Chapter 599 Inspection of Liuyang County (Seeking votes and subscriptions)

Luo Chong did not stay in Hanyang County to wait for Jiang Xuan's reply. After two months of training, it is now early October, and the long winter of four months has officially begun. It is also the beginning of Luo Chong's fifth year in this world. There are still many things to do this winter, and he must hurry up. He

rushed to Liuyang County without stopping. Luo Chong found that the changes here are indeed great. First of all, the production capacity of the papermaking workshop has expanded. With the continuous investment of Dashu in the papermaking industry and the rapid consumption of paper products by the Han tribe, the resources of original wood pulp have been exhausted. A large number of papers of various other materials have begun to emerge in Liuyang County.

Bamboo paper, hemp paper, grass paper, bark paper, mixed paper, straw original color paper, these new varieties of paper were finally produced under Luo Chong's deliberate guidance, greatly alleviating the demand for paper products in the Han tribe.

In addition, the artificial river was extended, and villages along the river were built. Facts have proved that Luo Chong's decision was correct. The construction of an artificial river from Liuyang River to Ruyang River was not only to facilitate transportation between the two places, but more importantly, the plains along the river could reclaim more farmland with sufficient water sources.

That's right, these villages outside the city have begun to reclaim a large amount of farmland on both sides of the artificial river. These will have output and tax revenue. The more farmland there is, the stronger the Han tribe is.

After reading these things, Luo Chong, accompanied by Da Shu, came to the Ship Industry Park in Liuyang County. There is a special market here, and various facilities inside serve this shipyard.

The reason why Luo Chong called it a park is not only because it covers a large area, but also because it has produced many subsidiary industries related to shipbuilding.

For example, the newly built nail factory specializes in producing various iron nails, most of which are used for shipbuilding. There is also an iron workshop, which is actually a large blacksmith shop under the official name, specializing in producing ironware for more than 20,000 people in Liuyang County. However, in addition to the farm tools and cooking utensils needed by the people, the most produced here are various shipbuilding tools, saws, hammers, anchors, pulleys, chains, hinges, etc.

However, the only regret is that Liuyang County still cannot produce iron materials, but is only responsible for processing products. All iron materials can only be transported from Hanyang County, because only there are blast furnaces for ironmaking.

In addition to these two iron factories, the largest one is the wood processing plant, which stores a lot of wood, all of which comes from the primeval forests in the north and south directions of Liuyang County. A large number of round logs are placed here for use. Some have just been cut down for a few months and are still drying naturally, while others are old trees that have been piled up since the beginning of the city's construction and can now be used.

The wind-powered sawmill has grown from one to a row, cutting wood boards day and night, providing a steady stream of materials for the shipbuilding business of the Han tribe.

On the other side of the wood processing plant is the newly built government-run textile factory, which produces many products, including felt, woolen cloth, linen, and a workshop specializing in the production of hemp ropes. Without exception, the products here are also mainly for the shipyard. The hemp ropes come out from here and become cables and rigging on the ship, and the cloth becomes a wide sail.

The raw materials here mainly come from two aspects, one is the government-run breeding farm, and the other is the taxes on the private auxiliary fields.

Since the implementation of the land-dividing system, the government has received a batch of taxes from the private sector every quarter. Men grow grain fields to produce food, and women grow mulberry, hemp and vegetables. The Han tribe does not collect vegetables, but hemp skins and silk are taxed, and these collected taxes in kind eventually enter these government-run workshops.

Not all people are willing to sit idle during the long four-month winter. Some women choose to work in textile factories to weave cloth, earn some money to supplement their family income, or save money to buy pens, inkstones, and paper for their children to go to school. Men choose to join shipyards and do some helper work, which can also get some wages every month.

Others are unwilling to work in workshops to do these boring assembly line jobs. Most of them gather in groups of three or five and go out to the mountains to cut down trees. Winter is a good season for logging. The wood has less moisture and no leaves. The price of wood cut in winter is generally higher because such wood takes less time to dry in the shade. It can be exchanged for money immediately after being transported to the wood processing factory, and there is no worry about lack of sales.

