Optimus One Pillar of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 37 The Beginning of the Iron Dynasty

In this way, Wang Daoqiu and Lu Bing chatted awkwardly, waiting for the manager of the coal yard to deliver a bunch of cooking utensils and ingredients.Wang Daoqiu saw so many things that on a whim, he took the initiative to ask Ying to be the cook and gave Lu Bing a meal of "Northeastern stew".

The two of them gathered around the briquettes stove with a pot on top, taking a bite and drinking at the same time.After eating happily, the conversation turned to the sale of briquettes again.

While eating and drinking, Lu Bing said: "Xie Yuanlang, this briquette is so good! We have been eating it for so long without adding coal, and the fire is small and can be adjusted by opening and closing the damper. To be honest, Xie Yuanlang, Lu Although I didn't look at the stove with the air door closed now, Lu already believed that once the air door of this stove was closed, it could cook slowly all night. After all, our pot was stewing randomly, and as soon as Jie Yuanlang closed the air door, it would The boiling water in the pot will gradually become gentle. This is obviously because the fire will become smaller as soon as the damper below is closed? Jie Yuanlang, what a great talent!"

As he spoke, Lu Bing held on to his chopsticks and gave Wang Daoqiu a "thumbs up". Then he looked worried and continued: "Jie Yuanlang, this briquette is good, but this stove is a bit troublesome. I think this briquette business will be spread. Not to mention those in the imperial yamen and the palace, let’s just talk about the civilian households in the capital. There are at least 10,000+ households! Even one household in this household only has one stove. Chimneys, at least 10,000+ stoves and a dozen chimneys are needed. If we calculate that one stove and one chimney has thirty kilograms of wrought iron, then it will require at least four million kilograms of wrought iron."

"But the imperial court now collects only 800 million kilograms of wrought iron every year. Such a small amount of iron is needed to ensure the armament of millions of troops across the country and the various projects of the Ministry of Industry. Lu can only get a lot of these iron irons. Most of their use rights are in the hands of those bastards. For example, those nobles who control the Beijing camp take away millions of kilograms of official iron in the name of making swords, guns and artillery every year. But those bastards are required to If those irons are spit out, the price will be huge!"

"But if you don't buy the official iron from the imperial court and go directly to the private sector to buy iron, the price will be much higher than the official price. Moreover, these civilian irons are said to be for civilian and commercial purposes, but in fact, we are in the Ming Dynasty. This iron mine, which iron smelting plant, isn't it backed by princes and nobles? So even if we buy civilian iron, if we want to buy it in such a large amount, those bastards will definitely open their mouths when the time comes. "

"Just like the current official price of wrought iron is seven cents per catty, and the public price is twelve cents per catty, an iron pot in the Tatars can be exchanged for a fat sheep. I think once our briquette business is launched, we will need a lot of We use wrought iron to make stoves and chimneys. Those bastards only charge us [-] cents for a pound of wrought iron. They are already giving me, Lu Bing, and the emperor some face. Jie Yuanlang, this is a worrying matter!"

After saying this, Lu Bing drank a glass of wine, his face full of embarrassment and unwillingness.Seeing Lu Bing's embarrassed look, Wang Daoqiu also understood.

To be honest, the current situation of the Ming Dynasty in the dispatch of production materials is similar to the period from the 80s to the early 90s in a large country in later generations.The market supply of various means of production is seriously insufficient, and they are all in the hands of powerful people.The price is dual-track, the unplanned price is several times higher than the planned price, and it doesn’t matter if you don’t add money, you can’t buy it at all!

Just like in "Blood Romance", the so-called state-owned enterprise where Li Yuanchao and Zhong Yuemin work, isn't its working form, to put it bluntly, an intermediary company that resells relationships, resells approval documents, and helps realize power?

Li Yuanchao made this very clear when he recruited Zhong Yuemin.Li Yuanchao told Zhong Yuemin at that time that he asked Zhong Yuemin to work for him because he liked Zhong Yuemin because his father was a cadre from Siye. At that time, Guangdong Province was the forefront of reform, and most of its cadres were from Siye who had gone south. cadre.

To put it bluntly, Zhong Yuemin is a son of a senior general in Siye. He and the dignitaries in Guangdong Province are his own people on the top of the mountain. It's also easy to discuss.This is also the reason why Zhong Yuemin, a person who doesn't understand economics at all, can be a manager there, while those who know more about business than him can only do odd jobs for him, such as his female secretary.

I understand that the current business environment of the Ming Dynasty is that of a large country in the 90s and [-]s.In this environment, what dominates business is power and the exchange of interests between princes, not the market.Wang Daoqiu was also helpless about this.

In such an environment, anyone who touches the cheese will arouse fierce resistance.Moreover, even the emperor would not dare to provoke this kind of resistance if he did not have the ability to kill without blinking an eye and control the overall situation like Zhu Yuanzhang of Hongwu, Liu Che of Hanwu, and Taizu of a certain great country.

In the original supply chain, the cost of obtaining the means of production is too high.That being the case, why not open another capacity?After all, Lu Bing and Emperor Jiajing, they are not ordinary people, they can't change the original order, can't they also defend their own shop assistant?

