In the fifth year of Hongwu, the first day of the first lunar month.
The officials and the people in the palace began to argue, and the people in Xiaqiu Village fell asleep in their tents.
Shopkeeper Xu from Fuhua Building warmed up the bean buns sent from Xiaqiu Village, added pickles, and cooked some shredded radish and tofu soup, and gave them to the students in the library.
Many places in Nanjing city seemed to be at a standstill this morning, with people sleeping late and unable to get up.
At two o'clock in the morning, people in Xiaqiu Village woke up one after another. The people in the kitchen took a look at the leftover dishes from last night and chose the perishable ones to heat first.
I don’t know how to cook tonight, so I can’t finish the leftovers. The people in Xiaqiu Village usually eat so well that they can’t eat them now.
Zhou Zong had already gone back. Before leaving, he heated up a hot pot with some charcoal. The five of them put the leftover dumplings in it and boiled them. Then each of them gnawed two pig's trotters and went to work after eating.
"The Chinese New Year is very tiring! Hanhan, did you sleep well?" After cleaning up his affairs, the manager saw that Hanhan had just finished brushing his teeth.
"I'm not tired during the Chinese New Year. I'm tired from staying up late. Fortunately, I don't have to do anything else. Just rest. I'll rest today."
Zhu Wentian yawned and went over to help put the food. He smelled the food and became more energetic.
The older children also joined in to work, while the younger ones were still sleeping. From time to time, you could hear the baby's sound.
The sun was approaching the middle of the day, and the villagers were eating. The dumplings were not thrown into the hot pot like Zhou Zong and others, but were fried and hot, and they tasted good when eaten.
…
Over the past few days, the excitement of the New Year slowly dissipated. On the sixth day of the first lunar month, lunchbox restaurants opened and officials began to work.
There was a queue in front of the convenience office. A few years ago, the whole of Nanjing began to publicize it. The people knew about it, but no one came.
After the New Year, it's time to find a job and register at the convenience office.
Those who need to hire people enter another door and sit on a stool. They tell them their household registration, what they do, what kind of job they want, and how much money they want.
There were three people registering, and other businessmen were sitting nearby ordering tea.
The convenience store started to make money, including the merchants who didn't have breakfast and would just have tea and snacks.
Prince Zhu Biao and Zhu Xi came here to observe in casual clothes, and the chief of staff took Hanhan to accompany them.
"Chang Zhu, there are indeed a lot of people. How do they usually find jobs and hired workers?"
Zhu Biao was very satisfied after seeing the people queuing up, which proved that the convenience area was set up correctly.
"Introduce each other to people you know, or go to the docks or markets to inquire. Those who do hard work will gather in a certain place and wait for others to pass by."
The head of the village knew that when buying groceries, he could see that there were specially organized manpower, such as the temporary team that Xiaocao used to work on.
"Is the price fixed?" Zhu Biao asked again.
“For example, if there is a fixed manpower and a leader, you can usually get more money, but if you find jobs on your own, the price is usually lower.
Prices at convenience stores look chaotic right now. After a while, the prices of each type will basically be at that level.
One advantage of finding jobs and hiring workers at convenience stores is that you are not bullied by other people who work in organized organizations..."
The head of the village told the two highnesses about gang matters, such as the previous river transportation, which was also divided into gangs.
While such gangs bully other poor people, they can also threaten those who hire them to do work.
For example, while you are working, you suddenly raise the price, stop without paying, and do not allow others to take over.
It is better to have people with teeth as matchmakers, but businessmen are not willing to find people with teeth, so they have to pay extra money.
Zhu Biao nodded as he listened: "This convenience store of ours plays the role of a dental store. If we don't take a commission from it, the dental store will not be able to steal our business."
"In fact, it can be robbed. Several dental shops have joined forces to ask for prices arbitrarily and disrupt the rules."
"Do they dare? Lend them a hundred courage and let them know whether it is their teeth that are hard or the steel knife that is hard.
Speaking of steel knives, craftsmen have now been asked to manufacture tracks and mine carts in large quantities, and they will lay them according to the route drawn on the map. By the tenth day of the first lunar month, all the open-pit mining areas will be paved.
According to estimates from the Ministry of Industry, if the smelting area has enough manpower, it can produce more than 50,000 kilograms of iron per day. Do you know what this output means? "
Zhu Biao was talking about Ya Xing, but the topic changed and he mentioned the Nanshan iron ore production in Ma'anshan.
"It means that one mine produces more iron ore than all the mines in the Ming Dynasty combined. It also means that the technical level is too low and the output cannot be increased."
The head of the village knew the data. Hanhan said that there were a total of thirteen institutes in Ming Dynasty, with a yearly output of more than 7 million kilograms, or more than 4,000 tons.
Adding up the other places, it is seven to eight thousand tons, more than ten million kilograms.
A mining area can produce 50,000 kilograms of ore in a day, which shows that the smelting technology is not up to standard.
Zhu Biao: "..."
He didn't expect that there were so many things in the Gao Renjiao, and that he could actually know the iron production of the Ming Dynasty last year.
Zhu Qing said from the side: "Zhu Lichang knows how to turn iron ore into molten iron faster?"
"I have a set of plans for simmering coke, blowing pulverized coal, and building a blast furnace. Your Highness the Prince can use it to find someone to make it for a look. Using a blast furnace to smelt iron will make it easier to use a converter to make steel.
Steel has its own uses, but not all steel is good. The same is true for pig iron and wrought iron. They must be processed according to their uses. "
The chief took out a pile of paper as he spoke. He was already prepared. Once he came into contact with the prince, something might suddenly happen.
There is something else in his arms! The prince didn't ask, but let's not talk about it. The blast furnace blueprint was originally intended for the village to build a trial outside Nanjing before giving it to the palace.
Now that we are talking about this, let the prince find someone to build it. It is very simple, an earthen blast furnace made of refractory bricks.
It is about three feet high and is built in large areas. When loading materials, the shelves are moved over. It is a product of the great steelmaking period.
This is the simplest, and it is indeed faster than the current iron smelting speed. As long as the ore is supplied, wait for the crazy iron production!
When the two brothers looked at the drawings and introduced the text and data, the chief explained: "I originally wanted to build one outside the city first, and then ask others to learn it after it is easy to use."
"I'm looking for someone to build one. Build one and transport the iron ore. It's just outside the city."
Zhu Biao said and put away the drawings, turned around and walked back. He was very anxious. Daming was short of iron. No, it was not just iron. It felt like everything was lacking.
Zhu Fang watched his brother lead the people away quickly, and he looked at Li Chang: "Zhu Li Chang, is there anything else good?"
"It's not needed for the time being, so there's no rush." The chief shook his head. Things had to be done step by step. Without a large amount of iron ore, the blast furnace was useless.
"I'll go to the store and have a look." Seeing that there were no new things, Zhu Feng didn't want to stay any longer.
The chief turned to look at Hanhan: "Where are we going?"
"Book, look, eh!" Zhu Wentian wanted to go to the library.
"Let's go." The chief walked in front, motioning for Hanhan to follow.
Prince Zhu Biao hurried into the city and went directly to find his father. As soon as he entered, someone shouted to welcome His Highness the Crown Prince. Zhu Yuanzhang raised his head and said: "My son came here in a hurry. Is it cold?"
"My child is not cold. Father, if you look at this set of plans, you should build it for iron smelting as soon as possible to test the production capacity."
Zhu Biao didn't waste any time and put the drawings directly on the table.
(End of chapter)
