"Why don't you use gunpowder to mine?" Yang Fan asked.
Several people looked at each other.
Zhao Fu stepped forward and spoke, "Master, this gunpowder is military supplies. We have nothing to do with the military town and we can't get it. In addition, if you make gunpowder privately, you will be questioned by the government."
Yang Fan curled his lips and said, "I told you earlier. How big of a deal is this? I am one of the 100 households in Zunhua Guard. It is okay to prepare some gunpowder."
"Then it won't be a big problem," Zhao Fu said.
"After buying the ore, how do you smelt it?"
"As far as I'm concerned, sir, the ore needs to be smelted with charcoal and put into the blast furnace with the charcoal."
"Don't you use coke to make steel?"
Several people looked at each other in confusion.
Well, no coke at this point.
Zhao Fu said: "I hope you know that in the Ming Dynasty, we put charcoal and iron ore into the blast furnace, and the result is pig iron. Pig iron can be folded and forged repeatedly to become steel. A hundred times is a hundred steelmaking."
Yang Fan probably knows how to make iron in this era.
"Why did this workshop stop production?" Yang Fan asked a key question.
"Master, our iron ore production is too low, we lack young people, and we don't have enough ore. We can only purchase ore from outside. There are so many iron-making workshops in Zunhua, and most of them have a stable source of ore. We rely on buying other people's ore. The cost has gone up, and the more you work, the more you will lose. Several bosses have changed hands, and they have all changed hands," Fu Liu said.
I understand, if I don’t have good mines myself, I will buy other people’s ores and add profits in the middle. There will be no economies of scale due to the small number of people, the output will be low, and the quality is probably not that good either. So whoever does it will pay.
This poor place is not next to the water, and transportation is not convenient. Charcoal and ore are both very heavy raw materials, how can they not lose money?
Yang Fan rubbed his temples and worried, he had to start work. It was not a long-term solution for more than 300 people to just sit and eat. The main problem that cannot be started is how to reduce costs.
What does the cost include?
Raw materials: iron ore and charcoal, labor, transportation, taxes.
There is no room for decline in anything else. Only ores can think of ways to reduce costs.
“What’s the price of ore?”
"Selected iron ore, thirty-eight taels of silver per thousand catties"
“What’s the price of pig iron?”
"If it's Fujian iron from the south, it costs one cent and six cents of silver per catty. The quality of local products is better, and it costs two cents of silver."
"How much iron does a hundred pounds of ore yield?"
"Thirty kilograms of iron can be sold for six taels. But other costs also cost two taels. If the government wants to pay donations and taxes, it will definitely lose money."
Yang Fan basically understood that buying ore from outside was basically useless. The iron smelting workshops that can survive basically have their own mines, and the savings on the ores are net profits.
"Let's all disperse here today. Zhao Fu, Fu Liu and I will go out tomorrow morning to visit the three largest mines."
Yang Fan didn't have a clue. This problem had been solved by several different owners, which showed that it was very difficult. Let’s take a look at it tomorrow.
Early the next morning, Yang Fan took Zhao Fu and Fu Liu straight to Zunhua's largest mine, Dongshan Mine.
Dongshan Mine is very large, surrounded by mountains and rivers. This water is the same river that flows into Zunhua City. Very easy to transport.
Yang Fan observed it and found that the people who came to buy iron ore and sand were basically small workshops. They usually made small amounts of iron as a family unit and then directly made farm tools. This will increase profits.
Others are very large customers. They have economies of scale and can buy more than 100,000 kilograms at a time. Although the profits are thin, they can still make considerable profits because of the large quantities.
If you don't take advantage of these two aspects, you will definitely be losing money, and the more you practice, the more you will lose. Yang Fan thought about how to lower the price.
"Go and have a look at the mineral processing place." Yang Fan rode his horse and soon came to the mineral processing place. There were thousands of people here, working like ants.
Some strong men carry iron ore out of the mine with baskets on their backs. Transported to the ore dressing site by oxcart.
In the ore processing plant, a large number of workers were sweating profusely and swinging sledgehammers to smash the iron ore.
Then the small pieces of ore enter the next process. Many women and half-grown children here use small hammers to continue smashing the small stones into smaller stones, and then continue to smash, and continue to smash.
The impurity stones that have obviously fallen off in the middle are cleaned out and thrown away. The remaining iron ore becomes increasingly pure.
The last process is to lay very small stones flat on a paved site of granite and quartzite, and use oxen to pull huge stone rollers to roll them in circles.
Then use a broom to sweep it out, which is iron sand the size of soybeans. Then people have to sift out the large particles and select them carefully. The stones are thrown away and the iron sand is left.
Seeing this step, Yang Fan suddenly thought of a way.
This method of beneficiation is very wasteful, and the dust filtered out by the sieve contains a large amount of fine iron sand. But human power cannot be sorted. Can't see it, can't pick it up. The efficiency is too low to be worth wasting manpower. Eventually they were thrown away.
"Where are these sifted wastes transported?" Yang Fan asked.
"Master, have you seen the mountain by the river? That's it," Fu Liu replied.
Yang Fan looked around and saw a very high hill, which looked a little red. I don’t know how many years Dongshan Mine has accumulated it.
There were many ragged children and women on the mountain, carrying torn sacks and rummaging around with short-handled hoes. Pick up some iron ore mixed in.
Yang Fan estimated that these women and children were the miners' families. Collecting slag to subsidize household expenses. Anyway, it’s worth making some money.
When you find a piece, smash it again with a small hammer and throw the effective part into the sack. The mines don't care either. Anyone who wants to pick up these scraps can pick it up.
"Let's talk to the boss," Yang Fan said.
Yang Fan and his party inquired about the location of the shopkeeper and went straight to the shipping room of the mine.
"It's hard to welcome a few friends here," a fat middle-aged man said with clasped fists. "But I'm here to take care of our mine business."
"Yes, there is indeed a big deal that I want to discuss with you." Yang Fan said.
"I dare not brag that the iron ore in our mine is the best in Ming Dynasty. At least in Zunhua County, I dare to say it is second. No one dares to say it is first."
"How to sell your iron ore?"
"One hundred pounds of first-class mineral sand and three ounces of silver are worth the price."
"I'm not here to buy iron ore." Yang Fan shook his head.
"Your Majesty, you don't want to buy iron ore." The shopkeeper was stunned. Why are you here if you don't want to buy iron ore?
"Sir, if you don't want to buy iron ore, what do you want to buy?" The shopkeeper's tone was already a bit unkind. Obviously not willing to waste time with him.
Yang Fan pointed at the waste soil mountain and said, "I wonder if the soil mountain there is for sale."
The shopkeeper followed Yang Fan's finger and saw that it was the mountain of waste soil.
I sneered in my heart, another one here to pick up the slack. Many people saw someone picking up iron ore that had been sifted there, and thought it was profitable.
Over the years, people have been trying to buy that mountain, but they don't think about it. If it was really worth developing, why would the mine let the women and boys of the miners rummage there.
It was just thrown away because the input-output was disproportionate. These women and children were just idle. They picked it up and sold it to the mines at a low price.
That mound was accumulated over hundreds of years. I don’t know how many people paid attention to it, but in the end they lost all their money and had to sell it back to the mine.
Since another fool comes to your door, why not sell it.
"That Tushan, the guest is really discerning. For only two hundred taels, I can sell it to the guest." The shopkeeper's cunning mung bean blinked his eyes and said with a smile.
I said in my heart, when you cry, I will buy it back for twenty taels.
