Chapter 185 Cooperation between production and sales

"What you see is not magic, but the power of science!"

At this time, all Li Nai could think of was this sentence that Schneider often said after coming to Victory Port. This is certainly not a magic spell, and Li Nai is not an uneducated village woman, although the Haihan people gave him

He couldn't understand more than half of the explanations made by the Haihan people, but this did not prevent him from judging the credibility of the Haihan people's statements. He believed that the breathtaking scenes he saw when he came to Victory Port were indeed the Haihan people relying on "

The results achieved by "science" are things that can be seen and touched, rather than mysterious and mysterious magic.

What is science? Science is the method by which Haihan people understand things and change the world - this is the explanation given by Tao Donglai, the leader of Haihan. Unfortunately, this method does not seem to be mastered by Ming people.

Although Foshan also has a very developed iron smelting industry, from what Li Nai has seen, it is certain that the technical level of the two places is not at the same level at all. The only thing Foshan is proud of is probably that there are more blacksmiths——

The entire population of Victory Port combined is not as large as the blacksmiths in Foshan. But just having more people is useless. For example, one of these powerful mechanisms that can move back and forth on their own can replace at least hundreds of people.

Li Nai felt that even if there were 100,000 blacksmiths in Foshan, they probably wouldn't be able to build such an exquisitely designed mechanical monster.

Li Nai noticed that the ore transported into the mineral processing workshop was all a square cart running on two parallel rails. This cart was pulled by oxen, and behind the two oxen there was often a long string of carts filled with ore.

The trolley that has finished unloading the ore will go around to the parallel track on the other side, pulling the empty trolley back in the direction in which it came.

Li Nai pointed to the empty mine cart and asked Schneider, "Can I follow you and have a look?"

Schneider thought that the executive committee had not said that he would not be allowed to observe the mining, so he agreed to his request, so the two of them followed the ore transporting car eastward along the railroad tracks. After climbing up a gentle slope of 300 meters,

, a huge mine appeared in front of Li Nai.

The ore veins of Tiandu Iron Mine are very shallow, and open-pit mining can be carried out with almost no need to dig tunnels. In this regard, it is similar to the coal mine of Heitu Port. Currently, there are more than 400 miners in Tiandu Iron Mine, and every day

It can mine about sixty or seventy tons of iron ore.

This production efficiency is naturally relatively low, but considering that the mining process is almost entirely based on manpower, and the executive committee does not use an oppressive management method for the miners, it is not too outrageous. Of course, it will wait until the coal problem is solved.

, this situation will be improved, and the Executive Committee will establish a special mining bureau to manage mineral development work. The main targets are Tiandu Iron Mine and Damao Phosphorus Manganese Mine located further inland.

With sufficient coal guaranteed, large-scale steelmaking is almost an inevitable industrial project. By then, the current ore output will not be able to meet production needs, and it will be necessary to introduce more mechanical power into production.

Means. For example, in current mining, ore is transported from the bottom of the mine to trucks by people carrying it on their backs and shoulders. The transportation efficiency is low and it also takes up a lot of limited mining manpower. And if mechanical lifting methods are used,

Then we can change the current situation where one-third of the labor is used for transportation, and put more labor into mining work.

Of course, the current mines also have mechanical equipment driven by steam engines - mine pumps driven in turn by two 20-horsepower steam engines. This pump is used to ensure that the groundwater seeping out of the bottom of the mine can be continuously pumped away, because at present

The processing accuracy of the steam engine used is limited, and the continuous operation time is often only a few hours. Therefore, this kind of equipment that needs to work continuously must have two steam engines to provide power in turn.

When Li Nai heard Schneider explain the executive committee's "ambition" for the Tiandu Iron Mine, his face turned pale. Soon the Haihan people will be able to reach the level of smelting 30,000 kilograms of iron per day, as long as they continue to expand production

With the scale and ensuring sufficient coal supply, it will be possible to produce 100,000 kilograms or even hundreds of thousands kilograms per day in the future - just Shengli Port alone may produce as much iron as the entire Guangdong in the future.

Even Li Nai, a businessman, would not dare to say anything about how much change so much iron can bring to society. But one thing is a very clear fact: the military power that so much pig iron can arm

, I am afraid it is not an opponent that the weak defenders of Qiongzhou Prefecture can resist!

Of course, so far, Li Nai has not felt that the Haihan people have shown any hostility towards the Ming Dynasty. On the contrary, they are very happy to introduce the Ming Dynasty's population as hired workers. Even the illiterate Li Miao Mountain people

, the Haihan people are also inclusive and treat everyone equally. Although the Haihan people are not too cooperative with the local officials of the Ming Dynasty, they do not adopt a confrontational attitude. Instead, they use a softer method to gradually win over the officials. For example, Shuizhai promoted Chief Luo to the top.

