Chapter 111: High-ranking Officials Meet to Refine Light Metals

This meeting of cadres at and above the middle level was very successful and timely. After unifying our thinking and understanding, we have also made great efforts, and everyone is full of confidence and hope for the future. Because the future that Zhang Zhimu described to everyone is really beautiful.

After the middle-level cadres meeting, Zhang Zhimu presided over a meeting of senior cadres in the kiln gang. Present at the meeting were Zhang Zhimu, Chen Yufeng, Huang Yukun, Yan Boju, Lu Chengxiang, Lu Bingyi, and Li Mao.

Attending the meeting as observers were Yan Xing, Qiu Yunsheng (Qiu Laodong), Liu Yun, Ning De, Li Yan, Li Zhi, Yang Yulin, Li Yunhe, Li Jing, Li Wei, and Yang Jing.

Before the meeting began, Chen Yufeng said in Zhang Zhimu's ear: "In the past two mornings, I think the little brass horn played by the children is very good. In the future, let Li Yunhe get more, and our army can use them to command **. This thing is much stronger than a horn. We can use it to command on the battlefield. ”

As long as Chen Yufeng came back, he would force Gao Yinfeng, Gao Guixiang and Xiaoqing and Xiaohu on his side to practice martial arts every morning, and it was estimated that Chen Yufeng saw the brass trumpets played by the children in the morning.

Zhang Zhimu said: "Uncle Chen, don't you say that I almost forgot. I just want to equip them in the army. In the future, we can compile different numbers as orders to command the troops to assemble, charge, etc. ”

"On the battlefield, this thing is also useful."

Zhang Zhimu smiled and said, "Uncle Chen, our wireless telegraph and wireless telephone will be developed immediately. The Bronze Trumpet is of limited use. ”

Ouyang He heard that the infinite telegraph and telephone were going to be ready, and immediately asked, "How far can the wireless telegraph go?" ”

"There is no problem at all from this to Li Mao's Yangzhou. Getting to Guangzhou is not a difficult task. Zhang Zhimu replied.

Ouyang He, who has always been calm, couldn't help but exclaim: "Oh my God! Mr. Zhang is not joking? ”

"Have I ever made a joke like that?" Zhang Zhimu Yile.

"No, no!" Ouyang Helian said: "I just think this thing is amazing. I can't believe it. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "We must keep this kind of thing secret. I didn't talk about it at the middle-level cadre meeting. ”

At the high-level meeting, Zhang Zhimu focused on the relationship with the imperial court.

He said: "I want to stress that our efforts to improve relations with the imperial court at this stage are still a strategy that must be firmly adhered to. It's worth spending one or two million taels of silver every year. Because of the good relationship with the imperial court, our trade route to the south is unimpeded, and if we fall out with the imperial court now, it will take a lot of effort for us to maintain this trade route. But it's not something we can do with each other. So we must also be prepared to turn against the imperial court. Li Mao is mainly responsible for this contingency matter. We have a little bit of troops on Wuluo Island, and my idea is that this time we will send a regiment to Wuluo Island. It's already easy to defend and difficult to attack, and we'll send another steamship over at the same time. A base was built there to deal with Li Mao. I would like to ask you to discuss this matter. ”

Because of this matter, Zhang Zhimu had already finished discussing it with Chen Yufeng and Ouyang He. Everyone didn't have any opinions.

Chen Yufeng said: "This matter was decided without any disagreement. This regiment of ours must enter Wuluo Island secretly and make no noise. ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "There is one more thing, I am here to formally inform you. Our radios have been successfully tested. I was personally involved in wireless experiments from their lab in Yangchang to my office. This distance is several hundred meters away. But it's a sign that we're in the radio age. I gave them the task of developing telegraphs and telephones capable of long-distance communication as soon as possible. Soon we will be able to telegraph with Yangzhou and Guangzhou. ”

Li Mao asked: "Is it possible that we have wireless telegraphy there, so we don't need to connect to the wired?" We don't need to have poles over there? ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "If it is difficult to erect a pole, you don't need to erect it. However, there is a problem with radio communication, which is that he is susceptible to thunderstorms. The reliability of the cable telegraph was a little better. In addition, the cable can transmit several more telephones, which can lay a good foundation for our future telephone network. I know that from Kaifeng to your Yangzhou line, there will be some twists and turns. We can put this matter aside for a while, and if we need it later, no one will try to stop us. ”

In the last sentence, Zhang Zhimu said a little domineering.

