For Li An, the automatic millstone was not a great invention. However, after it was popularized, it would greatly improve the labor efficiency of the pasta workshop. Previously, it required 20 people to grind the pasta, but now, it only required 5 or 6 people. Previously, it required 10 people to grind the pasta, but now, it only required 3 or 4 people. It could greatly reduce the labor demand and reduce the use of livestock, so that the livestock would not have to suffer so much. After all, the rotary millstone was an extremely painful thing for any animal. Only those who had experienced it would understand how painful it was to grind the pasta in circles around the same spot every day.
This was also a benefit for the livestock that had contributed to mankind for thousands of years. After the automatic millstone was popularized, no one would be willing to use livestock to grind flour. At least, from the perspective of cost, it was more cost-effective to use the automatic millstone.
Of course, there was also a disadvantage in doing this. That was, many craftsmen would face the danger of losing their jobs. After the automatic millstone was introduced, because the labor demand for the grinding process was greatly reduced, the extra labor would definitely be dismissed. In this way, these people who were dismissed would lose their jobs.
However, the wheel of history could not be reversed, and the progress of technology could not be stopped. After the emergence of the automatic millstone, it threatened the livelihood of many craftsmen. Therefore, this technology should not be invented. Otherwise, how could a country or a nation progress and become stronger and stronger?
When the automatic millstone was invented, Ang Lee mainly considered how to improve the efficiency of grinding flour. As for the situation where some workers would be eliminated after the efficiency was improved, Ang Lee could not consider so much. Otherwise, he would be afraid of everything, and he could not do anything.
The reason why the greater China was bullied in the future was because all products were artificially made, and the similar goods of the foreigners were all produced with high-efficiency machines. The efficiency was dozens of times higher than manual labor, and the quality was even better than manual labor. As a result, as long as one was not a fool, they would buy the cheap and good products of the foreigners instead of buying the products of their own countrymen. This would lead to the complete decline of the domestic handicraft industry, which would lead to the decline of the entire country. Finally, they would be humiliated by foreign enemies.
For example, needle-making was a very energy-consuming craft. It took a lot of energy to make a needle. Naturally, the cost was not low, and the selling price was not low. The most important thing was that the size of the needle was not small. It was not very useful at all.
According to the records of Tian Gong Kai Wu, the ancient people needed to first hammer a piece of iron into a small strip and pull the iron strip through an iron ruler with a small hole, thus turning the thin iron strip into an iron wire.
Then, according to the need, the iron wire would be cut off one by one. One end would be flattened and the other end would be hammered flat. The hammered end was drilled as a needle nose and polished flat. That was the initial shape of the needle.
Of course, this was only a semi-finished product and needed to be further refined. What was unexpected was that the ancients then put these needles into a pot and slowly stir-fried them. Moreover, they used a small fire and added soil, black bean, pine ash, and other "seasonings". The amount of "seasoning" needed to cover the needle.
After stir-frying, they still had to be steamed. When steaming, they had to leave two or three needles outside. When the needles on the outside could be crushed by hand, there was no need to steam them anymore. There was a final process to complete, quenching. This was a very important process because quenching determined the degree of hardness of the needle.
Now, the needles we used were easy to rust after a long time, but the needles made with this kind of traditional craft were not easy to rust. However, because the cost was very high, the needles made with traditional craft eventually lost the market because the people were very poor. Who would pay a high price to buy these things? The needles made by the westerners were all mass-produced by machines. The efficiency of manufacturing far exceeded that of hand-made needles. Moreover, the needles made by the machines made by the westerners could be made thinner and shorter, which was more in line with the needs of embroidery workers.
Especially for some expensive embroidery, the smaller the needle, the better the effect. Therefore, after the cheap needles made by the westerners entered the Hua Xia, there was no longer a market for the locally produced needles. The craftsmen who were in this industry gradually changed their careers. As long as there was not enough profit, no one would be willing to do any work. Craftsmen were also human beings, and they also needed to support their families. In the case of no profit, craftsmen could only choose to change their careers.
