When Zhao Hao received the letter from Zhang Xiaojing from the ocean, it was already the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month of the first year of Wanli.

At that time, he was standing on Niutou Mountain at the junction of Changxing County, Huzhou Prefecture and Guangdezhou, Huizhou Prefecture, overlooking the busy mining area in the valley.

I saw that the originally beautiful pastoral scenery here disappeared, and replaced by the earth dyed blackened by coal.

There are several black coal kilns scattered on the dark ground. Each kiln is covered with railway tracks, which wind out from the cave, and like a spider falling into a web, converging into two long railways in the center of the mining area, leading directly to the valley.

The coal miners were also black all over, with only their eyes and teeth white. They chiseled out coal from the kiln, put them on hand-pressed mine trucks, then shouted horns and transported them out of the coal mine kiln, and then put mules and horses on the mine trucks to transport them out of the valley. After the raw coal was roughly selected at a dock several miles away, they were shipped into Taihu Lake, and transported them to various parts of the south of the Yangtze River through well-connected waterways.

As the population continues to pour into the south of the Yangtze River, firewood and grass gradually become in short supply and prices continue to rise. Now burning coal lotus roots is much more cost-effective than burning firewood. The coal use of residents in various places is growing rapidly, several times that of six years ago.

However, the majority of coal used by each county is still agricultural fertilizer. Under the guidance of Kunshan Agricultural College, the farms of each county have learned how to configure and use nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilizers. No amount of coal mines dug in Changguang Coal Mine is enough for them to use. Even the coal mines on Xishan Island were forced to open business and had to wait for Tangshan coal to transport south to close again.

But to the eyes of the world, this scene is really unsightly and even ugly. Especially the four giant machines two or three stories high next to the coal mine, the thick rocker's arms slowly nodded and the steam kept spraying, which shocked and feared people in the agricultural era...

No wonder people who came to see the fun all returned in a bad mood. Even the sour scholars who were raised by the group's publicity department refused to recite poems and essays for them on the grounds that this thing had no beauty, to whiten the bad image of these "steam pumps".

But Zhao Hao had a special liking for these four big guys. He had been staring at them for an hour, and even shed tears of excitement.

The group of senior executives who accompanied him to inspect were all confused. Even Xu Wei's smart head could not understand why he was like this.

Pan Shujun, chairman of Changguang Coal Industry, hurriedly explained to Xiaoge Lao: "This steam engine can greatly save manpower. Although it is not too slow to see that it can drain twenty or thirty tons of water from the mine in an hour."

"Oh, this is enough to pump hundreds of people?" The senior executives finally became interested. Now the group's salary level is getting higher and higher. If this is the case... "Steam Girl" can replace a large amount of labor, you can order a batch.

These four units in front of you are verification machines produced by Xishan Research Center 03 and do not belong to Jiangnan Group.

Only after the modeling is established will it be jointly produced with Jiangnan Manufacturing Group in accordance with the established model and share profits.

Today, Zhao Hao came to inspect the completion of the 15th Five-Year Plan of Guangmei Industry, and the other was to inspect these steam engines.

"Don't care about these guys who don't know anything." Zhao Hao patted Zhang Jian's shoulder with encouragement and said, "We just need to know how great this thing is!"

"Yes, Master." Zhang Jian smiled indifferently. He was already used to this rich manpower in the Ming Dynasty and did not pay attention to mechanical inventions.

He didn't care at all...well, he was still a little hurt.

When the master asked him and Zhao Shizhen to choose the development direction, he gave two choices, guns and machines.

Zhao Shizhen robbed the former, so he had to choose the latter. Of course, fiddling with machinery is also his hobby.

Six years have passed, and Zhao Shizhen has already become famous all over the world with his Longqing-style rifle and the Rincannon series.

Although the director of the research center has also produced many machinery such as drainage kings, crane crane cranes, hydraulic clamp hammers with variable speed gears, hydraulic cotton gins, etc., which has significantly improved the group's production efficiency... For example, because of his improvements, Songjiang Cotton Spinning Industry's production cost has been reduced by 30%, but its efficiency has been doubled.

But people call Zhao Shizhen the "God of the Ming Dynasty" but refuse to call him "King of Machines"...

It would be fine if other inventions were made, but this steam engine was a result of his efforts since its establishment in January 2nd year of Longqing.

But it still has not received praise from people...

~~

"It's not easy to get this step by step?" Zhao Hao went down the mountain to the steam engine, looking up at this great invention destined to change the world.

"It's not easy." Zhang Jianzhong focused his head. Looking back on the hardships he had walked along the way, his tears were almost falling. "I never expected that Master had given the structure, but he still made such difficulties. It was so embarrassing to Master."

"Hey, I just gave a sketch. You have to slowly overcome a series of technical difficulties." Zhao Hao said seriously: "I will always be proud of you!"

This is not an exaggeration. Even if you know the principle, you still have to rely on a genius mind. After years of hard work, you can create a practical steam engine.

