Chapter 20 Steel and Talismans

Of course Wei Zhen has a good vision, and the waterwheel is naturally valuable.

But in this era dominated by agriculture, the value of waterwheels cannot be viewed solely. It has its own unique strategic value.

When it can be sold is up to Cao Mengde.

A few hours later, the one million money Zhao Yu asked for arrived. This time, Zhao Yu would not hand over the financial power to Dian Wei. He was a rough man, and he was happy about it. Zhao Yu asked Wang Tian, ​​who had worked as an accountant, to take charge of Zhuangzi's financial power.

As for Dian Wei, without money, he was relaxed and relaxed, so he mixed with the hundreds of young men who had been recruited mainly for Zhuangzi's construction and began preliminary training.

For these hundred young men, work is only temporary. Zhao Yu's arrangement for them was to protect them. When necessary, there are greater uses. Everything in Zhuangzi is an indispensable part of Zhao Yu's support of Cao Mengde. It is of great importance and must be guaranteed not to be leaked without voluntary disclosure. So Dian Wei's job is actually not easy.

Since Zhuangzi gradually took shape, some arrogant people have begun to appear around him. Zhao Yu knew that most of these people were the informants of the wealthy families in Puyang City. Zhao Yu's actions were so big that it was impossible not to attract others' attention.

As Zhuangzi takes shape, the various changes in this land will definitely attract the attention of interested people. In terms of security, it must be strict. Zhao Yu has decided to find some time to teach some techniques and turn these hundreds of guards into a usable team.

Of course, it's not that serious yet, and Zhao Yu doesn't have much leisure in a short time.

With the success of cement firing and the improvement of formulas and processes, it is imperative to build several more cement kilns. Cement has a wide range of uses and production must increase significantly. Fortunately, Wei Zhen provided the materials, and Zhuangzi was only responsible for the firing.

Once cement is produced, many facilities in the village will need to be renovated. From Zhuangzi's walls, floors, and some facilities in the backyard workshop, to the roads, canals, waterwheel bases outside the manor, etc., cement began to bloom with a brilliance that did not belong to this era.

This busy time lasted for more than half a month in the blink of an eye.

When the appearance of all the facilities in Zhuangzi changed drastically, Zhao Yu looked back and realized that the farmland in Zhuangzi had become green.

Zhuangzi buildings and cement kilns account for a quarter of the twenty acres of land. There are fifteen acres of land left, two of which are used to grow peppers and other seasoning crops as well as some vegetables and fruits. Thirteen acres of land were left, seven acres were used for wheat and six acres were used for potatoes.

Zhao Yu put his hands behind his back, and Wang Tian and Zhang Wang followed him, walking along the smooth cement road, walking through the pepper field, walking through the onion and garlic field, and finally stood at the border of wheat and potatoes. The two of them stood respectfully with their hands down, looking extremely respectful. Look at the cement road under your feet and the lush greenery where you enter. The root of all this is the owner in front of you.

For ordinary people, the general situation of the world, the victory or defeat of wars, and even the rise and fall of a country are nothing compared to the greenness of the fields.

In just one month, this place has been full of laughter and laughter. In this troubled world, it is like a paradise. How touching and admirable is this?

Zhao Yu looked at the green wheat seedlings that had grown to feet high and the clusters of potato vines with green leaves and fat stems, with a look of satisfaction on his face.

In this piece of land, he had done all this bit by bit, and he suddenly felt a sense of accomplishment lingering in his heart, which made him feel quite strange. This sense of accomplishment seems to have never happened in the Tianyan Mirror illusion for countless years.

No matter when I first established the Great Sect or when I became Hunyuan, I never felt this way.

"This is humanity..."

Zhao Yu suddenly sighed.

The two people behind him heard it inexplicably.

Zhao Yu turned around and said, "Twenty acres is far from enough."

He pointed to this area and said: "These crops of mine have been carefully cultivated and have a high yield. But the planting area is too small. How many people are there in the village now?"

Wang Tian immediately arrived: "There are more than a thousand people."

"That's right. The planting area is only more than ten acres, and it has to feed a thousand people. Do you think it's enough?"

Zhang Wang and Wang Tian thought deeply: "Not enough."

The seeds cultivated in the small world of the Chaos Bead are extraordinary after all. In the small world of the Chaos Bead, the yield of wheat from such cultivated seeds is between 8,000 and 10,000 kilograms per mu. Potatoes are even more terrifying, generally more than 100,000 kilograms. Of course, that is because the small world of Chaos Pearl has abundant Yuan Qi and is the blessed land of Cave Heaven. Taking it outside, according to Zhao Yu's estimation, it may be reduced to about one-fifth. That is to say, the yield per mu of wheat can reach 1,500 to 2,000 kilograms, and that of potatoes is about 20,000 kilograms.

But the current planting area is too small. Seven acres of wheat can only produce more than 10,000 kilograms. Six acres of potatoes, more than 100,000 kilograms. There are more than a thousand people. Because of the lack of oil and water, each person has to work hard and eat three or four kilograms of grain every day. That is to say, 5,000 kilograms of grain are consumed in one day, and the total is more than 100,000 kilograms. If you throw it around, you can calculate 300,000 kilograms, which is enough for two months.

