Chapter 684: Commander Xin's Hesitation (Please vote and subscribe)
Niu Wei took the letter and set off for Qingquan Valley in the northwest of Zhudao. He rode his horse through countless villages along the way, and could always see the influence that the Han tribe brought to Zhudao.
The most common thing was that there were many more carts in the villages, with wheelbarrows being the most common. There were also two-wheeled carts, but they could only be seen in larger villages, where the roads were easier to walk.
Another thing was the textile handicraft industry that the delegation had promoted in Zhudao. Many villages had already purchased spinning machines or looms. In front of the bamboo buildings in various parts of Zhudao, people could often be seen working on the open space at their doorsteps, weaving their own cloth.
Even those small mountain villages that could not afford spinning machines and looms would go everywhere to look for wild hemp grass, harvest them and soak them in the hemp pond, preparing to harvest enough hemp fiber to go to the Han tribe to exchange for spinning machines.
This is just a change at the grassroots level. On the official side of Takeshima, the most obvious change is that there are more horse-drawn carriages on the road. Most of the carriages are loaded with recently harvested grain. Unlike the previous bamboo baskets, the grain is now all packed in sacks, and these sacks are from the hands of thousands of people on Takeshima.
This inconspicuous change alone has brought a leap-forward improvement to Takeshima's transportation capacity.
If the Han tribe is fully involved in Takeshima, how great a change can it bring? Moreover, the Han tribe is about to promote metal currency here. The promotion of metal currency is a comprehensive optimization of people's inherent trading methods. Coupled with the popularization of transportation in the future, the commercial vitality of Takeshima will definitely be boosted. After all, the current population of Takeshima is not much less than that of the Han tribe. Only with population can demand be driven.
There are also comprehensive land and tax reforms, which are the tools for making money. Only when those in power have sufficient financial resources can they do more infrastructure, water conservancy, transportation, transportation, and military projects. These projects can be vigorously developed.
I hope that the silly general will agree to this visit.
Niu Wei was thinking about all sorts of things while galloping towards Qingquan Valley.
. . . . .
. . In a natural cave in Qingquan Valley, this is the technical research and development center of Elder Qi.
Commander Xin and a group of elders were here to inspect and test the first batch of tools they had made. There were all kinds of tools, such as shovels, pickaxes, mattocks for digging, various axes for carpentry, I-saws, hand saws, ink boxes, chisels, hammers, nails, and planers of different sizes.
All of these things were made of light gold metal without exception, or to be more precise, bronze alloy.
Seeing the men under Elder Qi personally using these tools to saw a log into a plank, and then grinding and flattening it with a planer, Commander Xin and other elders could not help but marvel.
"Were these tools invented by the Han leader himself?" Commander Xin asked in surprise.
"According to the craftsmen working at the embassy, it is true. Their Han leader is very young and smart. He invented many things that are very useful and effective. These are just tools. According to what we learned from the craftsmen, their Han leader also designed something called a windmill. Various tools are installed underneath. It does not require manpower. As long as there is wind, those tools can work by themselves. It is very magical.
However, few of the craftsmen in the embassy can make windmills. I heard that the thing is very big, bigger than a bamboo house. The principle of use is probably the sailboat we took that day. Isn't that kind of wooden boat able to travel on the water as long as there is wind?!" Elder Qi explained.
"Well, then is there any way we can imitate it? The wind here is not small. There are strong winds every summer and winter. There are winds all year round near the coast. If there is such a good thing, wouldn't there be a lot more laborers who don't need to eat or drink, don't know fatigue, and keep working? No wonder their Han tribe has developed so fast." Elder Jin also asked with emotion.
"This is a bit difficult, mainly because we have never seen it before, and the craftsmen of the delegation also said that such a large tool cannot be made by one or two craftsmen, and a large number of the best craftsmen must work together.
