieved and nodded yes. Zhang Xiang thought for a while and said, "Also, our soldiers and horses are now illegally stationed in Shandong, and the court is not recognized by the imperial court. Now that the official family has asked us to provide disaster relief, we have to ask the official family to appoint the eldest brother as the supervisor of Shandong soldiers and horses! In this way, we can legitimately control the military and justice in Shandong. ”

When the people's eyes lit up when they heard this, they all agreed. The generals and bureaucrats discussed for a while and talked a lot. Yang Peng nodded, and finally concluded: "Okay, we will agree to the official's request for disaster relief." However, we put forward four demands: the rank of governor of Shandong, the commercial tax, the land endowment, and the appointment of Shandong Xuanwei envoy by us. ”

"If the official family agrees to these four conditions, we will guarantee that no one will starve to death in Shandong." Xie Liangyou said: "At least 10 million stone of grain is needed for disaster relief, and such large-scale grain purchases will definitely raise the price of grain in various places. If you want to rely on commercial taxes to recover the cost, it will take more than ten years. ”

When they heard this, they fell silent. Now Yang Peng's silver warehouse only has more than 10 million taels of silver, and no matter what, he can't raise 30 million taels of silver to buy grain for disaster relief. In everyone's hearts, this disaster relief is an incompleteable task, and they don't know what Yang Peng is going to do.

Yang Peng said lightly: "I think this disaster relief, as long as we find some way to come out, it won't cost much silver." The gentry and landlords guarded a lot of silver, but they were unwilling to provide disaster relief. Let's figure out a way to make them bleed! ”

Everyone looked at Yang Peng, but they didn't know how Yang Peng was going to make the gentry bleed. Yang Peng said with a smile: "But first of all, we must prepare the food for disaster relief, Cui Changwu, you come with me, and we will write a formal order to Zheng Hui in Hsinchu." ”

"The amount of 10 million stones is too huge, in order not to cause large fluctuations in the supply and demand of grain prices in various places, Yanwang plans to buy grain in batches in various places and use the fleet to transport it. Buy 2 million stone of grain in Beizhili. Buy four million stones in Nanzhili. Buy two million stones in Zhejiang, one million stones each in Fujian and Guangdong. ”

Finally, the "Dali Temple Announcement" emphasized the importance of sincere cooperation, emphasizing that as long as the gentry of the world do not raise the price of rice, King Yan will be able to successfully relieve Shandong.

Zhang Keli finished reading the announcement of Dali Temple, snorted coldly, and slapped the newspaper on the tea case. He looked at his eldest son and asked, "It seems that Yang Peng really wants to buy 10 million stone of grain for disaster relief." Zhang Keli's eldest son nodded and said, "Father, this matter can't be wrong. If he doesn't buy food, what will he do for disaster relief? For the sake of this disaster relief, the official family has given Yang Peng the official position of the Shandong Soldiers and Horses Metropolitan Supervisor, and also allowed Yang Peng to collect business taxes in Shandong in the future. Yang Peng's reply to the official family has also been made public, Yang Peng is very pleased with the official position and tax rights given by the official family, and is determined to spend money on disaster relief, saying that 'no one in Shandong will be starved to death'! ”

"Yang Peng is taking advantage of the disaster relief this time to actually control a province in Shandong. If Yang Peng can't successfully buy enough grain to feed the arid Shandong, the official family will definitely take back the official who gave him the title, and Yang Peng will definitely not be allowed to levy commercial taxes. ”

"So Yang Peng is out of the way this time, and he must be desperate to buy food. Father, look at the wording on the "Dali Temple Announcement", it is almost a gentry in the world. He also knew that if the gentry of the world did not cooperate, he would not be able to buy 10 million stone of grain for more than 30 million taels of silver. ”

Zhang Keli's eldest son paused, and then said: "Father, Nanzhili has a population of more than 20 million, and the surplus grain in the Nanzhili market is only a few million stones. Yang Peng came to buy four million stones at once, almost buying Nanzhili, where is it so easy? ”

"As long as we operate it a little bit, we can raise the price of food to the sky. When the time came, not only did Yang Peng hand over all the silver, but he also couldn't get enough food for disaster relief. When the time comes, he has spent all the money, and the official family has taken back his official position and tax power, isn't it a beautiful thing? ”

Zhang Keli thought for a while and said, "This seems to be the truth. But I always feel a little strange... Yang Peng is not stupid, he is not afraid of the gentry of the world raising the price of grain to make it difficult for him to buy grain with such fanfare. ”

Zhang Keli's eldest son smiled and said, "Father, Yang Peng really broke his brain this time. He thought that if he contributed money for disaster relief to do a good deed, everyone in the world would cooperate with him. He didn't know that the world's gentlemen hated him to the bone, and even if he was infamous on his back, he would drag him down Yang Peng. ”

After all, what happens next, let's see how it will be broken down next time.