Ang Lee straightforwardly stated his intention. Although it seemed a little abrupt, it was more sincere and saved time. After all, the Western Detention Area was not the purpose of his trip. It was impossible for him to stay here for too long. He had to deal with things here as soon as possible and then move on.
Since Ang Lee was straightforward, the patriarch of the Lu Tribe had to cooperate with Ang Lee. However, he still had to say some polite words.
"Assistant Minister Li, the coal mine is fifteen miles away. Why don't you go to the city to rest for a day and then go to the coal mine tomorrow?"
The patriarch of the Lu Tribe said.
Ang Lee shook his head and said, "No, I'm not tired. Let's go now! I want to see how big the mine is and the quality of the coal. "
In Ang Lee's view, the quality and reserve of the Lu Tribe's coal mine were very important. Only the quality of the coal here was high enough and the reserve was large enough to support the development of the Western Detention Area. If the quality of the coal here was not good enough and the reserve was not large enough, it would not be able to support the development of the Western Detention Area for a long time.
There were many kinds of coal. Some were very good, while others were not. There were more than a dozen kinds of coal. Among them, lean coal, coking coal, fat coal, gas coal, weak bonding coal, non-bonding coal, and long flame coal were collectively called bituminous coal. Lean coal was called semi-anthracite coal. Those with more than 40% volatile content were called lignite coal.
In the future, anthracite coal could be used to make gas or directly as fuel. Bituminous coal was used in coking, coal blending, power boilers, and gasification industries. Lignite was generally used in gasification, liquefaction, power boilers, and so on. In ancient times, almost all kinds of coal were directly used as fuel.
According to the kinds of coal, different coal had different characteristics. For example, lignite coal was mostly lumpy, dark brown, with a dark luster, loose texture, about 40% volatile content, low ignition point, easy to ignite, fast ignition, big flame, low carbon content, low heat, short burning time, and often need to add coal.
Bituminous coals were generally in the form of granules, small lumps, and powders. They were mostly black and glossy, with fine texture. They contained more than 30% volatiles, and their ignition point was not too high. They were easier to ignite, and their carbon content and heat output were relatively high. They burned quickly and long, and there was a large amount of black smoke. They burned for a longer time. Most bituminous coals were sticky and easily formed slag when burned.
As for anthracite, it came in two types: powder and small lumps. It was black in color and had a metallic luster. It had few impurities and a dense texture. It had a high fixed carbon content, which could reach more than 80%. It had a low volatile content, which was less than 10%. It had a high ignition point and was not easy to ignite, but it had a high heat output. It was slow to ignite when it was first ignited, but it was bigger after igniting. It had a strong firepower, a short flame, less smoke, a long burning time, and weak adhesion.
There was a unified understanding of how coal was formed every day. It was said that under normal temperature and pressure on the surface, the plant remains accumulated in stagnant water bodies were transformed into peat or mud by petrification or sapropelization. After the peat or mud was buried, it sank to the depths of the ground due to the depression of the basin floor and was transformed into lignite through diagenesis.
When the temperature and pressure gradually increased, it was transformed into bituminous coal or anthracite through metamorphism. Petrification referred to the process of biochemical transformation of the remains of higher plants into peat. Sapropelization referred to the process of biochemical transformation of the remains of lower organisms into sapropelization in the swamp. Sapropelization referred to the process of biochemical transformation of the remains of lower organisms into sapropelization. Sapropelization was a silt-like substance rich in water and asphaltene. The glacial process may have helped to collect and preserve the remains of coal-forming plants.
It could be seen that the formation of coal was quite complicated. It was gradually formed over a very long period of time. Moreover, coal was a non-renewable resource. It would be gone once it was used up. Therefore, it must be used sparingly. It could not be exploited recklessly for development. It had to be left for future generations.
Of course, the amount of exploitation also depended on the reserves. If the reserves were high enough, it did not matter to exploit more. If the reserves were too low, then it had to be used sparingly.
Under the personal guidance of the patriarch of the Lu Tribe, Ang Lee soon arrived at the place where the Lu Tribe mined coal. The coal here was mined every day, but the amount mined was equal to the amount used by the Lu Tribe. They would not mine too much, because it was useless to mine too much.
Several tribesmen quickly brought the newly mined coal to Ang Lee and let Ang Lee have a good look.
