Recently, the porcelain stone and kaolin have been found in the north near Xingyao Lake, and samples of different compositions have been selected for firing verification, so as to select the best materials to produce the best porcelain.

In this way, the choice of the site was simple, and after discussion, it was decided to build it one kilometer east of the coal mine, which is close to the raw material production area, and there is a small river flowing through it, so it is more convenient to get water. Once the porcelain factory is built, the happiest is the coal mine, they hang alone in the northwest of the territory, very lonely, to have the porcelain factory next to each other can also add a lot of fun to life.

Wang Xuan was in a much happier mood, and he dragged his sister to eat at the eldest sister's place for two consecutive days, and the two sisters' attitude towards him was also a lot more enthusiastic, and his behavior was also very natural.

Pleasant times always slip away quickly and disappear before you know it. The weather in October is neither hot nor cold, there is a kind of magic that makes people want to sleep, Wang Xuan lies on the homemade recliner and closes his eyes to recuperate, thinking back to the bits and pieces he has experienced during this time, and now he speaks and acts more and more like a mascot.

On October 23rd, the infrastructure of the porcelain factory was basically completed, and Wang Xuan, who received the news, took Hua'er and a few guards to inspect by car.

After leaving the west gate, he went up a small road, paved with fine gravel and a thin layer of river sand, and although the carriage traveled on the road with bumps, it was able to endure it.

On both sides of the road, there are remnants of low tree stumps left over from the felling of trees, long stretches of vines and waist-length weeds have been cleared to give pedestrians as much warning sight as possible, and traces of freshly turned dirt on the side of the road, which serves as a drainage channel and as a demarcation line for the road. All this shows that the road has recently been renovated and proves its importance.

Along the way, Wang Xuan was observing the surroundings, and as far as the eye could see, except for the sparse trees and dense weeds, there was no trace of human activity at all. According to the guards, in order to build this path for carriages, they were bitten to death by wild beasts and injured many people.

About half an hour later, the group arrived at the porcelain factory. The tall wall towers over an open field, and the bottom of the wall is made of stone foundations, which are built to a height of six feet above the ground, and above six feet are made of bricks mixed with yellow mud and hay, which are piled up after drying. Based on the visual length of the wall on the south side, the circumference of the porcelain factory is about 2,000 meters, covering an area of more than 360 acres, which is a very auspicious figure.

After entering from the south gate, a straight road leads to the north gate, with the guard guard on the left and the canteen on the right.

Behind the sentry are offices, warehouses, production and material preparation areas, while behind the canteen on the right are dormitories, activity areas and a bathhouse.

Qian Duoduo introduced to Wang Xuan the construction progress of the porcelain factory, the preparation of various tools and materials, and the recruitment and training of personnel.

Coal reserves were abundant, and steward Zhu made a strong commitment to increase coal output to ensure the coal demand of the porcelain factory. The road between the West Gate and the coal mining area has been built, and although it is a dirt road, it has been tamped and paved with sand, which is very smooth and suitable for horse-drawn carriage traffic.

Subsequently, Wang Xuan, accompanied by Qian Duoduo, visited the mud refining area, embryo drawing area, printing blank area, billet area and glazing area, but the glazing area was only a groping test and did not make hard requirements.

Immediately after the group came to the activity area, about 100 people in the large conference room on the first floor were listening attentively to an old man's speech, according to the introduction of the old man's name is Cao Dexiang, is a pottery maker, and is now invited by the porcelain factory to do technical support.

Wang Xuan didn't bother, and after listening carefully to the meeting, he found that he was talking about the operation and precautions of various processes, which was very good.

After lunch in the factory canteen, Wang Xuan came to the scene to watch the workers' production simulation exercises, and Cao Dexiang pointed out the deficiencies one by one, and personally demonstrated and guided the operation techniques. At dinner time, Wang Xuan met with Cao Dexiang, discussed the porcelain process with him, and took out everything he knew.

Wang Xuan instructed that each station must have work instructions and product inspection standards, and production safety must be put in the first place, and a special person must be responsible. It doesn't matter if the workers are illiterate, after the census, the Ministry of Education will arrange for the writing teachers to teach in the factory.

The two talked happily with each other, and there was a tendency to forget the New Year. Cao Dexiang was very in line with Wang Xuan's employment standards, so he took the opportunity to appoint him as the technical director of the porcelain factory, that is, the deputy director, and Wang Xuan decided to listen to the advice of the Government Council.

It was getting late, Wang Xuan and his entourage turned back to Jixiang City, and on the way they also met a convoy of porcelain factory canteens, buying vegetables and other food.

The siblings simply had dinner and went for a walk in the backyard garden, where Wang Xuan had been thinking about the construction of a second factory.

The architecture of this era was mainly made of wood, stone and earth, and it was very simple. At present, the most widely used is wood, and the most important thing here is wood, so Wang Xuan considered building a board factory, which is "just needed".

If conditions permit, it is necessary to go to the iron smelting plant as soon as possible, or directly to the steel plant, steel is the cornerstone of supporting the auspicious development, it is better to be sooner rather than later.