In other words, if you considered the interests of the craftsmen and did not invent a machine that could replace manual labor, you might be able to protect the craftsmen temporarily, but others might not think so. When others invented this machine in advance, they would mass produce more and better products. In this way, your good intentions would become a bad thing. If a country or a nation was full of people who loved their people too much, it would be a tragedy for the country or the nation. Sooner or later, they would be invaded by foreign enemies.
In addition, although the emergence of the automatic millstone would make many people who were engaged in manual grinding lose their jobs, there were many job opportunities in the Tang dynasty. If this position was eliminated, they could change to another position. If this workshop closed down, they could go to another workshop! As long as they were not too lazy, they would always find a way to solve the problem.
In addition, as Ang Lee invented more and more machines and the industries he opened continued to expand, the demand for manpower in the future would be very high. The huge population demand could provide enough work opportunities for the people of the entire Tang dynasty. Even when the manpower was gradually reduced, people from the surrounding countries would need to be brought in to make up for the shortage of manpower.
Of course, as far as the current situation was concerned, the manpower was relatively sufficient. In the vast rural areas of the Tang dynasty, there were a large number of farmers. These farmers were very good reserve labor resources. As these farmers moved step by step into the cities, the shortage of manpower in the city workshops could be easily solved.
However, as the standard of living in the Tang dynasty became higher and higher, the people of the surrounding countries began to be attracted to the Tang dynasty. Many people tried to enter the Tang dynasty, thinking that they could seek a better life.
At first, the people who came to the Tang dynasty were all businessmen. As the businessmen spread the wealth of the Tang dynasty, many ordinary people began to enter the Tang dynasty. Among them, the foreign population who entered the capital, Chang 'an, was the largest. There were also many in the capital of Central Sichuan and many in the southeast coastal area. In short, the first choice of these foreign people was Chang' an in the Tang dynasty, and then the nearest prosperous city in the Tang dynasty.
For example, most of the foreign people in the southwest area were willing to go to the capital of Central Sichuan to make a living. The foreign people in the eastern islands liked to settle in Yangzhou, while the people in the southern islands preferred Guangzhou and Yazhou. In short, the more prosperous and the closer it was to them, the more they liked it.
Naturally, the imperial court of the Tang dynasty could not refuse these foreign people. As long as these foreign people could better obey the laws of the imperial court of the Tang dynasty and work and live honestly, they would definitely be recognized by the imperial court of the Tang dynasty and live for generations to come.
After all, a very important indicator to evaluate the strength of an empire was the size of its population. The larger the population, the stronger the power of the empire.
Since ancient times, small countries with small populations had defeated large countries with large populations. However, this did not mean that the size of the population had nothing to do with the strength of the country. It was just a special case. A large population was a great advantage in any era. The strong rise of the Hua Xia in later generations was a very important factor in the explosive growth of the population. The huge population provided a steady stream of sufficient labor, a huge market, and a strong reserve of soldiers. In short, there were too many benefits.
As for the restriction of the population, it was because they were worried that the rapid growth of the population would exceed the carrying capacity of the resources and cause a disaster that the land could not support. However, this was not something that Ang Lee needed to consider. The population density of the Tang dynasty was not high. Even if it grew for another 100 years, it would not exceed the carrying capacity of the resources. There was no need to worry that the resources could not support so many people. Since the high-yield crops such as sweet potatoes and potatoes were available, there was no need to worry that the people would starve.
The automatic millstone was still grinding the flour. Several craftsmen beside it were busy adding soaked soybeans. Two craftsmen took turns to add the soybeans. There were also a few people watching from the side to prevent any abnormalities in the machine.
Ang Lee stayed for 15 minutes to understand the situation of the machine, so he left. In a few days, he would go to Shuofang to play. Before that, Ang Lee must make sufficient preparations. He had to bring a lot of things that he should bring, and nothing could be left out.
Clothing, food, shelter, and transportation were not a big deal. They could be easily taken care of. However, he had to pay special attention to safety. The Horse Gang in the north was rampant. If he fell into the hands of the Horse Gang, it would be very bad.
