Chapter 1285 Steam Excavator

Shilu Iron Mine is located in an inland mountainous area. Few outsiders visit here. Therefore, there are no private commercial institutions in the area. The miners and their families rely on state-owned institutions for food, clothing and housing. For example, this place to eat is

I basically have no choice but to eat in the mine’s staff canteen.

The conditions of the miners' canteen are naturally not as good as those in the county town. From a distance, several groups of miners can be seen queuing up in front of a row of tile-roofed houses to get meals. Qiao Zhiya told everyone that there are three canteens in the West Mine, two of which are for the mine workers.

The staff provided food, and the other one was located near the family area. However, they had different statuses, so naturally they did not have to line up in the open air with the miners. At that moment, the mine cadres took them to the other side of the row of tile-roofed houses.

At one end, after entering, I found that three banquet tables had been set up inside.

"The conditions in the mountains are limited and time is short, so we can only buy these things. Xiao Xiao Zhang, don't think it's too shabby here for me!" Qiao Zhiya said as he called everyone to sit down.

Although Qiao Zhiya spoke politely, Yu Xiaobao and Zhang Qianzhi, as subordinates, naturally did not dare to show any neglect or contempt. Moreover, although the dining environment of this place was poor, the food on the tables could not be labeled as "shabby" at all.

Not up there.

Liu Shang considered himself a person who had traveled extensively and seen the world, but when he saw the dishes on the table, there were many ingredients that he couldn't tell what they were. As the saying goes, delicacies from the mountains and the sea, this Shilu is located in an inland mountainous area, so seafood is naturally not the main specialty here.

The various dishes on the table are mainly made from mountain delicacies. Most of the food I ate in the past few days was seafood, and the flavor finally changed when I got here.

As a temporary worker like Liu Shang, he could not go to the main table. Although he wanted to hear what Qiao Zhiya and others would talk about during the banquet, he did not dare to be too arrogant on such an occasion, so he could only interact with other people honestly.

Several companions and mine companions sat at a table.

In fact, Qiao Zhiya and others did not talk too much about work during the banquet. They only chatted with Yu Xiaobao and others about their current situation, as well as some news and personnel changes in Sanya. He lives in Changhua all year round.

, the channels for receiving information from the outside world are relatively limited, and it is rare for someone to come from Sanya, so it is natural to take this opportunity to learn more about the dynamics of Sanya. Who has been promoted and who has been transferred. Although these personnel changes are not directly related to him, they

As one of Haihan's senior officials, he must pay attention to these developments.

Although the banquet was very sumptuous, because Qiao Zhiya needed to set an example while still at work, he did not serve drinks and could only serve tea instead of wine. The atmosphere during the banquet was not too warm from beginning to end. Except for Xiaobao and others.

People have missions, so naturally they don't pay too much attention to such details. After lunch, Qiao Zhiya still led the way in person, leading them to see the East Mine, which was a hill away.

The journey to the East Mine was several miles, and it was uphill all the way. It was still a bit tiring to walk there, so Qiao Zhiya had people prepare pack horses in advance, and everyone rode there together. Liu Shang himself could ride a horse, but for the sake of the image of his business,

After thinking about it, he still tried his best to look clumsy, and with the help of others, he got on the horse's back, carefully pulling on the reins to avoid losing control of the horse.

After everyone marched for a while, they noticed that the environment here in the east mine was different. On the way to the front, there was a nearly three-foot-high gatehouse checkpoint. There were Haihan soldiers with loaded guns and ammunition on duty above and below the gatehouse. Although on both sides of the gatehouse,

There was no wall, but there was a tall barbed wire fence that extended infinitely to both sides. Liu Shang saw a similar gatehouse in the distance, which was used for small trains pulling ore. It was also guarded by soldiers.

Remembering what Qiao Zhiya had said before, all the prisoners in the East Mine were working as miners, so it was no wonder that barbed wire fences were used to close off this area.

After a major turmoil occurred in this place a few years ago, the Executive Committee realized that there were many security loopholes here, so it invested heavily in the military and police departments to further strengthen defense measures. There is more than just one layer of iron nets like this.

