The most arrogant in history

Chapter 263: No Firewood Banquet.

Ye Kun made the final decision:

"Then I won't rob you, let's trade fairly. We mint a two-liang silver coin, which is worth a thousand coins; a one-liang silver coin, which is worth five hundred coins. Is that okay?"

Han Chun and Xie Tong nodded together: "That's fine!"

Ye Kun nodded and asked the mint to design the coin mold so that the silver coins could be minted as soon as possible.

The first batch of silver coins came in three types, worth one thousand coins, five hundred coins, and one hundred coins.

Moreover, Ye Kun abandoned the round and square copper coin shape and requested to cast a solid silver coin, leaving only a small hole thinner than a chopstick at the bottom to facilitate threading the rope.

Such a design requires very high casting standards and other princes could not imitate it.

The craftsmen on Ye Kun's side have developed a plaster mold that can make it easy to complete.

The value of the currency is set according to the value of silver and copper, so no one can take advantage.

But Ye Kun knew that silver was still slowly depreciating, so he would be able to take advantage of it in the future and make a lot of money.

At that time, the value of silver currency had been determined, and there would not be much resistance from the people.

The key to the value of currency is the credit support behind it. For example, in later generations, a banknote worth 1,000 yuan could buy a pig, which was a guarantee of the country's credit.

If we talk about the value of currency itself, a bundle of hundred-dollar bills is not worth an old hen!

Ye Kun did not dare to act hastily, so he temporarily issued three types of silver currencies and slowly built his own credit system.

Honeycomb coal and coal stoves have already been manufactured.

In the early stage, there were 300 furnaces and 30,000 pieces of honeycomb coal.

Ye Kun convened officials and gentry at all levels, as well as representatives of Chengdu's neighborhood elders and merchants, to demonstrate the effects of coal stoves, and organized a food conference, which he euphemistically called the "No-Firewood Banquet."

More than two hundred people gathered in the large garden of Chunhui Garden.

Ye Kun held a piece of raw coal in his hand and gave a speech:

"My Lords, my fellow countrymen. Since I took over Yizhou, I have been mining coal, which is this black stone. Many Lords do not understand why I have to spend so much manpower and resources to mine this black stone.

Today I will tell you that this black stone can be used to smelt iron and cook. It is better than firewood and charcoal. It is currently the best fuel in our Great Ding Kingdom.

With coal, our Yizhou ironmaking technology has far surpassed other states in Dading. Steel production has doubled compared to last year and will increase significantly in the future.

To prove my words, I invite you to come today and watch coal being used to cook rice, boil water, and fry vegetables, and experience the benefits of coal. "

There were forty stoves on the scene, of varying sizes, all ablaze with fire.

Some stoves are boiling water, some are cooking rice, some are stewing meat, some are frying vegetables, and some are steaming buns.

More than thirty tables were arranged in three long rows.

The cooked food is served on the table for everyone to enjoy.

There are also dumplings, steamed buns, white flour steamed buns, beef noodles, pancakes, steamed rice cakes...

Officials at all levels and representatives of the elders tasted the dishes and delicacies while visiting the coal stoves and honeycomb coal, all of them with smiles on their faces.

Some merchants asked, "Master Ye, are you selling your coal and furnace?"

"There is not enough coal production at the moment, so I don't plan to sell it, but I can sell some next year."

Ye Kun smiled slightly, and led everyone to a stove and said:

"There are no mountains in the Sichuan Plain, so firewood is not enough. We mine coal to save firewood. Also, I recently designed a frying pan for frying pancakes, which saves a lot of grass and firewood. Now, please show us how to do it, cook."

The so-called frying pan is a round thin iron plate that is slightly larger than the mouth of a bowl.

Pinch off a ball of leavened dough, flatten it, and stick it on the iron plate. With a sizzling sound, the fragrance fills the air.

After one side is baked, turn it over and it will be ready to eat.

This is called a pancake, or a baked pancake.

Later, in the Yellow River and Huaihe River plains, due to excessive deforestation, population growth, ecological collapse and severe fuel shortage, most people had to eat pancakes.

Because it saves firewood and cooks quickly.

Only when distinguished guests come will a pot of boiled noodles be prepared.

Until the industrial intelligence era of later generations, northerners still used traditional skills to make pancakes and developed many delicious pancakes.

Little did people know that this was a choice made by the people out of helplessness due to the shortage of firewood for thousands of years.

There are very few pancakes in southern delicacies, because there is no shortage of firewood in the mountainous areas of the south, and most of the food is boiled in water.

Ye Kun developed a batch of small iron pots and sold them to ordinary people. Because large iron pots used more materials, had complicated craftsmanship and were expensive, ordinary people could not afford them.

The officials tasted the cake and murmured, "This thing doesn't taste good..."

"It's true that it doesn't taste good, but it helps poor people survive. It's also easy to make the pancakes taste good."

Ye Kun smiled and asked the cook to grease the pan with hot oil, add eggs, and make another pot of pancakes.

This time, it was indeed delicious, crispy inside and golden outside.

Seeing that it was almost done, Ye Kun said:

"As you can see, I entertained more than 200 people for today's dinner, but I didn't burn any firewood or grass, so it's called a firewood-free banquet. Thank you for participating. Now let's start the lucky draw. We will select 20 lucky winners on the spot, and each of them will be given a small coal stove and 100 honeycomb briquettes!

Those who didn’t win the prize can buy it with money. A coal stove costs five taels of silver, and honeycomb coal is priced at the same price as charcoal. Each person is limited to buying 100 jin.”

At that time, charcoal was valuable, one-third of the price of rice.

Therefore, selling honeycomb coal at the price of charcoal is still quite profitable.

The merchants and representatives of the elders at the scene have already started celebrating.

They love this kind of lottery the most.

Soon, the lottery results came out.

The officials and gentry who did not win the prize were all envious and jealous, and spent money to buy coal stoves and honeycomb coal.

Ye Kun limited sales and adopted hunger marketing to extract profits from the rich first.

Once the market for the wealthy is saturated, the price can be lowered and the product can be sold to the common people.

After this event, all officials in Chengdu supported Ye Kun in vigorously developing coal mines.

Ye Kun ordered to speed up the production of coal stoves and honeycomb coal, and send samples to county governors and magistrates in various places to further promote and publicize coal knowledge so that everyone would accept it.

At the same time, there is the problem of gas poisoning. Ye Kun also made public awareness campaigns, asking everyone to pay attention to ventilation when using coal stoves.

At present, most of the coal production is consumed in iron smelting and metallurgy, and it is still too early for large-scale civilian use.

Seeing that winter was approaching, Ye Kun prepared a batch of cold-resistant winter clothes and rough felt as disaster relief supplies to be sent to remote and poor areas.

Because Ye Kun kept spending money and did a lot of practical things, the people in Yizhou gradually won over.

The living conditions of the lower-class people have improved a lot compared to the period of Gongsun Zhang's reign.

In particular, the medical team brought by Ye Kun established a primary medical system through training and organization, which greatly facilitated the people's access to medical treatment.

Maternal mortality and infant mortality rates have been greatly reduced.

This area is most popular among the people.

At the end of October, Zhang Mi of Hanzhong sent an envoy to Chengdu to ask for an audience with Ye Kun.

Ye Kun smiled at Zhuge Feng and said, "Mr. Zhuge, what do you think is Zhang Mi's purpose in sending an envoy to ask for an audience?"

Zhuge Feng smiled and said, "We in Yizhou are now strong in soldiers and horses, with abundant money and food, and we are united. We have suppressed Hanzhong in all aspects. I think the envoys from Hanzhong are here to further seek peace, so that we don't fight him!"