Even now, until the seventeenth year of Xingqian, many people still think that the steam engine is very fresh, how fresh can it be?

There will always be people who visit the factory, and even if it is a few dozen dollars for it, it will be worth it in their opinion. After all, it's the freshest thing in the world.

Curiosity is everyone's thing.

It's just that some people, not just out of curiosity, will spend a hundred dollars to take a "day trip to the iron factory" - this kind of industrial tourism may be regarded as a characteristic of this era.

You only need to spend 100 yuan, you can come from Nanjing to Jiangnan Iron Works, and then visit here, not only including round-trip fares, but also including a simple meal at noon, which is simply the conscience of the tourism industry.

Zheng Kezang, who was wearing a light-colored shirt, was one of the small group of tourists who visited the iron factory, as the former son of the King of Fujian, he almost inherited the throne of the King of Fujian, for the Zheng family of the King of Fujian, it was almost equivalent to shame, as the eldest son of Zheng Jing's concubine, he was born to Zheng Jing's concubine Zhao Niang, and Zhao Niang was the nurse of Zheng Jing's younger brother. This is also the main reason why his brother Zheng Cong succeeded instead of Zheng Jing after his death.

Although Zheng Jing died of a violent illness, Zhao Niang "hanged himself", and as a former son, Zheng Kezhang has been hidden in the Zheng family's business in the suburbs of Nanjing, unlike the younger brother Zheng Kezhang who studied in the royal school, except for a few Zheng family members, almost no one knows of his existence.

It wasn't until last year, under the intervention of Chen Yonghua, the former minister of the Ministry of Industry of the Fujian Prince's Mansion, that Zheng Kezhang came out of that semi-house arrest, and then was admitted to Zhongshan Academy in Nanjing, that is, at the beginning of this year, with the consent of the current King of Fujian, Zheng Kezang inherited another business in the suburbs and a sum of money, which can be regarded as some kind of compensation.

Zheng Kezang, who inherited the sum of money that is just a drop in the bucket compared to the Zheng family, but is a huge amount of money compared to ordinary people, has not been sitting on the mountain, but has been thinking about what kind of investment should be made. After thinking about it, he still came to the Jiangnan Iron Works, the largest factory in the whole of Nanzhili, and the iron ore and iron works employed more than 30,000 workers, both men and women, as well as many apprentices aged 15 or 6.

The reason why I chose to visit the iron factory is because in Zheng Kezang's opinion, the iron factory is the most worthy investment, after all, whether it is a railway, a steam engine or other kinds of machines, it is inseparable from the steel produced by the iron factory.

However, limited by capital, Zheng Kezhang knew that he did not have the capital to start an iron factory, so he considered setting up a small factory relying on an iron factory. Around the Jiangnan Iron Works, there are dozens of such small factories, just like the Li Kee Wheel Factory that I am visiting now, which is a factory that relies on the iron factory to produce train wheels.

Because as long as the inspection is done, the steam engine can work normally, so Lei Mingtao's daily work is also very clear, which also gives him an extra task, which is to take tourists to visit the factory, not only the steam engine workshop, but also the workshop responsible for processing locomotive wheels.

Because Lei Mingtao was thinking about his own affairs, the explanation on the road was also very boring. When he entered the casting department, Ning Cheng, the workshop inspector, was there to supervise the workers casting. He was a licensed engineer, tall and thin, and he introduced the work of the workshop, of course, not the work of his engineer, he just glanced at Lei Mingtao and the tourists behind him, and then continued his work.

"Everyone, be careful, don't go near the area on the ground that is separated by yellow paint, it's the work area, and I don't think anyone wants an accident."

I saw a young man among the tourists who wanted to go into the work area for a tour. Lei Mingtao hurriedly stopped. From the clothes of this person, it can be seen that this person must be a rich man. He was dressed like a scholar, dressed in a silk shirt and a square scarf on his head, which may be the way everyone in the world dresses. Unlike the kindness of ordinary tourists, he is more focused on production.

"How many wheels can you produce in a day?"

Zheng Kezhang asked with great interest.

"We produce 700 wheels a week here, or about 130 wheels a day on average."

