After saying goodbye to the people who were attending Su Dongpo's funeral, Wu Haogu brought He Tianran and Guo Xiaoxiao, under the protection of a team of guards led by Wu Chengjiu, he pulled Ji Yi and left the resting office in Pengcheng, Xuzhou, and headed north along Sishui to Liguojian.

The so-called "supervision" is actually an administrative unit that specializes in the management of industrial and mining areas. Including industrial areas such as iron smelting, salt boiling, and winemaking, they will be under supervision, and sometimes there will be affairs or offices below the supervision. The predecessor of Liguojian was Diqiu Iron Smelting Office, which was promoted to Liguojian in the fourth year of Taiping Xingguo. The jurisdiction is approximately northeast of Pengcheng, Xuzhou. There is an iron mountain called Panmashan in the territory, which is currently the largest production iron mountain in the Song Dynasty.

Moreover, this iron mountain was not developed in the Song Dynasty. It was a major iron smelting city in the Han Dynasty. However, after more than 1,000 years of iron smelting, there seemed to be no great progress in technology. Moreover, due to the exhaustion of forest resources near Xuzhou and the abundant production of carbon in Xuzhou, the evil path of coal iron smelting has taken the wrong path, which has caused a major regression in the Song Dynasty's iron smelting technology.

However, Xuzhou is still very good here, with coal, iron and canals, and the northern port of Haizhou nearby. It is surrounded by a large plain. There is enough food supply to support population gathering! This land is simply customized to allow China to enter the era of the industrial revolution. The legendary large-scale wage labor of capitalism has long been produced near Xuzhou!

The iron smelting in Liguojian is a production method of private and exploiting employed workers. There are 36 smelting pits and more than 5,000 workers. The annual iron production volume reported to the government exceeds 1.5 million kilograms, but in fact, more than 3 million kilograms (the government has to conceal the iron class based on the output). It is a complete early stage of capitalism.

Moreover, there is more than one Liguojian near Xuzhou, and there are many carbonite ores and a large number of porcelain kilns. A small part of the porcelain exported from Haizhou is produced near Xuzhou. The fuel used in these porcelain kilns and smelting pits is produced by the carbonite minerals in Xuzhou. At the same time, the carbonite in Xuzhou is not digested locally, and must be sold elsewhere through canals and harbors. Therefore, Xuzhou's porcelain kilns and carbonite industries, like the iron smelting industry, employ a large amount of labor and are already standing at the starting line of the germination of capitalism.

Iron smelting, porcelain and carbohydrate are just the leading industries in Xuzhou. There are many surrounding industries driven by them, basically all of which are private operations and wage labor models. It can be said that everything that evil capitalism needs is already available in Xuzhou.

That's right, it's all the conditions!

In Wu Haogu's view, the main reason why the Northern Song Dynasty and Southern Song were stuck on the threshold of capitalism until their death was not that the rich people in China liked to buy land, collect rent, and collect rent, and the return on rent was not high. The reason why the capital of the Song Dynasty did this was not because they liked it, but because there was no better place to invest.

In fact, the high housing prices in Kaifeng Prefecture, the sky-high prices of calligraphy, painting, and cultural relics, as well as the reasons why copper coins are hiding in cellars that are common among the rich. They have money and have no place to invest, so they can only be used for collection and speculation.

The reason why there is no place to invest in money is because of the stagnation of science and technology, which is the primary productive force! The stagnation of science and technology naturally caused the industry and commerce of the Song Dynasty to be unable to upgrade industrially. Low-level production does not require a large amount of capital to be invested, so it makes the capital appear relatively oversupply.

Therefore, it is not the reason for merchants to buy land, but a result.

The reason for tracing the root causes is that traditional Chinese philosophy lacks theoretical tools to support scientific research and cannot carry out systematic research, which makes technology stay at the level of technology for a long time and cannot evolve into science and technology.

Now, this bottleneck no longer exists.

Therefore, Wu Haogu, the evil capitalist, and Ji Yi, who didn't know that he was a capitalist, were finally able to happily discuss the issue of losing money on the way to Li Guojian.

Because scientific research requires compensation, only after you have enough compensation can you make a lot of money. But if you don’t have research methods and tools, you don’t know where to pay if you have money.

"Brother Chongdao, how much do we plan to pay for iron smelting?"

How much are you going to pay?

As soon as Ji Yi's problem came out, he followed Wu Haogu and the gang of entourages behind Ji Yi, including Guo Xiaoxiao, and how could he not want to make money but just lose money in business?

"This is not limited, you can pay as much as you need to pay."

Wu Haogu's answer shocked everyone. There is no limit on compensation for money... How much money do you have? If you open it, you will pay?

"Can you pay so much?" Ji Yi asked with a smile.

How could Ji Yi not understand the principle of losing first and making money? The more you lose now, the more you earn in the future!

If you don’t have limits, wouldn’t you make unlimited profits?

