Cutting over the end of the Ming Dynasty: a dog-leg knife at the beginning

Chapter 714 A Cross-Era Vibration 3
"When the steam engine roared for the first time in China, all human beings still knew nothing about the fate they were about to face." ——Father Bowen.

The appearance of the steam engine set off a turbulent wave in half of China. Several newspapers reported long and full of stimulants, making this craze spread in this ancient land at the speed of sound, and it was unstoppable.The prefects of cities such as Luoyang, Xiangyang, Jingzhou, Wuhan, Changsha, and even Guangzhou sent letters asking for the steam engine to be exhibited there, so as to open their eyes. This is in line with the wishes of Nanyang Technical School. It is not very perfect and needs to invest a lot of money to improve, but Yang Menglong has said beforehand that he only supports them until they get out the steam engine. As for the funds for improvement and production, they have to find ways to earn by themselves——————————————————————————————— Let people in the entire Huguang and Heluo areas know the great role and broad prospects of this machine, and let those wealthy people know the future of investing in this industry, otherwise they will starve to death.The invitations from those cities just gave them such an opportunity, if they don't seize it, they will be too stupid, just jump into the Han River by themselves!
——Yang Menglong has always believed that a scientist who cannot make everyone aware of the importance of his research project is not a qualified scientist. Therefore, except for military research projects that are guaranteed to lose money but not make money, he only supports most other projects. Once they have preliminary results, they will have to figure out how to fund the next step of their research.For example, he only supported the animal-powered hand harvester project until the prototype was produced. Then the inventor traveled in all directions and suffered a lot of hardships before he cooperated with Fu Wang to successfully build a factory and put it into production. In the end, it became a hot product that all farmers are competing to purchase. , Fang Yizhi believed that steam engines had far broader prospects than animal-powered hand harvesters. If others could do it, there was no reason why he couldn't.

Then the steam engine went on a tour in Huguang and Heluo areas, causing countless wonders and even horrors every time it visited.Industrial and mining entrepreneurs are gearing up, hoping that this thing will be completed and put into production as soon as possible, so that they can buy one back, while the gentry, who are accustomed to the small peasant economic model, are terrified and scold Fang Yizhi and his group for not doing their jobs properly... Fortunately, no one scolded them What you are doing is crooked, it is considered polite.Some old stubborn people brought their complaints to Chongzhen, claiming that the people under Yang Menglong’s rule became more and more obsessed with crooked ways, and the simple folk customs have been submerged by the smell of copper. If things go on like this, the consequences will be disastrous. Is there a new trick coming? Let the emperor tell me about it."

Then there is no more.

Wanting to sue Yang Menglong is as difficult as a foreigner wanting to win the Chinese Table Tennis League Championship, or the Chinese men's football team entering the top 32 of the World Cup. They are all purgatory.

It is not unreasonable for Chongzhen to be so partial to Yang Menglong: this year Huguang paid as much as 250 million shi for grain and 150 million tael for tax, which was not only on time and in full, but also far exceeded!In Chongzhen's view, Yang Menglong was so capable that he was like a money tree. Anyone who dared to touch Yang Menglong wanted to cut off his wealth. Even if it was to keep his own money bag, he would keep Yang Menglong!
Chongzhen didn't know that this year Huguang had a bumper harvest of grain, but Yang Menglong didn't collect a penny of tax from Huguang. They were purchased from farmers at a high price——Of course, even if they knew about the big boss, they wouldn’t care. The grain and silver put into the treasury were real, and they were better than anything else.This kind of protection policy gave Huguang farmers a sigh of relief after the war, and their living standards quickly recovered. Not only did they have enough to eat, but they also had spare money to tear a few feet of cloth to make new clothes.It is said that this protection policy will continue for another three years, and the common people are very excited, saying that they will finally have a few years of good life.This year, their average rice yield per mu has reached four shi, and they don't have to pay rent to the landlord, so they can live comfortably by selling half and keeping the other half.It's just that they don't know that this output is the result of the efforts of many people.

In the Yiling mining area, the original clear mountains and green waters have changed a bit. Thousands of miners are like industrious worker ants, drilling in and out of the mines. It is hauled out and shipped to the factory.Large-scale mining inevitably destroys the environment, and many gentry are heartbroken by this, but Yang Menglong has nothing to do about it. He has tried his best to minimize damage. However, large-scale industrial activities do not cause any damage to the environment. It's impossible. Didn't you see the horrors of the United States, France, and the United Kingdom before 1980?The air comparable to poisonous fog in Los Angeles dried up the mascot of the Atlanta Olympic Games—the Atlanta Eagle, and the Seine River in France turned into a stinking ditch. Anyone who dares to go swimming will call for an ambulance within 10 minutes at most. car.How did the "fog city" come about in the UK?It can only be governed while developing, and then completely cured when it develops.

In the phosphate fertilizer processing plant, tons of screened ore were poured into the acid pool, and then gurgling, flakes of white foam came out, and the whole workshop was filled with choking white steam. All the workers wore a pig A gas mask like a nose, sweating all over, working nervously.The water wheel outside drives the exhaust fan to pump out this poisonous gas, which is condensed into an acidic liquid through the condensation tower, and then collected and processed to become phosphoric acid.This is also a good thing. It can be added to the acid for recycling, or it can be added to the feed. Anyway, it has many uses.But now its main use is to make refractory cement.