Thinking of this, Wang Daoqiu thought of the materials about Lao Shougang he had seen in the library.

In later generations, there were two large steel companies in Beijing and Xuanhua, not far above Beijing, Shougang and Xuangang.In the [-]th century, the "breadbasket" supporting these two large steel companies was Xuanhua's local iron ore, the famous Longyan Iron Mine.

In the historical materials of the library, regarding the discovery of Longyan Iron Mine, it is recorded as follows: There is a high mountain twenty miles southwest of Longguan, Xuanfu, named Huangquan Ridge, and the local people call it Huangcaoliang.A black sand river emerges from the mountains, flows westward through a small loess plain, flows into the Yang River in Xuanhua, and finally merges into the Yongding River.

There is a red stone on Huangquanling Mountain. If you hold it in your hands or touch your clothes, your hands and clothes will be dyed red and you can't even wash them clean.So local people have been digging up this red stone, using it as dye, and selling it in the market.Later, in [-], a Swede accidentally saw these two so-called dyes on the market in Beijing.As soon as he got it in his hand, he exclaimed: "This is iron!" From then on, Longyan Iron Mine was discovered.

Longyan Iron Mine was a very famous iron mine in later generations. It was famous all over the world for its thick ore layer and excellent mineral quality.Therefore, in later generations, it gave birth to two large steel companies, Shougang and Xuangang.

The ore is of good quality and has reserves of over 300 million tons. If such a huge iron mine had been developed more than [-] years in advance, it would have had a profound impact on China’s national strength and Wang Daoqiu’s own dream of conquering the sea and establishing an empire on which the sun never sets. This is definitely solid steel support!

Thinking of this, Wang Daoqiu became excited, so he said to Lu Bing who was looking sad at this time: "Lord Lu, you don't have to worry too much about iron. To tell the truth, Master Lu, Wansheng was born by chance and coincidence. I have seen a kind of red stone sold as a dye. Ask the peddler who sells red stone. He said that this kind of red stone comes from Hongshi Mountain in Longguan, Xuanfu. If you dig on the mountain, this kind of red stone is very common. Mr. Lu, Wansheng has some vision for prospecting, so he can tell you with certainty that this kind of red stone is actually iron ore, and it is a high-quality iron ore, nearly half of a catty of ore is iron."

"Oh, do you really mean what Jie Yuanlang said?"

"Seriously, if Mr. Lu is suspicious, you might as well send your subordinates to the Red Stone Mountain in Longguan, Xuan Mansion, to dig out some of these red stones, and then put them in the smelting furnace to smelt them to see if they are iron ore."

"good"

After saying the word "kind" to Wang Daoqiu, Lu Bing waved to call a guard behind him, and whispered to the guard in a low voice: "Tiger, take my token and go back to the guard to pick twenty mouths." Seriously, ride a fast horse, bring some tools, and some explosives. Let us send someone from the Hundred Household Office in Xuanfu to lead the way to the Hongshi Mountain in Longguan, Xuanfu, and deliver a thousand catties to me within three days. Red Stone, come here. Do you understand?"

"Xuanfu Longguan, Hongshishan red stone, one thousand catties."

"Yes, let's go."

"promise"

The guard named "Tiger" repeated Lu Bing's order concisely and concisely. After Lu Bing confirmed that it was correct, he agreed.

After the guards left, Lu Bing still asked Wang Daoqiu with some uncertainty: "Xie Yuanlang, is there really that kind of red stone in Xuanfu Longguan? Is that kind of red stone really iron ore?"

Damn it, the Longyan Iron Mine has been mined for a century by later generations and has supported the two major steel companies Shougang and Xuangang. Does it still need to be questioned?
However, it was not convenient for Wang Daoqiu to tell Lu Bing clearly about what happened more than 300 years later, so he laid an ambush and said with a smile: "Master Lu, we can wait until your guard comes back from Xuan Mansion! But Master Lu , if the red stone vendor I met last time didn't lie to me. Then Mr. Lu, you and the emperor don't have to worry about money anymore, because what the vendor told me at that time was an entire mountain. They are all red stones. In this way, we can mine the red stones and blow them up with explosives on the mountain. There is no need to drill holes underground like coal mining."

What Wang Daoqiu is talking about is open-pit mining. In fact, according to the mining experience of the Longyan Iron Mine in later generations, the quality of the ore below the surface of the Longyan Iron Mine is better.However, the technical requirements for underground mining and the cost of mining are too high, and according to the current market demand of the Ming Dynasty, the ore above the surface of Longyan Iron Mine is enough.

Listening to Wang Daoqiu talking about this iron mine, the ore is not buried deep underground, but is built on the ground in the form of a mountain. When the time comes, explosives are used to blow up the rocks from the mountain, and the ore can be mined. This makes Lu Bing was excited. There was a whole mountain of iron ore, and it was so easy to mine. How much money would it cost?

Thinking of this, Lu Bing couldn't help but start to yearn for the bright future, and muttered: "This must be true, this must be true!"

(End of this chapter)