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

Chapter 1284 Tong'an Grand Stage

Although Mu Ruojue's background is questionable, Shen Zheng believes that these complicated royal secrets are not worth her investigation.

She has her own people to care for, and Mu Ruojue also has her own life to live.

Whether it's royal blood or noble lineage, she doesn't want to care too much about these labels, and Mu Ruojue probably doesn't want to be trapped by these shackles either.

Just then, Mu Ruojue came out of the house, still holding the box in her arms.

To Shen Zheng's surprise, he handed the box to Xin Ji.

Xin Ji first took it, and then asked, "What is this?"

"Matches," Mu Ruojue said, looking down.

"Firewood?" Xin Ji looked bewildered. "Are you giving it to me to burn?"

Fang Ziyan leaned closer, his face full of envy: "It's a match! Xin Ji, this is so much fun! You can light it with just a light touch, it's even better than a tinderbox!"

Xin Ji recalled the scene she saw when she entered the courtyard and asked Mu Ruojue in surprise, "You're willing to give me something this good?"

Mu Ruojue nodded slowly.

Just when Xinji thought he wouldn't say anything more, he suddenly spoke up: "Thank you."

Xin Ji was stunned as he held the box.

Mu Ruojue added, "You still remember her."

Xin Ji suddenly realized.

So this "match" was Mu Ruojue's thank-you gift to herself!

"Then I won't be polite." He eagerly opened the box and asked Fang Ziyan, "Fatty, how do you play this?"

Fang Ziyan immediately got excited, took a match out of the box, and demonstrated it in front of everyone.

"Cha-"

"boom--"

The flames appeared suddenly and leaped a foot high, and a raging fire also rose in Xin Ji's eyes.

He knows it!

He knew that Tongan County had many more good things to offer!

This trip was definitely worthwhile!

This amazing device, which can start a fire with just a touch, would probably fetch an astronomical price on the black market!

"Mu Ruojue, I, Xin Ji, accept you as my younger brother!"

As Xin Ji spoke, she turned around and found that Mu Ruojue had already been called aside by Shen Zheng.

After exchanging a few words with Mu Ruojue, Shen Zheng discovered that the igniter he had added to the match head was indeed the phosphorus-based substance he had mentioned before—red phosphorus.

Red phosphorus is not easy to obtain; a large basket of pig bones can only yield about half an ounce of red phosphorus after calcination.

The box in Xin Ji's hand likely contains all of Mu Ruojue's hard work over the past two months.

This shows that the deceased aunt must have held a significant place in Mu Ruojue's heart.

"You called me... is there something else?" Mu Ruojue asked softly.

Shen Zheng suddenly came to her senses, took out a stack of draft paper from her bosom and handed it over: "Take a look first. If you are interested, let's make some together this afternoon."

......

After lunch, everyone from the county government office gathered in the backyard.

Yu Shizhang and the others sat on the makeshift platform as if watching a play, eating melon seeds and chatting, their eyes full of interest in watching the spectacle.

Shen Zheng and Mu Ruojue stood on the stage, one holding blueprints and the other holding tools, checking and arranging the utensils they would need later.

"Click——"

"Too——"

Xin Ji ate a melon seed one after another, feeling extremely content.

Squinting at the bright sun, he couldn't help but nudge Fang Ziyan's arm beside him: "Fatty, no wonder you always say Tong'an County is great, today I've experienced it for myself."

Just look at the treatment of this fourth-rank official in the capital personally demonstrating new gadgets; it's hard to find another place like it in the entire Great Zhou Dynasty.

"Alright everyone," Shen Zheng's voice came from the stage: "Today, Xiao Mu and I will be demonstrating a hydrogen balloon launch test. Before we begin, Xiao Mu will introduce the materials and the intricacies of the test to you."

As soon as he finished speaking, the audience fell into a deathly silence; even the crackling sound of people cracking sunflower seeds stopped abruptly.

Xin Ji looked horrified and whispered to Fang Ziyan, "Let my brother give a speech in public? Isn't that the same as putting a knife to his throat? With so many people watching, how can he possibly say a word?"

Fang Ziyan looked at Mu Ruojue, whose ears were turning red on the stage, and said in a deep voice, "Sister Shen would never make things difficult for Young Master Mu. They must have agreed on it beforehand. Xin Ji, stop staring at Young Master Mu. The more you look at him, the less he will be able to say anything."

Xin Ji's lips twitched: "Are you sure they agreed on this beforehand?"

Look how nervous his brother is, he looks like he's about to faint.

“Um, um…”

Suddenly, a very soft voice came from the stage.

Xin Ji was stunned, and before she could process her surprise, Mu Ruojue, encouraged by Shen Zheng, uttered her first words after taking the stage: "To make... to make hydrogen balloons, you need zinc powder, vinegar, rubber, and more..."

There are only three ingredients in total, and Xin Ji only understood "vinegar".

To avoid being laughed at by the others present, he nodded knowingly: "I've seen all three of these things before. I didn't know they had such wonderful uses."

As soon as she finished speaking, everyone looked over, including Mu Ruojue, who looked nervous on the stage.

Cui Jinyin leaned forward and asked him, "Young Master Xin, have you ever seen zinc, and have you ever seen rubber?"

Hearing the sarcasm in Cui Jinyin's tone, Xin Ji immediately sensed something was wrong: "I...shouldn't I have met her before?"

Cui Jinyin chuckled, turned to look at the stage, and encouraged, "Young Master Mu, ignore him and continue. We're all listening attentively!"

Mu Ruojue lowered her head again, stammering, "When zinc, zinc powder, and vinegar are mixed, hydrogen gas is produced. If you put the hydrogen gas into rubber, the hydrogen balloon... then it can rise into the air..."

This time, Xin Ji wisely refrained from mentioning that she had "seen hydrogen."

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Mu Ruojue uttered the last words she had promised Shen Zheng: "Now, we're about to begin. Everyone, please watch carefully."

"Clap clap-"

As soon as she finished speaking, Cui Jinyin clapped enthusiastically.

Yu Shizhang also showed approval and nodded, saying, "Young Mu is not bad, his words are clear and his logic is sound!"

Hearing the applause from the audience, Mu Ruojue felt that speaking in public wasn't so unpleasant after all.

Shen Zheng smiled and stepped forward to continue the conversation, saying, "Thank you for the explanation, Xiao Mu. However, before the hydrogen experiment officially begins, I would like to invite someone with a large gas capacity to come up on stage and blow on this thing in my hand."

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at what she was holding.

“What is that?” Xin Ji asked.

Shen Zheng nodded: "Alright, let's give Young Master Xin a round of applause!"

"Clap clap-"

Everyone immediately burst into applause.

Xin Ji looked bewildered as he was pushed onto the stage by applause.

"No, no." He realized after he stopped standing still: "...Lord Shen, I don't think I said I wanted to come up, did I?"

"What?" Shen Zheng handed him the deflated rubber balloon and addressed the crowd below the stage, "Ladies and gentlemen, Xin Ji says he can not only blow it up, but he can blow up three in one go!"

After saying that, Shen Zheng handed over two more balloons.

Xin Ji was completely stunned, and even gave in: "W-how do you blow it? Can't you just put your mouth to it and blow air?"