"Oh! Boss! You miss me so much..."
Jia Fugui was ecstatic.
He has been worried that the revolutionary army will be wiped out, or that the shorthair will never return. Although he has already received benefits, God knows what new tricks the shorthair has.
Li Zicheng smiled and asked: "How are things made?"
"The commander-in-chief has new equipment and wonderful methods, and the steel produced is nothing but fine steel!" Jia Fugui smiled into a chrysanthemum face.
Generally speaking, craftsmen rely solely on their character to make steel, which sometimes works well and sometimes fails. In fact, it simply means decarburization, deoxidation, dephosphorization, desulfurization, degassing and impurities, and adjusting the composition and temperature. The simplest method is to use an acidic or alkaline furnace according to the raw materials, and then
Add quicklime to remove impurities, blow air to remove carbon, etc.
Of course, the current conditions are limited, and Li Zicheng's iron and steelmaking method is relatively crude, which is a shame to the whole world.
The earthen blast furnace is short and fat in shape, with many air outlets and slag outlets, and uses anthracite coal. If the sulfur content is high, the coal can be washed by earthen methods and soaked in lime water.
No matter how demanding the parts are, they are put into the crucible and steel is made with coke or charcoal.
Jia Fugui got a little red book - "How Steel Was Tempered".
Now this fat man is absolutely invincible in smelting.
In view of the current limited conditions, Li Zicheng stipulated all the detailed steps so that skilled craftsmen can get started with a little help. The most indispensable thing around here is old craftsmen.
Fatty Jia welcomed the commander into the back room, opened the cabinet, and new gadgets such as rifle parts, grenade shells, bulletproof inserts, etc. appeared in front of him.
Li Zicheng picked them up and inspected them carefully, praising them all the time.
Jia Fugui said happily: "Commander, if it's acceptable, can we do it?"
Li Zicheng nodded, "Go for it! Can you make a thousand sets of each by the end of the year?"
Jia Fugui's face fell, "The steel piece is okay, but other small parts and seamless pipes are 30% difficult. Your requirements are really high. If there is a slight deviation in the size of this thing, it will be useless. And the bearings are not easy to get.
Only slow work can produce fine work."
"Okay! I see the waterbed outside isn't ready yet?"
"The dam has been repaired. However, the water volume is now low and winter is coming soon. We are planning to go to the waterbed again next year."
"Okay, I'll see how you make the arrangements. I'll think of ways to get the money later... By the way, I'll borrow 30,900 taels first."
"..." Why are there still some details?
"Having trouble?"
"No, no, I will send it over tomorrow morning."
"Take him directly to Qinghua Town, Henan Province and give him to Liu Maodi."
"I know Liu Ermao well! Does the commander-in-chief have business with him? I can do whatever he can do!"
"Don't talk nonsense! You can't bite off more than you can chew. Just take care of this first, and there will be plenty of wealth for you in the future."
Jia Fugui bowed and said, "Thank you, Commander-in-Chief, for your support."
The two chatted for a while, and then Li Zicheng went to the workshop to inspect and improve the craftsmen's skills.
He even made a bowl himself.
It will be polished and shiny, and the light can shine on people.
"This thing won't embroider for three to five years. I'll keep it for you to play with."
Jia Fugui held the stainless steel bowl and marveled.
"Commander, this is no small boast. I can sell 300,000 pieces a year without any problem."
"No way! This thing is difficult to make. It doesn't hurt to leave the recipe to you, but I don't have time to teach you by words and deeds. If you have the ability, just figure it out yourself."
Thank you very much Jia Fugui.
After chatting about things in the factory, Jia Fugui took the commander to visit the Zhang family.
Lao Zhang's father didn't succeed in studying, so he went to "travel as a businessman"; he himself didn't succeed in studying, so he had to inherit the family business.
"Treat the fields, teach furnaces and smelt. Eat lightly and tolerate cravings. Be thrifty and diligent. The lowest servants share the joys and sorrows. I also traveled to Jia Zhongzhou, where I lived in Jifu."
After chatting with each other for a while, Li Zicheng said, "This kid of yours is smart and studies hard. He will be a scholar in two years. He will win the imperial examination at the age of nineteen and become a Jinshi at the age of twenty. If we are destined, we can meet in Yuanwu County, Henan Province."
"
Everyone likes to hear good luck, so Lao Zhang immediately brought a plate of silver and offered it to him.
Li Zicheng refused to accept the offer.
