Ma Wang led Zhu Yunwen, Song Li and others into the factory
After passing several low smelting furnaces, we finally arrived at the blast furnace area.
Liu Lin pointed to the blast furnace in front and said solemnly: "Your Majesty, this is the Dajian furnace that hundreds of craftsmen have pooled their wisdom and tried repeatedly to build."
Zhu Yunwen, Song Li and others looked up and saw a slightly larger blast furnace standing ten feet away. The furnace was one foot and five feet high, thick at the top and bottom, slightly thinner in the middle, and white mist was spraying from it.
There are high movable ladders on both sides of the Dajian furnace. There is space at the top of the ladder, enough to accommodate five or six people.
Liu Lin introduced: "The entire blast furnace is made of stone. The inner wall of the blast furnace is made of ox head stone, and the furnace door is made of simple stone. There is a large bellows here, and the blast outlet is designed to be one foot and six inches. It requires at least four people to pull it during operation. , set to six people at most. The taphole is designed to be two feet five inches, and the slag outlet is designed to be two feet seven inches..."
Zhu Yunwen didn't know what Niutou Stone or Jian Qianshi were, nor did he know what "black sand is the basis, stones are the auxiliary, and they are always unscrewed". He only cared about output and quality. After listening to Liu Lin's introduction to the Dajian furnace, he directly Question: "How much iron can this blast furnace smelt in one day?"
Liu Lin smiled and said: "Your Majesty, each furnace of this Dajian furnace can be loaded with two thousand kilograms of ore, and a furnace of iron can be smelted in an hour. Assuming that one pound of ore produces three pounds of pig iron, six hundred pounds of iron can be smelted in one hour. If it is continuously operated, it can be smelted for ten hours a day and six thousand pounds of pig iron can be produced."
"Six thousand pounds?"
Zhu Yunwen secretly calculated that six thousand kilograms a day would amount to more than two million kilograms a year, which is only more than a thousand tons by the standards of later generations...
Song Li marveled at this result: "Your Majesty, the daily output is six thousand kilograms, which is astonishing."
Zhu Yunwen sighed secretly. Ten million jins, that is, 100 million jins, is only 50,000 tons. It is still far away from the hundreds of thousands of tons during the Western Industrial Revolution. Setting this standard, it would be difficult for the Ming Dynasty to achieve it...
However, the production efficiency of this Dajian furnace is indeed much higher than that of other iron smelting furnaces, which greatly increases the production capacity of iron. Currently, there is no better advanced technology, but the imperial court can use its advantages to expand the number of Dajian furnaces!
Zhu Yunwen looked at Ma Wang, Liu Lin and a group of craftsmen, and said with satisfaction: "I think this Dajian Furnace is good. It should be promoted to various places to expand steel production. You also know that our Navy wants to build iron ships and steam engines. Mass manufacturing, as well as firearms, if we can’t even keep up with steel, what will our soldiers use to fight?”
Ma Wang, Liu Lin and others were full of joy.
Being recognized by the emperor is an honor for any craftsman.
Ma Wang didn't think about hiding it, and came up with a strategy: "I believe that Ma'anshan Iron Smelting Plant should fully build a large furnace, with the aim of building thirty large furnaces, so that this place can become the iron source for the imperial court. The largest supplier of iron smelting plants, while pushing the Dajian furnace technology to the vicinity of Beiping, large-scale construction of Dajian furnaces at Zunhua Iron Smelting Plant, realizing interaction between the north and the south."
Zhu Yunwen took the document and looked at it carefully, then handed it to Song Li and said to Gong Shuqiao: "You see, this is a talent. Sitting in the Ma'anshan Iron Smelting Plant, he can still think about the overall situation."
Gongshu Qiao looked at Ma Wang, his old face full of smiles. Needless to say, this guy is likely to enter the upper echelons of the Ministry of Industry in the future.
"Come, smelt a furnace of iron for me to see."
Zhu Yunwen arranged.
Liu Lin asked Zhu Yunwen and others to retreat to a safe area, and then organized craftsmen, farmers, and sergeants to transport materials, coke, and ignite the fire. People on both sides pulled the bellows loudly, while someone watched the temperature, and arranged for people to move the high ladder, and the materials were dumped...
Ma Wang saw that Zhu Yunwen was sweating profusely, and arranged for two people to fan Zhu Yunwen.
Zhu Yunwen stopped the craftsman who was fanning the fan. In this hot summer, it was already hot, and the heat of iron smelting made the factory area even hotter. The craftsmen were all wearing shorts, their upper bodies were naked, and sweat was flowing down their cheeks.
No one has time to enjoy the wind.
As the smelting continued, the surrounding temperature became higher, and sweat continued to drip from Zhu Yunwen's forehead. Looking at the craftsmen who were still working hard despite the heavy sweat, Zhu Yunwen asked Ma Wang: "How much money does the craftsman have per month?"
Ma Wang knew that Zhu Yunwen valued craftsmen, and even called him a "great craftsman" in his early years. After years of restructuring and financial improvement, the craftsmen's salary had long exceeded that of the Hongwu period, so he said with a smile: "Back to the emperor, craftsmen work hard and can earn one hundred yuan a day." Thirty Wen, roughly four taels of money a month."
Gongshu Qiao nodded at the side: "Forty taels of money is not harsh."
Zhu Yunwen looked at the busy craftsmen and sighed: "Four taels of money is a lot, but compared to their efforts, it is still a little less. The wages should be linked to the output. With this Dajian furnace, the output has gone up, and the wages have increased." It has to be increased. Shouldn’t the Ministry of Industry pay more attention to this aspect?”
