After some internal discussions, everyone went their separate ways. www.biquge.info Guo Yi was responsible for writing the report and sending it back to Hainan, while Lin Hanlong was honored to be invited to have afternoon tea with Qian Qianyi and Zhou Yanru, and "by the way" talked about the honor of new cooperation.

…… The boiling water was "gurgling" on the small stove, and the freshly brewed tea soup was also fragrant, but for the two leading high-ranking officials in the Ming Dynasty, these things were obviously a little crude. But they maintained an excellent demeanor, and watched very patiently as Lin Hanlong used an iron tong to smash out the burned briquettes at the bottom of the clay hearth, and then put another piece into it from the top.

"That's what you're trying to promote? It looks quite practical, but it can only be used by small households. Big households, where is the hearth enough. If you have to burn five or six stoves at a time, it may not save much more than firewood. ”

After all, Qian Qianyi's qi cultivation kung fu is slightly inferior to Zhou Yanru, and he is also closer to the people in Qiongzhen, so he has fewer scruples when he speaks. Say what you think in your heart - this time Lin Hanlong invited the two court bigwigs to meet with a post, such a big face, if it was just to promote this kind of small coal stove, it would be too boring.

In this regard, Lin Hanlong only smiled slightly, but did not respond, but Zhou Yanru next to him smiled first:

"The stove is fine, but this briquette is somewhat interesting - plus two percent of the yellow mud, but it is more resistant to burning than lump coal, if it can be carried out, wouldn't it be said that the world's coal has increased by two percent out of thin air? This is not a small feat. ”

When Chao Shoufu opened his mouth to affirm, Qian Qianyi had no choice but to shut up, just glanced at the other party, and secretly said a cunning in his heart - since these two have stepped on the boat of Qiongzhou Shorthair, they are good enough to wear a pair of pants in the eyes of outsiders, just like the combination of Zhou Wen back then. But what they think in their hearts, only they know.

And Lin Hanlong's side didn't seem to care about Zhou Shoufu's praise at all, he just laughed:

"After all, this is just a living utensil, and the structure is simple, and those who have seen it will make it themselves, so it is difficult to keep it secret. It can only be regarded as a very beneficial small invention and small creation, and it is okay for a private person to set up a small stall, but it is not suitable as the content of our cooperation with the imperial court - what we plan to cooperate with the imperial court is still ...... itself."

He pointed to the black cinders on the ground and smiled at Zhou Qian and the others:

"The western suburbs of Beijing are rich in coal resources, and we can gradually establish a preliminary industrial system on the basis of developing the coal industry. The first step is to secure the supply of energy. ”

"At present, the traditional coal mining technology used by the people is to dig a long oblique tunnel on the surface, and rely entirely on manpower to dig ore from the coal seam and haul it up. The efficiency is extremely low, and a worker can produce a maximum of several hundred catties per day. In addition, due to the existence of groundwater, once the tunnel is dug deep, the bottom will inevitably accumulate water, which is difficult to solve with traditional technology, and often has to be abandoned and a new pit is opened. In addition, there is also a ventilation problem, which is traditionally based on natural ventilation, and at most some bamboo tube ventilation pipes are set up to remove gas...... In general, the working conditions are so harsh and dangerous that only desperate people or prisoners go down to dig coal, making it difficult for the industry to grow. So much so that the coal mine is close at hand, but it is difficult to meet the daily coal consumption of residents in Beijing. ”

"So you bought all the coal trading in Jingshi, are you planning to do this business yourself?"

Although Zhou Yanru is the first assistant of the current dynasty, he is very well-informed about the news between the Jingcheng and the city - Chen Dalei's actions in the past few days have achieved remarkable results, and it can almost be said that he has swallowed up all the people who do this business in the Jingshi. Of course, it is not possible to complete all the formalities in just a few days, but the basic intention has been determined. With the deterrent power of shorthair, it is estimated that no one dares to play with them.

In this regard, Lin Hanlong shook his head:

"We don't do it alone, but we do it together with the Ming Dynasty - Lord Zhou, Lord Qian, this is the next stage of our cooperation project with the Ming Dynasty."

While speaking, Lin Hanlong took out a few drawings and displayed them in front of the two elders:

"We will use a new type of mechanical power to enter the mine, completely replace the traditional wheel lifting, water bucket and natural ventilation methods, and underground mining will also be dominated by explosives blasting, which will greatly save manpower and improve work efficiency."

Seeing that the two of them only heard in the clouds, Lin Hanlong also knew that talking about technology with these Ming Dynasty bureaucrats was a purely thankless act, and he didn't talk too much at the moment, and directly gave them a final conclusion:

"With the adoption of new technology and new management methods, the output of our new coal company is expected to increase by about 100 to 200 times compared to the current stage – I mean the total output of all the coal banks in the capital combined."

"Oh...... That's a lot. ”

Such a huge number comparison finally made the faces of the two pavilion elders show a little surprise. However, after thinking about it for a while, Zhou Yanru said:

"Dig up this lot of coal...... Can it be used in Jingshili? ”

Seeing that Zhou Yanru could immediately think of the problem of product sales, Lin Hanlong was also quite impressed - he was worthy of being the former champion, this mind is flexible, once he comes into contact with their way of thinking, he can draw inferences so quickly.

