Yang Haiyan didn't know whether boiling water could produce saltpeter, but she could try. She was already thinking about how to do it. For example, after the ice melted, did she boil the water incorrectly
This didn't work, and soon, Yang Haiyan had other ideas.
Qin Fang was very excited and in great spirits: "Yan Yan, go to bed first. I will write a letter to Lord Du and tell him how to make ice with saltpeter."
Yang Haiyan said, "Okay. By the way, my husband, why do you always write to Lord Du instead of submitting the memorial directly to the emperor?"
Qin Fang had his own ideas: "I am new to the court, and I am not from the imperial examination system. I don't understand many of the court's rules. But I have been with Lord Du before, and I think Lord Du is a good official, so I gave him the letter. If he feels that there is something wrong in his heart, he should remind me. This is one reason. Second, I am a military general, and the memorials of military generals should go to the Ministry of War first, so there is no problem in theory."
Yang Haiyan has read the laws of Qi State. Qi State did not have a cabinet, so unlike many dynasties, many dynasties had cabinets, so the officials' memorials would first go to the cabinet, and then the cabinet would select and present them to the emperor. In this case, the cabinet would read the memorials first. Sometimes, if someone in the cabinet did not get along with the official who wrote the memorial, then the memorial might be suppressed.
Of course, officials’ memorials would be copied and registered before submission.
Another way is for officials to hand over memorials to the emperor privately, which would cause trouble for people in the palace.
However, although some dynasties did not have a cabinet, there was another way to submit memorials. The court had a special department to receive memorials, called the Tongzhengsi, which would then send them to the palace, where they would be handed over to the palace gatekeepers and then presented to the emperor's desk.
In Qi State, memorials from civil officials and military officers were separated. Memorials from civil officials were directly handed over to the Tongzhengsi, which then handed them over to the palace, and then the palace gate officials handed them over to the emperor. Memorials from military officers would generally go to the Ministry of War first. Of course, if a military officer did not want to hand in his memorial to the Ministry of War, he could hand it over directly to the Tongzhengsi.
However, this sometimes makes the Ministry of War a little embarrassed. For example, in some cases, the emperor knows everything, but the Ministry of War does not know. When the emperor asks questions during the morning court, the officials of the Ministry of War are passive. It is also possible that the officials of the Ministry of War will hate the military generals because of this. For the military generals, this is not beneficial.
Moreover, if the Ministry of War were to know some situations related to it first, it would also be beneficial to its adjustments.
However, Qin Fang first gave the memorial to Du Ke, not because of these reasons, he just wanted to find a backer, to cling to someone, he knew that he was insignificant and didn't understand some things, so he hoped that Du Ke could give him some pointers. Du Ke was the Minister of War, even if Qin Fang didn't understand the affairs of the court, he knew that not everyone could be the Minister of War, especially when the new emperor ascended the throne, he wanted to hold the military power, so the Minister of War must be his man.
Qin Fang would not tell Yang Haiyan about his dark thoughts. He did not want his wife to know about his calculating thoughts. She was with him when he had nothing, when he was down and out, when he was illiterate. He did not care that he was imperfect and had many shortcomings in front of her. But he did not want her to know about his conspiracies.
Qin Fang wrote the memorial overnight and sent someone to deliver it to the capital at dawn the next day.
So much so that two and a half days later, Lord Du received Qin Fang's second letter.
Du Ke was in the imperial study at the moment, looking at the emperor face to face. Du Ke had just walked out of here half an hour ago, and the emperor and his ministers had discussed the rewards for Qin Fang and Yang Haiyan. Unexpectedly, half an hour later, Qin Fang sent another achievement, making ice with saltpeter. Qin Fang dared to say this, so saltpeter must be able to make ice.
Emperor: "Sulfur mines, saltpeter mines, military camp fields, saltpeter ice making, all these things happened together in the second year after I ascended the throne. Du Ke, tell me, Qin Fang is really my lucky star." Things that benefit the country and the people happened when he ascended the throne. There is no emperor who would not like such a good thing.
Du Ke was startled and remembered what his father had just said today. His father said that Qin Fang was a good person and was just lucky.
The emperor really likes people with good luck, especially those like Qin Fang, who was born in a poor family, has no backing, and no family. No matter how lucky he is or how high his position is, he is not afraid of him doing bad things.
The emperor continued, "In March, it rained for half a month, the dam collapsed, and floods were rampant. Everyone said that my throne was not legitimate, but Qin Fang went to suppress bandits and sent me silver. Tell me, if I had invented Huo Yao when I ascended the throne, solved the food problem of millions of soldiers in the barracks, and solved the problem of ice that even the locals were reluctant to use, who would still say that my throne was not legitimate and brought punishment from God?"
Du Ke lowered his head and dared not speak.
The emperor laughed loudly: "Qin Fang is good, and his wife is not bad either. You are right. This is a marriage arranged by me. I am their matchmaker."
Duco: If you say so, then it is.