Zhang Zhimu said: "I am telling you about such a technological invention here to remind you. We had telegraphs, telephones, and radios. The way we work and the way we live must change, and our thinking must keep up. Especially in the military, after we had radio. We need to study the role of radio in warfare. It is also inevitable that this will have a profound impact on our future warfare methods and tactics. This requires us to put some effort into researching new issues.

Another thing I also want to tell you is that after our kiln coins leave the kiln gang, we need to pay an exchange fee to exchange them for silver at our other ticket numbers. This fee is equivalent to the cost of remittance. After discussing with Mr. Lu, we want to start next month, no longer charge this fee, only charge 1/1000th of the handling fee, and you can freely exchange it back and forth. Zhang Zhimu said.

Everyone doesn't understand much about finance, so there's a little discussion below.

"It's our Mr. Zhang. Mr. Zhang told me about this idea a long time ago, but I have a small account, hehe! Lu Chengxiang stood up, a little embarrassed to say this, and said, "I only understood recently." If we cancel this income, we will get the true equivalent of our kiln coins and silver. In this way, we have the final say on how much silver we use. With this silver, we use it on our production and release it to earn interest, and it is not this fee that we earn. ”

After Lu Chengxiang explained, everyone discussed, and Zhang Zhimu continued: "In the past, if the imperial court built a large number of buildings, it was the poor people who were unlucky. Because the court will share the burden among the people. However, we are engaged in infrastructure construction in Shanxi, and the people will benefit from us. Because our investment will stimulate consumption, and it will also allow people to earn money in all walks of life. Maybe it won't be long before our people in Shanxi will soon recover. One thing, we need to keep food prices under control. I think the people of Shanxi will develop all industries in our large-scale construction. How can we let the poorest people directly benefit from our construction, which is also a problem we need to consider. ”

Old Uncle Qiu couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Zhang, all the construction projects you mentioned were launched at once, and a lot of silver was needed." Is it possible to rely entirely on the printing of kiln coins? ”

Zhang Zhimu glanced at Lu Chengxiang, Lu Chengxiang smiled and said, "I'll give you a thorough understanding today." I don't say anything about the silver in the various semicolons we have outside, but also the silver that others have deposited with us in exchange for kiln coins. Let's just say that we have our own gold and silver, and we have gold and silver converted into silver, which is not less than 10 million taels. ”

Lu Chengxiang's words made the whole venue "boom", they didn't expect that there was so much silver in Yaogang now.

"We were able to save so much silver thanks to our big butler, Mr. Lu. You all say that he is a little pick, and without him, we can't have such silver left. Zhang Zhimu said: "What I also want to say is that our Mr. Lu has never been a little bit of spending on the army. ”

In fact, Zhang Zhimu, Chen Yufeng and Huang Yukun all knew that the figures Lu Chengxiang said had left a lot of margin. At least half of it is missing.

Chen Yufeng and Ouyang He hurriedly said, "Yes, yes! ”

Zhang Zhimu's praise and everyone's compliments made Lu Chengxiang's round face a little red, and he got up again and said: "I don't care what everyone says, I'm still like this, the silver that shouldn't be spent must not be spent, and the silver that should be spent must be spent." Don't hear that we have so much money that we think we can spend it as we please. If we let go, the money will soon be gone, and what will we eat in the future? You must know that we can only spend silver in Shanxi for three years, and we cannot collect silver. We still have hundreds of thousands of troops to feed. ”

