The craftsman did not understand the drawings drawn by Liu Xiang.
The blacksmith was frightened and looked like he wanted to ask but didn't dare.
"Come here." Liu Xiang waved and pointed at the drawings to explain:
"This is a mold for shaping adobe. It consists of two parts. Here is a cylinder without a bottom. There are twelve uprights as thick as a little finger inside. There is a four-foot-long handle on the outside of the cylinder. The other is a
A lotus root-shaped iron piece that can move in and out of the cylinder is connected to a handle that goes through a small hole on the other side of the cylinder to facilitate pushing the adobe out of the cylinder."
Seeing that the engineer still didn't understand, he asked: "Is there any lotus root here?"
"have."
"Go get one."
The engineer hurriedly ran out, and soon came back panting with a lotus root more than three feet long.
Liu Xiang broke off a section and cut off both ends, leaving only the middle section three or four inches high. He said to the engineer: "This is a piece of adobe with a diameter of five inches and a height of four inches. There are twelve holes in the middle. How can it be done?"
You can make molds yourself if you want."
With the actual object, although the dimensions did not match, the engineer had figured it out and hurriedly made samples with the drawings in hand.
The briquette business has a good prospect. There is a big market for consumables such as fuel. Its cost is very low and there is no technical content. The most tedious step is to smash the coal into powder. In fact, you can also use a roller or a stone.
grind.
Coal mining in the Han Dynasty was done manually, and most of what was mined was lump coal. The best ones were all taken away, leaving only the debris.
At the ratio of eight parts coal to two parts soil, add a little lime, add water, stir and mud, and use a mold to press it into a honeycomb-shaped briquette with a diameter of five inches and a height of four inches, just like making adobe.
Clay is added to shape and extend the burning time, make the flame mild, and prevent soot from scattering. Lime is added to reduce sulfur. Adding water to lime becomes hydrated lime, which is composed of calcium hydroxide. After ignition, it reacts with sulfur to form calcium sulfate.
and water, it can remove the choking smoke of sulfur dioxide and the odor of hydrogen sulfide.
The purpose of promoting briquettes is not to make a lot of money, but to find a way for caravans to make money.
The caravans under his command have begun to divide. The larger ones have left Youzhou and opened up the southern trade route with livestock, salt, pottery, and high-quality furs, in exchange for grain, raw lacquer, silk, lacquerware and other commodities, and profits.
Not small.
Especially offshore trade makes a lot of money.
But there are still many people who have insufficient capital and are honest. Their children at home have not made any achievements. They have not obtained many in-demand commodities and still carry burdens at home. Such small peddlers can barely make ends meet.
Liu Xiang wanted to find some ways to make money so that honest people could make money.
Briquettes are a business that is in demand and can last for a long time. It requires a little hard work and effort, so it is suitable for these people.
We are all members of the military. Let alone a bowl of water, we must find a way to make them prosperous together.
The mold was completed quickly. For these skilled craftsmen, the most difficult thing was to understand Liu Xiang's ideas.
There was no shortage of coal either. Someone had already smashed it into fine powder, then directly added soil, lime, and water and stirred it evenly. Liu Xiang just moved his mouth the whole time, and a dozen coal cakes were made...
Take it to the stove to dry it. In fact, it can be dried naturally in the shade, which only takes two or three days. But Liu Xiang didn't want to wait. He wanted to light it on the spot to see the burning effect.
Small blue flames emerge softly from the pores. After burning, the smoke is very small, almost invisible to the naked eye, and the smell is not choking. If burned in the furnace, the smell and smoke will be even smaller.
As he thought, it was successful.
"This briquette is better than charcoal and doesn't choke when burning." Zhao Yun praised at the side.
Liu Xiang shook his head: "It's definitely not as good as high-quality charcoal, let alone silver frost charcoal and animal charcoal. But fortunately, the cost is low and the price is not too expensive. People with a little wealth can afford it.
