I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 578 Huge Profits from Briquettes
When Huang Dong walked into the production room, he saw hundreds of people in an orderly manner, divided into several groups under the command of different workers, each doing different procedures and things.

In the square outside the production room, workers first crush the coal with hammers, wash it in water, and then take it out and grind the coal into powder.

After the pulverized coal is dried, someone will move the pulverized coal to another room. In this room, someone is playing with the loess using a sieve to turn it into powder.

When everything was ready, the workers who had already prepared mixed the selected soft loess and coal powder together in proportion, added some charcoal powder, and then poured in water and stirred repeatedly.

This process is extremely labor-intensive, requiring not only stirring but also strength.But after it's done, there's only one last step left.
When it becomes sticky, someone will hold two different molds. One is round with many holes in the middle, and the other is spherical with no holes in the middle.The molds are pressed into the sticky coal powder, taken out after being firmly pressed, and then taken to the yard to dry one by one.

By the time Huang Dong arrived, the finished samples had already been piled up in the warehouses on both sides.

"Big shopkeeper, big shopkeeper!"

Seeing Huang Dong coming, the staff in charge of the production room came out to greet him one after another. Shopkeeper Li on the side also introduced them one by one in a tactful manner. Huang Dong immediately gave the people around him a look, and the other servants immediately took out silver coins and rewarded them one by one.

"Thank you, great shopkeeper, for the reward."

When everyone saw Huang Dong being so generous, they immediately beamed with joy and thanked Huang Dong repeatedly.

Huang Dun doesn't care about this. What he cares about most now is the finished sample.So he waved his hands and asked the guys to lead the way, and then they entered the warehouse and saw rows of cylindrical briquettes piled up like a mountain.

Huang Dong walked to a sample, picked it up and observed it carefully.This thing looks like a honeycomb shape. The diameter of the briquettes is about ten centimeters. There are a total of twelve holes, which are evenly distributed and penetrate the body of the briquettes. They can be seen up and down.

"How about briquettes? Is it easy to use?"

As soon as these words came out, shopkeeper Li, who was in charge of the Xishan Coal Yard, immediately waved his hand, and a waiter immediately brought a stove.

This stove is specially designed. From the outside, it is a cylindrical shape surrounded by iron sheets. It is about one foot in diameter and about two feet high. It is supported by three small corners at the bottom.There is a small hole on each side of the stove waist where the handle can be inserted.

Under the watchful eyes of Huang Dong and others, the man picked up a piece of briquettes and put it in. Then he put some wood chips on fire and the flames quickly came out of the stove.

Shopkeeper Li looked at the burning flames and couldn't help but feel happy. He watched the whole process of making briquettes, so he naturally knew the value of it.

"Big shopkeeper, where did you get this recipe? This briquette is simple to make. It doesn't require big coals, just fragmented small coals or even low-quality coals. But even low-quality coals catch fire quickly and are easy to burn. Just use a match. It was ignited from the mouth of the furnace. After a while, the flames reached one foot, and the firepower was very strong.

We did a simple calculation and found that a piece of briquettes can boil a pot of water without burning an incense stick. The cost is less than three cents, which is cheaper than firewood and coal, and it burns vigorously. "In the Ming Dynasty, one tael of silver could buy nearly 0.1 tons of firewood, which is equivalent to one tael of silver can buy two tons. But according to the price of briquettes, if it is calculated at five cents ([-] yuan), one penny can buy two. If briquettes With mass production, the cost may be lower.

Although the price seems cheap, it cannot stand the price of this kind of thing.Shopkeeper Li couldn't stop smiling as he spoke. He has been in business for many years, so he naturally knows the huge profits involved.

The output of Xishan Coal Field is very large, but some people who have no money to mine and want to make money wander around Mentougou all day, carrying coal carriages, picking up some briquettes to sell or burn themselves, although the briquettes take less time to burn. , but the price is cheap, so poor families like to buy it, especially in winter when the weather is cold and the demand exceeds supply. These people who pick up briquettes also make a lot of profits.

There are even people buying coal briquettes, which is enough to prove how serious the demand for coal is in the capital. It can be said that everyone from officials to ordinary people likes to buy coal briquettes as long as they have the conditions.

It's just that although coal is good, it also has a shortcoming, that is, how much it is sold depends on the output and how much is mined.

But it is different now. For this kind of briquette, the ratio of yellow mud to coal is [-]%. This is equivalent to one pound of coal being used to make two pounds for burning.And this kind of coal does not require very high-quality coal, and the burning effect is no worse than high-quality coal.But the price is close to one-third or even lower than high-quality coal.

Thinking of this, shopkeeper Li was so excited that his whole body trembled. He was so impressed by Huang Dong that this was a veritable Midas touch. As long as the briquettes were sold, the profits of Daming Trading Company were absolutely unimaginable.

When Huang Dong heard what Li Zhangguo said, the big stone in his heart suddenly dropped.

When he saw the emperor's formula for the first time, he knew that if this thing could be made, it would definitely have a bright future.This kind of thing is low-cost, easy to use, simple to make, energy-saving and time-saving. In addition, it ignites quickly, has strong firepower, is smokeless and odorless, and burns completely. If it is launched, it will definitely be a must-have daily fuel for every household.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but sigh that the emperor was really like a reborn parent to him, trying every possible way to make money for himself.

But he also knows that once this thing is sold, there will definitely be many imitators.Because this thing is easy to understand, it just makes holes in the briquettes and briquettes to make them burn longer and more fully.

So he had already made plans. This time he had to make a big splash, and he just needed to let the people know about their briquettes.

"That's good. Briquettes are easy to make. If they are launched, other trading companies will follow suit. So first of all, keep it secret. From this month to the time of sale, the wages of all the workers in this workshop will be doubled. .At the same time, send people to guard this place. No one is allowed to go out before the sale, and no information can be leaked."

"I understand. Please rest assured, boss. This area has been reserved by us and ordinary people cannot enter at all. There are only more than 200 people in the workshop now. There will be another group of people coming in June. The water conservancy workshop below It has also been built, and by then the most arduous task of coal washing will be much faster, and the output will increase by then."

Listening to shopkeeper Li's arrangements, Huang Dong also left the production room and looked around the surrounding environment. Sure enough, he found that the low-lying water conservancy workshop was almost completed, and there were people cutting down trees next to it. It seemed that it was going to be reopened. field area.

"Well, we will also work harder on the coal stoves. As long as there are supporting products for sale, the people will have a steady demand for our briquettes. This Xishan Coal Field is a golden mountain, and we must make good use of it. This has just begun. .”

　The cost of coal in the Ming Dynasty has not been found, so there are doubts.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)