Short video spoiler history: The beginning of modern warfare

Chapter 81 Copper Belt

Among all the dynasties mentioned in the sky curtain, the Ming Dynasty is the one mentioned the most, but there are also many criticisms of the Ming Dynasty.

Is this like or hate?

Even if it misled future generations for three hundred years, it was a matter of the Qing Dynasty. What does it have to do with the Ming Dynasty?
Zhu Yuanzhang was somewhat indignant. Even if the eight-legged essay system had drawbacks, that was normal. No policy could cure all ills, and policies had to change as national conditions changed.

Moreover, even if there are disadvantages, how can it be that it restricts the mind, leads to ideological rigidity, or breeds the arrogant mentality of "everything is inferior except for studying"?
Is this pot too big?
Hu Weiyong, Wang Guangyang and others all frowned. In this world, studying is indeed the only way out. This is not arrogance at all.

Even in later times, when it is a prosperous era built up by various knowledge, doesn't it also require reading a lot of books?

Isn't this a clear double standard?
Liu Ji probably understood what the comments wanted to express, which is the arrogance of "strange and cunning tricks". Science and technology may have missed many opportunities for development due to the repeated suppression of "strange and cunning tricks".

To put it bluntly, this is not a problem of the Ming Dynasty, but a problem of human nature. As for the rigidity of thought, Liu Ji was not really good at predicting, so how could he know what would happen later.

Moreover, the imperial court has now proposed to include four branches of science in the scope of the imperial examination.

As for why we did not fully accept the new knowledge of later generations to replace the old knowledge, the main reason was not because we were afraid of opposition from the old knowledge party and wanted to play it safe.

Liu Ji was confident that he knew His Majesty very well. Given His Majesty's character, if he really decided to do it, the small old party would not be able to cause much trouble.

The main reason is that the new knowledge will also cause people in later generations to be unruly, not worshipping heaven and earth and not respecting ghosts and gods, let alone Your Majesty who has the divine right of kingship.

This kind of knowledge directly points to the essence of the world and is the best tool for understanding the world. Later generations' understanding of typhoons, rainfall, electricity, etc. are the most typical examples.

Of the four branches of science, only physics and chemistry have begun to deconstruct imperial power.
this is not good.

Liu Ji did not know how the imperial court in later generations solved this problem, so he could only remain silent.

Zhu Biao focused his attention on the laying and popularization of electrical wires. According to Tianmu, copper wire is the best conductor for power transmission, but is it too luxurious?
You know, copper is not only a mineral, but also money, and it is the raw material for casting Dazhong Tongbao.
In later times, roads, brightly lit high-rise buildings, schools, and neighborhoods all require electricity and require the laying of electrical wires. The consumption and demand for copper must have been an astronomical figure that is unimaginable.

Moreover, the laying of electrical wires must pass outside the city, so how to prevent theft is another big problem.

Taking a step back, using copper and iron mixed together to make wires is also useless and is also easy to be stolen because copper and iron are both valuable.
It is even more impossible to supervise it, as Jinling City alone cannot handle it.

The root of this is that copper can be used to make coins and has a certain value in itself.

The situation in later generations was different from this. Paper money was used in later generations, and copper seemed to have been deprived of its currency function.

Then copper itself has its value, so why wouldn't it be stolen?

Zhu Biao tilted his head and thought for a while. Apart from "one knows honor and disgrace when he has enough food and clothing", there seemed to be no more convincing statement.

If we want to achieve peace and prosperity in the world, and achieve the state of "having enough food and clothing and knowing honor and disgrace", it will take at least 20 to 30 years.
In such a silent atmosphere, the sky curtain changed again.

[China is now very short of copper#copper mine]

[There are only two super-large copper mines with a capacity of tens of millions of tons in my country: the Duolong mining area in Ali, Tibet, and the Qulong copper mine in Lhasa]

[The AFH Aynak copper mine not far away is a super-large copper mine. Our copper deposits are not only small in scale but also low in grade.]

[The grade of copper ore refers to the proportion of copper element in the copper ore. The higher the grade of copper ore, the more copper metal can be refined from the same weight of copper ore, and the lower the cost]

[Currently, among China's 18 copper mines with a production capacity of more than 0.75 tons, the average grade of 0.6% is similar to the global average grade (0.8%-%)]

[Only three mines have a grade of more than 1%. For comparison, the grade of AFH Aynak copper mine is 1.56%. The current proven reserves are 7 million tons of ore, which is equivalent to 1000 million tons of copper metal.]

[The problem of small scale and low grade restricts my country's copper mine production capacity. For example, Jiangxi Dexing Copper Mine and Heilongjiang Duobaoshan Copper Mine, with an annual output of over 10 tons, are among the top in my country.]

[In comparison, the world's largest copper mine, Chile's Escondida, has an annual copper metal output of over 100 million tons. This is just the annual output of a copper mine. You should know that my country's annual output is only 180 million tons.]

During the Hongwu period, Jinling City.

Zhu Yuanzhang started from scratch and had already forged a strong will. Although Tianmu's few words made him very unhappy, he was able to suppress his emotions.

Now, when I saw the copper mine mentioned on the screen, I couldn't help but perk up. This is money!

The Ming Dynasty is now in a state of disrepair. The Northern Expedition requires money, building treasure ships and training the navy requires money, recovering Sichuan next year requires money, and local officials also require money. Money is indispensable every day when we open our eyes.

