Dual cultivation had to be done step by step, and it was impossible to improve too much in one go.
It was November of 1616, and it began to snow heavily in Liaodong. The freezing weather limited people's activities. Even most of the territories of the Revolutionary Army began to become deserted, but many places in the Gold State were still bustling with activity.
The only way for the transmigrators to contend for hegemony in the late Ming Dynasty was to make full use of their advantages in science and technology to develop and carry out the industrial revolution in advance. But the Industrial Revolution required two essential resources — coal and iron. The Liaodong Peninsula was good in everything. If it wanted farmland, it had farmland. If it wanted sea transportation, it had sea transportation. However, it lacked these two important resources.
In order to smelt iron, the British chopped down all their trees. However, they had a lot of coal and iron mines, and the industrial development was unstoppable. However, if the Revolutionary Army could not obtain enough coal and iron, it would be troublesome.
If there was no coal, they could use wood as a substitute. After all, wood could also be used as fuel. But this iron mine was really blind. The restriction of raw materials made the Revolutionary Army extremely uncomfortable. They could only strengthen the purchase of external minerals, especially from Tianjin and Shandong.
After Yuan Qingying communicated with Imperial Consort Zheng and the Revolutionary Army, the Tianjin Port began to transport goods to Lüshun. A large number of ships came and went on the surface of the sea, each ship carrying dozens of tons of goods. Every day, hundreds of tons of supplies would be shipped over. Most of them were coal and iron that Zhou Qingfeng had specifically requested.
Similarly, thanks to Eunuch Ma of the East Depot, the White Lotus Sect's leader, Xu Hongru, was sent to the Revolutionary Army. Not only did this pope greatly increase the strength of the upper echelons of the Revolutionary Army, but she also gave all the properties that the White Lotus Society had accumulated in Shandong for over a hundred years to the Revolutionary Army.
After Xu Hongru's usefulness was exhausted, Fan Wan'er headed to Shandong to take over the various industries of the White Lotus Society as the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Security. She was the only remaining three disciples among Xu Hongru's eight disciples. The other two Senior and Junior Brothers who originally stayed in Shandong were only good at business, so under her 'persuasion', they also obediently submitted to the Revolutionary Army.
The White Lotus Cult provided the Revolutionary Army with millions of taels of silver, countless shops, properties, and a complete underground network. With the existence of this network, Shandong's coal and iron resources could also be used by the Revolutionary Army. Although the level of logistics and mining was extremely poor these days, at least the iron-smelting furnace of the Revolutionary Army's steel plant would not be extinguished.
However, such a large-scale import trade made the financial situation of the Revolutionary Army very dangerous, and the loss of silver was very serious. If the White Lotus Society had not contributed a large sum of money, Xu Bing of the Ministry of Internal Affairs would have declared bankruptcy.
In order to balance the trade, the few transmigrators from the Revolutionary Army racked their brains to come up with a solution. The first thing they thought of was to find out how England had conducted its foreign trade. Was there any need for that? It was all written about in history and politics books. The textile industry developed from the 'Enclosure Movement' and 'Sheep Eating Man'.
Forget it, where are we going to get wool? There was no point in settling the wool, he still had to spin it. Does that mean we have to get the jenny spinning machine? But spinning isn't bad either.
After thinking about it, Zhou Qingfeng could only make a decision during the high-level meeting. "Limited by the supply of raw materials, the development of the steel processing industry has lagged behind. However, the wood resources in Qianshan Mountains are good, and we have also trained a large number of carpenters, so we can totally engage in the wood processing industry.
The Ministry of Engineering has developed the woodworking lathes, planers, and saws driven by manpower, animal power, and water power. It is necessary for us to invest in this area again. The wood processing industry is doing well. After all, the current development of the shipbuilding industry is not short of wood. "
Shipbuilding?
The transmigrators immediately began to discuss.
Li Shuwei first affirmed that the shipbuilding industry must absolutely be developed. "We are now safe in a corner, and external transportation depends on ships. But in fact, whether it is marine fishing or external transportation, we do not have enough ships. It is too inefficient to rely on external purchase of ships, and the cost is too high. We still need our own shipbuilding ability. "
Shi Dong wanted coal and iron, and wished he could increase the transportation capacity of the current 'Revolutionary Army' by ten times. He also raised both hands and feet in favor of shipbuilding. "My second set of ironmaking furnaces is about to be completed. This time, I have specially used a steam engine to drive the blast. The furnace temperature will be greatly increased, and the smelting efficiency will be improved several times. The only thing we lack is raw materials."
Zhao Ze from the Ministry of Engineering also nodded in agreement. "We do have a lot of carpenters at the moment, especially after the woodworking lathes and other semi-mechanical equipment are completed. The efficiency of processing wood has increased by tens to hundreds of times. Even beginner carpenters can do very beautiful work. As long as the processing of large planks and keels is completed, we can start building some simple ship models and gradually improve them. "
Xu Bing also agreed. "While the silver that the White Lotus Society plundered is still here, let's build the ship. We can initially invest 30,000 taels to excavate the dock, build the gantry crane, build the factory, lay the transportation track in the factory, and train the staff. But I'm afraid it will take three or four months to finish building this place. "
Everyone looked at Zhou Qingfeng again, and the latter said, "The shipyard will start planning and construction now. Before that, let's first start with a short and easy project. Let's build a wood processing factory to practice. We need a lot of furniture, and building houses can't do without processed wood. Even building a ship requires wood to be processed in advance. "
Everyone agreed to build a wood processing factory first.
