Chapter 176 Raising money to make iron
To be fair, Zhang Zhao and Zhang Hong, the eldest brothers who voted for the party in Jiangdong in the original time and space, were both very capable scholars. Zhang Hong was the founder of the Sun family in Jiangdong and historically proposed The strategic layout of Jiangdong is precisely because of Zhang Hong's existence, and Sun Ce's attitude towards Lu Su is very interesting.
On the one hand, he was very happy with Lu Su's defection and praised Lu Su as a handsome talent. However, at the same time, he did not entrust Lu Su with any important responsibilities. He just arranged a casual position at will, which made Lu Su very difficult. .
Although the specific reason is not written in the official history, it is definitely not to reserve talents for his younger brother. After all, Sun Ce was only in his early twenties at the time, and he did not know that he would die so early.
Liu Feng felt that it was probably because Lu Su's strategy was completely opposite to Zhang Hong's that prevented Sun Ce from reusing Lu Su.
Zhang Hong advocated surrendering to Danyang first, gathering troops at Wuhui, advancing on Yangzhou, and then going upstream to annex Jingxiang and take full advantage of the Yangtze River. Then, with Jing and Yang as the foundation, if you retreat, you can avenge your father, separate one side, and if you advance, you can support the Han Dynasty and achieve the hegemony of Qi Huan and Jin Wen.
Zhang Hong's attitude is consistent with Zhang Zhao. They are firm supporters of the Han Dynasty and believe that although the Han Dynasty is in decline, it can be supported.
What is Lu Su’s attitude?
The Han Dynasty cannot rise again. The general should have planned to become a king.
Moreover, Lu Su's strategic direction has always been to go north to Huaisi, advance into Xu and Henan states, and compete in the Central Plains.
Whether it is strategic direction or three views, this is completely opposite to Zhang Hong, which makes Sun Ce reuse him.
In fact, Soochow still swung back and forth between the strategic directions of Zhang Hong and Lu Su in the end, attacking Jingzhou at one time and Hefei at the other.
In the end, Bai Yi crossed the river and captured Jingzhou, also because the internal strife in Liu Bei's Jingzhou Group gave him the opportunity.
At this time Zhang Hong had already passed away, but one can imagine the profound impact his strategic planning had on Soochow.
Compared with Zhang Hong, Zhang Zhao is more capable and can be called Wang Zuo's talent.
Not only is he good at both civil and military skills, he can lead the army when mounted, and can calm the people when dismounted. What's even more powerful is that he can also mediate conflicts between different factions and make them work together.
After Sun Quan proclaimed himself emperor, all his factions unanimously recommended Zhang Zhao as prime minister. This frightened Sun Quan, so he refused, and finally chose Gu Yong, one of the four major gentry in Jiangdong, as prime minister.
Based on this, only three people in the entire Three Kingdoms can do it. The other two are Xun Wenruo, the leader of Yingchuan, and Zhuge Liang, the prime minister of the Shu Han Dynasty.
Wei, Shu, and Wu each have one person, who can build the country, Zuo, who is indeed worthy of the title of Wang Zuozhi.
What is interesting is that both Zhang Hong and Zhang Zhao hated Lu Su very much and were at odds with them. Zhang Zhao even criticized Lu Su in public many times, which is probably inseparable from Lu Su's attitude towards the Han Dynasty.
After all, Lu Su and Zhang Hong are both from Guangling, and Zhang Zhao is from Pengcheng. Lu Su and Zhang Hong are from the same county and the same state as Zhang Zhao. This should be an iron-clad relationship between township parties, and they also serve together in Jiangdong. It should be It’s only right to help each other.
But Zhang Zhao even directly said, "Su Qian is not good enough, so he is embarrassed to criticize him. Su is young and careless, so he cannot be used."
Many people think that Zhang Zhao is attacking Zhou Yu. But the problem is that Sun Quan actually doesn't believe Zhou Yu, so why should Zhang Zhao provoke him to attack.
The attitude of Xuzhou Erzhang actually represents the attitude of the upper class nobles. They still have feelings for the Han Dynasty and hope to revive the Eastern Han Dynasty and help the Han Dynasty.
However, Liu Feng felt that the problem was not big. After all, Zhang Hong and Zhang Zhao were loyal to the Han Dynasty, and he and his father were also named Liu.
It is not necessarily Liu Xie who revives the Han Dynasty, it can also be Liu Bei.
What’s interesting is that Lu Su strongly recommended the two pieces today, and he may not be able to like them in the future. I don’t know if Lu Su will regret what he said today.
"What Mr. Zijing said is true."