Of course, he has already considered this kind of problem, even if Zhou Yanru doesn't say it, he will take the initiative to bring it up, because this just leads to his next plan.

"It is certainly not enough to ensure that urban residents use coal. But according to our plan, coal will be needed far more than just for residents...... In fact, we will definitely eat most of the coal production by then, because our next step is to build cement plants, which are the big consumers of coal. ”

He stepped on the foot with plain cement laying, and then let the workers carefully use the axe to cut out the lines of the fake stone ground, if this design is placed in the future generations will definitely be scolded to death by the construction team - the material of the fake stone is cheap, but it is extremely labor-intensive, so that a few skilled technicians do nothing a day, just take an ax on the surface of the plain cement painting and slowly cut out a stone-like texture? The cost is definitely more expensive than laying marble directly.

But here and now, it's a luxury to be able to pave the floor with cement – every bag of cement used here has been transported from the sea for thousands of miles. In comparison, the amount of labor spent is nothing. And Zhou Yanru really immediately squinted his eyes, showing an expression of great interest.

"Opening a cement plant? Do you also want to cooperate with the imperial court? ”

- He is no stranger to the uses and properties of cement, which was used extensively by Shorthair in the construction of a new port in Tianjin. Whether it is used as a binder or mixed with stone aggregates, it has strong adaptability to process special-shaped components with formwork and iron bars. Although the Ming Dynasty itself had similar traditional materials such as tung oil glutinous rice mortar, they were too far from them in terms of cost and durability.

Originally, Zhang Fengyi, the secretary of the military department who only went there to inspect the new ship of the "Great General", stayed there and never returned, and the biggest reason for this was related to this cement - he found that this thing was too useful for building masonry buildings. And one of the most important components of the current military system of the Ming Dynasty is to build walls and fortresses!

Zhang Fengyi had already written back several times asking the imperial court to purchase a large number of such high-quality materials in order to strengthen the northern defense line. It's just that this thing, like many other good things, is currently only produced with short hair. The cement used in Tianjin is from Shandong, and the cement plant established by the Qiong Navy in the construction of the Weihaiwei base has a relatively large output. Therefore, in addition to basically meeting the needs of Weihaiwei itself, it can be supplied to Tianjin Port, but it is really not enough to say that it will be provided to the Ming Dynasty for military purposes.

If it weren't for the fact that Tianjin Xingang had been outsourced by Wang Pu to Qionghai Trading Company, the construction project would have been all undertaken by Shorthair. Zhang Fengyi wanted to stop the construction of the port over there, and detain all the cement for the use of the military department. Although I can't do this now, it's not difficult to get some samples and figure out the usage and characteristics.

Therefore, Zhou Yanru also knew the importance of this thing to the Ming court. At this time, I heard that Shorthair was willing to open a factory here in the capital, and it was possible to cooperate with the imperial court, so why don't you hurry up and ask clearly!

And Lin Hanlong really gave him a satisfactory answer:

"Yes, cement is not complicated, it just requires a lot of limestone, clay, and fuel. The first two are everywhere, but the fuel problem is not easy to solve. Generally speaking, it is more economical and common to build cement plants near coal mines. ”

"Then the cement made in this factory can also be used by the imperial court, right?"

In the excitement, Zhou Yanru actually said such a redundant sentence, but Lin Hanlong still just smiled:

"Of course, goods are produced to be sold. We believe that with the population and consumption power of Beijing, the cement plant will have a very good profit margin. ”

Zhou Yanru nodded and didn't say anything more - he estimated that with the needs of the Ming Dynasty, even if the cement plant was built, the people of Jingshi might not be able to use it. Of course, there is no need to say these words, just know what you know.

Since the establishment of a coal mining industry is a prerequisite for the establishment of a local cement factory, the imperial court must have strongly supported it. What's more, Shorthair also took the initiative to express his intention to build it with the imperial court, so there is nothing to be picky about.

With this kind of thinking as a foundation, Zhou Yanru and Lin Hanlong quickly finalized the general framework for the next step of cooperation - just some big principles, the details must be discussed in detail with the person who wants to do the specific thing, and the master of the dignified head and assistant doesn't care about those trivial things.

And Lin Hanlong also took the opportunity to add some private goods to it - such as the plan to get another piece of land in the south of the city. When it comes to the real estate of the Ming Dynasty, ordinary people really don't dare to make random decisions. However, Shorthair's face is big enough after all, especially in the current atmosphere, even Zhou Yanru doesn't want to refute their interest. For a small piece of land, it affected the imperial court's plan to set up a factory.

So, after a careful discussion with Zhou Yanru and Qian Qianyi, they basically determined what to do in order not to arouse the opposition of the official and non-governmental people in Beijing.

When all the discussion stopped, and the meeting was almost over, Qian Qianyi suddenly asked one more question:

"Speaking of which, I don't seem to have seen Mr. Xiao Chen much recently, but is there anything wrong?"

"Chen Tao?" Lin Hanlong grinned, "He's really busy lately - he's about to get married, and he's busy preparing for a marriage." ”