Perhaps those emperors had no idea. But when they told Zhu Yuanzhang, he aroused a strong reaction.
It reminded him of his difficult childhood and the few worn-out farm tools that he could see in countless dreams. At that time, the farm tools at home had no iron left in them. No matter how many times his father tried to replace the plowshare for the family, he couldn't.
rise.
What would happen if farmers all over the world could switch to steel farm tools?
Zhu Yuanzhang didn't know, but he was willing to imagine that if he had better farm tools back then, he might be able to beat a few more buckets of rice, and maybe one less person in his family would starve to death.
But Zhu Yuanzhang knew very well that even if the family received a few more buckets of rice, it would be impossible for the family to survive in this era.
Fantasy can only be fantasy, Zhu Yuanzhang will never be able to return to his eighteen years old.
Zhu Yuanzhang smiled sadly and said: "Do you know the price of iron? Even if I have the intention, I can't do anything."
He Xi said: "Then, has your Majesty ever thought that one day, the price of iron would be lower than the price of wood?"
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "How is it possible?"
He Xi said: "How is it impossible? Your Majesty, I think this iron is useless. It is because the price of iron is too high. Once there is a large amount of cheap steel, there are too many things that can be done. You can build houses, you can build bridges, you can use
It can be used to lay railways, which can be used to build ships. It can be used to build more and cheaper firecrackers. It can also make the Mongolians become good at singing and dancing. The cornerstone of all this is a large amount of cheap steel."
"This is the basis for the development of productive forces."
Some of what Zhu Yuanzhang said about He Xi is understandable. For example, if people all over the world had steel farm tools, what kind of changes would there be? This change is obvious, and the biggest proof is the terraced fields in the south.
It was precisely because the people had more iron farm tools that the terraces all over the south were created.
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "I'll wait and see."
He Xi said: "I will definitely live up to your majesty's trust."
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "It's getting late. If you need anything, you can go directly to the prince. Go back and rest."
"Yes." He Xi said.
Then he retreated.
After He Xi left, Zhu Yuanzhang murmured: "Productivity, I have learned a new word today." There was a kind of wisdom in his eyes that could see through everything.
Zhu Yuanzhang always knew that He Xi was hiding something, and he was even aware of what He Xi was hiding. But he didn't care.
There are different ways to use people. For unimportant people and highly replaceable people, you don’t need to worry about what they think. Whether they feel aggrieved or resentful. Whether they are forced or have no choice but to do so, they must be honest.
Really obedient. These people are most of the courtiers and even civil servants.
For these people, Zhu Yuanzhang didn't care at all what they thought in their hearts? But he wanted them to understand what he, the emperor, thought?
And those who have special talents, who are unique for their great cause, and who can even determine the outcome, must accept their hearts and obey their heart. Only in this way can they maximize their talents. So He Xi needs to be careful, Zhu Yuanzhang
Always tolerate and never expose.
He remembered that He Xi traveled back in time from 2022. But He Xi left history with more than a hundred years until the fall of the Qing Dynasty.
How many tricks are there in this?
Zhu Yuanzhang did not ask, he was waiting for He Xi to tell him and open his heart.
It was as if Zhu Yuanzhang keenly felt that there was a huge story behind the word productivity.
------
On the outskirts of Nanjing, a small river meanders.
The small river should be a tributary of the Yangtze River, and the water volume is not small. There is a water wheel on it. It is already turning slowly.
The waterwheel and the blower are not yet connected, but the blower is fixed to one side of the blast furnace.
The blast furnace is more than ten feet high. It is not just a solitary blast furnace. It is a complex structure with air ducts for ventilation below, and surrounding the blast furnace, there is a large platform where materials are fed from the top of the blast furnace. As for
There is a square pit several feet deep below the discharge port.
Generally speaking, the molten iron coming out directly from the discharge port becomes pig iron after solidification.
The molten iron is guided into the square pit from the discharge port and stirred continuously. The iron that finally cools down is wrought iron. The pig iron and wrought iron are calcined together again to become steel.
He Xi climbed up and down, looking at all the places without getting tired of the tedious process, and even took photos and recorded them all with his mobile phone when no one was paying attention.
Although He Xi hoped for a success, failure was the mother of success. He was not sure about this experiment. So he could only record some useful information for future reference. He also put forward some suggestions, such as increasing the air duct.
, increasing wind power, etc. A commonplace topic.
However, the craftsmen all complied with the instructions one by one.
After a busy day like this, the blast furnace was finally renovated.
That night, He Xi did not return to the palace at all. Instead, he found a place to rest nearby. Xu Baoer and his party protected him personally. Anyway, He Xi just thought they were protecting him.
