sbdcsierra Chapter 492 Wings
Chapter 492 Wings
Dragging the rope, they worked alternately up and down the pits, transporting baskets of coal to the vicinity of the camp. Soon a small hill was piled up.
The earliest record of coal use since the birth of China can be found in the Shan Hai Jing.
However, development over thousands of years has not brought out the main value of coal. The fundamental reason is that scientific and technological standards are not up to standard.
Coal was not put into use until the Song Dynasty.
Datang is currently using charcoal, which is firewood.
Therefore, the people of the Tang Dynasty were full of questions about this black stone.
"Liu Xi, can this thing provide heating?" Wang An said as he walked with a load of coal on his shoulder.
Liu Xi was exhausted, having run up and down the pit countless times: "You have to ask the gods about this matter."
Coal was new to these two captains, not to mention the 3,000 soldiers behind them, who all became even more talkative.
"You're carrying the load of stones back here, are you trying to give us some exercise to keep the cold out?"
"Don't talk nonsense, this is the instruction of God."
"A god? Have you ever seen a stone make fire?"
"I think he is a charlatan."
Li Jing whipped the gossipers with a whip and said, "If you don't work hard, I will cut off your tongues if I hear you talking too much again."
The Ministry of War's military orders are as heavy as a mountain. You are only responsible for executing them. Why do you need to make suggestions?
However, Li Jing was still quite confused.
Can this black stone really be used to make fire and keep warm?
Although Li Jing respected Li Bai very much in his heart, as the Minister of War, he had seen the world, but he had never heard of stones being able to make fire.
We are really in a dilemma at the moment. Although we won a great victory in the night attack on Xiangcheng last night, we have no supplies left.
As night is approaching, the severe cold of winter is about to hit. Not to mention the hardships the soldiers will suffer after fighting all night, the most important thing is how to survive the severe cold tonight.
The night is more than twice as cold as the day, and those with weak wills are at great risk of freezing to death.
Just as Li Jing was thinking deeply, a voice suddenly came from behind: "Don't worry, no one will freeze to death tonight."
Li Jing's body trembled, and when he turned his head, he saw Li Bai, who was wrapped tightly.
"Officer Li, I am a simple commoner and have never encountered such a magical object. As night is approaching and the cold is coming, I have to consider the soldiers."
Well, I have to say that Li Jing was able to stabilize the morale of the army in the face of major issues and was considerate of his subordinates in private. Such a meritorious general did a great job in both his inner and outer qualities.
"In a moment, bring ten loads of coal to the center of the tent and pile them into a hollow hill. Then place a few braziers there. Call me when you're done."
"I, the divine Li Bai, will show you the world."
Li Jing understood what was going on after hearing this.
It was Li Bai who told them how to use the coal. It was just that the coal that had just been mined was raw coal, and the quality of the coal was not very good. Even if the soil content in it was 0, it was still raw coal.
The coal we use in our daily life is clean coal extracted from raw coal.
It can only be put into use after washing.
Now it is raw coal, which contains a lot of residue. In addition to the unburned ore, there are also natural coke and low-quality coal.
Excessive combustion will produce a large amount of carbon monoxide, causing poisoning.
This is what we call "coal smoke poison" in our daily life.
Otherwise, Li Bai would have been able to hold the coal and endure the cold with this group of cavalrymen. If he had not been afraid of being poisoned by the coal smoke, he would have opened fire long ago.
If the three thousand light cavalry really burned the raw coal recklessly, the next day Li Bai would be hunted down by Li Shimin and the entire Tang Dynasty on the charge of murdering the Minister of War Li Jing and his three thousand cavalry.
However, the night wind is now rising from the west. It is a cold place in East Turkestan and the low temperature will cool the raw coal. Coupled with the strong wind, after two or three hours of weathering, the poisonous gas will be reduced a lot.
So it can be heated.
"Deputy Officer Li, the brothers are waiting for you to perform your magic." Wang An and Liu Xi came specially to invite the divine man Li Bai.
Between the group of people, there were more than a dozen coal piles half a person's height, all of which were hollow. Three charcoal basins for making fire were shaking in the cold wind. A group of people gathered around these face-sized braziers to keep warm, looking very pitiful.
"Wait a moment, and you will feel the warmth of spring."
As he was speaking, Li Bai dispersed the soldiers who were roasting by the fire, picked up a pile of coal and threw it into the fire.
There was still some anger, but in that instant, the fire on the charcoal was gone.
The soldiers couldn't help but get annoyed.
"What's the point? Throw stones on the fire. The fire will go out and we might as well freeze to death."
"I could have seen a spark, and even if it didn't warm my body, it would have warmed my heart. Now that's good, my body can't be warm, and my heart can't be warm either."
"Okay, he is a divine being, he might know some magical skills."
"God? More like a charlatan."
As they were talking, a group of soldiers were laughing so hard that they couldn't stop.
Li Jing and the others had no other choice. It was getting dark, and the last ray of hope lay with Li Bai.
Li Bai waved his hand and said, "Liu Xi, fan the wind."
Liu Xi took off half of the door from somewhere, held it with both hands, and waved the wooden door like a fan. After a few strokes, the charcoal under the wooden basin caught fire.
However, the fire did not rise, but what rose was smoke, thick smoke.
"Is this a wolf smoke?" Captain Yang Gui roared, and Li Jing kicked him on the butt.
"I want to beat you to death. When have I ever seen only one cluster of wolf smoke?"
As everyone was joking, the smoke cleared and flames appeared.
"Fire, on fire."
Wang An stuttered as he spoke. He watched with his own eyes as the flame passed through the coal and suddenly burned up. The black carbon instantly turned bright red.
"Liu Xi, work harder."
The rhythm of Liu Xi's swinging became faster and faster, and the fire that ignited the coal became stronger and stronger, which stunned the three thousand light cavalry and even Li Jing.
"Don't just stand there, throw these red charcoals onto the new coal pile and light them."
At Li Bai's command, the soldiers threw the braziers with one hand without caring whether they were hot or not. In half a cup of tea, more than a dozen coal piles were ignited, and the red light illuminated Zhanxiang City.
"A miracle, a miracle."
Li Jing's voice was trembling a little. He looked at the red light all over the sky, reflecting on everyone's face, making everyone feel warm. He felt happy in his heart.
Li Bai could see that almost everyone of them had tears on their faces, and Li Jing was crying so hard that he was in a state of panic.
This fire is a new life for them.
Countless long nights have been spent in silence in this cold frontier land, with nothing but white clouds and no sunlight. Today, the fire has lit up, warming not only their frozen bodies, but also their hearts that have been devastated by countless cold nights.
Li Jing shouted at the top of his lungs: "God will not destroy me, God will not destroy me."
Then Li Jing knelt down in front of Li Bai, and Liu Xi, Wang An, and Yang Gui all knelt down behind him.
Three thousand light cavalry knelt down in unison.
Their kneeling to Li Bai was sincere and pious.
They all shouted, "The gods are mighty."
This coal is a magical thing. It not only keeps people warm but also warms their hearts.