Regarding Theodora's statement, Guo Kang was not too surprised.

"If you don't support me, who else can you support." He laughed, "No one else can make this decision." The current factory buildings and workshops are all designed by myself. In Rome, or even in Europe, you can't find anyone else in charge to invest? ”

"Originally, I only got along with a few children of the Zhu Kingdom who I wanted to know well, and I had very little contact with other veterans and high-ranking officials. My mother sometimes nags, saying that I don't interact with others, and after a long time, how can I do things in the court. But you see, after the results this time, the entire upper echelons of the capital are eager to come to my house. Isn't that just a fancy to my plans? ”

"It can be seen that in this world, there are many people who want to invest, but there are very few reliable projects." He sighed: "At this level, it is enough to attract many people." ”

He was telling the truth, but Theodora didn't look very happy. The two argued for a few words, but Theodora couldn't tell him, and began to move again.

After a while, Wu Han came here with a pile of documents from Wang Da Lama. looked left and right, and found that Theodora was still in the corner, pressing Guo Kang against the wall, not knowing what he was doing.

Wu Han was puzzled for a while, not understanding what they meant, and stepped back, hesitating whether he should say hello. However, Theodora was keenly aware of him, and quickly turned his head and asked, "Is there something wrong?" ”

"Oh, I'm fine, it's Master Wang who has something." Wu Han explained: "The public activities on his side are also over, but there are still some guests who want to ask Guo Gongzi for details. ”

Only then did Theodora let Guo Kang go. Guo Kang didn't have time to complain, so he hurriedly straightened his collar and followed him to Lama Wang's office. Theodora followed on her own.

"Isn't there still activity over there?" Guo Kang asked.

"Mother will handle it. I am free to move today. Theodora said.

Guo Kang was quite suspicious of this, but Theodora didn't know why and had to follow him.

The next meeting was to introduce his plan to the upper echelons of the capital who were interested, and to ask everyone for support in all aspects. It can be said that this is the real highlight of today's "fundraising". On this occasion, Theodora went, and it was estimated that it would not be of much help. Because she should have made a statement, her family has already made a statement.

He thought for a while and came to the conference room on the second floor. A large group of people had gathered here, and they were all around Wang Da Lama asking questions, pestering him to the point that they were all in a hurry.

Guo Kang looked around and found that there were indeed not many people running here. In addition to some veterans who have met a few times, there are also many people who are very faceless, and I don't know whether they are rich people or officials in the city. Take a closer look, even Sun Shiwan and Qiao Feng are here.

He walked over curiously, greeted Qiao Feng who was next to the door, and asked specifically, "Where is your sister?" ”

"She couldn't come without an invitation." Qiao Feng said: "But she specially asked me to convey my greetings to you, and said that she would have the opportunity to look for you again." ”

"She doesn't have any." Guo Kang was a little surprised: "This time the quota is so strict? ”

"Yes, a lot of people can't ask for it." Qiao Feng said.

In this regard, Guo Kang can understand. But Theodora had already followed, urging him not to delay. Guo Kang didn't say much, nodded to the people around him, and continued to walk forward.

Seeing him walk in, the Wang Grand Lama in the crowd also hurriedly said, "It's just right, he's here, let me ask him to introduce him." ”

Guo Kang was actually not ready, and suddenly let him say that he didn't know where to start. But under the Zhang Luo of Wang Da Lama and others, he was still pushed to the front of the crowd and faced everyone's problems. But fortunately, everyone is actually more anxious than him, and they are all eager to understand the situation.

"Guo Gongzi, our Black Sea Chamber of Commerce is very interested in your plan." A middle-aged man took the lead in saying: "If we can open up such a vast rear, we will definitely give it our full support." Just don't know, what do you need us to do? ”

"We, the Georgian folks, also hope to join this program." Another old man with a big hat also chimed in: "If there is a need, please give us an order directly." Our hometown association has reached an agreement that we will do our best to help with our financial and human resources. ”

"That's right...... Don't worry. When they said this, Guo Kang knew in his heart: "On our side, what we need is actually two things: man and iron. ”

"Can you elaborate on that?" Someone asked with interest.

"To put it simply, the biggest difficulty in the development of the Rus region is that their starting point is too low. It was a place so poor and backward that it would be hard for the people of Romania to imagine it if they hadn't been there. Not to mention the people who are in a better environment. Guo Kang said:

"I've consulted a lot of people about this, including the new prime minister who used to be in charge of water conservancy projects in the Xiaobei area. He told me that in Romania, what we usually do is to promote more advanced agricultural technologies and upgrade the local infrastructure. Although in many places, the production technology is much more backward than that of the Central Plains and Greece, but it is basically still in the category of 'utilization, transformation and upgrading'. In the Rus' Lands, there is basically no infrastructure that already exists. Everything, almost from scratch. ”

"The situation of the locals is very bad. Their villages are small, usually only four or five, and as many as about ten. It's not comparable to our farm. This is because it is a vast and sparsely populated area, and its own population is very limited; Their farming methods are also backward, and they need a lot of land to feed such a small number of people. If there are too many people gathered and too far from the fields, then the village is meaningless. ”

"Because there are so few people, these villages are fragile and backward. There is no way for people to build water conservancy, and it is very difficult to even transform the surrounding woodland. They also lacked tools for construction and logging, as there was also a shortage of craftsmen in the villages. "Due to the backward technology, they are limited in the number of professionals they can support," he explains. Therefore, craftsmen such as blacksmiths and stonemasons can generally only be found in central towns. The lack of professional craftsmen leads to a lack of tools to improve the efficiency of production. When I say man and iron, these are these two aspects. ”

