Chapter 304, a steel factory with an investment of two million taels
On the official road from the capital to Miyun County, carriages were walking slowly. These carriages were all four-wheeled carriages filled with various goods, and there were hundreds of them.
Liu Jin, Zhang Mao, Xu Guangzuo, and Zhu Houzhao were walking side by side on tall horses, walking very slowly while chatting.
"Old Liu, can't we build a steel plant here in the capital? Why do we have to go to Miyun?"
Zhu Houzhao said very puzzledly that the scale of investment this time was very large. According to the prospectus produced by Liu Jin, the investment for the Miyun Iron Works to be built this time would be as high as two million taels of silver.
In this era, ordinary people can live on three taels of silver a year. If these two million taels of silver are converted into wealth for future generations, it will be almost 20 to 30 billion.
Such a huge investment would be considered an extremely large-scale investment even in later generations. As for this era, this is the first time such a large-scale investment has occurred.
Of course, those who participated in the investment in Miyun Iron Works were all wealthy owners. Emperor Hongzhi invested 400,000 taels of silver, Zhu Houzhao and Liu Jin also invested 500,000 taels of silver, and the remaining 600,000 taels of silver were invested by British companies.
The three families of Guogong and Dingguogong were equally divided, and each family invested two hundred thousand taels.
Such a huge investment and such a luxurious investment group are enough to illustrate the vastness of the Miyun Iron Works. Liu Jin is planning to design it into the largest ironworks with the highest output and the best quality in this era.
"Although the conditions here in Beijing are very good in all aspects, there is one disadvantage. If we build a factory here in Beijing, it will be too far away from the origin of iron ore."
Liu Jin smiled and said.
"As for the iron ore, as much as it can be consumed, it is enough to transport it with a four-wheeled carriage."
Zhu Houzhao said nonchalantly that his concept was naturally based on the existing smelting workshops. He had visited them and knew that the output of these smelting workshops could not consume much iron ore in a year, and of course they could not smelt it.
How much steel is produced?
"How can we collectively invest two million taels of silver? If the iron ore we need is still transported by horse-drawn carriages, then it will take us a year and a month to recover our investment?"
Liu Jin shook his head and said, then looked at the uneven and winding official road in front of him and said, "Maybe the first thing we should do is to build a road first."
"Ahem, brat, this time we are selling the pot to invest with you. You can't waste this money carelessly."
As soon as Zhang Mao heard that Liu Jin was going to build a road, he couldn't help but said.
Zhang Mao has now opened up various industries. Although they are all profitable businesses, money will be very tight for a while. This time he learned that Liu Jin had a big business, so he also sold some land and had to bite the bullet.
Followed.
To be honest, he was also very curious. It was just a steel smelting factory, and the investment required two million taels of silver. Liu Jin's first thought was to build roads.
"Mr. Zhang, as the saying goes, if you want to get rich, you must first build a road. The capital is also very close to Miyun. It doesn't cost much money to build a cement road. Once it is built, it will greatly facilitate our future travels. This is smelted
Steel can also be shipped out continuously. This is for the purpose of making money in the future. How can it be a waste of money?"
Liu Jin said with a smile.
"Brother Liu is very confident in his work. I'm just curious about the smelting method that Brother Liu mentioned."
Xu Guangzuo still has great confidence in Liu Jin. Of course, it is impossible not to have confidence. Now that his sister is Liu Jin's, she is just waiting for this kid to get married after he is named on the gold list next year. As for his brother-in-law, he still has to stand by him.
side.
"Yes, yes, Old Liu, please tell me quickly, is your blast furnace steelmaking method feasible? How can you invest so much? Besides, you still have father's 400,000 taels of silver. What will happen if you mess it up?
manage?"
Zhu Houzhao also said that because he wanted to set up a steel plant, Zhu Houzhao was also working hard to learn relevant knowledge these days. He was very smart. As long as he studied hard, he would be able to learn everything in a short time.
During this era, the main steel-making method in the Ming Dynasty was the steel-frying method.
Conventional iron-making methods can only make pig iron, and then forge the pig iron to decarburize it, or put the wrought iron into the furnace, heat and carburize it to make steel, that is, the steel filling method.
