Chapter 536: The Steel Mill
The group's convoy soon arrived at the steel mill.
Interestingly, on their way to the steel mill, they encountered a convoy. Each vehicle was piled high with iron ore, pulled by oxen and horses, and heading towards the steel mill.
Qiu Qianfan, seeing so much iron ore, couldn't help but be startled. "My, so many carts of iron ore!" he exclaimed. "How long did it take to dig all this? Are you just bringing a huge accumulation of stock to the steel mill all at once?"
The manager of the transport convoy hurriedly bowed to the Prefect, reporting, "Your Excellency, Prefect, this is three days' worth of cargo."
"Three days?"
Qiu Qianfan was greatly astonished. "In just three days, you can dig so much?" he asked. "With such high output, why did Puzhou always lack iron before?"
The manager explained, "Before, we used traditional methods of mining, carrying loads on our shoulders and lifting by hand, which was naturally slow. Now, we've built small tracks inside the iron ore pits. Small carts run on these tracks, pulled by gear winches, allowing us to transport ore out of the pits rapidly. Miners inside the pit only need to dig, then load the ore into the carts. People outside the pit operate the winches, and the carts bring the ore out... This way, mining is much faster than before."
Qiu Qianfan murmured thoughtfully, only half understanding. He didn't quite grasp what a 'gear winch' was, but he understood that carts could rapidly transport ore out. It was no wonder, then, that efficiency had increased so dramatically.
It was unclear if it was because the two convoys had suddenly joined together, startling the animals, but one ox pulling a mining cart suddenly became agitated, jerking violently and pulling the cart behind it askew, nearly overturning it.
Everyone pushed together, with a collective grunt of effort, and pushed the mining cart upright again.
They then remained by the cart, the driver having calmed the ox. As the convoy continued forward, the soldiers guarded the cart, some even lending a hand to push, creating a scene of cheerful camaraderie.
Qiu Qianfan watched this scene unfold, thinking to himself: *When Padi Tu first entered the city with Xing Honglang, he had seemed like a foolish, simple bandit, yet he lacked the fierce brutality of common outlaws.*
He then glanced back at his own yamen runners. These men, regarding the cart driver's predicament, had treated it entirely as a spectacle, not a single one offering to help.
Qiu Qianfan mused privately: *The discipline of these 'bandits' is better than that of the regular soldiers, even better than my own yamen runners. This is truly an eye-opener.*
Soon, the steel mill was upon them!
Ahead lay a vast complex of buildings, forming a massive settlement.
The entire complex was enclosed by long concrete walls, featuring a colossal iron gate that faced the paved road. A long line of characters was inscribed on the gate: "The Third General Steel Mill."
Qiu Qianfan asked curiously, "The Third Mill? Is this truly the third steel mill you've built?"
Gao Yiye smiled. "Yes, the Third Mill."
Qiu Qianfan couldn't resist asking further, "Then where are the First and Second Mills?"
Gao Yiye replied, "The First Mill is in Chengcheng County, and the Second is in Heyang County. So this is the Third Mill. However... the human resources available in Chengcheng County and Heyang County can't compare to Puzhou. So while this Puzhou facility is named the Third Mill, it's actually our largest. It's only just getting started now; it will grow even larger in the future."
Qiu Qianfan glanced at the massive mill, which was comparable in size to his own prefectural city, and thought to himself: *Only just getting started? And it's already nearly as large as my entire prefectural city? What exactly are they building in here?*
Impatient to discover more, he stepped inside and saw dozens of enormous smelting furnaces. Each furnace stood twelve feet high, clearly capable of holding at least a thousand catties of iron each. Smoke and flames billowed forth, their red glow painting the sky.
Qiu Qianfan gasped. "Such an immense scale!" he exclaimed. "These furnaces, they remind me of the iron smelters the imperial court built in Zunhua, Hebei."
At this time, the Ming court's iron production capabilities were actually quite formidable. The ironworks in Zunhua, Hebei, were a prime example, with rows of furnaces relentlessly smelting iron.
The technology currently employed at Gao Family Village's steel mill, introduced by Song Yingxing, was identical to the furnace technology used by the court in Zunhua, Hebei. No wonder Qiu Qianfan found them so familiar.
Gao Yiye said, "Bandits run rampant across the land. General Xing, now serving as the Puzhou Garrison Commander, must protect Puzhou from the threat of these outlaws. Is it not perfectly reasonable to smelt more iron and forge more weapons?"
Qiu Qianfan stammered, "Uh... reasonable! Indeed, forging more weapons is entirely appropriate."
No sooner had he finished speaking than they passed a workshop. Peering inside, he saw blacksmiths forging strange iron bars, exceptionally long, thick, and sturdy. Workers laid these bars on the ground, connecting them, measuring them, making adjustments, then picked them up to hammer them again.
Qiu Qianfan mused, "No matter how I look at it, those don't seem like weapons."
Gao Yiye clarified, "Those are railway tracks. They're forging railway tracks."
"Railway tracks?" Qiu Qianfan was greatly puzzled. "What exactly are railway tracks?"
Gao Yiye smiled. "Railway tracks are laid on the ground, making it easier for large carts to run on them," she explained. "With these, large iron carts can rapidly transport weapons to the front lines. If there are more weapons, faster transportation is needed, right? That's quite reasonable, isn't it?"
Qiu Qianfan nodded. "Uh... reasonable! Indeed, transportation should definitely be strengthened."
He continued walking forward. This time, he finally saw weapon production in full swing. A large group of blacksmiths, wearing Yellow Hats, were working under the direction of a Blue Hat foreman, forging firearms. However, they were only responsible for crafting a single component of the firearm: the barrel. They paid no heed to anything else. The barrels they forged were all measured with a standardized ruler, to ensure every single one had the same diameter.
Hundreds of barrels were already stacked on the ground. If each of these barrels were to be made into a firearm, that would amount to hundreds of weapons.
Qiu Qianfan drew a sharp, cold breath. "I asked you to forge weapons, not to produce this many firearms!" he exclaimed. "A few of these might be acceptable, but producing so many... are you planning a rebellion?"
Gao Yiye tilted her head. "Many? Not at all! These are just a few hundred. When bandits attack, they come in tens of thousands. If Wang Jiayin's Right Prime Minister, Zijing Liang, were to lead his forces here, that would be an army of three hundred and sixty thousand! How could a mere few hundred firearms be enough? We are different from those high officials in the imperial court. They are far from the bandits, whereas we are close. Who knows, one day three hundred and sixty thousand bandits might appear right at our doorstep. Is it not perfectly reasonable for us to forge ten or twenty thousand firearms?"
Qiu Qianfan stammered again. "Uh... reasonable! There are too many bandits; a small number of firearms simply isn't enough."
The two continued walking, passing through the workshops, to a staff canteen at the back.
It was still half an hour before mealtime, but some workers were already "collecting their meals" here. They stood in a long queue at the canteen entrance, holding their lunchboxes...
Gao Yiye chuckled. "Your Excellency, Prefect, would you like to experience our staff canteen?"
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