At the end of Qin, I became a son of the plane

Chapter 450: The Road to Industrial Upgrading

Xu Fan encouraged Jia Sheng and the others for a while before leaving. At this time, Ying Bu suddenly hesitated and said, "I think I saw my son and the prince."

As he spoke, Ying Bu pointed to a few young men, who were none other than Xu Aimin, Yingxiong and others. They were dressed as volunteers, guiding the direction and the road for people entering the Crystal Palace. This scene surprised Ying Bu's men.

Xu Fan said: "That's them. Many volunteers of Crystal Palace were recruited from middle schools and colleges."

"What is displayed here is the highest achievement of all the technological inventions of the Han Dynasty. They come here as volunteers to broaden their horizons and understand the progress of the entire Han Dynasty's industrial development. There is no future for future monarchs who do not understand industry."

Ying Bu asked: "How should we develop industrialization?"

It has been more than 10 years since Ying Bu and his people established the vassal states. Their core territories have developed very prosperously, but they are beginning to be restricted when they want to develop further. After all, most of the industries they develop are primary industries. It is not a problem to fill their stomachs with these industries, but it is more difficult to accumulate wealth. After all, even the farmers in the Han Dynasty cannot make much money, let alone the farmers in these vassal states.

Xu Fan said: "This should be developed according to the special products of your own vassal states. However, if you want to increase wealth, you can't just sell raw materials, but you have to process them deeply and sell those goods that are directly facing the people. For example, wheat is worthless, but grinding it into flour can increase the price by 5%, and making it into noodles, buns and other foods can double the price. This is the way to extend the industrial chain to increase wealth. You can extend the industrial chain according to the special products of your own vassal territory, sell less raw materials and more products."

Ying Bu and his companions nodded as if they suddenly understood something.

On the other hand, princes like Ying Bu were still thinking about how to upgrade the industry, while volunteers like Xu Aimin were already talking until they were dry-mouthed because there were too many people asking for directions.

The Crystal Palace is too huge. Without volunteers to show them the way, many people would easily get lost here. The construction level of the Han Dynasty was far superior to that of the Qin Dynasty. During the Qin Dynasty, huge trees were needed to build palaces, so the size of the palace was determined by these trees.

But during the Han Dynasty, craftsmen directly abandoned the tradition of using wood for pillars, and directly used reinforced concrete and bamboo reinforced concrete pillars. Not only did the cost of a palace save more than half, but the key was that the area of ​​the palace was finally no longer restricted by the limitations of wood.

When the Han Dynasty court decided to build the Crystal Palace, the traditional palace builders were so overjoyed that they almost burst into tears.

It's no wonder they were so excited. Reinforced concrete was like a dragon-slaying sword to these craftsmen. They finally had a dragon-slaying sword, but in the end they had no enemies. In the more than 10 years since the establishment of the Han Dynasty, they had never built a palace. Instead, the most thing they did in their daily lives was to maintain the existing palaces. They had the skills to slay dragons, but in the end they had no dragons to slay.

Now they can finally show off their dragon-slaying skills. After receiving the task, these people patted their chests and promised the emperor that they would build a wonder building of the Han Dynasty as quickly, efficiently and economically as possible. Since the construction of the Crystal Palace, these craftsmen of the Han Dynasty have brought out the highest skills. The latest and most advanced manufacturing methods in recent years have all been used to build the largest palace building in the Han Dynasty. Because of the reinforced concrete pillars, the indoor area of ​​the palace is ten times larger than the Jianzhang Palace of the Han Dynasty. Because of the glass exterior wall, the interior of the palace is also extremely bright, and no oil lamps are needed to maintain lighting. The huge area inside can accommodate thousands of exhibition stands and can accommodate tens of thousands of people. Without guidance, it is really difficult to find the exhibition area you want to go to.

Merchants from Sanchuan County such as Wuyan De lost their way when they entered this huge palace. The crowds of people around them made them unable to tell east from west. They were also well-informed and had visited the palace in Luoyang many times, but compared with the Crystal Palace, the palace in Luoyang was nothing.

They could only find a volunteer and ask, "Young Master, we want to go to the steel exhibition area, but we don't know where to go?"

Xu Aimin pointed to the core of the palace and said, "The steel exhibition area is northeast of the steam exhibition area."

Ren Ming looked at the crowded palace and couldn't see the steel exhibition area that Xu Aimin was referring to.

Ren Ming said: "We have a poor sense of direction, can you please lead the way, young master?"

