Chapter 752 Unexpected Discovery
Chapter 752 Unexpected Discovery
Xiao Xia and his family moved into the imperial palace, but they were not actually living in the palace city. The palace city was in a mess because of Wang Shichong's family. Xiao Xia was very resistant to this, so he ordered a thorough cleanup of the palace city, leaving only the palace frame, and all other floor tiles, walls, etc. were demolished and rebuilt.
Xiao Xia's family lived in Duyuan on the west side. Wang Shichong didn't like Duyuan and had never lived there. He was even too lazy to take a look. He only passed through Duyuan for the first time when he escaped.
Duyuan is actually a kind of imperial palace, a courtyard-style palace with grasslands, woods, rivers, lakes, and small bridges everywhere, and the scenery is very beautiful.
There are also many palaces in the capital. The palace where Xiao Xia works in the inner palace and receives ministers is called Shangyang Palace, which is close to the imperial city.
It was the day of the ten-day holiday. In the morning, Xiao Xia took a carriage to Gaoshan Palace in the east. Gaoshan Palace was the residence of Concubine Zhang Qiao. It was also a medicinal garden. It was not the herbs planted by Zhang Qiao, but various precious medicinal materials were planted here when the imperial palace was built.
Later, it was discovered by Zhang Qiao, who was overjoyed and moved here immediately. Gaoshan Palace was also called Baiyun Hall, where Zhang Qiao led dozens of palace maids to make medicine. Now fifty more palace maids have been added to be responsible for growing medicine.
Baiyuntang is also a feature of the palace and the only institution that can make money. The money it earns from selling medicine can cover half of the palace's expenses.
The carriage drove into Gaoshan Palace, and the air was filled with the fragrance of herbs. "Father!" Xiao Xia suddenly heard the voice of his daughter Yang Junjun.
When he turned around, he saw two young ladies waving at him happily on the side of the road. They were indeed his two precious daughters, Yang Junjun and Yang Qianer.
The carriage stopped and Xiao Xia asked them to get in. The two young ladies got in, each holding a bouquet of gorgeous peonies in their hands.
"Why are you here?"
"Luoyang red is in bloom, let's go see the peony!"
Peonies usually bloom from March to April of the lunar calendar, but Luoyang Red, a variety unique to Luoyang, blooms in February of the lunar calendar. Peony itself is not a medicinal material, but its rhizome bark is a good medicine, also known as peony bark.
Only Gaoshan Palace in the imperial palace planted a lot of Luoyang Red, and its peony bark had the best medicinal effect.
"Come back with me later!"
The two young ladies agreed obediently. After all, Gaoshan Palace was several miles away from the main palace, Longlin Palace, and there were woods along the way. Xiao Xia was still a little worried. After the palace was renovated in May, he decided to move back to the palace. They could come here for vacation, and it was like living in the countryside. After living here for a long time, everyone's hearts would be scattered.
Xiao Xia came to Zhang Qiao today to ask about his mother Xiao Chunyu. He heard that his mother had written a letter to Zhang Qiao.
Zhang Qiao invited her husband to her living room, while the two young ladies watched the carp on the terrace outside.
"So, my mother is willing to come to Luoyang and live for a while?" Xiao Xia asked happily.
Zhang Qiao nodded gently and handed a letter to Xiao Xia, "She received a letter from Master Yuan, instructing her that entering the world is an important step in practicing Taoism, so the master agreed to come to Luoyang to stay for a year."
Xiao Xia read the letter. Her mother also had some conditions in the letter. She wanted to live with Zhang Qiao and did not want to live in the palace as the empress dowager. She also wanted to be a female Taoist priest and live a quiet life without being disturbed. Of course, she also wanted to see her grandchildren.
Xiao Xia said happily: "Everything can be agreed to. She can live however she wants. Even if she doesn't want to see me, I will never disturb her."
Zhang Qiao smiled and said, "My husband, when you say this, it's as if the master doesn't want to see you. You are the biggest obstacle in her practice. She can't get around it, so she can only face it."
"When will she come?" Xiao Xia asked again.
