Daming: If I find a great-grandson, I will teach an emperor through the ages

Chapter 138 Build a hydraulic lathe and target the assembly line!

Even potatoes produced from one-third of an acre of land are quite large when piled together, and can only be weighed in batches.

The maximum weighing capacity of the steelyard in the Ministry of Finance is only [-] kilograms, and it requires three people to operate it together.

Put enough potatoes on the weighing pan, then someone uses a lever to lift the hook, and then another person steps forward to move the weight and weigh it, and take a reading.

"Eighty-five pounds is four taels and three cents."

After taking the reading, load another batch of potatoes and repeat the steps.

"96 catties, eight taels and five dollars."

"Ninety catties."

……

"Total, three hundred and eight pounds and seven taels and four dollars."

When the household manager read this sentence, everyone present was shocked!

"How much? Did I hear you correctly?"

“How much have we planted? It’s three hundred and eight pounds!”

"It's really so productive! It's incredible!"

"This is simply divine food!"

"With such high-yield divine food, my Ming Dynasty will no longer be short of food..."

This is only about one-third of an acre of land, and the potato yield is as high as [-] kilograms!It is almost equal to the yield of an entire acre of wheat or an entire acre of rice!
If an entire acre of land is planted with potatoes, it seems that the myth of yielding [-] kilograms per acre can really be achieved!

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, most of those who could endure Zhu Yuanzhang's low salary and stand in the court were those who truly cared about the country.

At this time, seeing the amazingly high yield of potatoes, everyone was trembling with excitement!

Among the crowd was a Dali Temple minister with gray beard and hair, his eyes filled with tears.

His parents both starved to death due to lack of food. He himself lived an extremely poor life in his childhood and youth. He knows that every meal is hard-earned!

Today, I witnessed the high yield of potatoes with my own eyes. I was immediately overcome with emotion and my face was filled with tears.

"If there had been such a high-yielding divine food back then, how could my old parents have died in such misery?"

"This is God blessing the Ming Dynasty!"

"God bless Daming!"

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he was filled with emotions.

He couldn't help but recall that his relatives had starved to death because they didn't have a bite to eat.
Now that there is a high yield of potatoes, he will never allow such a tragic thing to happen again in the Ming Dynasty!
When Cao Wei told him that there were crops overseas that could produce a thousand catties per mu, Zhu Yuanzhang actually believed it [-]% but had doubts.

After all, a yield of more than a thousand kilograms of grain per mu sounds unrealistic.

When he thought about it, overseas crops might have high yields, but they would only be five to six hundred catties at most. He really didn't dare to think about a thousand catties per mu.

But now the potato yield is right in front of us. In one-third of an acre of land, the potato yield has exceeded [-] kilograms.

Isn’t the yield from one acre of land infinitely close to a thousand kilograms?

There is also the theory of selective breeding that Cao Wei once said, which can also be applied to potatoes.

After ten or twenty years of careful cultivation, the yield of this potato can definitely exceed a thousand kilograms stably!

Cao Weicheng doesn’t bully us...

Zhu Yuanzhang thought of this and looked forward to the unripe sweet potatoes and corn even more!

What is the yield of these two grains?
Cao Wei patted the dirt on his hands and stood aside.

Looking at the potatoes still clinging to the soil, I thought to myself that the potatoes at this time were not really high-yielding after all.

In later generations, a normal variety of potatoes could easily weigh anywhere from 3000 to 5000 kilograms per acre.

And with some relatively good varieties of potatoes, coupled with scientific and effective planting methods, the yield per acre can even approach [-] kilograms!
At this time, the potatoes that Ma He had just brought back from overseas were only [-] jins on one third of an acre, and less than [-] jins on one acre of land.

In this case, the output may have been unthinkable for people like Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty, but for Cao Wei, a time traveler, it was too average or even a little small.

It seems that selective breeding of potatoes will have to be put on the agenda in the future...

"Zhong Guogong Cao Wei proposed to open the sea and provide the sea map. If you have merit, you will be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver, white cloth and silk, and an additional year's salary." Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly said.

Rewards for merit and punishment for demerits have always been Zhu Yuanzhang's purpose. This time, Cao Wei deserved to be the first hero when he brought high-yielding potatoes from overseas to the Ming Dynasty. It is reasonable and reasonable for Zhu Yuanzhang to reward him in this way.

"My lord, thank you for your majesty's grace." Cao Wei bowed his hands respectfully.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said:
"Ma He, the naval officer, went to sea to search for high-yielding crops. He also made great contributions. He was rewarded with thousands of households and promoted to general."

