"Three coals and one soil, add water to stir. Don't add too much, otherwise the coal balls will not stand up!" Zhang Zong guided Xue Shao to work, but was checking a strange instrument in his hand. A long iron pipe was connected to a cylindrical iron lump, which looked a bit like a long-handled hammer used by a warrior, but the iron lump below was hollow.

It is probably not seen by many young people in later generations. It is called a coal bulb machine, which is specially used for honeycomb coal. When Zhang Zong was a child, he had seen adults at home use it. Especially before winter comes every year, almost every household would shoot hundreds of coal bulbs, and after being arranged neatly on the ground and dry it for a few days, you can use it for a winter.

"Brother Shi, when will it still have to be stirred?" Xue Shao asked panting while holding the coal sludge. The coal and sludge were replenished and sticky after adding water. He felt unable to stand it after he had been mixed for a while.

Zhang Zong walked over and looked at it, nodded and said, "It's almost done, I'll demonstrate the usage of this thing to you!"

Zhang Zong said as he lifted the handle on the briquette machine upwards, then hit the briquette machine hard onto the coal sludge. When he lifted it up, he immediately felt that the briquette machine was much heavier. So he came to the open space next to him and pressed the handle downwards. A cylindrical briquette with ten eyes fell on the ground.

"Is this a coal ball? But it is obviously not spherical, why is it called a coal ball?" Xue Shao walked up to him and looked at this new thing curiously, then asked Zhang Zong again.

"This... you can also call him honeycomb coal." Zhang Zong couldn't explain, because coal balls were actually another kind of coal fuel. It also used coal ash and soil, and then put them in a special basket to shake it into a ball. However, this thing was solid and difficult to burn thoroughly. Later, someone invented a better honeycomb coal, but the name coal balls were retained.

"The name of honeycomb coal is good. It is full of eyes, and it does look like honeycombs." After Xue Shao said that, he grabbed the coal ball machine and ran to try to play coal balls himself. However, after not many of them, he felt both sides were injured and his arms were sore, so he had to give it to Zhang Zong again.

The coal stove was built in Zhang Zong’s kitchen, but now it’s not enough to have honeycomb coal. Taking advantage of the time today and the weather is good, Zhang Zong also plans to make more, and the coal stove will be much cleaner in the future.

However, after working for a while, Zhang Zong quickly realized that the work of playing coal balls seemed easy, but in fact it was very labor-intensive. The coal ball machine was made of all iron, with a total of more than ten pounds. In addition, he had to smash and lift the coal balls, which soon made him feel a little unbearable. No wonder men did it in later generations.

After slapping hundreds of honeycomb coals in one mouthful, Zhang Zong finally sat down to take a breath. Wan'er also brought tea with great care at this time. Xue Shao immediately shouted dissatisfiedly: "Wan'er, you are so unfair. I was so tired just now, and I didn't see you send tea. As a result, Brother Shi just sat down, you brought the tea with you. It's so biased!"

After hearing this, Wan'er smiled and did not answer, but turned around and left. This made Xue Shao angrily snatch the teacup in Zhang Zong's hand and drink it in one sip. Zhang Zong was also amused by Xue Shao's childish behavior. He picked up the new teacup and poured himself another cup of tea, sucking in small sips while watching the fruits of his labor.

"Brother Shi, why do I think Wan'er is a little cold? She doesn't seem to be very close to anyone except you?" Xue Shao pulled open his sleeves and whispered.

"Wan'er has grown up in an environment like the palace, so it is normal for her to be more defensive to people. This cannot be changed in one or two days." Zhang Zong glanced at Xue Shao and said, he discovered it too late.

"No, my mother grew up in the palace as a child. Why don't she feel that she has such an introverted personality?" Xue Shao retorted with some disagreement.

"Your mother is a princess or a legitimate daughter. She is too late to be favored. Who dares to make things difficult for her? In comparison, Wan'er is just a small palace maid with a very different status. Can she be treated the same?" Zhang Zong turned her eyes at Xue Shao and said, "Taiping is also a princess, and she is the only legitimate daughter, so she has been favored since childhood, which has also made her develop a willful personality.

"That's true, but my mother's personality..." Xue Shao suddenly showed an expression that was hard to describe at the end. As a son, I'm afraid no one in the world knows his mother better than him. For example, his two brothers all went to other places to serve as officials as soon as they became adults. They only came back to reunite for a few days during festivals. In this way, they were scolded by his mother.

After Xue Shao finished sighing, Zhang Zong asked Xue Shao: "The coal has been on the market now, how are it sold?"

"It's simply in short supply. After all, coal is much cheaper than charcoal and is more resistant to burning. However, we sold all pieces of coal before, because only chunks of coal are easy to burn. As a result, a lot of coal ash is piled up in the coal yard outside the city. My mother was still worried, but I didn't expect that Brother Shi, you have thought of this long ago. With this honeycomb coal, no matter how much coal ash is, you don't have to worry about selling it!" Xue Shao immediately said excitedly when he heard this.

"You will bring a few honeycomb coals back later. The eldest princess will definitely not chase me to ask for manuscripts after seeing this!" Zhang Zong said again. He was even more terrified by the eldest princess' urging, hoping that the honeycomb coal could divert her attention.

"Why don't you let me take away the coal bulb machine? So my mother can make some imitations immediately and make more honeycomb coal at that time?" Xue Shao asked in confusion when he heard this.

"I have to use it, and you have been to the blacksmith shop before. Just find the blacksmith to make a few more moves." Zhang Zong said, patted his waist and stood up, moved his body and started to make honeycomb coal again. However, at his current speed, he probably had to be busy for two or three days before he could produce enough honeycomb coal.

In the next few days, Princess Chengyang did not urge for any more updates, but began to plan the market prospects of honeycomb coal. Although this thing has more labor costs, the addition of loess also reduces the amount of coal, so the price is cheaper than block coal. In addition, it is clean and convenient to burn, and it will definitely be more popular than block coal in the future.

Zhang Zong has not been idle these days. In addition to making enough honeycomb coal, the craftsmen who built the greenhouses also came. The greenhouses planned by Zhang Zong were also built very quickly. There was only a wall on the north side and a triangular wall on the east and west sides. There was no need for a wall on the south side. Bamboo was also used to make shelves on it. When Zhang Zong would cover it with gauze in the future, and then covered it with straw mats, it would be enough to protect the flowers and plants to spend the whole winter.

Just as the greenhouse was just built, the temperature dropped again, the leaves in the yard began to turn yellow and leave, and Zhang Zong also began to pick out some cold-resistant flowers and plants and prepare to move them to the greenhouse.

However, Zhang Zong was also thinking while working that he had never seen him since he left that day, and there was no new news about him. He just knew that since that day, the Ni Ni Ni had never followed his father to propose marriages, and he didn't know if he still remembered the hasty decision he made after drinking that day?
Chapter completed!