Development of productivity started in 1981

Chapter 17: Rebuilding the Pot-carrying Machine to Provide Meat for All Team Members
1981年7月28日，农历6月27日
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Wang Jiankun woke up early, had breakfast, and went to the kiln factory with his grandfather and father.

The two brothers of the Wang family have already started a fire to preheat the pot and camel machine, and two others are carrying loess and water to pour into the mixer.

Seeing that all the team leaders were present, Wang Jiankun asked the Wang brothers to bring the two people from yesterday to officially start making bricks.

Wang Gaohai first checked the pressure valve, which had exceeded two megapascals, so he opened the steam valve, and the crankshaft and power wheel began to turn slowly.

After the speed stabilized, Wang Guanhai closed the gate of the mixer, and the mixer began to stir the mud and water inside.

After a while, the yellow mud was mixed, the gate was opened, and one of the young men opened the mud intake port and transferred the mud into the brick-making machine hopper.

Wang Guanhai then closed the gate of the brick-making machine, and the brick-making machine began to release materials and make bricks rhythmically.

Another young man would carry away the bricks when they were ready. In this way, they kept carrying mud and water, and then carried mud and bricks.

The four people divided the work and cooperated with each other, making bricks very quickly.

About an hour later, a team leader counted and found that 1 bricks had been produced, which was equivalent to the brick-making efficiency of 1200 people.

Moreover, these four people don’t look particularly tired and seem to be able to handle the task with ease.

The team cadres and team members watching on the side were stunned. This was the shock that mechanized production brought to these backward production team members.

Grandpa took the team leaders back to hold a meeting to discuss the next personnel arrangements, because with such a cheap and easy-to-use brick-making machine, there would definitely not be a need for so many people to participate in brick-making.

At the meeting, my father proposed to assign a few people to make bricks. The Wang brothers and the two young men would be responsible for making bricks. In addition, a few people would be assigned to make tiles and some bricks.

We will build a pot-carrying machine later, and then we will just need to arrange people to help dig and screen the soil.

At the meeting, my grandfather also suggested building a few more pot-carrying machines, as well as a few sawmills, rice mills and water pumps.

By then, the Wang family production team will have entered the stage of industrialization.

After confirming that Wang Jiankun could build all these machines, the team cadres raised their hands and agreed to build more pot-carrying machines and other machines.

Grandpa returned home and told Wang Jiankun about the meeting's decision, allowing Wang Jiankun to start buying and making parts and build the machine as soon as possible.

Wang Jiankun immediately decided to go to Fengshan and went to Carpenter Wang's house to order a few more casting molds, such as the rice mill shell, shaft, water pump shell, etc. He also said that he would ask the person who delivered the clock base to take it to Fengshan tomorrow.

These are all protective parts. They are large in size and use a lot of iron. It is not cost-effective to use Wang Jiankun's superpowers here.

Wang Jiankun went home to get some clothes to change, and took the bus to Fengshan.

When we arrived at Fengshan Blacksmith Shop, we saw two more people inside.

Wang Jiankun chatted with Master Quan and asked, "Master Quan, are the clocks selling well? How is the market in Dexing?"

"There are so many rich people in Dexing. I transported 20 units there, and they were bought by vendors at a few stalls. They were sold for 30 yuan each."

“Oh, so it’s selling well?”

"Yes! I even made some inquiries. It turns out that the supply and marketing cooperative there also imports goods from Zhejiang Province. They only import a few dozen units every month. They can't get more. So as soon as my cheap desk clock arrived, it was sold out."

"If that's the case, then we should increase production. If we sell more now, we'll earn more. Once factories in other provinces increase production, ours will be hard to sell."

"Yes, so I found two more people yesterday, both of whom are young people from my relatives' families, and asked them to help and earn some pocket money."

Wang Jiankun knew that the powerful master did pay his salary, but he could not say so openly, otherwise he would be reported for exploiting others.

Because he had already contracted the blacksmith shop, he tried his best to find relatives to help out and told others that they were there to help.

"It's not good to call more people like this. It's all manpower dependent. If there are dozens of people together, it will still be very conspicuous."

"So I'm worried too. I want to increase production, but it's hard to get started. Excuse me, nephew, do you have any good suggestions?"

"Yes, there is. It is said that there will be a large investment in the early stage."

"Oh, tell me what you can do. I want to hear about the investment and how much it will cost. If I can afford it, I will invest."

