When Chesan arrived at the dock that Dugu was talking about, although he had already been mentally prepared, he was also stunned by what he saw. A stone embankment two zhang wide and twenty zhang long stretches deep into the river, and two trestles stretch out on each side of the stone embankment, at the end of which ships are docked, and several huge supports are lifting the goods from the hold to the trestle, and then carried to the stone embankment by the porters shouting the trumpet, and then pulled back to the shore by the ox carts on the embankment. On the side of the stone embankment, on a tower seven or eight feet high, a scribe was waving a flag and directing a large ship that was slowly docking. It is said that Cesan has not seen more majestic and majestic buildings, but most of them are temples and palaces that have no practical use, and this is the first time that they are purely productive.

"What kind of cargo are these ships carrying?" Chessan asked, trying to suppress the surprise in his chest.

"There's everything, but this terminal is mainly filled with bulk cargo." Du Gu replied: "If it is general cargo, it is generally unloaded at the dock near the pontoon. ”

By this time Chesan was very close to the embankment, and he found that in the central part of the embankment there was a bulge, on which there was a log at intervals of about half a pace, and on the log there were two parallel iron tracks, on which the ox carts moved. Chessan walked to the track, reached out and touched it, and found that it was made of hardwood, but it was covered with a layer of iron, and the bulge was a lot of gravel. He asked, somewhat strangely, "What is this?" Why do you have to lay so much gravel underneath? “

"This is the railway!" Du Gu smiled: "Most of the unloading at this dock is rammed cargo, which is very heavy. Even a made of stone will be crushed over time. With this railway, it is different, firstly, the road surface will not be crushed, and secondly, the cart is also much less labor-saving, which is really easy to use. ”

"Really?" Chessan asked, surprised.

"Guru, won't you know if you try it?"

Chessan walked over to an empty truck that had been unloaded. Pushing hard, these vehicles are used to carry heavy goods such as coal and ore, and they are pulled by four oxen on weekdays, and they are very strong, and Chesan thought that he would not move at all, but to his surprise. The vehicle slowly moved forward.

"How?" Du Gu smiled: "It's a little more laborious at the beginning, as long as you move, as long as it's not uphill, you will save effort in the back." ”

"Really?" Chesan tried again, and sure enough, as Dugu said, it was a little more laborious at first, but as long as he pushed, it only took a fraction of the strength of the car to continue to move forward, and he couldn't help but be amazed, whether it would crush the road for a while, it was impossible to see. But the effort savings of this railway are obvious. He couldn't help but praise: "You Central Plains people are really smart, I really don't know which sage came up with such a wonderful idea, it really benefits a hundred generations!" ”

"Huh!" When Du Gu heard Chesan say this, he couldn't help but laugh: "How can there be any sages, this is what we came up with for the master, and you will definitely not see it anywhere else." The master also said that if you can make something called a bearing, you can save a lot of effort. ”

"Did Lord Liu come up with it?" Chesan had a look of disbelief on his face. asked: "Lord Liu exercises and practices martial arts on weekdays, but he still has the heart to think of these things?" ”

"That's nature!" Du Gu's face was already full of pride. He casually pointed around: "Look at this side, that side, and that side, as long as it is visible to your eyes, we have created it with the master, and you are afraid that you will not believe it." A few months ago it was a big wasteland, and the birds didn't poop! ”

Chesang looked around, there were people, ships, and buildings everywhere, and then remembered the flow of people he saw a few days ago who had blocked the official road tightly, and couldn't help but sigh: "Born a great sage. Those who were born to know, the poor monks used to be a little unbelieving, but today they do, where is Lord Liu now? ”

"My master is over there." Du Gu pointed to a black pagoda in the distance and said, "Master, please come with me!" ”

At first, Chesang thought it was a stupa, which he was familiar with, but when he got closer, he realized that the structure of the black pagoda was quite strange, completely different from the stupa he had seen before. The top of the pagoda does not have the common spire of the pagoda, but is hollow, like a big mouth, and there is a strange machine next to it, the whole tower body is a thin cone at the top and thick at the bottom, and the surface is shining in many places with the unique luster of metal, is this tower all made of iron?

