ps: New book seedlings, ask for support, ask for collection, ask for recommendation.

Xiaonangou.

Chen Ming and his people have been back here for three days, and in the face of the conditions offered by the Chen family, the craftsmen of Xiaonangou were captured without resistance. Liu Wen of the three granges has recruited a total of 87 people, 34 of whom have entered engineering, and the remaining 53 people have begun to adapt to their new life with the master.

With the arrival of a new day, the silent Xiaonangou became noisy. Today's Xiaonangou is no longer yesterday's Xiaonangou, there are five new iron-making blast furnaces alone, if it is not for the supply of ore on the mine, Xiaonangou can still build a few more.

Looking beyond the five towering iron-making blast furnaces, and then looking ahead at the rows of waterwheels and workshops on the edge of Xiaonanxi. The technology of hydraulic forging hammer has become the second secret of the Chen family after the iron-making blast furnace.

Driven by hydraulic power, the forging hammer force far exceeds that of manpower, not to mention, the landing point is fixed, and the force is uniform. For the same blade, it takes most of the day for a blacksmith to forge a hammer by manpower, but what about a hydraulic forging hammer? Counting the time it takes for the iron bar to be heated, it doesn't take half an hour, and the quality is not bad than the waist knife forged by man.

Iron ore is piled up next to the blast furnace, and the coal washing plant on the other side is also running at full capacity. The Chinese people are very wise, and the coal washing plant doesn't need Chen Ming to make a sound, they themselves have come up with a source of animal power.

Xiaonanxi continues to flow, in winter, Xiaonanxi is not frozen, not that the weather is not cold, but the terrain here is too different, the water flow is fast, then it can't be frozen. Further up from the village, a small dam has been built, with which the flow of water can be better controlled.

"Load."

With the order of an old foreman with gray hair, the two workers of the No. 2 blast furnace immediately drove the mules to pull the iron cable, and the iron rope made a creaking sound along the pulley, and hoisted a basket of coke to the top of the blast furnace. Each basket of coke has more than 100 catties, and the blast furnace has to use 30 baskets at one time.

In the previous life, steelmaking, one ton of steel remembered that three or four hundred catties of coke was enough. However, the small blast furnace that Chen Ming vacated requires at least one ton of coke to refine every ton of iron.

In addition to coke, of course, there is also a basket of iron ore. Like coke, iron ore is poured into the blast furnace from the top mouth, and a layer of coke and a layer of iron ore takes less than half an hour to fill at a time.

The bellows slowly rotated under the drive of animal power, and then turned faster and faster, driving the bellows to rattle, and the huge wind force passed through the regenerator and blew into the blast furnace, and the flames in the blast furnace rose to the sky, reflecting the faces of the people around them red.

As the fire lasted longer and longer, the temperature in the furnace naturally increased, and the red fire trap burst out several feet high. The No. 2 blast furnace is no different from other blast furnaces, as if the whole furnace is about to melt away, so that the workers can no longer feel the cold in late autumn.

Compared with the old-fashioned iron-making furnaces, the current small blast furnaces have increased their output first, the speed has increased, and the material of the iron has improved. Therefore, compared with coal washing, iron ore selection, coking, etc., the Chen family can bear it.

The five blast furnaces are all busy, the heat wave is pressing, the flames in the furnaces have turned a faint blue, and it can be seen from the pores that the iron ore inside is slowly melting.

When the first furnace of red molten iron flowed out of the groove today, it was just dusk. The molten iron immediately fills the first mold and automatically flows to the second mold, and the molten iron does not stop flowing until it flows into the twelfth mold.

The pig iron in that mold is at least about 200 catties. Today's small blast furnaces can smelt at least 1 ton of pig iron at a time. Combined with the iron production rate and time of ore, the daily benefit of a small blast furnace is at least ten times that of the blast furnace in the past.

"Qigong, you're embarrassed for me. It is people who split mountains and open mines. If you want to increase the output of the mine, there are only a few elements, building roads and people. Building roads also requires people, so instead of embarrassing me, it is better for the fifth uncle to recruit more refugees and beggars from outside and quietly transport them into the mountains. And I don't think we need to buy our family's food in the future. Maybe we'll have to buy it from outside. ”

Chen Ming carefully supported Qigong and said with a smile. Qigong asked him to find a way to solve the problem of insufficient production of private mines, which was a seriously unrealistic problem, and it was definitely beyond Chen Ming's level. In the middle of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, in the theater where Watt's steam engine had not yet succeeded, in 1765, killing Chen Ming could not solve this problem.

"Food has long been out of the way. Our three grain stores in Lushan and Ruzhou have all been converted into grocery stores. Qigong also had a relaxed smile on his face, and told Chen Ming a piece of news that he didn't know yet. It's a good idea to recruit refugees and beggars, much better than buying people. Insurance. As long as we are careful, we can send the Tumen set unknowingly. ”

"If the management is more rigorous, outsiders will not be able to find out our private mines."

Chen Ming looked up at Xiao Nangou with thick smoke, "Qigong, I really think we should recruit some little beggars." These beggars have suffered greatly, and those who have suffered know kindness. Let's raise them and teach them to read and write, abacus and account books, will they still work hard for us in the future? ”

"Qigong, look at the blast furnace in front of you, there are only five. The output of our private mines is not enough. Xiaonangou is not big, but it is easy to build ten more, right? As long as you hold it flat, it won't take ten years for our Chen family to be able to get rich in Ruzhou.

And that's still on the bright side. Secretly, we will have more money hidden.

Five blast furnaces, there is no shortage of ore coking coal, at least 10,000 catties of iron a day, and there are also crucibles for steelmaking, which can also get 100 catties of good steel a day. How much is that? "It seems that the entire Qing Dynasty only has an iron output of 50 million catties, right? Chen Ming remembers what he saw in that book. During the Yongqian period of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the steel output reached 25,000 tons a year, that is, 50 million catties.

As long as the iron ore and coke can keep up with Xiaonangou here, two more blast furnaces can be opened, and it is easy to reach one-tenth of the steel output of our Qing Dynasty in a year.

This is not inferior iron materials, they are all superior and good iron comparable to Guangdong Railway. The price of only 5 million catties of fine iron is worth 60,000 or 70,000 taels of silver, and if some of them are processed into more expensive kitchen knives, scissors, axes, sickles, shovels, iron pots and other daily necessities, 60,000 or 70,000 taels of silver can become 120,000 taels of silver.

In the whole of Ruzhou, how many industries have you heard of can be counted as high as 100,000 taels of silver?

It doesn't take a few years for the Chen family to become rich in Ruzhou, and even become the richest man in the entire Henan.

——The Chen family, the richest man in the entire Qing Dynasty, has no extravagant hopes. Not to mention the salt merchants in Yangzhou and the Jin merchants in Shanxi, as well as the Hui merchants, etc., not to mention the thirteen lines in Guangdong, that is, those princes and nobles in Beijing, as well as Heshen and adults who will make a wonderful appearance in a few years, who dares to compare with them?

Qigong obviously thought of this as well, and Gollum, his throat swelled, and he swallowed a mouthful of saliva fiercely.

"Qigong, this is a million-dollar business. As long as it is ten years, as long as it is ten years, the children of my Chen family, every household will eat fragrant and spicy food, and they will not be able to enjoy it. ”

"As long as the fifth uncle can bring people into the mountains!" No one is in vain. Somebody has everything!