Steel Dynasty - Chapter 767

[Chapter 766: Danger Report]

Shi Yunshan sweated in his hands when he saw young men and officials in dragon robes walking towards the iron mine.

He used to be a member of the Qingzhou Minerals Department and followed Qian Dafu all over the country. When the imperial court decided to build a steel mill and iron mine in Laiwu, he took the initiative to come to Laiwu.

Because he is originally from Laiwu and is very familiar with this place.

When he was nervous and at a loss, a group of people had already arrived in front of him.

Qian Dafu smiled and said to Xiao Ming: “Your Majesty, he is the Shiyun Mountain that the old slave often mentioned, and he discovered the Laiwu Mine.”

On the way, Qian Dafu introduced the Shiyun Mountain, and he looked up and down the Shiyun Mountain. , it can be seen from Shi Yunshan’s dull expression that he is an honest and responsible person.

“I’m here to see you, Your Majesty.” After Qian Dafu’s introduction, Shi Yunshan saluted Xiao Ming.

“No courtesy.” Xiao Ming’s interest was now in the production of the mine, he said; “Qian Dafu said that you are smart and capable, I will see how you manage the iron mine this time?”

Shi Yunshan nodded, “Your Majesty, please follow me.”

After saying that, Shi Yunshan took Xiao Ming and a group of officials to the mine. The iron mine in Laiwu is located among mountains, surrounded by low hills.

After looking at the surrounding environment, Xiao Ming looked at the mine. The originally flat ground had now formed a five-meter-deep mine.

The mine is very large, about a thousand meters in diameter. At this time, more than 6,000 people are wielding mining tools in the mine to carve out pieces of ore from the ore body.

“Your Majesty, it has been half a month since the mine was mined. Our mine has provided a total of 60,000 tons of ore for the steel mill. On average, one craftsman has mined ten tons of ore.” Shi Yunshan pointed at the sweating craftsmen.

“Sixty thousand tons.” Xiao Ming nodded with satisfaction. He picked up a piece of iron ore and looked at it.

This piece of iron ore is brownish-red and belongs to hematite. Generally speaking, the iron content of hematite is 70%.

These 60,000 tons of hematite ore should be able to produce more than 40,000 tons of steel.

Shi Yunshan was afraid that Xiao Ming would dislike this output, so he said: “Your Majesty, mining iron ore is very hard. It sometimes takes a long time for craftsmen to break a piece of ore with tools. Mining is very difficult.”

“I understand, these 60,000 tons of ore have already been It’s really not easy.” Xiao Ming’s expression was warm, and he could see Shi Yunshan’s worry.

Shi Yunshan breathed a sigh of relief and continued to visit with Xiao Ming. When he walked to the steam engine of the mine, he said excitedly, “Your Majesty, it is thanks to the steam engine that this mine can produce so much ore. With him, the craftsmen can directly The ore is placed on the mine cart and the steam engine is used to pull the mine cart up. “

Xiao Ming and the officials saw the rails leading to the mine. The mine carts were coming and going on the rails, and the mine carts were filled with ore.

This scene made Xiao Ming completely reassured. His main concern was the use of steam engines. Now that Chongqing has entered the steam age, it is only possible to make rapid progress by relying on steam power.

After checking the use of steam engines in the mine, Xiao Ming and Shi Yunshan went to the craftsman’s living area.

Nowadays, red brick houses have stood up in the deserted wilderness, becoming a residential area.

In modern times, towns will be formed around many mines. Xiao Ming focused on building Laiwu into steel workshops and mines. Because of these industries, a town will be formed here that relies on steel workshops and mines to survive.

After briefly looking at the mine, Xiao Ming and everyone went to Laiwu Iron and Steel Workshop.

The steel mill is now very busy. The transported iron ore is turned into red molten steel here, and then turned into various shapes of steel products.

The supervisor of Laiwu Steel Mill is Chang Fei. He used to be the technical backbone of Qingzhou Steel Mill. He was sent here for this large steel mill.

After entering the steel workshop, Chang Fei took everyone to see the six production lines in the workshop in detail. Now all five production lines are busy.

“Your Majesty, currently Laiwu Steel Factory mainly produces rail parts. In addition, there are also some farming equipment, daily steel supplies and other things. Six production lines can just meet the orders.” Chang Fei wiped his sweat and looked at The converter’s eyes looked like he was looking at his own child.

The humming sound of the steam engine keeps ringing in the steel workshop. The traditional steelmaking method saves a lot of labor because of the participation of the steam engine.

Xiao Ming looked at this modern steelmaking plant filled with various machinery with satisfaction. In his plan, Laiwu Iron and Steel Plant mainly produced steel products for civilian use.

The Qingzhou Workshop and Kaiping Steel Workshop are mainly for the production of military steel. They will only produce civilian products if they are satisfied with military use.

This inspection of Laiwu made him think about Qingzhou’s steel production capacity. In his opinion, Laiwu Steel Plant can produce one million tons of steel a year.

The Kaiping Iron and Steel Plant is estimated to be about the same. Together with the Qingzhou Iron and Steel Plant, the annual steel output of Dayu should be 2.2 million tons.

This output is already enough to overwhelm the UK.

However, Dayu has a vast territory and a large population. If calculated carefully, it is still inferior to the United Kingdom in terms of average.

Xiao Ming is not discouraged by this. The overall surpass is also a surpass. Now with such a foundation, he has surpassed the United Kingdom technically.

After inspecting the mines and Laiwu Steel Mill, Xiao Ming rested in Laiwu for two days, and then rushed to Kaiping Steel Mill.

As expected, the output of Kaiping Iron and Steel Mill is only about the same as that of Laiwu.

In the next six months, while the barbarians were quiet, he visited other workshops required by the reform, and gained a general understanding of the implementation of the reform.

Generally speaking, with the strong promotion of Pang Yukun and Fiji, the construction of the workshops is now going smoothly. Most of the workshops are now able to be put into production, and some of them will soon be put into production.

By then, Dayu will have formed an industrial chain with government-run workshops as the core, and this chain will provide Dayu with a steady stream of industrial products.

The most important thing is that the initially formed industry will provide resources for the war.

After half a year of busy work, the time has changed from spring to autumn. In previous years, officials would be frightened every time this autumn comes.

Because autumn is often the time when the barbarians launch attacks on Great Chongqing, Xiao Ming has been worried that the barbarians have been too quiet in the past six months. This calmness makes him a little uneasy.

And this worry was fulfilled when he returned to Qingzhou from Dengzhou.

The barbarian cavalry suddenly bypassed the northern pass and appeared under Songzhou City from the direction of Tubo. Songzhou City was captured in just one day, and the barbarian army marched straight to Yizhou.

(End of chapter)