Chapter 44 Economy II

"There are always people who try to sneak in here and spy on the secrets of our Huai'an Army, but they don't know that the real secrets can be seen on the river... It's just that they're all blind..."Huang Lao's crooked heart was not broad-minded at all, and he looked at everyone with the same eyes that everyone had seen him in the council hall before, and continued to add slowly.

The real secret is not in the barrel, not in the musket. As long as you can get a sample, you can ask the craftsman to piece it together, and you can piece it together. In his eyes, the biggest secret of the Huai'an Army, and even the entire Huaiyang Governor's Mansion, is the waterwheels standing in the river, as well as all kinds of ingenious machinery that have been carefully worked out by everyone and pushed by waterwheels. That is the soul of the entire Huaiyang Hundred Workshops, and even the soul of the entire Huaiyang.

It's just that his point of view doesn't get much recognition at all. Almost most of the visitors who were forcibly pulled by Zhu Chongjiu were shocked by the dense waterwheels towering over the river, and directly took his words as a deaf ear.

Huang Lao saw this crookedly, and he didn't waste much saliva. He smiled lightly, and continued to walk towards the money-making workshop with everyone, "Everyone pay attention, what you see inside can only rot in your heart, and no one can say it to the outside." Including your own family, try not to mention it. Otherwise, Chen and Zhang, the two principals, will have to come to the door to seek advice..."

"There is Lao Huang's chief reminding, this, we naturally know..."The officials suddenly felt a shock in their hearts, and responded very unhappily.

Chen Ji was in charge of the Military Intelligence Department, and Zhang Song was in charge of the Internal Affairs Department. But the power in the hands of the two is a little terrifying. Especially when it comes to the core secrets of the Huai'an Army, anyone who is jointly targeted by the military intelligence and internal affairs departments will have to take off a layer of skin if they don't die later.

"Director Huang laughed." It was not easy to save a little bit of his image, Zhang Song was reluctant to use Huang Lao Crooked as a knife, and before Huang Lao Crooked continued to play on the topic, he quickly interjected a few words, "The so-called insiders look at the doorway, and the laymen look at the excitement." Except for the people from your Industrial Bureau and the Great Craftsman Academy, who else can understand the things here? … At most, it's just a bit of a bustle, and if you want to leak secrets, you can't be qualified..."

"Hahaha" everyone was amused by his witticism. The sense of contempt that had accumulated in my heart was also reduced a lot in an instant.

"Please go inside, everyone continue to please, pay attention to your step. The riverside is humid, and the steps are a little slippery..."Zhang Song made a successful move, so he simply made persistent efforts. simply took the initiative to replace Huang Lao's crooked guide role, and continued to move forward to the depths of the money-making workshop with everyone.

In a short time, the crowd entered the workshop. As far as the eye could see, there was only an empty hall, where two craftsmen and a dozen ordinary craftsmen were gesturing around two iron lumps the size of four-wheeled carriages. Next to the two iron lumps, there is a stack of half-zhang square lead and copper plates, each of which is polished to a very smooth surface, and can clearly illuminate the shadow of a person.

"Chief Manager, Director Huang, Director Zhang..."Seeing Zhu Chongjiu coming, the craftsmen immediately stopped their hands and took the initiative to raise their hands to salute.

Zhu Chongjiu returned a self-created military salute with a smile, and then ordered loudly, "You're welcome." What are you supposed to do, what are you going to do? Just when we hadn't been. ”

"It's almost ready. Just wait for the chief manager to come and roll the first knife..."The two craftsmen are the old men who worked behind Zhu Chongjiu when the Huai'an workshop was first built. smiled and stepped back half a step, revealing the machine behind him.

Although it is called a forging machine, the appearance of the two-seater machine qì is different from the machine that was originally used to forge armor in Xuzhou, which is different from heaven and earth. Each building is made of stainless steel, and the surface and edges and corners are finely polished with sand and stone, which is as warm as jade. A huge cast-iron hammer hung over the first, as usual, but the second did not even have one, but instead a dozen or so steel sticks with the thickness of a child's arm hung down from the top of the forging machine and went straight into their respective casings below. It's like a pair of teeth in the mouth of a beast.

"This is the new forging machine that Master Jiao made out with the lord last month. It was originally used to emboss flowers on the breastplate, but in order to suppress copper coins, it was specially improved. Master Jiao and I have both put a lot of effort into it..."With a little smugness, Huang Lao pointed to the second forging machine and continued to show off.

"Don't be busy asking for credit first..."Mr. Su listened impatiently and interrupted with a smile. If you can't make a copper coin that will satisfy everyone for a while, it's up to you how you end..."

