New Han Dynasty 1834

Chapter 59 The Achievements of the First Year of Industry

Chapter 59 The Achievements of the First Year of Industry

On the morning of the 14th day of the 12th month of the first year of Hanchang, Liu Yulong got up, washed, changed his clothes, and ate his meal.

At the same time, he instructed two of his personal captains to go to the cabinet and retrieve the year-end summary report submitted by the Institute of Natural Sciences a couple of days ago. After having his meal, he would take the report with him and head to the Institute of Natural Sciences.

The first year of the Hanchang era marked the official start of industrial construction in the Han Dynasty, and can be considered the first year of industrialization. Many practical results have already been achieved.

After reading the summary, Liu Yulong also had a lot to say.

Since written approvals were not detailed enough, Liu Yulong decided to personally visit the Imperial Academy of Natural Sciences to discuss the current issues with the scholars and craftsmen on-site and to make arrangements for future plans.

Liu Yulong ascended the throne in the main hall of the Gewu Academy to receive the routine homage of the Grand Secretary, principal officials, and craftsmen.

After the ceremony, Liu Yulong asked everyone to sit down, took out the summary memorial, and began to review and discuss it on the spot.

The first part of the summary is the most basic industrial and mining construction, which is the foundation of industrial society.

The coal and iron mines and steel plants in the Shenzhou area were expanded simultaneously, completing the construction of twenty 100-stone converters.

The average smelting cycle of the latest 100-stone converter has been further shortened to forty minutes.

Steel production is expected to exceed 20 million shi (a unit of dry measure) and surpass one million tons next year.

Two new industrial bases, one in Liaodong and one in the south, including coal and iron mines and steel plants around Liaoyang, such as Huainan Coal Mine, Ma'anshan Iron Mine, and Jiangpu Steel Plant, have already started production.

We are already capable of producing the most basic steel products such as steel ingots and rails, and other downstream industries and infrastructure are still under construction and expansion.

After reviewing the contents, Liu Yulong made new arrangements on the spot: "After the New Year, the Gewu Academy will cooperate with the Governor's Office to encourage local militia garrisons to actively mine coal to supply the fuel needed for local production and daily life."

"Especially in Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces, the Gewu Institute has organized a special effort to explore, plan and construct two or three large coal mines, and plan a supporting transportation railway."

"In the future, cities in both regions should burn coal as much as possible to reduce damage to forests and control sediment in the Yellow River."

"The Institute of Geology has established a separate department to specifically investigate, study, and assess the condition of the Yellow River dike and its sediment."

After hearing this, the scholars bowed and accepted the arrangement.

Small coal mines are considered outdated production capacity in modern times, but in this era, anything that can be mined is wealth.

Even the large coal mines owned by the imperial court at that time would be considered outdated in modern terms.

At the very least, widespread use of coal can significantly reduce damage to forests.

The enormous population of the Han Dynasty is putting unprecedented pressure on the natural environment.

If they continue to maintain the classical lifestyle, they will mainly rely on wood to cook and keep warm.

If this continues for even a little longer, most of the forests in the north will be completely stripped bare.

After the ground vegetation is destroyed, environmental disasters such as sandstorms and soil erosion will become more and more frequent.

The Yellow River has been diverted to the south for six hundred years, and the dikes along the lower reaches of the Yellow River have reached their limit.

If not specifically adjusted and controlled, breaches will occur frequently over the next decade or so.

Our generation must solve the problems accumulated in the Yellow River.

There are two key points to solving the problem: one is related to the Yellow River itself, and the other is related to the environment.

Liu Yulong also did not intend to take immediate action against the Yellow River itself.

We should prioritize industrial development now, and only after we have stronger engineering construction capabilities should we proceed with any major projects on the Yellow River.

However, while developing industrial projects, things that also benefit the management of the Yellow River will naturally be initiated as well.

The ancients discovered that planting trees can alleviate soil erosion.