Liu Feng did not give in, but solemnly assured: "Sir, please be patient. Feng will urge my father to change his ways and recruit two Zhangs again. Sir."
Lu Su was very happy to receive Liu Feng's guarantee.
Later, Lu Su said: "Young Master, the world is now in chaos and wars are raging. Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Yuan Shu, Gongsun Zan and others are all attacking each other just to fight for power. Your Lord is kind and charitable and pays attention to people's livelihood. Su thinks that he can continue to gather the refugees. , and vigorously farmed. As a result, they conquered each other, the people were displaced, and they had nowhere to live. Their household registrations were reduced day by day, and their output was also becoming less and less. And I gathered the refugees, made them live in peace, established households and collected taxes. "
"Three or five years later, they will surely become increasingly dilapidated and decayed, and I, Xuzhou, will surely have enough soldiers and food. When the time comes, the lord will punish the people and attack them, and he will march west with a hundred thousand soldiers in armor, and he will be able to sweep the world. You can recreate the Yan Han at the top, and appease the people at the bottom."
Liu Feng noticed Lu Su's words keenly, showed joy, stood up and worshiped: "Thank you for your teaching, sir. Don't dare or forget."
Lu Su left the table and paid homage: "Young master, I dare not die if you are so polite."
After the two returned to their seats, Liu Feng began. Let's get to the point: "Mr. Zijing, I have a secret method that can increase the output of the Iron Camp. However, the initial investment is huge. I would like to ask Mr. Zijing if he would like to join the camp."
Lu Su was surprised at first. It was not easy to increase production in Tieying.
First, we must increase the production of iron ore. Without raw materials, no matter how many craftsmen there are, they are just skilled women who cannot make a meal without rice. This is the top priority.
The most commonly used and effective method now is to increase mining workers and give more iron tools.
Of course, finding open-pit mineral deposits with better quality and easier to mine is also a way, but this method is hard to come by.
The second step is to add a blast furnace to smelt iron ore into qualified iron ingots in a timely manner.
Finally, there are the blacksmiths. This step is also very important. If there are not enough blacksmiths and the skills are not good enough, no matter how many iron ingots are there, it will not be able to be turned into weapons, armor and tools.
In fact, Liu Feng has the best answer for these three links.
The last two problems are not big. One is to promote the steel filling method.
During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the steel-frying method, the hundred-refining method and the water drainage method had already been invented. The technical level was already quite good, and he fully had the foundation for the advanced steel filling method. Moreover, Liu Feng still remembered the piston blower of the Ming Dynasty. With a simple construction method, craftsmen can be asked to restore it, which can greatly reduce labor consumption and improve efficiency.
As for creating craftsmen, on the one hand, it will increase the number of craftsmen, and on the other hand, we can work on the original assembly line. In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the mainstream armor was pierced armor, which was composed of many pieces of armor. It was actually very suitable for trying the assembly line production method.
The only most difficult point is the first point, which is to increase iron ore production.
There is no solution, but Liu Feng is very hesitant.
You must know that in ancient times, the most difficult part of mining was opening.
You know there is ore underground, but it is difficult to mine it beyond the rock layer.
People in the Eastern Han Dynasty could only use the most primitive method of setting fire to the mountains, using the physical principles of thermal expansion and contraction to crack the rocks and then mine the ores.
The explosion of human steel production occurred after 1700. From then on, gunpowder was introduced into mining operations.
Liu Feng has been hesitating whether to take out the black gunpowder, a big killer. After thinking about it again and again, he thought it was better to leave it behind.
Because black powder has no technical threshold, it is very easy to leak.
He finally chose to hire more refugees to increase ore production.
“I want to build an iron official camp in Xiapi. If it is built here, the iron ore and coal from Peiguo, Luguo, Pengcheng, Guangling and even Qu County can be sent to Xiapi by waterway. Transportation It’s very convenient, and Xiapi itself has a lot of iron ore, and it’s located in the hinterland of Xuzhou, so it’s very safe.”
"Currently, we want to build two blast furnaces and four more coke ovens to make coke."
Liu Bei calculated that the iron ore resources in Qu County are not rich, but they are enough to operate a blast furnace at full capacity.
The Tieguanying in Xiapi must at least bear the iron ore from Xiapi, Lu State and Pengcheng, and it can also absorb the abundant iron ore from Pei State. Xiapi, Pengcheng and Peiguo are all famous for the production of iron ore, and their output is far better than that of Quxian.
In this way, we have the basis for two blast furnaces.
As for whether to build several blast furnaces in the end, Liu Feng has not made up his mind yet.
