After inspecting the mines and smelters, in the next few days, Xin Bi continued to observe and inspect Liu Beijun's other farming and construction achievements under Xiang Lang's guide, and everything that did not involve technical secrets could be seen.

Looking at it, Simbi's kneecaps became softer and softer.

Liu Bei's camp now has a lot of technological innovations in the textile industry, porcelain-making, copper smelting and other fields, but most of these industries are not completed in Jiangxia County, so it is more troublesome to visit Xinbi.

For example, porcelain-making, basically, is only engaged in Yuzhang County, and this thing cannot be seen in Xinbi for the time being. Copper smelting is also mostly in Yuzhang, because the two major copper mines in the south of the Yangtze River are in Yuzhang.

The proportion of copper produced from copper ore is very low, at least much lower than that of iron ore.

Basically, more than 20 tons of other materials, fuels and raw ore are consumed to produce one ton of refined copper, and in the end, 20 tons of waste will be left, which is why copper smelting is more polluting than steelmaking.

The cost of transporting materials is so huge that copper smelters are built closer to the mine than ironworks.

But nothing is absolute. As mentioned earlier, there are two sets of copper smelting methods developed by Zhuge Jin, one is slowly improved from the traditional smelting method, and the other is the replacement method, that is, the base metal is used to replace the precious metal from copper sulfate/silver nitrate.

The disadvantage of the replacement method is that it uses up a lot of iron, but the consumption of fuel and other raw materials is low, the cost of raw material transportation is low, and it is also convenient to replace the gold and silver associated with chalcocite ore.

Therefore, Zhuge Liang later built a large steel plant in Exian County for the sake of precious metal control, and also built a factory for replacing precious metals.

After more than four years of copper mine construction, Yuzhang has now found out which mining areas have better ore quality, a higher proportion of chalcocite and the most associated gold and silver. Then under the supervision of the copper officials set up by the Zhuge family, the highest quality gold and silver associated with the most ore sources were directly transported to Wuchang in the form of ore.

Then the copper and silver are directly replaced with iron from Exian County in the replacement copper smelter, and finally the gold is screened out by the washing/ash blowing method (gold has almost no chemical form in nature, so it is not directly replaced. It is only to take advantage of the easy intermelting characteristics of gold and other heavy metals, first separate gold from non-meltable sand and gravel impurities, and then separate gold and other heavy metals. ）

As a result, one or two percent of the copper output of Liu Bei's camp was smelted on the spot in Wuchang. The proportion of associated gold and silver is higher, which is also convenient for the management of precious metals, after all, it is produced under Zhuge Liang's nose, and it is not easy to be played with.

This time, in order to let Xin Bi see what it means to "have money and don't know what to buy", Xiang Lang of course also generously took Xin Bi to visit the link of copper and silver smelting.

Of course, the recipe must be kept absolutely secret, and Simbi watched as the craftsmen replaced the copper from the blue water, and from another strange liquid, they made a silver glittering coating of the iron rods.

Xin Bi couldn't help but be amazed, but he also saw that the production method he saw was probably only demonstrative, and the usual daily production should not be like this.

He couldn't help but question the efficiency and output of this kind of production - like this, Wen Crepe inserted a metal rod into the solution, and waited for the metal rod to change color, which looked shocking, but the reaction speed was actually not fast.

"Is this the immortal technique that convinced Yuzhang and the Danyang Shanyue tribe at the beginning, and made them willing to take refuge in Zhuge Envoy Jun and work and mine? Just looking at this immortal art, it seems that the yield is not high? I wonder how much gold, silver and copper can be produced every day? ”

Xiang Lang was waiting for him to ask this question, he had already been authorized by Zhuge Liang, once Xin Bi asked this question, he had the right to take Xin Bi to the vault to see the inventory.

Then Xiang Lang was very proud to lead Xin Bi to the very well-defended Wuchang Vault.

As soon as Simbi arrived at the place, he was shocked before he could enter the door, for he saw that it was a place where the walls were covered with iron plates.

The door is also made of cast iron and is very heavy. After entering the house, there were only layers of copper ingots on the ground. There is a staircase leading to the ground in the innermost part of the room, and a cast iron door is locked.

After entering the basement, you can see that this is also a secret room with an inner wall wrapped in cast iron plates, and what is piled up here is gold and silver, even if only Xiang Lang is holding a candle, it can't shine too far, and it still reflects a lot of flashes.