After discussing this matter, Zhang Zhimu continued: "Our current development has encountered a bottleneck, that is, our synthetic ammonia has not made a breakthrough. Therefore, our nitric acid can only be made from saltpeter, which we use to make smokeless **. However, we do not have saltpeter mines here, so we can only buy them from outside, and the main thing is that we have not solved the problem of stable sources. Now Prince Tori of Mongolia can bring in a little bit every month, but it is clearly not enough to meet our needs. Therefore, we must build large-scale coke production bases in several coal-producing areas, so that we can not only meet the coke used in our steelmaking, but also get our coal tar and ammonia. After the oxidation of ammonia, we can produce nitric acid, and coal tar is more useful, not to mention anything else. From the toluene raw material extracted from coal tar, we can produce ** ten times more powerful than our black **. ”

Li Wei asked: "Is it ten times more powerful than black** and three or four times greater than smokeless**?" ”

"So to speak."

"Is it that the same cannonball is replaced with this kind of **, and the power is three or four times greater?" Li Wei asked.

"Yes, so to speak." Zhang Zhimu replied.

"Great, let's make this kind of **." Li Wei said.

"That's what I'm going to talk to you about today. Now Qingfengzi is already engaged in an oil refinery, if they extract toluene. The new ** is fast. Zhang Zhimu said: "However, what I want to say today is that we are going to build a coke production base in Niutoushan to produce coke and recover coal tar and gas at the same time." Yan Xing participated in the construction of this matter. ”

Yan Xingxing stood up and said, "When Mr. Zhang came to me about this, I said, this is a good thing. We have a lot of coal on the side of Niutou Mountain, which is just right for coke. What's more, our railway will also be built to Niutou Mountain. In the future, coal and coke will be easily transported. ”

"There's one more important thing I want to tell you. That is about Li Yan and Li Gongzi's arrangement. We have secretly set up a legal drafting team, which is too big and needs someone in charge to take charge. I entrusted Li Yan to be responsible. In the future, if you have any thoughts about our future, you can directly find Li Yan to discuss. Because what kind of society we want to build in the future will be determined by the laws of the future. The importance of this matter that Li Yan is responsible for cannot be overstated. I hope that everyone will support him in his work. ”

After Zhang Zhimu finished speaking, everyone responded with a round of applause to express their support.

Li Yan got up and said, "I thank Mr. Zhang and everyone for their trust in me Li Yan. In the past two nights, I was thinking, how can I, Li Yan, get such a lot of love from Mr. Zhang and everyone. I, Li Yan, can only repay with hard work. I, Li Yan, can join the team of Yaogang in this life and work with everyone, and I have no regrets in this life. ”

Li Yan's words also received a round of applause from everyone.

Finally, Zhang Zhimu said: "We still have a very important matter, and we need to agree on it. Most of the officials I sent out have already carried out their work smoothly. encountered bandits making trouble, and Yang Jing also led people to help solve it. However, some local forces are not convinced by us. We need to have a unified opinion on how to deal with this issue. My idea is that we have to have both a bodhisattva heart and a thunderbolt method. Zhang Zhimu couldn't help but say a sentence that Tang Enbo often said in his previous life.

Chen Yufeng said: "For those who don't listen to the call, we must take care of them first and then soldiers." and he that did not hearken to him destroyed them. ”

"We must resolutely replace those local armed forces. But we can't rush this matter, we need to stabilize for a while. Our immediate priority now is to stabilize the situation. Zhang Zhimu said.

Ouyang He said: "Where the clan power is too strong, let's not engage in conflicts with them first. Now our principle is that they don't interfere with us, we don't mess with them. Wait until we stabilize the situation. They will obey our laws, and if they obey our laws, we will leave them alone. If they don't obey the law, we can exterminate them. ”

"I have one more thought. We have made a breakthrough in radio technology, and I want to build a radio station in Yaogang first, so that our voice can be transmitted to the place where our radio waves reach in time. Everyone will learn more about the role of voice in the future. Radio broadcasts are more direct and rapid than newspaper messages. Zhang Zhimu said this, also knowing that people here would not understand the true meaning of radio broadcasting at once.