In addition to logging, these people are sometimes lucky enough to catch game in the mountains. Whether they keep these extra gains for their own family or sell them in the city, they can exchange them for a lot of money, especially various furs, which are the best-selling goods of the Han tribe.

This situation mainly occurred because the Han tribe did not have enough warm clothes. The Han tribe currently had no cotton, so there was no suitable cotton filling. Felt was OK, but the output was limited, so animal skin became one of the few choices for people.

If you don't want to go out and get cold, you can only stay on your own kang and don't go out, but who can stand it for four months?

After inspecting these newly built workshops, Luo Chong finally arrived at the destination of this trip, the Liuyang County Shipbuilding Workshop.

The shipbuilding workshop has a total of four slipways, and has been working on the assembly line. Because according to the working mode set by Luo Chong at the beginning, four steps are carried out simultaneously, the keel laying link, the shipboard installation link, the waterproof sealing link, and the launching and outfitting link. These four steps must always have a ship on the workbench, otherwise it will be unqualified, so the speed of shipbuilding in the Han tribe is also very fast.

"How many schooners are there now? Including those under construction." Luo Chong looked at the busy craftsmen in the dock and asked the big tree next to him.

"There are 22 ships that can sail after launching. This number includes the three ships in Youfu and the two ships transporting materials at the coal mine. The rest are in Weishan County and are used by Youye to pick up newcomers along the lake.

If you count the ones under construction in the shipyard, there are a total of 26 ships. One of them is being outfitted and will be put into use in four or five days." Dashu thought for a while and reported the number of schooners owned by the Han tribe.

"Well, not bad, how is the construction of the new shipyard going?" Luo Chong asked again. Luo Chong had asked Dashu to prepare for the construction of larger ships as early as half a year ago when he discovered the coal mine. It can be said that he gave Dashu enough time, so he hoped to hear a good answer.

"The new shipyard can barely be put into use. The dock and the water dock have been dug. There is an outfitting position and a launching slide. The capped dry dock has two construction positions and an open-air one. The capping has not been completed yet. It is estimated that all will be completed within a month." Dashu thought for a while and reported again.

Luo Chong nodded, satisfied with the progress, and asked again: "How is the preparation of shipbuilding materials going?"

"To reply to the leader, we have a lot of material reserves, especially wood, but not enough iron. We need more from Hanyang City, otherwise we will have no choice. Hemp ropes and sails are also enough. The textile factory is on the right track. Even if there is some consumption, the affiliated workshops can quickly replenish it. There is no problem."

"Well, OK, I will contact Liuyang County about the iron material. The iron material is a bit tight this year, mainly because the population of Weishan County and the coal mine has increased too much. These new people also need a lot of tools, farm tools and cooking utensils.

But these can't affect our determination to build ships. Only by building more ships can we continuously transport coal mines, so that our iron shortage crisis can be safely overcome." Luo Chong frowned and said firmly.

With the continuous increase in population, more and more production and living utensils are needed, which require a lot of iron materials. However, now only Hanyang City can smelt iron. The Han tribe is not short of high-quality iron ore, but it does not produce much iron. This is something that cannot be solved in a short time. At present, we can only take it slowly, so I listened to Luo Chong.

"If you have time these days, you can discuss it with Yun Zhi of Weishan County. You can provide 3,000 people, and he can provide 5,000 people, plus some slaves. After the spring plowing next year, these people will be moved to Xingang County. Try to build Xingang County within the next year to solve the problem of insufficient steel production capacity as soon as possible."

Dashu frowned. This plan was different from what he had originally thought, so he listened to him and asked.

"Chief, didn't you say that coal must be made into coke before it can be used to make iron? Did we get the order wrong? Shouldn't we give priority to building a coking plant next year? Otherwise, even if Xingang County is built, if there is not enough fuel, there will still be no way to make iron?"

