Infrastructure masters in the red building

Shui Xian lay on the couch and was raised for about a month. The rib injury gradually healed, the bruises gradually disappeared, and the sharp pain caused by moving also disappeared.The doctor looked at it and said that there is no serious problem, but you need to be careful when walking and sitting, and the injured part should not be bumped.

Shui Xian then smiled and said to Jia Fang: "Come on, I'll show you around here, have you held back for a while?"

Jia Fang smirked twice.During this period of time, he was indeed a bit restless, but waiting for Shui Xian to recover from his injuries was the top priority.But what he thought in his heart was taught to the other party to see it, and Jia Xin felt very comfortable immediately.

He pointed to the small stone room where the two had lived for a month, and asked, "Is this actually a mine dug out of a mine?"

Shui Xian nodded and smiled, "Yes...but it's still suitable?"

This old mine is dry and cool, and there are no mosquitoes, so it is really comfortable.The only fly in the ointment is that the windows are too small.Every night, only a narrow starry sky can be seen.Jia Fang moved Shui Xian to a place where he could see out of the window, and then lay side by side with him, and the two quietly watched the small side of the night, the stars slowly moved and changed...

But he really has nothing to complain about. Compared with other mines that have no windows at all, this one is already in extremely superior conditions.

So Jia Fang asked: "This copper mine has been mined for a long time?" Even the dug out mine can be used as a dormitory.

Shui Xian nodded and said: "After I found this place, I went to check the old documents of my family, and found that this mine has been in the hands of my family for several generations. When the Shui family bought this place, they paid the imperial court. He paid a huge amount of money and made a promise that no mined copper mines will be minted, and once coins are minted, the imperial court can automatically take back this copper mine.”

So it turned out that there was such an agreement, and the imperial court let the Shui family run the copper mine.

"What about the others?" The "others" Jia Fang asked naturally referred to the large oil fields under Shui Xian's name that produced "Menghuo Oil", coal mines that produced coal, iron ore and other non-ferrous metal mines.

"The others were bought together at the time." Shui Xian replied, "Unification promised not to mint coins, so the imperial court stopped asking. But anyway, except for copper mines, other mines can't be used. Make money."

Jia Fang couldn't help being speechless, just imagine that the Shui family was able to buy so many properties back then.This can also explain why the Shui family has always been closely monitored by the king of a country, and even several generations of family heads died unexpectedly.

"Come on, let's go to the mining place and take a look."

It was an old coppersmith who accompanied the two to visit.Shopkeeper Ren was not in the mountains recently, so he didn't know if he went to the beach to collect salt water to make ice, or returned to Beijing to manage the Beijing Palace.

In the absence of shopkeeper Ren, the old boy acted as the commentary for the two of them for the first time, showing great nervousness: "My lord, my lord, Mr. Jia Jia..."

Jia Fang asked him, "Does this mine only produce copper?"

As soon as he asked a professional question, the old boy became energetic immediately, pointed his fingers and said, "The mine here mainly produces chalcopyrite ore and pyrite, and the mountain next door is an iron mine, which produces black iron ore and a lot of heavy stones... ..."

"What is the heavy stone?" Jia Fang couldn't help asking curiously.

The old boy scratched his head blankly: "Chongshi is... Chongshi!"

Jia Fang knew that many minerals had been discovered in ancient China, many of which were important industrial raw materials.It's just that these minerals cannot correspond to the metal elements named by later generations.This needs to be identified by professionals in chemistry one by one, and there is no rush now.

In short, these two are very important and rich metal mines.

Soon the old boy took them to the mine that was being mined.Jia Fang's eyes lit up, and he said with a smile, "Copper rails!"

In front of the deep mine, two parallel copper rails stretched out.There is a small platform at the entrance of the mine. On the platform is a cart pulled by a donkey. Behind the frame is a huge cart, which has already filled a shallow layer of chalcedony ore.