"The solution is divided into two parts. One is to use electric grinders in the grinding process. They are much more efficient than manual labor. One electric grinder can do the work of 10 people. If you have three or five electric grinders, it will be like having to people helping you grind."

"The other part is to distribute the movement assembly to others and let them take the parts to their own homes for assembly. Your two sons can be responsible for distributing the parts and recycling and inspecting the assembled movements."

"Oh, my dear nephew, you have a very useful brain. So, how did you get that electric grinder?"

"Electric motors should be available in the county town or Raozhou. Grinding wheels can also be found in places like those that repair machinery in Dexing. I think you can buy them there. Go buy them and I'll help you assemble and adjust them to be suitable for grinding clock parts."

"Then I'll go look for it when I go to Dexing and the county town to sell clocks in a few days. If I can't find it, I'll go to Raozhou."

"Okay, remember to invite me to go with you when you go to Raozhou. I also want to go shopping."

So the two of them agreed to get the grinding machine done as soon as possible. As long as the output of the grinding process increased, they could implement the second method, which was to disperse the assembly and reduce the risk of being reported.

Wang Jiankun then discussed with Master Quan and asked Uncle Bing and Yu Jianmin to help cast some parts.

This time we have to make three sets of pot-carrying machine parts and structural parts for tile making, water pumping, and rice milling, which require a relatively large amount of iron.

Master Quan said he would use it first. The last time he went to Dexing, he bought 2 tons of iron and several tons of coal. The truck brought them all in at once the day before yesterday.

When they run out, I'll order some more in a few days.

So Wang Jiankun went to find Uncle Bing and Yu Jianmin and made desert with them.

The wooden mold left over from last time is still preserved, so I took it out and used it right away. I will make the sand mold for the parts of the pot-carrying machine first, and then make those for other machines tomorrow.

The sand mold was completed in the afternoon, and the three of them cast the parts together.

It took some time to cool down, so Wang Jiankun left the blacksmith shop to find iron elements to make some more precise parts.

After looking at the bridge head, Wang Jiankun chose a hillside with exposed red soil and walked towards it.

After reaching the hillside and seeing that there was no one around, Wang Jiankun used his superpowers to start making parts.

In addition to the parts for the three pot-carrying machines, the impeller and shaft of the water pump, the shaft and shelling knife of the rice mill, and some other gears and joint equivalent parts were also made.

As usual, Wang Jiankun hid these parts in the grass near the road, planning to ask the person who delivered the clock base to take them home tomorrow.

When we returned to the blacksmith shop, we found that the parts had cooled down and Uncle Bing had helped us take them out of the sand.

Wang Jiankun picked up a tungsten steel knife to remove the burrs and rough edges on the parts, and at the same time quietly used his superpowers to adjust the accuracy of some positions.

Before dinner, Wang Jiankun finally finished processing them. He gathered them together and had someone take them back to the Wangjia Production Team the next day.

As usual, I went to Master Quan's house for dinner in the evening. I clearly felt that Master Quan's family's life had improved a little. There were fish and meat on the table, and the children in their family did not fight over the meat.

This means that Master Quan has made a lot of money from the clock business, and he also needs to work hard to improve the living standards of the entire production team so that they can buy some meat every now and then.

In the evening, he returned to the blacksmith shop to keep Cha Xiaoming company. Cha Xiaoming asked Wang Jiankun for answers to the problems he had encountered when learning some mechanical knowledge recently.

Wang Jiankun read Zhizi's explanation in his mind and explained it to Cha Xiaoming based on his own understanding.

It can be seen that Cha Xiaoming is very hardworking. Wang Jiankun suggested that he try to enter a technical school next year. It would be nice to become a skilled worker.

The next morning, Wang Jiankun went to the morning market to buy pork and large meat buns, preparing to take them home to improve his family's diet, as the meat had been eaten up when he returned a few days ago.

It was not until the person delivering the clock arrived at the blacksmith shop that Wang Jiankun realized it was Wang Liping, the grandson of his second grandfather.

Wang Liping first handed over the clock base to Master Quan, and then handed the wooden model to Wang Jiankun.

After Wang Jiankun took the wooden mold, he said to Wang Liping, "Brother Liping, come and have a meat bun. I just bought it from the morning market."

Hearing about the meat buns, Wang Liping swallowed her saliva, but shook her head and said, "No, I came here with breakfast, you can keep it for yourself."

"Don't be polite, just eat it if I'm treating you. You should have digested most of the food after walking for such a long time."