And copper is also needed for laying electrical wires.
Previously, I was like a lice that was bitten so many times that I was numb. I wanted to break each word into two halves. Now, the inventory of copper mines in the morning is like a timely help.
“Is this the copper mining area?”

"Write down the amount quickly."

"."

"Xifan? The miasma there is extremely poisonous. If you inhale it for a long time, you will have difficulty breathing. What's the difference between this and losing your life?" "Jiangxi Dexing Copper Mine? It looks like it's located near Raozhou Prefecture in Jiangxi Province?"

"Heilongjiang?"

"."

[In addition, the composition of my country's copper mines is particularly complex, and most of them are associated minerals, that is, there are multiple mineral elements in one ore deposit]

[Common combinations include copper-nickel, copper-iron, copper-lead-zinc and other ores. Although opening a mine in this way can extract several kinds of metals, the process technology required is much more complicated and the cost of refining a unit of metal is higher.]

[After accounting for various debuffs, the full cost of copper metal per ton in my country is about 33000-35000 yuan]

[Moreover, they have great social responsibilities and heavy historical burdens. These 10,000-ton copper mines that have been developed have long been in full production in the face of the growing demand for copper mines, but their self-sufficiency rates continue to decline. A good cook cannot cook without rice.]

[In fact, we still have many undeveloped copper mines, especially in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The two super-large copper mines mentioned above are both in Tibet.]

[However, the mining conditions are too harsh, with high altitude, severe winters, insufficient infrastructure, and a lack of industrial water. Overcoming these environmental conditions requires high costs.]

[So under such conditions, only high-grade copper mines are worth developing. For example, the Jiama copper mine has a decent grade and is rich in gold, but the shortage of industrial water is too difficult to solve in the high-altitude wasteland, which is always a bottleneck.]

[Just like agriculture depends on the weather, mining, which depends on the land, depends on whether the land is fertile]

[Half of our country's copper reserves belong to porphyry copper mines, which is also the most mainstream type of copper mine in the world. Almost all of Chile's super-large copper mines are of this type. Although they are also porphyry copper mines, the scale of our deposits is far less than that of Chile.]

[It’s mainly because we have bad luck. Porphyry deposits are the product of plate collision. There are three major meandering metallogenic belts in the world, namely the Alpine Himalayan metallogenic belt, the Central Asian Mongolian metallogenic belt and the Pacific Rim metallogenic belt. They are all directly related to the convergence movement of plates.]

[Among them, the Pacific Rim Metallogenic Belt is the most important. For example, the copper reserves of Chile and Peru in South America combined account for more than 40% of the world's total reserves. If Australia is added, it directly accounts for more than 50% of the world's total reserves.]

[As we all know, modern earth science believes that the lithosphere is a layer of the earth's spheres that can move with plate tectonics, with a thickness of 60-120 kilometers.
[The global lithosphere can be divided into eight major plates: the Pacific Plate, the Indo-Australian Plate, the Eurasian Plate, the African Plate, the North American Plate, the South American Plate, the Nazca Plate and the Antarctic Plate]

During the Zhenguan period, Chang'an City.

Li Shimin looked at the sky curtain and took inventory, thinking that with that usage in the future, it would be strange if there was no shortage of copper.

"Quickly write down the three major mineralization belts!" Fang Xuanling directly ordered the clerks to write down the corresponding locations. From this, we can see that China has such a vast territory, and although there are many copper mines, their locations are really remote.

With the current strength of the Tang Dynasty, it is really difficult to mine the copper mines in these areas.

Moreover, even if it is possible to mine, if the cost issue cannot be solved, then mining will be a completely unprofitable business, and it is better not to mine. This problem has not been solved even in later generations.

More importantly, that place is not the territory of the Tang Dynasty. It is the territory occupied by Tubo and Mohe.

"It's North and South America again. These two continents are truly blessed lands!"

"The distribution of copper mines in North and South America is easy to remember. They are all along the coast from south to north."

A group of civil officials commented on the three major mineralization belts. There is no doubt that Luzon and other places south of the Tang Dynasty are the closest, and the cost can be controlled if it is traded by sea.

Seeing that a group of generals were about to request troops to march south, Li Shimin stopped them with a look and said that the matter would be discussed after the sky curtain went out, and the result would be known by tomorrow at the latest.

During the Hongwu period, Jinling City.

The clerks had already noted down the three major mineralization belts, and were surprised to see that they were North and South America.
What a great place this is! One more reason to go.

"Copper mines, coal mines, and oil." Zhu Biao counted on his fingers and swallowed secretly.

He thought of a question. Where are the silver mines, no, the gold mines, distributed?
"China has been mining copper for thousands of years. It would be too good to be so high-quality."

"Forget it. The amount mined over those thousands of years is probably not as much as the annual output of today's large copper mines."

"You are right. That is not a big deal. It is all done by human labor. The annual output now is really greater than the output in thousands of years in ancient times."

"If someone can invent a new conductive material with low resistance, light weight and low price, copper will be less needed"

《Copper is an important strategic material! Not just for electricity demand》

"Is it possible that all the copper that is easy to mine was mined in ancient times [covering face]"

"No! China has been short of copper since ancient times [covering face]"

If copper was not a rare metal in ancient times, the country would not use copper to make coins

(End of this chapter)