Xu Aimin walked to the front and said, "Old gentlemen, please follow me."

Xu Aimin personally led a few people to the steel exhibition area, where there were products from more than a dozen Dahan steel factories and their blast furnace models. Yes, they not only sold steel, but also steel factories. Although this might increase their competitors, the Dahan blast furnaces were upgraded too fast. Many of the original machines became useless after the blast furnace upgrade. Only by finding a buyer and building a small steel factory for them could they recover some of the costs with these equipment.

So after Ren Ming and his friends arrived at the steel exhibition area, they felt that their eyes were not enough. There were too many blast furnace models here, including 1-jin, 5-jin, 10-jin, and even Dahan's latest 20-jin blast furnace. What surprised them most was that they also saw a 50-jin blast furnace model.

Wu Yande said with an unpleasant expression: "We have been deceived by these profiteers in Chang'an. They asked us to build a 5-jin blast furnace, but Chang'an has a blast furnace that is 10 times larger than ours."

Even if Wu Yande did not understand blast furnace technology, he could understand that a 5-jin blast furnace was definitely not as good as a 50-jin blast furnace.

The other merchants in Sanchuan County also looked unhappy. After all, no one wanted to be cheated.

Two years ago, through Chen Rui's relationship, they built a steel plant in Xingyang. There are three 5-jin blast furnaces, and the annual steel production exceeds 1 million jin. Although the cost of the steel plant has not been recovered, it is a great encouragement for Wu Yande and others. Relying on the Yellow River, they buy coking coal from Hedong and ore from Hebei at very low prices. At the same time, with the huge consumer market of Luoyang City behind them, their steel products have no shortage of buyers. There is only one thing that makes them very helpless. Their steel can only be sold in Sanchuan County and cannot enter other markets at all. This time they came to Chang'an City with the intention of coming here to study, but they saw that their beloved baby was in Guanzhong, which is not a good place at all.

Xu Aimin didn't like what he heard, and he immediately retorted, "Old sir, the 50-jin blast furnace is still in the verification stage and has not been truly built. Moreover, large blast furnaces cannot be built just because you want to. This requires a certain industrial foundation. If your hometown has never built a blast furnace before, there may be accidents if you rashly build the latest blast furnace."

"Small-sized blast furnaces have been in operation for many years, and the technology is quite mature. Standard specifications for craftsmen have been established, so the probability of accidents is low, and the skills required of craftsmen are also lower. On the contrary, the latest blast furnaces require multiple master craftsmen to watch over them 12 hours a day, ready to discover and solve problems at any time. Experienced craftsmen are also needed on the production line, which is not easy to do."

Ren Ming said: "Thank you for your advice, young master."

Then they walked to the steel exhibition and pointed to the largest blast furnace and said, "We want to build a steel plant like this in Sanchuan County. I wonder if you can do it at Bashang Steel Plant."

Zhao Wu was pleasantly surprised and said, "Old sir, do you really have such great ambitions? Such a large blast furnace cannot be built by ordinary people."

Wuyande said proudly: "We are from Sanchuan County."

Zhao Wuxi said: "Junchen, you watch over the venue. I will take a few old gentlemen to find the master."

Junchen nodded and said, "Yes!"

Then Zhao Wu led Wuyande's men away. When Xu Aimin heard the name Junchen, he looked at the sturdy man with curiosity. Junchen was seven feet tall, not too tall, but his arms were thicker than Xu Aimin's thighs. He had thick hands and feet, thick arms and a round waist, and a bald head, which was very consistent with the image of a blacksmith.

He heard from Xu Fan that a young Hun prince worked as an apprentice at the Bashang Steel Plant for two years in order to learn blast furnace technology. Perhaps because of their similar status, Xu Aimin admired Junchen's courage very much and was able to endure such hardship.

Junchen naturally didn't understand Xu Aimin's inner thoughts. He noticed that there was a strange young man looking at him, and asked in confusion: "Is there something strange on me? Why is the young master looking at me like that?"

"I've heard about you. I heard that you are a little prince of the Xiongnu. You came to the Han Dynasty to study for two years. Have you learned blast furnace technology now?"

Junchen looked at the child hesitantly. Which powerful family in the Han Dynasty was this child from? Although his identity was not kept secret, not many people knew about it, and they were basically the upper class of the Han Dynasty.

Junchen replied: "The technology of the Han blast furnace is extremely advanced and is still constantly improving. How can I say that I have learned it? I just understand some knowledge about blast furnaces."

