Yangqu, the gateway of Taiyuan, Shanxi.

In a local workshop for smelting iron sulfide and extracting sulfur, two people wearing Chinese heavy industry uniforms, the swallows on their left chests are bordered with red threads, representing skilled workers and watching with relish.

The owner of the iron sulfide workshop was very welcoming next to him.

Originally, he was not allowed to visit, but there was no way, the money given by China Heavy Industry was too much, so he couldn't refuse.

After looking at it for a long time, I studied some doorways, and one of them said confidently: "Sorting out historical records, combined with the current situation of mineral development, we can conclude that according to the natural principle of mineral changes, all areas rich in coal resources must have iron ore, and all areas rich in coal and iron ore must have iron sulfide." ”

"The Yangqu area and Yangcheng area of Shanxi Province are the main supply areas of iron sulfide, and with the results of current exploration in Shanxi, it can be judged that there are definitely more areas containing iron sulfide in Shanxi."

His views were recognized by his peers.

The companion said: "Compared with Shandong, Shanxi has more abundant mineral resources, and the quality is very high, and the mining conditions are more relaxed, but in terms of technology, Shandong still has an advantage." ”

The Shanxi workshop owner listened from the sidelines.

Outsiders praised Shanxi as good, and the Shanxi workshop owner had a smile on his face, and when he heard that it was insufficient, his face fell.

Said unhappily: "The craftsmanship passed down from my ancestors has been like this for generations, if you don't say three, five or six, I will drive you out." ”

drove people out but did not mention the return of the money, it seems that the owner of the workshop is still reluctant to give the heavy money given by China Heavy Industries.

Those who do technology are generally more straightforward.

Those who are good at playing intrigue and trickery, and who are good at human feelings, are inevitably not the top group of people in terms of technology.

Just like a certain scientific boss in later generations, he denied a certain machine plan, and he didn't know how many people he offended out of thin air, and a lot of sewage was poured on him.

If it weren't for his achievements, he would have been killed by this set of "means" and would have been ruined.

The technician didn't seem to understand the anger of the workshop owner, and said honestly, "The one-furnace and three-pot method used for sulfur refining in Shandong was born in the Song Dynasty, and it is much more advanced than yours. ”

"One furnace and three pots?"

When the workshop owner heard what the other party said, he was not confident enough, and his face was more polite, and he was embarrassed to ask for advice.

In terms of technology, China Heavy Industries adopts an attitude of communication.

The technician truthfully informed the three-pot method of a furnace in Shandong, so that the workshop owner had nothing to say, but bent down deeply, bowed to the technician, and thanked the other party for his guidance.

In the end, the workshop mainly returned the money to them, which was denied by the technicians.

No matter how much the Ministry of Finance complains about the Technology Division, the Environment of the Technology Department for craftsmen can be said to be the richest in the world.

In the past few years, it has also created some "ignore" yellow and white things for technicians.

Seeing that the other party was sincere, the workshop owner asked his family to cook a good meal, and several people were at the wine table, talking about technical matters.

"Not only does the imperial court want to restore the Song Dynasty, but our little prince said that the restoration of the Song Dynasty is all aspects, and technically, it is necessary to pursue the restoration of the level of the Song Dynasty as soon as possible."

The technician was slightly drunk and said with a sense of wine.

Many things have opened the eyes of the workshop owner, especially the technical newspaper mentioned by the guests, and he can't wait to buy and read every issue.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the rest of the aspects are not mentioned first, only the firearms are integrated with Western technology, and the standards in the field of artillery are not as good as the West, but the firearms and gunpowder are not inferior to the West.

During the Qing Dynasty, because of inertia, firearms in the early Qing Dynasty were still shining on the battlefield, and in the middle of the Qing Dynasty, a comprehensive regression began, to the point that guns were regarded as evil and evil.

The same was true of the Song Dynasty.

After experiencing the Yuan Dynasty, at the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, many technical achievements could still be seen, but by the end of the Yuan Dynasty, they had already declined.

For example, the printing industry.

The level of paper and calligraphy engraving of the Han craftsmen in the Yuan version was worse than that of the craftsmen of the Song Dynasty, but the inheritors of the Song Dynasty were still famous in writing and carving.

When something is broken, it's not so easy to restore it.

Therefore, the books written by the West about the East, before the rise of China in later generations, were more fairly evaluated, and the techniques of the Song Dynasty were mostly used as examples.

For example, after the first industrial revolution, the technology level of some industries has not surpassed that of the Song Dynasty.

After the rise of China, the threat theory was on the rise, and the mainstream Western view of books on China published during this period, including the evaluation of ancient China, became suppressed and despised in the West.

The content of books in the two periods was completely different.

On the second day, bidding farewell to the workshop owner, the two technicians discussed whether to continue to go to Shaanxi as planned.

"There was a murder of King Qin in Shaanxi, let's change the itinerary."

"We just go to understand the sulfur technology in various places, and we don't deal with the government, and we still have the Kanhe of the Beiping Political Division, so it's not like that."

The two hesitated, discussed and discussed, and finally gave up going to Shaanxi and turned back to Beiping.

At the end of this journey, from Beiping to Shandong, and then from Shandong to Shanxi, it took three months to travel.

There are many skilled workers like them.

China Heavy Industries invested in each factory, and the qualified technicians from each factory were given a travel period of up to half a year.