Ma He was not present at this time. After returning to Ming Dynasty and explaining the various crops he found, Ma He rushed to Hangzhou without stopping.

Just after the beginning of spring, Ma He petitioned Zhu Yuanzhang to rush to the Japanese country and continued to follow Zhu Di.

After getting Zhu Yuanzhang's permission, Ma He led several warships to the Japanese country.

However, as long as Ma Hebu died in Japan, the credit and reward would fall on him sooner or later.

"Zhao Mian, you have to keep an eye on these three hundred and eight kilograms of potatoes, and use them all for breeding! We dug these potatoes with our own hands!"

After one planting, the household department already had experience in how to grow potatoes, and Zhao Mian answered more confidently.

"Your Majesty, don't worry, not a single one of the potato ministers here will be bred and planted again!"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded. After arranging everything, he turned and looked at the fields aside.

Sweet potatoes, corn, peppers and other crops are planted there. According to Cao Wei, they are almost mature...

Zhu Yuanzhang returned to the imperial study, the officials dispersed, and Cao Wei returned to the manufacturing bureau.

Today's manufacturing bureau has been expanded and renovated, and its scale is larger than before. Craftsmen coming and going are constantly busy.

Seeing Cao Wei from a distance, Song Ping and Zhao Heng hurriedly came up to him and shouted with joy.

"grown ups!"

Seeing the happy expressions of the two of them, Cao Wei was a little puzzled.

"What's wrong? I'm so happy today."

Song Ping cupped his hand,

"Replying to your lord, I have developed something today, and I would like to invite you to take a look."

"Oh?" Cao Wei suddenly became interested.

In the past two or three months, Song Ping and Zhao Heng often led a group of people to work mysteriously every day, and Cao Wei had too many things to do and had no time to intervene.But I didn't expect that Song Ping and the others would start to develop things now.

"Let's go and have a look." Cao Wei said.

Song Ping and Zhao Heng both bowed and said, "My lord, please!"

Then the two of them took Cao Wei out of the manufacturing bureau and continued heading west.

Cao Wei couldn't help but be more curious about what exactly was being developed outside the manufacturing bureau.

Yingtianfu is close to the Yangtze River, forming a terrain with many rivers and waterways, and the manufacturing bureau is located close to a river in the west.

When he walked to the bank of the river, Cao Wei saw a group of people waiting there. After walking in, he saw a big guy made of steel standing on the bank, which was still working continuously.

Cao Wei's eyes suddenly lit up and he circled around the big guy twice to see its structure clearly.

One part is like a waterwheel, sinking in the water, and the other part is like a steam engine but not like it, and the whole is much larger. The two are closely connected with tree root transmission shafts and gears.

Isn't this a hydraulic lathe?Cao Wei was secretly shocked.

He turned his head and looked at Song Ping and Zhao Heng.
"You two made this?"

Zhao Heng scratched his head in embarrassment.
"Let the adults laugh."

Song Ping cupped his hands and said:

"We follow the adults every day, and under the influence of our ears and eyes, we have the idea of ​​​​using water power to create kinetic energy machines. Because we don't know whether it can be done, we never tell the adults until after we build it, we tried to run it today. Only then can I report it to your lord."

"We know that this machine cannot be compared with the ingeniously crafted steam engine, but it can be regarded as our intention to do things for the Ming Dynasty." Zhao Heng also said.

Cao Wei raised the corners of his mouth, nodded with a smile, and looked at the hydraulic lathe again.

"Yes, yes, it is not easy for you to start independent research and development. This hydraulic lathe can also be put to great use, saving a lot of manpower and material resources. I will report it to Your Majesty tomorrow and ask for your credit!"

Song Pinghe and Zhao Heng were immediately overjoyed.
"Thank you for your compliment!"

"Hydraulic lathe... We were worried about how to give this thing a name. The name you chose is very good! From now on, it will be called a hydraulic lathe."

The two of them were not happy about the upcoming reward, but they were recognized by Cao Wei.

After working under Cao Wei in the past few years, they were deeply impressed by Yu Cao Wei's astonishing talents, and they had already given up their hearts on Cao Wei.

Although they knew they shouldn't think this way, the person they admired and respected the most was not the Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, but Cao Wei who led them!
Today, after receiving personal praise from Cao Wei, the fatigue of the two of them from the non-stop work in the past few months suddenly disappeared.

Then, Cao Wei began to point out to the two the shortcomings of the hydraulic lathe they developed and the areas that could be improved...

Song Ping and Zhao Heng listened attentively, keeping every word of Cao Wei's words firmly in mind.

