Chapter 1312 Unintelligible Information
On Hainan Island, the population density is relatively low in the eastern coastal areas. Counties such as Wenchang, Qionghai, Wanning, and Lingshui here basically have an agricultural population, and the residents are relatively scattered, far less dense than the population density on the west coast. Because the Executive Committee arranged for another inspection team to visit various places on the east coast, they had completed all the tasks of the inspection when they left Haikou, and there was no need to stay on the way. After Yu Xiaobao solicited everyone's opinions, he ordered to go south along the east coast directly back to Sanya.
The voyage from Haikou to Sanya is more than 200 nautical miles. Even if we don't dock halfway, it won't be completed in a short time. Although Liu Shang was anxious and wanted to return to Sanya early to deal with Liao Yuan's matter, the ship was not equipped with Haihan's most advanced steam propulsion device. How fast it could run could only rely on God's favor and the captain's command. He No matter how anxious you are, you can only hold it in for now.
Regarding navigation technology, Liu Shang could only be regarded as a half-layman. At most, he could roughly tell the direction based on the sun, and he was not qualified to participate in the ship's route planning and command. The only thing that can help is probably to silently pray that there will be no drastic weather changes on the way, and to allow a few more days for this long trip around the island.
The other people on the boat were not as eager as Liu Shang. Although this errand had taken them away from Sanya for more than half a month, they were served delicious food and drinks everywhere along the way. It can be said that it was better than in Sanya. The courtesy that Sanya enjoyed was much higher. This so-called imperial envoy treatment made every member of the inspection team gain a lot of weight during this period. Although this mission has been completed, many of them will probably use this as a source of conversation for a long time.
Of course, although the errand of visiting various places is over, the work of the inspection team does not end there. They must also summarize the areas they are responsible for and submit corresponding written reports. Liu Shang took a big advantage in this regard. Because he was temporarily detained as a young man, he was only responsible for the propaganda work. He was not needed to sort out the economic and trade status quo of various places. During the return trip, he was the only one who was the most important. laid back.
The busiest person on the entire ship is probably Yu Xiaobao, who is leading the team. Not only does he have to sort out the economic and trade data on behalf of Liu Shang, but the reports written by everyone must be submitted to him for review in the end. He will then report the results of the inspection and the problems discovered to the Executive Committee. The inspection team visited many cities and counties along the way, and there was a lot to record. Even if Yu Xiaobao had extraordinary energy, he would not be able to read through so many documents in a while, so Yu Xiaobao was hardly on the ship during the return trip. He showed up and stayed in the cabin to seize the time to check for omissions and fill in the gaps in the report written by his group of people.
Everyone was busy with their own affairs, and Liu Shang couldn't act idle. He happened to have a large amount of written information submitted by the local government at hand. These information were basically statistical data on people's livelihood, and they were not classified, so even if Liu Shang is a temporary member of the inspection team and can also read the contents. Of course, he had been in the inspection team for more than ten days, and he was relatively familiar with these colleagues, and he was quite appreciated by Xiaobao. No one treated him as an outsider anymore. He wanted to read these materials. No one thought there was anything wrong.
Of course, what Liu Shang was most interested in was the content related to steam engines and military affairs. After weighing it, he decided to get the steam engine information first - even if the military intelligence could be understood clearly, it would not be of much help to the Ming Dynasty. If the Han Dynasty is really ready to declare war on the Ming Dynasty, then all the officials in the southeastern coastal areas can wash their necks and wait.
Regarding the use report of steam engines, each place visited by the inspection team submitted a written information. After they summarized this information, it was fed back to the Haihan Industry Department. Relevant personnel will review the existing steam engines based on actual usage. Equipment and related manufacturing technology are further improved. At the same time, the Executive Committee also needs to use these reports to decide the promotion intensity and application scope of steam engines in the next few years.
Liu Shang is mainly interested in the operating principles and manufacturing processes of steam engines, as well as the industries that are currently in use in Haihan. However, the manufacturing of steam engines was all concentrated in the Tiandu Industrial Zone in Sanya, so these reports did not mention much of the aspects that interested him. However, regarding the application of steam engines in actual production, the content recorded in these materials was much more detailed than the information he learned on site.
