Chapter 67 Maanshan Iron Mine
He Xi took Princess Anqing by boat from Jiangxinzhou and arrived at the end of Luohe River. This small river is the waterway closest to the iron mine. But it seemed to He Xi that the river was going to be expanded.
Although water transportation is the most economical and most convenient mode of transportation, this small river is also too narrow. It is almost an ordinary small river in the countryside of Jiangnan. The river is filled with slightly larger boats. If we undertake such a large amount of iron ore transportation in the future.
However, this is all for later.
After He Xi and Princess Anqing came ashore, they changed into horse hooves. Walk all the way along the mountain road to the inside.
It can be seen that this mountain road is newly opened. Many of the rocks are obviously white in color as they have just seen the light of day. After walking for more than ten miles, Princess Anqing still felt a little tired despite the beautiful mountains in the south of the Yangtze River.
Even a little bit regretful.
Princess Anqing is not interested in iron ore. Just because He Xi was interested. Moreover, she came to Taiping Mansion with He Xi. She was originally interested in sightseeing, but she almost went back and never went out. She spent the whole day on Jiangxin Island.
The scenery on Jiangxin Island is pretty good. But if you stay there forever, you will get bored.
Only then did he say this to He Xi. Be sure to stop by and check it out.
At this moment, the mountain road is long, even though riding a horse, it is still a bit tiring, not to mention the surrounding mountains, there is nothing special about it. I couldn't help but said: "When will it arrive?"
He Xi put up an awning with his hands and pointed: "We'll be there soon. Do you see that mountain? What does it look like?"
Princess Anqing looked over from a distance and said, "Saddle?"
He Xi said: "That's why Ma'anshan got its name."
An Qing looked at the green mountain, which was not high and was vaguely in front of his eyes. I thought I would be there soon, but I didn’t know that Wangshan would be a dead horse. After walking for another hour, we finally arrived at the mine.
It's a mine and a military camp.
After more than a month of hard work by thousands of people, the roads and barracks are almost complete. Even He Xi could see that several cannons had been fired, and several pale working surfaces were opened on the delicate mountain. He Xi said: "Is Li Yunxing here?"
"Teacher, this disciple is here." Li Yunxing walked over quickly.
He Xi looked at Li Yunxing. Compared with the white-faced scholar a few months ago, Li Yunxing was much darker now. No more trimming. Li Yunxing, who I saw before, wore a green shirt most of the time to show his identity as a scholar. Now Li Yunxing is playing short. Although the fabrics of the clothes are more delicate, they are not much different in shape than ordinary craftsmen.
Because I work in construction sites and mines all year round. Li Yunxing quickly learned what clothes are easy to wear and what clothes are no longer suitable. He would have to change into a green shirt every two or three days, not to mention getting wet repeatedly with sweat and getting torn by stones while walking. It is impossible not to make a few big holes at the end of the day. After two days, it was reduced to a piece of rag.
He Xi was still satisfied with Li Yunxing's performance.
As an official, Li Yunxing was taught by his father at home how to deal with people and handle common affairs. Although many things cannot be said to be self-taught, they are not easily understood by people from unusual family backgrounds.
Not to mention, his father is the Taiping Prefect, so he not only gets the full support of the Taiping Prefecture, but also his father's personal guidance.
He quickly excelled at many things.
He Xi had to admit that in ancient times, family education existed. Compared with those students who were born as craftsmen, Li Yunxing was far superior.
He Xi said: "How is it here? Let's see how many shots you fired. Have you found the mineral vein?"
Li Yunxing said: "Teacher is extremely wise. There is indeed iron ore here. It can even be said that the entire mountain is iron ore. Now the ore vein has been found."
He Xi said: "Take me to see it."
Li Yunxing said: "Yes."
So Li Yunxing took He Xi and looked at several work areas. The Ma'anshan mine is a copper-iron symbiotic mine. Among the ores that come out are copper ore and iron ore. And the method used was the gunpowder blasting method developed by He Xixin.