"Then why don't they try to change the situation?" The Greek tycoon who asked the question just asked, "If you don't have the technology, you can bring it from the outside." We can sell these things to them. ”

"That place is systematically backward." Guo Kang shook his head and said, "Not only is the situation of the people bleak, but the management of the local lords is also very inefficient. ”

"The productive capacity of ordinary people is extremely low, and they are unable to open up land, mine minerals, and build water conservancy; As a result, they have also been extremely slow to develop, and in the long term they have not been able to accumulate enough reserves to achieve what we call 'upgrading'. ”

"Local managers have to take a lot of savings from people in order to get resources. This makes it almost impossible for them to achieve technological progress on their own, because even if they have the savings to buy tools and learn technology, they will be plundered by the lord first. ”

"And the people are not stupid at all. In such a situation, everyone knows that it is completely nonsense to want to improve the environment of production and life. As a result, they completely lose their motivation and start to get by. In this way, their production capacity is even less likely to be improved. ”

"What's more, there's been a vicious circle. Because the populace is extremely poor and lacks output, the lords must use greater effort to loot, which in turn destroys their ability to improve themselves. As a result, the entire land of Rus' fell into a state of secular stagnation. ”

"Let's put it this way." He thought for a moment and gave an example: "Do you know about grinding? It's the kind of flour grinding. ”

Everyone nodded.

"We have a climate here that is suitable for growing wheat crops. To process these grains, grinding is indispensable. Nowadays, most of the grinding is disc-shaped, and the teeth are carved. It is pulled by livestock, or driven by wind and water. Guo Kang gave an example: "However, in some remote areas, the local Slavs still use stone grinding discs and grinding rods. ”

"That kind of thing, you've probably never seen before. It is a stone with a flat surface as a mat, on which the grain is placed, and then rolled and rolled repeatedly with a stone stick. He thought about it and made a rough estimate: "This kind of thing is estimated to be earlier than Yanhuang, and it is probably already a tool of the era of the Chao clan and the Shennong clan." But until now, they're still using it. ”

"Huh? Not really, why? "A lot of people don't understand.

"Because the tools don't work." Guo Kang said: "The disc-shaped stone mill looks very simple, but it also requires a special stonemason and the use of iron tools to make it. Grinding discs with grinding teeth are also consumables and require maintenance. None of this is readily available to the poor and isolated Slavic villages. Therefore, they can only use this processing method to grind more simply. ”

His statement is actually more conservative. The stone grinding discs and grinding rods, which are generally considered to be from the end of the Paleolithic or the early Neolithic period, must be nearly 10,000 years old. He didn't think about how to describe this time in words that were easy for people in this era to understand.

The mythological characters of the Central Plains can be roughly compared. But if you haven't been to a Chinese-style private school here, you probably won't be able to understand this concept of time...... After all, Europeans at this time generally believed that the world was founded for thousands of years, according to the scriptures. If you know that the stone mills passed down from generation to generation by the Slavs may be older than the creation of the world by the Heavenly Father, many people are afraid that they will not go crazy......

And this thing won't disappear so easily. In the history of his world, some mountain Slavs used this thing until the 20th century. This set of tools has been used from ancient times to the era of industry, steel and guns, and it is the kind of thing that is literally "not far from the ancients", and it belongs to Kong Lao Er, who has to exclaim that your kid is really retro when he sees it......

And that kind of turntable mill is actually not very "new". The concentrated appearance of toothed stone grinding discs was first in the early Han Dynasty, which may indeed be related to the widespread use of iron tools. Until then, it was common to use a pestle mortar to handle grains. Outside of China, the earliest millstones appeared in the western Mediterranean, and it was only with the conquests of the Roman legions that they spread rapidly. Come to think of it, it should also be the result of tool improvement.

The older grinding tools are also much less efficient. Some people even believe that people in Egypt and West Asia will consciously add sand, gypsum and other powders to the grinding disc to increase friction and improve efficiency. As for the grit, if you have the conditions to go back, you can just sift it off.

This idea is honestly scary, at least in Guo Kang's opinion, this kind of deliberate mixing sand in flour is simply crazy. The Egyptians had to have their mouths beaten of iron to eat it. But then again, when the tools are backward, sometimes you have to make this helpless choice. Otherwise, I'm afraid no one will want to continue to use this kind of stuff from the flood era.

In many parts of Europe, the millstone has been monopolized by the lords until now, which shows that this thing is far from being as simple as it seems. For the Slavs, whose way of life is almost three generations old, there is really no such exquisite condition.

Of course, this example is enough in itself. The crowd quickly understood what he meant, and each began to think about it. It's just that I don't know what they pay more attention to for a while.

"Those Rus, haven't you thought about it yourself?" Someone asked curiously.

"Definitely thought about it. There are also far-sighted rulers who will respond accordingly. Guo Kang said: "Some powerful princes will forcibly intervene in agricultural production, consciously introduce more advanced technology, and organize and promote it among the people." In order to concentrate efforts, farmland is sometimes re-planned to bring together these overly scattered villages for easier management and organization. I heard that Ryazan tried this in the past, and it did achieve good results. ”

"But all of this requires a strong ruler. He had to be able to control the ignorant and rough aristocrats, and he could force the people who were used to lying flat to plant according to their own plans. It can be said that it depends on the ruler's own ability. Sometimes, such people leave behind a legacy that will improve the local situation. But there are also many times when the leader is lost, and these changes are also lost. ”

"Do you want us to change that? So where do we start? The audience continued to ask.

"That's what I just said, human technology, and the steel we produce." Guo Kang replied.

Isn't this nonsense - or else, the Slavic Flood artifact? In his heart, he muttered to this knowingly question.

(End of chapter)