"It's amazing."

Zheng Kezhang couldn't help but say.

"If you work overtime, you can produce about 150 units a day."

Lei Mingtao added.

"Are we going to visit the production process? Where to look? ”

Zheng Kezang said happily, fluent in official dialect with a strong Hokkien accent. In Nanjing, this accent is common, because many of the old Minwang lived in Nanjing, and their families and servants often spoke official dialect with a Hokkien accent.

"Soon, there's a dedicated demo place over there."

In the area of the demo tour. Workers put ingots into hoppers, fill the furnace with coal, and soon the metal begins to melt. More than a dozen visitors, all crowded into the viewing area by the door of the wheel workshop, both adults and children, all looked at the iron-melting furnace, for them, in addition to the steam engine, this is probably the most attractive part of this factory.

Lei Mingtao, who was standing in the visiting area, began to explain, and he nodded to Li Quan, who was about his age and a third-class worker in the wheel-making workshop. After the iron ingot was turned into molten iron, Li Quan opened the mold. Then, with an apprentice, he lifted a model of a polished wooden train wheel. It takes great skill to do this job, the spokes turn out to be complicated, such wheels are intended for steam locomotives, and the models are not many with a person tall.

"Now they're starting to make molds out of wooden models......"

During the guide's introduction, Zheng Kezhang saw them press the model into a deep trough filled with a damp sandy mixture. They compacted the wheel face and flange, and finally the top of the model.

Zheng Kezhang is no stranger to this process, after all, he studied machinery at Zhongshan Academy, and foundry is a compulsory subject. Watching the workers open the components of the sandbox, one of them examines the hole made out of the formwork. The whole sand mold looks like everything is normal. The workers then sprayed some oil into it with a watering can and closed the sandbox again.

"Now stand back."

Lei Mingtao said to the audience.

Li Quan had already moved the nozzle of the hopper to the top of the mold. Then, another worker pulls the lever to tilt the hopper down.

The fiery molten steel is slowly poured into the mold. The damp sand mold sizzled, spewing steam from the small holes. With the classics of the past, workers know when to lift the hopper and stop pouring.

"The next step is to shape the wheels,"

Lei Mingtao continued.

"Because molten iron takes a long time to cool, I put a pre-cooled wheel here."

The wheels have been placed on the lathe, which is driven by the steam engine, driven by the steam engine driven by the axle suspended in mid-air, Lei Mingtao nodded to the lathe worker, the lathe worker immediately pushed the clutch of the lathe, driven by the transmission belt connected to the roof axis, let the wheel rotate quickly, and then began to shape with a file.

"Please keep an appropriate distance from the lathe."

Lei Mingtao told the visitors, raising his voice to drown out the noise made when the metal was turned.

"If you're not careful, even if it's light, you have to lose a finger, or even a palm."

Working in factories is dangerous, and some work-related accidents often occur, which is almost inevitable. In fact, it is needless to say that those visitors will also take the initiative to keep a certain distance, after all, they can understand the danger from the metal chips that are constantly being cut.

The turning process is very fast, and when the lathe worker stops the lathe, Lei Mingtao walks to the lathe.

"Below, measure the size of the wheel with a caliper."

He lifted the tools that needed to be used.

"The wheels of the train have to be exactly the same size. If the diameter changes by more than 0.5 minutes (1.6 mm), which is as thick as a pencil lead, the wheel has to be rebuilt. ”

The visiting gamers all started asking their own questions at this time.

"How many hours do you work?"

"From six in the morning to seven in the evening, from Monday to Friday. On Saturdays, you can take a day off, but if you have a lot of work at the factory, you should work at least half a day......"

Lei Mingtao noticed that the scholar was looking at the wheel with great interest, and his mouth seemed to be muttering something there.

"Train wheels are made like this, why can't horse-drawn carriage wheels be made according to the same size and rules as train wheels?"

Different from the wheels of the train, the wheels of the horse-drawn carriage are often customized by the nearest carriage shop in the nearest subway factory, and the size of the wheels is different, only the axle length is the same.

