With the combined efforts of several hundred craftsmen, the equipment for making iron wire was quickly produced and put into testing.
Since it was still an experiment, the equipment wasn't big and didn't use a steam engine to power it. It was just equipment that was overstocked with manpower.
When the half-melted iron in the blast furnace was put into the wire making equipment, several craftsmen immediately squeezed hard and successfully squeezed the half-melted iron into a wire, which was wound around the ceramic cylinder little by little.
"Success! The iron wire is a success! Ohhh!"
After successfully producing the iron wire, the several hundred craftsmen in charge of the experiment all jumped up in excitement. They had invented something new, and it was something that would be extremely useful in the future.
The news of success quickly reached Ang Lee's ears, making him incredibly excited. The iron wire had been easily produced. In the future, there would be no need for blacksmiths to use such a clumsy method to produce steel bars. They could just directly squeeze them. Of course, the manufacturing equipment needed to be larger and more mechanical. Thus, the equipment needed to make iron wire and steel bars needed to be further developed to meet the demands of mass production in the future.
The finished equipment for making iron wire was immediately put into production, and enough iron wire was produced for Ang Lee's next experiment.
Looking at the iron wire that had just been produced, Ang Lee felt that the next step of the spring production plan could begin. He immediately took the iron wire away and handed it to the craftsmen who had developed the spring, telling them what to do.
With Ang Lee's guidance, it would not be very difficult for the craftsmen to develop the spring. It was only a matter of time.
Ang Lee was only responsible for the general direction and guidance, as well as providing the blueprints. All the dirty work was left to the craftsmen. As long as the craftsmen followed Ang Lee's train of thought, they would definitely succeed.
After handing over the task, Ang Lee, under the protection of a group of guards, went to the Ministry of Works to find Guo Xuji. Other than asking about the construction of the Bridge Department, he also had many questions for him.
"Assistant Minister Li, what brings you here today?"
A minor official greeted him with a smile.
"Don't forget that this official is still the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Works. Where is Assistant Minister Guo? "
Ang Lee asked.
"Assistant Minister Guo just went out. He should be back soon."
"What's your position?"
Ang Lee felt that this person was somewhat unfamiliar and asked.
"Assistant Minister Li, I'm the assistant of the Minister Counsellor of the Ministry of Yu. It's an idle job."
Ang Lee nodded and said with a smile, "Being idle is good! You can easily receive your salary and not have to work so hard like me. "
"Uh, I do want to contribute to the court, but I don't have the chance."
The minor official was astonished. In his opinion, an idle job was a humiliation. Only those who were not favored by the imperial court would become idle jobs. Moreover, they might not have the chance to be promoted in their lifetime.
"En, this official wants to ask you, what do you usually do? Don't tell me that you just stand here and welcome guests all day long!"
Ang Lee was very curious. What kind of idle job was it in the Tang dynasty?
"Assistant Minister Li, I have to help the Minister Counsellor and the Minister Counsellor organize and copy all kinds of documents. I also have to run errands in various government offices, deliver documents and receive documents, and do some small things."
The minor official explained.
"Damn, this is idle work, not running errands and doing manual labor?"
Ang Lee was stunned. He did not understand how a minor official who had to do so much work could be called idle work. Then, wouldn't those officials who were not idle work be so busy that their feet never touched the ground?
"Copying documents, it seems that you must know a lot of things. Do you know how many iron mines there are in the Tang dynasty?"
Ang Lee felt that this minor official must know a lot of data since he was copying documents all day long.
"I know a little. It seems that more than three hundred iron mines have been discovered. At present, two hundred iron mines are being mined at an accelerated rate."
The minor official replied.
"Oh, I see. Then how much do you know about the number of craftsmen and the output of these iron mines?"
Ang Lee continued to ask.
"Assistant Minister Li, the number of craftsmen in each iron mine is not fixed. A large iron mine can have at least a thousand craftsmen and more than ten thousand craftsmen. A small iron mine usually has only a few dozen craftsmen and more than a thousand craftsmen. That is to say, during the slack period, the iron mines will recruit a large number of people and pay them some remuneration. According to the situation reported by our subordinates, there are only fifty to sixty thousand craftsmen in all iron mines at the time of the slack period, but there may be more than a million craftsmen during the slack period. As for the output, there are more and less, so it is really difficult to calculate."