Just as Chesan was horrified by the sight in front of him, a deafening voice came from behind: "You, I'm talking about you, why don't you put on a hard hat and die!" ”

Cessan turned around in surprise and saw a swarthy man in a tight robe and a strange hat on his head, staring at him viciously. It was the first time in his life that he had been treated so rudely, and for a while he didn't know whether to obey or scold him back. At this time, Du Gu on the side hurriedly took over the conversation: "Tang Tou'er, this is the honored guest of the master, Hugh is rude!" ”

When the black-faced man heard that it was Liu Cheng's honored guest, his face suddenly softened a lot: "Master Du, this is yours, you also know here, it's either iron or stone, but we can't afford it!" Come, take this hat and put it on, and I'll have someone bring me a hat later. As he spoke, Tang Muyao handed over his wicker hat and said with a smile: "I'm a rough person, don't be weird with me, quickly put on a hard hat, otherwise it will be terrible to bump into it." “

Chesan took the strange hat, took a closer look and found that it was made of wicker, with two linings inside and a layer of skin on the outside, and couldn't help but ask curiously: "Who is this person, and why do we all wear this hat?" “

"That person's surname is Tang Muyao, he was originally a blacksmith, and he was good at iron, and my family promoted him to be the owner of the workshop. This hat was also invented by my master, think about it, there are people digging earth and building houses everywhere, if you drop something from above, and hit your head, won't you die? With this hat in the way, you can save someone's life at a critical time! “

"Amitabha, Lord Liu is not only thoughtful, but also has a bodhisattva heart!" Chesan nodded in praise, although he was a monk, he was not the kind of person who knew nothing except to visit the Buddha and worship the Buddha. At that time, the temples of Drepung Monastery and Jokhang Temple in Tibet were not so much temples as the political and economic centers of Tibet, with manors, handicraft workshops, armies, courts, and so on. In addition to studying religious scriptures, a high-ranking monk like Cesan also needed to know many aspects of management, justice, construction, and art. He once had the experience of directing the construction of stupas and monks' houses, so he naturally knew that he had such a certain hat. How many lives can be saved.

After a while, Tang Muyao really came back with a hard hat again, and Du Gu put it on with a smile. At this time, Chesan had already noticed that there were many idlers wearing hard hats standing in groups around the black tower, pointing at the black tower as he did, but judging from the clothes on their bodies, they should not be craftsmen, but people of considerable status.

"Lord Du, what is this tower for?"

"I don't know about that!" Du Gu smiled: "I usually follow the master general, and this is the first time I have come here. However, since the master has invited you to come, he will definitely not hide it from you, and after a while, he will naturally know! ”

When Chesan heard this, he knew that it was unlikely that he would get an answer from the other party's mouth, so he simply found a clean stone, sat down and waited patiently. After waiting for about half a meal, I saw that the people next to the black tower walked away. Several ox carts drove up, and a few laborers shoveled the contents of the wagons onto the strange machine with shovels. Then the machine moved, carrying the goods to the top of the Black Tower and pouring it into the gaping mouth.

"It turns out that this machine is for transporting goods to the top of the black tower, so why not make a ladder to put on it and let people carry it up?" Chessan muttered to himself.

"That's because if you light a fire, it's going to be hot, and poisonous gas is coming out!" A familiar voice came from behind Chesan. Chesang turned his head and saw Liu Chengzheng looking at him with a smile, and it was Min Min next to him. He hurriedly stood up, folded his hands and saluted: "The poor monk has seen Lord Liu and Min Min Beiji!" ”

"Excuse me!" Liu Cheng arched his hand and said with a smile: "Master." I have something important to do, and I have no time to accompany me, so please forgive me for my neglect! ”

"Your Excellency has a heavy responsibility on your shoulders!" Chesang couldn't suppress the curiosity in his chest, so he pointed to the black tower and asked, "The poor monk dares to ask, what is this?" What is it used for? “

"This is a blast furnace, for ironmaking!"