Immediately there was a bell ringing, and there was a creaking sound in the mine.Not long after, a mine cart was seen coming out of the mine.I saw that there was a bucket in front of this mine cart, which was filled with ore.A pair of handles are placed on the other end, and two miners stand facing each other, pressing the handles in turn to drive the mine cart forward.

Jia Fang's eyes were bright, and he clapped his hands and said, "Good guy, you guys have built a human-powered mine cart!" It is human power, but in the dark underground, this kind of power is easier to control than animal power.

When everyone saw the mine cart, Shui Xian kept tilting his head slightly, observing Jia Fang's reaction—to see if he would be displeased because the copper rail he thought of was used by others.

Unexpectedly, Jia Fang was more joyful than others. He clapped his hands and praised the old boy for a while. The old boy suddenly puffed out his chest and belly, with an extremely proud look on his face, as if to say: Look, even the third master Jia praised us .

Jia Fang has seen the copper mine, and he generally knows that the mine is still mined manually, but the work of transporting ore is much more efficient because of the assistance of rails and mine cars.

The group immediately went to the iron mine, where the situation was roughly similar to that of the copper mine.

At the foot of the mountain is the sorting and smelting of copper ore and iron ore.As soon as they approached, everyone felt a burst of heat blowing towards their faces, and after walking a few steps forward, everyone was sweating profusely, and could hardly move forward.But in the smelting field, dozens of shirtless workers are busy with their own, and they don't care about them "tourists".

Jia Fang pointed to a huge boiler in front of him in surprise, and asked, "What is this?"

The old boy was also very excited when he saw this, and said: "Back to Mr. Jia, this is a furnace for making steel. We call this an open hearth furnace."

Jia Fang was so surprised that he could swallow an egg in his mouth: Is it really a steelmaking open hearth in front of him?

He clearly remembered that the open hearth furnace for steelmaking was invented by the French.But listening to the old boy explain the structure of this steelmaking furnace, it is clearly an open hearth furnace.

So this is because the craftsmen received enough financial support and were able to experiment repeatedly, so they took the lead in creating the flat road steelmaking method that was only invented during the Industrial Revolution?

Seeing the steel ingots smelted by this steelmaking method, Jia Fang couldn't help dancing—since steel can be smelted, many problems can be solved easily: in the future, there is no need to cast bronze rails, you can use The rails are steel rails; his concrete can finally be equipped with steel bars, and there will be no "bean curd dregs" projects built with bamboo reinforced concrete...

Shui Xian stood beside Jia Fang quietly, and when he saw Jia Fang happy, he raised the corners of his mouth and smiled lightly.

But it didn't take long for Jia Fang's excited mood to be poured with cold water. He saw the scene of forging and casting of steel and bronze, and found that all processes depended heavily on manpower.

The sound of clanging and beating was constantly heard from the casting and forging yard, and workers were coming and going everywhere, creating a busy and prosperous scene.But Jia Fang frowned.

Seeing Jia Fang frowning, the old boy became extremely nervous for a moment, and then said again: "Jia Jiajia... Third Master!"

As soon as Jia Fang woke up, he immediately showed a smiling face, nodded his head and said: "Old boy, I think you have learned a lot about the book "Theory of Everything" and applied what you have learned. I have seen that you have designed a lot of special things. device to reduce the workload of the workers..."

As far as the eye can see, various levers and pulley blocks can be seen everywhere in the casting and forging field, but the main production process still relies on workers to expend their physical strength and use manpower to complete it.

Jia Fang even saw an ancient lathe.The lathe is pedal-operated. Workers step on the pedals to drive the belts and turn the parts on the lathe, just like the pedal-operated sewing machines that Jia Fang has seen in later generations.

But the problem is that this kind of lathe is not sewing clothes, but drilling holes for steel castings, and even sparks are constantly flashing. One can imagine how hard and dangerous this worker is, and the efficiency is really high. Not a good compliment.

With so many resources at hand, it's worth considering the steam engine, the internal combustion engine, and electricity.