Xiang Lang didn't let Xin Bi look at it for too long, and as the light of the candle gradually faded, he pulled Xin Pi up and told him: "This gold and silver room is airtight, once the candle flame dims, it should come up, otherwise it will suffocate below." ”

Xin Bi secretly said: "These ...... Are they all the output of Yuzhang copper mine? That's only 20 percent? I'm afraid that the copper produced by the northern states is not as good as the copper mountain of Yuzhang, how can there be so much? What about people carrying gold and silver? ”

Xiang Lang: "When carrying gold and silver, it is natural to open the underground secret door to let the wind circulate for a while and a half before going down, and sometimes people will shake the wind blowing leather on it in advance, and the carrying can not exceed half a stick of incense before it has to come up."

Mr. George also saw that my lord was now not short of gold, silver, and money, and that Jiangdong had the benefit of fish and salt, and that he could be self-sufficient in food. What's more, the price of grain is cheap, and the transportation loss is too great to buy grain over long distances. Hoarded so much gold, silver and copper coins, only hated that there was not enough trade to spend.

Last year, although the route to buy war horses from Gongsun Du in Liaodong through Donglai was opened, Gongsun Du's output was also limited. Most of them are still ships and porcelain, iron and horses, and they don't cost much. So when Mr. George goes back, he should take a good look at what there is to spend his money in the green and secluded land.

Our army traveled thousands of miles to transport steel weapons to Qingzhou, which was still cost-effective, and if other things were cheaper than steel, it would be too wasteful to expect the south to reinforce the north. When the time comes, you should also learn to break through Cao Cao's blockade, or buy more cattle, horses, and livestock from the grassland Zhuhu, and use gold and silver to meet your needs nearby. ”

As Xiang Lang, he shouldn't have said this, his level is still too low.

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However, this is also part of the investigation plan arranged by Zhuge Liang, and the atmosphere has reached this point at the moment, and it is nothing to push the boat down the river.

Xin Bi really fell into contemplation again: Yuan Dagongzi really didn't think enough to be open enough in terms of things that could be sold......

……

As the time entered late August, Simbi's expedition in Jiangxia County finally came to an end.

In the past few days, Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Liang brothers have not been idle. After Zhuge Jin resumed his journey, he began to discuss the gains and losses of government affairs with Zhuge Liang, discuss the progress of the lord's control over the other three counties in Jingnan, and see if there is anything to optimize and adjust.

After Xin Bi finished his investigation, Xiang Lang came back to Zhuge Liang to report to him. At that time, Zhuge Liang was discussing with Zhuge Jin, and there was nothing to avoid, so he asked Xiang Lang to report directly and everyone listened to it together.

Zhuge Liang listened to it roughly, and was quite satisfied with this process, and said with a casual smile: "It seems that this Xin Bi is completely hooked, and sure enough, as the eldest brother expected, he pretended to be righteous and awe-inspiring at the beginning, but in fact he was still a strong servant." ”

Zhuge Jin shook the folding fan, laughing but not speaking, he didn't want to explain why he concluded that Xin Bi was a person who swayed Mu Qiang.

Zhuge Liang saw that the eldest brother had no opinion, turned to Xiang Lang again, and cautiously asked: "By the way, none of the things that should be let him see have been leaked, right?" How did you fill the steel, didn't let you visit, right? ”

Xiang Lang hurriedly said: "This is natural, only let him see the smelting of iron and the curling of the barrel of the gun, the forging of the cuirass and the iron halberd." ”

Zhuge Liang: "In the Exian mine, we are still testing the borehole collapse, and we didn't let him see it, right?" ”

Xiang Lang: "It's even more impossible to see, we haven't successfully tested it ourselves, we all do it behind closed doors in the experimental workshop, and we haven't even seen the craftsmen in the mining area." ”

Zhuge Liang and Xiang Lang's answer, if it was an outsider, he would definitely not understand, but Zhuge Jin certainly had no obstacle to understanding, he immediately reacted, they were talking about the problem of "primitive black powder drilling and explosives".

This idea was also casually mentioned by Zhuge Jin in a letter discussion between Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Liang last year. Zhuge Jin didn't expect to make gunpowder weapons in this era, after all, the technical foundation of the Han Dynasty was still too weak, and he just wanted to help improve engineering and mining technology.