The minor official replied seriously.
In fact, there were quite a lot of iron mines discovered in the Tang dynasty, but the demand for ironware in an agricultural society was not very high, and the primitive iron-making technology was too backward, leading to the high cost of iron-making, which naturally affected people's enthusiasm for mining iron mines.
With Li An's invention of Blackfire and Gunpowder, as well as improvements in blast furnaces and other technologies, the cost of mining was greatly reduced. Furthermore, the demand for iron for laying railways and manufacturing machinery was extremely high, which caused the price of iron to remain high. This further stimulated the enthusiasm of the nobles to mine iron.
However, the speed of the aristocrats' mining of iron mines still could not keep up with the demand for iron in the entire Tang dynasty. In particular, as Ang Lee invented more and more new things, the demand for iron was also increasing. The demand for iron for laying railways alone was astronomical.
The production of pig iron had become the bottleneck that restricted the continued development of the Tang Empire. If the production of pig iron smelting was not solved as soon as possible, the new railway lines, large railway bridges, and the large-scale demand for steel bars would be seriously affected. As for the current production of pig iron, Ang Lee still did not get a specific answer from the minor official.
According to the minor official, in normal times, there were at least 50,000 to 60,000 people mining iron mines in the entire Tang Empire. If more people were added during the slack period, the total number would exceed one million people. This manpower was already very considerable. If more people were added, it would affect the development of other aspects. In the Tang dynasty, where the population was not large, manpower was a very precious resource. It could not be abused at will unless it was a last resort.
After thinking about it, Ang Lee felt that the most advanced technology for iron smelting had not been completely popularized. It was very likely that most of the iron mines were still using outdated equipment. Otherwise, with this manpower, the production should be higher than expected. Also, it was deliberately hidden. Ang Lee seriously suspected that there were people hoarding pig iron and deliberately storing the pig iron produced in the iron mines.
Hoarding pig iron at a time when the Great Tang Empire was in urgent need of pig iron was a serious problem that would disrupt the economic development of the Great Tang Empire. If Li An were to find out, he would definitely not spare these unscrupulous merchants.
Just as Ang Lee was thinking about the pig iron problem, the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Works, Guo Xuji, returned to the Ministry of Works with a smile.
"Assistant Minister Guo, you're finally back. I've been waiting for you for a long time. How's the construction of the Bridge Department? Do you need any help?"
Ang Lee asked politely.
"Haha! Assistant Minister Li is here. I've been busy with the Bridge Department these past few days. I just went out to deal with this matter, haha! "
Guo Xuji said as he entered the inner hall of the government office with Ang Lee.
"Assistant Minister Li didn't come here today just to ask about the Bridge Department, did he?"
Ang Lee nodded. "That's right. I have something more important to ask Assistant Minister Guo. Of course, this matter is extremely important. If it's not resolved properly, the construction of railways and bridges will be severely limited in the future. The Bridge Department that Assistant Minister Guo fought so hard for will not have much work to do."
"Oh? What is so important about it?"
Guo Xuji realized the seriousness of the matter and asked with a frown.
"The production of pig iron? If all the iron mines in the Tang Empire can't produce enough pig iron, the construction of railways and bridges will be difficult. And now, all the departments are reporting a shortage of pig iron. This is a serious problem that must be solved as soon as possible. "
Ang Lee said seriously.
"Mm, Assistant Minister Li is right! If we don't have enough pig iron, the bridges won't be able to get enough iron, and the railways and machinery will also be affected. This is a very serious problem. "
Guo Xuji frowned and fell into deep thought.
"Assistant Minister Guo, just now, a minor official told me that the Tang Empire already has two hundred iron mines in the process of being mined. There are at least fifty to sixty thousand miners, and at most one million. If we really have so many people and use the most advanced mining methods, we shouldn't be unable to meet the production! Could it be that someone is hiding it? "
Ang Lee asked urgently. Guo Xuji frowned.
