When they found out that the large amount of bluestones in their territory were iron ores, the chiefs of the Jiang tribe were excited for a while. They felt that they could make a fortune. But then, they remembered that they needed a large number of iron tools to mine these iron ores, and these tools were all bought from Central Sichuan. Moreover, the tools would also be damaged. If they were damaged too quickly, their losses would be too great. What they were most worried about was that the money they earned from mining and smelting pig iron would not be enough to buy iron tools. If that happened, their efforts would be in vain. After all, the price of high-quality iron tools was not low.
Now, they did not have to worry. Ang Lee had already taught the blacksmiths in their tribe the most basic heat treatment process. This way, the blacksmiths in their tribe could directly use the freshly smelted pig iron to make high-quality iron tools. In the future, they would not need to buy a large number of tools from Central Sichuan.
Even the chiefs of the Jiang tribe were not willing to do business with pig iron anymore. They felt that it was better to make all the pig iron into iron products and sell them. This way, the price would be many times higher. It was much more cost-effective than selling pig iron directly.
Of course, this was only an idea of the chiefs. The actual situation depended on the smelting volume of pig iron and the speed of the blacksmiths forging iron tools. If the pig iron they smelted was not enough for their own blacksmiths to forge iron products, they would naturally not sell pig iron. If all the blacksmiths in their tribe were forging day and night but only consumed a portion of pig iron, it meant that the production volume of pig iron was high enough. There was no use in keeping the excess pig iron. Naturally, they would sell it for money.
According to the smelting workshop that Ang Lee had designed for the Jiang Xing tribe, as long as it was fully opened, the smelting volume would be huge every day. It was absolutely impossible for those few blacksmiths to use up all the pig iron that was smelted. They could only consume a small part of it. Most of the pig iron would be left. Even if the local tribe trained a large number of blacksmiths, it would be impossible to use it up. This was because the speed of smelting pig iron was far slower than the speed of smelting pig iron.
The most likely outcome was that pig iron and iron products would be sold together. Among them, pig iron would be sold mostly, and iron products would only be a small part. After all, there were too few local blacksmiths. It would be difficult to train too many blacksmiths in a short period of time. In addition, they needed a large number of iron tools to mine and smelt iron. They also consumed a lot of iron.
But no matter what, with the pig iron smelting workshop, the living standards of the Jiang tribe would be greatly improved. Their income would increase by a lot, and they would no longer have to live a hard life.
It was best to strike the iron while it was hot. Instead of waiting for the iron ingots to cool them down, it was better to strike while the iron ingots were hot... but the premise of this was that the distance between the blacksmith shop and the workshop was enough to ensure that the freshly smelted red iron could be hammered..........
The area chosen by the Iron Smelting Workshop was not small. It could accommodate an extra blacksmith shop without any pressure. The blacksmiths of the clan had also discussed that they would all come over to forge together. This way, they could save as much as possible on the cost and the precious charcoal.
"You guys are quite smart! Striking while the iron is hot can save a lot of charcoal. But if the blacksmith shop is built here, you won't be able to be with your family every day. Won't you feel lonely? "
Ang Lee looked at the blacksmiths and said.
A blacksmith smiled honestly and said, "It's nothing, as long as we can save charcoal."
"Yes! With the iron smelting workshop, we need a lot of charcoal every day. If we blacksmiths don't save on charcoal, I'm afraid that all the trees in the nearby mountains will be burned by us in the future. We should save as much as we can! "
One of the blacksmiths raised a very realistic question.
Because there were no coal resources, the local blacksmiths had always used charcoal, which was specially provided by them. Ordinary people burned firewood. After all, it was more convenient to burn firewood directly. They just had to go to the mountains to collect some dry wood. Charcoal had to be specially made, which was very troublesome.
But because the blacksmith shop didn't need much charcoal, it was easier to supply it. Now that the iron smelting workshop had been built, the demand for charcoal was huge. They needed to burn a lot of firewood, and the wood itself was obtained from cutting trees in the mountains. The demand for charcoal for smelting iron was too great, so it was inevitable that the trees in the mountains would be harvested on a large scale. Trees could grow on their own, but if the demand was too great, they would have to do it on a large scale. The growth rate of the trees might not be able to meet the demand. In the long run, it was inevitable that all the trees in the surrounding mountains would be cut down, turning a dense forest into a bare mountain. This was definitely a result that no one wanted to see, so they had to use it sparingly.