"Perhaps, you can consider setting up a factory specializing in the production of carriage wheels, if it is built in Nanjing, there should be a certain market, after all, the cost of bulk production will be lower......"

He wants to set up a factory?

Lei Mingtao looked at this young man in surprise, and it was at this moment that another thought popped up in his heart, what if he could be persuaded to invest in a steam hammer?

Visitors are leaving, and they are going to visit the ironworks. When the tourists were about to leave, worried about missing the opportunity at hand, Lei Mingtao looked at the young man and had the courage to touch the young man. The man just turned around and smiled politely.

"Childe, I heard from you just now, it seems that you want to set up a factory?"

Lei Mingtao asked a little nervously, wouldn't it be too rude to ask this?

"Yes, I do have the intention of doing so."

Zheng Kezhang did not hide his thoughts.

"It seems that you are a journeyman here, and I am also going to set up a wheel factory, do you have any suggestions?"

"How so? Now there are several wheel factories, and we haven't worked overtime for a long time. ”

"What if it's for the production of wheels for horse-drawn carriages? What do you think? Standard horse-drawn carriage wheels are manufactured as they are for train wheels. ”

"I don't know about that, but if you want to set up a factory, maybe I can give you a suggestion."

"Oh, what advice?"

Zheng Kezhang did not look down on the other party because he was an ordinary worker in front of him, in fact, he was only accompanied by servants since he was a child, and his attitude towards his subordinates has always been extremely friendly, and after leaving the house, he also treated ordinary people with this attitude.

"Childe, there are many people who make the wheels of carriages, and if you want to set up a factory, it is better to make new products that no one else has made."

Lei Mingtao thought for a moment, and then said.

"Childe, just like this wheel factory, now there are a total of six companies in Daming that produce train wheels, they can produce thousands of wheels a day, and the business is naturally good and bad, but what if there is only one? Will his business surely be good? ”

"Yes,"

Zheng Kezhang said with a smile.

"That's why I want to make the wheels of horse-drawn carriages, like the wheels of trains, after all, no one has done this yet, maybe I can try it."

"But there are a lot of wagon shops making them."

Lei Mingtao looked at the approachable son in front of him and said tentatively.

"If you want to set up a factory, maybe, you can produce steam hammers."

"Steam hammer? What is this? ”

Zheng Kezang, who studied machinery, had never heard of this, and the words of this worker immediately aroused his interest.

"Is it the latest invention? Was it invented by that factory? ”

"It's my invention, Childe, if you're interested, maybe ......"

Seeing that the inspector on the other side was looking at him, Lei Mingtao said.

"When we get off work in the evening, we can find a place to talk. What do you think? ”

Looking at each other with anticipation, Lei Mingtao felt his heart skip to his throat, would this rich boy promise himself?

"Hmmm......"

Looking at the workers who were looking forward to it, Zheng Kezhang hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said.

"Okay, we'll talk when we meet in the evening, that, I'll live in ......"

Thinking of seeing the hotel when he got off the train, Zheng Kezhang said.

"Just stay in the Railway Hotel, and when you get off work, just go there to find me, my surname is Zheng."

However, it was just one more night, and when he left the wheel factory, Zheng Kezhang secretly thought to himself that the reason why he was willing to stay for an extra day was because the "steam hammer" really aroused his interest.

Soon, a few hours, in the railway hotel near the train station, Zheng Kezhang was immediately convinced that his wait was worth the time in the face of the simple drawings of the steam hammer displayed by Lei Mingtao.

"It's a good idea to use the power of steam to drive a hammer, like a piston in the cylinder of a steam engine, except that the piston is a hammer, and its power can reach several tons?"

Looking up at Lei Mingtao, Zheng Kezhang shook his head and said.

"I don't think it's just a few tons, if it is further improved, it can reach tens of tons, or even hundreds of tons, with it, the steel becomes like dough, and its stroke can be controlled......"

As a student majoring in mechanical engineering, Zheng Kezhang saw the future of the steam hammer with the sensitivity of a mechanical engineer, and of course saw the feasibility of the other party's design.

"Do you have a perfect drawing? If there is, and if it is definitely feasible, I think we can work together......"

。 Book Reading House