He said to himself, your son later became the governor of Shaanxi and was a grassroots person in the Qing Dynasty. It should be easier to recruit him in the future.
After leaving Zhangjiamen, Li Zicheng reminded Jia Fugui again, "I won't be able to stay long. There are prominent people in the surrounding counties. You need to build more connections. It will be of great use in the future."
Jia Fugui himself was a big businessman, and he was familiar with everyone doing business in the area, but it was difficult to get into the door of an official's house.
Businessmen have money but no status.
The second family visited Lao Yang.
Yang Pu was originally the magistrate of Daxing County in the capital. A few days ago, he learned from a letter from his family that rogue bandits were rampant, so he returned to his hometown.
The north of Runcheng is surrounded by water on three sides. Lao Yang has surveyed the terrain and is currently raising funds to build a stronghold to resist the bandits.
Li Zicheng came here because of his lies and was willing to donate a thousand taels of silver.
Yang Pu was overjoyed, and the two chatted happily.
Li Zicheng suggested to him that there were many abandoned crucibles from local iron smelting, and using these to build a wall could be called a copper wall or an iron wall.
Three hundred years later, the Japs besieged it and could not defeat it even with artillery.
After bidding farewell to Lao Yang and leaving the house, Li Zicheng reminded Jia Fugui, "Don't forget to donate one thousand taels of silver."
"Okay, okay!" Fatty Jia agreed simply.
Rest in Runcheng that night.
The next day Li Zicheng went to the ravine a few miles away.
Guoyu is also a large and wealthy town with nearly 10,000 residents.
The three villages of Guoyu are lying high and low, and the scholars have raised two thousand and five people. It’s amazing!
Wang Zhongzhong is in his early thirties. He inherited the family business when he was fourteen years old and travels between Changlu and Tianjin to do business. Now he has thousands of employees under his name.
The rich man was fond of charity and advocated frugality. He would not wear silk and would not sit in a sedan chair.
According to the regulations of the Ming Dynasty, it was against the rules for merchants to ride in sedan chairs, but no one took it seriously anymore.
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, it was decided that all civil and military officials were not allowed to ride in sedan chairs. "Even if you are an official, you must ride a horse when you go out." No matter the merchants.
Firstly, riding a horse shows martial virtue; secondly, Confucian scholars in the Song Dynasty objected to sitting in a sedan chair, believing that it was inappropriate to replace animals with humans. This can be considered as a reason.
However, the fact that sedan chairs are comfortable, sheltered from wind and rain, and majestic has gradually become more common.
So in the fourth year of Jingtai, the court re-established the rules and officials of third rank and above could ride in sedan chairs.
This leads to some interesting phenomena.
For example, the minister of Guanglu Temple was of the third rank, while the censor of Qiandu of Duchayuan was of the fourth rank. Although the latter's official rank was slightly lower, his real power was much greater than that of Qingshui Yamen. Therefore, the minister of Guanglu Temple was ordered to be appointed as the censor of Qiandu.
Even though I have a history, I will not feel depressed about being demoted, but I feel lucky.
But trouble also arises. The boundary between whether you can ride in a sedan chair is right between the third and fourth ranks. Officials who are transferred to the imperial censor of Qiandu can ride in a sedan when they go to court to express gratitude, but after accepting the appointment, they can only bid farewell to the sedan and change to
horse riding.
Therefore, in "Wanli Yehuobian", there is "carrying a sedan chair to express gratitude and riding to the post". Those officials who were transferred to their posts were excited about making money, but they would inevitably have some regrets that they could not ride in the sedan chair.
Of course, rules are meant to be broken. Why can't I, a sixth-grade official, sit in the sedan chair? I will sit on it.
So in the Hongzhi year, the rules were reiterated again: civil and military officials who should sit in a sedan chair should be rescued by four people. The five cities are responsible for the affairs, the internal and external guards, the garrison and the dukes, marquises, uncles, governors, etc., regardless of age, are not allowed to sit in a sedan chair.
Those who ride in sedan chairs illegally and use eight people without authorization will be reported to the police."
Reiterating the ban can achieve some results, but as time goes by, it gradually becomes looser.
Fifteen years later, in the fourth year of Zhengde, the imperial court felt the need to reiterate the ban, so the above process was repeated.
Twenty-seven years later, that is, the fifteenth year of Jiajing, the imperial court once again stated: "Those under the fourth rank are not allowed to ride in sedan chairs, nor are they allowed to use shoulder carriages."
To be continued...