"That can't be... As long as the lord is here..."Huang Lao's most convincing person, except for Zhu Chongjiu, is Su Mingzhe. Arms were raised, and a curse was swore, "I can make a military order if"

"Get out, I know that the lord can't kill you..."Mr. Su glared, and directly held back the second half of Huang Lao's crooked sentence.

When everyone heard this, they pursed their lips and laughed again. The more time they get along, the more they realize how kind their husband is. However, Zhu Chongjiu was deeply influenced by the soul of another time and space, and was proud of getting along with his subordinates on an equal footing. Therefore, everyone is imperceptibly, and their speech and behavior have become more and more unrestrained, and they have become more and more confident in dealing with others.

"As long as the lord is here, there shouldn't be any problems..."When it comes to the ability to invite merit and receive rewards, Zhang Song is far more professional than Huang Lao. Taking advantage of everyone's laughter, he preemptively began to introduce, "The three of them, Huang and Jiao, have actually tried some ways when they first made money. The strength of the forging machine is definitely enough, and the problem is most likely to be on the board. In order to make the money more attractive, Jiao Dajiang and Huang also specially led people to readjust the ratio of copper, tin and lead many times. Now, this kind of money is the least likely to crack when pressed, and the luster of the new money pressed out is also the most attractive..."

Following his gesture, everyone's eyes fell on the copper plate next to the first forging machine again. Sure enough, I found that the color of the copper plate was yellow and red, and if you were not prepared in advance, it was easy to mistake it for pure gold.

"How much does it cost?" Zhu Chongjiu often deals with various alloys in the Baigongfang, and at a glance, he can perceive that the copper content of the plate should be far more than sixty percent.

"The lord's eyes are like torches..."Zhang Song immediately raised his thumb and praised with admiration on his face, "Copper roughly accounts for sixty and a half, tin accounts for one and a half, and the rest is soft lead." Weichen, Jiao Dajiang, and Huang have estimated, although the cost of copper coins will be higher. But compared to first melting copper water and then casting, it still saves a lot..."

"Hmm..."Zhu Chongjiu smiled and nodded. Now that you're sure, let's just roll in a batch of money now and take a look. Mr. Huang, are the other parts on the outside ready? ”

"It's ready..."Huang Lao bowed slightly, and the expression on his face became extremely solemn, "Just wait for the lord to give an order." ”

"Then let's start..."Zhu Chongjiu waved his hand vigorously, and instantly changed from the role of the chief manager of Huaiyang to a qualified operation squad leader in the 21st century in another time and space.

"Yes..."Huang Lao replied in a loud voice. Picked up a whistle from the lanyard on his chest and blew it a few times, "Toot toot, toot,"

"Toot toot, toot toot," "toot toot," "toot toot," a series of whistles echoed. Immediately after, the ground under his feet suddenly trembled slightly, and a huge metal crash crashed like a wave, smashing into the ear drums of everyone present.

It was by no means a wonderful feeling, and a few clerical workers who were in slightly worse health suddenly felt a splitting headache, and their internal organs and six organs rushed out of their stomachs together. And Huang Laowei and Jiao Yu were like listening to fairy music, and they both became a hundred times more energetic. Each picked up a colored flag from the side of the forging machine, walked to the window, and waved it vigorously, while the whistle in his mouth continued to sound non-stop, "Toot toot, toot toot" "Toot toot, toot toot"

Outside the building, the sound of a huge metal crashing continued to penetrate the building, mixed with a tooth-inducing friction. The ground under his feet shook more and more violently, and the whole house began to shake. However, as the frequency of the whistle decreased, the sound of impact gradually decreased, and the sound of friction became more and more even, and the ground under his feet no longer continued to shake, but trembled steadily in a constant rhythm like a spring night drizzle.

"Lord, please turn on..."Huang Lao put down the corner flag crookedly, spit out the whistle, walked up to Zhu Chongjiu, and respectfully made a gesture of invitation.

Zhu Chongjiu was already familiar with the previous impact and friction sounds. Nodding with a smile, he walked to a handle wrapped in red cloth next to the first forging machine, shook it slowly, and then pulled it down sharply.

"Bang dang dang—" followed by another series of screeching sounds, followed by a huge forging hammer lifted high, revealing several rows of rounded grooves below. All of them are black and blue, faintly with a ghostly light.

"Go on the board..."The master craftsman Jiao Yu snapped, and took the lead in lifting a copper plate, which was neatly covered on the groove. Two ordinary craftsmen quickly turned the handle and held the copper plate firmly in place. Immediately, Jiao Yu used his body to block Zhu Chongjiu and retreated, and at the same time waved his hand violently.