Song Li naturally agreed: "Now that the imperial court is short of iron, they have made a meritorious service and should be rewarded for making this kind of Dajian furnace. As for the craftsmen's wages in the future, I think they can be calculated on a per kilogram basis. Throw away the cost and calculate the cost per kilogram." It is a good thing that the pound can be converted into the appropriate amount, the craftsmen will be more productive, and the court will be able to solve the iron shortage."
Zhu Yunwen said with a smile: "This should be finalized as soon as possible. Then hang a banner here and write: The more you work, the more you will get. Encourage craftsmen to produce more."
Ma Wang was very excited. This meant that the smelters affiliated to the imperial court had also introduced performance management. In the future, aligning production and quality would definitely mobilize the enthusiasm of the craftsmen.
Iron is a strategic material, and its output is a major indicator of national strength.
Faced with the growing amount of iron used, Zhu Yunwen must find ways to make the amount of iron smelting keep up. Without the support of huge steel production, the primary industry would be a joke.
"Open the furnace and tap out the iron!"
As the craftsmen shouted, the huge chain was pulled, opening the taphole, and the red molten iron slowly flowed to the iron ditch, and then slowly divided along the iron ditch...
An unknown island at the southern tip of North Korea.
A fisherman looked at a small bag of broken silver, with greed in his eyes, and quickly said to the fierce-looking Japanese in front of him: "No problem, from now on, these two are my daughters!"
The Japanese pulled out the knife from his waist, slashed the small tree on the side, and said majestically: "Li Mazi, you have to do something after receiving the money. If you don't act according to the rules, you know, we will kill people!"
Li Mazi glanced at the severed tree and put the silver into his arms: "Don't worry, it's just my two daughters' family affairs. Tell me, where do you want them to go?"
"As for the rest, you listen to them."
After the Japanese finished speaking, they got on the boat and wandered away.
Li Mazi looked at the two pure women on the side. They were both sixteen or seventeen years old. They were in their prime, and they were even more beautiful. If he hadn't seen the daggers at their waists, Li Mazi would have wanted to pounce on them. .
"My name is Li Xiuji, she is my sister, Li Xiushi."
Li Xiuji flipped a strand of hair in front of her eyes with a charming look.
Li Xiushi raised his hand and touched the hairpin on his hair, took it off, and handed it to Li Mazi gently: "Now, you are our father and you have nothing to offer, so consider this as our gift."
Li Mazi took the hairpin and squeezed it gently on Li Xiushi's hand. The soft feeling was heart-warming. He grinned and said, "Let's go home."
Li Xiuji and Li Xiushi looked at each other and followed Li Mazi ashore.
Li Mazi asked the two of them to change into tattered clothes and dressed himself up in a miserable state. Then he took the two of them to the small fishing village. When they met, he told everyone that they were his two daughters who had been kidnapped by Japanese pirates and spent a lot of money to redeem them. Come.
The people in the small fishing village all knew that Li Mazi had lost his two daughters in his early years. Although they had doubts when they saw the two returning, they were not surprised. Li Mazi went to the official to apply for household registration. From then on, Li Xiuji and Li Xiushi became Koreans.
】
Half a month later, Li Mazi went to sea and was unfortunately killed. Li Xiuji and Li Xiushi cried for a long time. Then they said goodbye to their villagers and headed north to Songjing. Along the way, they climbed mountains and looked at rivers when they met. ?????? When he arrived in the city, he observed the city defense and garrison.
There are more than 600 women like Li Xiuji and Li Xiushi. In addition, there are some men who have sneaked into North Korea in various ways to inquire about intelligence from all sides.
Songjing.
Li Fangyuan looked at the steam engine built by the director, and his face twitched. The Ming Dynasty's steam engine could even lift a ship. What kind of thing did you design? This thing can't even lift a stone as big as a fist. Do you call this a steam engine?
Craftsman Wu looked at Li Fangyuan, who was about to get angry, and quickly knelt down: "Your Majesty, the information on the steam engine is really limited. We don't know how the Ming Dynasty designed it and why it has such great power."
Li Fangyuan clenched his fists, feeling unwilling: "I've told you, the steam engine is to boil water, boil water! Can you use snacks? What the Ming craftsmen can do, why can't we? It was developed within three months. , or else behead them all!”
The craftsmen were panicked.
Doesn't this force people to go to a dead end?
No one knows how long it took Ming Dynasty to develop the steam engine, but it is said that it was just improvement and iteration, and it took a year and a half to finalize it. We don’t even know what’s inside the steam engine, what do you want us to do?
Seeing this, Jin Shiheng quickly persuaded: "Your Majesty, haste makes waste. The steam engine is probably too difficult for us, so we might as well start working on it slowly."
Li Fangyuan shouted angrily: "Now that we know the principle, why is it still so difficult to do it? Could it be said that without drawings, you will never be able to build a steam engine? If you don't take out the steam engine for up to six months, I will serve you with a knife!"
Jin Shiheng was a little helpless.
Li Fangyuan was stimulated by the Ming Dynasty. Their steam engines and ships began to travel north and south, and his family was still learning the manufacturing technology of Dafu ships...
He Lun hurried over with a document and reported: "Your Majesty, I have received news that there are many unidentified Japanese entering the country near the coast. I am afraid they may have some conspiracy."
Li Fangyuan waved his hand: "Plot? Ashikaga Yoshimitsu was beaten up by the Ming army. He still dare not leave the Kitayama. What kind of plot can he have? The most important thing now is technology. We must keep up with the Ming Dynasty! This year we will Select more young talents to go to the Ming Dynasty, and they must master the manufacturing technology of steam engines!"