Liu Shang took a rough look at the reports submitted by various cities and counties, and summarized the use of steam engines in terms of usage environment, actual power, water and coal consumption, maintenance cycles, and usage problems. By looking at this comparison, it is easy to compare the differences in performance and material consumption of steam engines used in various places.
High-power steam engines are almost all concentrated in the industrial zone from Changhua to Shilu, whether it is the steam locomotives running between the two places, or the various steam crushers and conveyor belts used in the mines, the steam rolling mills and Steam hammers are the big guys among steam engines. The steam excavator that Liu Shang was particularly concerned about was also mentioned in the report submitted by the Shilu Mine. The mine's technical staff put forward many design details that needed to be improved, mainly focusing on mechanical transmission. Detailed drawings were also attached to the article, but these drawings were all detailed drawings of one of the parts. Even if Liu Shang looked over and over, he still didn't understand where the part was located on the machine.
In such a situation, Liu Shang could only blame himself for not knowing enough. Even if someone handed him the drawings, he still couldn't understand the contents of the book. However, he also noticed that the article mentioned that the working efficiency of this steam engine "can outperform a hundred miners." In this way, although its manufacturing and use costs are not low, it is still quite cost-effective for Haihan. After all, according to the report , only two people are needed to operate this steam engine, and another two people are responsible for shoveling coal and adding water.
Four people can complete the workload of hundreds of laborers. Such work efficiency is far beyond the reach of other power sources such as wind power, water power, and animal power. And as mentioned in the article, this type of steam excavator still has great room for technological improvement. In the future, through technological improvements and an increase in the number of launches, it will be possible to further reduce operating costs and increase production capacity.
Moreover, the article also mentioned that it is recommended to put such equipment into mines outside Hainan Island such as Heitugang Coal Mine, Nanhai Tin Mine, Shandong Fushan Copper Mine, etc., so as to accumulate experience in using it in various geographical and climatic environments. As a reference for future modification and upgrade of steam excavators.
Liu Shang didn't know it, but he was shocked when he saw it. It turned out that Haihan had quietly occupied many mines in various places, and he also mentioned a gold mine somewhere in the northern part of Taiwan Island, but Liu Shang I am not familiar with the place names of Taiwan Island and do not know the specific location of this gold mine. With Haihan's mining capabilities, this gold mine must have contributed a lot of wealth to it. The construction achievements witnessed on Hainan Island should have more or less contributed to this gold mine.
Liu Shangxindao said that this method of collecting intelligence was good. Just by looking at the relevant reports on the steam engines, you could understand the information on the mines currently being mined by Haihan. There was no need to spend a lot of time investigating and implementing them in various places. But then I thought about it, maybe I only had one chance to see this kind of information, so I quickly read the mine-related content over and over again, memorizing it all in my mind.
Liu Shang actually didn't know how useful this information could be to the Ming Dynasty, but since there was a mine in the Ming Dynasty, he felt that it was necessary for the court to have the information, so as not to be passive for a long time and keep the Haihan people silent. The ground took advantage of the situation. But Liu Shang didn't know that the Fushan Copper Mine in Dengzhou, Shandong Province had been put into operation in the second half of last year, and the local smelting facilities had been officially put into use this year. At present, there are more than a thousand local employees working for Haihan in the Fushan Copper Mine alone. About three to five tons of copper ingots are transported to the south by sea every month. Although the current annual output is less than 100 tons, it is already one of the few self-produced copper resources under Haihan's control.
There are also copper mines buried in Shilu Mine, but the current output is not much better than that of Fushan Copper Mine. Therefore, Fushan is still a very important resource producing area for Haihan. For this reason, the Shandong Expeditionary Army has also deployed a certain size of troops there. , operating the mine like a military fortress. Last year, the garrison in Dengzhou, Shandong Province wanted to move this place, but they also suffered a lot of losses at the hands of the Haihan Army. If the Ming Dynasty is really determined to take back this place from Haihan, I am afraid that it cannot be done with the Dengzhou garrison alone.