(Note: Gunpowder weapons will not appear in this book, and they will only be used as civilian technology in the later period.) The appearance of gunpowder weapons in the theme of the Three Kingdoms is too discordant)

Zhuge Liang experimented blindly at first, and he didn't have a clue, and later Zhuge Jin suggested that he focus on the mixing of sulfur, nitro, charcoal, and other materials, so he was a little eyebrows.

In the early days of history, gunpowder had its first glimpse of the way in Ge Hong of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, but the gunpowder at that time could only be burned without oxygen and could not explode. It was not until the Sui and Tang dynasties that gunpowder had a bit of a "deflagration" attribute, and it was not until the Song Dynasty that it could be said to be an "explosion". Therefore, in order to make early primitive gunpowder, after having the formula idea of sulfur and nitrate charcoal, it is not considered to be open.

At this moment, hearing Zhuge Liang mention that this matter is still being tested, Zhuge Jin also casually asked about the progress. Of course, Zhuge Liang would not hide it from him, and said directly and honestly:

"Nowadays, in the secret test in the workshop, it can only be done in a closed and unventilated place, the ignition burns quickly, and there will be gas expansion and overflow, but it is not the kind of 'explosion' described by the eldest brother."

Zhuge Jin thought about it, and estimated that it would take another two years before gunpowder could be used to punch holes and blast mines, or even longer, and technological breakthroughs really did not happen overnight.

He remembered that before Xiang Lang came, he and Ah Liang were discussing the development and control of Jingnan, and couldn't help but be a little disappointed: "In this way, it seems that if you want to renovate the abandoned Lingqu River left over from the Qin Dynasty and rebuild the sluice gate this winter, you won't need 'gunpowder'."

Originally, we built canals in the plains, and we relied on digging and dredging, but we didn't need to blast them. However, the Lingqu is located in Wuling, there are many mountain dangers, and it is too labor-intensive to expect direct excavation of the strong place of the mountain rocks.

Originally, I was counting on this project, knocking and beating Shixie, so that Shixie could focus his soldiers and horses and attention on Wuling, if he could deter it, it would be the best. Moreover, if you build in the south of Lingling County, you can also send some money and grain to Lai Gong, so as to help solve the problem of the naturalization of Jingnan barbarians and the work for the Han people. This is a matter of touching the whole body, and it is related to the integration of Jingnan by the lord. ”

Zhuge Liang thought for a while: "After all, the river channel of the Lingqu is ready-made, and there should not be much to take precautions for blasting the mountain rocks, but it really doesn't work, so he still used the method of dealing with the boulder when Li Bing repaired Dujiangyan, the fire burned and the water was splashed, and the hot and cold alternately made the boulder naturally collapse."

This project is still recommended to Lai Gong to carry out, and it is a big deal to ask the lord to give Lai Gong a little more money and food, so that Lai Gong will be more grateful to the lord. When the time comes, you can take the opportunity to persuade Lai Gong to put a table on Liu Biao and express his strong attitude, hoping to intercept the local money and grain in Lingling to improve the roads and canals, facilitate transportation, and also facilitate the transportation of more materials to Liu Biao in the future.

Since Liu Biao tested Wu Ju and Lai Gong last year, and asked them to concentrate the materials of Wuling and Lingling in Nanjun for Liu Biao's dispatch and use, although Wu Ju and Lai Gong carried it out, and the lord did not obstruct it, the transportation loss was actually quite large.

Especially in the Lingling wilderness, it was difficult for the counties far away from Xiaoxiang to transport materials to the north, Liu Biao forcibly requisitioned, without first repairing the roads and rivers, and more than half of the materials were consumed by people and horses during transportation.

Since there is such a lesson this year, let Lai Gong spontaneously fight on the basis of reason and correct Liu Biao's chaotic life, which can not only make Lai Gong's heart turn to us, but also will not give Liu Biao any excuse to fight back against us - after all, it is not the lord who is winning over Lai Gong, but Lai Gong taking the initiative to move closer to the lord. He Liu Biao can't control his own people, so he has no face to blame us, right? ”

Zhuge Jin thought about it, but didn't find any problems: "Okay, let's talk about this matter then, now let's put Xin Bi back first, and finally see what additional requirements should be added to Yuan Tan." ”

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