Chapter 239: Chapter 237: Glass Marbles
That is to say, for at least the next period of time, there is no need to put one’s income over there.
As such, keeping these funds anywhere would be unsafe.
Rather than that, it might as well be spent. Thinking of this, Lin Yi couldn’t help chuckling to himself.
This time, the Emperor couldn’t blame him. It wasn’t by his own wish, it was simply because there was no place to store the money on your end. There was no way I could not spend it.
When Lin Yi arrived at the Nanshan Base, he was startled to find that the base had undergone a great transformation.
Truth be told, he hadn’t visited this place for quite some time.
And precisely for this reason, he was astonished by the earthshaking changes upon his return.
The most critical and apparent change was the several large piles of black coal that had been erected on the vast open ground not far from the row of workshops.
While these workshops were operating, Lin Yi also didn’t forget to have the refugees go to the mountains to mine the open-pit coal mines.
As long as it was an open-pit coal mine, or one that was not deep underground, he would arrange people to mine it uniformly.
These things were certainly very useful.
Watching the coal hills grow higher and new mounds appear before his eyes, Lin Yi only felt as if he was seeing heaps of silver.
Not only that, he even foresaw that the citizens of the city would have a more comfortable winter this year.
Or rather, it could save countless lives of the citizens.
Just looking at the coal that has been mined now, there should be at least enough to supply the Capital City for about a month.
After all, the population of the Capital City is not large nowadays, even less than that of a county in later generations.
Moreover, those in the Imperial Palace would naturally not burn this stuff, as they have access to the best wood charcoal.
That material burns without emitting any toxic gases, certainly much better than this coal.
Upon seeing Lord Lin’s arrival, the person in charge immediately ran over.
“Lord Lin, we’ve already mined so much Black Stone here, do we continue to dig?”
To him, Black Stone didn’t seem to serve any grand purpose; using it for heating was impractical.
After all, in their understanding, this stuff was toxic. If used for heating, it wouldn’t take many days before people would die from its poison.
“Keep mining, mine as much as possible, don’t stop.
Have them take advantage of the weather not being too cold at the moment to mine as much as possible.
When the soil freezes over after some time, mining will become more difficult.
We need to mine at least thrice the current amount during this period.”
Although these were all open-pit coal mines and not too difficult to mine, doing it in the biting cold wind would clearly be challenging.
Better to make the most of the current weather and mine more.
At least enough to prepare for three months of use, to help the citizens through the coldest months of winter.
Even though they didn’t understand Lin Yi’s purpose behind this, since Lord Lin had given the order, they had no choice but to follow through.
“How’s the situation at the Blacksmith Workshop?”
Upon hearing the question, the in-charge nodded immediately:
“Lord Lin, the construction of the Blacksmith Workshop is almost complete.
It should be formally put into production in at most three more days.”
Upon hearing this, Lin Yi nodded in satisfaction, then reached into his robe and pulled out a piece of silk, handing it directly to the other person:
“This silk contains a small gadget drawn by this official. Take it to the Blacksmith Workshop, and after, hand it to the person in charge there. Have them make one according to the design on the blueprint.”
After delegating this task, he headed straight toward the workshops.
He wanted to check on the construction of these workshops; after all, this was crucial to his next plan.
Especially at this critical juncture, when time is pressing, every moment must be tightly scheduled.
Otherwise, important matters could be delayed.
After walking around, Lin Yi was pleased to find that the Glassware Workshop had been completely finished.
Moreover, right now, the large storehouse of the workshop was filled with all kinds of glassware.
Just the quantity of these glassware, if fully introduced to the market, would definitely drop the market price of glassware by more than half.
Of course, Lin Yi would not do such a thing, at least not in the short term.
As for making glassware available to the common people, Lin Yi would surely do it, but not just yet.
“The reserve of our glassware is now considerable.
Tell them, now make more of that kind of glass bead that this official needs.
As for the quantity, no cap for now, the more the better.”
The glass bead Lin Yi mentioned was not difficult to understand; it was the solid glass sphere, also known as glass marbles.
As for their use, surely Lin Yi didn’t intend to introduce the game of shooting glass marbles to ancient times?
That is certainly impossible.
Moreover, no one would generously give glass beads to children to play with nowadays.
The reason Lin Yi wanted so many glass beads was certainly to use them for trickery.
Don’t forget that there’s not just one kingdom like You Country on this Earth now.
Without mentioning other places, just in the Central Plains alone, You Country is not the only one.
And since ancient times, glass beads have been very precious. Therefore, the value of these glass beads could be comparable to gold, if not more.
So, if they are more precious than gold, why not use them instead of gold to purchase certain items?
And right now, a very important procurement plan is laid out before Lin Yi’s eyes.
Lin Yi was ordered to organize the Nanshan Thousand Households, meaning
this would entail the formation of a new army.
And for a new army, weapons and the most advanced horses are essential.
Yes, in the current context, Cavalry is like the trump card.
And if Lin Yi is to build one, it would have to be the most elite combat force of the present.
As for Firearms from future generations, he does not have the capacity to develop them yet.
PS: Irons, I’ve been really busy with company business lately, which has made the updates a bit lackluster.
But don’t worry, Irons, in a few days, Zimu promises to give a mass update.
The kind that starts with ten chapters!