Zhang Qiao smiled and said, "It's written in the letter that you will leave next month and bring 20 female disciples to help me make medicine."
Xiao Xia nodded, put down the letter and asked, "Have you made any new medicine recently?"
Zhang Qiao suddenly remembered something and said with a smile, "Oh, right, I have something to show my husband that I have never seen before!"
She took out a porcelain jar from the cabinet and opened the lid. A strong smell hit her face. Xiao Xia frowned and took a look. There was a black liquid in the jar. He smelled it and was stunned for a moment. It was oil.
"This is oil for starting fires. Where did you get it?"
"Yes! It can light a fire. My disciple who is in charge of purchasing it bought it from a pharmacy in South City. He said it can be used to treat skin diseases. I found that it can burn, but it produces a lot of smoke and has a very bad smell. I have never seen such oil before." "This comes out of the ground, just like coal. It is rarely seen in the Central Plains and the South. It can be used in the military as kerosene."
Military kerosene has existed since ancient times. It is mainly made of vegetable oil, with soybean oil and turpentine being the most commonly used. Soybean oil is mainly used for civilian lighting, while turpentine is used to make torches and rockets.
But oil did not appear. The biggest advantage of oil is its high yield. It can be used in large quantities and directly burned. Once it is used in the military, it can greatly change the form of war, just like gunpowder. The fierce fire oil used in large quantities during the Song and Ming dynasties was highly flammable oil refined from oil.
"Tell me, which pharmacy is it?"
Xiao Xia brought his two daughters back to Longlin Palace. He then went to Shangyang Palace and sent someone to summon Li Luming.
Not long after, Li Luming hurried over and bowed, "Your Majesty!"
"I asked you to come here during the ten-day break. Thank you for your hard work!"
"This is my humble servant's responsibility. Please give your orders, Your Majesty!"
Xiao Xia nodded, put the pottery jar on the table, opened the lid and said, "This thing is called oil. I found it in Concubine Shu's pharmacy. One of her purchasing maids bought it in the South City pharmacy. The pharmacy is called Pingzhen Pharmacy. Send someone to investigate immediately. I need to know where they got the oil from. This is a military resource as powerful as gunpowder."
Li Luming immediately bowed and said, "I will send someone to investigate right away!"
Luoyang South Market is the largest commercial market in Luoyang, a bit similar to the West Market in Chang'an. It mainly sells various bulk goods and daily necessities. Every day, there are crowds of people, various hawking sounds one after another, and it is extremely lively.
Shi Xiaozhen came to the Nanshi Pharmacy with several of his men. Shi Xiaozhen had been promoted to deputy commander of the Internal Guards due to his merits. If nothing unexpected happened, he would be the next to take over Li Luming's position.
Li Luming will be sent to Pyongyang to serve as the third Grand Commander, but this will happen three months later.
It happened that Shi Xiaozhen was on duty today, so Li Luming sent him to investigate the oil matter.
"Boss! That's the one."
The men pointed to a pharmacy, and Shi Xiaozhen also saw it. The shop sign read "Pingzhen Pharmacy!"
"Go in and take a look!"
Several people walked into the drugstore and were received by the short and fat shopkeeper.
"Don't underestimate our shop. It's only of medium to low size among the dozens of pharmacies. But we have good medicines that can be supplied to the palace. You know! The Baiyuntang of the palace also purchases from us."
Shi Xiaozhen smiled and showed the internal security gold medal, "We are here for this!"
The shopkeeper was so frightened that he trembled and stammered, "We have never sold fake medicine! The price is also fair!"
Shi Xiaozhen took out the porcelain jar, opened the lid and said, "We are here to check this thing!"
"Ah! Gao Nu Oil!"
"I don't care what it's called, just tell me, where did you get it from?"
The shopkeeper quickly said, "This was sold to me by Pu Wensong, a merchant from Yan'an County. It can cure skin diseases and is a good medicine. Baiyuntang did buy some yesterday."
"Where is this Pu Wensong?"
"What a coincidence, he's here!" The shopkeeper looked behind Shi Xiaozhen.
(End of this chapter)