Chapter 103 Plan ahead

Using charcoal as the main fuel to smelt iron is a metal smelting plan that has been decided by the Executive Committee for a long time. However, it seems that there are still some problems in practical application - ensuring a certain scale of pig iron production.

The problem is not big, but if you want to expand the scale of production, it is not easy to achieve.

The biggest problem with charcoal is that the production time is too long to pass through the charcoal kilns currently used. It takes at least five days for each kiln to produce carbon from the feed to the carbon. The charcoal fired in these five days is only

It is barely enough to make one furnace of pig iron in the metallurgical workshop, which makes the consumption rate of charcoal much higher than the production rate. The only solution is to increase the production capacity of charcoal.

But this is not something that can be solved by building more charcoal kilns. Every time a new charcoal kiln is built, the corresponding logging team must increase at least twenty to thirty people. Because fuel has become a strategic reserve material, currently logging

The team has basically stopped using chain saws and can only rely on axes and saws. The labor efficiency can be imagined. Moreover, the charcoal produced is not only supplied to the metallurgical workshop. At present, almost all the charcoal within the jurisdiction of the Crossing Group requires the use of open flames.

All localities have switched to using charcoal as fuel. More than half of the output of the six operating charcoal kilns is supplied to the metallurgical workshop, and the rest is divided up by other units. According to the current development trend, the number of projects requiring fuel will only increase.

The more, for example, the steam engine that will soon be put into practical use, it will also be a bottomless pit of fuel consumption.

According to the calculations of Bai Kesi and Liu Xingli, if the metallurgical workshop wants to add another iron-making furnace, then at least four to five new charcoal kilns will be needed to ensure the smooth progress of production. Considering the investment in steam engines in the future, then the new charcoal kiln will need to be built

The number may have to reach more than ten. Such a scale will immediately make the logging team the unit with the largest number of personnel under the Executive Committee, and will even exceed the combined number of people in the two communes at present.

A logging commune would be established to manage this unit. But even if another iron-making furnace is added, the production of pig iron will still not be able to meet the various development plans drawn up by the executive committee, and fuel has become the biggest bottleneck in expanding pig iron production capacity.

Bai Kesi's explanation made the executive committee members immediately realize the seriousness of the problem. Ning Qi hurriedly asked: "How much impact will the stagnation of pig iron production have on our development plan?"

Bai Kesi glanced at his notebook and said: "If pig iron production does not increase significantly within the year, then various plans we have made before will lag behind, such as the large-scale use of steam engines in industrial production and the manufacture of large-caliber coastal defenses.

The output of guns, iron products, etc. will be affected to varying degrees."

"That means we must get enough coal as soon as possible..." Tao Donglai already understood what Bai Kesi meant and nodded slowly.

"Even to make steel, we have to get coal!" Bai Kesi said categorically: "I won't talk about the far side, I will only talk about the most direct impact. Without steel, the steam engine we built has many parts.

The strength cannot meet the requirements, which will seriously affect the efficiency and life of the steam engine."

"I remember reading some information before. When domestic iron and steel was smelted in large quantities, the privately built earthen blast furnaces seemed to use charcoal as fuel, right?" Gu Kai asked blankly.

"Not to mention charcoal, there are even those that directly use wood. But that kind of indigenous steelmaking method can't produce any qualified products at all. Farmers melted all their own iron pots and kitchen knives, and in the end they only got a pile of scrap iron.

That's it. In 1958, the steel and iron output exceeded 10 million tons, but the only products that actually qualified were the products of state-owned steel plants. The millions of tons of domestic steel produced by the private sector were almost all just scraps. What we need to do now is

It's about industrialized production, not social movements." After Bai Kesi finished speaking, he stared at Gu Kai, which immediately made the liberal arts student shut up in shame.

"There is no coal in the southern part of Hainan. There are coal mines in Danzhou and Qiongzhou in the north, but the coal they produce is lignite, which is not very suitable for use as fuel for smelting steel. In fact, the coal we bought from Yazhou before

"Most of it is lignite shipped from northern Hainan." Tao Donglai added: "If we want to buy better coal and coke, we probably can only find a way from Guangzhou."

"Buying it from Guangzhou, the cost of going back and forth is not as good as mining the coal yourself." Yan Chujie said slowly: "I think it is necessary to advance the development plan of overseas coal mines."

The so-called overseas coal mine development plan is the mining plan for the Hon Kei coal mine in Vietnam that was formulated by the preparatory committee before the crossing. This coalfield located in Halong Bay in northeastern Vietnam has more than 2 billion tons of coal reserves, which is the largest in the entire Southeast Asia.