Because with the technology of indigenous coking and piston blowers at hand, after solving the problems of fuel and blast, it is theoretically possible to build a higher and larger blast furnace, which will make ironmaking more efficient and save materials.
The Mi family's blast furnace in Qu County could produce 500 kilograms of iron per day. The largest blast furnace in the Eastern Han Dynasty discovered later was located in Wancheng, with a daily production of 2,000 kilograms of iron.
Therefore, Liu Feng planned to make two preparations. If the craftsmen felt that with the technical assistance of indigenous coking methods and piston blowers, especially water-driven ones, they could build a larger and higher blast furnace, they would start directly. Bigger and taller blast furnaces.
If the craftsmen feel unsure, Liu Feng plans to build a blast furnace with a daily output of two thousand kilograms to test the water first. If there is no problem, he will try to increase the output of the second one.
We will listen to the opinions of the master craftsmen at that time as to how much the improvement will be.
"Judging from the current preparations, we need to raise 30 million yuan and 10,000 shi of grain in the first phase. I want to find Mr. Zijing, Mr. Zizhong, and Governor Chen to gather funds,"
Liu Feng He has about more than 20 million in living money in his hands. This is thanks to his father, who has covered the cost of expanding the army for him. As long as he can raise money, it is naturally more convenient to use the raised money to do things. Lu Su looked shocked. He didn't expect Liu Feng to start such a big project, investing 30 million yuan, which would produce at least 2,000 kilograms of iron per day. And this is still the first issue, so this is probably going too far.
Lu Su was not reluctant to give up money, but was worried that Liu Feng would fall if he took too big a step.
After pondering for a while, Lu Su tactfully advised: "Young Master, regarding the blast furnace, you should not rush into it, but take it slow."
"Mr. Zijing, Feng is fully aware of your good intentions."
Liu Feng replied sternly: "But sir, don't worry, Feng will act based on the words of the craftsman's masterpiece this time and act steadily. "
Hearing this, Lu Su's expression relaxed, but he still reminded: "Young Master, in Su's opinion, we can start with a blast furnace with a daily output of 500 kilograms. If it is not enough, we can A few more ones are better than being safe."
Lu Su's attitude was very conservative, and Liu Feng could not explain to the other party that the bigger the blast furnace must be, the better it would be in terms of output while ensuring safety, reliability and effectiveness. Pig iron is not only more efficient, but also saves materials.
Lu Su also has good intentions. Liu Feng will naturally not bite Lu Dongbin, and he does not know a good heart.
"Sir, Feng must keep it in mind."
Finally, he comforted him: "Sir, can't you still believe me?"
Lu Su smiled and shook his head, pondered for a moment, and then He said: "In that case, my Lu family can contribute eight million yuan and three thousand shi of food."
"Great kindness!"
After Liu Feng expressed his appreciation, he calculated in his mind , the result is calculated quickly.
"Mr. Zijing, if that's the case, do you think it's feasible to give you 15% of the shares?"
Liu Feng invested in technology and controlled 50% of the shares. Lu Su's eight million money, Three thousand shi of grain is almost one and a half shares.
Lu Su smiled and nodded: "That's very fair."
In fact, Lu Su didn't care about these shares. He just thought it was Liu Feng who came to ask for help.
Before when Zhou Yu came to borrow food, he could lend him three thousand stones without hesitation, not to mention that the one who asked now was his lord's son and future lord.
Not to mention 15%, even if you don’t give shares.
What Lu Su lacked was never money and food, but the opportunity to display his talents and realize his lifelong ambition.
He was willing to use everything he had in exchange for such an opportunity, and it was precisely Liu Bei and his son who gave him such an opportunity.
Afterwards, Liu Feng chatted a lot with Lu Su.
Lu Su has been serving as the captain of Diannong School for half a year, and his results are also very good. He will definitely be promoted next.
The best route is to be transferred to the central government of the state to hold an important position. The best option is naturally to work in the four major positions, but Lu Su himself feels that there is no hope.
Or you can directly go to a large county to serve as the county magistrate, and you can be the Marquis of Baili, the ruling party.
If it fails, he will be transferred to the army. He can start from the Sima Department of another department and lead a Sima Department of thousands of people.
As for the remaining routes, they are either not worthy of Lu Su, or they are inappropriate.
Liu Feng asked directly: "Mr. Zijing, in your opinion, which position are you interested in?"
Lu Su thought for a while. He was an open-minded man and unconventional. Not only did he not feel that Liu Feng was rude, but he replied seriously: "If it is Su's own opinion, Su would like to be transferred to a county magistrate."
"Oh?"
