Transmigrated into a female county magistrate during a famine, leading her country to prosperity

Chapter 398: Sending People to Guard the Stone Mountain

This description just happens to express what everyone is thinking.

"Is this the legendary fire stone? A stone that can burn!"

Once a person's mind is opened, it is difficult to close it.

The crowd's speculations became more and more outrageous: "Then why do we still burn wood? It's much easier to just burn the stones! We don't even need to light a fire!"

"You wish! This stone is obviously very useful. I'm giving it to you to make a fire? Why don't you say I'm giving it to you to warm your bed?"

"Where did you get this stone? Did you bring it down from heaven?"

"Of course, this stone is not an ordinary thing! It is a treasure brought to us by the adults!"

Shen Zheng was used to being "deified" by the villagers, and wanted to explain the problem with facts later, but when she saw the socially phobic Shen Xingjian nodding silently beside her, she couldn't help it.

She raised her hand and pressed it down, saying loudly, "Stop, listen to me."

The discussions around her stopped abruptly, and the villagers waited obediently for her to speak.

She handed the stone spoon in her hand to Niu Chu, but as soon as Niu Chu stretched out his hand, the stone spoon was snatched away by Yu Shizhang.

Shen Zheng coughed lightly, "This stone is called dolomite, also known as limestone. It is a common stone in our Great Zhou. However, due to its special use and forging method, few people may have discovered it before."

Limestone is common and has many uses, so Shen Zheng did not insist that no one else had discovered it before.

Perhaps someone discovered it, but accidentally cut off the inheritance. Or perhaps the person who discovered it did not want others to know about it, so he did not make it public.

Shen Zheng felt that the second possibility was more likely.

It’s still what I said before: It’s really touching to have feelings that others don’t have.

When she said this, someone remembered.

"I remember now! This stone seems to be on the mountain at the west end of our county!"

"West end? Why don't I remember there being a mountain in the west? Aren't there forests all over there?"

"Yes! Yes! I've been there once before. I had to go through the forest. The mountain is not high, so we can't see it from the village. If you don't believe me, ask the adults. Who knows, maybe they found this stone there!"

Shen Zheng nodded slowly amid everyone's inquiring gazes.

"It's over there. I told you this because I wanted to tell you. Although this stone is very useful after being calcined, it can easily burn people if not handled properly. So don't go to that stone mountain to mine and calcine it privately out of curiosity."

The villagers, who were eager to try, became hesitant after hearing her words.

They were not greedy because they thought the stone was a good thing, but the limestone that could "burn" after calcination was so magical that they couldn't help but want to try it themselves.

People are naturally curious, and there is nothing wrong with that.

Shen Zheng chose to reason first, but Yu Shizhang behind her was not so easy to reason with.

Yu Shizhang took two steps forward holding a spoon and acted as the bad guy for Shen Zheng.

He asked Shen Zheng: "I think we don't need to test the self-control of the people. What do you think?"

Shen Zheng raised her eyebrows slightly, immediately understood what he meant, and asked in agreement, "What does Uncle mean?"

"That stone mountain is located within the boundaries of Tongan County, and the county government has not sold the land to any private individual, so that mountain is originally public property. In my opinion, someone should be sent to guard that mountain today. No one is allowed to privately mine limestone, let alone calcine limestone, without the approval of the county government."

The villagers were stunned for a moment when they heard this, and then they all agreed.

Yu Shizhang nodded in satisfaction. "In that case, I will make it clear. If anyone violates the regulations, they will be dealt with according to the law. When you return today, explain it clearly to your relatives and friends, and the county government will also issue a notice."

The thoughts of some villagers were instantly silenced.

In fact, if you think about it, the stone is not worth much. It was the adults who discovered its use and gave the ordinary stone a unique value.

After all, what are stones if there are no adults?

Besides, it is useless for them to keep it, so they might as well wait for the county to calcine it and then buy it for use.

They felt very relieved when buying stones from the county government, knowing that the adults would not harm them no matter who they harmed!

The hammer fell and the decision was finalized. Shen Zheng called Niu Chu to scoop some water from a stone bowl, and asked Yu Shizhang to pour the quicklime powder in the stone spoon into the bowl.

Yu Shizhang showed a rare hesitation on his face, "If I fall down, the lime won't burn and splash all over, right?"

If he didn't have time to retract his hand, he would have been burned!

Shen Zheng was amused in her heart, but she didn't show it on her face: "No, if Lord Bo doesn't dare to fall, then I will do it."

Yu Shizhang instantly stiffened his neck like a fighting cock: "How could I not dare?! I'm just asking you!"

"Okay, okay." Shen Zheng comforted him, "My Lord is a truth-seeker. I know that."

Yu Shizhang's face turned red due to her teasing. He snorted and gritted his teeth as he poured quicklime powder into the stone bowl.

As if to prove himself, after pouring the quicklime powder in, he deliberately lingered on the edge of the bowl for a while, as if to say: What did Ben tell you? Ben is not a coward!

But after a moment, he quickly retracted his hand.

There was no other reason, it was just that the water in the stone bowl began to bubble up and even started to splash out.

Shen Zheng immediately acted as an interpreter: "Everyone has seen that the lime after calcination is called quicklime. When the quicklime is cooked in water, it is called slaked lime. Just now, Niu Chu's sweat dripped into the quicklime, and the quicklime began to release heat, but only a little white smoke came out. This time we increased the amount of water and poured the quicklime into it, but the water boiled in an instant, which shows how hot it is."

The lime solution in the bowl was also very considerate of Shen Zheng, boiling and emitting a lot of white smoke.

This time the white smoke did not float upwards like the last time. Instead, it gathered at the mouth of the bowl, covering the boiling scene inside the bowl tightly and did not dissipate for a long time.

Everyone around forgot to blink for a moment.

The smoke at the mouth of the bowl was pure white, constantly tumbling and flowing, but it seemed to be covered in the bowl by an invisible lid and never dispersed.

Someone murmured: "It's so beautiful, like a fairyland..."

"The Heavenly Palace is shrouded in clouds and mist, it's just like this..."

Shen Zheng also looked at the rim of the bowl, thinking that she had also completed a chemical experiment in the Great Zhou Dynasty. This felt strangely good.

But the purpose of chemical experiments is to explore the nature of things and to popularize science!

With the opportunity before us, how can we not popularize science?

She was quick to pick up a fallen leaf from the ground and throw it into the bowl.

The white mist at the mouth of the bowl seemed to be disturbed by the leaves and dissipated in all directions without any chance.

Seeing this, Shen Zheng took the spoon from Yu Shizhang, scooped another spoonful of quicklime into it, and continued to "burn"!