Working in a phosphate fertilizer processing plant is undoubtedly very hard. Even though there are gas masks, phosphoric acid gas is still a serious health hazard. Working in such an environment for a long time, it is only a matter of time before you suffer from occupational diseases.Therefore, each worker can only work in the phosphate fertilizer factory for five years, and must leave the job after five years. This makes the workers quite dissatisfied. The wages of the phosphate fertilizer factory are high, five times that of female workers in the textile factory. If they can work for a few more years, they will be happy. Children don't have to worry about it for the rest of their lives!The workers worked hard to turn piles of phosphate rock into fertilizer. Every month, thousands of tons of phosphate fertilizer were transported to the downstream areas through the Yangtze River, and then scattered into the fields to make the crops grow more vigorously and make a good harvest no longer a luxury. , but the price paid is that batches of workers leave the factory with mild or severe occupational diseases, and some of them will be plagued by diseases for the rest of their lives.

Farms in Nanyang and Luoyang are also sending large amounts of fertilizer downstream.Due to the population explosion, consumption power has also increased significantly. Large poultry farms, cattle farms, sheep farms, horse farms and even donkey farms have sprung up in Nanyang and Luoyang. These guys can both eat and pull. Tons of manure is cleared from the farm every day to supply surrounding farms.The Nanyang and Luoyang areas can't digest so much, and someone specially ships the dried manure to the Huguang area to sell it at a low price.

The pesticide factory does not rest throughout the year, and is busy using crude machines to process various plants rich in rotenone into powder, which is then packaged for sale.In view of the fact that the pesticide business is too hot, and the workers can't keep up with their overgrown arms, Yang Menglong built another pesticide factory in Wuhan in April, and foreigners bought poison ivy and pyrethrum from Southeast Asia. are shipped over, and then turned into pesticides for sale in the workshop.This work is also quite dangerous. Several times some idiots stole the fruit to be processed into pesticides, and then died, which made the factory manager furious.Fortunately, this kind of pesticide still belongs to the category of green pesticide, which is not the same as chemical pesticide, so as long as you don’t be stupid, you will be fine if you sneak one to eat when you see something that is sent for processing that looks delicious. The workers in the pesticide factory do not have to worry about occupational diseases, and their wages are quite high.

"Next year, two large pesticide factories will be built in Guangzhou and Changsha respectively. The monthly production of pesticides should not be less than [-] jin. In addition, some skilled workers will be sent to the sulfuric acid factory and the cement factory to build these. It would be too time-consuming and laborious to transport it all the way from the north.” In the Yamen of Nanyang prefect, Fang Yizhi put forward his request.

Fang Kongzheng looked embarrassed: "Is this the right thing to do?"

Fang Yizhi said: "What's wrong? Not only that, but next year several large reservoirs will be built to store water in the dry season to resist floods, and divert floods in the rainy season, so as to save the Jianghan Plain from drought and flood. The engineering design of these reservoirs has already been completed. It’s started, and the preliminary estimate is that the steel and cement needed are calculated in thousands of tons, so you have to be prepared.”

A group of officials nodded firmly. For them, things that can be solved with steel and cement are nothing.

Fang Kongxuan couldn't help but said: "In this way, the money and manpower consumed will be astonishing. Can ordinary people bear it?"

Fang Yizhi smiled: "Money is only considered money when it is spent, and it is just a pile of hard metal in your hands, which can't be clothed or eaten."

Fang Kongxuan said: "I'm afraid that the common people's financial resources will be exhausted..."

Fang Yi looked surprised: "The government allocated funds to ask them to help with the construction. They come to the construction site to work and have food and wages. How can they exhaust their financial resources? It should increase their employment opportunities and bring them more money. The business opportunity is right!"

Fang Kongzheng was speechless...

It turned out that in the eyes of this dear friend, the common people raised funds for such a big project, and building so many reservoirs at once would drain the blood of the common people. He never dreamed that Fang Yizhi not only did not want the common people to raise money, but also Pay someone to help you...

What is wrong meaning?That's it.

While these leaders were brainstorming about plans for next year, outside, the chimneys of the cement factory were still spewing smoke, the molten steel was rushing in the blast furnace of the iron and steel factory, and the spinning wheels of the textile factory were creaking and spinning. Flax fibers and cotton are spun into fine cloth.As for the starch factory, it is the peak season of production. Carloads of potatoes and sweet potatoes are transported in, and then turned into truckloads of starch and shipped out, and then sent to grain depots, breweries, maltose processing plants, feed factories... Turned into grain, spirits and alcohol, golden glutinous rice, and fodder for poultry and livestock.The whole city is like a gigantic factory, continuously producing all kinds of materials, turning into a powerful economic thrust to promote the rapid development of the whole city.

As the age of the steam engine comes, they will grow stronger and stronger!
In the distant Liaodong, Yang Menglong finished reading the letter sent from Nanyang, and was so happy that he ran to the pier and shouted at the sea, which frightened Mao Yongjun, and asked Zaji Chongweng in a low voice: "What's wrong, Lord Hou?"

Zaji Chongweng looked calm: "Probably got some good news, isn't he overjoyed?"

Mao Yongjun heaved a sigh of relief: "That's good, I'm scared to death!" He turned his head and yelled at a group of soldiers who were looking here curiously: "Continue training, don't look around, or you will walk like a duck!"

As soon as the duck step was mentioned, the soldiers felt a dull pain in their crotch, and they didn't dare to do any more mischief, so they redoubled their efforts in training.

After such a long period of training, this army finally looks a bit forbidden...

(End of this chapter)