However, population growth has forced people to continue cutting down forests.

In order to control the destruction of forests and make afforestation effective, alternative fuels to grass and wood must be available.

The reason why modern forest cover has recovered from 5% at the end of the Qing Dynasty to more than 20% is that people have almost stopped burning firewood.

In this era without natural gas, all we could do was replace firewood with coal.

After giving a few instructions, Liu Yulong continued flipping through the report.

The second part is the crucial infrastructure of railways, which are the lifeblood of industrial society.

The total length of railway built this year is approximately 400 million feet, which is roughly equivalent to 1200 kilometers.

The entire railway line from Shenzhou to Liaoyang has been completed, and direct rail service is now available between Beijing and Liaoyang.

At that time, it was possible to transport supplies and immigrants from Hebei, the most densely populated region in the north, to Liaodong.

The railway connecting the capital to the south has now been built to the vicinity of Daming Prefecture.

In addition, a railway connecting the Huainan coal mine was built, starting from Jiangpu County in Jiangbei, Nanjing.

Next year, construction will continue northward across the Huai River, and will be built simultaneously with the railway heading south from Beijing to both banks of the Yellow River.

After flipping to this point, Liu Yulong spoke again: "So, that means the railways connecting the two capitals, Beijing and Nanjing, will be basically completed by the end of next year?"

The Qing Dynasty changed Yingtian Prefecture to Jiangning Prefecture, but the names of these two prefectures were originally Nanjing, a name used in official documents since the Ming Dynasty, and they did not actually disappear in the Qing Dynasty.

Ordinary people, even officials, and even Europeans overseas, all refer to Nanjing directly in their daily lives.

After the establishment of the Han Dynasty, although the city was not renamed, it was officially known as Nanjing.

In response to Liu Yulong's question, Chief Grand Secretary Wang Lai bowed and replied, "Your Majesty, by the end of next year, the railways connecting the two capitals, north and south, will be completed, except for the Yellow River, Huai River, and Yangtze River."

"The Yellow River Bridge and the Huai River Bridge started construction simultaneously this summer."

"The construction method of these two bridges is the same as that of other small and medium-sized railway bridges, which is a reinforced concrete truss structure."

"But these two bridges are longer, so naturally they need more bridge piers."

"It is expected to be completed within three years."

"As for the Yangtze River Bridge, no feasible construction plan has been formulated yet."

"The lower reaches of the Yangtze River are deep and have a large flow, and the need to accommodate sailboats makes construction extremely difficult."

"The Gewu Academy believes that the Yellow River and Huai River bridges should be completed first to accumulate and summarize experience."

"Then we'll discuss how to build the Yangtze River Bridge."

Reinforced concrete truss structures are the most common railway bridge structures in modern times, and they are not technically difficult.

As long as the river's flow is not particularly large, and a portion can be temporarily diverted, construction can proceed step by step.

However, the larger the bridge, the longer the construction period, just like building an overpass.

Modern bridges are not afraid of being long; adding more piers can solve the problem. The real problem is when the water is too deep, leaving no place to place the piers.

The Yangtze River has a large flow and is very deep, and the engineers of the Han Dynasty had absolutely no experience in dealing with it.

After listening to Wang Lai's explanation, Liu Yulong pondered for a moment and said, "There's nothing wrong with this arrangement. Let's continue preparing according to the current plan."

"We can start building railways from Nanjing to Shanghai and Hangzhou next year."

"Design large ferries to transport trains across the river."

"Since the Yangtze River is deep enough, it can naturally support ferries that are large enough."

Wang Lai breathed a sigh of relief. The emperor hadn't forced him into this situation; he simply told him the Imperial Academy of Natural History must be built immediately. "Your Majesty is wise."

Liu Yulong continued flipping through the reports and memorials.

The third part consists of factories, equipment, and products of various forms of mechanical power, which are the flesh and blood of industrial society.