Jia Fang praised Lao Tong and other craftsmen, and finally said: "But we still need to consider using other power to liberate people from these purely manual labor."

When Jia Fang said this, the old boy and others still felt that the clouds and mountains were shrouded in mist and couldn't understand. Shui Xian had already spoken: "Ring the bell, let everyone rest, and gather here to listen to Jia Sanye."

When the bell rang, the workers immediately put down their parts and gathered around Jia Fang, and the air was filled with sweat.

Jia Fang didn't care at all, he greeted everyone first, and said: "Everyone, maybe some of you recognize me, my surname is Jia, my name is Jia Fang, Xing San, everyone calls me Jia San."

A "Jia San" immediately shortened the distance between Jia Fang and the workers. For a moment, everyone felt that this "Jia San" in front of them had no pretensions and was very approachable.

But a few craftsmen who came out of the capital couldn't change their words easily, saying: "Master Jia, you are here too, that's great!"

The old boy clapped his hands lightly to calm everyone down.I just heard Jia Fang say: "I saw everyone's work just now, and I really think that you are all very good. Not only are you hardworking, but you are also hardworking. I have never seen such a responsible and dedicated worker. Everyone is very good. Great!"

Shui Xian was right next to Jia Fang, turned his head slightly to look at Jia Fang, and thought: This little mouth is so sweet.

Jia Fang didn't notice the eyes of the people around him, and he continued: "In the next stage, we still need everyone to brainstorm and consider how to improve the power plant of this forging and smelting plant - the most important goal of this stage is to make everyone Free yourself from pure physical labor, and let machines do the heavy physical labor for us..."

Suddenly someone didn't understand, and asked loudly: "Jia San... According to what you said, let the machines do the work, why do we need people?"

Jia Fang immediately said: "Of course it is impossible for machines to replace all labor, but it can greatly improve the efficiency of work. For example, if you originally had ten people working for one day, you can produce ten copper pipes. After adding the power provided by the machine , ten of you can produce a hundred copper pipes a day, or even five hundred, a thousand... What does this mean?"

When the workers heard this question, they were all stunned and unable to speak out—this sounded too impossible. Originally, only ten copper tubes could be ground out. One hundred, one thousand?

Seeing that no one answered, Jia Fang announced the answer immediately: "It means a wage increase!"

Once the workers reacted, they burst into laughter.

"It's easier to live with less money, do you want it?" Jia Dang asked loudly.

"I want to—" Who wouldn't want to be stupid!

Jia Fang said: "From today onwards, I hope that you can brainstorm and cooperate with the backbone of the old boy to develop various tools and machines to improve work efficiency. You are welcome to put forward any ideas and discuss them together."

"The last thing I want to say is that you people are the most precious here. Because you have brains and can make changes to make this factory better and better."

"So I propose to use machines, not to let machines replace you, but to let machines liberate your hands and feet, stop letting those boring jobs take up your time, let you do more meaningful and valuable about..."

Jia Fang's tone is extremely firm, because he is [-]% sure that although the development of machinery may cause changes in the industrial structure in a short period of time, machines will never replace humans. Even in later generations, machines can even perform autonomous calculations and think ... Man, as the most creative creature in the world, is still irreplaceable.

"Master Jia, what you said is really good!" A craftsman from Beijing in the crowd stretched out his hands and applauded loudly.Then the applause followed densely.

Jia Fang breathed a sigh of relief.He knew that some people must be half-believing, but as long as things gradually develop in the direction he said, people will believe more and more that what he said is true and credible.

The old boy next to him was about to cry at this moment, he wiped his eyes with the corner of his clothes, and said, "Master Jia, no one has ever said that about us craftsmen..."

In this time and space, the life of craftsmen is not too miserable. There is no craftsman registration system, but the status of craftsmen is not high, even inferior to big merchants who hold financial power.Hearing Jia Fang say that craftsmen are the most precious wealth, the old coppersmith was both proud and moved.

