This denunciation was just like that; it was just that Zhu Ci did not need him to be "useful," even if he intended to cultivate him, it was in hopes for the future.
He also did not hope that Xi Zhenliu would spend every day obsessing over these petty matters, lest his character become warped.
Regarding the conspiracy involving those three people, Zhu Ci acted as if he knew nothing, allowing them to find opportunities to distribute the formula.
The formula for Allicin was not difficult to begin with, but the control of the heat determined its activity; if the temperature was too high, the activity would be lost and it would be useless, if the temperature was too low, the Allicin would not be released and it would also be useless.
Moreover, aside from temperature, the biggest problem is preservation.
The Allicin produced this way has a very short shelf life, lasting at most three or four days.
Xia Lei was a martial artist and naturally possessed a strong physique. Additionally, besides using Allicin, Zhu Ci also employed other methods, so his wounds healed very quickly.
If one didn't know that this used expired Allicin.. it wouldn't be fatal immediately, but the expired Allicin itself might become a breeding ground for bacteria, which would likely turn a mild case into a severe one.
It could be considered a small counterattack he launched against that person behind the scenes.
..
The Marquis of Huating's Manor, Huating County, Songjiang Prefecture.
The leader of the Eastern Palace Guards rushed over and said from outside the door, "My Lord, Chunsheng has sent word of top-secret news."
Aside from the old steward, no one in the entire Marquis of Huating's manor could enter or leave the Marquis's quarters at will, not even a guard leader like him.
Hmm?" Fu, who was standing before the sand table conducting simulations, looked up and said, "Bring it here.
The guard leader immediately entered the study. Even in his own home, the Marquis of Huating, Fu Chunsheng, still wore a veiled bamboo hat when meeting outsiders, making it impossible to see his face.
He took the letter tube, pulled out the slip of paper, saw that it was covered in dense, encrypted text.
Fu sneered after reading it, "How ambitious, sending them to protect people, they've become thieves first!"
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Author's Note: Zhu Ci: It's fine, I've always only executed the wicked. No matter what they do, it will all be blamed on you. Evil kitty sharpening its claws. jpg
Next update tomorrow morning at six o'clock~
Chapter 41
The attendant beside him said cautiously, "It seems.. the news in this letter must be very important."
Fu said nothing; the things sent by his subordinates were, of course, important.
It was just that there were many ways to obtain important items, whether through trading or buying; that little Highness didn't have much money, but in the end, everything was negotiable.
As a result, these disgraceful wretches chose to steal; all their studies have gone to waste!
Fu pondered for a while before saying, "Hasn't he been working on some beehive coal lately? Once sales begin, send someone to buy it. Go directly to his people; buy as much as they need."
The attendant immediately obeyed. "Yes, sir. I wonder how long we will be buying?"
Fu looked at the recipe in his hands and said, "Buy it until he stops selling it."
He paused and then instructed, "Remember to send some gifts over; use whatever excuse you like, as long as it's something he can use."
The attendant obediently withdrew to convey the Marquis's imperial decree.
Fu said to the butler, "Go and call Physician Yan and the Prison Official here."
Physician Yan and the Prison Official arrived very quickly. Fu wrote down the recipe for Allicin on a piece of paper and handed it to Physician Yan, asking, "How much of this formula do you think is real and how much is fake?"
After Physician Yan took it, he studied it carefully for a long while but still couldn't figure out what this thing was actually for. He asked hesitantly, "Marquis, where was this obtained from?"
Fu said, "A servant in the household obtained it by chance. The substance made from this formula can cause a person with necrotic flesh in their wound to heal within a short period, saving their life."
Physician Yan's eyes widened instantly. He stroked his beard and said, "Allicin does indeed have some effect, but.. to actually pull someone back from the King of Hell, this.."
With the wound already festering, the person had essentially one foot in the coffin, yet he could be saved. If this thing were real, its value would be immeasurable.
Fu said, "I'll trouble Physician Yan to prepare it according to this formula."
After speaking, he looked toward the Prison Official and instructed, "Bring out a few death row inmates from the prison to test the medicine."
No matter how detailed Fu Chunsheng's introduction to this prescription was, no matter whether Xia Lei had truly saved his life because of it, Fu could not use it directly; he had to test it first.
Extracting Allicin is not difficult, finding a death row inmate with a festering, pus-filled wound is not difficult either.
However, no matter how Physician Yan and the Prison Official tried, they could not achieve the effect Fu Chunsheng had described.
After three death row inmates had died, Physician Yan frowned and said, "Perhaps there are still certain details in this formula that have not been fully understood."
Fu asked, "Can you figure it out?"
Physician Yan said with some uncertainty, "I wouldn't dare say for certain that I can test it, I can only say I will try my best. However.. it would be best to have the person who obtained this recipe examine it more carefully."
Fu said solemnly, "I must trouble Physician Yan to try it once more."
Physician Yan didn't ask any more questions and left with a frown.
The attendant beside Fu asked softly, "My Lord, why not let Chunsheng investigate further?"
None of them suspected that the recipe Chunsheng provided was fake, especially since Xia Lei had sent a message later as confirmation, not to mention Fu Qiulu's explanation; it would mean all three of them had betrayed the Marquis together.
Fu said directly, "Do not contact them again for the time being, tell them to stay low and focus on protecting the Crown Prince; they shouldn't do anything else."
