Chapter 1261 Insufficient Steel Production
Let’s not talk about the soap workshop in Yecheng for now.
The report of the soap workshop in Hanzhong was finally delivered to Cao Jie.
“My husband, during this period of time, under the arrangement of Diao Chan and Cai Wenji, two new soap production workshops have been built.”
“Now we can stably produce 30,000 soaps every month!”
After reading the report, Cao Jie said happily to Bai Feng.
The profit brought by these 30,000 soaps to the Hanzhong Marquisate is 50,000 taels of silver a month.
This 50,000 taels of silver is the net profit left after deducting the costs of labor and raw materials.
Bai Feng was also surprised after taking the report from Cao Jie and looking at the profit figures.
To be honest, Bai Feng didn’t expect that the soap manufacturing formula that was extracted in order to obtain the steam locomotive drawings provided him with a profit that was not much worse than that of the steam loom.
“With a profit of 50,000 taels of silver a month, Jie’er has made a great contribution, hahaha!”
After putting down the report, Bai Feng took Cao Jie into his arms and smiled happily.
Next, the manufacture of steam locomotives and the construction of railways will require a lot of silver.
Yamatai will not be able to provide Hanzhong with silver and steel in a short time.
In addition, the mining and purchase of coal will also cost a lot of silver.
Bai Feng felt that it was a very correct arrangement for him to hand over the soap workshop to Cao Jie.
Cao Jie felt Bai Feng's joy and was also very happy.
This was the first time she helped Bai Feng so directly in his career.
"It's all arranged by my husband. If it weren't for the soap provided by my husband, Jie'er wouldn't have achieved what he has today."
Leaning her head on Bai Feng's chest, Cao Jie said softly.
"I will help my husband make more money in the future so that the industrialization that my husband talks about can be realized earlier!"
At the same time, Cao Jie made up his mind silently in his heart.
Bai Feng was moved when he heard this, and silently hugged Cao Jie tightly, and the two enjoyed a warm moment.
Then Bai Feng also picked up the letter sent by Zhong Geng Zhuzi in the R&D center.
"The R&D center's steam locomotive manufacturing has also made another breakthrough."
Previously, Geng Zhuzi, Li Tiedan, Wang Gang, Xu Dali and six other craftsmen had already conquered the power system of the steam locomotive.
This time, the entire locomotive of the steam locomotive was manufactured.
This means that 60% of the manufacturing work of the steam locomotive has been completed.
The next thing to do is to actually test the performance of the steam locomotive on the rails.
But now Bai Feng is no longer in Hanzhong, and the construction of the railway has not yet been carried out.
This time, Geng Zhuzi wrote to Bai Feng, in addition to reporting the good news, he planned to build a small section of rails on the open space outside the R&D center to test the performance of the steam locomotive.
"It won't take too long to complete the manufacturing of the entire steam locomotive."
Bai Feng believes that according to Geng Zhuzi's current manufacturing progress, the entire steam locomotive should be manufactured after they return to Hanzhong.
In addition, Geng Zhuzi now needs a lot of steel to build rails and steam locomotive carriages.
The output of the steam engine production line has now increased by 30% again, and three steam engines can be produced every day, and at the same time, the consumption of steel is also greater.
"Geng Zhuzi wrote to me this time, hoping that I can help him solve the problem of insufficient steel as soon as possible."
Bai Feng said this to Cao Jie, Cao Jie thought for a while and then asked Bai Feng:
"My husband, can you buy a batch of iron ore from General Xiahou?"
Yizhou is rich in mineral resources. If Xiahou Dun can sell a batch of iron ore to Bai Feng, the problem of lack of steel in the R&D center can be solved.
Bai Feng shook his head slightly after hearing this, and said to Cao Jie in a deep voice:
"If I buy a large amount of iron ore from General Xiahou during this period, the impact of spreading it will probably be great."
Steel is mainly used to make armor and weapons.
At present, only Xiahou Dun and the gentry in Yizhou know that Bai Feng needs steel to make steam engines.
If Bai Feng buys iron ore in Yizhou and spreads it to Yecheng, Cao Cao will have doubts about Bai Feng, and now he will make his suspicions real.
Moreover, for Bai Feng, the source of iron ore is controlled by Xiahou Dun, and the longer the time, the more Hanzhong's production will rely on the resources of Yizhou.
Cao Jie also had some understanding in her heart after hearing this.
Following Bai Feng, her perspective on the problem has changed a lot.
After guessing Bai Feng's concerns, Cao Jie said to Bai Feng with some concern:
"If there is a lack of iron ore, not only will the production of steam engines be restricted, but the manufacture of steam locomotives will also be a big problem."
"How are we mining Hanzhong's minerals now?"
Cao Jie thought about it and found that this matter can only be self-sufficient.
Bai Feng had given Geng Zhuzi a mineral distribution map of Hanzhong before.
It's just that the difficulty of mining the minerals on this map is a bit high.
There is no problem if you want to mine on a small scale. The iron ore used by the R&D center before came from this, including coal.
If you want to mine on a large scale, the difficulty will increase a lot.
First of all, the distribution of minerals is mostly in the mountains and forests.
If you want to open a mine, you must first solve the problem of trees on the mountain. The most labor-saving way is to set fire to the mountain.
However, Bai Feng will not resort to the strategy of setting fire to the mountain unless it is absolutely necessary.
The trees on the mountain are high-quality resources for Bai Feng. The large-scale burning of mountains to mine iron ore and coal mines will also affect the lives of the people in Hanzhong in the mountainous area.
Because the number of common people in Hanzhong is increasing now, the people living at the foot of the mountain are no longer just small villages with dozens of households.
The resettlement of the population alone is enough for Bai Feng to expend a lot of energy.
"Small-scale mining is no problem, but large-scale mining is a problem in terms of site, transportation, and craftsmen."
Bai Feng rubbed his eyebrows and replied softly to Cao Jie.
In addition, Hanzhong has basically abolished corvee service, which is a miserable thing for the people.
This is also the reason why Hanzhong’s population is growing rapidly.
He could not force the people to mine for him in the name of corvee. Bai Feng would have to pay a large amount of extra money.
After much deliberation, Bai Feng thought that high explosives would be found.
Otherwise, mining is both labor-intensive and time-consuming.
It happened that what Bai Feng needed most was time. The sooner the steam train was built and opened to traffic, the more beneficial it would be for Bai Feng.
"Don't worry Jie'er, I already have an idea to solve the ore problem, we just have to wait until we return to Hanzhong before we can start working on it."
Bai Feng, who originally didn't want high explosives to come out so early, now has no other better way.