"Boom..."The craftsman in charge of the first forging machine let go of the mechanism, and the huge forging hammer quickly fell with the sound of the wind. Smash the copper plate into flames.

"Reversing..."The master craftsman Jiao Yu did not give in, opened his throat and continued to drink. The craftsman in charge of operating the forging machine quickly pulled the handle that Zhu Chongjiu had pulled earlier, and with another piercing "clang" sound, the forging hammer was slowly lifted again. Reveal all the money cakes that have been formed.

"Unload the cake, put on the new board..."Jiao Yu's voice continued to come, each sound was full of pride and confidence. The craftsmen turned the mechanism with their hands and feet, and lifted the mother groove of the money cake and the bare plate handle inside. Then a new mother groove was replaced, the new copper plate was fixed, and the next round of impact was carried out again.

The mother trough, which had been removed, was carried to the second forging machine, along with the money cake inside. Huang Lao Crooked instructed the rest of the craftsmen and craftsmen to flip the mother trough and pour the bare plate money cake inside onto the operating table. It is then clamped with iron tweezers and stuffed one by one into a die directly under the steel pillar of the second forging machine.

After all the money cakes were installed in place, Huang Laowei also quickly pulled the red handle on the second machine. More than a dozen pillars slowly descended with a scalp-tinging noise, slowly nailed to the money cake. "Squeak, squeak, squeak," the tooth-aching grinding sound suddenly began to muffle, followed by a sudden tremor of the forging machine, "Knock...", all ten metal pillars stopped.

"Reverse..."Huang Lao ordered loudly in the same tone as Jiao Yu. A craftsman standing beside him quickly pulled another blue-clothed handle, "clang," and with another long series of impacts, the metal pillar retreated upwards at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Collect money...", it was Huang Lao's crooked order again. There are two craftsmen, one on the left and one on the right, pulling the mechanism under the mold at the same time. "Jingle clang", several golden copper coins fell down the funnel under the second forging machine, rolling back and forth in a special metal tray.

"It's successful..."Zhang Song rushed over with an arrow step, ignoring the hot hand of the copper coin, picked up a few, held it in the palm of his hand, and shouted loudly while blowing with his mouth: "Congratulations to the lord, congratulations to the lord, I Huaiyang Tongbao, will be popular in the world..." (Note 1)

"Take it to me and see..."Seeing the one-time successful trial production of copper coins, Zhu Chongjiu was also very happy. snatched one from Zhang Song's hand and played carefully with the sunlight coming in from the window. I saw that the whole body of the money was reddish-yellow, and the luster was attractive. The money on both sides of the front and back is clear and soft, and it is natural. It's just that there are some small metal burrs on the outer edges of the money, which are a little rough when you touch them with your fingers.

"It's just a dime, and there's still one last process left..."As if guessing what Zhu Chongjiu was most concerned about, Huang Laowei quickly squatted down and grabbed a hot copper coin. Then he took out a small steel file from his personal pocket, and pointed it at the tray where the copper coins were placed, and cleaned up the flaws on its outer outline.

"Weichen and Jiao Dajiang have discussed, the last process will not be placed here. Lest the craftsmen be distracted..."Handing the processed copper coin to Zhu Chongjiu, he quickly grabbed the second one, and quickly replenished it while processing, "This kind of finishing work can also be done by new apprentices." And even if you don't deal with it, it doesn't matter. When the copper coin is put on the market for a period of time, the edges will naturally be smoothed!"

"Let's finish it off and keep improving..."Zhu Chongjiu compared the copper coin that Huang Lao had processed with the copper coin he had snatched from Zhang Song at the beginning, and ordered with a smile. You and Jiao Dajiang can also consider using a machine to grind, which is estimated to be faster than manual work. ”

"Wei Chen has thought about it, but there is no need..."Huang Lao lowered his head crookedly, and while continuing to polish the remaining copper coins, he replied loudly, "If you let Ji Qì do any work, the apprentices will not be able to survive." The manager who does not hide it, when Weichen was an apprentice, he gave the master a sledgehammer for three years. Wechen's three sons, who followed Wechen back then, also sledgehammered all day long. Now the apprentices have entered the workshop, and the work that has worked hard has been done by the machine, and only the work left is carried and lifted, and it is difficult to learn the real things if this continues..."

Note 1: The process of machine qì minting is far more complex than described in this article. However, in order not to be irritated when readers read the book, only the two processes of cake punching and printing were specially selected and the others were omitted.

This book was first published from 17K Novel Network, the first time to see the genuine content! R405