Jia Fang asked him, "Do all the workers here read and practice calligraphy? Does anyone learn books like "Theory of Everything"?"

The old boy quickly wiped his face, and replied: "Some people learn, but not all. Some people find it interesting, so they learn it, and some think it's a waste of time, so they don't pay much attention."

Jia Fang nodded, and said to Shui Xian who had been quiet for a long time: "Let's go and see where they live."

Shui Xian smiled and said, "Have you already made up your mind?"

Jia Fang nodded and said: "The workers must be motivated to learn. Not everyone is willing to waste their brains, but no matter what method is used, whether it is a wage increase, a foreman or a shopkeeper, in short, we must encourage them to be willing to spend time. Do your own research."

Of course, he can find some books such as "XX Industrial Principles" and throw them to these craftsmen, but he believes that systematic knowledge is built up bit by bit, not just pieced together by input from here and there.

Of course he can find a way to go to the Xiaoxiang Library to find and borrow books now, but what will happen after he leaves?Is it possible that this industrial development will stagnate?

Shui Xian was beside Jia Fang, but he smiled and said, "I know what you're thinking now—"

Jia Fang: ...Huh?

Shui Xian imitated Jia Fang's tone with a smile: "The road has to be taken step by step, and the meal has to be eaten bite by bite. Right?"

Jia Fang nodded immediately: "Yes, you are right. Although I am very anxious...but this is the right thing to do."

He didn't say why he was in a hurry, and Shui Xian didn't ask either.A group of people only went to the place where the miners and smelters lived.Jia Fang smiled immediately: "I guessed it, it really is."

I saw a neat row of simple prefabricated houses in front of me - after Jia Fang asked Baigongfang to design them, people from Shuixian could naturally make them here.

"But...the climate is cold, so this simple mobile home should not be used in winter?" Jia Fang asked curiously.

The mine in Shuixian is located in the north near the sea, and Jia Fang guessed blindly that he would have to burn a kang all winter.

"It's true. It's very cold here in winter. Most of the workers will go back to their homes to go to Maodong. Those who don't want to go back will stay here. We will arrange them to live in the mines dug out of the mine."

It turns out that the mine is a place where it is warm in winter and cool in summer—Jia Anxin thought, disrespectful and disrespectful.

He looked back and forth, and roughly estimated that this "miner's village" could accommodate a few thousand people at most.That is to say, at most, there will be thousands of middle-aged men working in mines and smelters.

Jia Fang has a headache: This is another village of bachelors—the workers live here temporarily, which is not conducive to the long-term development of the factory.In addition, the lack of family life also means that the logistics around the factory area can't keep up. There is no one to mend and wash, and no one raises pigs, sheep, or grows vegetables. Birds fade out of everyone's mouths every day.So it seems that this village of bachelors really seems to be missing something.

At this time, the old boy asked Shui Xian worriedly: "My lord, you asked me the question last time, can I turn around and ask Mr. Jia?"

Shui Xian nodded readily, so the old boy mentioned the practical problems of the mine and smelter to Jia Fang.

It turned out that Shui Xian's business was very large and varied, but there was one thing. His other businesses were doing well and making a lot of money, but only this mine, coal mine and oil field were always losing money.Partial students also constantly need to invest.Every year, Shuixian fills in these items with the large amount of income he earns from other industries.

So Shui Xian asked Lao Tong and others to think about how to make a profit in this industry - Shui Xian has a lot of money and money, and doesn't care about investing in this mine all the time, but these industries are always "losing blood", so there is no way.

The old boy relayed Shui Xian's question, feeling deeply ashamed, his old face flushed red.But Shui Xian didn't take it seriously at all, and said, "Old boy, don't worry, this problem is not a problem at all in my opinion."

The old boy didn't understand what he meant, so Shui Xian went on talking on his own: "I looked at the face of this third master Jia, and calculated it with my fingers, and naturally he has already thought of an idea, which can turn stones into gold for us. "