Although Junchen didn't know whose powerful family this child was, he didn't want to offend anyone.

Xu Aimin thought Junchen was not a good student, so he encouraged him: "You must work hard, otherwise the hard work of the past two years will be in vain. Work hard!"

After cheering up Junchen, Xu Aimin left the place.

At this time, a middle-aged scholar came to Junchen. Junchen looked up and found that it was Zhang Yuan.

Zhang Yuan's face was also full of disbelief. Although Junchen was young a few years ago, he was a mighty and majestic grassland man, but now I have become a bald and fierce man.

"Prince, you have suffered a lot in the past two years!" Zhang Yuan sighed. It was hard for him to imagine what Junchen had experienced in the Han Dynasty in the past two years.

Junchen said calmly, "Fortunately, in the Han Dynasty, blacksmithing is a high-income profession. Apart from not having rights, my daily life is not much worse than that of the Xiongnu. The most important thing is that I finally understand how a blast furnace works."

Zhang Yuan was surprised and asked, "The prince has learned how to build a blast furnace?"

Jun Chen said: "I can only say that I understand the technology of blast furnaces. I have won over dozens of fellow apprentices over the years. With their assistance, my Xiongnu country can also build blast furnaces."

Junchen arrived at the Bashang Iron and Steel Plant and after studying for half a year, he realized that it was impossible for him to learn dozens of process technologies of a blast furnace by himself. He decisively decided to win over some senior brothers and rely on these brothers to help the Xiongnu Kingdom build a blast furnace.

However, he still sighed and said, "The Han Dynasty is developing rapidly. The blast furnace technology I learned is outdated in the Han Dynasty. I have never seen the Han Dynasty's arsenal. But I heard that they have replaced the new artillery. It is said that the whole body is made of fine steel. Not only is it much lighter, but it is also much more powerful."

The steel plant and the military factory are too closely connected. Even if there is a sense of confidentiality, some information will still leak out through clues and be obtained by military officials.

"Cannon!" Zhang Yuan was a little frightened.

The reason why the Huns were defeated in their homeland and failed to win a single direct battle was definitely one of the main factors. With dozens of artillery pieces bombarding, no cavalry team could withstand such an advance.

Although the Huns also wanted to find the secret of artillery over the years, the Han Dynasty kept the secret of artillery too strictly, and only the vassal states trusted by the Han Emperor had artillery.

Zhang Yuan thankfully said, "Fortunately, the Xiongnu are now one of the Chinese states. As long as the Han Emperor wants to maintain the feudal system of the Han Dynasty, he will not take the initiative to attack the Xiongnu."

Then he asked, "Since Prince has learned the blast furnace technology, will you return to the Xiongnu Kingdom with me?"

Then he approached the military official and whispered, "Prince Yizhixie has been loved by the Chanyu for the past two years. If you don't go back, the situation in the Xiongnu Kingdom will be unfavorable to the prince."

Junchen said, "It's time to go back."

On the other hand, Zhao Wu led Ren Ming and the others to find his teacher Zhang Ying and said, "These old teachers want us to build a steel plant for them with a blast furnace of 50 jin."

Ren Ming exclaimed: "I didn't expect to meet someone I know here."

Zhang Ying was the one who guided them in building the steel plant. It was truly a coincidence.

Zhang Ying found that they were old acquaintances and said, "You are all insiders in the industry. This 50-jin blast furnace is still in the verification stage, and the technology is not yet mature. The cost of construction will be extremely high. I still suggest that if you want to replace the blast furnace, you should first make a 10-jin blast furnace. This way, the safety cost will be very low. The -jin blast furnace is already a very mature technology of our Han people."

Wu Yande said: "How can we make money by following others step by step? Only by surpassing others can we obtain the most lucrative benefits. We want to build this 50-jin blast furnace, and we hope that Master Zhang will help us."

Wu Yande's words are almost the truth of the business in the Han Dynasty in recent years. When white sugar first appeared, its price was higher than gold. At that time, people who made and sold white sugar made a lot of money. Later, with the popularization of sugarcane plantations in the Han Dynasty and the expansion of sugar factories in the Jianghuai region, the price of white sugar plummeted. Although it is still a luxury item now, ordinary people can already buy a pound of it to enjoy during holidays.

The same goes for spices. When they first entered the Han Dynasty, they were more expensive than gold, but now they have become a cooking package for braised meat in restaurants. All these examples tell the merchants in the Han Dynasty the importance of eating the first soup.

(End of this chapter)