On the morning of the second day, the furnace was officially opened.
A layer of iron material, a layer of coke, and various combustion accelerants filled the one-foot-high blast furnace. With He Xi's order, the fire started.
The blower began to whine under the influence of water.
It takes several hours from ignition to the entire blast furnace to boil.
He Xi was originally next to the blast furnace, but as the blast furnace was ignited, the heat wave evaporated, and the heat seemed to be real, making He Xi feel like an oven. She could only retreat step by step, and finally chose a place by the river and put it there.
A bamboo chair, sit on it and wait.
"Sir." Xu Baoer said: "This is just some menial work done by some servants. Why do you need to be here? Why don't you move aside to drink tea?"
He Xi glanced at Xu Baoer and looked at the craftsmen beside the blast furnace. Many craftsmen had taken off their clothes, leaving only calf shorts. Even so, they did not leave the blast furnace too far. He Xi had no experience. This kind of scene was...
He saw it for the first time.
Therefore, it is impossible to tell anything from some details of the blast furnace?
For example, the sound of burning in the blast furnace, the color of the burning in the blast furnace, etc. can be used to determine what kind of situation is in the blast furnace. But these craftsmen are different. At the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, all craftsmen in the south of the Yangtze River gathered in Nanjing.
The craftsmen in Nanjing represent the highest level of craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty. And these great craftsmen who cannot be recommended have unique skills in their hands.
This kind of blast furnace is not a rare thing to them.
Therefore, they were always paying attention to the changes in the stove, wanting to see the effect of the coke. They did not feel that they were still sweating.
But He Xi saw it and said, "That's fine. You can send someone to get some herbal tea. It doesn't have to be too good. It just needs to quench your thirst. Or you can make mung bean soup overnight and transport it up in buckets and give it to the craftsmen."
"This------" Xu Baoer was stunned and said.
The eunuchs in the palace have always flattered the superiors and put down the inferiors. They are very concerned about serving the nobles. But these craftsmen are the ones they never take seriously. Now they are allowed to serve these people. Xu Baoer suddenly changed his mind.
But come and bend.
He Xi said: "What? Can't?"
Xu Baoer immediately came back to his senses and said, "How could it not be possible? I will do it now, I will do it now." He just secretly slandered in his heart that this Master He is really a weirdo. What he did to He Xi
Why, it is incomprehensible.
He Xi didn't know what Xu Baoer was thinking specifically. But he could probably guess what he was thinking. Even if he could guess, there was no explanation.
Because during this period of time, He Xi had already realized that the six-hundred-year generation gap was simply a chasm. It was very difficult for most people to understand him.
Communication costs money.
For some unnecessary people, such as Xu Baoer, He Xi has no desire to explain. He just needs to be obedient and do things.
Facts have proved that Xu Baoer is very capable of doing things.
After a while, several large buckets of herbal tea were brought up. Of course, the tea given to He Xi was good tea. There was a little eunuch to wait on He Xi to drink tea.
Although he didn't want to be special, He Xi found that if he was really treated the same as the craftsmen, not only Xu Baoer would be at a loss, but even these craftsmen would probably be uncomfortable. So he just drank tea by himself. He thought to himself: "I guess
Tomorrow morning, molten iron will be produced. I don't know if it is steel."
While He Xi was drinking tea.
Foreman Ge also drank a large bowl of herbal tea.
However, he had no idea what the herbal tea in his mouth tasted. He listened obsessively to the sound of the flames. Under the sound of the blower and other noises, the sound of the burning flames was not clear. It was even very faint. To ordinary people, it was not noticeable at all.
It's just the background sound of chattering and rustling.
But to Mr. Ge's ears, it seemed like the most beautiful sound in the world.
"Really, the temperature has really risen." Foreman Ge thought to himself: "The use of coke can really raise the temperature of the furnace. This temperature is much higher than before. According to Mr. He's temperature theory, it should be at
More than 1,300 degrees."
The reason why Foreman Ge made this judgment was because the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty reached the highest stability, which was about 1,300 degrees. Therefore, he knew what the symbol of 1,300 degrees was, but he did not understand what it would look like if it was above 1,300 degrees.
.
Therefore, he could only judge that the furnace temperature had risen to 1,300 degrees, which was higher than all their previous furnace temperatures. The specific temperature was unknown, but he did not know.
After all, even in the industrial age, judging the furnace temperature is still a big problem. It has even given rise to physical problems.
However, Foreman Ge always felt that something was wrong.
This feeling cannot be explained, because everything is new to these craftsmen, and they don’t know what is normal and what is abnormal.
But Foreman Ge still felt something was wrong. This chapter has been completed!