Luo Chong smiled and explained to Dashu.

"The main purpose of dry distilling coal into coke is to remove the impurities inside. Natural coal contains a lot of impurities, especially sulfur. It's not that such coal cannot be used to smelt iron, but the smelted iron has a high sulfur content and is of poor quality. It is definitely not suitable for making weapons, but there is no problem in using it to cast iron pots.

We can build the new Steel County first and use coal to smelt it first. The scrap iron produced can be made into iron pots to cheat people from other tribes. For example, we can use it to trade with the Xin tribe and the grassland tribe to exchange for more important livestock such as cattle and horses for our Han people. In this way, we don't have to worry about them doing anything bad with these iron pots."

"Oh--" Dashu said with sudden enlightenment, and then he understood the details. It turned out that the leader was going to cheat people and trade these scrap irons with others. You thought of it.

"In that case, then I have no problem. I will discuss a migration and city building plan with Yunzhi as soon as possible, and I will ask the leader for instructions at that time."

"Well, sure. Bring out the plan when the time comes. You also need to prepare a meeting room, or a classroom. Then you go and make arrangements. Call all the masters of the shipyard this afternoon. I'm going to hold a work meeting on the construction of the new ship. Everyone must be on time. The project must be launched immediately." Luo Chong nodded and ordered again.

"Yes, I'll arrange it right away." Da Shu responded and quickly asked someone to prepare.

In the afternoon, since the school had not yet closed and there were no vacant classrooms, Da Shu moved the meeting to the big meeting room in the Liuyang County government office area, where there was also a blackboard, which met Luo Chong's needs.

Luo Chong came after lunch and arrived early to draw the structural diagram of the new ship on the blackboard, ready to explain the steps and construction points of the new ship to the craftsmen.

The masters of the shipyard had heard about the new ship a long time ago. After all, the new shipyard next door had been under construction for half a year. They had long known that the leader wanted to develop a new ship type, so they were also highly concerned about this matter.

These masters who can become foremen are undoubtedly the pride of the Han tribe. So many large ships come from their hands, making great contributions to the construction of the Han tribe, which makes them very proud. At the same time, the high salary also makes their living standards rise sharply. In terms of social status alone, the craftsmen of the Han tribe are the envy of everyone.

Many people who volunteer to work in the shipyard in winter are mostly for this reason. They want to learn some skills during the slack season. At that time, they can make anything at home and sell it for money. Even if it is making a small stool and learning a craft, for these people who have just joined the Han tribe, it is a real benefit that can improve their living standards.

Because the leader Luo Chong attaches great importance to manufacturing, the low status of craftsmen in the Han tribe has not occurred in history.

The masters of the shipyard rushed to the meeting room one after another. Many people saw the two new ship structure drawings drawn on the blackboard in front as soon as they entered the door. The new ship type greatly increased their interest, and the size data of each part listed next to it surprised them.

Three vertical masts and a bowsprit, this arrangement of sails means that the new ship has a stronger wind-receiving area, which means that the speed of this ship will be faster. The structure of the sunken ship means that the load-bearing capacity of this ship is greatly increased, and the center of gravity is downward, so the ship will be more stable.

The main structure of another type of building ship is exactly the same as the sunken ship, but the design of four floors above and below represents that this type of ship has a stronger transportation capacity. It is just not convenient to load and unload large goods, but it is much more convenient for transport personnel.

Finally, take a look at the size of the new ship. Wow, it is more than twice as large as the current two-masted sailing ship. The length is 40 meters and the width is 10 meters. Such a huge ship construction task makes many old shipbuilders excited. This is a brand new giant ship type, and it is also a challenge for them. However, there is no fear in their eyes, but a gleam of light.

Papapapapa-

at this time, the building ship walked in from the outside, smiled and clapped his hands, attracting everyone's attention.

(End of this chapter)