Wei Ruo smiled lightly and replied unhurriedly: "Yes, Qingwan and I are both girls from the Wei family. Whether we are at home or after we get married, my relationship with her will not change."
Concubine Qi was very satisfied when she heard this: "As expected of the girl from Uncle Zhongyi's Mansion, she is the most knowledgeable."
Then Concubine Qi asked Wei Ruo about another matter: "I heard that Princess Rui once was in Taizhou Mansion. Is there such a thing as helping Princess Jingmin to open up wasteland and provide disaster relief?"
"It is such a thing." Wei Ruodao.
"Speaking of which, my son has been worried and troubled about the people who have been affected by the disaster in the past two years. If Princess Rui has any ideas, she might as well talk to me, and I will tell Heng'er about it, and he can use it for disaster relief. So that more people can benefit." Concubine Qi said.
"The imperial concubine is unaware of something. It's not that I'm unwilling to help, but that I'm not the one in charge of matters in Taizhou Mansion, and I'm not very clear about many things," Wei Ruo replied.
"But Princess Rui participated in the entire disaster relief process. She must know a lot of things. She must also know some ways to open up wasteland and improve the land." Concubine Qi said.
Wei Ruo smiled and replied: "As far as I know, land reclamation and disaster relief must be adapted to local conditions and cannot be applied mechanically. Different places have different methods. If you just copy the gourd, it will be counterproductive." After listening to Wei Ruo's
explanation , Concubine Qi did not speak for a long time. Her expression seemed to be thinking about whether what Wei Ruo said was true.
Wei Ruo added: "If the imperial concubine wants, I can tell you some of the methods I know. But if the opposite effect is obtained, the imperial concubine must not blame the concubine." Concubine Qi said warmly
. "That's the case, it's a pity. I originally wanted to do something for the people of Li and relieve the emperor's problems." No
matter whether what Wei Ruo said was true or not, it was not easy for Concubine Qi to embarrass Wei Ruo openly.
"I am not capable enough and have failed to live up to my queen's expectations for me." Wei Ruo said with a hint of self-reproach and regret.
"Of course this is not Princess Rui's fault. Princess Rui is already very outstanding. If the emperor hadn't refused, I would have wanted you to marry my son." said Concubine Qi.
Chu Heng's first concubine has been decided a long time ago, and she must be a girl from their Qi family.
Concubine Qi has always wanted to choose a suitable concubine for Chu Heng. The concubine's family background must not be outstanding, so as not to arouse the emperor's jealousy, but she must also be of some help to her son.
So at first Concubine Qi fell in love with Wei Ruo because Wei Ruo had some skills that could help her son, but the emperor didn't agree for some reason.
After that, Concubine Qi chose Wei Qingwan.
Wei Ruo responded with a smile.
Wei Ruo stayed with Concubine Qi for about an hour. Concubine Qi also wanted to stay with Wei Ruo for dinner, but Wei Ruo declined because she wanted to go back to take care of the frail prince.
Hearing that it was for the sick Prince Rui, Concubine Qi no longer stayed and ordered Wei Ruo to be sent back to Prince Rui's Mansion.
###
May 15th, half month.
Wei Ruo went to Long'an Temple outside the city to offer incense.
Wei Ruo had already been here on the first day of February, and now she was here again. Uninformed people thought that Wei Ruo was here for the Bodhisattva enshrined in Long'an Temple, but she was not here to offer incense.
In order to avoid causing unnecessary trouble, Wei Ruo still showed up in Xu Heyou's attire.
When he arrived at Long'an Temple, Wei Ruo did not stop the car, but continued walking along the path leading to the back of the temple.
This path is relatively narrow, just enough for Wei Ruo's carriage to pass.
The road was a bit muddy, and the car shook and bumped a bit while driving on it.
Fortunately, the journey was not far, and after a short trip, we reached our destination.
The car stopped at the door of a farmhouse.
At first glance, it is obvious that the farmhouse has been recently renovated. Unlike other farmhouses in this area that use bamboo fences as walls, this farmhouse has newly built earthen walls. The walls are made of yellow mud mixed with stones and straw, and broken tiles are used to cover the top to keep out the rain.
The wall was built higher than that of ordinary houses. People passing by outside could not see inside at all. Only the roof of the house inside was slightly higher than the wall and could be seen.
Wei Ruo and Xiumei got out of the car and came to the door. Xiumei knocked on the door.
The door opened and they were greeted by an old face - Shi Dayou, the head of Stone Village.
"Master Xu!"
When Shi Dayou saw Wei Ruo, his face was filled with joy and his voice was excited.
Wei Ruo and Xiumei entered the house, and Shi Dayou closed the courtyard door.
"Thank you for your hard work." Wei Ruo said to Shi Dayou.
"It's not hard work. How can I say it's hard work? This is much easier than other ways to make money! Mr. Xu gave me this opportunity. I should thank Mr. Xu!" "For most people,
it's You are reluctant to leave your hometown, not to mention you are the village chief." Wei Ruodao.
"It is indeed difficult to leave my hometown. But I have thought about it carefully. In the past two years, the crops have not been grown well, and we have not been able to eat well. If it weren't for Mr. Xu's help, we wouldn't have known how we would have spent last year. ."
"Instead of waiting in my hometown and not knowing when I will not have food, it is better to go all out and let everyone follow you, Mr. Xu! Although we have left our hometown, we can have food and see the world, so that the people in our hometown can It's worth it if the elderly and children live a better life!"
Shi Dayou expressed his thoughts.
"Don't worry, you have followed me all this way, I will not treat you badly." Wei Ruo promised Shi Dayou.
"I believe Mr. Xu!"
Wei Ruo smiled lightly, looking satisfied.
It was rare for Shi Dayou to have such insight, and it was not in vain that she had chosen him in the first place.
"Let me see how things are going here first."
Wei Ruo looked into the courtyard.
The originally flat courtyard was dug more than a foot deep, and you still had to go down several steps after entering the courtyard gate.
An earthen blast furnace about two meters high was built in the dug-out area.
There is a slightly shorter earthen furnace about one meter away from the earthen blast furnace.
There is a sealed passage built with earth and stones between the two stoves.
The earthen furnace on the left is used for steelmaking, and the earthen furnace on the right is used for coking coal.
Put the coal into the coke oven on the right. After closed combustion, combustible gas and coal tar will be produced.
The gas enters the blast furnace through a sealed channel and is burned again for steelmaking.
The iron-making process has been very mature in this era. The difference between Wei Ruo's earthen blast furnace and other furnaces is not big. It only has slight adjustments and improvements in the process structure, and then additional iron is added during the refining process. Some of the ores have greatly improved the quality of the steel produced.
In addition, the stove on the right is not found elsewhere. It is the first time for Shi Dayou and others to see this structure and connection method.