Liu Hou puzzled, why there are thousands of people, the increase in steel production is so small, after Zhuge Liang's explanation, I know that this era ~ mining iron ore is really not easy, there is no machinery and equipment in this era, everything relies on manual labor, and the low efficiency is outrageous.

Mineral deposits are usually hidden deep in the mountains, and miners have to bring in from outside the mountains to eat, drink, and Lazar, and the mined ore has to be transported out, and the transportation is almost entirely by manpower. You don't have to think about cars and trains, and even animal power can't help much.

Because of the need to cross mountains and mountains, cattle and horses are not very useful in these environments, so in most cases, they can only rely on people to carry things in or out, until they reach an open place to use ox carts or horse-drawn carts.

However, in fact, there were not many ox carts and horse-drawn carts, because most of them were recruited into the army to transport military supplies. Not only are there not many cattle and horses, but even the donkeys have been looted completely, otherwise, the Hong army has brought so many weapons and equipment, as well as grain and grass, how to ensure high-speed mobility?

The soldiers of the Hong army were relaxed, but they suffered from the miners, who could only rely on their own hands and legs for almost everything. Mining teams and armies have one thing in common, the ratio of people who use them to transport them on the road and people who actually do the work (war) is almost one-to-one.

In other words, if there are 5,000 people in this mining team, then only 2,050 people are actually in charge of mining, and the other 2,500 people are in charge of logistics and transportation. This proportion will increase if the mining environment is harsh and the mineral deposits are too deep into the mountains and forests, making the transportation routes long.

And to produce steel, mining is only the first step, what about smelting? Do you want manpower? Should coal be used for smelting? How does coal come from? Or mining! Moreover, coal must be made into coke before it can be used to make steel, so how much coal is used as a raw material?

Therefore, the number of people just mentioned will be divided into more than half of the people to dig coal! Liu Hou sadly found that 5,000 people were put into it, a little here and a little there, and in the end there were less than 1,000 people who could really use it for mining.

The ore dug up by these hundreds of people had to be transported to the smelter after several twists and turns, and in the end, the steel smelted was pitiful. Because the smelting technology of this era is still relatively backward after all, although under the promotion of Liu Hou, it is much better than before, but after all, the equipment and technology cannot keep up, so the yield is also very low.

In later generations, it took 1.55 tons of iron ore to smelt 1 ton of iron, however, in this era, 2 tons or more of iron ore may be needed, and a lot of iron is wasted. With Zhuge Liang's statement, everyone finally understood that it can be said that the role of transferring thousands of people to the steel industry is a drop in the bucket.

In order to make a decisive change in the production of steel, the number of people who need to invest must be at least 10,000. If you want to quickly and massively obtain steel wires for the construction of cement ships, you need to invest tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people in the steel industry alone.

When everyone thought of this question, they secretly smacked their tongues, which was not that they didn't know, but they were shocked. Doesn't this mean that the construction of a cement ship indirectly and directly requires more than 100,000 people? It's scary, isn't it?

Liu Hou stroked his forehead with his hand, had a headache for a long time, and finally said quietly: "Manpower is not a problem, let's first send a few hundred people from various construction corps to fight the front station, and let them first set up the framework of large-scale steel production." The war in Wei is coming to an end, and we will have a large number of men at our disposal. ”

Everyone is an important minister of Shu Han, and they are all qualified to participate in military affairs, so they naturally know what the little emperor is referring to. Now that the battle of Guanzhong has entered the final stage, according to the current situation, within a month or two, the Wei State will be destroyed, and the Wei State will have at least more than 200,000 troops, even if only half of them can be captured, there will be 100,000 laborers.

With an extra 100,000 laborers out of thin air, Shu will surely usher in another wave of rapid development. If the little emperor put these 100,000 people into the production of steel, then everyone thought about it and gradually became excited again.

"There is also the Hetao, Su Li is now leading the army to clear the Hetao, there will always be some prisoners, I will give him a holy decree, let him send all the prisoners over, and then they will all be put into the steel industry, I don't believe it, this is not enough for steel." Liu Hou said viciously.

"There is another place, Jiaozhou, where Gao Ding is said to have captured a lot of local natives, some of whom were put into plantations to grow food, and some of which were taken by Gao Ding to cut wood. The people who grow the grain can't move, but the loggers might as well come and open the mines.

After all, the trees they cut down are all precious species, and they can only make valuable furniture for the rich, but they can't be used to build ships, which is too wasteful. Sima Yi opened his mouth and added.

Liu Hou quite agreed with Sima Yi's proposal, after all, it was still a period of war, and at this time all production activities should revolve around the war, and talking about extravagant enjoyment at this time was tantamount to digging one's own grave.

And the production activities related to the war are nothing more than weapons and food. It is indeed very inappropriate for Gao Ding to engage in luxury goods at this time, it seems that he is going to issue a holy decree of "taking food as the key link" to Gao Ding, and it is time for him to face up to his own work and put away those unrealistic illusions.

"Okay, Sima Aiqing is right, Guo Aiqing, you immediately draft a holy decree, let people send it to Jiaozhou quickly, and let Gao Ding send all the people he caught and felled to Jingzhou, and we will go all out to carry out the great cause of shipbuilding." Liu Hou said excitedly.

"Slow!" Zhuge Liang stretched out his goose feather fan to stop.

"Oh? What else does the prime minister have to say? Liu Hou asked puzzled.

"Your Majesty, Gao Ding currently relies on those slaves to make a lot of profits from logging, so he is very enthusiastic about attacking the natives and capturing them. What would happen if His Majesty took away all the foundations on which he had made his fortune by a single decree? Zhuge Liang said.

When everyone heard this, they couldn't help but feel stunned, yes, as the saying goes, cutting off people's wealth is like killing their parents. Gao Ding is making a windfall in Jiaozhou, if someone cuts off his financial route at this time, maybe he really dares to fight with others.

Maybe he will directly establish himself as king in Jiaozhou, and it is not necessary to use the treacherous terrain there to confront the Central Plains. Liu Hou was also taken aback, he had to admire Zhuge Liang's political vision, and he knew that people in that place in history really often did this, and they broke away from the Central Plains Dynasty and became independent at every opportunity.

In the era when Liu Hou lived, that place was completely independent and did not belong to the Celestial Empire, and it also occupied many islands of the Celestial Empire, which was very hateful. Moreover, even if Gao Ding doesn't have the courage to rebel, if he sees that it is not profitable, it is not a good thing to be passive and slack off.

The war in the Central Plains is not over yet, and Liu Hou is still counting on this army to deter the Zhuyi in Jiaozhou. Of course, it would be better if he had the spare resources to expand his territory. However, if he knew that no matter how many battles he fought, no matter how much land he occupied, no matter how many prisoners he captured, he would not be able to gain anything in his own hands, would he still fight so hard?

Anyone who works hard and ends up being easily picked will feel unhappy, and if the person who is picked the fruit is still a general with a heavy army to defend one side, it will be even worse.