diskusbooks Chapter 477: Island in the East China Sea.
Chapter 477: Island in the East China Sea.
He Quan smiled and said in a low voice: "The King of Han is too kind to me, I dare not do that."
Youcai smiled and said, "Don't be polite when you are with your brother-in-law. If your brother-in-law bullies you, I will make trouble for him!"
"Yes, I can't afford to offend you, the Minister of the National Cotton, Linen, Silk and Textile Department."
Ye Kun smiled and said, "If I offend you, I won't be able to supply clothing for hundreds of thousands of soldiers and millions of miners."
“There are still tens of thousands of textile workers.”
Jiang Youcai smiled, then suddenly sighed and said, "Brother-in-law, I think those foreign laborers are very hardworking, why don't you ask for more?"
Ye Kun asked: "How many foreign female workers are there in your textile factory now?"
"It's only 20,000. I heard that they all handed over the address."
"Are they obedient?"
"Very obedient, hardworking, and doesn't even ask for salary." Youcai chuckled:
"We advertised that young female workers who had worked for three years and passed the test and could speak Chinese and write 500 Chinese characters would be considered Chinese. We would give them wages, introduce them to potential partners, and give them land and houses. So everyone worked hard and studied hard every night."
"Good, very good. I will give you tens of thousands of female workers after the New Year." Ye Kun nodded slightly.
In fact, the female workers who moved here and entered the textile factory had better conditions than before in their hometown.
Working nine hours a day is not that tiring.
I can’t leave the factory and I don’t get paid.
It would be best for Ye Kun to assimilate these people and let them work in the textile factory, and they can be arranged to study together.
After three years, these people will be able to speak simple Chinese and communicate with local people, and they can marry local people.
The male workers from other ethnic groups who came here for transfer were not so lucky.
They are all assigned to coal mines, iron mines, large rotary kiln factories, lime factories, and cement factories, engaging in heavy physical activities.
He Quan asked: "King of Han, I heard that more than 100,000 people have been transported here from Jiaozhi, and many more will be sent here in the future, right?"
"Yes, I plan to immigrate a million foreign workers from Jiaozhi."
Ye Kun did not hide it and nodded in acknowledgement.
In order to control the entire territory of Jiaozhi, we must increase the proportion of Han people and reduce the proportion of other ethnic groups.
In the next step, Ye Kun also has a reverse immigration plan to relocate hundreds of thousands of Chinese people to Jiaozhi to complete a major blood transfusion.
"Does our Chinese country need so many people? I feel that those people, who have left their homes, are also very... pitiful." He Gang frowned slightly.
Ye Kun nodded and smiled, "You are compassionate, which is good. But do you know how many people our coal mines and iron mines need?"
He Quan thought for a moment and said, "I heard that there are now 200,000 coal miners. There are also about 200,000 iron miners."
"Yes." Ye Kun put down his wine glass and said:
"Ma Zhao, Wu Qiong and Sang Buyi have all warned me that the scale of the coal and iron mines is too large, and they employ too many workers. It looks like a massive construction project, and they are worried that the people will not be able to bear the burden.
Back then, the First Emperor of the previous dynasty built the imperial mausoleum, the Afang Palace, opened the Straight Road and the Chi Road, and dug the Lingqu Canal. Each time, he conscripted hundreds of thousands or even millions of laborers. In the end, the whole world suffered, civil unrest broke out, and the empire collapsed completely. It died in the second generation.
Sang Buyi and others were worried that I would make the same mistake again. But now it seems that I am safe and sound. Do you know why? "
Before Ye Kun, no one in Dading Kingdom mined coal.
The total number of workers engaged in iron ore mining will not exceed 100,000.
Now, there are 200,000 coal miners and 200,000 iron ore miners, and this number is still increasing year-round.
Everyone is worried that the people are burdened too heavily.
He Quan pondered and said, "It should be because coal is durable and has replaced a lot of firewood and hay. Although there are 200,000 people digging coal, the manpower for cutting wood and burning charcoal has been greatly reduced."
"Smart, you hit the point." Ye Kun laughed and explained:
"Wu Qiong and I have personally conducted comparative tests. One person chopping wood is only enough for a family of four for three to five days; one person digging coal is enough for a family of four for two months. If you save a little, it can be used for three months."
In an open-pit coal mine with good conditions, a coal miner can mine at least 500 kilograms of coal a day.
Add soil to make honeycomb briquettes, at least five hundred pieces.
Four pieces of honeycomb briquettes per day are enough for a family of four!
In the past, charcoal was used to smelt iron.
This requires a large number of woodcutters, transporters, charcoal burners, and warehouses for storage.
After using coal, most of the copper, iron, gold and silver mining and smelting abandoned charcoal, which invisibly saved a lot of manpower.
Only in some remote areas where transportation is inconvenient and coal cannot be transported do people continue to use charcoal.
The north has huge amounts of coal and steel resources, which are equivalent to a lot of silver. Of course Ye Kun has to develop them vigorously.
Nowadays, coal is not only used for industrial smelting, but also provided to the military, especially the northern army, which is not unwelcome.
After listening to Ye Kun's explanation and specific data, He Quan nodded and said:
"I understand. Steel is just like coal. More steel makes production more convenient and saves manpower. If the people have enough high-quality iron tools, they will work much faster."
"That's right. That's why I'm vigorously developing coal and iron mines."
Ye Kun drank a glass of wine and said:
"In my budget, I need 500,000 people to dig coal and 500,000 people to mine iron ore. Because the richer the people are and the more developed the society is, the greater the demand for steel and coal will be."
The current development of steel industry has just begun for Ye Kun.
When every household has an iron pot and people don’t feel bad when it breaks, then we can be considered to have achieved a small scale.
In the future, we will use cement and steel bars to build houses, and we will not feel sorry for burying hundreds of thousands of kilograms of steel in a building. This can be considered as the initial completion of the steel industry.
And how could the great navigation be possible without the support of steel?
In the future, the wheels, bearings and axles of horse-drawn carriages and ox-carts will be replaced with iron ones, no matter how many there are, they can be absorbed.
He Quan smiled and said, "With 500,000 people digging iron ore all year round, how much steel can be produced?"
"Ask Youcai how many bearings and shafts there are in the new looms in our textile factory. Those bearings and shafts are all made of steel. Even so, Youcai still argued with me and wanted to replace the old looms with new ones. I told her that there was not enough steel..."
"Yes, that's true."
Youcai nodded and smiled: "Brother-in-law also promised that all the looms will be upgraded in three years. I am still waiting."
Xue Sangu asked: "Are all the 500,000 coal miners and 500,000 iron ore miners going to be captured from outside?"
"No, please come."
Ye Kun chuckled: "I will also invite more young people from Xiongnu, Xiqiang, Goguryeo, Fusang, Jiaozhi, and Tianzhu to come and learn our technology. Then I will send our people to their places to teach them our technology."
In the past, Ye Kun had never thought about global colonization.
It’s different now. With a powerful naval fleet, we can’t find a decent opponent in the world!
He Quan turned his head and looked at the large map on the wall, and suddenly asked: "The island of Fusang in the East China Sea is long and curved. Is there an emperor there?"