my magic industry

238 - Mining Area Situation
After completing the exploration and site selection tasks for several factories of the United Coal and Iron Company, and arranged the preliminary preparations, the group took a boat to the Granville Wharf in the northwest of the Blue Lake Mountains. From this wharf, they took horses to Brook The family has the largest scale and the most favorable conditions in all aspects of the redstone mine to conduct inspection work. Xia Lin needs to see with his own eyes how people in this world mine, so as to improve its efficiency in the future.

It took almost two hours to set off from the pier. The convoy drove along the rough and narrow cinder road to the foot of a mountain. When the two got off the carriage, there was already a group of people waiting by the side of a mountain road. They saw Viscount Pound and Xia Lin, among them A brightly dressed young man hurried up to meet him.

"Master Viscount, may the glory of Brooke be with you forever, who is this guest?"

"This is a guest of our family, Viscount Charlene Karl, a wise man valued by Her Majesty the Queen.

Viscount Xia Lin, in front of us is the redstone mine of our Brook family. This is my cousin Lucas Brook, who is quite capable. He is usually in charge of these mines! "

"Welcome, Your Excellency Viscount Xia Lin!"

Although Lucas is much older than Xia Lin, the status gap between the two determines that Lucas will respectfully salute Xia Lin like a junior at this time, and Xia Lin has no idea about this. Too much awkward feeling, just nodded lightly:

"Nice to meet you! Lucas in charge!"

"The scenery inside the Blue Lake Mountain is not bad, but now is not the time, Lucas, you take us to see how the mine is doing now!"

Seeing that the two had greeted each other, Viscount Pound spoke impatiently, obviously not intending to stay in such a barren place.

"Then invite the two viscounts to follow me!"

Lucas and the people he brought immediately set off to lead the way, and Xia Lin and Viscount Pound walked up together.

Although the Redstone Mine is the largest mine under the name of the Brook family, the conditions are not much better. Looking at the mountain road under her feet, which is only 1.5 meters wide and has a slope of at least 30 degrees, Xia Lin quickly designated it as the No. [-] mine. A place that needs improvement, so Xia Lin kept observing the road conditions and thinking about the construction plan of each section of the road as he walked down the road.

After walking through the narrow mountain road for more than ten minutes, they arrived at the mining camp located on the hillside of the Red Stone Mine. Under the arrangement and reception of Lucas, Xia Lin and his party rested in the camp for a while and drank a few drinks. With a cup of tea, Xia Lin began to inspect again.

Located on the hillside of Hongshi Mountain, the mining camp of Hongshi Mine is divided into two parts, namely the outer camp where the managers and mine guards live, and the inner camp where the miners live. The inside and outside are separated by a thick and tall wooden wall. , the outside is a long wooden house built of logs, and the living conditions are not bad.

"Viscount Pound, I need to go to the inner camp and your mines!"

After a brief inspection of the outlying camps, Xia Lin made a request to Viscount Pound when he had some confidence in his mind.

"Viscount Xialin, there is nothing to see in the inner camp. It is just a group of slaves' earth nests. The master and Viscount Xialin might as well go back with me and continue to rest for a while! Captain Matthews took people to hunt in the nearby forest. There are a few Jinyu chickens, and the banquet can start in a moment!"

Lucas invited with a flattering smile on his face. Viscount Pound was obviously very moved when he heard the words. After all, he accompanied Xia Lin to this place in a carriage from the Blue Lake Wharf, and his ass was severely tortured. It was really a burden for an enlightened aristocrat like him who didn't exercise often to follow Xia Lin to continue the investigation after just taking a break.

"No, no need. I'm here to solve your production problems. It's still early in the morning. Let's read the general situation first before talking about the rest."

Xia Lin was not interested in the endless banquets among the nobles, not to mention that it was only around two o'clock in the afternoon. He had already had lunch when he was on the boat, and he didn't feel hungry at all, so he flatly refused.

"That's right, then listen to Sir Xia Lin! Lucas, take us to the camp!"

Viscount Pound hesitated for a moment, but finally followed Xia Lin's advice.

"Okay then! Please come with me!"

Lucas looked a little disappointed, but he was not Viscount Pound's own son, so he didn't dare to be presumptuous, and honestly led a group of people into the inner camp where the miners lived.

It was still in the afternoon, and there was no one in the camp. Xia Lin checked the living conditions of the miners and found that they were worse than the poor in the slums.

Basically, they dug a hole and built a hut with wood and thatch. Such a simple hut is definitely not effective in insulating the cold in early winter like this in the central region with four distinct seasons, and it must be in summer. A horrible steamer.

Xia Lin found an excuse to look at the food provided by the Brook family to the miners. It was some balls made of rice bran and rotten vegetable leaves that were fed to the livestock. It looked as big as a fist, and the portion was not bad.

However, even a person from a slum like Xia Lin couldn't accept the sour smell.

It's no wonder that a miner can dig out ten pounds of ore in one day, which is about 65 catties. With such living conditions and eating conditions, these slaves have the strength to dig out so much ore.

"Viscount Pound, how much does your chamber of commerce cost to buy a slave now? What was the cost to buy a slave before?"

Xia Lin felt that the problem of production in the mining area was not limited to technology, but also a big problem in management.

Slavery is indeed the most labor-inducing system. If the Brook Chamber of Commerce hadn't stipulated that the minimum amount of mining should be achieved every day to have food, the labor efficiency of more than 100 slaves might not be as good as that of ten real miners.

"It's about 15 silver mals now! In the past, it seemed that it only cost 5 to 10 silver mals. What? Does Sir Charlene want to buy a batch of slaves?"

Viscount Pound, who pinched his nose and frowned, lowered his head and carefully looked for a foothold in the messy camp, replied casually.

"No, 15 silver Maars buy a slave elsewhere, and then transport it to Helgana. The slave will cost at least 25 silver Mairs. I think the cost is not low. Viscount Pound has Haven't you considered another way to manage these slaves?"

"In what way?"

“Such as promising them a small wage from their work to repay their worth, giving them some hope of freedom, and providing better shelter and food for hard-working slaves.

I think that if managed in this way, these slaves will work harder, and the output of the mine will naturally be higher. "

Xia Lin explained her thoughts.

"Viscount Xia Lin, how can these slackers work hard? Slaves are slaves, even if they are whipped, they will not become diligent. You are just wasting money by doing this."

When Lucas heard Xia Lin's words, he shook his head and said disapprovingly.

"Lucas! Don't be rude to my guests!"

Viscount Pound scolded, and Lucas suddenly stopped talking, but judging from Viscount Pound's disapproving expression, he obviously agreed with Lucas's thoughts in his heart.

"Viscount Xia Lin, I think you were born in a slum, and you may have more sympathy for these slaves... well, but please don't forget that they are slaves, animals, and tools, but they are not human beings!
Although Lucas's words are somewhat disrespectful, they also make sense, Viscount Xia Lin, we won't do any good by doing this. "

(End of this chapter)