"
In fact, many people still cannot afford it. They collect firewood by themselves. No matter how cheap briquettes are, they still cost money, and they are reluctant to part with them.
"How much do you plan to sell it for, my lord?"
When Zhao Yun asked, Liu Xiang really didn't know how much the price should be. Coal had not yet flowed into the private sector, so there was no market price for reference.
“How much does charcoal cost?”
Zhao Yun thought for a moment: "Ordinary charcoal costs two or three kilograms per kilogram, while high-quality charcoal is more expensive. Pricing varies from two or three kilograms per kilogram to more than ten kilograms per kilogram."
Liu Xiang thought about it and felt that the price should be about the same as that of ordinary charcoal, otherwise there would be no competitive advantage. He turned to the Hainan worker and asked, "How much does it cost to dig a pound of coal?"
"Reporting to the general, there is no money to dig coal. Now the coal mines are all hard labor. Two meals a day are enough. One person can dig at least 150 kilograms a day."
It was in vain to ask. He could only calculate the costs himself. The labor cost of a laborer in the mine was about 200 yuan, food was 100 yuan a month, and the wear and tear of clothing and tools was also 100 yuan. He could dig coal for 4,000 yuan a month.
Five hundred pounds.
Roughly speaking, one penny is a little more than ten kilograms.
"In the future, coal will be sold to the outside world. Only low-quality crushed coal will be sold. The price is tentatively priced at three kilograms per qian. A honeycomb briquette weighs about two kilograms and is tentatively priced at one qian per piece."
The work officer quickly recorded it.
"Don't be too rigid, just follow the market."
"only."
The drawings of the mold, the formula of briquettes, and the production process were also recorded by the engineer and included in the supervisor's files.
Liu Xiang wants to open a coal factory in every county, select military caravans to operate in the local area, select those who can only endure hardships and work hard, and send people from the supervisory committee to teach them the skills.
^0^Technology, they are responsible for the production and transportation, and they hold 50% of the shares.
There is no need for them for marketing.
Neither will they.
"Recruit some people from Haiyang for 150 yuan per month to transport coal to various counties. The local coal factory seizes the time to make a batch of briquettes, which I will use. I will also bake a batch in the furnace. The sooner the better.
.”
Liu Xiang has two ways to promote the market, official purchase and giving to big customers for trial use. With his name, those rich people will always buy another batch, otherwise it will not be eye-catching. As long as they use it for a period of time, the briquettes will impress them.
Seeing that the government and wealthy people are using briquettes, wealthy people will naturally be interested. With the cost-effectiveness of briquettes, the market will open up. As for future operations, he will not care about it.
The market has been opened, local franchises have been provided, technology has been provided, and raw materials have been delivered to your doorstep. If you can’t do this, what else can you do? Go home and take care of your children.
Anyway, the cost is not high, the compensation won’t be much, no lives will be lost, it’s no big deal.
He just provides a path, how to take it is other people's business.
The general supervisor began to promote briquettes. They had the most contact with caravans and were the most familiar with the situation. Tiqi sent people to supervise.
Liu Xiang left Hainan on the same day and set out to inspect various places. He first went to the iron mines in Haiyang, then to the fields and granaries in Lingzhi, the weaving workshops and coal mines in Tuyin, and then to Hunu and Yuyang via Wuwen.
.
After staying in Hunu and Yuyang for a few days, we continued south and went to Jundu County to have a look at Juyong Pass. Shanggu County was quiet and did not dare to cause trouble.
Continuing southward, he caught up with the army in Jixian, leaving Wang Xing, the left-wing military commander, to garrison troops here. Liu Xiang led the Chinese army south to Zhuoxian, which was the final destination.
On November 17, Zhen Yi took the lead and led a large group of people ten miles out of the city to welcome Liu Xiang in triumph.
Dear, this chapter is finished, I wish you a happy reading! ^0^