Chapter 164: Caused A Bug In The Heavenly Dao
At this time, in the courtyard outside the main hall of Shang Wuyang’s house, a thick charcoal basin was placed.
However, what was burning in the charcoal basin was not charcoal, but a cylindrical honeycomb-shaped black coal.
Several honeycomb briquettes were piled together and burned red, generating considerable heat and not emitting as much odor as coal.
Shang Wuyang sat inside the house, holding a cup of warm tea with his pale fingertips and drinking it unhurriedly.
A tiger skin was placed on the chair beneath him, he was wrapped in a sable cloak, and around his neck was a freshly made scarf. His dark hair was spread out behind his shoulders, and against the backdrop of the snow, his entire being exuded a delicate beauty tinged with illness.
Hearing footsteps, he raised his eyes to look and, without surprise, saw Rong Zhi carrying Qin Wanwan.
Both the adult and the child were covered in snow.
Qin Wanwan, placed on the ground, began stamping her feet and shaking, the snow falling from her body with a rustling sound.
Rong Zhi casually brushed the snow from his shoulders.
“Sit.”
Shang Wuyang casually gestured with his chin.
Rong Zhi sat down upright on the chair beside him.
Qin Wanwan had already run over to Shang Wuyang’s side, pouting her little butt as she burrowed into his embrace.
She tucked her small self into Shang Wuyang’s cloak, with only a fluffy little head peeking out from his collar, her pair of bright, clear eyes darting about playfully.
Rong Zhi glanced at a certain little chubby cub, his gaze falling on the burning honeycomb briquettes.
Shang Wuyang lazily explained, “This honeycomb briquette was made using a method proposed by Keke. It mainly mixes coal residue, some wood shavings, wood ash, and yellow mud in proportion.
The adhesive was a bit troublesome, but it wasn’t a big problem and it’s been made. This honeycomb briquette has been burning for half an hour, and the smell is not that strong.”
It must be said that honeycomb briquettes have many advantages: the materials used are easily obtainable, the consumption of coal is greatly reduced, they burn for a long enough time with sufficient heat, and they don’t smell as much.
Of course, Shang Wuyang still preferred high-quality smokeless charcoal.
After listening, Rong Zhi immediately understood what the appearance of this item in winter represented for those commoners at the bottom.
“What do you want to do?”
Shang Wuyang said, “I cannot control this alone, so I need your help.”
The emergence of this item is definitely beneficial to people’s livelihoods and presents a good opportunity to gain a reputation among the populace.
What emperor, other than those wasteful emperors given to debauchery, doesn’t want a good reputation among the people and doesn’t want to be widely supported?
However, if this item appears with someone outside the royal family, or with a minister, it could easily arouse the jealousy of a petty emperor.
Even more petty emperors would be wary if their own son were doted upon by the commoners.
Tianqi is not my territory, and Shang Wuyang doesn’t want to cause himself trouble, so he needs to cooperate with Rong Zhi on this matter.
“Wanwan needs merit.”
Shang Wuyang stated directly, “This item can earn her merit, so it must be done, but you must take the lead in selling honeycomb briquettes in Tianqi, and the price cannot be too high. As for how to prevent your emperor from being wary, that is your problem.”
Rong Zhi looked at Wanwan.
The young lady blinked her eyes obediently.
Rong Zhi nodded, “Okay, but what’s in it for you?”
He didn’t believe a merchant like Shang Wuyang would do a losing business.
Shang Wuyang pinched the hair on Qin Wanwan’s head, which was tied into small buns.
“It’s simple. The materials for making honeycomb briquettes will be purchased from me. I have three coal mines and I’m worrying about where to put the cinders.”
Rong Zhi: …………
Sometimes, Shang Wuyang’s wealth made him a little jealous.
“Deal.”
After the two discussed the details of their cooperation, Rong Zhi left, needing to go back and write a letter.
Rong Zhi considered whether to assign this matter to the Crown Prince, but quickly dismissed the idea.
Yin Yuanli, due to his identity as the Crown Prince, was already seen as a thorn in the side by other ambitious imperial princes, consorts, and even those behind them, who wished him gone.
If not for Yin Yuanli’s strange luck, he would have died countless times already.
If the honeycomb briquette matter ultimately proved beneficial to him, the other imperial princes, who were already vying with each other, would surely turn their attention towards Yin Yuanli.
So, it’s better to find the emperor; the emperor is easily deceived.
At the Shang family residence, Shang Wuyang handed Qin Wanwan a box of gold ingots.
Qin Wanwan’s eyes turned into money symbols as she looked at the gold ingots.
“So many shiny treasures!”
“Do you like it?”
Qin Wanwan nodded.
Shang Wuyang casually placed them in her hands.
“Take them. Aren’t you worried about those beggars without homes? Find a way to help them, but you’ll have to figure it out yourself. I can only support you financially.”
Qin Wanwan was just a three-year-old child, and her experience was limited. The only solution she could think of was to buy things for those people to eat.
Carrying a box of gold was a bit heavy.
She turned and handed it to Lang Ya to hold, and Qin Wanwan trotted on her short legs to her little room.
“Keke, what can I do?”
Keke asked, “Then what do you think those people need the most?”
Qin Wanwan tilted her little head and thought.
“Food, and houses.”
She said, “Then Wanwan can buy them food and buy them houses to live in.”
Keke replied, “No, you can’t keep giving them food. That will make them too lazy. A small favor can lead to great resentment; if you give them too much, they’ll get used to getting things without working. One day, when you stop giving, they’ll resent you for not continuing to help.”
Qin Wanwan’s eyes widened, “Why are they so bad?”
Keke comforted the little Qilin, “Human hearts are the most complex. You can help them, but not without limits. It’s better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish; they need to earn their food by their own abilities.
Houses can be bought, but don’t buy them anything too fancy. Let those beggars who are too young and have nowhere to go for winter live in them, as well as those abandoned infants. Adults with hands and feet can earn money themselves.”
Qin Wanwan was confused and didn’t understand, “Why would they abandon children?”
“Preference for males over females; those who are born and seen as girls and are unwanted are abandoned. Some are abandoned because the child has some disability, and some simply cannot afford to raise them.”
It didn’t tell Qin Wanwan that in some places, newborn female infants would be directly strangled or drowned in water.
The little Qilin cub was too young; these were not things she needed to know yet.
“Cub, your merit can not only be used to buy things in the mall, but it has a more important purpose.”
Keke suddenly became serious.
Qin Wanwan blinked her big eyes, looking at it blankly.
“You know yourself that you have congenital deficiencies, right?”
Qin Wanwan nodded.
She was one of only two Qilins in the world, and in her egg, she had almost failed to hatch due to congenital deficiencies.
This was also why her daddy had to search everywhere for rare treasures and try various methods to strengthen her life force.
For this, he didn’t hesitate to snatch many treasures from immortals, incurring the wrath of the masses, which led to his punishment by Heavenly Emperor Uncle to descend to the mortal world for tribulation.
Originally, she was supposed to undergo five lifetimes of tribulation, but her father’s soul was too powerful. The original plan was for a portion of his divine soul to undergo tribulation while the other portion remained dormant.
That clever devil, her father, directly split his divine soul into five parts and reincarnated for tribulation all at once, creating a bug in the Heavenly Dao.