I heard from the craftsmen of the delegation that their large sailing ships require nearly a thousand craftsmen to work together, and there are countless people preparing materials. By the way, the wood boards they use for shipbuilding are also sawed out by windmills, because that thing does not need to rest, otherwise even their Han tribe cannot produce so many wood boards in a short time." Elder Qi continued to explain, sharing the information he had recently collected from the apprentices. Commander Xin also nodded in agreement
. He had just witnessed the speed of hand-sawing wood, which was very slow, but it must be said that this magical tool is the best way to deal with wood. In the past, let alone the problem of whether it was slow or not, they couldn't even make such a flat wood board, which shows that sawing is still very practical.
As for the reason for the slowness, it may be that the quality of the saws they made is not very good, of course, there is also the reason that the craftsmen are not skilled, but even if their speed is doubled, it is still very slow.
At this rate of sawing wood, it would probably take them several years to collect enough planks for a large ship. Commander Xin had personally taken a sailboat, and he knew very well how many planks and wood blocks would be needed for a ship like that. If there were no windmill sawmill, their shipbuilding plan would probably fail.
Looking at these dazzling array of practical tools, Commander Xin was in high spirits. Although there were not many, and the craftsmen were not yet skilled in using them, they had them. They had already gone through the stage of building something from scratch. How far would it be from mass use and promotion?
So Commander Xin continued to ask, "Elder Jin, can these tools be mass-produced?"
"To answer the great commander, not yet. The metal we are making now, well, the Han tribe calls this kind of thing extracted from the ore metal, and the metal we are using to make tools now is called bronze by the craftsmen of the Han tribe. They call our red gold copper, and all alloys melted with other metals and copper are called bronze.
According to rumors, before the Han tribe had iron tools, they also used bronze weapons, tools and farm tools, but their bronze was melted with copper and a white metal called tin, but we don't have tin, so the bronze we use to imitate tools is melted with our red gold and the iron sold by the delegation. According to them, this is called copper-iron alloy.
So what limits our bronze production is actually how much iron we can get. If there is more iron, then we can naturally make more." Elder Jin, who is responsible for the smelting and casting of bronze, explained.
"Bronze? As long as copper and other metals are melted together, it is called bronze?" Commander Xin didn't quite understand, so he could only continue to ask.
"Yes, Commander."
"Since bronze can be made in this way, can't we use our red gold and platinum to smelt bronze? Is it necessary to use iron?" Commander Xin suggested.
"This is definitely not possible."
Before Commander Xin, an outsider, could continue to ask questions, Elder Jin explained himself.
"Although any alloy made by melting copper together is called bronze, the uses of bronze vary depending on the metals used.
For example, for tools and weapons, the bronze used must have a certain hardness. Our platinum and gold, oh yes, the Han tribe calls them silver and gold. Both silver and gold are relatively soft metals, and their hardness is not as high as that of copper. If these two metals are added to bronze, only bronze that is softer than copper can be obtained. Such bronze cannot be used to make weapons and tools.
For the time being, we can only smelt these three metals, but we don't have The same metal is a hard metal. As for the tin that the Han tribe people mentioned, we have not found it, and we don't know what the ore looks like, let alone whether there is iron.
I heard from the Han tribe delegation that their leader found a small island floating in the sky, and inferred that there was iron ore under the island. As a result, they dug out iron ore.
If this is the case, maybe we should also look for such a place. Even if it is not as big as the island, it would be fine if there is a stone floating in the sky to guide us to the direction of the iron ore. I think it is necessary for the commander-in-chief to search Zhudao comprehensively. "Elder Jin suggested after explaining.
"Haha, you believe this kind of thing, do you really think a mountain can fly in the sky?"
Commander Xin suddenly said with some disdain. He didn't believe this kind of nonsense from the bottom of his heart. According to his understanding, this must be to raise the value of the metal "iron" and deliberately find a sacred reason to label iron as a divine artifact. It's ridiculous that there are really people who believe this kind of thing.
"But they all say it's true. Most people in the Han tribe know it, and many people have seen it with their own eyes. A small mountain is floating in the air. It can't be fake, right?" Elder Jin defended the Han tribe with some belief.