But Ouyang He asked: "Mr. Zhang, if we do this, will we expose the secret of our wireless communication?" ”

"No, it won't. Radio broadcasting is not the same as the frequency bands we use for shortwave telegraphy. For a short time, no one could figure out the radio thing. Zhang Zhimu replied.

Chen Yufeng didn't understand the matter of the non-radio broadcast, and he, like everyone, didn't ask in detail, "Zhimu, if you think this matter should be done, you can arrange it." To be honest, we people don't understand what you're saying all at once. Maybe this thing is just like anything else, you get it out, and we can see it when we see it. ”

Chen Yufeng's words were recognized by everyone. This matter is also considered passed.

Yaogang's way of holding meetings to solve problems made Li Yan appreciate it very much. Because it does allow you to brainstorm ideas and reduce the likelihood of making mistakes.

In the evening, Li Yan said to the red lady: "I have been in the kiln these days, and I feel a little dizzy. You don't say we're both dead and in heaven, right? ”

The red lady hugged Li Yan and said, "You are a little dizzy with joy." I look at the people here, the whole thing is different from our Dashun Emperor's side. Let's just say we live. If Emperor Dashun knew about it, he wouldn't be jealous and die. His broken palace, I can't compare to my small building. If you look at the floor-to-ceiling glass windows here, the inside of the room is as bright as the outside. Especially in that shopping mall, I don't know where the kiln people got those things, I can't think of it. ”

"I don't have time to think about that. Mr. Zhang arranged this important event for me. I have to think about where to start. At today's meeting, Mr. Zhang announced that I was in charge of this matter, and everyone applauded me. None of them looked jealous. However, everyone has their own business. There's no time to be jealous of others. Li Yan said while thinking about his thoughts.

After Zhang Zhimu held a cadre meeting, he held a senior cadre meeting.

In order to make specific arrangements for the next step, Zhang Zhimu wanted to talk to several specific persons in charge separately.

Just sent away a few cadres who came to the meeting, and didn't wait for Zhang Zhimu to talk to someone. Li Yunhe came to find Zhang Zhimu.

Li Yunhe said ordinary trivial things on the phone, but Li Yunhe came over, indicating that there was something he didn't want to say on the phone.

When he came to Zhang Zhimu's office, Li Yunhe sat down and asked, "Mr. Zhang, there are some things I don't want to talk about on the phone." After all the rifles we produced were reloaded for the troops, there are now 5,000 of them, and there are more than 100 heavy machine guns left. Isn't it time for these two weapons to be discontinued? ”

Zhang Zhimu felt that the number of troops would not increase on a large scale in the short term, and that weapons could continue to be produced if needed in the future, and said: "You will produce 10,000 rifles and 200 heavy machine guns, and then temporarily stop production." However, if you stop, you can refurbish the musket first. Try to sell them all. ”

"Other weapons, except for the 60 mortar, which we have already discontinued, other 120 heavy mortars and infantry guns are continuing to be produced, and now they are not enough for the troops to equip them." Li Yunhe pinched his fingers and said.

"Yunhe, if you don't come to me, I'm just about to talk to you about weapons. What about our heavy machine guns? Zhang Zhimu asked.

Li Yunhe didn't understand what Zhang Zhimu meant and said, "The front line reacted well? ”

"Our heavy machine guns can't do without cooling water, what if we go to the mountains and the Gobi Desert to fight? And this kind of heavy machine gun, which we have been used for defense a lot, if we follow the troops to attack, is it difficult? Zhang Zhimu reminded Li Yunhe.