In fact, the prisoners' daily life and work are carried out under the strict supervision of layers of barbed wire and guards to ensure that the local prisoners will never have the illusion of escaping from here.

After entering the prison area surrounded by barbed wire, everyone quickly saw a place on the hillside surrounded by high walls. The warden in charge of receiving them, Yu Zhen, introduced that the high wall was where the prisoners were imprisoned.

Imprisoned.

Aftershock worked as a police officer in Yacheng in his early years. Later, he joined Haihan as a policeman. Then because he was more skilled in the business, he was transferred to Shilu to manage the hard labor camp. When there was a riot in Shilu Mine, Aftershock was already here.

However, the riot was not the fault of his command, and the aftermath was promptly remedied, so that the situation did not deteriorate excessively, so he was able to make up for it. The Executive Committee and the Police Department believed that he was relatively familiar with the situation here, and he had always been responsible for the situation.

Haihan was considered loyal, so he retained his position.

Aftershock knew he was lucky, and in the following years, he worked hard to run the Shiludong Mine like an iron barrel. Anyway, the funds and related materials allocated by the superiors were very abundant, so Aftershock tried his best to improve the defense measures here. Although in recent years

Prison escapes by prisoners were not completely banned in the middle of the year, but there was no case of successful escape. The one who escaped the farthest was captured before he even reached the outermost wire gate. As the warden here,

, Aftershock’s report cards in recent years can indeed be used to demonstrate merit in front of superiors.

Yu Xiaobao and others are not very interested in the prison ecology here. In the eyes of the Executive Committee, most of the prisoners here are just cheap labor. Life and death are not important. Do not exceed the loss ratio set by the superiors.

That's fine. As long as the mine can operate stably and maintain sufficient output, the Executive Committee will not care whether the prisoners here have enough food and clothing. Therefore, during the local visit, there is no arrangement to visit the inside of the prison.

Inspection. Of course, this is a good thing for Aftershock. Although there is no shady place in the prison, there will always be a lot of inconvenience for these dignitaries to enter. The security guard alone will take a long time. There is no arrangement for a visit

At this stage, he can save a lot of trouble.

Compared to the prison, Yu Xiaobao is more concerned about the production status of the mine, especially the steam excavator he asked Qiao Zhiya about earlier. This is not his personal intention, but to understand the prototype machine on behalf of the executive committee.

trial status.

Haihan's top management has always attached great importance to the development and application of steam-powered machinery. This is not just a matter of some of the time-travelers harboring steampunk plots in their hearts, but it is the only way for Haihan to enter an industrialized society. Only when

After steam engines are put into use on a large scale in the production of all walks of life, the social productivity brought about will allow Haihan to grow faster. Steam engines have been widely used in mines, but they cost more.

The development process of steam-powered excavators that are large and have relatively complex manufacturing processes is still relatively slow, so this has become one of the industrial projects that the executive committee has focused on recently.

After riding horses on the hillside for a while and burning incense, everyone finally arrived at the edge of the East Mine. Perhaps because it was mined earlier and had more labor, the size of the East Mine is larger than previously seen.

The west mine we passed was about one-third larger, and the depth from the mouth to the bottom was also greater. Although there were thousands of people working inside and outside the mine, and teams of guards patrolling back and forth, everyone soon

His eyes were attracted by a big guy at the bottom of the pit.

The shape of this thing is very similar to a train carriage, and the size is similar. You can see several huge wheels under the carriage, which are much larger than the wheels of the train. It can be imagined that it has a certain degree of mobility.

There is a chimney erected on the ceiling in the middle of the carriage, and smoke and dust are constantly rising from it. The most eye-catching thing is that there is a cantilever extending upward diagonally at one end of the carriage, and it is in the same direction as the other slightly thinner cantilever.

The other end of the cross and thin cantilever is connected to a huge bucket, which is slowly excavating from the nearby slope.

Liu Shang wanted to see it more clearly, but looking over from the entrance of the pit, it was dozens of feet away and he couldn't clearly see the structure and movement of this thing. Just when he was getting anxious, he heard Qiao Zhiya say: "This place is a bit far away.

, let’s go down and take a closer look.”