The next thing to be built is the cement plant, if you want to get rich first to build roads, without cement and steel, you can't talk about rapid development and construction, if steel is bone, then cement is meat, how can flesh and bone be separated?

The fourth one to be built is a brick and tile factory, an artifact of infrastructure construction, which is difficult and versatile, and is a necessary medicine for making a fortune.

On October 25, the day after Wang Xuan's visit to the porcelain factory, the porcelain factory began trial production, Qian Duoduo presided over the ribbon-cutting ceremony, and Wang Xuan also delivered a speech that lasted for about a quarter of an hour.

This is the first factory in the true sense of the word, and the treatment of workers is quite high.

Front-line workers start with five silver coins a month, and six gold coins a year, which is not counting the profit share, it is much higher than the monthly salary. Senior managers like Cao Dexiang have a monthly salary of five gold coins, plus a share that far exceeds the monthly salary, which is enough to scare most of the mascots who have never seen the world, so everyone is very motivated.

The workers moved the dried embryos to the firing kiln in an orderly manner, and loaded the porcelain products into a sagger, which is a container for the roasting of porcelain products, which is made of kaolin, which is used to prevent the porcelain blank from being in direct contact with the kiln fire and avoid pollution, especially for white porcelain firing.

In the middle is coal, and this batch is mainly fired with small items such as tea sets, tableware, vases, etc., and the total amount is only a dozen pieces, and there are more experimental kilns that cannot be put down. This firing is to verify the texture of kaolin and porcelain stone, and the large kiln next to it is used for mass production, and a total of three soil qualities are verified, so three kilns are opened.

The thickness of the inner wall of the kiln is 20 centimeters, and it is made of refractory bricks fired from kaolin to prevent the furnace wall from being cracked at high temperatures. The kiln lasted for about a day and night, and the temperature was controlled at about 1,300 degrees.

Workers have to build the kiln door first, and then light the kiln, measure the fire during the kiln firing, and keep abreast of the temperature change of the kiln, so as to determine the ceasefire time.

In addition, the three firing kilns also come with the test of glaze materials and painting process, because the glaze is mainly porcelain stone, the melting temperature is lower than that of porcelain products, and the glaze must be evenly glazed if you want to fire perfectly, and the glazing process requirements are quite high. Anyway, it's an experiment, and it's not distressing if it's burned out, the important thing is to do a good job of data recording, exercise talents, and accumulate experience.

As for the glaze process test must be completed after the first two verifications can be carried out, its requirements for temperature are harsh, must be about 700 to 800 degrees, there is no good way at present, is to constantly change the temperature of the firing, compare the quality of the firing products under different temperature conditions, so as to find a suitable temperature control method.

If it goes well, you can find this point in five to eight times, but if you want to develop a mature process, it will take a year and a half to find it.

Wang Xuan did not stay in the porcelain factory for too long, and returned to Jixiangcheng in the afternoon, because the census personnel returned, and the casualties were very heavy, the military sacrificed thirteen people, and the civilian personnel sacrificed sixteen people, making a total of twenty-nine people.

Lu Fang, head of the military escort unit, made a security report.

The main cause of human losses was the death caused by the bite of snakes, insects, rats and ants during the survey of the undeveloped areas in the south, and there was no reaction time for treatment. In addition, when surveying the mountainous terrain on both sides, more than six people were attacked by fierce beasts and killed, and four people fell off the cliff and died.

The military has applied for a pension of five gold coins per person, and Wang Xuan has raised it to the standard of twenty gold coins, and people cannot be resurrected after death, which is the only thing Wang Xuan can do for them.

Subsequently, You Lixing, the head of the investigation team, also made a report, and the census has been completed, and the results are not satisfactory.

Of the 150,000 people, less than 1,000 were literate, less than 100 were blacksmiths, carpenters, stonemasons, and other craftsmen, less than 20 were experienced in practicing medicine, and only 50 had textile skills.

The good news is that copper ore has been discovered, about three kilometers south of the west side of Dongshan Mountain, the reserves are unknown, and there are more than a dozen minerals such as saltpeter, limestone, marble, and bauxite, and some of the unnamed ones have also brought back samples and marked the location of the source.

It is a pity that Wang Xuan did not find the iron ore that is urgently needed, and he may have to explore more carefully around Xingyao Lake, but if he can't find it, he can only buy it from outside.

Wang Xuan looked at the map drawn by the military, and it was a little rough, and some small rivers and hills were not marked; although some were marked, important parameters such as the width of the river channel, the depth of the water, and the flow rate were not recorded. Fortunately, Jixiang doesn't need such a detailed map at the moment, otherwise this operation would be a joke. If he has time, Wang Xuan plans to give them a tutorial on their drawing skills, and if they find the shortcomings, they must improve.

The map of the distribution of resources was copied into many copies and distributed to various departments for their reference, and Wang Xuan hoped that when making plans, this map of resource distribution would allow everyone to avoid detours and have a purpose.