One of the coal fields, it is also the closest giant coal mine to Hainan, just over a hundred nautical miles away from the west coast of Hainan Island. The coal seams here are thick and the topsoil is thin, which is conducive to open-pit mining. The quality of the coal is excellent, and it is basically anthracite and coking coal.

With several natural harbors, the organizing committee already regarded this place as an important flag in the development plan when formulating the crossing plan.

When the Preparatory Committee first formulated the plan, the Hongji Coal Mine was not the target of eager development. The Preparatory Committee planned to bring the southern and even western coastal areas of Hainan Island under its control, and then integrate the Hongji Coal Mine and Shilu Iron Mine at the same time.

Carry out development and build the largest coal-iron complex in Southeast Asia in Shilu. In the overall development plan of the preparatory committee, this step was actually formulated as a medium- and long-term goal, but I never thought that the plan would not change quickly.

The committee originally thought that it could survive the initial development stage by relying on self-produced charcoal and imported coal and coke, but it did not expect that in less than three months after the time travel, fuel had become the biggest bottleneck restricting industrial production.

"To develop the Hongji Coal Mine, we need to solve two problems." Ning Qi said with fingers crossed: "First, manpower. If there is not enough manpower, even if we go there to reluctantly mine, there will not be enough.

The output will be used to supply the base camp. Secondly, transportation capacity. With our current transportation capacity level, I am afraid it will be difficult to meet actual needs."

"I don't think this is an unsolvable problem." Yan Chujie seemed to have considered this and immediately responded: "In terms of manpower arrangements, we don't need to transport too many people from the base camp. We just need to select some from the current communes.

If hard-working people move there, we can directly hire most of the miners locally. To develop Hongji Coal Mine, what we need is to station a local management team and an armed force sufficient to ensure safety."

"But what was the situation in Vietnam during this period? The regime there should be called Annan now, right? If we rashly open mines there, will it cause hostility?" Tao Donglai asked with some worry. Although the Vietnamese have used force

The level will not be much higher than that of the Ming Dynasty Guard Army, but if you want to build overseas bases across the ocean, open mines, set up ports, and station manpower, you have to consider safety issues first. And Vietnam is here.

The current domestic situation is definitely an important reference.

The only person present who could answer this question was Ning Qi, a history buff. He cleared his throat and gave a simple explanation of the situation Tao Donglai asked.

In the early 15th century, Vietnam was occupied by the Ming Dynasty army for nearly 20 years. At that time, Vietnam was called "Annan Kingdom". Later, the Ming Dynasty government established three departments in the area: commander, chief envoy, and inspector.

The government office renamed Vietnam "Jiaozhi". In 1427, Vietnam regained its independence, and the Ming government canonized the then puppet monarch as "King Annan". After that, Annan fell into civil strife that lasted for two hundred years.

In the middle of the 16th century, due to years of war, Annan even fell into a situation of division between the north and the south. It was not until the end of the 16th century that General Zheng Song of the Later Li Dynasty defeated the Mo Dynasty entrenched in the north, allowing the Li Dynasty to unify Annan. However, the troubled times

Annam did not usher in peace because of this, and the Li dynasty soon became a political puppet, while new powerful ministers Zheng and Nguyen emerged in the north and south respectively, once again forming a situation of confrontation between the north and the south.

"This means that Vietnam now... No, it should be Annan, which is on the verge of a civil war? That's good, maybe our first arms deal can be landed on these monkeys!" Yan Chujie immediately heard this.

I became excited. Is a war-torn country scary? For the local people, maybe, but for people with ulterior motives, a war-torn country often means huge benefits.

"In fact, in 1627, which is the period we are in now, the North and the South had already gone to war. From this year until 45 years later, the two opposing parties fought a total of seven large-scale wars, and by the end of

The result is still a peace." Ning Qi clearly agreed with Yan Chujie's views and continued: "If we can make reasonable use of the current domestic situation in Annan, the benefits that can be brought to us are not only the export of arms, but also a large number of people fleeing the country.

Refugees in war zones are also human resources that we can make full use of. If we can take in enough manpower, we can even directly separate a local area and form an area independent of the local government like Sanya."

Thinking that there might be tens of thousands of war refugees, the eyes of the executive committee members present immediately turned red. Moreover, this war will continue in Annan for decades, which means that there will be a large number of refugees during this period.

This large population, let alone the development of Hongji Coal Mine, can really support an emerging puppet regime in the Beibu Gulf region as Ning Qi said as long as it is used properly.

Tao Donglai slapped the table hard: "Whether it's population or coal, we have to take it!"
Chapter completed!