"I, Zhuangzi, are here to serve as a demonstration. So, please give me some ideas. How many acres of land should I plant if there are more than a thousand people?"

"Forty acres per person, more than 1,300 people, more than 52,000 acres." Zhang Wang said.

"Okay." Zhao Yu said: "In this way, Zhang Wang will take charge of the farming. Then you can handle this matter slowly. Along the existing land, expand to the surrounding areas. Those without owners will directly occupy it, and those with owners will buy it. If so, If you encounter obstacles, come and tell me again. Just calculate it based on the area of ​​forty acres per person. How many people there are, how much land is needed."

"Yes, boss."

Zhao Yu said to Wang Tian again: "You cooperate with Wang Wang to get things done."

"Here."

Zhao Yu nodded: "Wherever the land is, water conservancy will be built for me, and cement roads will be built for me as well. The money will be paid out from the account first. If it is not enough, it will be paid out from the natural residence. If the natural residence is not enough, come and tell me. .”

"As commanded."

Zhao Yu looked at the farmland again and said after a moment: "After Zhuangzi, a strict rental system was implemented. According to the family unit, how many people there are, how much land is given to them. The villagers only need 10% of the rent, and the rest belongs to themselves. This year we will The construction of more than 50,000 acres of land will be implemented next year. Roads and canals are the responsibility of the villagers, and the tenants are not responsible. The water tanker needs to pay rent, with a limit of three years. After three years, the water tanker will be owned by the local government."

Zhang Wang and Wang Tian looked at each other and nodded in unison: "Here."

According to Zhao Yu's idea, roads and other transportation facilities, and water conservancy facilities such as canals are public facilities and should not be the responsibility of the private sector but the government. As for the demand for rent for waterwheels, this is a measure to protect the waterwheels. If the waterwheel is not directly related to the households, they will not cherish it, and it may be damaged in ten and a half months. Charge rent from them, but it doesn’t need to be too high. Let them know that it is theirs, so they will cherish it and protect it.

On the way back, Zhao Yu asked the two of them: "How do you think the wheat and potatoes are growing?"

Zhang Wang had the right to speak, and praised: "Master, I have lived for forty years, and I have never seen wheat growing so well. As for potatoes..."

He doesn't know either.

Because the potato crop appeared on this land for the first time.

Zhao Yu nodded slightly.

After all, it is a good variety cultivated by Chaos Color Small World. It grows well, is drought and water tolerant, and is not easy to get sick. Zhao Yu took all these advantages into consideration when cultivating them. It can be said that it is a super generational crop. Even in modern time and space two thousand years later, nothing can compare with it.

"Potatoes can be harvested in winter." Zhao Yu said: "But in order to harvest a sufficient amount, after winter, you have to dig up one plant every day to compare when it stops growing. Then calculate the time and record it for easy promotion in the future."

"Yes, boss."

"When planting any kind of crop, you record the areas that need attention, the problems you encounter, etc., and how you solved them. You also record them and make it into a farming book. Maybe it will go down in history. when."

When he looked around and heard it, he couldn't help but feel shocked. Next to him, Wang Tian was also thoughtful - this is not only for farming, but also for cement and waterwheel manufacturing.

Zhao Yu no longer personally intervened in the three items of farming, cement, and water trucks, and left them all to Wang Tian and Zhang Wang. And he himself, on the eve of winter, began to build a steelmaking blast furnace in his backyard.

This is another most important thing besides agriculture.

In modern society, steel is an important factor in measuring a country's comprehensive national strength.

In this era, the production of steel is more important to a country and power than to modern society.

The increase in steel production not only represents the growth of productivity, especially in troubled times, steel often represents combat effectiveness.

It is an important factor in the victory of the war.

There are many ways to make steel. Due to different formulas and processes, the strength, toughness, and use of the steel produced vary greatly. Zhao Yu won't think so much. The steel he wants to forge is a kind of steel that has high hardness, is tough and wear-resistant.

As for steel for other purposes, it is not needed yet in this era.

It is enough to be able to make durable weapons, armor with strong defense, and strong machinery.

Zhao Yu has long studied the formula. For a long time, he spent most of his energy on this in the small world of Chaos Beads.

However, the formula is not enough. Steelmaking also requires high equipment. Unlike cement and glass, they can be produced in earthen kilns. Not good steel.

Therefore, Zhao Yu needs to build the basic equipment bit by bit himself.

The steel used to build the blast furnace is smelted using mana.

The blast furnace built by Zhao Yu is probably different from any other blast furnace. This was of his own design.

Coke is generally used for steelmaking. Because the raw coke contains sulfur, the quality of the steel produced is not good enough. According to the usual steps, the coal must be coked before it can be used to make steel. And Zhao Yu's blast furnace is two-in-one.

In other words, if coal is put in directly, the flue gas in the coal can be filtered in the blast furnace without affecting the quality of the steel.

Among them, the technique of talismans was used, which I will not discuss here for now.