"You offer a reward of 100 cents to find a manuscript? You can really think of it!" Li Hong in the hall smiled after hearing Zhang Zong's explanation.

"There is no way. Those manuscripts were taken away by the princess. Although they are gone now, I am still worried that someone will make trouble with them, so I just took the initiative and claimed that those manuscripts were stolen so as not to have any consequences." Zhang Zong explained again with a smile.

"You always do things without any leakage. Even taking into account such small problems is really difficult for you!" Li Hong paused at this point, and then said with some emotion, "It's too peaceful and too spoiled. My father is reluctant to take care of her. I don't have time to take care of her, which makes her really lawless sometimes. Seeing that she is almost at the age of getting married, it's really a headache to think about it!"

When Zhang Zong heard Li Hong mention Taiping, he immediately closed his mouth and stopped talking. This time he had completely recognized Taiping. For Taiping, it cannot be simply described as good or bad. However, she is extremely self-centered and does not know the importance of doing things, which can easily make the people around her unlucky, so she must stay away from her in the future.

However, as the eldest brother, Li Hong was very concerned about Taiping, the sister. He nagged for a long time. Unfortunately, although he could control Taiping, he was too busy to take care of her at all. Moreover, Taiping stayed in the palace most of the time, so it was even more impossible for him to go to the palace to discipline her every day.

After sighing about the peace, Li Hong remembered the reason for finding Zhang Zong, so he immediately handed him a letter in hand and said, "Look, this is the good news just sent to Shuozhou!"

Zhang Zong took the letter and opened it and read it, but he was also very happy because this was the news sent by Li Hong to find the coal mine. It is believed that they found a huge coal mine north of Shuozhou. It was buried very shallowly and could see the coal seam if they dug less than ten feet down.

"That's great. This should be the open-pit coal mine I mentioned. As long as the surface soil is dug up, you can mine it directly!" Zhang Zong excitedly patted the letter.

Since the coal mines in Xianyang began to be mined, Datang has also mobilized many forces to find coal mines. Many coal mines have been discovered this year, but there has been no news about the open-pit coal mine mentioned by Zhang Zong before, and now it has finally been found.

"Yes, there is also good news. Coal mines that can be coking have been found, and the first furnace of steel made of coke has been released. It is said that the quality is not worse than that of steel made of charcoal. Moreover, this is just a test. If the craftsmen are skilled in the future, they will definitely be able to further improve the quality of steel!" Li Hong told Zhang Zong again good news.

Not all coal can be coking. In fact, although the coal reserves in the Tang Dynasty were very high, there were not many coals that could be used for coking. This kind of coal that could be coking was called coking coal. If other coals were used to coking and use this coking and iron smelting, the quality of steel would be greatly reduced. Although the steel production in the Ming and Qing Dynasties was large, the quality of the steel declined significantly, mainly because of the use of unqualified coke smelting.

Zhang Zong also showed a happy expression when he heard the news above. As early as when the coal mine was mined, he thought of using coal to coke. Unfortunately, the coal in Xianyang was not suitable for coking. Later, every time a coal mine was discovered, the court would send craftsmen to test coking. Zhang Zong had already given Li Hong the coking method, and now he finally found a suitable coking coal.

Coke has a great advantage over charcoal. First of all, it generates a large amount of heat and a higher temperature when burning, which can increase the efficiency of iron smelting and improve the quality of steel. The most important thing is to reduce the dependence on charcoal. You should know that the Tang Dynasty was a critical period for soil erosion in the Central Plains, and the Yellow River began to become yellower and the floods became more and more serious.

"Then where is the location of this coal mine? How do the court plan to use it?" Zhang Zong also asked anxiously.

"This coal mine is not very far from Taiyuan. I have already written to my father and plan to expand the smelting industry in Taiyuan and increase the output of steel." Li Hong said happily at this time. Taiyuan is one of the accompanying capitals of the Tang Dynasty, and there are many mines there, and iron smelting and other industries are very developed. Now that the scale of iron smelting will definitely bring the steel output of Datang to a higher level.

"Taiyuan is a good place. Although the land is not as fertile as south of the Yellow River, it is full of various minerals. It is just right to develop industries such as mining and smelting!" Zhang Zong nodded and said in agreement after hearing this.

Just as Zhang Zong finished speaking, an eunuch suddenly hurried to the hall to report: "Report to Your Highness, King Xun is asking for a meeting!"

Li Sujie is here! Zhang Zong was stunned when he heard this, but then he thought that Li Sujie had asked him about the situation in the capital before, and he also advised the other party to get close to Li Hong and stay away from the court. Recently, he heard that he often came to Li Hong and rarely contacted the ministers in the court. It seems that he really listened to his words.

"Please come in quickly!" Li Hong was very enthusiastic about his brother and immediately spoke.

After a while, Li Sujie quickly came to the hall. When he saw Li Hong, he immediately saluted. Li Hong also stepped forward to support the other party cordially. Then the two brothers chatted for a few words, and they looked like they were kind and respectful. However, as for what they were thinking in their hearts, they probably only knew.

Li Sujie also quickly noticed Zhang Zong next to him, and immediately took the time to say hello to him, and then he spoke to Li Hong again: "Crown Prince, I met my sixth brother yesterday. He was practicing and annotating the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty" with someone, and I also have some research on the history of the Han Dynasty, so my sixth brother wanted to invite me to go with me, but I don't know if I should go?"

Li Xian ranked sixth among princes. He was indeed compiling the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty". Speaking of the princes of the Tang Dynasty liked to compile books very much. On the one hand, they could show their talents, and on the other hand, they could also accumulate fame and popularity for themselves. At the same time, they could also attract a group of knowledgeable people for their own use. It can be said that they won multiple goals in one fell swoop.

"So that's the matter! Fourth brother, you don't have any worries. In fact, the sixth brother mentioned the book review to me before, and I took the initiative to tell my sixth brother that you are free now, so why not just study books with your sixth brother, which is considered to be a little bit of work." Li Hong said without any mind.

Li Sujie was relieved when he heard this. He was careful when he returned to the capital and was very cautious about Li Xian asking him to study books. Now that he heard Li Hong say this, he can finally feel relieved.
Chapter completed!