After this decision was passed down, Zhao Ze from the Ministry of Engineering immediately transferred 20 core carpenters and 100 apprentices to set up the frame of the processing factory. As a veteran, Sang Youshen directly became the processing factory's … chief technician.
"Didn't you say that I'm going to be the factory director?" When Sang Youshen received this appointment, he was so angry that his eyebrows almost stood up. When the factory was being built, the carpenters in the Ministry of Engineering had been in a heated discussion. Everyone felt that Sang Youshen would definitely be the head of this new workshop. Because of this, Sang Youshen was cheerful and humble every day. He said that he was obeying the organization's arrangements, but in fact, he had been eyeing the position of factory director for a long time.
In the end, he became the chief technician. The difference was like heaven and earth, and it was unbearable.
The Ministry of Engineering was responsible for providing the personnel list, and the Ministry of Administration was responsible for approving the allocation of funds. The audit opinion clearly stated, 'Master Sang Youshen's skills are superb, but his education level is not high, and he lacks management skills. It's better for him to take on the technical work.'
Sang Youshen was illiterate, and he couldn't understand the audit opinion after reading it. When he came to his senses, he felt even worse. This meant that he was' blind 'and could only do manual labor. For a moment, he was sad and angry. His nose was so sore that he wanted to cry.
This wood processing factory was built on the Qingyun River to the east of Jinzhou. A construction team had already been ordered to build a dam here to make use of the water power as much as possible. The Revolutionary Army was currently rich in labor. Thousands of farmers came out to work in this winter to earn money, and they could even get three meals a day.
Both sides of the river were undergoing construction on a large scale. The wood cut from Qianshan Mountain was pulled here by carriages. After a simple repair, it could be used to build sheds. At present, the Revolutionary Army was already familiar with building sheds that were four to five meters high. As long as a few simple pillars were placed, the roof could be put up. A shed of a few hundred square meters could be built in three to five days.
Sang Youshen, who was upset, stood on the riverbank. In front of him was a newly installed water-powered sawmill. Several apprentices sent the large pieces of wood brought by carriages to the sawmill's saw blade.
The saw blade was driven by a flywheel that stored energy and pulled back and forth. The flywheel was powered by a waterwheel on the riverbank. This was already the second generation of water-powered sawmill manufactured by the Ministry of Engineering. The flywheel stored energy and greatly increased the efficiency.
The apprentices pushed the trees with a diameter of more than 30 centimeters under the saw blade. The sound of sawing wood made people feel relaxed and happy. In the past, it took several strong men a day to saw the wood, but now, it only took a few minutes to turn it into a very smooth thick board. This efficiency was unimaginable in the past.
When Sang Youshen saw this sawmill for the first time, he was also shocked. He felt that with this thing, the carpenter's good days were coming. But in less than a week, he felt that the carpenter's good days were coming to an end. Because the sawmill only saved labor, the woodworking lathe that appeared later didn't even need skills.
In the past, it took a carpenter several years of practice to make a rounded wooden stick of a fixed size, and it took a lot of time to make it. But now, it was too simple. As long as one had a basic diploma of three months of study, knew how to measure, and understood a few numbers on the drawings, they could directly clamp the rough wood onto the lathe.
As soon as the feeding shaft of the lathe started to rotate, the wood was shaved into a smooth wooden stick by the cutting tool. Then, the stick was slightly polished with sandpaper, and finally the diameter was measured. The error could easily be controlled within a few tenths of a millimeter. In the past, this was the meticulous work of a master, but now, an apprentice could do it in half an hour.
When Sang Youshen saw the woodworking lathe for the first time, he was also shocked, but he immediately felt afraid.
When the United Kingdom carried out the Industrial Revolution, a large number of machines were invented to replace manual labor. The workers who lost their jobs were extremely afraid and angry. Even the British government at that time felt that the situation was serious. The angry unemployed workers smashed the machines, dismantled the factories, and demanded jobs.
But all this did not stop the development of the Industrial Revolution.
"In the future, what can we old carpenters do?" Sang Youshen had a strong sense of crisis. The reason why he was so enthusiastic about the position of factory director was that he felt that he could be safe and worry-free when he became a leader. But now, a technician? It meant that he was still in danger!
"Master Sang, we have a new blueprint of the furniture here. There's a mortise and tenon area that we don't quite understand. Can you give us some pointers? "A young man ran over, holding a blueprint in his hand.
On the blueprint was a three-sided view of the components of a chair. This thing was used in the manufacture of machinery. Most people really couldn't understand it. Sang Youshen glanced at it, and in his heart, he groaned, "What's drawn on it? It's fake and real. I don't understand it either. "
"Leave the blueprint with me first. I also want to look at it a few more times. I'll explain it to you later." Sang Youshen couldn't say that he didn't understand it at all, so he could only try to fool him first. He saw that the young man who asked the question was only seventeen or eighteen years old. He had gone to night school and training classes. He worked during the day and learned to read at night. He learned things very quickly.
The young man left as he was told. Sang Youshen looked at the blueprint again and sighed deeply. He left the factory with his hands behind his back, and followed a gravel road to the dormitory area near the factory. The dormitory area had a large row of hastily built houses. As the chief technician, he was given a set. This house couldn't compare to his house in Fushun, but it was extremely rare at the moment.
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