Volume 1 Tigers in Southeast Asia Chapter 33 Laying a Solid Industrial Foundation
The names of ores in this era could not be the same as those in Lin Fei's era, so Master Guan did not understand the word "pyrite" and was confused. Lin Fei smiled and said, "This ore contains 'sulfur'. If we burn this stone now, there will be a sulfurous smell. When smelting this ore, limestone must be added to remove the sulfur, otherwise the iron produced will be very brittle. Am I right?"
Master Guan was stunned and asked in astonishment: "You know so much?"
Lin Fei smiled and nodded, saying, "I know more. When you use this ore to make iron, you should burn these stones first. When they burn, they will produce poisonous smoke, right?"
Master Guan's face changed. Ling Xue said in surprise, "Yes, that kind of smoke smells weird. How did you know?"
Lin Fei smiled and said, "That kind of poisonous smoke is called sulfur dioxide, which is an important raw material for making sulfuric acid. Sulfuric acid has a lot of uses, so those poisonous smoke are treasures. You have wasted them before. Now that I am here, you can no longer waste these treasures."
Master Guan was so surprised that his mouth couldn't close. Lin Fei picked up another piece of ore and said with a smile: "This is chalcopyrite. Why did you put it together with pyrite? The methods of smelting iron and smelting copper are very different."
Master Guan shook his head when he heard this and said, "What was shipped in these few days was pyrite, not chalcopyrite. How could it be chalcopyrite?"
Lin Fei walked up to Master Guan with a knife and a stone, scratched the stone with the knife, pointed at the scratch mark and said, "Look, this mark is yellow and black. This stone is obviously chalcopyrite."
Master Guan picked up the stone, looked at it in front of his eyes, nodded, and sighed: "Young people are really formidable."
Lin Fei laughed and said, "Master Guan, don't be so depressed. We Chinese will still be famous in the world in the future."
Master Guan was touched by Lin Fei's words and lowered his head in deep thought. Lin Fei knew that it was useless to say more, so he said to Ling Xue: "Xue'er, I have seen the ore and smelting. Now you take me to see the mechanical processing part. There should be a forging workshop and a casting workshop here, right?"
Ling Xue nodded, and then took Lin Fei to the forging workshop and the foundry workshop. The two workshops were equipped with all kinds of equipment. Although they were all made of earth, they could be used barely.
Lin Fei looked around the Construction Bureau, then said goodbye to Ling Xue and returned to his residence. As soon as he came back, he asked someone to find Yu Xier. Yu Xier came soon and when he saw Lin Fei, he smiled evilly and said, "Where did you go with Miss Ling Xue?"
Lin Fei said helplessly: "Why are you interested in these things? I went to their construction bureau and took a look at their production capacity."
Yu Xier asked: "What do you think? Can their construction bureau make weapons for us? Our top priority is to make bullets."
Lin Fei sighed, shook his head and said, "It's possible for their Construction Bureau to make some iron tools, but they can't make weapons."
Yu Xier frowned upon hearing this and said, "That won't do! Our bullets will run out sooner or later, and we can't do without replenishment."
Lin Fei smiled and said: "So I decided to let you solve this problem!"
Yu Xier laughed and said, "How do I solve this problem?"
Lin Fei smiled meaningfully and said, "Don't forget that you are British. I heard from Chen Fu last time that there are many British businessmen in Taiwan. Why don't you go to them to buy equipment?"
Yu Xier's eyes lit up and he said, "That's a good idea, but I don't know much about mechanical equipment, so I'm not sure what to buy."
Lin Fei smiled and said, "Just go there with peace of mind. I have already written a list of equipment for you. As for the money, we have looted a lot of pesos from the Spaniards. Just spend them. As long as we can buy these equipment, we will pay any price." Yu Xier agreed and went to discuss the purchase of equipment with Chen Fu.
At night, the owner of the printing factory delivered the brief history written by Lin Fei. Lin Fei gave it to the Tea King and asked him to take the local Chinese to teach the Filipinos. Lin Fei arranged the construction of the road overnight, gave some explosives to the miners, and placed the chemical reaction equipment brought from the sugar factory and winery in the city. He continued to produce nitroglycerin explosives with the raw materials brought back from the plantation.
Lin Fei used historical education to assimilate the Filipinos and obtained a stable development base. In the base, he developed a transportation industry mainly based on roads, a mining industry, a metallurgical industry mainly based on refining metals such as steel and copper, and chemical industries such as sulfuric acid, nitric acid and nitroglycerin. These industries laid the foundation for subsequent development.
The next day, Yu Xier and Chen Fu were preparing to take a transport ship to Taiwan. Before leaving, Lin Fei said to Chen Fu: "When buying equipment, you must buy three things. These three things must be bought back. Do you understand?"
Seeing Lin Fei's serious words, Chen Fu asked solemnly, "Which three things? Just tell me, I will never forget them."
