At the Miyun Iron Works, as the steel workers shouted slogans in unison, they opened the outlet of the blast furnace, and a stream of hot molten steel surged out, and then was quickly diverted to the pre-cast modules.
Among them, they are directly processed into various rough embryos.
Under the leadership of Liu Jin and Fu Han, Ali Pasha, Moses and others watched the entire steel-making process. When they saw the surging molten steel, Ali Pasha, Moses and others' eyes widened.
of.
"No wonder the Ming Empire was able to build a large number of railways. Without strong smelting technology and a strong steel industry, it would not have been able to support it."
"The amount of steel smelted by this furnace is greater than our Ottoman Empire's annual steel output."
Ali Pasha also sighed while watching.
Now I finally understand why the people of the Ming Dynasty seem to have endless amounts of steel. They use Gangjin to build houses, build roads and railways with steel, and everyone in the army wears armor, helmets, and muskets and cannons.
Made of the best steel, the cavalry saber looks light, but is very sharp and tough...
At first, Ali Pasha thought that the Ming people were wasting good steel, but now he finally understood that the Ming people's steel production was large enough to support the Ming Dynasty's demand for steel in all aspects.
This is just a blast furnace. There are several such blast furnaces in Miyun Iron Works. And there are many steel plants like Miyun Iron Works in Ming Dynasty. How can there not be a lot of steel in Ming Dynasty?
The total amount of steel in the world is probably not as much as the steel smelted by a single Ming Dynasty steel factory.
"If I could open a steel plant like this in Europe, I would definitely be able to make a lot of money. This is not molten iron. This is just money in vain."
As for Moses, at this moment, his eyes were full of silver. The molten steel flowing in front of his eyes was silver in his eyes.
The price of steel is very expensive whether in Europe, the Ottoman Empire, or other parts of the world. In the past, the price of steel was not cheap in the Ming Dynasty.
Even though there are a large number of steel plants now, the price of steel is still not low. Smelting steel is a big business, a very profitable business, and Moses spotted this right away.
"Your Excellency, Prime Minister, this is the most technologically advanced steel plant in our Ming Dynasty. The steel smelted here is also the best steel in our Ming Dynasty. Our military in the Ming Dynasty has always used weapons and equipment manufactured by the Miyun Iron Factory because the steel here is
The best, able to make the best weapons."
Liu Jin on the side introduced Ali Pasha and Moses with a smile on his face. The other party was mainly here to buy arms and weapons this time, so naturally he wanted to find a way to make more money.
"This is our steam die-casting machine and steam forging machine~"
He took them out of the smelting workshop and came to the processing workshop. In the processing workshop, accompanied by the whine of the steam engine, there were bursts of roar from each machine.
Ali Pasha and Moses watched carefully and saw the workers placing the original parts under the die-casting machine one by one. As the die-casting machine looked at it lightly, a part with a special curvature and curve was completed.
Here at the forging machine, the workers clamped steel blanks one by one under the forging machine, and saw the forging machine making dull forging sounds. It is obvious that this forging machine is extremely powerful, and every beating is far more powerful than beating by human power.
It is more powerful and effective. The embryos forged in this way are definitely better than those made by manpower. The key is that it is more labor-saving and easier.
"This is our steam punch press, drill press, lathe, boring machine, milling machine and other processing machines. They all use steam power to process parts, with fast speed and good quality."
"Taking our Ming Dynasty's muskets as an example, all the muskets manufactured by our Ming Dynasty are made of seamless steel pipes. No matter how many times they are used, they will never explode."
"And the barrel processed in this way has a longer range and higher accuracy."
Liu Jin took a newly processed gun barrel and proudly introduced it to Ali Pasha, Moses and others.
Ali Pasha took the barrel of the gun in his hand and looked at it carefully.
The steel pipe in his hand was very thick, but not heavy. He flicked it lightly with his finger and made a crisp sound.
"What a steel~"
Just by hearing the sound, Ali Pasha knew that the steel used to make the barrel was good steel.
"No wonder the Ming Dynasty's muskets have such a long range, such fast shooting speed, and high accuracy. I see."
"The muskets made by our Ottoman Empire are far behind the muskets of the Ming Dynasty, because our barrels are made of rolled iron sheets, which have poor sealing and can easily explode."
"The same is true for this artillery. The Ming Dynasty's artillery is extremely terrifying and powerful. It has a long range, great power, and high accuracy. It turns out that the root cause is that they use high-quality steel and integrated pouring technology."
