Jiangnan Iron Works is located on the Yangtze River in the western suburbs of Nanjing, and is connected by a railway to the city of Nanjing, which is dozens of miles away.

Chimneys and factories cover a large area on the south bank of the Yangtze River, where ships sail every day to transport coal from Huainan to the iron works, and the steel produced by the iron works to various places. As the largest iron plant in Jiangnan, with an annual output of more than 100,000 tons of steel, Jiangnan Iron Works has always been one of the most important rail suppliers.

Many of the workers lived in the vicinity of the factory, and although many of them lived in dormitories, many more workers bought houses near the factory, and gradually several market towns were formed near the factory, which relied on the factory to form a town, and unlike ordinary towns, most of its residents worked in the iron factory. But slowly, a lot of outsiders appeared here, first some vendors, then the families of the vendors, and slowly, a small town of 10,000 people appeared here.

Lei Tao was not a man in the ironworks, he came here ten years ago, and at that time, the town was still very chaotic, with no drainage gutters, no running water, just a whole variety of houses, high and low, with brick houses in wooden houses.

Nine years ago, this place has changed, the original messy houses, all have been demolished, a neatly planned town appeared by the river, he knows, this is not the owner of the factory Wu Ningbo himself is willing to do, but because nine years ago, His Majesty once came to visit the iron factory, after seeing the messy market, His Majesty who stepped on the mud said to Wu Ningbo Wang Mingen. "An honest factory owner will plan to build a factory with the housing of the workers and, of course, the school."

After His Majesty left, Wang Mingen immediately took out more than 100,000 taels of silver and asked someone to plan and rebuild the town, and the workers next to the iron factory finally moved into the bright room, and the road was paved with neat stone slabs. However, a year later, the "Iron Factory Town" next to the Jiangnan Iron Works became a famous first-class town in the Ming Dynasty. Of course, the workers did not move in for nothing, they all owed Wu Ningbo as little as a dozen taels or as much as dozens of taels of silver - they needed to buy a house from Wu Ningbo's hands, but as workers in the iron factory, Wu Ningbo generously allowed them to repay it on a monthly basis, deduct the loan directly from their salary, and of course, pay a little interest.

But there was only one industry in the town of Ironworks, and although it absorbed millions of second sons and their wives who had left home, it also left millions of people with nowhere to live—most of them rented homes in the cities, and barely found a place to live near the factories. Many people live far away from the factory, and they need to walk for half an hour to get to the factory.

In the town of Ironworks, the windows of the workers' homes are glazed, the homes have running water, and even flush toilets, but in many places, many workers just live with their families in a room that is not very spacious, and it takes at least two or three years to buy a house.

"Sooner or later, I'll be able to live in a house like that."

Walking through the streets, Lei Mingtao looked at the houses on the side of the road and secretly cheered himself up - he was the kind of person who rented a house to live.

In the past few years, he has lived in a wooden house, a dormitory, no matter where it is, in winter, it is very cold in the house, the windows are tightly closed, the gaps around him are stuffed with rags to resist the cold wind, and the smell in the house is very strong.

He could still smell it in his imagination now, and that smell in the house in winter.

But, soon, I will be able to move out of there and into a new house.

However, it was in this process that many people made another choice, they left the Ming Dynasty and went to Nanyang or Xinxia, or even more distant America, to find a new life there.

Just like three years ago, Lei Mingtao's younger brother, Lei Mingjiang, in Nanjing's immigration office, after confirming that he had arrived in the North American colony, the colonial government would provide him with 100 acres of land. He chose to go to New York – on the other side of the ocean.

That day, when Narue returned home, the whole person was very excited and excited. He wanted to leave immediately, but he couldn't wait. As the day of departure drew closer, Narume longed more and more to be on the deck, but he was also saddened because he knew that when he left, his family, his friends, and everything that was here would be gone from his life forever.

The night before leaving, the eldest brother also came by train from his hometown in Yingzhou, and the three brothers met in a restaurant near the factory.

That night, all three of them were drunk and fell to the ground, and the three of them cried very much in the end, because they knew that the third child would never see each other again in this life.

It's over.

The next day, the third child left with his daughter-in-law, boarded a steamer in Nanjing, and then boarded a sailing ship from Shanghai. It wasn't until half a year later that Lei Mingtao received a letter from his younger brother, and he arrived in New York safely, and he was also given land, in short, everything was fine.

"What a thing! I won't see you again in my life......"

Lei Mingtao complained in his heart, and when he complained, he came to the factory, he was not the factory of the iron factory, but he came this time for another thing.

Half an hour later, in the Jiangnan Iron Works manager's office, Lei Mingtao stood there, while Li Cunyu, the factory manager, looked at him, although Lei Mingtao's clothes were clean, he could still see that his condition was very embarrassing.

"You say there's an invention to be sold to the ironworks? Come, tell me about it. ”

As the factory manager, Li Cunyu did not give Lei Mingtao a chance because he did not go to the academy, but waited with great interest to appreciate his invention.

Taking a deep breath, Lei Mingen said.

"Yes, this invention of mine is a steam hammer."

"Steam hammer?"

Li Cunyu immediately became interested.

"Manager, I used to work in the iron factory, the iron factory hammered the wrought iron, using a hydraulic hammer, which is why the iron factory was built by the river......"

Hydraulic hammers, since His Majesty's invention in Qinghe, are still the most important hammer forging equipment, from tens of kilograms to hundreds of kilograms, hydraulic hammers have played an extremely important role in mechanical production. And Lei Mingtao changed to work in the hammer forging workshop.

“…… Although the hydraulic hammer forging seems to have excellent performance, there are various limitations in its use, in addition to being affected by the water flow, the most important thing is that the other hammer forging is not uniform, because it is a hammer with the help of water power, and the hammer forging under the action of leverage, which is unavoidable......"