Li An personally picked up a piece of black coal. After taking a look at it, he nodded with great satisfaction.
"Good, good, it's actually high-quality coking coal. Very good, very good."
Ang Lee said happily.
This coking coal was a new type of coal. It was a kind of bituminous coal with medium to high volatility and strong adhesion. It was a transition coal between coking coal, fat coal and gas coal. Coking alone could produce a better melting and stronger coke. The crushing strength of the coke was close to that of the coke produced by fat coal, and the wear resistance of the coke was obviously higher than that of the coke produced by the gas coal produced by fat coal.
Because of the good quality of coking coal, Ang Lee was naturally very satisfied. This coal was much better than the charcoal used by the Jiang Tribe. The quality of charcoal could not be compared with this coking coal. If the Jiang Tribe used the Lu Tribe's coking coal, the efficiency of smelting iron and forging would be greatly improved. The coking coal here was equally important to the Lu Tribe and the Jiang Tribe.
Listening to Ang Lee say that the coking coal was good coal, the patriarch of the Lu Tribe and the tribesmen were very happy. They naturally knew that the quality of the coal was very good. Otherwise, they would not all burn coal. In the Lu Tribe, now no one burned firewood. Everyone's fuel was the coking coal. Who let the local coking coal be so much that it could not be sold? If they did not use the coking coal, they would be fools.
In addition, the blacksmiths of the Lu Tribe also used the coking coal to forge tools. However, although the quality of the fuel was good enough, they, like the Jiang Tribe, did not master the advanced heat treatment technology. Therefore, the iron products they forged were the same as the Jiang Tribe's. The quality was not high and they belonged to the inferior iron products that were easy to be damaged. Some of them could be used, but some could not be used at all. For example, they could only buy their own iron chisels.
"Assistant Minister Li said that the quality of our coking coal is very good. It is much better than firewood. Since the use of the coking coal, the tribesmen here no longer burn firewood. Everyone uses this. Usually, there are only ten tribesmen digging coal here. The amount of coal dug by these ten people is enough for the whole tribe to use for a day."
The Patriarch of the Lu Tribe said.
Ang Lee also saw that at this time, there were indeed ten tribesmen working in the coal mine. They were all using primitive iron tools. It was very inefficient to use these tools to dig coal. However, even with such an inefficient way of digging coal, ten people could meet the needs of the whole Lu Tribe. In particular, it could be seen that the quality of the coking coal was good enough. If the number of people was increased to 100 and they used better tools, it would be easy to meet the needs of the Jiang Tribe to smelt pig iron. After all, even if the Jiang Tribe needed a lot of media to smelt iron, the Lu Tribe also used a lot of coal. No matter how much coal was needed for smelting iron, it would be very high if it was ten times the total needs of the Lu Tribe. If it was higher, the Jiang Tribe would not have enough manpower.
"Good, very good. This is an open-pit coal mine. That's even better."
Ang Lee said very happily.
The coal mine in front of them was not only a high-quality coking coal mine, but also an open-pit coal mine that was very easy to mine. This was very advantageous for mining.
If it was underground, it would be very troublesome to dig it up. Moreover, it was easy to be dangerous. Accidents happened in coal mines in later generations. Accidents such as the collapse of coal mines and burying people often happened. However, in an open-pit coal mine, these problems would not occur. They could just dig the coal directly from the surface.
"How much coal is there? Have you checked?"
Ang Lee asked.
The Patriarch of the Lu Tribe said, "Assistant Minister Li, we have a large piece of coal here, and the depth is also very deep. We have dug everywhere. After digging three feet deep, there was still coal, so we did not dig any deeper. You can say that! The whole mountain here is almost full of coal. Even if the whole tribe worked together to dig, it would not be finished in ten thousand years! "
His words revealed an indescribable joy. The Patriarch of the Lu Tribe was naturally very happy to have so much coal in his territory. Although he had not been able to sell the coal for a long time, it was very comfortable for him to use it. The use of coal could greatly reduce the time it took for the tribesmen to cut firewood, and it could improve the lives of the tribesmen.
At this moment, when they learned that the Jiang Clan was making iron and was extremely short of fuel, and Ang Lee said that the quality of the coal here was very good, the Patriarch of the Lu Tribe felt that their coal could be sold to the Jiang Clan as fuel, and they could get pig iron from the Jiang Clan. It would be a win-win situation.
