Number of People

  Chapter 647 T-roll lure

  Any country, a dynasty, especially a feudal dynasty, at any time, iron and steel are in a state of shortage, nothing more than the degree of shortage.

  Even when Europe entered the early stage of the industrial revolution era, the supply of steel was in short supply. Of course, this situation is due to the large increase in steel production capacity and the development of more scope of use, making it difficult for steel production capacity to keep up with the growth in demand.

  It is the same in Da Zhou.

The iron smelting industry in this era is still in a relatively primitive small-scale workshop-style production mode. Both the quality and output are far from meeting the demand. This also makes the use of steel in many fields reluctantly part with others. replace.

Not to mention the huge demand for iron and steel by the nomadic tribes in the surrounding grasslands, just like Japan, North Korea and even Southeast Asia have a huge demand for steel. You can see that the iron pot in Foshan has become the best-selling product exported from Guangdong and Guangxi. How hungry is the demand for this material.

The same is true for Dazhou himself. There are too many places where iron and steel are used. The demand for weapons alone is an astronomical figure. In fields such as bridge construction, the demand for steel will continue to grow, not just the original fields that are mainly used in production and life, such as farm tools, knives, and iron pots.

  These Shanxi merchants have a keen sense of smell, even if it is just a sentence that seems to be inadvertent, it can attract their attention.

  Of course, this may have a lot to do with the huge influence and prestige I have established on Kaihai Zhilue. If it was two years ago, who would care about you?

  Feng Ziying looked at the businessmen in front of him playfully. These guys are well-informed and dare to take risks. You have to admire this point.

Fan Yongzhan is also very calm. The channels he learned about are not shady, and this is not an important military matter. Since he is in the Northland, he is a member of the Northlanders as a Shanshan businessman, so he is of course qualified to participate. After all, Any industry needs the investment of money, doesn't this little Feng Xiuzhuan not need them?

  Of course Feng Ziying needs them to engage in the iron smelting industry, even if he knows some of these methods roughly, but it is impossible for some golden fingers to evolve from the traditional primitive iron smelting technology to the reverberatory furnace overnight.

Here, he only knows a rough idea of ​​the coke reduction technology, and he doesn’t know how many experiments it will take to figure it out, so let these Shanxi merchants spend money on it, and it can be counted as their dedication to promoting this space-time industrial technological revolution. up.

   "Mr. Fan, you guys are really well-informed about this news. There should be no more than one slap in the world who knows about this matter. I didn't expect you to know about it." Feng Ziying pretended to be emotional.

"My lord, we Shanxi merchants are also part of the Northland merchants. You can't treat one more favorably than another. Some people are already complaining that you are too generous to Jiangnan merchants. They even think it has something to do with you marrying a Jiangnan woman." Fan Yongzhan said haha, "They wondered if you had fallen for the beauty trap of the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River, and asked why you didn't like the women of our gentry in the north..."

  Beauty trap? ! Feng Ziying couldn't help laughing.

  This idea is really brain-opening.

Well, it seems to be true. The Shen family is a distinguished family of gentry in Suzhou, the Lin family is also a noble family in Suzhou, and even the Xue family who has not been exposed is also a family of Jinling. From this point of view, the third wife I married is from Jiangnan. Isn’t that true? In a beauty trick or something?

  Feng Ziying's loud laugh made the whole atmosphere relaxed. Even Jin Liangcai and Tian Shenggui took the opportunity to strike up a conversation. Before, they were suppressed so much that they didn't dare to say a word, and it was all up to Fan Yongzhan to deal with it.

"Fan Gong, your idea is really interesting. Well, I haven't thought of it myself, but when you say it like this, I think it's a bit like it. Well, it's a pity that I went to Yangzhou, and it seems that I have never tasted Yangzhou. The taste of a skinny horse, this beauty trick is not worthy of the name." Feng Ziying smiled happily.

   "Hehe, if your lord likes it, you can send some of the best lean horses in Tianji Pavilion from Yangzhou to your lord after a few days with a letter from Caomin..." Jin Liangyu also responded with a smile.

"Don't, don't, you all know that I fell for Jiangnan's beauty trap, I'm not married yet, if people find out, it would be too embarrassing." Feng Ziying waved her hand, "Okay, let's stop talking, Let’s get down to business, the iron smelting industry is an important industry related to the national economy and the people’s livelihood. Well, I guess everyone knows that the iron smelting industry is actually very common at present. It is very common in Shanxi, Guangdong, Jiangxi, Fujian, and Beizhi. But generally speaking, its smelting scale is too small, its technology is backward, and its quality is low. With the imperial court's huge demand for military supplies, the demand for iron and wrought iron is increasing, so the imperial court hopes to make some progress in this regard. breakthrough,…"

   Several people listened patiently, this is what it should be, but how to do this business, why can it be done, um, low quality and small scale are the key, but how to solve this problem?

