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Chapter 284 If you want to run fast, you have to rely on the front of the car to pull you

In order for the Ming Empire to have sufficient power to move forward for a long time, it must first have a complete front end, secondly sufficient fuel and fresh water, and finally debug the status of each carriage to ensure that no major mechanical failure will occur during acceleration.

At present, the major mechanical fault in the front of the car has not been eliminated and cannot be eliminated. The only way to completely solve it is to carry out overhaul and replace it with new parts.Hong Tao can't do this yet, so he can only try his best to tinker with it and barely maintain the power output.

Fuel and fresh water were also running low and needed to be replenished.At this point, Hong Tao does not have to wait to enter the station. On the one hand, he relies on the New Deal to revitalize the operation of domestic resources and provide more industries to make up for the shortcomings of insufficient agricultural output.On the one hand, we will increase investment in infrastructure and stimulate domestic demand to create profits.

In fact, the foundation of the Ming Empire is still very strong. Since the Tang Dynasty, China has been the major economy in East Asia, Northeast Asia, and Southeast Asia. The supply of products exceeds demand and the currency circulation is unimpeded.

The Song Dynasty took these advantages to the extreme, and along with its economic advantages, it further exported Chinese culture to surrounding countries, forming a large Han cultural circle.

Although the Yuan Dynasty interrupted the continued expansion, consolidation and development of Han culture, fortunately it only lasted less than a hundred years.When the Ming Empire was established, the afterglow of the Tang and Song Dynasties still had not completely faded.It's a pity that in order to consolidate his power forever, Lao Zhu chose a closed strategy that was easier to rule, which wasted more than 200 years.

But even so, the Ming Empire still has a strong vitality, and its roots are two words: a vast land, abundant resources, and a large population!As long as domestic demand is fully mobilized, it will be enough to support a huge government and a massive army.

If Ming Dynasty were replaced by Japan, Hong Tao would definitely be frowning and chewing his teeth at this moment.In a far bigger place and population, if you don't have enough food, you won't starve to death. If you don't have enough resources, you will attract the attention of surrounding powers if you make big moves. If you don't make big moves, you can only wait for death.

Not only did Ming Dynasty have a large population, it was also very obedient.Since the unification of the Qin Dynasty, every dynasty and every generation has spared no effort to educate the people to listen to the emperor and officials, abide by laws and regulations, and follow morality.

Even the most barbaric people in the world cannot withstand thousands of years of teaching and restraint.Moreover, each dynasty and each generation has not stopped picking sand, completely erasing people with tempers, opinions, ideas, and strong bones from the physical level in batches, preventing their genes from having a chance to spread.

What was created was the tens of millions of little sheep in the Ming Empire. As long as they had a mouth to eat and drink, they had to be particularly obedient. They would do whatever they were told, even if they were not paid, and they could bring their own food and drink, while maintaining the quality and quantity.

Don't panic if you accidentally offend them. Even if your family is ruined, as long as the emperor comes out and blames himself, all the resentment will be resolved immediately. There are still fresh tears on his face, but he shouts long live, long live, long live.If we can find another unlucky official to be beheaded, the people will burst into tears with gratitude.

They seemed to have never considered whether the emperor and officials might be responsible for their lack of food and clothing. They only thought about why they did not get up earlier and be greedy at night, so as to produce dozens of kilograms of more grain.Then he worked even harder and taught his descendants to take this as a virtue and pass it on from generation to generation.

With such a fertile land and hard-working and loyal people, as long as any emperor can reduce his greed a little bit, restrain his desire for power a little bit, don't take the imperial power seriously, and know that he is still a mortal, he will not be able to rule. Too bad.

Of course, these requirements sound easy. In fact, each of them directly faces the most despicable dark side of human nature. Most people will never be able to overcome any of them in their lifetime.Therefore, the job of emperor is not prepared for mortals. If you barely get it, it will only bring endless disasters to the people, and you will be a sinner.Hong Tao is not a mortal. Who among mortals can take poison and not even have stomach upset?The Empress Dowager's mourning period had not passed yet, so he left the palace surrounded by the Royal Horse Guards Chamberlain and the Han Generals of the Royal Guards. He walked around the Imperial Manor, the Royal Forage Farm, and the Royal Pasture near the capital, and praised their names. Said to inspect the implementation of the tuan order.

Facing the increasingly unrestrained emperor, the civil servant group, which had been torn apart and had too much to care for, had no way to check and balance it. Fortunately, they did not leave the capital and went to the imperial palace to inspect, so they simply turned a blind eye and pretended to watch. No more.

In fact, the inspection order was fake, but the personal visit to the scene to guide the work of gunpowder factories, machinery factories, smelting plants, foundries, and shipyards was real.At the same time, Hong Tao also wanted to build the Ming Dynasty and probably the first factory in the world to use chemical methods to produce soda ash in Huangzhuang on the bank of the Yongding River.

When most people hear the word factory, the scene of roaring machines comes to mind.This is indeed the case for factories in later generations, but the factory in the Ming Dynasty was very different. It was more like a...pickle factory!

Water tanks and porcelain jars of various shapes, calibers, and colors replaced mechanical equipment; trolleys and backpacks replaced conveyor belts; rakes, shovels, and wooden sticks became manipulators; hats, cotton cloth, and leather boots became the most advanced labor protection supplies.

The only thing that can be said to have anything to do with industry is the two chimneys, but they look weird. The front part is connected to a house that looks like a brick kiln. Two-thirds of it still crawls up the hillside, and only the top third is. Stand up.

This pickle factory...no, it's an alkali-making factory. It uses a relatively primitive and famous production technology, the Lubulan alkali-making method.Basically, concentrated sulfuric acid is added to table salt to react to produce sodium sulfate and hydrogen chloride gas.

The two brick kiln-like rooms are the reaction pools, and the chimney above should not be called a chimney but a contact tower.According to the traditional Lubulan alkali production method, hydrogen chloride gas should be discharged, and only sodium sulfate can enter the next calcination process.

But Hong Tao is such a thief that he will not let go of any opportunity to produce benefits. He has to squeeze out some urine when catching a little toad, and he will not give up easily even if it is a smelly gas.

What else can hydrogen chloride gas do besides cause acid rain?It's very simple, dissolve it in water and it becomes dilute hydrochloric acid.If the concentration is not enough, add hydrogen chloride gas and it will turn into hydrochloric acid of different concentrations.

Sodium sulfate, charcoal, and limestone enter the calcining kiln for calcination. The black ash that comes out is mixed with residual charcoal and about 40% sodium carbonate. Soda ash can be obtained by leaching, purifying, and crystallizing with water.

Although this method is seriously polluting and relatively expensive, it was definitely a very efficient and feasible high-tech artificial alkali production in the early 17th century.

Charcoal and limestone are easy to obtain, and pulverized coal can be used instead, costing almost nothing except labor.Pollution... When we don’t have enough to eat, we don’t have warm clothes to wear, we don’t have enough military expenditures, and the country is facing an existential crisis, who cares whether the air is fresh or not?

(End of this chapter)