Although there were deep contradictions between the two tribes, the Lu Tribe was in a weaker position and was not in an important position of the transportation line. The Lu Tribe had to pass through the Jiang Clan's territory to go to Central Sichuan, but no matter where the Jiang Clan went, they did not need to pass through the Lu Tribe's territory. In this way, it was self-evident who had the advantage.
Generally speaking, the weak were always more willing to compromise. If the Jiang Clan had not demanded too much, forbidding them to do business and forcing them to buy the goods sold by the Jiang Clan from Central Sichuan, they would not have been enemies with the Jiang Clan. They felt that the benefits of business were too great, and they could not give them all to the Jiang Clan. They should have sent their tribesmen to Central Sichuan to buy necessities. In this way, they could save a lot of money and not let the Jiang Clan earn the money. But in fact, they could not save much money. If they were not so poor, they would not have been so stubborn. In addition, the Jiang Clan was indeed a little overbearing. They proposed to monopolize the trade in the Western Detention Area just because they occupied the transportation line.
However, the end result of their hostility was that both sides suffered a great loss. Their lives were even more difficult than before. Some tribesmen even lost their lives. But because of the problem of face, none of them were willing to admit their mistakes. They all thought that what they did was right and that others were unreasonable. There were many reasons that could not be reasoned with because everyone had their own reasons.
For example, the Lu Clan felt that the Jiang Clan should not monopolize their clan's business and should not stop them from buying goods in the middle of Sichuan. This behavior was too overbearing. However, the Jiang Clan did not think so. They felt that the few wall-hanging mountain roads in their territory were all carved out by their ancestors bit by bit. They had put in a lot of effort. The roads were completely opened up by their ancestors. If outsiders passed through here, they should pay a toll. This was a very reasonable request.
Of course, the main purpose was not to collect money, but to deliberately make things difficult for the Lu Tribe's caravans. They did not allow the Lu Tribe's caravans to pass through here. If the Lu Tribe's people went to Central Sichuan to meet their friends, the Jiang Clan would not make things difficult for them. After all, meeting friends had no business benefits. But if the Lu Tribe went to Central Sichuan to buy goods, it would affect the Jiang Clan's business. There was a big difference between the two.
But the Lu Tribe felt that the Jiang Clan's request was too much. The mountain roads were opened up for people to use. If their tribesmen passed through the mountain roads, it would not cause any damage to the roads. Why did they deliberately make things difficult for them? As for the merchants from Dongnu Province, why didn't they make things difficult for them? Why didn't they make things difficult for them?
The most unbearable thing for people was to be targeted. Obviously, the Lu Tribe was targeted by the Jiang Clan. Only the Lu Tribe and the Ge Clan's caravans had to pay the toll. How annoying was that?
Although they were angry, as long as the two tribes could be reconciled, they were willing to turn hostility into friendship. After all, they were the weak ones. But they certainly did not want to take the initiative to apologize to the Jiang Clan, because it was too embarrassing. Moreover, they believed that they were not wrong, so they could reconcile. But they were not wrong, so they could not take the initiative to apologize. It was better to have a middleman to mediate.
Wasn't Ang Lee the middleman? With Ang Lee as the middleman, the feud between the Lu Tribe and the Jiang Clan could be easily resolved. At that time, they could achieve common prosperity.
"Come on, take away a few hundred pounds."
Ang Lee said.
Although the Lu Tribe's patriarch didn't agree, Ang Lee knew that the Lu Tribe's patriarch wouldn't care. They had a lot of coal here. A few hundred pounds of coal was nothing. Moreover, the Lu Tribe's patriarch knew that Ang Lee must want to give the coal to the Jiang Clan, so that the Jiang Clan could see how good the quality of coal here was and how much better it was than charcoal. As long as the Jiang Clan could see the quality of coal here, he believed that the Jiang Clan would be tempted. At that time, it would be logical to make a reasonable exchange.
"Where is your blacksmith shop? I want to see it."
Ang Lee said.
The Lu Tribe's patriarch quickly said, "There are three blacksmith shops in the main city. Assistant Minister Li, please."
Ang Lee nodded and went to the main city of the Lu Tribe with the Lu Tribe's patriarch. It was also a stone city with good defense. It was the core residence of the Lu Tribe.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