"The number of miners and iron mines is true, but most of these two hundred iron mines were suddenly formed by local tyrants who saw the high price of pig iron. They didn't have the support of the imperial court, nor did they have the time to adopt the latest smelting and mining methods. Moreover, the imperial court didn't trust these tyrants and didn't dare to sell the black medicine to them rashly. In order to suppress these tyrants, the aristocrats naturally wouldn't sell the black medicine in their hands. Moreover, the imperial court wouldn't allow it. Therefore, the output of iron mined by these local tyrants is relatively low, far less than that of the iron mined by the aristocrats. As for hiding the iron, of course, it's inevitable. Many aristocrats saw that the Tang Empire was going to lay such a long railway, and the demand for iron in the future would be greater and greater, so they definitely kept more stock. As for how much they kept, the imperial court couldn't find out. Another problem is transportation. A large number of iron mines are in the southeast and northeast, and there are also some in the central Sichuan. The pig iron produced in these places must be transported by water to save money, but water transport is very slow, so the first batch of pig iron produced by many tyrants is probably still on the way."
"Oh, so that's the case. No wonder more than two hundred iron mines can't provide the iron needed by the capital. It turns out that there are so many problems."
Hearing this, Ang Lee frowned and began to think of countermeasures.
There was no good way to solve the transportation problem for the time being. After all, pig iron was a very heavy cargo, so it was unlikely to be transported by horse carriage. Moreover, there was only one railway at present, which couldn't cover all the pig iron production areas. The slow water transport method was the only feasible way.
As for most of the iron mines' technology and production methods, Ang Lee felt that there was still a lot of potential to be exploited. The best way was to let the great aristocrats cooperate with these local tyrants. The great aristocrats would provide the black medicine and advanced mining technology, and they would get a share of the profits from the tyrants' iron mines. At the same time, they would be responsible for supervising the local tyrants and preventing them from secretly hiding the black medicine. In this way, as long as the output of iron mines increased, the great aristocrats and the local tyrants would gain more benefits. It was a win-win situation, and it was quite feasible. As long as the imperial court ordered the local officials to mediate, this goal could be achieved.
Li An shared his thoughts, and Guo Xuji was full of praise for him.
"Assistant Minister Li, this method is completely feasible. As long as it's a win-win situation, the great aristocrats and tyrants won't refuse. When the time comes, the production of pig iron will definitely increase greatly, and the railways and bridges won't have to worry about a lack of materials. Why don't we report this to His Majesty today and have His Majesty issue an edict?"
Li An smiled and said, "Assistant Minister Guo, you can report this to His Majesty. However, the problem of people secretly hoarding pig iron must be solved. If every merchant hoards pig iron, no matter how much pig iron we produce, it won't be enough!"
"Assistant Minister Li, this problem isn't difficult to solve. Leave it to this official."
Guo Xuji seemed to be full of confidence and didn't feel that this problem was very serious.
"Good, since that's the case, this official will take his leave."
Ang Lee had solved the problem of pig iron production, so it was time for him to return to the R&D Center and continue to guide the R&D personnel in developing and improving new equipment.
"Haha! Let's go together! This official will go to the palace now and solve the problem of pig iron production for Assistant Minister Li. "
After Guo Xuji returned to the yamen, he didn't have time to rest before he set off again. He was quite busy, but it was good to be busy. At least, Guo Xuji's complexion now looked very good. His face was ruddy and full of energy. If not for his white hair, one would think that he was a young man from the back.
A few days later, the spring was successfully manufactured. The manufacturing process was very simple. It was to coil iron wire around a cylinder to form the shape of a spring. Then, a certain heat treatment was performed to change the properties of the iron wire, thus turning it into a usable spring.
When the spring was first manufactured, many of the craftsmen who participated in the manufacturing felt very puzzled. They couldn't see the practical use of these things that could be compressed and stretched.
Of course, in this era where springs weren't used, people who came into contact with springs for the first time would definitely not be able to guess the use of springs. However, the spring was manufactured under Ang Lee's request. These craftsmen believed that these newly manufactured springs would definitely be of great use. Otherwise, Ang Lee wouldn't be so bored as to make them spend so much effort to manufacture them.
"Assistant Minister Li is here."
One of the craftsmen called out.
"Assistant Minister Li, the springs you requested have been manufactured. However, what are these things used for?"
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