The attendant was still somewhat confused, but the butler was experienced and asked, "Marquis, has their identities been exposed?"
Fu said, "They must already be under suspicion, it's just that their identities haven't been fully exposed. Perhaps.. the fact that those two were left in Wenzhou Prefecture back then already aroused his suspicion."
The attendant was somewhat puzzled: "In that case, why did the Crown Prince keep them by his side?"
Fu gave a light chuckle. "Perhaps.. he wants to find this Marquis through Chunsheng and the others."
The attendant's expression changed. "Then should we have them withdraw?"
Fu shook his head. "No need. Let them stay there. I want to see if this Crown Prince can actually find me."
After he finished speaking, he stood up and continued to operate the sand table.
The attendant quietly approached the butler and asked, "Uncle Bai, the Marquis.. what does this mean? That Crown Prince will be useless soon, so why are Chunsheng and the others staying there?"
The butler glanced at him. "You don't know a damn thing."
The attendant immediately became well-behaved.
The Crown Prince, who was considered to be nearing the end of his usefulness, was currently making a thermometer. It could only be said that both he and Xia Lei had been quite lucky; the Allicin had not lost too much of its potency during the heating process. If the temperature had been even slightly higher, the grass on Xia Lei's grave would.. oh, the weather is too cold for grass to grow on a grave.
Anyway, if anything went wrong, Xia Lei would have been reincarnated.
But he couldn't rely on luck every single time.
Allicin has a very wide range of uses, but unfortunately, he lacks effective preservation methods for the time being. He can only continuously prepare some as backups, but since he relies solely on feeling, the effectiveness of the Allicin produced each time could vary. How can this be used?
Using a thermometer to control the heating temperature is the best method.
Of course, the reason he could make this was also because he had obtained a significant number of glass products from the late Ming, at the very least, glass tubes could still be found.
He had dragged Zhu Ying to find this thing.
After the New Year, there was a heavy snowfall, the temperature plummeted overnight, catching everyone who was already preparing for spring completely off guard.
Zhu Ci was in the same situation; the beehive coal originally planned to be sufficient was becoming increasingly scarce.
Just at this moment, Zhu Ying sent someone over to inquire directly: "Can the workshop be built first? There is no rush for the beehive coal stoves, but we can prepare some beehive coal first and sell it while the demand is high."
Zhu Ci had originally been conflicted about whether to distribute more beehive coal to the villagers after hearing that people in other villages had frozen to death.
He also couldn't just stand by and watch people freeze to death.
As a result, when Zhu Ying saw the dead person, the first thing he thought of was the skyrocketing coal prices, that he could take advantage of this opportunity to make a quick profit.
Zhu Ci sighed and had someone reply to Zhu Ying, "The location has already been chosen; if he finds the craftsmen, have them sent to start construction."
It must be built sooner or later, because the cold has frozen the river channels, it is said that many people have lost their livelihoods.
So many people in the village fall ill for this very reason; the fields cannot be cultivated, the frozen rivers make it impossible to obtain other resources, so many people can only brave the bitter cold in an attempt to find work in the county seat.
It was just that odd jobs in the county seat were scarce, with too many people competing for too little. Some people, in an effort to save on lodging expenses, even sought shelter in open areas to sleep outdoors; under such circumstances, it was no wonder they fell ill.
At least working here would give them a job.
Zhu Ci was simply using this opportunity to have Zhu Ying bring him some glass tubes.
In any case, whether it was road construction or building a factory, he didn't need to appear in person; he only needed to hand over the layout map of the coal production plant.
The coal production plant was not small in scale, but most of it was used for storing raw materials.
The remaining workshops were divided into two parts: one part was for making premixes, while the other was used for pressing and air-drying the mixed materials.
When these two workshops were being designed, Zhu Ci had people reserve space for flues to be used for heating.
Once the workshops are put into use, they shouldn't need to stop; at most, production might slow down during the hot seasons, but they won't stop entirely, especially during winter.
He couldn't possibly let people freeze while making beehive coal, could he?
He couldn't possibly adopt such capitalist methods.
Unfortunately, there are no good alloys available right now, copper is a strategic resource. While ordinary families might be able to purchase copperware, they cannot buy raw metallic copper.
If he could buy copper, he could have made a water heating system directly; after all, the temperature of water heating is better than that of a flue.
For now.. it'll have to do.
After handing over the blueprints, Zhu Ci began tinkering with thermometers.
The glass tubes sent by Zhu Ying were all quite large, each one as thick as an index finger, their transparency was not very good.
However, he couldn't demand too much and would just have to make do with them.
The two best liquids for a liquid thermometer are alcohol and mercury.
Needless to say, Zhu Ci directly chose alcohol.
The preparation of mercury requires quite a bit of skill, something he couldn't handle on his own, if done incorrectly, it could easily lead to poisoning.
Alcohol is still easier. As for distilling alcohol, since he already has a simple distiller, distilling alcohol is not a difficult task for him.
The most difficult step in making the entire thermometer was probably sealing the tube.
The glass tube containing alcohol must be heated, then quickly sealed with a tool just as the liquid vapor fills the mouth of the tube.
This step was not easy at all; Zhu Ci tried many different sealing tools before finally managing to seal it with rosin.