Ang Lee naturally understood the concerns of the blacksmiths. After thinking for a while, he said, "Actually, whether it is smelting iron or forging tools, using charcoal is a bad idea. It should be coal. It's just that there is no coal here for the time being. In the future, if you have money to buy pig iron, you can buy coal nearby! But I don't know if there is coal nearby. "
Ang Lee really didn't know anything about the resources in the Western Detention Area. After all, it was too remote. The imperial court's exploration team didn't come here, so they naturally knew nothing about the situation here.
Hearing this, the second clan leader said with a troubled expression, "There is coal nearby, and the quality is good. But the coal is not in our territory. It is in the territory of the neighboring Lu Tribe. Our Jiang Clan has always been at odds with the Lu Tribe. If we buy coal from them, won't we be supporting the enemy?"
Obviously, the second clan leader was very jealous of the coal mines under the control of the Lu Tribe. How great would it be if the coal was in their territory?! Unfortunately, there was no "if" in the world. Their territory had iron ore and limestone, but there was no coal. It was useless to be anxious.
Going to the neighboring tribe to buy some coal was not a problem, but the second patriarch was obviously not willing to do so. At least the Jiang tribe was not suitable to do so. First of all, the Jiang tribe itself was not rich. The selling of the animal skins and surplus food obtained from hunting did not bring much income to the tribe. With these limited income, they had to buy a lot of daily necessities. As long as the materials were not particularly urgent, generally they would not buy them. For example, coal could be replaced with charcoal. Buying coal was a complete waste of money. Moreover, there were not small conflicts between the two tribes. Buying coal from a tribe with a conflict would naturally be suspected of supporting the enemy.
The coal mined by the Lu Tribe was not sold except for their own use. The neighboring tribes were relatively poor, so they couldn't afford to use coal. They cut down trees nearby as fuel. Because of the bad traffic situation, the Lu Tribe was unlikely to transport their own coal to Central Sichuan to sell. The price of coal was very low, so the transportation cost was bound to occupy a large part of the cost. In the case of bad traffic, long-distance transportation cost would almost be dozens of times higher. In this way, after being transported to Central Sichuan, the coal would be sold at a sky-high price. Obviously, the high price of coal couldn't be sold.
Because of this, the Lu Tribe also restrained themselves from mining coal. Basically, they would only mine as much as they needed. If they mined too much, they wouldn't be able to sell it. So, why would they need to mine more? No one was willing to do something that didn't benefit them.
For a long time, although the Lu Tribe had discovered coal, because of practical reasons, there was no way to turn the discovered coal into a profitable resource. They could only use it as fuel for their own fire. They also felt that there was nothing wrong with it. They also knew that although the coal was good, it was not realistic to sell it to the neighboring tribes. Moreover, there were conflicts with the neighboring tribes, so it was even more unrealistic.
But at this moment, Ang Lee felt that the Lu Tribe's opportunity had come. Although the Lu Tribe and the Jiang Tribe had always been in conflict, at this moment, different resources had been discovered in their territories, which could form a certain degree of complementarity. The Jiang Tribe's iron smelting workshop urgently needed a large amount of coal, and the Lu Tribe happened to have enough coal. The Lu Tribe had always bought iron products from Central Sichuan, and the price was relatively high. At this time, they could buy from the Jiang Tribe. You buy my coal, I buy your iron products. Wasn't this a win-win situation? Everyone's life would be better. For this point, Ang Lee believed that the patriarchs of the Jiang Tribe would certainly think it through.
"Why can't you buy the Lu Tribe's coal? You can negotiate with the Lu Tribe and use your own iron products to exchange for the Lu Tribe's coal. Everyone can get benefits, why not? "
Ang Lee said.
