You can naturally cast and shape things like rails yourself, but many steel products cannot be cast directly in this way. In the end, they still have to be polished and forged by craftsmen.
Therefore, Mr. Huang felt that his idea of being useless was completely unfounded. On the contrary, with the emergence of a large amount of steel, skilled craftsmen like him would become more and more important.
"This is not exaggerated enough, how much more exaggerated should it be?" Mr. Huang thought Han Du was just comforting him.
As for the furnace, Mr. Huang doesn't know the name of Handu's blast furnace, so let's just call it a furnace. Mr. Huang saw with his own eyes that the furnace could smelt tens of thousands of kilograms of steel at a time, but Heizi still didn't let Heizi fill it up.
Originally, I just thought that it would be my first time to use this thing to make it, and I would fill it with half the ingredients to test the water first. I didn't expect that I would successfully make molten steel in one go.
Even if 10,000 kilograms of steel is made at a time, according to Huang Lao's estimation, if it is not stopped throughout the day, it can be made three to four times, which is equivalent to a production of at least 30,000 kilograms of steel a day.
And once the materials are filled every time, doesn't it mean that it is possible to smelt 80,000 kilograms of steel in one day?
Mr. Huang didn't know how much steel the imperial court needed in a year. But he knew that one year the imperial court forged 100,000 long knives at a cost of less than 80,000 kilograms of steel. It is because of the scarcity of steel that the imperial court used the steel-clad technique when forging long knives. Only the point on the blade of a long knife was made of steel, and all other parts were made of iron.
The output of Handu's furnace in one day was enough for the imperial court to forge 100,000 long knives.
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, it would be hard for Mr. Huang to believe that there was such a thing in the world.
Han Du ignored what Mr. Huang was thinking. He only cared about when his rails would be completed.
Clapping his hands together, Han Du asked: "Just cast it like this. I need a total of 800 rails like this. How long will it take to get them ready?"
Huang Lao heard Han Du's words and made his own assessment. He replied: "It will take about five or six days. If the adults are in a hurry, I can ask them to do the work again at night. There should be no problem in four days."
There is no lighting at this time, and the danger of casting at night is greatly increased. These craftsmen are all Han Du's treasures. If they are injured, Han Du will be heartbroken.
Shaking his head, he rejected Mr. Huang's suggestion: "You can't do it at night. It's too dangerous. The temperature of the molten steel is too high. If a flesh and blood body touches it, it will turn into ashes instantly. Just six days, protect the craftsmen." most important."
Mr. Huang was moved in his heart and nodded in agreement. The eyes that looked at Han Du were full of gratitude. Mr. Huang had never met an official who was as caring about craftsmen as Han Du.
In the past, officials did not care about whether the craftsmen were injured. Even if the craftsmen were injured due to their orders, they would not even look at the craftsmen.
The craftsman usually only needs to knock out his teeth and swallow blood, and consider himself unlucky.
There are people like Han Du who are not willing to let craftsmen take even the slightest risk.
Han Du ignored Mr. Huang's slightly red eyes and continued to give instructions: "Now that the rails have been cast, we must also start clearing the roads and repairing the foundations at the coal mine. These rails can also be pulled over and construction begins."
Han Du's eyes shone with excitement, as if he saw the track being built, with mine carts running on it, running down the mountain. Every cart was filled with money.
If you are poor, just wait for the money to go to the pot.
"Okay," Mr. Huang nodded and agreed, "I'll make arrangements right away, but..."
"But what?" Han Du asked casually without paying attention.
Huang Laobian explained to Han Du, "That's it, sir. Originally, there were not many craftsmen in the coal mine, and they were all responsible for mining the coal. If we want to build this track, should we let them mine the coal first?" Stop it?"
Mr. Huang didn't know why Han Du gave this thing such a weird name. When it came to his mouth, it felt a bit difficult to pronounce.
"Coal mining cannot be stopped. What will the blast furnace be used for if it is stopped?" Han Du thought to himself.
But Mr. Huang is also right. There are originally few manpower at the coal mine, and it is impossible for him to send people to them. If they are allowed to build tracks again, the coal mining will definitely be greatly affected.
what to do?
Suddenly, Han Du thought of something and his eyes lit up.
"Coal mining cannot be stopped, and I don't have the extra manpower to send over, but I have an idea. Do you think this will work?"
"Sir, please speak."
Han Du continued: "Look at this, didn't we build roads a few days ago and recruit so many civilians? Building track foundations is actually similar to building roads. After they went through that road construction, they are no longer unfamiliar. . How about we simply pay and hire some civilian workers to help us build it? In this way, only a few knowledgeable craftsmen are needed to build the track foundation."
After listening to Han Du's words, Mr. Huang's eyes lit up and he agreed: "My lord, this is a good method. Those people have only repaired it once. There should be no problem if they repair it again. Moreover, there are craftsmen watching, so it can be guaranteed to be foolproof."