Wang Jiankun picked up two meat buns and handed them to Wang Liping. Wang Liping took the buns and ate them. To be honest, he had rarely eaten them in recent years. His family was not rich, so he could only barely get enough to eat.

After he finished eating the buns, Wang Jiankun asked him to help move the polished parts onto his bus so that he could take them back, and said that there were some other parts at Qiaotou that he wanted to take back as well.

Wang Liping naturally agreed readily.

So Wang Jiankun asked Uncle Bing to process the several wooden molds he had brought and then make them into sand molds, and then come back to cast them together.

Wang Jiankun and Wang Liping came to the bridge together. Wang Jiankun went to the bushes in the distance to take out the parts that he had prepared yesterday.

He asked Wang Liping to help him lift the parts into the car, and then watched him take the parts and pork buns home.

Wang Jiankun returned to the blacksmith shop.

When he arrived at the blacksmith shop, Uncle Bing was already making sand molds with Yu Jianmin, so he joined in to help.

After the parts he wanted and 100 sets of clock parts were completed, casting began immediately.

While waiting for the cooling, Master Quan told him to buy another 600 sets of springs and glass. He could get them delivered every three days, 200 sets each time.

Wang Jiankun agreed and said, "I'll ask my father to buy them, but he needs to pay for 200 sets first, and we can't afford it now."

Master Quan asked Wang Jiankun to get the money from him when he went home in the afternoon, and then Wang Jiankun left.

He was going to the river again to perform the magic of turning sand into glass.

After lunch, Wang Jiankun asked Cha Xiaoming to help him go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy 5 kilograms of potassium permanganate, saying that the production team needed it to clean and disinfect the fish pond.

After buying it, Wang Jiankun placed potassium permanganate in the room where he lived.

He continued polishing in the afternoon. By the time he finished polishing several structural parts, it was already past 3 o'clock. It would take some time to get home, so Wang Jiankun quickly loaded the car and rushed home with the parts.

Pass by the place where the glass and clockwork are hidden and load them into the car.

I found a piece of red soil on the side of the road, took out the potassium permanganate, and synthesized all of them into clockworks. The remaining ones from the last synthesis plus those synthesized this time totaled almost 1000 sets, which was enough to last for a while.

It was almost 5 o'clock when I got home, so I went to the kiln factory to unload the parts first.

Then I went home to remove the glass and spring, and asked my father to help deliver it a few days later. Since the amount was large, I felt more at ease with my father delivering it.

After returning, Wang Jiankun rested at home and checked his sister's exercises.

Seeing that the accuracy rate has been significantly improved, it shows that the set of exercises designed by Mingzi is very scientific and can help her sister gradually improve her grasp of the knowledge points.

Considering that Zhizi is so good at setting questions, can she sell exercises and study materials?
Considering that paper is still a very expensive product and there is no way to get printing, I think it is better to put it aside for now. Maybe I can find a way when I go to high school or college.

We finally saw meat on the dinner table. A large plate of it was fried, and there were also a few big meat buns left over. The whole family enjoyed the meal very much.

The next day, Wang Jiankun went to assemble the pot-carrying machine. This time, his father called two other young men, Wang Donghai and Wang Zhitian, but they only had primary school education.

There were not many people in the production team who graduated from junior high school, but there were more than ten people who graduated from high school.

This time Wang Jiankun did not explain the principle, but just directed the two of them to help move and lift things.

When assembling the pot-carrying machine, Wang Jiankun suggested to his grandfather that they quickly find a spacious place to build a wood processing plant and a rice mill. Then, when the time came, they could assemble the sawmill and rice mill in the factory to avoid moving them around.

The water pump is still being assembled here at the kiln factory. When the time comes, it can be used to pump water and mud to save labor. It can then be moved to any place where water is needed for irrigation due to drought.

In the morning, Wang Jiankun assembled two pot-carrying machines and tested them both successfully.

With high-precision parts manufactured by super powers and Zhizi helping with simulation, Wang Jiankun's assembly of the pot-carrying machine has become more and more smooth.

During lunch, we also told them that the team had already selected the locations for the sawmill and rice mill, and that we would go to level the land and build the shed in the afternoon, and then wait a few days to lay the foundation and build a brick house.

Brick making now saves a lot of manpower, so we can allocate manpower to build factories.

Therefore, Wang Jiankun believes that only by continuously developing productivity can a positive cycle of work be achieved and life can become better and better.