Go to workshops all over the world to see, if you can learn better technology, of course, it is better, if you can't learn, you should have a long insight.

It's the same reason that the chef of the later hotel goes to participate in the food festival and peer exchange meeting, but with the scale of the workshop, he can't afford to do this.

This is the difference between the size of a factory and the size of a workshop.

After the two returned to Beiping, of course, they had to write some results, otherwise even if no one blamed them, they would not be able to get over their faces.

The development of coal mines, the use of railways, made the mines wider and wider, and the rest of the mining industry was naturally promoted.

The two of them did not have a better method, but in terms of sulfur smelting, they felt that although Shandong's one-furnace and three-pot method was better than the rest of the place, it also had shortcomings.

The current production technology of the coke refinery is born out of the technology of the Song Dynasty, and it is innovative in the technology of the Song Dynasty.

In fact, the technology used by coke refineries now is the technology invented in the middle and late Ming Dynasty.

"The one-furnace three-pot method is a technology handed down from the ancestors, and it is the most advanced method at present, using the smelting principle of external combustion."

Each furnace can hold more than 100 catties of ore, and the "flowing yellow" extracted is about 4 out of 100. ”

"If you want to get better efficiency, you should start with the improvement of the sulfur tank, and the process can also learn from the coking process."

"The original direct sulfur block was improved to produce sulfur powder first, and then turned into a block, from one process to two processes."

……

The two were responsible for this part of the project, cooperating with the factories set up by the iron works to improve the sulfur smelting production process.

After a lot of practical operation, soon after putting forward the concept of "four levels and one uniformity", and learning the cooling method of coke refinery to build a cooling room.

In the end, the sulfur yield rate increased from 4 percent to 10 percent, and then to 20 percent.

It's a full five times better than the original technology!

The technological breakthrough made the production of gunpowder qualitatively developed, which made Zhu Gaochi very happy, and personally summoned two technicians, who raised the level of craftsmen of the two in person.

As for nitrate, it is mainly obtained from Shandong.

The main production areas of saltpeter are divided into Shandong, Shanxi, and Sichuan, and after exploration in later generations, the western region has become the most abundant area.

China Heavy Industries is backed by the royal government, and with the convenience of the Beiping Trade Center, a large amount of nitrate ore can be purchased from Shandong.

Although the production area of iron sulfide is also the most abundant in Shanxi, there are also such minerals in Beiping, mainly in Changping County, northwest of Beiping City.

China Heavy Industries opened a mine here.

The sulfur cave door is four feet high, three feet wide, fifteen zhang deep, there is yellow sand up and down, left and right, between the stone cracks outside the cave, there are still three sulfur lines, one lead line, reveal to the top of the mountain, several miles and more than ten miles range.

When Zhu Di came back from Liaodong, Zhu Gaochi also proposed a new factory he wanted to build.

"My son wants to set up a military-industrial complex factory."

Zhu Di looked at Zhu Gaochi funny, and quipped: "We have been to various places in Liaodong for several months, but we don't go to Jinzhou, because you have done a lot of things in Jinzhou, we don't see it and think we don't know, you are getting bolder and bolder now, and you still know that you have to get your consent to do things?" ”

It depends on how you listen to this.

It doesn't seem to be too serious, but it is Zhu Di, if Zhu Yuanzhang says so, Zhu Gaochi will have to break out in a cold sweat.

"The father ordered his son to supervise Beiping, naturally he hoped that his son would make some achievements, and the son did not dare to disappoint his father, so he should do his best."

Zhu Di shook his head, and had no idea of forcibly arguing with Zhu Gaochi.

In his opinion, his son's talent in industrial development is impressive, but he still has some tricks in life.

is in a hurry to fight for everything, is too good at sophistry, and loses some of the brilliant atmosphere, but is a little childish.

However, Zhu Di was already satisfied, and there were no too many harsh requirements.

"Military-industrial complex, it seems that the name is not just to produce armaments?" Zhu Di asked curiously.

Zhu Gaochi replied honestly: "In the past, in addition to being mainly made by the Ministry of Industry in the capital, some of the armaments were repaired and built by the military households of the local health posts. ”

"In my son's view, it not only consumes the energy of the health center, but also the efficiency is not high, so it should be unified and the military-industrial complex factory should be responsible for production."

In the Hongwu Dynasty, the manufacture of ordnance was divided into two parts, central and local.

Ying Tianfu's ordnance manufacturing occupies a central position, and the local guard is responsible for some leftovers, and Zhu Gaochi mainly focuses on the latter.

In addition to building new firearms, Zhu Gaochi still supplied the rest of the armaments by Ying Tianfu, and he could not change this system, and the imperial court would not agree.

The armament of dozens of guards is not something that China Heavy Industry can bear alone, and the gains outweigh the losses.

Therefore, Zhu Gaochi only needed to manufacture new firearms to meet the needs of the construction of the new army.

In Beiping, Zhu Gaochi wanted to collect some of the rights of the guard center in the military-industrial complex factory and cooperate with the promotion of new firearms.

After listening to his son's explanation, Zhu Di was noncommittal, "This is not a trivial matter, the firearms such as the bird gun you mentioned will be mentioned after we confirm it." ”

At the moment, Zhu Di paid more attention to the affairs of his second brother and sent someone to Xi'an to mourn.

(End of chapter)