"Ironmaking?" Qiesang shook his head in disbelief: "Lord Liu, don't coax me, in my Tibetan temple, there is also an iron-making furnace." “

"How much iron can your furnace produce in a day?"

Chesang hesitated, although he had seen iron smelting, but the specific details were not clear, and replied with some uncertainty: "There are always three or five hundred catties." ”

"Three or five hundred pounds!" Liu Cheng showed a disdainful smile on his face: "My blast furnace can work day and night, and it can produce fifty or sixty stones of high-grade fine iron every day." “

"Fifty or sixty stones?" As soon as Liu Cheng spoke, not to mention Chesang, even Min Min on the side showed a suspicious look on his face, according to the conversion of one stone is equal to one hundred and twenty kilograms, fifty stone is equal to six tons of pig iron, and one thousand one hundred tons of pig iron a year. This figure is certainly nothing for the Chinese of the 21st century, who produce more than a billion tons of steel a year, but for the Tibetan monks and Mongolian noblewomen living in the thirties of the seventeenth century, it is already astronomical. It must be known that more than 100 years later, Britain produced 17,000 tons of pig iron a year, and Britain established maritime supremacy with these 17,000 tons of pig iron, equipped more than 100,000 troops, and controlled dozens of times the number of colonies on the mainland. And Liu Cheng claimed that this blast furnace could produce one-tenth of the strongest pig iron in Britain in a hundred years, and it is no wonder that Chesang and Min Min only wrote "You are lying" on their faces.

Liu Cheng saw the expressions on the faces of Chesang and Minmin, and he was not angry. The construction of the blast furnace was also a big gamble for him, if successful, it would be possible to rebuild a trade network centered on Chaoyi and radiating the Central Plains, Northwest China, Tibet, the Mongolian Plateau and even Central Asia. Through this trade network, Liu Chengcheng was able to accumulate wealth, issue currency, build up arms, break away from the Ming system and establish independent power, and even throw his own power thousands of miles away, playing chess in the whole of East Asia and even the world. In order to achieve this, Liu Cheng has been preparing for a long time: he has 6,000 strong young laborers who have learned to obey orders and cooperate in the construction of water conservancy, and they are good industrial workers with a little training; got the support of the gentry of Yanzhou, and tried every means to make Lu Boqi become a soldier in the same state, and swept away the resistance politically; a stable source of cash flow through trade and stake in Mongolia, as well as the power to levy cents; Of course, the most important thing is the army under your command, which is the basis of everything, isn't that what capitalism is? Using gold to raise monsters, and then using monsters to obtain larger raw material sources and markets, to win more gold, and so on, Liu Cheng is full of confidence in the future.

Liu Cheng took Chesang to a bullock cart that had been pulled up, and picked out a handful of black powder from the carriage: "This is iron ore, and the other is coal, and then transport it to the blast furnace over there to smelt raw iron!" Speaking of this, Liu Cheng pointed to a towering building more than 200 meters away.

"Blast furnace?"

"Yes, it's iron-making equipment!" Liu Cheng said with a smile: "I have too many places to use iron here, if I use money to buy it is too expensive, I plan to build my own furnace to make iron, these iron ore is transported from the Hetao, fortunately it is transported by water along the Yellow River, and there is no shortage of coal here, which is very convenient." “

"Your Excellency, you're all set!" It was Tang Muyao who spoke, his heart was excited and nervous, he never dreamed that Liu Cheng would hand over such a large workshop to himself, more than 500 workers, more than 4,000 people temporarily recruited, and the pig iron and bronze used in this blast furnace alone were more than 200 stones, he couldn't believe that if he didn't succeed, how would he face Liu Cheng.

"Hmm!" Liu Cheng nodded, and smiled at Chesang and Minmin: "Let's go, let's go over and have a look first!" “

Chesang and Min Min glanced at each other, hurriedly followed, the three of them walked to the blast furnace, just in time to see a few workers coming out of the furnace, the sharp-eyed Chesang saw that these workers were stained with a lot of white flowers, but a closer look was shavings and lime, Chesang did not speak, just silently wrote this down. (To be continued.) )