If you just keep repeating the same way of working, you will become poorer and poorer.

In the afternoon, Wang Jiankun first organized the tile-making machine, whose principle and working method are the same as those of the brick-making machine.

It’s just that the molds for making tiles are different, and the speed at which the funnel discharges materials is also different, so adjustments need to be made. However, with Zhizi’s simulation calculations, Wang Jiankun can get it done in one go, without having to test it many times before making the adjustments.

After the assembly, the next step was testing. Wang Jiankun asked Wang Donghai to operate the pot-carrying machine and the mixer, and Wang Zhitian to control the tile-making machine. He also found two people to help load and transport the tiles.

Wang Jiankun started timing, and as the steam pressure reached two megapascals, Wang Donghai slowly opened the steam valve.

Then it was time for the machines to work. The four people added firewood, water and mud kept carrying mud and water back and forth. The four people carried the bricks, and the cooperation between them became smoother and smoother.

One hour later, Wang Jiankun asked the four people to stop the machine and check how many tiles had been produced.

Wang Jiankun checked the wear of the newly made mixer and tile-making machine and found that they were all within the design range, indicating that the tile-making project had also entered mechanized production.

It is easy to assemble the water pump. Just assemble and fix the shaft and impeller, put on the cast shell, and then connect the water inlet and outlet to the purchased leather hoses, and you can use it.

The person who was counting just now came over and told me the number of tiles. The tile-making machine can produce 1 tiles in an hour, which is 3000 times more efficient than manual labor, and it can work non-stop just by adding wood and water.

Of course, they had to be tested after assembly, so Wang Donghai and Wang Zhitian moved the pot-carrying machine and the water pump to the riverside and connected the two with belts.

Put the hose on the pump, put one end into the water and the other end into the kiln factory water tank.

Then start the pot-carrying machine and wait for a quarter of an hour, and steam will slowly be generated.

When the pressure gauge pointer reaches 2 MPa, open the steam valve and the water pump starts to rotate slowly, but no water comes out at this time and it needs to reach a certain speed.

As the speed increases, the hose gradually bulges, indicating that water pumping has begun.

Wang Jiankun came to the water tank, waited for water to flow out of the leather hose, and started counting the time with his watch.

Five minutes later, Wang Jiankun compared the rising height of the water level and calculated that about 5 cubic meters of water could be pumped out per minute, or 10 tons per hour.

This speed is definitely enough. Generally, 1 tons of water are enough to irrigate one acre of rice field at a time. In other words, this pump can irrigate 50 acres of land in one hour.

My father said that in previous years the production team only had to carry water to irrigate more than 300 acres of land. It seems that this water pump is enough for the production team.

It only takes one day to irrigate the entire field because the machine can pump water continuously 1 hours a day.

After the test, Wang Jiankun asked his father to arrange someone to take charge of the water pump. It was not necessary to pump the water all the time. One hour each in the morning and afternoon would be enough.

In the evening, Wang Jiankun told his grandfather and father about the situation of the two machines.

Grandpa said with emotion: "It's good to be able to study hard. Ever since Kunli came to Fengshan and borrowed high school and college textbooks, he has put his knowledge into practice right away. Good days are coming for our production team."

Wang Jiankun knew that this was all due to his fortuitous encounter, but in order not to be exposed, he had to admit that he was putting his knowledge into practice.

He said that the use of these machines has improved production efficiency, but the distribution of results should still be based on contribution as much as possible and should no longer be equal.

Those who have fixed positions should be allocated more centimeters, and those who are willing to work harder should also be assigned more work.

In short, the goal is to let those who are willing to contribute live a good life, encourage them to do some transportation work, and strive to ensure that the team members can eat meat every month in the second half of the year.

Grandpa said that this would happen and we couldn’t have the same big pot anymore.

Now we have started selling bricks and tiles to other production teams, and those who are willing to do the transportation will be given work and wages.

My father said that there have been more people coming to the team to propose marriage recently. The nearby production teams all know that our team has built a kiln factory. If they knew that we will build a timber factory and a rice mill in the future, they will envy us even more.

Wang Jiankun then made another suggestion. After our rice mill is built, we can consider expanding the pig farm in our team, and other teams that come to mill rice can use the bran to offset the processing fees.

Grandpa and father accepted the suggestion and said they would start arranging the expansion immediately, so as to produce a few more big fat pigs by the end of the year so that everyone could have a good New Year.

(End of this chapter)