For example, how to remove the compressed steam from the cylinder and the air coming in with the steam? How to balance the heavy rocker arms? How to control the valve? And so on... Every difficulty requires arduous research to overcome. Only by solving all these problems can success be achieved.

"Yes, with the words of Master, the disciples will be content." Zhang Jian wiped the corners of his eyes, cheered up, and introduced him to the latest steam pump, which has been running safely for 2,000 hours in a row.

The earliest steam pump has been standing at the foot of Niutou Mountain for three years. After continuous improvement and repair by Institute 03, it is still nodding slowly and firmly, lifting the accumulated water from a depth of 100 meters...

Zhao Hao was deeply satisfied with this and happily signed the word "qualified" on the acceptance letter and named the big guy "Zhang Jian-style Steam Engine"!

Then he gave enthusiastic speeches to a group of researchers from Institute 03.

"Congratulations, this is a small step for us, but a big step for mankind! From today on, coal will not only boil water, but also provide power for our production!"

"This is the first time in human history that human power has been replaced by a machine powered by fuel! Although its role is still limited, as long as we follow this path, continue to study it carefully, and constantly improve it, making it smaller and more efficient. Please believe me, this world will be changed by it!"

He danced his arms infectiously and said, "You will start the first industrial revolution of mankind! This rumbling machine will eventually smash the old world! Then rebuild a beautiful new world!"

"Boil water changes the world!" The researchers who were not moved easily were finally excited by the little master's passion, believing that they were engaging in a great cause!

~~

After finishing his inspection at Changguang Coal Mine, Zhao Hao and his party crossed Taihu Lake without stopping and returned to Suzhou to participate in the 5th Group Conference and the 15th Five-Year Plan Summary Conference and the 25th Five-Year Plan Release Conference!

As for the Niutoushan Mining Area, because Changguang Mining exceeded the First Five-Year Plan, the Strategic and Decision-making Committee led by the little pawns was evaluated as "excellent" on the spot. Pan Shujun was in a good mood and announced that he would have a half-day holiday and have a meal!

The coal miners were naturally very happy. After finishing work according to the rules, they rushed into the bathhouse and washed away the black coal chips covered with their heads and bodies.

The water flowing out of the sewer dyed the canals outside into ink, and the miners finally became like humans and couldn't wait to rush to the cafeteria.

In the cafeteria, the chefs had already prepared a sumptuous pot of vegetables, chicken, duck, fish, and meat, and they were eaten open!

And there is also the newly developed Tiger Beer from Jiangnan Liquor Industry, which is open to drink!

The miners have a lot of labor and a big appetite. This new type of wine that can be drunk openly, has a strong taste, and can also replenish physical strength, is very popular with them once it is put into use.

Of course, free is also a very important reason...

But not everyone has this treatment.

Because in Changguang Coal Mine, in addition to free workers who signed labor contracts, there are also labor camps.

Nowadays, when prisoners are arrested in various prefectures, prefectures and counties, the prisoners are basically not sentenced to death, in order to protect the prisoners' ability to work. After being sentenced, they are all thrown into labor camps and sent to various industrial and mining enterprises in the Jiangnan Group for punitive labor. They are also specialized in high-risk, high pollution and high-intensity.

Why is the government so enthusiastic about helping Jiangnan Group? Of course, it is mutual benefit. Jiangnan Group is not a prisoner who uses labor camps for vain, but pays the government's wages. Although it is less than half of the normal workers and will not increase with the service life, it is a savoury extra money for the government.

For example, Changxing County sent more than 300 criminals to Changguang Coal Mine. Every month, they would be accounted for more than 300 taels on time. It would be 4,000 taels a year! And they could save prison management fees, prisoners' food expenses, etc., which would be a considerable amount of income.

Of course, prisoners often die in labor camps, but the official didn't care at all. He took the deceased back to prison and reported a murder to his family to collect the body.

Some people may say that this is abuse of prisoners! It will cause trouble for the group!

That is purely a waste of fireworks. What are the conditions for prisons in this era? I haven’t read "Miscellaneous Notes in Prison"? Oh, it was written by people in the Qing Dynasty...

But the conditions of prisons are not clear and clear, and they are all like birds.

If you don’t believe it, ask these laborers, even if they were exhausted in the mine and were killed by the mine disaster, none of them wanted to return to the prison that was darker than a coal mine.

If you go back there, you will starve to death in a few days, die of illness, and be tortured to death by the prison leader and tyrant...

Although the labor intensity in the Jiangnan Group mine is high, the mortality rate is higher than that of normal workers. However, the working conditions and safety regulations are much higher than those in other places.

And as long as you complete the task, you won’t be beaten and you can still have a full meal.

Today, the meal was held, and the mine didn't pull them down, but there was no wine and two less hard dishes... It was not to save those two money, but mainly to open up the gap and not to let the workers have any opinions.

In this way, the laborer can eat a lot and his face shines.

Compared with the prison, this is simply paradise!

So some prisoners don’t even want to leave after they are sentenced...

Of course, some people dream of leaving this ghost place. For example, the former former little cabinet master...
Chapter completed!