Li Yunxing's data was summarized by He Xi, and the master and apprentice cooperated. Although he didn't come up with any exquisite explosion method. But the most basic thing is that every time a cannon is fired, how much gunpowder should be used, how many holes should be dug, how deep the holes should be, and how far away they should be. If personal safety is guaranteed, etc. Finally there are certain rules.
Although it cannot be called perfect. But it's much better than doing it blindly before.
Li Yunxing said; "Teacher, the biggest problem here now is that the iron ore cannot be transported out. Look here, it is all iron ore." Li Yunxing pointed to a pile of rubble and said: "I don't know how many kilograms there are, but how many kilograms are there? There are still tens of thousands of kilograms. It is not an easy task to transport these tens of thousands of kilograms from here. There are not many horses in the guardhouse, so it is really difficult for people to carry them over more than ten miles of mountain roads. "
He Xi looked at a huge boulder that was as tall as a man, knocked a little bit off it with a small hammer, and looked at it carefully. It should be iron ore. It's just that such a large stone cannot be transported at all. It is estimated that it will have to be broken into pieces and transported piece by piece.
He Xi thought to himself: "Actually, it is best to smelt pig iron directly here."
Just this method. This is not without its problems. Smelting pig iron in large quantities requires a large amount of coal. Are there coal mines near here? More importantly, he could feel Zhu Yuanzhang's emphasis on coal and iron production. This was no longer an economic issue, but a political issue.
Although he doesn't think there is anything wrong with placing the coal and iron base in Taiping Mansion. However, this matter needs to be decided by Zhu Yuanzhang, not by him. More importantly, even if it is decided to locate the coal and iron production base in Taiping. That won't be put here either.
After all, we have to consider both iron ore transportation and coal mine transportation.
It's clearly inappropriate here. The most suitable place should be on a certain flat land after leaving the mountain, or in other words, on a certain pier in Yangtze Mountain.
He Xi said: "Li Yunxing, do you want to become an official?"
Li Yunxing was stunned and said, "Teacher, what do you mean?"
He Xi said: "You probably have an idea of how much iron this iron mine contains. In short, it's a lot. In the past, the imperial court mined several iron mines when they were in use and abandoned them when they were not in use. But this iron mine will not be used anymore." .This is going to be in business for a long time.”
"So, this place will not be under the control of the Guard, and even the people from the Guard are expected to be evacuated in the future. It will be under the control of the Ministry of Industry. If you are willing, you can take care of it here for now. In the future, I will report to the court and I will definitely give you an official position. "
"Of course, it won't be too high. But if you do well, you will be promoted naturally."
"I also know that you are under my disciple not because you have much thought about my knowledge, but because you want to find a future. How is this future?"
Li Yunxing's heart moved and he said, "The teacher's orders must be obeyed by the students."
"Okay. In the future, students from the School of Engineering and Science will come here to practice. You should also take good care of the junior students." He Xi almost said the junior girls smoothly. He swallowed the last two words abruptly. He Xi might be able to solve the matter of girls enrolling in school. But co-educational education will never be resolved for a long time to come.
The resistance is just too great.
Li Yunxing didn't know He Xi's inner thoughts, so he immediately said: "Teacher, please don't worry, how can you not take care of your juniors?"
He Xi said: "Okay. I have one more thing for you to do."
Li Yunxing said: "Teacher, please tell me."
He Xi said; "Do you know the Chi Dao of Qin Dynasty?"
Li Yunxing said: "Chi Dao?"
He Xi described the form of railway as chi-dao. Although many people say that the Chidao in the Qin Dynasty is not much different from the style of railways in later generations. But He Xi didn't know much about this aspect after all.
Li Yunxing listened to He Xi's words and said thoughtfully: "Teacher, what do you mean, let me build a galloping track on this mountain road?"
He Xi said: "I have seen that when you go out of the mountain from here, there are many downhill slopes and few uphill slopes. If you build a good road, use hardwood as the track, cover it with iron sheets, and use a cart to drive on the mountain, you will hardly need anything when going downhill. If you have enough strength, you can slip down in one go. Save time and energy."
Li Yunxing thought for a moment and said, "Teacher is wise, I will do it right now."
He Xi said: "Don't be so anxious. You can just take your time in the future. If you have anything you don't understand, just write to me in Nanjing."