Liu Shang felt secretly happy when he heard Qiao Zhiya continue: "...But with so many people going down, it is not very convenient to protect them. Just Yu Yu and Xiao Zhang go down with me, and the others can wait above."

Qiao Zhiya gave this reason. There were at least a thousand prisoners inside and outside the mine, many of them extremely vicious. If Yu Xiaobao's group of more than a dozen people all went down to the bottom of the pit, at least a hundred people would have to be deployed to protect them for safety.

With a few less people, it will be less likely to cause too much commotion. Of course, the deeper reason is the confidentiality system. This steam excavator is still in prototype form, and Haihan does not want the outside world to know that he has such a mining machine for the time being.

Sharp weapon. Although the inspection team coming this time are all our own, according to the confidentiality system, only senior officials with a certain level of authority, such as Yu Xiaobao and Zhang Qianzhi, are qualified to observe the operation of this machine up close.

Although Liu Shang was unwilling to do so, he also knew that he was far from qualified enough to speak out on such an occasion. He could only watch Qiao Zhiya and others escorted by a team of guards as they slowly walked into the pit along the passage on the wall.

The bottom is gone.

After descending to the bottom of the pit, Yu Xiaobao and Zhang Qianzhi finally saw the structure of this big thing. This main body similar to a train carriage is actually the boiler part and transmission mechanism of the steam engine. Several boiler workers stood at the rear of the carriage.

, constantly shoveling coal into the boiler furnace to maintain the stability of power output.

The structure of the front part of the carriage is more complicated. The cylinder transmits power to the front cantilever through gears and connecting rods, and then the stainless steel chain drive is used to operate the front cantilever and bucket. This excavator requires two people to operate.

In cooperation, one person's operating position at the front end of the carriage is responsible for the left and right and up and down movements of the cantilever, while the other person's operating position is on the rear cantilever and is specifically responsible for operating the bucket.

The size of this excavator can only be seen if you look closely. The ore excavated each time is at least one or two cubic meters in volume. Then it slowly turns to the side and dumps the ore in the bucket into the transport truck next to it. This excavator

Although the movement is relatively slow, it can basically fill a truck bucket in one dig, and the efficiency is naturally not the same as manual digging.

However, the noise of the operation of this machine is quite loud. Although Yu Xiaobao and others are standing a few feet away, they can still feel the ground shaking slightly under their feet. The prisoners working nearby do not need to be driven away at all, and they automatically maintain their status.

It's a long distance away, and it seems like they don't dare to get too close to this steel monster.

"Currently, this machine can dig 100 to 200 cubic meters of ore every day, depending on the operating conditions." Qiao Zhiya introduced to them: "The mechanical performance is okay, but daily maintenance is troublesome. Generally, it has to stop working for about two days.

After a day of maintenance, the durability of some parts is still too poor. In addition, it is troublesome to transport coal and water. You see, we also built a water pipe from the top of the pit just to maintain the operation of the machine."

The biggest consumption of daily operation of a steam engine is coal and fresh water, and these two things have to be transported from outside the mine, which requires some manpower to maintain material supplies. As for daily maintenance requirements and consumption, there is no fixed number.

However, sufficient spare parts are prepared locally for parts that are prone to problems, and there is generally no need to call spare parts from Sanya for replacement.

Based on the trial during this period, the conclusion is that the working efficiency of this excavator is indeed much better than that of manpower, but the frequency of maintenance and repairs has not reached the requirements of actual use. In addition, in terms of the convenience of operation, it is also

There are many details that can be further improved. Qiao Zhiya has compiled a usage report on this and will send it back to Fort Victory when the next transport ship returns to Sanya.

Liu Shang stood at the entrance of the mine, watching Qiao Zhiya and others pointing at the excavator nearby, and he couldn't help but feel itchy. He was quite interested in these machines and wanted to go inside to see what was going on.

, but this wish probably cannot be realized here.

Qiao Zhiya and others stayed at the bottom of the pit for a long time. People at the entrance of the pit were not allowed to move without permission and could only stay in place. They waited for more than an hour before they saw Qiao Zhiya and others come back. Liu Shang originally had hope that he would

They went to visit the excavator in batches, but Qiao Zhiya announced that the visit was over for today, completely giving up the idea.
Chapter completed!