The more they listened, the more they were shocked and sighed. Mr. Cao was really a rare person in the world, and his intelligence was far beyond what they could match!
To be honest, Song Ping and Zhao Heng were able to develop a hydraulic lathe completely on their own, which was no less difficult than Cao Wei's ability to develop a steam engine.

After all, Cao Wei is a modern person and has basic theoretical knowledge in his mind, while Song Ping and Zhao Hengzhen just rely on their own thinking and thinking bit by bit.

The hydraulic lathe, like the steam engine, was also an epoch-making invention for the Ming Dynasty at this time!
With the hydraulic lathe, you only need to build a factory near a water source, and you can use a series of corresponding mechanical devices to create an assembly line at a much lower cost!
assembly line!
Cao Wei, who was talking, was suddenly stunned.

To the north of the gun factory, there seems to be a river that bypasses the imperial city!

Nowadays, with steam engines and hydraulic lathes, it is possible to build the Ming Dynasty’s first assembly line factory!

Now the firearms manufacturing plant has been completed long ago, and there are nearly [-] workers. Because Cao Wei had not thought about this before because of his busy official duties, he still asked those workers to work together in groups of three to make muskets.

But this model means that three people must understand and manufacture a complete repeating musket clearly and in detail, which will cause unnecessary waste of manpower.

Since the gun factory was built, as more and more workers were recruited, the efficiency of workers in manufacturing repeating muskets has slowed down.

This is because there are too many people to manage, and the abilities of ordinary workers and craftsmen are different, so the efficiency is naturally different.

Moreover, in the beginning, three people made a repeating musket in three to five days. This was done while the craftsmen were busy day and night.

Now that it has reached a large scale, Cao Wei will not let the workers be too tired, and stipulates rigid and reasonable rest times. Coupled with the production of raw materials and accessories, so far, the production efficiency of the workers is about three people in ten days. Create a repeating musket within the time required.

But as the number of ordinary workers increased, the yield rate naturally began to decline, and now it has dropped to [-]%...

If there is an assembly line, then one person or a group of people will only be responsible for making one of the parts of the musket, which can greatly save workers' energy and make them less prone to errors!

Now that we have the space and a sufficient number of workers, this is when the assembly line comes in handy!
Thinking of this, Cao Wei couldn't help but get excited.

When the firearms manufacturing plant was built in February, Zhu Yuanzhang once asked Cao Wei to try his best to manufacture a sufficient number of repeating muskets and transport them to the Japanese country, so as to completely dominate the situation in the Japanese country.

At this time, the number of soldiers stationed in the Japanese country totaled more than [-].

This means that the main task of the firearms factory is to manufacture [-] repeating muskets in the shortest possible time!
According to the current production capacity of firearms manufacturing plants, it would take at least half a year to produce [-] qualified repeating muskets. After all, workers are not machines and cannot work all the time without rest.

But if an assembly line is built in a firearms factory, the production capacity will be greatly increased, and it will not take half a year at all!

"Hahahaha," Cao Wei suddenly laughed.

Song Ping and Zhao Heng were both puzzled.
"Why is your lord laughing?"

Cao Wei said, "You two have made a great contribution by building a hydraulic lathe."

"No, I will go to your majesty right away and ask for credit for you!"

With that said, Cao Wei left in a hurry, leaving Song Ping, Zhao Heng and a group of craftsmen looking at each other.

When he arrived at the royal study, Cao Wei shouted directly without letting the young eunuch go in to report.

"Your Majesty, I would like to see you, Cao Wei."

next moment,
Zhu Yuanzhang's old yet majestic voice sounded.

"Come in."

Cao Wei pushed the door open and saluted respectfully after seeing Zhu Yuanzhang.

"I see you, Your Majesty."

Zhu Yuanzhang glanced at him and said, "If you have anything to say, just tell me."

Cao Wei responded, and then told the story of Song Ping and Zhao Heng developing a hydraulic lathe.

After Zhu Yuanzhang heard this, he asked,
"Is this hydraulic lathe really as important as you say?"

Cao Wei nodded,
"Your Majesty should know that in order to generate kinetic energy, a steam engine also needs to boil water and consume coal. However, the cost of a hydraulic lathe is almost negligible except for the consumables for manufacturing the lathe, and it has mechanical kinetic energy that is not inferior to that of a steam engine..."

Zhu Yuanzhang finally realized the important role of the hydraulic lathe and nodded.

"In this case, we should reward these craftsmen.

But... what do you mean by the assembly line you just mentioned? "

(End of this chapter)