Talking about the shortcomings of the hydraulic hammer forging one by one, Lei Mingtao took out his drawings and then said.

"Manager, you see, this is the steam hammer I designed, its principle is a machine hammer propelled by water steam, the piston rod device of the hammer head and cylinder can move up and down, hammer forgings, compared to the old hydraulic hammer, steam hammer can forge large forgings......"

When Lei Mingtao explained the operating principle of the steam hammer, although he was not particularly proficient in machinery, Li Cunyu, who graduated from the academy to study metallurgy, immediately saw that the steam hammer designed by the other party was feasible in principle, and indeed had more room for development than the hydraulic hammer.

However, Li Cunyu did not immediately agree to buy his invention, but made another decision.

"This invention of yours, now there are only drawings, right?"

"Yes, there's a model."

"In this case, just by virtue of this drawing, your invention is hard to believe......"

"But manager, I ......"

"Listen to me."

Looking at the somewhat anxious thunder in front of him, Li Cunyu said with a smile.

"What if I give you a job, for example, an engineer at an iron factory, who specializes in the development of this steam hammer, you can get all the raw materials and help you need, and of course, in the future, the patent for this steam hammer will be obtained by the factory, what do you think?"

Obviously this is a very good proposition, and although it may be more rewarding to hold the patent in the future, Lei Mingtao is well aware that he does not have the money to turn the drawings into physical objects, which means that his invention will be difficult to make unless he gets investment.

And Li Cunyu's suggestion solves all the problems, the engineer of the factory, whose monthly income is as high as a few hundred taels, he almost immediately bought a very good house, so that the family can live a good life immediately, and from then on, his life will change.

But should it be done?

"Manager, I'm ......"

Just as he was about to agree, Lei Mingtao said.

"Can I think about it for two days?"

Back home, in the face of his wife's expectant eyes, Lei Mingtao did not say the invitation of the factory, but said that he had met the manager today, and sometimes, some things did not need to be told to the woman.

Before going to bed, Lei Mingtao checked the cabinet where he put the drawings, which he had been drawing for a year, and in the past year, he had been perfecting his design, and although he showed his invention to the manager today, the most crucial part was not told the place.

For the past three years, he has been in front of the steam engine for this invention, doing that well-paid job, in order to figure out something, although he had studied in the county school, but his knowledge of the steam engine is only the pattern on the wall chart.

"It's okay, I didn't see him today, I'll see him tomorrow, the manager is in charge of such a big factory, he must be a busy man." His wife is quite considerate of him, although his income in the past three years has not been high, but his wife has always been considerate and understanding of him, of course, without her support, maybe he would have given up a long time ago.

"Perhaps, I should have promised him."

On this day, Lei Mingtao, who was lying in bed, couldn't sleep, listening to the roar of the train as it passed, and the reason why he lived here was because the rent here was cheap, but it was close to the railway, which meant it would be noisy, and he even saw his daughter move in her sleep.

Or promise him! After all, as long as this side agrees, that side can move to a new home, and when Manager Li left, he told him that there were several houses in the factory, and if he wanted to, he could move there at any time. And the factory would rent him a carriage for him to work in the same way as an engineer.

This treatment is really good, for a person who has not studied in the academy, being able to become an engineer is tantamount to being admitted to the Jinshi and jumping into the dragon gate!

But why is it reluctant?

Thinking about the possible benefits of the steam hammer in the future, Lei Mingtao does not know how much money he can earn by then, but it is certain that it will definitely be more than now. He can even start his own factory, and then take the fourth child and write it to the third child......

It seems that then it will be good, at least the brothers are together.

However, everything is very illusory, and no one knows the future, but if you promise the manager, from tomorrow, his life will be changed, and there is no need to worry about life all day long, as is now.

Wasn't that exactly what he was looking forward to?

If you say yes, you'll be liberated, and you won't have to think about it so much.

As usual, although he had not slept all night, Lei Taoming woke up at six o'clock in the morning.

After waking up, he washed his face and brushed his teeth as before, and then when he finished eating, he went to the factory, where he was a factory that produced train wheels, although it was located next to the Jiangnan Iron Works, but it was not founded by the Iron Works, but by other people, like this, relying on the Jiangnan Iron Works to produce all kinds of iron factories, there are more than a dozen in the Iron Factory Town, and Lei Mingtao chose to work in this factory because it was the only place where he could work next to the steam engine.

Although the salary is not much, it is here that Lei Mingtao becomes an apprentice of a steam engine, learning how to maintain and operate a steam engine, and it is here that he gradually perfects his idea - how to hammer steel with the power of steam.

As an apprentice in a factory, he may not earn much, but in return, he even had the opportunity to study at a academy in Nanjing for half a year before last year, which was the only two workers in the factory who could repair steam engines.

However, even so, his monthly income was only six taels of silver, which seemed like a lot, but in fact, just a year ago, his salary was only three taels or four dollars - the income of an apprentice. But by next year, he will be able to get eight taels of silver, and at that time, he will become a very well-paid worker in the ironworks town. He can afford to buy a house, and even now, he can buy his own house, as long as he is willing to pay 15 taels, and borrow 30 taels from the factory, and then the factory will deduct one tael of silver from his salary every month for the next five years.

However, he is not content with such a life, and he wants to have a better life.

After coming to the factory, as usual, he changed into a canvas overalls and went directly into the steam engine workshop, now because the boiler has not been lit, so the workshop is very quiet, but when the boiler is ignited, the sound here is deafening.

Just as he was first checking the steam engine, an apprentice ran up to him and said.

"Master, the factory owner asked us to clean up the workshop, and someone came to visit today......