"As far as I know, the Xiyi people have made some progress in how to smelt iron, mainly screening and processing the charcoal for iron smelting. If the quality of the charcoal can be solved, in addition, make some innovations in the refining method , the output and quality of iron smelting can be greatly improved. We have mastered some things in this regard, but we still need to try and try again and again to find an optimal method,..."

  Feng Ziying naturally couldn't explain it in too much detail to this group of people, and it was useless to explain it in detail.

   These people are businessmen, not craftsmen and technicians, but they only need to be instilled a little. This industry is very promising, the court is very interested, and the prospects are very bright, that's enough.

Of course, these people are not fools. I can temporarily convince them with my current influence and reputation. If there is no progress, I guess they will gradually lose confidence in myself, but of course I won’t be like this. I must give them some Hope and sweetness, it is a long way to go to turn these traders into industrialists.

  At present, Dazhou is still making iron with coal (coal) and charcoal. There have been some attempts to make iron with coke, but they are not systematic or conscious. Therefore, Feng Ziying knows that it will take a lot of effort to make a breakthrough in this area.

   But as long as the interest and enthusiasm of these people can be mobilized, these problems should be solved.

Feng Ziying's scratchy words made these Shanxi merchants feel itchy. If what the other party said is true, it means that the smelting industry will also usher in a huge change. Once the scale and quality of iron smelting increase, the profits it brings can be imagined As you know, this may even be a more impressive industry than maritime trade. Almost every field needs iron and steel, and the scale of demand will only increase.

As long as you can grasp the key to open the door, its profit is comparable to that of the salt industry. From ancient times to the present, the monopoly of salt and iron has been written into history. It is only in the last few hundred years that the iron smelting industry has been slowly released and private participation is allowed. , which shows that the industry is booming.

  The Shanxi merchants finally left, but Feng Ziying knew that he had aroused the enthusiasm of these people, and they would come again, and they would come through various relationships, and even she couldn't stop their enthusiasm.

  However, this still needs a process. How to build such a smelting complex still needs to be carefully planned like Haitong Yinzhuang.

  ******

   "I'm not sure where these two people came from. The accent is like a southerner. Well, it's a bit close to Huguang and Sichuan, but it's still a little different. They occasionally speak local dialects between them..."

  Jia Yun was a little excited. This was the first time he provided Feng Ziying with something he thought was suspicious. He didn’t expect it to attract so much attention from the other party. He felt that it was a kind of affirmation and recognition from the other party for his work.

  Feng Ziying wrote on the paper, "Have you heard any specific things they said?"

"They are too noisy in the theater, so it is not easy to hear the specifics, and if they are with the officials of the court, they will basically choose to go to the private room instead of the lobby below..." Jia Yun tried hard to recall "I remember one time when the person they were waiting for hadn't arrived, one of them said something, which probably meant that the Secretary of General Affairs and the Metropolitan Procuratorate were all fine, but I was afraid of the Long Jinwei or something, but I didn’t hear clearly after that.”

  It is impossible for a professional eavesdropper to have such a high standard. It is very rare to have such vigilance. It is impossible for Feng Ziying to expect Jia Yun and the others to do a good job.

   "Well, I see, these two people still come here often?"

"Yes, I keep coming, maybe once every three or five days, but not every time there are other people, sometimes they come by themselves, just in the lobby, it feels like they are deliberately adapting to life in the capital city,... Jia Yun pursed her lips and took a deep breath, "My lord, is there any problem?"

"No, it's nothing, I can't see it yet, but remember, keep watching, it's best to help me figure out where the people who came into contact with them are, but don't be deliberate,..." Daguanlou came and went, It's very complicated. If you come here often, there will definitely be people you know, so it's easy to identify.

   "Understood, don't worry, my lord, as long as they come often, they will definitely not escape my eyes. I also greeted the people below and reminded me, but I didn't tell them specific things."

Jia Yun felt very honored to be able to do her part for Feng Ziying, and felt honored by Feng Ziying for giving herself such an opportunity to no longer be in the small circle of Jia's mansion, but to be able to come out and see the difference of the world, he is grateful.

  (end of this chapter)