Although he had to admit that what the commander-in-chief said made sense, he couldn't help but think that many people had seen it with their own eyes. Moreover, if such a wonder could be found on Zhudao Island, and he could dig up iron ore and refine the magic iron, then the status of the three elders would definitely be higher. He could even dominate the other two tribes and completely trample on them.
Therefore, for his own benefit, even if it was fake, even if it was made up by the Han tribe to deceive people, he would help the Han tribe to continue to make this bull higher.
Commander Xin frowned in confusion. Could it be true? It's impossible? But so many people have seen it with their own eyes. Just like Elder Jin said, if one person is dazzled, it's impossible for everyone to be dazzled. Besides, it's a small mountain. Even if the young Han leader wants to cheat and create a miracle, he can't do it.
"Great Commander, if you want to know whether this is true or not, there is actually a very simple way." Elder Jin suggested.
"What is it?"
"Hasn't our Shang Elder Niu Wei returned? He has lived in the Han Tribe for more than a year. He must know a lot of things that we don't know. Maybe he has seen the hill in the sky. We just need to find him and ask him." Elder Jin said his own way.
"Yes, yes, Elder Niu has been in the Han Tribe for so long, he must have learned a lot of amazing things. If he can stay and help us, then our Xin Tribe will definitely be able to make more good things." Elder Qi on the side also quickly reconsidered.
"What about him? Is he still in the delegation's residence and hasn't come back yet?" Commander Xin suddenly asked.
"When Elder Niu came back, I was also with the Han tribe delegation. He said he wanted to see the construction of the delegation on our Zhudao Island and the transfer of technology, so that he could provide more appropriate opinions to the commander-in-chief. I heard that he had already rushed here two days ago and might arrive soon." Elder Zhu, who had been silent all the time, heard the commander-in-chief asked about Niu Wei. As one of the few pro-Han elements in the Xin tribe elders, he naturally had the obligation to speak for Niu Wei at this time.
To be honest, Elder Zhu even envied Niu Wei a little. It would be great if he could also go to the Han tribe to study and live for a period of time. Everything in the Han tribe must be very advanced, with tall civil engineering buildings, advanced building materials, practical and solid roads and bridges, and their docks and water ports. They are all objects to learn from. Even if the Xin tribe can't do it now, it doesn't mean that they won't have a chance in the future. If the Xin tribe develops quickly, maybe he can see these good things born in his hands in his lifetime.
"Yeah." Commander Xin responded lightly. In fact, he still had a complicated impression of Niu Wei.
After the previous Shang elder fell out with the Han tribe and was later killed by the Snow Wolf tribe, Niu Wei stood up and not only suggested that they should give in to the Han tribe, but also personally led a team to the Han tribe.
This matter has always made Commander Xin hold his breath. The previous Shang elder just wanted to buy a few cars from the Han tribe and imitate them, but the Han tribe directly killed their people and robbed their things. In this case, Niu Wei not only did not suggest to maintain hostility with the Han tribe, but took the initiative to show goodwill to the other party, which made him very angry.
Although it is clear that Niu Wei is also for the good of the Xin tribe, at least the result is good. After all, it was he who negotiated a transaction order of one thousand carriages with the Han tribe. Although there were some troubles in the final process because of Maodun's dishonesty, which caused a lot of losses to the Xin tribe, the result is barely acceptable.
In addition, this guy's mission provided an opportunity for normal communication between the Han and Xin tribes. Otherwise, there would be no such thing as the Han tribe sending an envoy. Although the Han tribe also has its own interests in what the envoy is doing on Zhudao, the current environment shows that the technological level of the Xin tribe is indeed significantly improving, and the pile of tools in front of him is proof of that.
He doesn't like Niu Wei very much, but Niu Wei still has his own way of doing things. If he has to send an envoy to the Han tribe next time, should he let Niu Wei lead the team or let someone else go?
For a while, Commander Xin was very hesitant in his heart
~~~ May the deceased rest in peace, may the living be strong, and always remember the angels in white who are selflessly dedicating themselves to the front line of the fight against the epidemic!
The
motherland will get better and better! ! ! Come on China! ! ! Come on the world! ! ! (End of this chapter)
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