Emperor: "Come here, ask the Imperial Hospital to bring some saltpeter. Let's try Qin Fang's method of making ice with saltpeter. If it really works, the price of ice will drop, and ordinary people may be able to afford it. It would be a great honor for me to see the country peaceful and the people live and work in peace and contentment during my lifetime..."
Du Ke: "Your Majesty is wise and intelligent, it will definitely work."
The emperor had heard this kind of flattery many times: "Unfortunately, no matter how big the saltpeter mine is, it is limited. If the saltpeter mine is mined out, there will be no saltpeter to make ice, and ice will still be..."
Du Ke said: "Perhaps the Beast Mountain that Qin Fang mentioned has more than one saltpeter mine."
Emperor: "Even if there are two or three places, that is still limited."
After a while, the imperial physician came with saltpeter, and according to the emperor's abundance, he brought enough saltpeter. Because saltpeter is slightly poisonous, the imperial physician came in person.
When the imperial physician arrived, there was already a large basin and a small basin in the imperial study. Both basins were filled with water, and the small basin was placed inside the large basin.
Emperor: "Put the saltpeter in the big basin, don't let it touch the small basin."
Eunuch: "Yes."
The Imperial Physician said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me for being so bold. Saltpeter is poisonous. You must not abuse it without the doctor's instructions. Is that what Your Majesty wants?"
The emperor usually listened to the doctor's advice, after all, it was related to his health, but today he wanted to show off in front of the doctor: "This saltpeter has other uses that you don't know about, just wait and see... Put more saltpeter in the big basin."
Eunuch: "Yes."
Since the emperor said so, the imperial physician naturally watched. However, the saltpeter absorbed heat and cooled the water very quickly, and because there was enough saltpeter, the water in the basin began to emit cold steam after half an hour. However, it was only cold steam, and it was far from freezing.
The imperial physician's eyes lit up: "Your Majesty, what is this?" The imperial physician was quite shocked. As an imperial physician, he could not say that he was well-read, but he had read most of the books related to medicine, but he had never known that saltpeter could have such an effect.
The emperor laughed again when he saw this. His laughter showed that he was in a very good mood today: "Qiu Aiqing, it is said that saltpeter is poisonous. If you put it in water to make ice, the ice made will also be poisonous. But this is how ice is made in water. The ice in the small basin is non-toxic and can be eaten. Do you think so?"
Doctor Qiu: "I need to let this humble minister check it." It is very simple to check whether the ice made by water is poisonous and whether it can be eaten. As long as the water that is now emitting cold air is non-toxic, then it will naturally be non-toxic when it turns into ice.
So soon, Doctor Qiu came to the conclusion: "Your Majesty, as you just said, ice made from water is indeed non-toxic. It's the water in this big basin that is poisonous. Because there is a lot of saltpeter, it speeds up the cooling process, so the toxicity is stronger than the saltpeter itself."
Emperor: "In other words, if the Ministry of Industry can design a good ice-making vessel, it is entirely possible to use saltpeter to make safe and edible ice."
Doctor Qiu: “Yes.”
The emperor sighed, "What a pity. The amount of saltpeter is limited, and the amount of ice that can be made is also limited."
Doctor Qiu thought for a moment and said, "That may not be the case. Perhaps saltpeter can be reused, but I haven't verified it yet, so I'm not sure."
When the emperor heard this, he asked excitedly, "What do you think?"
Doctor Qiu said, "Boil it. If saltpeter is dissolved in water, boiling water may produce saltpeter."
Du Ke: "What do you mean?"
Doctor Qiu thought for a moment, took out a white handkerchief, and then took out a bottle of medicine, poured the medicine on the handkerchief, and then explained: "Your Majesty and Lord Du, have you ever heard of boiling medicine? This medicine is poured on the handkerchief. If the handkerchief is dry, you can put the handkerchief in a pot of water and boil out the medicine on the handkerchief. This saltpeter is dissolved in water, so it should be possible to boil out the saltpeter. If the saltpeter dissolved in water can really be boiled out, then the saltpeter can be used repeatedly to make ice."
The emperor said: "Then ice will be worthless, and ordinary people will be able to afford ice." Although the ice makers no longer make any profit, in the emperor's heart, ordinary people are naturally more important.
If Yang Haiyan were here at this moment, she would definitely be excited to hear what Doctor Qiu said. The wisdom of the ancients is truly incredible.
The emperor added: "In that case, the matter of boiling saltpeter will be handed over to you. Remember, this matter must not be spread."
Doctor Qiu: "I obey your order."
The emperor nodded and said, "You can leave now." He then instructed the eunuch, "Help Imperial Doctor Qiu move these things to the Imperial Hospital."
Imperial Physician: “Yes.”
Doctor Qiu: "Thank you, Your Majesty."
Du Ke came in the afternoon. It was past dinner time and it was already dark, so after verifying the saltpeter ice-making method, he said, "Your Majesty, it is getting late. I should take my leave now."
The Emperor: "No hurry, you can stay in the palace and have dinner with me."