"Yes!" Wu Hao Ancient Road, "The Metallurgy is a pit of money, selecting materials, smelting, refining, forging, casting, and other hardware... Remember, think about it, how much money you have to throw it into it! How about it? Do you feel distressed?"

Ji Yi smiled, and the fat on her face was trembling, "Isn't it just money? If you don't say more, I can still afford to pay hundreds of thousands or millions!"

Wu Haogu nodded, "In the short term, millions should not be used, hundreds of thousands are not missing..."

"Can you really pay so much?" Ji Yi asked with interest, "Where to pay?"

"The selection of materials and smelting are also refined!" Wuhao Ancient Road, "The process of refining one furnace of iron and steel can cost at least hundreds of pieces. There is no shortcut to go. It must be the same. The test of the furnace."

"Empirical theory!" Ji Yi interrupted, "I understand, your method of trial and error!"

"Yes!" Wu Haogu nodded, "Try a few hundred furnaces and tens of thousands of burnts will be gone... In addition, the employment information is provided, the money from the master craftsman, professor, small workers, the money from the construction college, and the bonus for successful people. The hundreds of thousands of burnts will be gone soon."

Wu Haogu did not study metallurgy in his previous life. Although he had seen the damage caused by coal and iron smelting on the Internet to the Song Dynasty and knew a little about the crucible steel smelting method, he was basically an amateur. Therefore, he could not open the gold fingers, so he could only use a stupid method, which is rational inference, practice trial and error. Collect all the raw materials that can be collected in this era and may be used for iron smelting, plan various combinations, and then refine one furnace at a time to find the best formula.

At the same time, the blast furnace needs to be continuously improved and designed, which of course requires trial and error! That is, the blast furnace is constantly built for testing, and the method of crucible steelmaking is also tested.

These experiments must cost money, and the professors and craftsmen responsible for conducting the experiments have to be hired with high salaries, so hundreds of thousands of pieces can be burned out quickly.

This is also the reason why Wu Haogu did not choose the metallurgy industry to make breakthroughs from the beginning. This industry has no investment of hundreds of millions or millions, and it is impossible to make breakthrough progress.

Moreover, money alone is not enough, and there must be a certain number of technicians. It is not possible to have only big words but not many craftsmen. Because each experiment must be recorded accurately and in detail and can be summarized later. This requires a certain amount of knowledge in mathematics, chemistry, physics and engineering.

If you want Confucian scholars who do not have basic knowledge of mathematics, chemistry, physics and engineering to preside over the experiment, you will have to spend money in vain.

If Wu Haogu left behind other things at hand and devoted himself to the iron smelting career, it would not work. How many experiments can he preside over? How much time will it take for one experiment? I am afraid that it will not be possible to solve many metallurgical problems in his whole life.

Moreover, Wu Haogu could not live forever. He would kick his feet sooner or later like Su Dongpo. If he did not cultivate the source of Chinese scientific research progress in his lifetime, even if he established an empire, he would not be able to maintain his rising vitality for a long time, and he would probably still enter the law of the rise and fall cycle.

Therefore, Wu Haogu is planning to turn metallurgy research into a large-scale demonstration scientific research project this time. The so-called Metallurgy Institute is actually a metallurgical technology research institute, or it can also be regarded as a technological giant in later generations who are ambitious and determined to change the world.

In other words, you not only have to lose money, but also have to lose money scientifically, quickly and in large quantities! Only in this way can you pay some advanced technology that can change the world. Oh, it should be enough to conquer the world!

"How long will it take to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars?" Ji Yi asked.

"It's always a few years." Wu Hao Gudao, "Maybe when Brother Yizhi returns from the Great Shi Kingdom, the Metallurgy Academy will definitely achieve something."

"Can you start making money then?" Ji Yi couldn't help asking about making money.

"No!" Wu Haogu's answer was very straightforward, "I will not hide it from the memory, I don't know when the money invested in the Metallurgy Academy will be profitable."

This is the truth! The goal of the Metallurgy Academy is to develop technologies that can conquer the world...making money and other things are just a side.

"Oh." Ji Yi nodded and thought to himself: I don't believe it! You, the prodigal businessman, really keep paying it? And even if you have to keep paying it, I have settled it, it's just money.

Ji Yi has been imitating Wu Haogu in recent years. She doesn’t care whether she makes money or not. As long as Wu Haogu invests, he will definitely follow him.

"Are you still following?" Wu Haogu asked.

Ji Yi nodded with a smile, "Follow! Haha, isn't it just a loss of money! Brother Chongdao will follow the same family as much as you invest!"

"Okay!" Wu Haogu nodded. "Then let He Tianran draw a contract. Half of our family will invest in the Metallurgy Academy... I invested in Yuntai Academy."

"I'm funded by Gezhida Academy," Ji Yi said, "but the Metallurgy College must open a branch in Haizhou."

"Okay!" Wu Haogu said with a smile, "This matter cannot be done by one person at first, at least two colleges must fight."
Chapter completed!