Chinese dining table

Chapter 1253 There is no eternal secret

Only technological development can lead the world to move forward.

In the past, there were few people and demands were low. Our ancestors invented a habitable house, which was enough to make the whole society lively for a while. Inventing a fishing net could bring a lot of catch and enrich the food. Inventing a bow and arrow could greatly improve the life of the tribe.

Later on, this no longer worked. As the population grew larger and demands increased, simple inventions were no longer sufficient to significantly improve the lives of all members of the tribe. Wars and the law of the jungle where the strong prey on the weak naturally occurred more frequently.

The people of the Tang Dynasty invented woodblock printing, but the only achievement it brought was a complete version of the Diamond Sutra. The movable type printing technology that Yun Chu promoted was the main reason for the increase in the number of readers in the Tang Dynasty.

The Tang Dynasty army, which was already invincible in land battles, was powerful, but its power was limited. After obtaining gunpowder, the originally invincible Tang Dynasty army completely widened the gap with all the armies on the earth and became a unique existence.

These two technological advances, one promoted the prosperity of culture, and the other promoted the prosperity of the army. However, economically, these two things were of very limited help to the Tang Dynasty.

However, a strong economy is what the people of the Tang Dynasty need most today.

At any time, improving the quality of life of the general public is what the people would like to see.

Therefore, Yun Chu’s purpose this time is to introduce steel into people’s daily lives, that is, to use the best tools to further improve people’s efficiency in their work and life.

If you want to do your work well, you must first sharpen your tools.

Yun Chu has always believed that the large-scale development of steel tools is an effective way to increase people's ability to overcome nature and obtain more means of production.

As for whether the Datang Steel Plant can produce the steel tools he needs, that is actually not important. What is important is that as long as it is steel, it is much stronger than iron, even if it is the inferior steel that he disdains.

After all, the quality of the tools in the hands of Tang Dynasty craftsmen and farmers was really poor.

Therefore, after investigating the Chang'an Iron and Steel Plant, Yun Chu decided to continue building ten larger steel plants in Chang'an.

The reason for building the steel plant was naturally because there were many iron mines in Guanzhong and it was very close to Chang'an.

After more than ten years of meticulous investigation by the Chang'an government, they discovered forty iron mines of various sizes, including Zhushan (in the south of today's Weinan County), Yingshan (in the south of today's Hua County), Fuyushan (in the south of today's Huayin County), Taimaoshan (in today's Yan'an County), Longshoushan (in the south of today's Chang'an County), Qishan (in the north of today's Qishan County), and Wushan (in today's Zichang County).

There is an iron official in Mian County, and there is an iron mine in Shengtie Mountain, five miles north of Xi County.

There are also iron mines in Lantian, Meiyang (Fufeng and Qishan areas) and Luonan.

Iron mines were also discovered in Hancheng of Tongzhou, Luonan of Shangzhou, Weiyuan of Longzhou, the central part of Fangzhou, Yijun, Liangquan of Fengzhou, Shunzheng and Changju of Xingzhou.

Of course, these iron mines are not what Yun Chu meant by iron mines. In his opinion, many of them are just chicken coop mines that have little mining value. However, even such iron ores are enough to cope with the Datang Steel Plant, which is also in its initial stage.

The most important point is that there are many coal mines in Guanzhong.

Having fully tapped Guanzhong's potential in industry, commerce and real estate, Yun Chu plans to use heavy industry to further elevate Chang'an's economy.

This time, Yun Chu planned to build another industrial city south of the Wei River on the basis of the original Han Chang'an.

Anyway, the land there has been cultivated for two thousand years, and the groundwater has been almost polluted as early as the Han Dynasty. The land is seriously salinized and is just right for industrial use.

With the existence of the Wei River, there is sufficient water for industrial use.

Wu Chengsi stood in front of Yunchu's desk with his legs crossed and said dryly, "So, my Lord, are you going to deprive my brother of his position in Chang'an County and build this huge steel city south of the Wei River?"

Yun Chu said without even looking up: "Do more things while you are young, isn't that what you brothers want?"

Wu Sansi also said with a bitter face: "This is a tough job."

Yun Chu raised his head and looked at the brothers and said, "I think you brothers have now passed the stage of being officials and making money. Besides, is such a simple thing as making money really interesting to you?

If you brothers really want money, I will allow you brothers to take half of the total budget. "

Wu Chengsi shook his head and said, "The total budget is less than one million guan. If half of it is worth a few dollars, we brothers will not lose that person."

Yun Chu smiled and shook his head, saying: "It is indeed very good. He used to drink the blood of civilians and craftsmen, but now he doesn't even care about 50,000 strings of cash. He has indeed made great progress.

It can be seen that you brothers have a big plan."

Wu Chengsi also smiled and said, "Not only are we brothers not greedy for money, we will also help you get 300,000 strings of cash. How about that?"

After hearing this, Yun Chu looked at him with a critical look in his eyes. He sighed and said, "The Queen wants to take 30% of the Steel City, right?"

Wu Sansi nodded and said, "The investment can be increased, but the share cannot be reduced."

Yun Chu continued with a sigh, "Your Majesty has 40%, the Crown Prince and the Queen have 30% each. Have you ever thought about whether Chang'an has any left?"