Liu Feng suddenly became interested. He originally thought that Lu Su would most likely choose the first option, and he might also choose the third option. Unexpectedly, the other party actually chose the county magistrate that Liu Feng thought had the lowest probability.
This made Liu Feng curious about the county where Lu Su wanted to go, so he asked: "I wonder where Mr. Zijing wants to work?"
Lu Su blinked, Answer: "Xiapi County."
Liu Feng's face suddenly fell. Could it be that Lu Su was worried about him and insisted on going to Xiapi to keep an eye on him?
Seeing Liu Feng's ugly face, Lu Su burst out laughing, and then Liu Feng couldn't help but laugh.
That night, Lu Su hosted a banquet in honor of Liu Feng. The two chatted a lot. Lu Su felt that many of Liu Feng's thoughts were expressed directly from his heart.
For a while, Lu Su wanted to regard Liu Feng as a confidant, and he was a more like-minded person than Zhou Yu and Liu Ye.
On the second day, Liu Feng went to visit Mi Zhu again.
When he told Mi Zhu about the iron-making project, the latter immediately waved his hand to indicate that Mi was ready.
In the past six months, Shuangtang alone has made a net profit of 47 million yuan. Even if the Mi family only gets a 20% share, they can still get 9.4 million yuan. It is basically impossible to invest millions of yuan. It's not a big deal.
And unlike Lu Su, Mi Zhu had no doubts about Liu Feng and only felt that the other party had the ability to turn stone into gold.
He wished that Liu Feng could cooperate more with the Mi family, not to mention that both parties have now reached a marriage alliance and can be regarded as kin.
As for the previous cooperation between Shuangtang and Xueyan, Mi Zhu once mentioned that the Mi family would bear the cost, but Liu Feng ultimately declined.
Liu Feng wants long-term cooperation, and he still has to give the Mi family a little sweetness, otherwise it will not be a long-term solution.
Forget about table salt, the cost of sucrose accounts for almost one-third of the frosting sugar.
After all, only a small amount of sugar cane was grown in Guangling in Xuzhou at this time, and most of the sugar source still relied on Jiaozhi. The cane sugar produced in Yangzhou was still not cheap to purchase.
The Mi family is divided into 20% and the Cao family is divided into 20%. Liu Feng is in Shuangtang, and he has earned 28.2 million in half a year. He is only one step away from 30 million. .
This does not include the profit of snow salt. Although the price of snow salt is not as good as that of frosting sugar, its sales volume is far better than that of frosting sugar. The profit may even be higher than that of frosting sugar.
"Brother, it doesn't have to be like this, you have to leave some room for others."
Hearing Liu Feng calling her eldest brother, Mi Zhu felt that she could hardly hold back her lips.
However, in order to maintain his calm and stable image, he still worked hard: "Okay, what the young master said is true. If that is the case, then my Mi family will cover the remaining share capital."< br>
“In addition, snow salt has a huge paving area and sales volume is higher than frost sugar, so the payment is much slower than frost sugar. However, it is conservatively estimated to be more than 800 dan. According to one stone, it is about ten Calculating the profit of 10,000 yuan, the young master’s portion should be at least 64 million yuan.”
“Including Shuangtang’s 37.6 million yuan, these assets total 116 million yuan. One hundred thousand are already on their way to Tancheng and will be delivered to the young master’s house soon.”
Mi Zhu didn't know that Liu Feng also gave 20% to Cao Bao, so he calculated it as 80%.
But this is correct. At most, Liu Feng will be a little troublesome. When he returns to Guangling, he has to make a detour to Xiapi to give some money to his father-in-law.
After settling the accounts, Liu Feng suddenly asked: "Brother, you have been in the post for several years, have you thought about what will happen next?"
Mi Zhu was slightly startled. , react.
It is true as Liu Feng said, it has been three years since Zhao Yu and Wang Lang were promoted to county governors, Tao Qian put Mi Zhu in the position of leaving the command.
According to general circumstances, the period of separation lasts only three to five years, mainly depending on the official career of the governor.
Generally, after the governor who recommended Biejia leaves office, Biejia will also expire and resign. Otherwise, the new governor will be embarrassed and how can he recruit Biejia of his choice.
Liu Bei's entry into Jizhou Mu is a special case. His foundation is unstable, and Mi Zhu is one of the two people who support him the most. Naturally, he will not want to replace him no matter what.
Liu Feng didn’t say anything, and Mi Zhu didn’t think about it. Now that he was reminded like this, Mi Zhu felt that he had indeed stayed in Biejia’s position for a long time.
“If I follow the young master’s advice, what should I do?”
(End of this chapter)