On August 15th, everyone ate moon cakes and grapes.
People from Xiaqiu Village were playing with Ni, and the village chief and Hanhan accompanied Zhu Biao and Zhu Fang to inspect the open-pit coal mine here.
Even in open-pit mines, there are still people fighting to support the shafts.
Once the digging is deep, there will be water accumulation, and there will be rain when it rains, so the craftsmen choose low-lying places to dig wells.
The water would flow into the well, and someone would lift the water up in a bucket.
If the land is on higher ground, craftsmen will build a drainage channel to carry the water out.
At the same time, railcars were also used in coal mines, which were connected to ropes and had winches on them. The railcar wheels and winches had braking devices.
"Li Chang, can you save energy by using manual pedaling?"
Zhu Xi saw that the rail car transportation was also very hard, with people pushing from behind and twisting by people above.
He remembered that the pedaling device could also change speed! With one person pedaling, it should be faster, right?
"The chain can't withstand it, and our technology is still poor. If the chain breaks on flat ground, it will break, or when going up a small slope, it will stop or slide back at worst, and we can brake.
There is too much coal in the car in front of me. If it suddenly breaks, the brake may not be easy to use, and it will always break, even if the chain is repaired.
The winch above can be equipped with a gear set, the small gear drives the large gear, and the pole connected to the small gear is lengthened.
Power multiplied by the power arm equals resistance multiplied by the resistance arm. It is easier to make one turn at the top and five steps up from the bottom. It is easier to change it to one turn at the top and three steps up from the bottom. "
The head of the village knew where the village's technology stood. That kind of chain was too difficult to build and was not cost-effective to use in a coal mine.
"It's a pity that there is no river nearby. It would be nice to have an extra river and use a water tanker."
Zhao Li didn't understand the dynamic resistance. He was trying his best to participate and help with ideas.
"Does Chief Zhao want to make the coal mine permeable? Who dares to mine when there is a river next to it?" Zhu Ping smiled. Is Chief Zhao afraid of lack of water?
"This coal looks good. It can be transported by river and sent to places in the south of the Yangtze River that are short of coal. Chief, is there a coal mine in Yingtian Mansion?"
Zhu Biao knelt down and picked up a piece of coal, took a look at it, and weighed it again to confirm that it was coal, not stone, or gangue.
Looking at the weight, coal is much lighter than normal stone, otherwise it is a stone that can burn a little, but is not easy to burn and needs to be washed out through coal washing.
Coal washing is very hard, but it is a necessary step. Otherwise, throwing in bad coal during iron and steel smelting will delay things.
The same is true for stewing coal coke. Before stewing, screen it first and select the good ones.
In the process of coal washing, there are stones and coal slime. The coal slime is given directly to the local people, who use it to make coal.
Other people who are far away from the coal mines can hire a boat or car to load them and transport them back.
"Yiji, is it difficult to pull coal slime in the village?" the village chief asked Zhao Li.
"I have a truck to haul coal slurry, and it's troublesome to haul coal briquettes. I'm always worried about being poisoned by carbon, so I don't dare to press the stove at night in winter."
Zhao Li shook his head and complained that coal was not as good as lump coal, but lump coal required money to buy. Who would be willing to do this?
After he finished speaking, he looked at the village chief and asked, "Yichang, does your village burn coal?"
“If you don’t burn, Xiaqiu Village uses coke and good coal, and you don’t burn the stove in winter. The key is that it doesn’t get cold.
If you burn once before going to bed at night, you can survive until the next day, and you will not be afraid of carbon poisoning during the day.
In fact, you can make coal burn better, and we can even burn ceramics! There is no shortage of clay.
You mix the clay and slime, and you have to experiment with how much you mix.
Then……"
The director squatted down as he spoke, found a spot with wet slime, and used his hands to make a short cylinder there, and then inserted small holes into the cylinder with his fingers.
"You see, after it is dried like this, once it is burned, there will be an empty place for air to enter, which makes it easier to burn than the produced coal.
Without clay, such coal is not easy to shape. When making it, first find the best ratio of clay and slime.
From now on, just follow that, and after making peace, take a thicker bamboo tube with bamboo joints at the back.
Cut off most of the front part, leaving the height of the coal pillar, and then use a thin bamboo stick to drill a hole at the bamboo joint at the back and insert it.
Just press against the reconciled slime and it will become one. Dip it in water first, otherwise it will stick to the inside of the bamboo tube. "
The head of the village told Zhao Li about practical techniques, which were easy to make and did not require iron.
Zhao Li imagined it in his mind and nodded: "Okay, I will find someone to try it out soon to see how much clay is suitable."
The miners over there continued to transport coal, each wearing a mask made of layers of gauze.
No one had provided masks to people in the mines before, and the miners didn’t know about it. At the same time, no one knew that they would get sick.
All mines now require you to wear masks, which are provided by the government and can be washed by yourself to block most of the dust.
This kind of mask is made of skim gauze. The more layers it has, the safer it is, and the harder it is to breathe.
Degreasing is easy, just add water and caustic soda to cotton and boil it.
This operation can prolong the life of miners. Otherwise, they will get sick early, which will drag down their families and make them unable to work.
The imperial court used money in exchange for a longer working life for the people, thereby increasing the imperial court's fiscal revenue and total social resources.
Three people pushed a cart of coal up from behind. As soon as the cart stopped, they immediately took off their masks and sat there panting.
Others took over the cart of coal, and at the same time someone took notes and paid them according to the quantity.
The three people who came up looked at their masks, put them up, went to the side to wash their hands and faces, wiped them dry and took out another mask, and then went down together in the empty car.
Obviously they will not wash the masks themselves and throw them to their wives or children at home.
"The soap has been distributed, right?" Zhu Biao asked, looking at the soap on the washing place.
The person in charge of the court at the nearby coal mine quickly replied: "Your Highness, don't worry, no one dares to deduct it. You will be given soap and masks according to the amount of work. The more you work, the more you will get."
Everyone knows that the imperial court produces a lot of iron ore and smelts a lot of steel, so they expect the coal mines to support it.
We can only wait for coal to be mined, but we cannot wait for mines to be mined. Anyone who dares not to take good care of the miners will lose their head. "
"Do they spend their own money to eat, or is it provided by the mine?" Zhu Biao asked again.
"I will give you a meal in the mine at noon. If there is an open-pit mine, I will give you a meal in the evening. Anyway, you have to light a lamp when you go inside, no matter the day or night."
The person in charge here mentioned that on the other side, some coal mines are not open-air and need to drill wells.
"No digging here at night?" Zhu Biao wondered.
"Yes... I also dug it, but... no one brought food. I can have it in the future, and give it a meal in the evening." The person in charge had sweat on his forehead.
"Come here, please ask Manager Wang to take a rest and check the accounts." Zhu Biao's face darkened. What can happen in the future?
Elsewhere, lights are lit during the day and night for mining, but here in the open air, shouldn't lights be lit at night?
(End of chapter)
