The whole refining step seems to be very cumbersome, but in fact, it is the iron knife used as the embryo, as the added steel bar, the steel bar is quite small, probably less than one or two, and the steel bar is melted and cast on the embryo, which is less expensive than imagined.

In the past, to create a kitchen knife, the most important thing is in the process of molding, and now it has its own shape, just need to integrate the steel bar into it, under the burning fire, the skilled blacksmith door, at most a quarter of an hour, what does this mean, a morning time, maybe it is about ten.

In fact, the efficiency is so fast, Zhang Xiaobao is not skilled, a morning of more than 2 hours, completed 11, and the most one, once in Miaojiazhuang master, completed 21,

In this way, at the end of the day, one person may be able to complete up to 80, or even more.

This is not a fantasy, this is a real appearance, under the premise that large-scale forging has shown the strength of industry, the efficiency of individuals will increase significantly, a small processing plant in later generations, can produce 600,000 sets of kitchen knives a year, that is not a single one, that is a set of at least five or six including several knives, scissors, whetstones.

Kitchen knives are the simplest and the most sold, and then there are scissors, some common knives, which are in the same vein as kitchen knives, but with a slight adjustment, they can be processed.

After a certain number of kitchen knives were available, another large category began, agricultural tools, mainly hoes and shovels.

These two categories, in fact, in the entire Northern Song Dynasty, are rare, kitchen knives and the like, most families must have, because cutting vegetables, can not always use wood, or other materials, plus kitchen knives are not expensive, a little smaller, that is, two or three catties, no more than 300 Wen, but the beginning and shovel are not the same, because it is a farm tool, often used when ploughing, a little worse, it is easy to wear, must be good, but good, the price is much more expensive.

Iron as the foundation, and then add the surface of the steel, has become the key to solve the problem, and even because of the relationship between the material, you can make the head and the shovel quite thin, the thinnest, even a pointed head, a shovel head, is about two catties.

As for the effect, it is really good, sharpness, efficiency, are greater than before, especially the plow used for ploughing, itself his wooden structure is more, now add some iron parts, in addition to the sharp blade, suddenly, the performance has gone up to a level, when used in the cultivated land, the wear is very small, can be used for a long time.

The hardness of iron is only 4, but steel can reach more than 5.5, don't underestimate such a 1.5-point increase, the increase in hardness brought by it is very good, and the cost is not high.

The key is the cost of steel itself, the cost of iron has been reduced to less than 30 Wen, and the steel has been reduced even more, the original steel at least 300 Wen a pound of steel can be reduced to about 65 Wen at once, which is still more expensive than iron, but it is the original cost of iron, and the most important thing is that there are not many such additions.

Take a very wide and thick, but also relatively large kitchen knife, the weight of about one catty, in the place of the blade, about one or two pieces of steel are used, the cost is 44 Wen, plus the wages, expenses, others, will not exceed 60 Wen, but the original iron knife, the price is more than 300 Wen.

300 Wen kitchen knife, what is it, it is made by the lowest blacksmith, it can only be called an iron knife, a little bit of a famous brand, for example, a stronger blacksmith is built, it is almost 800 to 1 run, so that the kitchen knife can sell very well, now 100 to 150 Wen or so, the quality, catch up with the previous famous brand, of course, the sales prospect is good.

Kitchen knife, which is used by every family, before the price is higher, the reason is the weight, the general use of kitchen knives, at least about 3 catties of iron, because too little, the knife is worn out a little too fast, used for a period of time, it must be sharpened, but with a steel blade, you can do relatively light and thin.

In the blacksmith workshop, the weight of the largest kitchen knife is about 1.2 catties, and the smallest is only more than 6 taels, which also deducts the weight of one or two taels of wood handles.

Not everyone is willing to use a heavy kitchen knife, although cutting vegetables is a basic skill for chefs, but the use of long-term accumulation of years, a little lighter, and not a little bit of them to use it, it is more convenient, but also quite thin, suitable for most people to use.

Kitchen knives, all kinds of knives in the kitchen, farm tools, and some daily necessities, some shovels and shovels, and other things, this is the main force of the smelter now, so to speak, as long as it is used in daily life, it will be produced.

