Chapter 8 The Duke of Song Arrives
Generally speaking, the iron produced by the Taiping Iron Works alone exceeded the combined iron produced in all places before the Ming Dynasty.
Even cheap steel has brought many changes to the lives of people in the Ming Dynasty. In many places, more and more iron is used and less and less other materials are used. It's all kinds of machinery, whether it's waterwheels, looms, water hammers, etc. Machines that were originally made of iron and wood gradually had more and more iron parts, but less and less wood.
Therefore, even here in Liaodong there is no shortage of iron.
However, He Xi knew that the war next spring was just the beginning. After that, there will be no shortage of wars in Liaodong. There is Liaodong Iron Works, which is more convenient.
Therefore, the Liaodong Iron Works was finalized. In fact, this matter can be put aside for a while.
The coal field is different.
He Xi had expected the cold in the Northeast. The bitter cold land of Northeast China is definitely not for nothing. Moreover, He Xi also spent the winter in the north and did not find it unbearable. But I really encountered the Northeast winter. He Xi still used his own body to feel the cruelty of the Northeast winter.
His hands, face, and ears were all covered with frostbite.
Only then did He Xi realize that the winter experienced by modern people is completely different from the winter experienced by people of this era. Because there are too many heating methods in modern times. Even cities have a heat island effect. But in ancient times, keeping warm was very difficult.
In the Northeast, keeping warm is even more important than eating.
If you skip one meal, or skip several meals, you will be very hungry, but you can still live. If you don't have warmth, you can only wait to die.
The Northeast is so close to the Central Plains and has not been developed for so many years. Not without reason. It can be said that before cotton, a cheap and easy-to-obtain thermal insulation material, appeared on a large scale, whoever came to Liaodong was asking for trouble.
Therefore, a large number of cheap heating materials in the Northeast are more important than food.
Therefore, He Xi paid more attention to coal mines than iron plants, and the technical team headed by Ge Tiangong lived up to He Xi's expectations. In just a few months, a large coal mine was opened. Of course, this is also related to the rich coal and iron resources in Northeast China.
A large amount of coal was used as hard currency and distributed to the people. Place several guard houses on the coal mine and dig coal. On the other hand, coal also became a reward for hiring people's labor, and it could even be paid in advance.
For the people of Liaodong, this is also a good thing.
After all, every household in Liaodong needs to spend a lot of time preparing wood for winter. Nowadays, the coal is delivered directly to the truck, and you can just pull it yourself. This saves a lot of time. And working for the government doesn't just bring coal.
Also in charge of food. They even gave me some tools, which were all made of iron.
Although the iron factory did not produce on a large scale. But small-scale production has already begun. The price of iron tools will only get lower and lower.
Of course, in order to maintain such a big stall. He Xi established an unprecedented staff team. Led by Yao Guangxiao and Zhan Ding, hundreds of Imperial College students served as the core, and generals such as Ye Wang served as the executive level. Ge Tiangong's team provides technical support.
After half a year of running-in. It's getting better.
Of course, due to traffic reasons, the center of He Xi's operations is centered on Liaoshen, including along the Liaohe River. The farther away it is, the more difficult it is to control. But even so, this was the happiest time during He Xi's arrival in Daming.
In the capital, He Xi felt at a loss. Not only was he restrained by Zhu Yuanzhang, but he was also restrained by many other people. Countless swords, guns, swords and halberds, fighting in intrigues. It's rare for He Xi to focus half of his mind on doing things.
In Nanyang, Ming Dynasty was not strong enough. He Xi could only use clever energy, walking on thin ice. I am afraid that if I am not careful, I will lose everything.
But in Liaodong, there are no aristocratic families.
The Red Scarf Army first washed out Liaodong, and then because Liaodong surrendered to the Ming Dynasty first, and then the wealthy families in Liaodong rebelled, and the Ming army occupied Liaodong again, they washed it out again. In addition, Liaodong has been fighting for a long time, and the establishment time is still short, and no solid power group has been formed.
Not to mention not even prefectures or counties. The civil service system is almost non-existent.
Ye Wang joins He Xi's family again.