However, these things are too far away for Liu Shang. The situation he can consider now can only be limited to the environment he is exposed to at the moment. Things thousands of miles away cannot be considered so comprehensively. He couldn't even tell whether the information he obtained after submitting it would bring initiative or trouble to Daming.
Although Liu Shang has an excellent memory, these reports full of numbers soon made him dizzy. It was not easy to understand and write down these boring numbers. When he finished looking through this pile of information and was about to take a rest, he suddenly realized that it was already dark outside. He didn't even remember whether he had eaten anything at noon, but he wasn't too hungry.
After a hasty dinner, Liu Shang, like everyone else, continued to burn the midnight oil to fight. The lights used on this ship have glass shades and anti-turnover designs, so candlelight is generally not allowed at night.
In the evening of the next day, Liu Shang finally saw the Yulinjiao Lighthouse appearing on the sea in the distance on the deck, which was a sign guiding ships to enter the port at night. This ship departed from the military port on the Luhuitou Peninsula, but when it returned, it had to dock at the Victory Port because there was a large amount of information and supplies on the ship that needed to be sent to the Victory Fort for storage as soon as possible.
Liu Shang looked at the coastline that was getting closer and closer, and he couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. The questions he was worried about along the way would soon be answered. If Liao Yuan had leaked something because he couldn't keep in touch while he was away, then there would probably be people from the Security Department or the Police Department waiting on the dock to arrest him and bring him to justice.
Of course, the possibility of this is actually not high. Liu Shang also knows that there is a device on this ship that can transmit sounds thousands of miles away. If Liao Yuan's identity is exposed in Sanya and he is implicated, then the Haihan people can notify them through the radio Yu Xiaobao took control of himself first. Yu Xiaobao's attitude towards himself has not changed much along the way, which may have shown that his worries are unnecessary.
The sailboat docked at the pier of Port Victory before nightfall. The port management center had deployed dozens of workers in advance to wait at the pier to unload the cargo. Liu Shang stood on the side of the ship and looked around. He saw that there were only two or three police officers on the shore smoking in the distance to maintain order. It didn't look like they were here to arrest anyone, and he felt greatly reassured.
After everyone got off the boat, Yu Xiaobao announced the disbandment and everyone went back on their own. In the end, only Liu Shang was left, and he didn't know whether he should go back to the training center in Luhuitou Peninsula or go to the house he rented in Sanya Port.
After Yu Xiaobao asked him what was going on, he asked him to find a hotel to stay in Victory Port for one night, and then come to Victory Fort tomorrow to sign and hand over the business, and collect the labor expenses for this business trip at the same time. Of course, the cost of staying in the hotel tonight can also be reimbursed. As for the training courses of the Propaganda Department, Yu Xiaobao said that he would come forward to say hello to the people in the Propaganda Department and help him make arrangements.
Liu Shang sent Yu Xiaobao away with great gratitude, but he was not in a hurry to find a hotel near the port area. Instead, he called a rickshaw and rushed to the Sanya port area. He had already figured it out just now. No matter what, he had to contact Liao Yuan first to confirm the other party's movements.
Liu Shang did not go back to the place he rented in Sanya Port before, but went directly to the store where Liao Yuan applied. However, in order to avoid suspicion, he did not dare to go directly to the door and look for Liao Yuan by name. He could only get off the car near the store and walk there, trying to see if he would be lucky enough to meet Liao Yuan or Liao Yuan outside. His men.
Liu Shang was really able to keep his composure. After waiting on the street for about half an hour, he finally saw a familiar face. He was the man who worked as a martial artist in this store with Liao Yuan. He was also the one before. Live in a courtyard with yourself. He hurriedly walked out of the darkness, went up to him and pretended to meet him by chance, then asked about Liao Yuan's current situation.
Although the man was Liao Yuan's subordinate, he didn't know Liu Shang's true identity. He thought he was just a storyteller who happened to live in the same courtyard. He had no precautions against him, so he casually responded: "Brother Liao picked up." I left for Guangzhou a few days ago for an errand ordered by my boss. I’m afraid I won’t be back until next month.”
(End of chapter)