However, for the workshop, it is impossible to produce every day, because smelting and modeling, this takes time, to complete twenty or thirty thousand molds at a time, and then enough to use it for a period of time, and then modeling.

When Zhao Xin is here, he has to go through every step, at least, in a short period of time, when the smelting has not risen to a certain level, some new products will not be opened.

These adjustments are all subtle adjustments, from modeling, to molding, to the special production line, step by step production, seemingly inconspicuous step by step, actually in the end, so that the efficiency is greatly increased.

It turns out that a blacksmith group, a day is up to 50 kitchen knives, or non-stop, from morning to night, sleepless forehead, but with some tools, even modeling, are specialized machines, so that greatly increases the efficiency, generally a group of 7 people, a day can complete about 500 kitchen knives, on average each person is more than 70, not too tired, some physical strength, or more expensive work, are helped by auxiliary equipment, greatly increased efficiency.

Simply to each kitchen knife, the actual salary is decreasing, the average blacksmith, to build a kitchen knife, at least 60 to 80 Wen wages, but here is only about 15 Wen, it seems, a simple knife, their income is reduced, greatly reduced, but not much ah, so calculated, a person a day, is almost 1050 Wen.

The daily net income is more than usual, this is still the average income, the masters must take a little more, they are the soul of the whole group, without them, the group will not be able to hold up, then the helpers, and finally some tail sweepers or physical strength.

But in the end, the master craftsman is about 1.8 times a day, the helper is 1 run, and the rest of the people are 300 Wen, it seems that the gap is very large, the master craftsman is almost 6 times that of ordinary helpers, but for ordinary helpers, the income of 9 times a month is simply pie in the sky, they can find it in the Northern Song Dynasty, better and better paid.

This is just the beginning, just to adjust the unreasonable places to reduce labor costs, improve productivity, to the delight of these blacksmiths, for the adjustment of production is still continuing, all kinds of adjustments, all kinds of adjustments, although a little annoying, some annoying, sometimes just familiar with a production step, very soon, and adjust this production step, people are a little uncomfortable.

However, such an adjustment, except for the beginning, some people have some complaints, and later, no one objected, because every adjustment, the seemingly simple step adjustment, so that the final production efficiency, has a huge improvement, the overall amplitude is not large, but are improving, in the first arrival, at the beginning, everyone per day on average is 70, now, have been increased to 85.

Every extra kitchen knife represents the benefits of 15 Wen, which is really a lot of money, and 2 percent more means that their income has increased again.

Zhao Xin has always treated the craftsmen at the bottom well, Wang Song seems to have mentioned that the treatment of the craftsmen is too good, and it should be reduced a little, so that the salary of a kitchen knife can be reduced to 5 Wen, or even 3 Wen.

At the current average rate of about 85 wen per day, even if it is reduced to 3 wen, the craftsmen average 240 wen, and the master craftsmen are a little more, and they can almost get more than 400 to 500 wen, compared with their previous ones, there are enough benefits, and the average monthly is more than 12 wen, which is almost an official's income.

But Zhao Xin doesn't care, this is not mechanized production, more relying on manual, they have reduced the cost through cost and control, a kitchen knife of about 8 taels, the cost is about 35 Wen, plus 15 Wen wages, in the end it is only 50 Wen, 3 times, that is, 150 Wen, the convenient water transportation on the canal, the transportation and sales costs along the way are not high at all, a 200 material sand boat, can transport tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of ironware, there is no need to press.

Higher treatment does not mean that he loses, but gives them benefits within a reasonable range, which is very normal in later generations.

And the benefits given, it's not just for them, no one is Grande, stubbornly guarding the money and not spending, now it is inconspicuous in the Daimyo's Mansion, and in the future it will be the Dinghai, which is an island, a city that has been re-planned by him, where the commerce and other activities are all under his control, and when the time comes, the money sent down will form a market, a huge, market with the purchasing power of the owner, and how to promote and circulate the money in the market is the key.

Rather than spending his mind on the meager wages of the workers, Zhao Xin was more willing to see the improvement of the entire factory, and after laying the initial foundation and forming a relatively perfect rules and production methods, Zhao Xin proposed a reward.

Every person who puts forward favorable opinions on the production link and logistics link can be rewarded, ranging from 500 to 500 yuan, depending on the effect and promotion. 210