Chapter 18 Grandma Zhang enters the Grand View Garden (7) Six-pointed Star City

Li Lin used a small shovel to shovel coal from a basket into the burning bin of the stove. After Liu Hou and his men discovered the coal mines in Yandao (present-day Yibin City) on their way into Sichuan, they began to recruit displaced people to mine, and most of the coal mined was distributed to smelting workshops, a small part was used as fuel by the "aristocracy" who could afford to live in watchtowers, and a small part was sent here to be used as fuel for hot air balloons.

This is the fuel with the highest calorific value that Liu Hou could find. Although it can't be compared with the petrochemical energy of later generations, it is still no problem to fly for one or two hours with two or three baskets. It's just a little too much space.

After shoveling a few shovels of coal, Li Lin sat on the seat of the bicycle, pulled the clutch to the "blast" bar, and then slammed on the pedal. The flames in the furnace swished. There was a fire in the furnace, and the limited heat was only enough to keep the balloon from collapsing, but the limited hot air did not bring much lift. Now that the fire is hot, the balloon quickly becomes more swollen.

The structure of this "clutch" is actually very simple, that is, the gear connected to the pedal chain (Liu Hou called it the power gear) is mounted on a slideway, and this gear can be pulled to the front or back. And it is equipped with a gear for connecting the blower (load gear 1) in front and a gear (load gear 2) for connecting the propeller in the back.

When this power gear is pulled to the front and stuck on the blower gear, it drives the fan blades of the blower to rotate, blows the wind into the furnace, makes the furnace fire hot, and provides a large amount of hot air to make the balloon rise.

When the hot air balloon rises into the air, the wind speed at high altitude is usually relatively high, so there is no need to blow the air at this time, on the contrary, the size of the damper should be controlled to adjust the combustion range and maintain the hot air balloon at a reasonable height.

At this time, the power gear can be pulled out to the middle of the "neutral" or the back of the "power" gear, in the "power" gear, the power gear is snapped into the gear connected to the propeller behind, and the pedal can be stepped on to provide forward power for the hot air balloon.

After a while, the watchtower with Liu Houzhu was so large that the balloon swelled violently, the rope connecting the balloon and the hanging basket jumped tightly, and the hanging basket slowly left the ground, because the hanging basket was tied by the rope, so it could only be about one foot high from the ground.

Zhang Li measured the wind direction and reported to Huang Yueying: "Report to Chief Engineer Huang, weather: sunny, wind direction: northwest, wind speed is level 1, heading 30 degrees to the southeast, Feitian No. 1 requests to take off." ”

The wind vane is also designed by Liu Hou, with the shape of a chicken on the top and a dial on the bottom, according to the direction of the head and tail of the chicken after the wind vane stops rotating, with the compass, it is easy to measure the wind direction. As for the anemometer, Liu Hou can't do anything, and at present, he mainly relies on some primitive measurement methods to approximate it.

For example, a paper ball of fixed weight and volume is released from a fixed height and observed at the distance from the origin to roughly estimate the wind speed and roughly divide the wind speed into one to nine levels.

Huang Yueying said: "Feitian No. 1, take off approved!" After finishing speaking, she turned around and arranged for someone to pick up Liu Hou and them.

So, Zhang Li set up the hanging basket, untied the rope tied to a stake on the ground, picked up the rope and quickly jumped into the hanging basket. The balloon slowly rises with the basket. Zhang Li threw down several sandbags hanging on the edge of the hanging basket, and the speed of the hot air balloon's rise increased significantly.

"Wow! It's fun, Zhang Xingcai jumped up and down with excitement, who knew that her excitement made the hanging basket shake violently. Frightened, the two little Loli bent over, and at the same time grabbed the basket tightly with both hands, not daring to move again.

Liu Hou covered a wooden board on a coal basket to turn the basket of coal into a bench, and then sat on it, swaying his feet, looking at the embarrassment of the two little Loli and laughing.

"Hold on, you can't move around."

Zhang Xingcai glared at Liu Hou fiercely, snorted in his mouth, and slowly stood up straight with Guan Yinping, sticking his head out of the basket, and an unprecedented view was revealed in front of him.

The neatly arranged houses in the underground are constantly shrinking, shrinking, shrinking, and shrinking in the field of vision, and the field of vision is constantly getting bigger and bigger. Soon it was seen far, far, far beyond the confines of the "Ministry of Industry".

Looking at the entire "Ministry of Industry" base from a high altitude is a completely different feeling. Viewed from above, the "Ministry of Industry" resembles a large six-pointed star wheel. The six-pointed star wheel can be divided into six fan-shaped areas and a central area. The six watchtowers are in the center of the six sectors of the six-pointed star wheel, and Liu Hou's "Houlu" is in the center of the entire six-pointed star wheel.

Each watchtower is the center of an area, and together with its surrounding outbuildings, it forms a functional area. Liu Hou's "Houlu" is the administrative and cultural center as the center, in addition to the administrative office here, there are also libraries, schools, people's hospitals and some research institutes are in this area, which is also the core area.

The northwest sector is the barracks of the entire Ministry of Industry, in which 5,000 soldiers and horses are stationed, and there are school fields, military camps, and military schools. Zhao Yun was stationed in the watchtower of this sector.

The sector on the north side is the commercial area, which is lined with shops and people, and is the most lively place in the entire "Ministry of Industry". Because the "Ministry of Industry" produces a lot of special products, that is, there are many things that cannot be bought in other places, so merchants from all over the world will come here to buy.