Ali Pasha silently summarized while watching, and came to a few key points. Of course, the manufacturing technology of artillery and muskets is far more than this. If you want to make good muskets and cannons, the technical requirements are still relatively high.
…
In the huge workshop of Caiyun Textile Factory in Beijing, driven by steam engines, new spinning machines and looms are constantly running. The shuttles are constantly rotating, and threads are quickly spun into pieces of cloth at extremely high speeds.
.
"This is our most advanced steam loom and steam spinning machine in the Ming Dynasty. Using these two machines, a worker can weave more than a dozen pieces of cloth a day, and the efficiency is hundreds of times that of traditional textile technology."
"This factory alone can produce millions of pieces of cloth a year."
After visiting the Miyun Iron Factory, Liu Jin took Ali Pasha, Moses and others to visit the textile factory. This time Ali Pasha and Moses also made a request to visit many factories, schools, ports, and train stations in the Ming Dynasty.
etc.
For the sake of money and the ancient tradition of hospitality, Emperor Hongzhi readily agreed, so he sent Liu Jin and Fu Han to take full charge of the matter and take them to visit many places in the Beijing-Tianjin area.
"How many millions of pieces of cloth can one factory spin out in a year?"
Ali Pasha and Moses looked at the busy textile factory in front of them, with the rotation of the shuttle, the roar of the machines, and the skilled operations of the female workers. The white cotton threads quickly gathered together, and then quickly turned into long
of cloth.
Such terrifying efficiency is simply eye-opening.
For the first time, I saw that cloth could be woven using machines, and the efficiency was so amazing. One factory produced millions of pieces of cloth a year, which was more than the entire Ottoman Empire produced.
"No wonder the price of cloth in the Ming Dynasty can be so low. It turns out that they used machines to weave cloth. Even if the selling price is several times lower than what we make ourselves, they still make very considerable profits."
Moses' eyes sparkled, and he immediately saw the business opportunity.
These textile lines are not weaving, they are simply printing silver bills. When the machine is started, a steady stream of cloth is produced from the production line, and the white money flows back.
…
Tianjin Shipyard, a huge shipbuilding dock, where shipbuilders are busy on the big ships being built one after another.
Some ships have just laid their keels, and you can see that the ships are very large, and the huge keels look a bit scary and ferocious; some ships are almost completed, and their huge bodies are so powerful that compared with them, the workers look like...
Giants and ants alike.
"This is our largest shipyard in Ming Dynasty. It can produce all kinds of military and civilian warships and ships. It can launch more than 300 ships of various types every month, and more than 3,000 ships of various types can be launched throughout the year.
.”
Standing in front of a ship that was about to be launched, Liu Jin proudly introduced the situation of the Tianjin Shipyard to Ali Pasha, Moses and others.
Tianjin Shipyard is currently the largest shipyard in Ming Dynasty. It employs tens of thousands of employees and can produce thousands of ships of various types every year. Of course, it is the most technologically powerful shipyard.
Tianjin Shipyard mainly builds large ships, such as warships of the Ming Dynasty and ocean-going merchant ships of major trading houses.
"Just one factory launches more than 3,000 ships a year!"
When Ali Pasha and Moses heard this, their eyes widened slightly again, and they were deeply impressed by the powerful shipbuilding capabilities of the Ming Dynasty Shipyard.
"All the shipyards and workshops in our Ottoman Empire combined are probably not as good as this Ming Dynasty shipyard. Even if we can build such huge ships, I'm afraid we won't be able to build many ships in a year."
"No wonder the Ming people were able to conquer fertile lands all over the world. Without the support of powerful shipyards, it would have been impossible for them to reach all parts of the world."
As Liu Jin and Fu Han took him to visit factories, schools, ports, etc. in various parts of the Ming Dynasty, Ali Pasha became more deeply impressed the more he saw them.
The gap between the Ming Dynasty and the Ottoman Empire is really not a difference of a little or a half point, but a difference of hundreds of millions of points.
The steel mills, textile mills, and shipyards of the Ming Dynasty left the deepest impression on him. Inside the huge factories, the machines roared non-stop, and the assembly line work style allowed him to see a steady stream of goods being produced from the production lines.
Advanced technology, terrible efficiency, and excellent quality completely surpassed the Ottoman Empire in every aspect, making the Ottoman Empire-related industries that were still in the manual workshop stage seem so backward.
At this moment, the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire could only sigh in his heart. He no longer had any desire to compare with the Ming Empire. The gap was too big and there was no way to compare. He only had deep feelings.