Back to Ming Dynasty with Industrial Revolution System

Chapter 1708 London Industrial Area
The heavy snow fell, and the city of London was covered with silver. Chu Yun led a group of ministers and military officers to the industrial area of ​​the Chinese merchants in the city of London amidst the heavy snow.

This industrial area was built on the royal land leased to Western companies by the previous King Charles I. Li Jinde was one of the businessmen who participated in the construction of the industrial area.

At this time, Li Jinde left here after establishing the first batch of factories and attracting the aristocratic circles in England. He chose to return to China to develop the fledgling chemical industry. He was replaced by the new director Huang Xiushan.

It is rare for Chu Yun to come to Europe. Naturally, he wants to check the situation of the factories established by Western companies here.

This is the place where goods are dumped into the European market, and it will also be able to provide industrial materials for the war in the future.

Western companies are not Western companies, but companies named after the place where they trade. Companies that develop markets in the West are directly named Western companies, while companies that plunder resources and markets in India are called Eastern companies. Indian company.

Huang Xiushan, who is currently in charge of the London industrial area, heard that Chu Yun was coming to inspect, and had been waiting for Chu Yun's arrival with a group of directors.

A group of guards from the Imperial Guard Brigade arrived at the industrial area first to ensure the safety here.

After entering the gun era, personal safety has always been a big problem, and this problem is difficult to solve even if Chu Yun has a system.

"We have textile mills, steam machine factories, ironworks, steelworks, sugar factories... as long as there are enough raw materials, we can continue to produce. England has the largest coal production in Europe. If there is demand for iron ore production It’s also possible. After the recent war broke out, we temporarily produced a batch of gunpowder and 7 field artillery to supply the front line.” Huang Xiushan introduced this industrial zone jointly established by the government and businessmen to Chu Yun.

The Chinese government accounts for [-]% of the shares of Western companies, and the private sector accounts for [-]%. Therefore, it is actually an industrial giant dominated by the government and operated by the private sector. The munitions are produced in it, and the steel factory has transformed into a munitions factory. It is conceivable.

Such industrial giants are not just selling industrial products to the West. When necessary, they can provide arms to the Chinese army stationed in the West, and even sell some low-tech arms to a certain kingdom to attack another kingdom according to the needs of checks and balances. .

However, one thing is different from the East India Company. The East India Company has its own semi-professional armed fleet and native soldiers, while the Western Company is completely unarmed.Because the intensity of conflicts among continental European countries is far higher than that of the Indian peninsula, it is difficult to make the other party succumb in the name of the company.

"How are the factories operating?" Chu Yun asked.

"Except for the steam machine factory that provides new machines and repairs old machines for other factories, which is purely a cost department, other factories are profitable, especially the textile factory, which is still the largest profitable department." Huang Xiushan said.

"Basic food, housing and transportation...as the largest industrial sector, it is normal."

Chu Yun thought that it is not unreasonable for people to put food, clothing, housing and transportation together.

The textile industry is the "clothing" in basic necessities of life, including wool, cotton, jute, silk, leather and other raw materials and finished products.

Not to mention food, people depend on food, and the global trade volume of rice, wheat, and meat is huge, as well as condiments or materials such as sugar, salt, and tea.

Housing is related to land. Land is currently the most valuable property. The conflicts between many kingdoms are ultimately conflicts between land and commercial interests.

If it works, horse-drawn carriages are currently the main mode of transportation. In the future, automobiles, railways and even airplanes will have a huge market. Whether it is passenger transportation or freight transportation, the market potential is unimaginable.

At present, in the industrial park established by the Chinese in the city of London, there are textile factories and sugar factories, one related to "clothing" and the other related to "food".

The success of the textile factory is not unexpected. The use of steam engines has greatly reduced the cost of textiles. The woolen and cotton textiles produced here can be sold to the European continent under the name of "high quality and low price".

"The sugar factory is also very profitable?" Chu Yun didn't doubt the most familiar textile factory, but asked about the situation of the relatively unfamiliar sugar factory.

"Our sugar factory here is divided into two branches. One branch produces sugar cane as a raw material, and the other uses sugar beet. Sugar cane is the most common raw material for extracting sugar now. But there is a huge problem, The places suitable for growing sugar cane are in the tropics and subtropics, and the latitude here is too high. It is necessary to transport sugar cane from the West Indies and South America to the factory, and then extract the sugar. If the European continent is blocked from the sea because of the war, then we will not be able to obtain raw materials Beets can be planted in areas with higher latitudes. We use money to encourage farmers in England to plant beets, and then purchase these raw materials to produce sugar. We diversify our investment, so we don’t have to worry about the sugar factories being completely shut down due to the impact of the war. "

"The process of the beet sugar factory includes juice extraction, cleaning, evaporation, crystallization, nectar separation, and drying. We use the carbon dioxide filling method to clarify the sugar juice. Chemical raw materials such as carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide are used during the process, so there are small chemical plants in the factory. department……"

The director of the sugar factory introduced the situation of the factory to Chu Yun and the others.

When it comes to the principle of refining granulated sugar, the people in the sugar factory are eloquent, but Chu Yun sounds a little difficult.

He only has the most basic knowledge of chemistry, that is to say, he only understands the most basic principles, but he is at a loss when he goes deep into a specific field.

Of course, Chu Yun does not need to worry about and understand these things. The chemists he summoned through the system have passed on this knowledge to a group of local students, and they have become the first batch of local chemical industry practitioners.

Chu Yun only needs to know what the raw materials and products are, and the specific implementation is left to professional people.

"very good."

Chu Yun was not proficient in the specific principles, so he could only nod his head to show encouragement.

Then Chu Yun went to join the steel factory in the industrial zone, where the product is the foundation of industry—steel.

Coal and steel are the most important materials for human beings to transform from an agricultural society to an industrial society. The steel output here can even rival the output of the whole of England.

"Our raw materials need to be transported to the city of London by sea and canals, and the cost of transportation is quite high. We are currently trying to find ways to reduce the production cost of steel." The director of the steel factory also encountered a little trouble.

Like sugarcane sugar factories, steel factories are also subject to raw materials, which involves the choice of industrial location.

"Do you have any mature plans?" Chu Yun was still very concerned about the development of the steel plant.

(End of this chapter)