Of course, even if there are sufficient troops, the Shilu Iron Mine is not as easy to develop as the Jiaozhi Coal Mine. It is originally located in the mountains. The seven or eight kilometers away from the shore are all mountain roads. If you want to be quick and convenient,
To transport iron ore out quickly, you need to build a road or a small railway!
Whether it is a road or a small railway, in this era, it means huge consumption.
Today, according to incomplete statistics, the number of workers currently employed in the dock area has reached more than 4,300, and an additional 1,000 people have been trained in the regiment.
But those hired workers are now a carrot and a pit, and none of them is idle.
It cost more than 500 people just to build and level the salt field. Even if the salt field is built, at least 100 people will be left to operate it.
In addition, the farms outside the dock area also consumed more than 1,300 people, and the construction team consumed more than 2,100 people!
No way, in order to build the glass factory building, soap factory building and subsequent chemical industry, steel and other series of factories required by the industrial group as soon as possible, the construction team has not enough people for more than 2,100 people!
Although some modern machinery was used during the period, considering that it is impossible to produce fuel in the dock area in a short period of time, and the fuel must be reserved for ships and generators and other equipment, the construction team is now able to use manpower during construction.
Never use machinery.
As for the steam engine? Don’t expect it in a short period of time. Whether it is a coal mine or an iron ore, a large number of steam engines are needed as power, especially iron ore, not to mention other things, just to open mountains and build roads, and to match the stone crusher
Steam engines, crushing iron ore, refining ore powder, etc. all require steam engines.
In addition, the industrial group also hired more than 200 younger people to serve as apprentices.
As for the transportation team, it has only recruited more than a hundred people for the time being, because modern fishing boats and cargo ships do not require too many manpower, and just traveling through the fleet is enough.
The reason why more than 100 people were recruited was to prepare for learning how to operate a sailboat.
It is said that the number of people will increase rapidly after buying a sailboat in the next step.
Well, actually the sailors in the transportation group are also part of the Navy's preparations.
It is precisely because the Shilu Iron Mine cannot enter the development state in a short period of time that Chen Liuxiang, who is in charge of commercial trade, is almost forced to go to the rooftop by the iron mine.
In the past, relying on the reputation of Qiongshan County's novel products, Chen Liuxiang was able to purchase some iron materials from businessmen from Leizhou, and was barely able to meet the needs of the industrial group for making guns.
But now with the official completion of the Jiaozhi Hongji Coal Mine Base, the demand for steam engines has increased sharply. At the same time, the industrial group also needs to start to reserve a batch of rails for the Shilu Iron Mine, and even develop a small locomotive.
Under such circumstances, the little iron material Chen Liuxiang plundered from Leizhou merchants was far from enough.
Fang Xiaoyue can certainly metallize some iron.
But the problem is, even if he plays metallization, it will still consume a lot of energy.
After all, when one's strength is at a low point, using the extra attributes in these specialties does not come without any cost.
In addition, metallization does not mean that whatever metal is required will be produced.
Therefore, in fact, even if Fang Xiaoyue plays with metallization, the gap in the iron piece is still relatively large.
In order to solve the gap in iron materials, the industrial team also had to move out some of the previously hidden gold and silver nuggets, and then crushed them all into gold and silver coins, and then handed them over to Chen Liuxiang.
Well, when Chen Liuxiang looked at this batch of gold and silver coins weighing more than ten tons, he felt a little dazed.
What a joke!
Why didn't I know there was such a large gold and silver reserve in the dock area?
But the industrial team kept silent about the origin of this batch of gold and silver, and Chen Liuxiang could only accept the batch of gold and silver coins with joy.
To put it simply, the total value of this gold and silver coin is a full 1.6 million taels of silver!
Chen Liuxiang feels that she has money, can she spend a little money?
The interim management committee gave him the authority to allow the price to be higher than the market price as long as it is a material that is urgently needed in the dock area.
Under such circumstances, Chen Liuxiang sent a purchase order to all the merchants who arrived in Qiongshan County.
This purchase order directly lists the types of materials currently needed in the dock area, and sorts them in order of importance.
To put it simply, the most important material here is pig iron. The more the better, and there is no upper limit.
The second most important thing is saltpeter, sulfur, good charcoal, wood, grease, etc.
The saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal here are naturally used to make black powder.
After all, before the dock area's own chemical industry was established, those weapons could only use black powder.
Wood is used to make paper bullets, and grease is used to make soap.
In addition, a large amount of silk is used to make gunpowder bags. After all, if you want to develop the Shilu Iron Mine, you will need a lot of gunpowder bags to blast a road in the mountainous area of the Qiba Highway.
In addition, we also purchase large quantities of live chickens, ducks, geese, pigs, cattle, horses, and even coconuts, etc.
All in all, there are hundreds of materials needed in the dock area, which almost covers the distribution scope of most merchants.
This made the merchants who had already opened business stores in Qiongshan County for the convenience of transactions suddenly became excited. They sent ships back to bring letters home, requesting the immediate purchase of these materials, especially pig iron!
You know, the price of pig iron materials given by Chen Liuxiang is really too high, 50% higher than the normal market price!
Although with the massive invasion of the Qing Dynasty, half of the Ming Dynasty was destroyed, causing the price of pig iron to rise accordingly, the purchase price offered by Chen Liuxiang was higher than the price of pig iron after the rise, so these businessmen could not help but be tempted.
Of course, the purchase price of other substances is also quite high, such as saltpeter, which is 40% higher than the market price.
What excites the businessmen the most is that the purchase price of goods such as silk in the dock area is 10% higher than the market price.
You know, as the war raged, the prices of goods such as grain and iron materials soared. Silk and tea, which were barely considered luxury goods, were actually difficult to sell on the market.
After all, although silk was still marketable to the Qing army, who would wrap silk around their bodies to make it easier to pull out arrows after being hit, most silk merchants did not dare to trade with the Qing army.
The Qing army has begun to sweep across the entire territory. Except for the eight imperial merchants, the rest of the merchants will be robbed!
That's right, they no longer want to trade. With knives in hand, not to mention these silks and tea leaves, even your head is the object of their free will.