Li Yunhe nodded and said, "You're right. It can't be used without a heavy water machine gun. The heavy machine gun was too heavy, and it was inconvenient to follow the team to attack. What do you want to say? ”

Zhang Zhimu Yile, "I want you to make a heavy machine gun that is not cooled with water." Let me remind you, you can make a heavy machine gun with a barrel with a heat sink, and when the barrel is too hot, you can change the barrel. You can also make a light machine gun. Light machine guns can be fed with rifle bullets, the barrel can be lengthened and weighted, and the ammunition can be fed with ** or drums. It can be operated by one person, wearing a bipod, or it can be strafed up. The barrel can also be replaced. ”

Hearing that a new weapon could be developed again, Li Yunhe was very excited, "Mr. Zhang, we have also found that our weapons have some shortcomings. However, in order to meet the needs of the battlefield, there is no time to think about improvement. We've also looked at the idea of not using water-cooled machine guns, and we have some ideas. This happened to be the case, and we decided to look into it. ”

"After the successful development of these weapons, if you have time, you can also develop a 12.7 caliber heavy machine gun. Because the objects of our naval battles are basically wooden ships, if we have large-caliber heavy machine guns, many times we don't need to shoot, just shoot. Zhang Zhimu said.

"Okay, let's do the same!" Li Yunhe was happy this time.

After talking to Li Yunhe, Zhang Zhimu invited Lu Bingyi, Li Dong, and Liu Baoxue, who had not returned to the smelting field.

Seeing the three of them, Zhang Zhimu didn't have too many greetings, so he went directly to the topic, "Looking for the three of you today, I want you to do something." That is the smelting of the metals aluminum and magnesium. Let me tell you, aluminium on the periodic table is a very light metal with a high electrical conductivity. Obviously, we are getting out of enough copper, and we have to smelt out aluminium to replace some of it, and the amount of aluminium on the earth is very high. Aluminum metal is very active and oxidizes when it encounters oxygen in the air. We can also use this property to coat the surface of our steel with aluminum powder paint, and after the aluminum powder is oxidized, it will organize oxygen and then contact with the steel metal, so that it can prevent rust. ”

Lu Bingyi asked: "What are you talking about magnesium for?" ”

"We can use magnesium and aluminum powder to make flares in **. It is of great military use. In addition, we can also use magnesium lights as a flash for photography in the future. Zhang Zhimu said.

Liu Baoxue didn't care about the things he didn't understand, and asked, "Mr. Zhang, can you talk about how these two things are smelted first." ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "Let's talk about aluminum first. Aluminum is generally found in the form of oxides in alum, feldspar, and kaolin, and our first step is to purify it. Let's first dissolve the ore in caustic soda, and the reaction equation is Al2O3 + 2NaOH ==== 2NaAlO2 (sodium metaaluminate) + H2O" said Zhang Zhimu and got up and wrote down an equation on the blackboard. He continued: "We then filter out the other precipitates that do not dissolve. Excess carbon dioxide is then introduced into the solution, and the reaction equation is NaAlO2 + CO2 + 2H2O ==== Al(OH)3↓ + NaHCO3. We then burn the precipitated aluminum hydroxide at a high temperature. The reaction that occurs is Al(OH)3 2Al(OH)3== high temperature == Al2O3+ 3H2O. We add cryolite (Na3AlF6) to the alumina, melt and electrolyze in the electrode furnace, and the reaction is 2Al2O3l) == energized == 4Al + 3O2↑. So that we can get the metal aluminum. We added cryolite to reduce the melting temperature of the alumina. ”

Zhang Zhimu saw that Liu Baoxue had finished memorizing the reaction equations on the blackboard, and said, "Let me talk about the smelting method of magnesium." We use a simple method for magnesium smelting, we extract potassium chloride in carnallite, and then take out the remaining magnesium chloride, and then melt and electrolyze directly in the electrode furnace to obtain magnesium metal. This reaction is MgCl2(l) = Mg(s) + Cl2(g)↑. Remember not to forget to collect or absorb **. ”

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Five-line scores, oscillating circuits, caesarean sections. Guo Shoujing made alloy cannons, and Guan Hanqing created "Journey to the West". --Progress of "Memories of the Southern Song Dynasty".