But soon Mr. Huang thought about the issue of paying again, and asked Han Du: "If we just pay to hire, Sir, how much do you think we should pay to hire a peasant husband?"
I really don’t know about this Han Du. He has never hired a civilian husband.
So he asked: "Generally speaking, how much does it cost to hire a person for a day?"
"The prices vary from place to place." Huang Lao and Han Du explained, "Generally, for example, in the capital, hiring a laborer costs 30 cash a day, or more than 30 cash. If it is in In other places, it will be cheaper. Usually, in the city, it should be 20 cents or a little more, and other places are even cheaper, with more than 10 cents available."
After hearing this, Han Du lowered his head and thought for a while, then simply said: "Then forty coins a day, and Xiangwu will prepare a free meal for them. Anyway, the track is not long, it won't take long to repair, and the cost is not too high. big."
"Okay." When Mr. Huang saw that Han Du had arranged it, he didn't refute and nodded in agreement.
Fengtian Temple.
Lao Zhu was reviewing the memorial, but there was always a sense of worry in his heart. Can Yuan's strange movements made him worried all the time. But at this juncture when the remnant could go south at any time, there was a problem with the ordnance manufacturing of the Ministry of Industry.
This made Lao Zhu worried all the time. However, he had no choice but to pray that the Ministry of Industry could forge enough steel and manufacture enough ordnance before the remaining Yuan went south.
Mao Xiang walked in from outside the hall. He went to Lao Zhu's side and whispered something thoughtfully. After saying this, he bowed quietly and stepped back to wait.
After hearing this, Lao Zhu's eyes suddenly widened, he turned his head to look at Mao Xiang, and asked sternly: "What did you say? Is this true?"
"I sent someone to verify it. It's absolutely true." Mao Xiang quickly replied truthfully.
"Bastard thing!"
Lao Zhu casually threw the imperial pen on the imperial desk, and the bright red cinnabar fell on the cover of a memorial, staining a large area red.
The more Lao Zhu thought about it, the angrier he became. Because of the lack of steel, I couldn't prepare for the war in time to deal with the abnormal movement of the residual element. I had been having trouble sleeping and eating these past few days.
As a result, Han Du got better.
According to the information Mao Xiang received, Han Du produced tens of thousands of kilograms of high-quality steel in the banknote bureau, and made it into strange shapes, with no idea of what it was used for.
However, in Lao Zhu's eyes, no matter what Han Du plans to use this much steel for, it is not as important as my use to make ordnance.
Moreover, I am anxious to buy a house because of the lack of steel here; but Han Du is wasting it wantonly. How can this not make Lao Zhu furious?
In Lao Zhu's eyes, it is a waste if good steel cannot be used to make ordnance.
"Somebody come!"
"My slave is here." The old eunuch stood aside and replied quickly.
When the old eunuch saw Mao Xiang coming in just now, his heart skipped a beat and he felt something was wrong. As expected, it turned out to be so. Facing the angry emperor, the old eunuch did not dare to neglect, but he felt a sense of disgust towards Mao Xiang.
"Bring me Han Du and Xue Xiang."
"yes."
Han Du did not remove the banknotes today. It would take a few days to complete the rails anyway, so he was not in a hurry. Moreover, Mr. Huang was watching over the banknote bureau, so he felt relieved.
Therefore, Han Du suddenly felt at ease today.
Sleep until you wake up naturally!
Han Du got up from the bed, stretched his hands vigorously, relaxed instantly, and felt a hundred times more energetic.
Ever since his father told him how officials were messing around, Han Du was not as active as before.
If I had known this earlier, I might have been complicit with those officials, and maybe I wouldn't have been ostracized like I am now.
After all, Han Du, who has always believed that a good life means "sleeping until you wake up naturally, counting money until your hands cramp", is too easy to fall.
There is no court meeting today, so Han Du also plans to follow suit and slowly wander to the treasure bank collection department to work as an errand.
As soon as Han Du stepped through the gate of Baochao Lisi, he was stopped by a young eunuch from a distance.
Han Du took a look and recognized that it was the eunuch sent by the old eunuch to find him last time, so he stopped.
When the eunuch arrived, he casually asked: "My father-in-law is here, what do you mean?"
"Master Han, the emperor has summoned you. Please follow your servant into the palace immediately."
Han Du felt nervous, why did Lao Zhu suddenly summon him? He quickly said: "My lord, I obey the order."
After saying that, he followed the young eunuch.
The young eunuch led Han Du towards the palace, but suddenly stopped for a step.
Han Du maintained his original speed and approached the little eunuch.
Just when Han Du was approaching, he heard the little eunuch's small voice, "The ancestor said that the situation is unclear and the emperor is very angry."