This requires two heatings. However, in the Ming Dynasty, our ancestors invented the method of frying steel. Steel can be produced without cooling and reheating, which reduces fuel consumption and greatly increases output. This technology has reached Europe.
Only existed in the 18th century.
The steel frying method is considered the most advanced smelting technology of this era, and the steel output of the Ming Dynasty was also the largest on earth in this era. Of course, this output is still insignificant compared to later generations.
The output of the Ming Dynasty was large, mainly because the country was large. In terms of per capita steel output, it was almost the same as that of later generations. The total amount was very large, but the per capita ranking was unknown.
"Steelmaking is actually not difficult. You will know it by then. Are you afraid of losing money by following me?"
Liu Jin said confidently that with the golden finger in hand, making steel would be very simple.
As the huge motorcade entered Miyun County, the whole Miyun began to boil.
"We're hiring~ We're hiring~"
“Miyun Iron Mine is recruiting workers~ Miyun Iron Mine is recruiting workers~”
"Three meals a day are included, and the salary is at least fifty cents per day. The more you work, the more you get. Sign up as soon as possible if you are interested."
In various towns and villages in Miyun County, the people brought by Liu Jin began to beat gongs and drums and recruit workers on a large scale.
The steel industry is a capital-intensive industry, and it is also a labor-intensive industry. Even in later generations, a steel plant had a very large number of employees and required a lot of manpower. In this era, it is even more so.
"The salary is at least fifty cents a day, and three meals a day are included~"
This condition is tantamount to having a huge temptation. People in Miyun County became restless. In a short period of time, the Miyun Iron Works, which was just established, recruited more than 5,000 people, almost all of the people in Miyun County.
All young and strong labor force was recruited.
In order to prepare for the establishment of the Miyun Iron Works, Liu Jin also transferred a large number of key personnel from the many industries under his command to form a huge management team of two hundred people.
With huge funds, enough management personnel, and the temporary recruitment of enough manpower, the entire Miyun County quickly turned into a huge construction site.
Every day, hundreds of carriages travel between the capital and Miyun, continuously importing a large amount of supplies to Miyun.
In the mountains of Miyun County, a large number of people wander around the mountains every day, exploring the distribution and production of iron ore and coal; in the open areas of the plains, large tracts of land are bought by nobles from the capital and become
It became a bustling construction site.
Money was sprinkled on a small place like Miyun like water, and everyone in Miyun County could feel that money suddenly became easier to earn.
For ordinary people, the young and strong labor force in their families was recruited into the Miyun Iron Works, and they also signed long-term employment contracts, including three meals a day, and at least fifty cash in wages. If they work hard,
, some people can even get hundreds of dollars in wages, which is really a high income. It was something that I couldn't even think of before. As soon as I entered and left, the life of every household in Miyun became easier.
You must know that this is the time when farm work is slack in winter. There is only one way out of the house, but no one in. The owner's face is ugly, and the children are beaten the most. In the past, poor families even had to go out to spend the winter to survive this winter.
But things are different now. Everyone's life has suddenly become much better. Even if you raise pigs, sheep, chickens, ducks, etc. at home, you can sell them at a good price and send them to Miyun Iron Works.
You can get whatever you want, and the price is so reasonable that many people are wondering whether they can raise more next year.
For the gentry and landlords here in Miyun, their lives have suddenly become much better. Today, a certain landowner’s mountain is sold for thousands of taels of silver. Tomorrow, a certain gentry’s mountain is sold for thousands of taels of silver because of the discovery of coal.
It reached tens of thousands of taels of silver.
The day after tomorrow, I heard that Miyun Iron Works needs a lot of sand and gravel. Sand and stones can be sold for money. As long as they arrange for people to transport them to Miyun Iron Works, they can get a lot of money.
Besides, Miyun Iron Works needs a large amount of grain, meat, various materials, etc. every day. Basically, everything that can be purchased here in Miyun can be purchased here in Miyun, which also allows businessmen, gentry, etc. in the entire Miyun County to enjoy it.
Get a wave of dividends.
It's easy to do things if you have money and people. In less than half a month, a blast furnace with a height of more than ten feet stood on the ground of Miyun County.
