Chapter 414 Diamond (reviewed in the previous chapter)
According to the theory of the limits of imperial territory, the entire area controlled by the empire has limits.
Transportation technology is the best way to increase the boundaries of an empire.
A well-developed transportation system can promote internal business ties and strengthen cultural ties across the country.
It can be said that the construction of railways is the key to the transformation from an ancient country to a modern country.
Li Yan is concerned about the two railways that players are currently building in full swing.
After the wooden track railway between Zhangye and Wuwei was successfully opened to traffic, this railway quickly exerted its value.
A large amount of supplies quickly shuttled between Zhangye and Wuwei, and the distance between the two cities was shortened to half a day.
At this time, Zeng Mu from Jiuquan City could not sit still. He immediately invited Zhan Yaguang and proposed to build a railway between Jiuquan and Zhangye.
Zhan Yaguang happily agreed. While investigating, he came to Jiuquan City and met Zeng Mu at the Prefectural Governor's Office.
Zeng Mu immediately said: "General Engineer Zhan, is it difficult to build a railway between Jiuquan and Zhangye?"
Zhan Yaguang said: "Compared with the plains between Zhangye and Wuwei, the terrain between Jiuquan and Zhangye is not flat. It is impossible to build a railway line as straight as the Wuhan-Zhangjiakou Railway. If wooden rails are used like the Wuhan-Zhangjiakou Railway,
The wear and tear will be relatively large, and accidents may easily occur.”
"So my suggestion is not to use the wooden rails, just get on the rails."
Zeng Mu asked: "Going to the railway track? But what's the cost?"
Jiuquan is not rich now!
The biggest pillar industries are pharmaceuticals and dyes. Jiuquan blue dyed cloth sells well throughout Longyou. Even food merchants recognize this high-grade dye that will not fade after washing.
The pharmaceutical industry is even more profitable. After Zhang Chen and Wang Xue's pharmaceutical factories launched the drug allicin, they have already started the breeding of penicillin.
Salicylic acid, Suxiao Jiuxin Pills, and Allicin have become famous in Longyou, and foreign businessmen are also rushing to buy these miraculous medicines.
However, these two pillar industries belong to the current high-tech industry. Although the profits are huge, the research and development costs are also quite high.
Most of the profits of dye factories and pharmaceutical companies are used to develop new products, and they can pay very little taxes.
The expenses of Jiuquan Yamen are mainly supported by several mines in Jiuquan.
Jiuquan has iron ore, marble ore and other resources, and more importantly, Jiuquan is rich in reserves of Glauber's salt.
Glauber's salt is an important raw material for making explosives and an important raw material for the chemical industry.
However, mining is also an industry that relies heavily on assets and investments. Although Zeng Mu has used various methods, only Glauber's salt ore is currently being mined in Jiuquan.
Compared with Zhangye City, which has more diverse industries, a larger population, and more prosperous trade, Jiuquan is not as wealthy.
Even Zhangye did not use the rail plan, and Zeng Mu was worried about the cost.
Zhan Yaguang said: "In the long run, the cost of wooden rail railway is actually not small."
"Wooden rails need to be replaced for a long time and require frequent maintenance. Wooden rails and railway rails are actually equivalent to two games."
"The construction cost of wooden rails is not high, but the maintenance costs in the later period are scary. It is equivalent to a free krypton gold card game, and the subsequent investment is a bottomless pit."
"Zhangye has a large population and rich human resources, which can support such a gameplay, but what about the population of Jiuquan?"
Zeng Mu also shook his head.
There are three towns in Hexi—Jiuquan, Zhangye, and Wuwei. Zhangye is the most populous.
Wuwei was created because Fang Guan was messing around when he was the governor. Now Wuwei has absorbed many refugees from the Central Plains, and its population is also growing rapidly.
Only Jiuquan has a much smaller population than the two cities, which is why mine owners and players are reluctant to invest in Jiuquan.
Mining also requires people, and there are really too few people in Jiuquan.
Zhan Yaguang said: "Railway is a one-time deal. The initial investment cost is high, but the later maintenance cost is low, and it is durable. You can see in the real world that many railway lines that have been used for hundreds of years are still open."
"This is equivalent to a one-time buyout game. Although the initial investment is relatively large, the later maintenance investment in money and manpower is relatively small, which is more suitable for Jiuquan's situation."
Zeng Mu sighed, he naturally understood this truth.
But the governor's office really has no money!
Issuing railway bonds is something that a wealthy big city like Zhangye can do.
But in a city like Jiuquan, there are definitely not many people buying the bonds issued.
As for asking the Governor's Office for money, don't even think about it.
Jiang Lun, who is in charge of the finance of the Dudu Mansion, is even more iron rooster than a rooster. The attitude of the Dudu Mansion towards the construction of railways in various places is as follows:
There is unlimited policy support, but not a penny financially.
Zeng Mu could only ask Zhan Yaguang to stay in Jiuquan temporarily while he would think of ways to make some money.
Compared with Zeng Mu's embarrassment, Qin Chuan can be said to be wealthy!
The Dangjinshan Railway connecting Tuyuhun and Longyou was built to the highest standards from the beginning.