Wu Chengsi narrowed his eyes and said, "We brothers have always believed that the prince is the prince's man."

Yun Chu shook his head and said, "I belong to no one. I belong to the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, Chang'an must have a 40% share."

Wu Sansi wiped the saliva from the corner of his mouth and said, "The king is below the people, this is not acceptable. If you do this, you will be hated by everyone."

Yun Chu pondered for a moment, closed the document in his hand and said, "The Queen will pay 40% of the money, so according to the 20% share, you only need to deposit 30% of the money when entering the account."

Wu Chengsi sneered and said, "What can you do with 100,000 strings of cash now? Also, you probably used this method to get money from His Majesty and the Crown Prince. Why do you get 200,000 strings of cash while we brothers only get 100,000 strings of cash?"

Yun Chu said indifferently: "You don't have 100,000 strings of cash to take, so the extra 100,000 strings of cash should be used as investment in Chang'an."

Wu Sansi frowned and said, "Chang'an paid 100,000 strings of cash, and he only got 40% in the end?"

Yun Chu chuckled and said, "The people are the most important!"

Wu Chengsi shook his head and said, "It's very difficult."

Yun Chu smiled proudly and said, "Is it necessary for us to take action for such an easy task?"

Hearing Yun Chu say this, Wu Sansi straightened his chest and said, "Although it may seem provocative, this is still very encouraging."

Yun Chu waved his hand and said, "Go ahead. One of you brothers should go to Luoyang to implement this matter immediately and promote the Steel City Project as soon as possible. This time, we have to do something clean and big."

Wu Chengsi did not leave immediately, but was silent for a moment and said, "Empress Wu needs gifts."

Yun Chu's eyes were as sharp as a knife. He stared into Wu Chengsi's eyes and asked, "What kind of gift do you want?"

Wu Chengsi did not dodge, and looked at Yun Chu with a firm look and said, "The Second Workshop of the Gunpowder Department."

The murderous intent in Yun Chu's eyes gradually faded after hearing this, and he said casually: "The telescopes and microscopes produced by the second workshop, as well as the microscopes used to observe tiny objects, are all priceless treasures. You can take as many as you need."

Wu Sansi shook his head and said, "We are not interested in those things. We just want to know what the Second Workshop of the Gunpowder Department, which you have been trying to seal off since the third year of Xianqing, is doing."

Yun Chu spread his hands and said, "Telescope, 叆叆, isn't a microscope enough?"

Wu Chengsi shook his head and said, "My Lord, we have checked the account books. Even when the billboards were exploding and your Yun family was bankrupt to pay off the debts, the 50,000 strings of cash allocated to the Second Workshop of the Gunpowder Department every year were not missing a penny.

Moreover, in the first year of Qianfeng, the funding for the Second Workshop of the Gunpowder Department suddenly increased to 200,000 strings of cash. Unfortunately, there were less than 500 people on the list of the Second Workshop of the Gunpowder Department. Even if they were Pixiu who could eat gold, they could not eat up 200,000 strings of cash in a year. "

Yun Chu said decisively: "The plan for Steel City is cancelled."

After saying that, he walked away...

The Wu brothers did not leave Yunchu's residence immediately. Wu Chengsi squinted his eyes and stared at Yunchu's back and said to Wu Sansi, "What do you think he is guilty about?"

Wu Sansi smiled and said, "You've hit a sore spot. He has kept the Second Workshop of the Gunpowder Department a secret for nearly twenty years. Not only has he invested millions of strings of silver, but of the 567 people inside, except for the 37 who died, no one has been added in all these years.

Although telescopes, microscopes and telescopes are considered rare treasures, Yun Chu is not someone who would spend millions of coins on these things. He has always been a person who spends other people's money to do his own things.

Over the years, the Queen has sent countless spies to try to find out what the Second Workshop of the Gunpowder Department is doing. As a result, not only have countless people been killed and injured, but nothing has been found out.

Based on the spies' opponents, the Queen determined that there were His Majesty's people and the Crown Prince's people. In other words, His Majesty and the Crown Prince knew about the mysterious second workshop of the Gunpowder Department, but the Queen didn't know.

Considering the name of the Gunpowder Department, this second workshop was undoubtedly the place where gunpowder weapons were developed. However, the Queen sent people to ask the Military Research Institute, and they said they knew nothing about it, and they didn't even know that they had a second workshop.

Therefore, this second workshop became a thorn in the side of the queen.

It looks like the exchange won’t work this time.”

Wu Chengsi said: "Yun Chu would rather abandon his million-dollar project like Steel City than tell us what the Second Workshop is for. This shows that the importance of this place far exceeds that of Steel City."

Wu Sansi spread his hands and said, "If that's the case, should we go to Luoyang to ask the Queen for money and policies?"

Wu Chengsi said, "We have to go. We will definitely set obstacles for Yunchu. Before the Iron City is completed, Yunchu can easily say that it will be abandoned. After all, the loss will not be big. When it is 70% to 80% completed and hundreds of thousands of strings of silver have been invested, if the Queen sets obstacles again, I don't believe that Yunchu can easily say that he will give up."

Wu Sansi and Wu Chengsi smiled at each other and left Yun Chu's official residence.

　Now that the work has been done and my body has recovered, let's continue.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)