In the east, there is also the patrolling Wei Ping who is currently in the stage of changing his attitude. It can be seen that the Haihan people do not intend to take the route of military confrontation with the Ming government, and their armed forces seem to be more likely to be used for self-protection.

Regardless of whether these speculations are true or not, Li Nai can only comfort himself with this thought for the time being. Don't worry too much about the threat the Haihan people will pose to the Ming Dynasty.

Standing on the high ground next to the mine, Li Nai could overlook the industrial areas throughout the valley. On the farthest west bank of the Tiandu River are patches of bamboo and wooden houses. It is said that these are villages where workers live together.

The Han people call it a "residential area". There is a conspicuous dam on the Tiandu River, which is said to have been built by the Haihan people. Li Nai didn't quite understand the function of that dam because he really didn't understand what Schneider meant by "water energy."

What exactly does "convert into electrical energy" mean?

Next to the dam on the east bank of the Tiandu River is the No. 2 base where the Haihan people live. Viewed from a high place, the wall outside the entire base presents a peculiar polygonal shape, integrating dozens of warehouses and several neat rows of barracks.

Surrounded by it. The large areas along the river to the east and south of Base No. 2 are where the industrial zone is located. In addition to the few places I visited just now, there is also a large area of ​​factories to the south that Schneider calls "forbidden to enter."

"area" that the Executive Committee has explicitly prohibited outsiders from entering - this "outsider", of course, includes Li Nai.

Although he was very helpless, after all, an agreement had been reached in advance, and Li Nai could only abide by Schneider's arrangement. However, Schneider still appropriately disclosed some information to him: those restricted areas were basically military industrial units, specializing in the production of guns and gunpowder.

Something like that.

When Schneider said this, Li Nai felt relieved. These things are technical secrets for both the craftsmen and the manufacturing units. It is normal to keep them secret from outsiders. What's more, if the Haihan people want to sell arms to the mainland, if they want to rely on

In order to make money from this business in the long term, they must first ensure that the secrets of their production technology are not leaked. Although "Fu Ruifeng" is the business partner of the Haihan people, the Haihan people have no obligation to let Li Nai know what they have mastered.

those advanced technologies.

Although there are still many places that have not received permission from the executive committee to visit, Li Nai believes that just from the places he has seen, it is not difficult to judge the level of expertise of the Haihan people in the production field. As far as what they can produce

In terms of east and west, I am afraid that it is difficult for merchants and craftsmen in the entire Ming Dynasty to compete with it. In the face of such a partner, the biggest advantage of "Furuifeng" lies in its circulation channels. The trading firm can not only organize fleets to travel between Guangzhou and

The extensive sales channels between Victory Port and the Ming Dynasty are also very needed by the Haihan people - all the products they produce are for export. This purpose is very obvious and there is never any concealment.

Li Nai firmly believed that this advantage of his own firm was something that the Haihan people would not be able to catch up with in a short time, even if they had mastered the "science" in their hands. Because these sales networks and personal relationships throughout the southeast and even Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas relied on "

It took several generations of shopkeepers of "Fu Ruifeng" to gradually establish it over hundreds of years. There are many intricate interest relationships that require a lot of time and energy to maintain. It is impossible for the Haihan people who have just arrived to have such abilities.

As long as the Haihan people need the commodity sales market of Daming, and they always need to import various raw materials and craftsmen from Daming, they will inevitably need partners like "Fu Ruifeng". And the strength displayed by the Haihan people made Li Nai

I also feel reassured that I can purchase some properties here in Victory Port in the future to further consolidate the cooperative relationship between the two parties.

That night, Li Nai, accompanied by Schneider, took an ox cart back to his residence in Shengli Port. Not long after he returned to his residence, Schneider came to visit again: "Mr. Li, regarding your proposal to open a gambling stall and brothel in Shengli Port

Now the executive committee has made a decision. There is good news and bad news, which one are you going to hear first?"

Li Nai was obviously not used to Schneider's pedantic way of speaking. He was stunned for a moment before responding: "Then... let's hear the bad news first?"

"The bad news is that before your proposal, the Executive Committee had relevant regulations. There must be no casinos or gambling stalls in the Victory Port area. Any public gambling activities for profit are expressly prohibited!"

"So what's the good news?" Li Nai didn't feel depressed because of this, but instead felt vaguely that something good was about to happen.

"The good news is that the proposal to open a brothel has been approved by the executive committee..." Schneider said with a smile.

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Chapter completed!