If the Jiang Tribe directly bought the Lu Tribe's coal, it would cost money. The Jiang Tribe would certainly not be willing, and the Lu Tribe would not be willing to take care of the Jiang Tribe's business. But if they were asked to barter, the situation would be completely different. The Jiang Tribe urgently needed coal, and there would be a large surplus of iron products. If they exchanged the surplus iron products for other materials, why not? The Lu Tribe's coal had no more use, so it would be best to exchange it for iron products. The two tribes would take what they needed, and everyone would benefit.
Ang Lee very much hoped that the two tribes could shake hands and make peace, and stop being stubbornly hostile. Only cooperation could lead to a win-win situation, and the development of the two tribes would be better. Continuous confrontation would only harm the interests of the two tribes, and make the people of the two tribes live a bad life.
After listening to Ang Lee's words, the second patriarch did not answer for a long time. He was frowning and thinking. He knew very well that what Ang Lee said was very reasonable. The cooperation between the two tribes could naturally achieve a win-win situation, but he knew better than anyone else how serious the contradiction between the two tribes was. The contradiction between the two tribes could not be solved in a short period of time by mutual benefits. The resentment lasted for too long, and it was not easy to improve it. The most important thing was the problem of face. If they put down their faces to talk about cooperation with the Lu Tribe, they would lose face. It was too shameful, and he felt that the patriarch of the Lu Tribe would not put down his face and take the initiative to talk about cooperation with them.
The old guys of both sides were very concerned about face, and they would not damage their own faces for the sake of a win-win situation. In their eyes, their face was more important than anything else. This was a matter of integrity, so how could they give in? It was impossible for them to give in.
Ang Lee seemed to be able to guess the second patriarch's thoughts. For the prosperity of the Western Border Area, Ang Lee had to go in person. For the sake of the prosperity of the Western Border Area, both sides could save their faces.
"Is the second patriarch worried that the Lu Tribe will not cooperate? You don't have to worry about this. I can go to the Lu Tribe in person, and take a look at the quality of their coal, whether it is suitable for smelting iron, and how much reserves they have. As long as the coal is qualified, I will personally facilitate the cooperation between the Jiang Tribe and the Lu Tribe. "
Ang Lee said.
Since the old guys of the two tribes were not willing to put down their faces, Ang Lee had to go in person and act as a mediator between the Jiang Tribe and the Lu Tribe. He would help them shake hands and make peace, each taking what they needed, so that they could become rich together.
Naturally, the second patriarch had no objection to Ang Lee's proposal. He did not have much hostility towards the Lu Tribe in his heart. After all, he was mainly in charge of business, and in the eyes of businessmen, profits were more important. He was just worried that the other patriarchs would be unhappy, so he did not dare to explicitly support the reconciliation with the Lu Tribe. However, at this moment, since both sides had common interests, and Ang Lee was willing to act as a mediator, what reason did he have to object?
Since the second patriarch did not object, it meant that this matter could be done. Ang Lee could go to the main city of the Lu Tribe at any time to discuss the cooperation with the patriarch of the Lu Tribe.
In fact, when the road was built in the future, it would not pass through the Lu Tribe's territory. After passing through the Jiang Tribe's territory, it would directly reach the Ge Tribe. The Lu Tribe was just next to these two tribes, and was not in the direct line to Dongnu Province. However, building an extra road to bypass it would increase the cost.
The people of the Jiang Tribe worked very hard. Soon, the second and third furnaces were built, and they directly began to smelt iron. More firewood and iron ore were on the way. The tribesmen in charge of burning charcoal were also making charcoal non-stop. They had already started to work.
After the second patriarch returned to Stone City, he discussed the cooperation with the other patriarchs. As soon as he put forward the idea of cooperation, it was immediately opposed by the other patriarchs.
"Second Brother, you know what the Lu Tribe is like. Isn't cooperating with them like asking a tiger for its skin? No, this is definitely not possible. "
"Second Brother, this is your fault. The Lu Tribe and our Jiang Tribe have always been in conflict. We can smelt iron with charcoal. Why should we use our iron to exchange for their coal? It's not necessary! "
The first patriarch and the third patriarch raised their objections. It was obvious that they had a deep prejudice against the Lu Tribe.
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