There is no one in Liaodong who can check and balance He Xi. It can be said that He Xi can do whatever he wants. There was no resistance at all.
As long as He Xi doesn't screw up, that's fine.
Coupled with the militarized management of Liaodong, the organization level is much stricter than the prefecture and county system. A bit like the Production and Construction Corps of later generations. Of course, the degree of organization between the two is still much different.
But even so, it was enough for He Xi to do a lot of things.
There are hundreds of thousands of people, and it doesn't matter if they are more or less. If there were more people, He Xi probably wouldn't be able to control them.
And many times, He Xi can use some materials instead of food and money to mobilize the people, such as coal. Iron may also be used in the future. Thus forming a whole. In this way, there are so many things that can be done.
Before coming to Liaodong, He Xi was worried that he would not be able to complete the tasks assigned to him by Zhu Yuanzhang. But now Hexi no longer thinks so.
He was even confident that after a few years of development, he could complete the feat of destroying Goryeo and defeating the Jurchens with just the Liaodong army.
While He Xi was working day and night, someone from below suddenly came to report and said: "The Duke of Song Dynasty is here."
He Xi was stunned and said: "Please come quickly."
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At this moment, Feng Sheng didn't know how to evaluate He Xi.
He has been to Shenyang City before. Shenyang City in my impression is a small city. There are only two gates. There were only a few guardsmen and their families in the city. Today's Shenyang city is very lively. There are very new buildings built outside the city, and the heat wave is rolling in. From a distance, it feels several degrees higher.
That was none other than the Liaodong Iron Works.
The location of the Liaodong Iron Works is different from that of the Taiping Iron Works. The Taiping Iron Works was almost built in the area where the raw materials were produced. But the situation in Liaodong is different from that in Taiping. Taiping, as its name suggests, does not need to consider safety issues at all. But Shenyang is different.
Although the security situation has improved a bit now. It is almost impossible for the Tatar cavalry to surround Shenyang City. However, if the iron factory is relatively remote, it is very likely that the Tatars will launch a special attack on the iron factory.
After all, iron prices are getting lower and lower in Daming. More and more people are smuggling iron to the Mongols, which does not change the overall environment. That is, the iron in the hands of the Mongols is too expensive. The iron in the hands of the Mongols is money. It’s a weapon, it’s strength, it’s also food.
There was no iron, they didn’t even have an iron pot. I can't even eat hot food.
Therefore, He Xi finally decided to locate outside Shenyang City. There were 20,000 to 30,000 troops in Shenyang City, and there were many guard posts around Shenyang, with a total of 70,000 to 80,000 troops. And according to plan. A small city will be built around the ironworks. As a satellite city of Shenyang. It is only a few miles away from Shenyang, just a stone's throw away. Shenyang's twin-city structure is expected to be even more difficult to attack in the future.
After all, the blacksmith has transformed into a soldier guarding the city.
This is one of the changes in Shenyang.
Secondly, the roads in Shenyang City are all paved with black cinders.
Compared with the asphalt roads and cement roads of later generations, this kind of cinder road is very primitive, but compared with the muddy dirt roads of this era, the cinder road is already quite good. After all, why the emperor paved the roads with loess and sprinkled the streets with clean water before he went out on inspection? It was because if he didn't do it again, there would be no way to pass the streets.
The cinders at least kept the roadbed from deforming and not becoming too muddy. The roads will not turn into potholes after a heavy rain.
In short, the entire city of Shenyang is developing in a way that Feng Sheng does not recognize.
This kind of shock made Feng Sheng not know what to think for a while.
Until He Xi went out to welcome him, he saluted Feng Sheng and said, "I didn't know that the Duke of our country came from afar. I missed my welcome from afar. Please forgive me for my sin."
Feng Sheng turned around, laughed heartily, and said, "My dear nephew, why are you like this? We are old acquaintances. I originally wanted to see if there is anything you are uncomfortable with when you take office in Liaodong, and if there is anything you need my help with." place, but when I look at it today, it turns out that I have underestimated my nephew. No matter what happens, I will count on my nephew from now on."
He Xi quickly declined and said: "I don't dare to take it. I don't dare to take it." Then he took a step back and signaled: "Please."