The world was not created by gods, so no object can appear out of thin air. Steam engines and machine tools could not simply appear out of thin air and instantly become complete.

It must have evolved from low-level to high-level, from simple and rough to complex and precise, through continuous upgrading and iteration.

Since the First Industrial Revolution is called the "first," there obviously couldn't have been any so-called "industrial base" before the Industrial Revolution; there was only a traditional "handicraft base."

Traditional handicrafts gave birth to the first industrial revolution.

The equipment and machines of the early Industrial Revolution were all handcrafted by artisans.

Correspondingly, as long as there are enough skilled artisans, starting the First Industrial Revolution is not difficult.

After developing steam power and a large-scale steel industry, we then turned our attention to transforming various basic handicraft industries.

Traditional human-powered, animal-powered, and water-powered machines were modified or redesigned to be steam-powered, thereby transforming or rebuilding workshops into steam factories.

Only after this process was truly completed could it be considered the first "industrialization".

The process itself is not very complicated, but it covers a very wide range and involves a great deal of complex details.

If there is only one time traveler, it will be difficult to take care of all aspects at the same time.

But Liu Yulong was the emperor, with the well-established institution of the Imperial Academy of Natural Sciences, and an abundance of manpower.

That would allow for simultaneous implementation in most areas where necessary.

Various factories and equipment, including machine shops, gun factories, textile factories, cement plants, machine tool factories, bearing factories, tool factories, sawmills, shipyards, and so on, are now rapidly "industrializing" by relying on materials and power provided by steel mills and steam engines.

In the summary by the Gewu Institute, most of the ordinary factories, equipment, and products did not have a dedicated introduction.

It simply lists the basic data such as the type, quantity, location, and capacity of the upgraded factories.

Only important factories, equipment, and products will be described in detail separately.

The first item in these separate notes is a ship that was just completed at the shipyard at the beginning of this month.

A small, all-steel steam turbine propeller experimental ship, the strange ship that Hong Huoxiu saw.

However, although this ship is listed as the first item, the relevant description is very simple.

The designed full-load displacement is 10,000 shi, or 640 tons.

The maximum speed measured was 6 feet per hour, or 24 kilometers per hour.

In short: there are many problems at present, and it is difficult to solve them all quickly, so it has no practical value.

When Liu Yulong turned to this point, he asked the scholars present: "This ship is not just a simple ship, but a product of the integration of a series of brand-new technologies."

"It's normal to have problems, but how big are these problems exactly?"

"Let the person in charge speak, and I'll also try to think of a solution."

Zheng Fuguang responded and explained, "Your Majesty, the ship—at present—can only be said to have indeed been built."

"But it has problems all over its body. It will malfunction if it moves even a little bit and needs to be stopped for repairs at any time."

"It still has no practical value at present, let alone be delivered to the military."

"Specifically, there are some problems with the propeller."

"For example, at a certain power level, the drive shaft will vibrate slightly."

"At the same time, the output power and speed changes are not matched, and increasing the rotation speed does not necessarily increase the speed."

"The sealing structure itself is not a major problem, but the air pump is difficult to operate stably for a long time."

"Steel hulls will rust quickly when immersed in seawater."

"The method of lining the bottom of wooden ships with copper for corrosion protection has failed and has even produced negative effects."

"Copper-clad surfaces are more prone to corrosion than non-copper-clad surfaces."

"However, most of these problems can be solved by thinking of solutions or by tackling them in a targeted manner."

"For example, regarding corrosion issues, we can specially formulate corrosion-resistant alloys and paints."

"The biggest problem is with the steam turbine; the problems become more obvious as the size is increased."

"Not only is it difficult to work stably for a long time, but the length of each work session also varies."

"Sometimes it's long, sometimes it's short, it seems to be random."

"The craftsmen judged that the main shaft itself might have a slight twist, but it was difficult to detect with the naked eye."

"Or the leaves in the same row are not uniform enough, which is also difficult to detect with the naked eye."