Therefore, in order to avoid being defeated by mounted gangsters, Li An had to make more bullets and guns and carry them with him at all times. If he encountered danger, he would be able to kill the enemy that threatened him with a few shots. Thus, he would be able to better protect himself.
He had to bring at least two light pistols. A hundred bullets were enough. The rest could be put in the vehicle. One long gun was enough. There was no need for more. It was not very convenient to carry.
With this trump card of self-protection, Ang Lee had nothing to worry about going to Shuofang in the north. He would definitely not be threatened by the Horse Gang. Moreover, the guns that he carried with him would be used at the last moment. It was estimated that he would not need to use them.
In addition, Ang Lee also planned to ship the newly built telegraph machine to Shuofang. In this way, Ang Lee would be able to contact the capital in time. If anything happened to the R&D Center or the imperial court, he would also know in time.
Because the telegraph machines that Ang Lee developed at this time were wired, it was not so easy to lay a line. It must be deployed in advance. In other words, Ang Lee had to start deploying at this moment. He had to first get the consent of the imperial court, and then quickly transport one of the new telegraph machines to Lingwu City, the capital of Shuofang. He also had to mobilize a large number of people to build electric poles along the railway line and extend the line.
Because this project was almost not difficult, as long as enough manpower was used, the project could be completed quickly. Ang Lee had the right to mobilize a large number of craftsmen. As long as he ordered a large number of craftsmen to lay the electric poles in sections, it was estimated that in less than half a month, thousands of miles of electric wires could be laid.
According to Ang Lee's plan, the more than a thousand miles of road, if divided into a hundred construction teams, each team would only be responsible for a dozen miles. If they laid one mile of road a day, it would be finished in a dozen days.
According to the calculation of the density of ten electric poles for a mile of road, a team would need at least twenty to thirty people to be busy. In this way, a hundred teams would need two to three thousand people. In addition to the transportation of raw materials and the overall command, the total manpower involved would definitely exceed three thousand people. This was not a small number, but Ang Lee had the power to mobilize so many people. Just the R&D Center alone had hundreds of thousands of people. It was not easy to mobilize three thousand craftsmen. As for the imperial court, Ang Lee would naturally coordinate.
Since the newly developed telegraph machine was presented to the Emperor before the New Year, these two treasures were regarded as treasures by the Emperor. During the New Year, the Emperor would send telegrams to Luoyang City almost every day, greeting the ministers there and receiving timely feedback from the ministers there. This kind of machine that could transmit messages in an instant made the Emperor very happy.
And Ang Lee was not idle. After presenting the first two telegraph machines, he asked the craftsmen in the R&D Center under his command to work overtime to manufacture them. They did not rest during the New Year holiday and made three sets in one batch. Moreover, they were better than the previous two. The main thing was that the shape was smaller, only half the size of the previous ones. This was a very good progress, and Ang Lee was very satisfied.
The reason why Ang Lee was in such a hurry to speed up the production was that the Emperor had issued a decree to let Ang Lee make more research and development and let more cities in the Tang dynasty use telegraph machines as soon as possible. In this way, it would be much more convenient for the Emperor to rule the world, and the administrative costs would be greatly reduced.
As for the wireless telegraph machine, Ang Lee was confident that it could be made in half a year at most. At that time, it would be more convenient, and there would be no need to use a lot of manpower to lay the wires. The cost savings would not be small. Of course, the wires that had been laid would definitely not be wasted. When the telephones came out in the future, they could also be used. They would just lay the wires first. Moreover, in terms of reliability, the wired ones were definitely much more reliable than the wireless ones. The wireless ones were easy to be interfered with. If there were many mountains in the way, the signal would probably not be transmitted. However, the wired ones were different. As long as the wires were not destroyed, the signal would definitely be transmitted to the right place. There was absolutely no need to worry about the signal being interfered with. Even in the later generations where the radio was extremely developed, some people still chose to lay cables under the sea because the cable was more reliable.
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