Of course, many products are monopolized by the Mi family, such as military materials, which basically do not need to go through this commercial area, and will be directly pulled away from the factory by the Mi family, leaving only the cost and profits, and the profits are all hacked by Liu Bei, the * boss of the Mi family and Liu Hou's father.

The business district is also a place where people living in the "Ministry of Industry" replenish their daily necessities. In the past two years, the construction of the "Ministry of Industry" has basically taken shape, various affairs have been on the right track, the displaced people have gradually been resettled, their status has also changed to civilians, and the production of major factories has earned a lot of income for the "Ministry of Industry", so Liu Hou ordered that all those who can work be paid wages.

When the "Ministry of Industry" was first established, a large number of displaced people were recruited to work, most of whom were only in charge of food and had no wages. Of course, except for craftsmen with craftsmanship, Liu Hou has always been generous to them. As the situation stabilized, the financial resources of the "Ministry of Industry" gradually increased, and these displaced people were not only able to live in houses, but also received wages.

After all, many of these displaced people still have families to support, and long-term lack of wages is not the way to sustainable development. In addition, if the market wants to prosper, there will be enough consumption, and if you want to consume, you must form a consumer group, so it is necessary for these producers to become consumers at the same time.

Now in the "Ministry of Industry", the lowest level of workers, counted as a family of six, if both husband and wife work in the factory, can support two old people and two children at the same time. Of course, the quality of life is not very good, it can only guarantee that you will not go hungry.

What's more, children can also go to public schools for free, and when they are sick, they can also go to the people's hospital for treatment, as long as they spend some time working to pay for medical expenses, which is equivalent to free medical treatment for them. For these displaced people, this is already a paradise life.

Fei Yi is the supervisor of the business district and lives in the watchtower in this area, which is also the place where various administrative matters of the business district are handled.

The southwest sector is a mysterious area, and it is usually difficult for unrelated people to enter it, and ordinary people don't know what it is for. This is a highly military management area, very heavily guarded, and the entry and exit checks are very strict.

Here are some highly classified research institutes and production plants, such as the R&D and production of firearms, where the R&D and production of gunpowder is located. And Liu Hou, where they took off - the "Flight Research Institute" is also here.

This is the key to Liu Hou's future use of force and technical suppression against the world, and it is the root of Liu Hou's strength. As long as there is this area, Liu Hou is not afraid of any enemy of this era. The fear of coming to this strange world was gradually dispelled as this area was built. What it brought to him was an infinite sense of security and unprecedented self-confidence.

The watchtower in this sector is where Zuo Ci's master and apprentice often stay. The core and secret room is located in the watchtower. Of course, they don't know how to manage affairs, they are obsessed with research, and they are the kind of people who really don't listen to things outside the window. The person in charge of managing this area is Jiang Wan's eldest son, Jiang Bin.

Due to the continuous expansion of the "Ministry of Industry", Liu Bei's previous Fei Yi and Dong Yun were not enough at all, so Liu Hou asked Liu Bei several times to ask for people, but the Shuhan Group was really a withering talent, and Liu Bei himself was not enough to use it, where could someone give Liu Hou.

Later, it was Jiang Wan who "did not avoid relatives" and recommended his son Jiang Bin. Although Liu Hou was reluctant to use the second generation of officials, he also knew in his heart that Jiang Wan was a little Jiujiu, but he was in a hurry to go to the doctor, and there was really no one available under him, so he had to accept this "Yanei" to come to him to gild.

But fortunately, although this Jiang Bin is the second generation of officials, he is not a gentleman. Jiang Wan's family education is very strict, this Jiang Bin is also a capable person, Liu Hou got along for a period of time, and after understanding his personality, he handed over this core and secret area of his own core to him to manage.

Jiang Wan's approach played an exemplary role, and the civil and military generals of the Shuhan Group sent their descendants to Liu Hou. No one is stupid, although Liu Bei has not yet been proclaimed emperor, Liu Hou's current status is equivalent to that of the crown prince. And this "prince" also frequently has outstanding appearances.

It is foreseeable that after a hundred years of Liu Bei, there is almost no doubt that Liu Hou will take over. Those civil servants and military generals are all like ghosts, smooth as oil, and they are all planning for the future prosperity of the family. We all know that if we can marry the future boss now, we don't have to worry about the prosperity of the family in the next few decades.

Liu Hou accepted all the orders sent by the second-generation officials, and arranged jobs if he had the ability and good temperament; Those who are still young are arranged to study in schools and research institutes; Throw it into the barracks, let Zhao Yun clean it up, use it when it's done, and send it home if it's not cleaned up. In this way, it has also temporarily alleviated the embarrassing situation in terms of employment.

The southern sector is the area where the air polluted factories are located. The heavy industries of smelting and forging are concentrated here, so at this time, you can see more than a dozen black smoke rising from this area in the air, which is spectacular.

However, Liu Hou, who suffered from air pollution in later generations, hated the phenomenon and was determined to find a way to control it in his lifetime.

The southeast sector is also an industrial area, but there are many light industries, and textile, printing, papermaking and other factories are distributed here. The chief officer of the two industrial zones is Dong Yun.

The Northeast sector is a residential area and a dormitory area, most of which are matchbox-style houses, and most of the workers in the industrial area live in these small houses with uniform planning. There are also a small number of houses with yards, these yards are also large and small, simple and luxurious, this is a house where people with some status live, according to the status of the noble Cheng dù different, the size and grade of the house are not the same.

Basically, except for a few high-class people who lived in watchtowers and soldiers who were stationed in barracks, everyone else in the industrial zone made their home in this area. The chief official of this area is concurrently served by Fei Yi.