Lin Fei said: "The first one is saltpeter; the second one is cinnabar; the third one is cotton. Do you remember it?"
Chen Fu was very surprised after hearing this and asked, "Why do we need these three things? I understand saltpeter, but what are cinnabar and cotton used for?"
Lin Fei smiled and said, "You won't understand even if I explain it to you now. How about this, I will explain it to you slowly after you buy the things back."
Chen Fu did not ask any more questions and set off with Yu Xier. As soon as Yu Xier and Chen Fu left, Lin Fei came to Lingji Construction Factory. When Ling Xue saw Lin Fei coming, she hurried over and said with a smile, "Captain Lin, what are you doing here?"
Lin Fei smiled and said, "I am here to teach you. Please gather all the craftsmen together."
Ling Xue agreed and quickly gathered more than a hundred craftsmen. Lin Fei took out a folding ruler and a vernier caliper from his pocket, and first introduced the matter of changing the measurement system to everyone. Then he took out a piece of paper from his pocket and said, "Please take a look at what is on this paper and see if you can understand it."
Everyone came over to look and shook their heads. Lin Fei said, "There are three pictures on this paper. They are pictures of a part from three directions. I call them three views. The dimensions are also marked on the pictures. Everyone should get familiar with this method of marking dimensions."
It turned out that what Lin Fei showed to everyone was a modern drawing. Modern industrial drawing is a specialized discipline. There are many rules in this discipline, including how to mark dimensions, how to mark dimensional tolerances, how to draw cross-section views of complex surfaces, etc. These things require a certain amount of study to master. For those who have not learned these things, it is impossible for them to understand a drawing even if they are given one. Lin Fei was teaching the craftsmen how to read drawings.
The drawings these craftsmen used before were very simple and not as precise as modern drawings. It was difficult for them to adapt to Lin Fei's drawings at once, so Lin Fei had to teach them slowly.
Lin Fei taught for a whole morning, and the craftsmen finally understood a little. Seeing that it was almost time for lunch, Lin Fei said goodbye to everyone and left. Everyone tried to persuade Lin Fei to stay for lunch, but Lin Fei said that he had important things to do in the afternoon and had to rush back to the military camp, so he politely declined.
Lin Fei walked out of the Construction Bureau, and suddenly a clear voice called out from behind him: "Captain Lin."
Lin Fei looked back and saw Ling Xue walking towards him quickly. Lin Fei hurriedly asked, "Xue'er, what can I do for you?"
Ling Xue reached out of her pocket and took out a string of knots, handed it to Lin Fei, and asked, "Is this yours? I saw it fell out of your pocket."
Lin Fei took a closer look and found that the knotted rope was exactly the rope that Chiyomika gave him. He quickly took it and said, "This is indeed mine."
Ling Xue suddenly chuckled and asked, "This knot is so delicate, it must have been given to you by a girl, right?" There was a hint of mischief in her expression, like a cute little girl, completely unlike that stubborn and strong girl.
Lin Fei nodded, and Ling Xue asked with a smile: "Captain Lin, do you like these gadgets?"
Lin Fei replied casually: "It's okay."
Ling Xue smiled and ran away. Lin Fei didn't take it to heart and returned to the military camp. The military camp was recruiting soldiers at this time. Chinese children signed up enthusiastically and soon the number reached 400. Lin Fei wrote down their names and asked them to go home first and come back tomorrow.
In the afternoon, Lin Fei gathered the brothers he had brought out from the prisoner-of-war camp and taught them command knowledge. In the future, the army would definitely grow larger and larger, and it would not work without officers. These people had served in the Qing army, so they had more or less bad habits of the Qing army, such as beating and scolding subordinates, bullying new recruits, etc. Lin Fei emphasized and prohibited these things one by one.
Lin Fei taught everyone for the whole afternoon and did not have time to rest at night. He went to the learning site to see how the Filipinos were studying. Seeing that the Filipinos were gradually accepting that they were part of the Chinese nation, he went back with peace of mind. Before going to bed, he went to the highway construction site to take a look.
Lin Fei spent half a month busy like this, and everything was done in an orderly manner. The craftsmen could read the modern drawings drawn by Lin Fei, and the former prisoners of war also looked like officers. At this time, Chen Fu and Yu Xier bought what Lin Fei needed, including mechanical processing and steelmaking equipment, cotton, and cinnabar, filling more than a dozen large ships.
The ship unloaded the cargo at the dock built by Lin Fei and transported it to the city by road. Chen Fu then asked, "Captain Lin, what exactly do you want the cotton and cinnabar for?"
Lin Fei laughed and said, "Of course it's to make guns and bullets."
Chen Fu shook his head and said, "I can't figure it out. What does cotton and cinnabar have to do with guns and bullets?"
Lin Fei smiled and said, "I won't explain it now, because I'm going to go to the chemical production area to explain it to the technicians, and you will understand it then."