Railway tracks, steam trains, what Qinchuan pursues is one step at a time!
The steam engine workshop of Wu Zhonghua and Wu Gang father and son has moved to Dangjin Pass.
Qin Chuan looked at the rumbling heavy hammers in the rail factory and felt extremely excited.
I saw the steam-driven weight rising high and then hitting the red iron ingot.
Under the control of workers, the iron ingots gradually turned into railroad tracks.
After the installation of the steam engine weight, the production efficiency of the entire rail factory was greatly improved. Now the iron ore and coal mines near Dangjinshan Pass have been connected by rails.
Qin Chuan took Jian Xia to inspect the rail factory. He said to Jian Xia:
"All the slave workers who used to work in the rail factory have been replaced by skilled workers invited by Longyou. Each worker has twenty acres of land to settle down and shares in the rail factory. They can enjoy the rails every year.
The factory’s dividends.”
"I dug these all from Dashuixia. The entire rail factory spent more than the other factories combined."
Qin Chuan's face was full of pain. The last time Jian Xia came to the railway track factory to look around, he found that he was using Tibetan slaves to operate the machinery, causing constant accidents in the railway track factory, so he sprayed Qin Chuan.
Qinchuan gritted his teeth and replaced all these slave workers, and hired a group of skilled workers from Longyou with huge sums of money.
It has to be said that the effect is remarkable. Looking at the sign on the wall that reads "Safe Production for Thirteen Days", Jian Xia said:
"The metallurgical industry has very high technical requirements. If an explosion occurs due to improper operation, the loss will be much greater than this salary."
"With these technical backbones, you can recruit some smart and studious indigenous people to study behind you, and organize a few night school training classes, and the number of industrial workers will soon increase."
Qin Chuan nodded quickly: "We have already begun to train our own industrial workers. The main reason is that the education in Tuyuhun area is too backward, and we still need to complete literacy courses first."
Qinchuan is a Han nationalist, so of course he can only train skilled workers from Han people!
However, the Han people who can be found today were all slaves of the Tubo people in the past, and it would take a lot of effort just to bring them into the civilized era.
Qinchuan could only choose apprentices from young Han people.
He was also afraid that Jian Xia would scold him for employing child labor again, so Qin Chuan did not let these apprentices come out to work today.
The railway track factory in Jinshankou is like a factory after the first industrial revolution, with erupting steam engines, a large number of precision gears and levers, and rotating assembly lines. Standing in the factory, you can feel the power of the steam engines.
But when Qin Chuan and Jian Xia walked into the factory that produced steam engines, they lost any sense of technology.
Under the guidance of Wu Zhonghua, WISCO is polishing the core precision components of a new steam engine. Who would have thought that the core components of the steam engine, which represents the harbinger of industrialization and automation, are actually filed out bit by bit like a manual workshop.
Most components of this steam engine workshop are still produced manually. After Wuhan Iron and Steel's workshop moved here, it has only produced one steam engine, which is the steam engine weight used in the rail factory.
For such production efficiency, it is quite unindustrial.
Jian Xia watched Wuhan Iron and Steel filing out qualified parts bit by bit, and couldn't help but said to Wu Zhonghua:
"Mr. Wu, can the lathe still come out?"
Wu Zhonghua, an old eighth-level fitter, was very calm. He said: "It is not difficult to make other parts of the lathe, but the turning tool is difficult to make."
"It is said that without diamond diamonds, you can't do porcelain work. This turning tool with qualified hardness is the most critical."
Qin Chuan asked: "How can I get turning tools with qualified hardness?"
Wu Zhonghua looked at Jian Xia beside Qin Chuan and said, "Then let this worker Jian think of a way to make a high-hardness alloy blade."
Jian Xia smiled and said: "Mr. Wu, please don't make fun of me. I'm just a doctor, not an academician."
"And with Datang's technological level, even academicians can't create high-strength alloys. We'll have to use soil."
Qin Chuan asked: "A local method?"
Wu Zhonghua said: "If we can't make high-hardness alloys, we can only use expensive soil methods, and that is to use diamonds."
"diamond?"
Wu Zhonghua nodded and said: "Yes, the Mohs hardness of diamond is 10, and it can cut through most metals. And you don't need a whole diamond, just embed a small diamond in the head of the knife."
Qin Chuan was stunned again: "Well, aren't these diamonds only found in South Africa? Where can I get diamonds now?"
Jian Xia said: "That's not true. Diamonds are not only found in South Africa, but there are also diamond mines in Russia and some areas in North Africa."
"The diamonds in these places are not as big as those in South Africa, but they are more than enough to make drill bits."
Qin Chuan immediately said: "Then I will go to the big food merchant immediately and see if I can buy diamonds!"
Seeing that Qin Chuan could solve his own problem, Wu Zhonghua also gave Qin Chuan a picture and said: "Next month, my apprentices will be able to enter the game, and the production speed will be accelerated by then. I estimate that next month
The prototype of the steam train will be built by the end of the month."
Hearing this, Qin Chuan was overjoyed. Hearing that Zhangye was also going to build a railway track, Qin Chuan came over anxiously to inspect it. The honor of being the first railway track in this game must go to Tuyuhun!