The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 137 Miner Technology Upgrade

When they heard that a war was going to happen, the imperial guards seemed a little panicked.

As soon as Yue Wenxuan saw their expressions, he knew that this group of people had been cowardly for too long and could no longer stand up straight.

Forget it, I won’t force them now.

The Song Dynasty = Da Coward. It has been weak for a long time. It is normal that the imperial guards have become cowards along with Da Coward.

In the future, let them serve as auxiliary troops first, and fight more battles with the main troops. Gradually, they will gain confidence and get better.

Yue Wenxuan turned to look at Guan Sheng and said, "The Imperial Guards here will be assigned to Brother Guan Sheng first. You have led the Imperial Guards before and have experience. Then, I will assign you to Mr. Jia Liang's command and you two will continue to be brothers."

Guan Sheng was overjoyed: "Thank you, Your Highness! I can follow Brother Jialiang to conquer the world again. Hahahaha."

After the imperial guards were arranged, it was the miners' turn.

Yue Wenxuan turned to Luo Jiandang and asked, "How many miners are there here?"

Luo Jiandang whispered, "There are more than 1,200 miners now."

"so much?"

This was beyond Yue Wenxuan's expectations. If he had just ordered each miner to receive two strings of cash, wouldn't that mean he had distributed over 2,400 strings of cash at once? That was quite a large expense.

Just now I thought it was great that the mine here could support a thousand soldiers, but now that I have listened carefully, I find that it was dug by more than 1,200 miners, which doesn’t seem to be possible.

Using the produce dug out by 1,200 miners to support 1,000 soldiers doesn't seem right no matter how you think about it.

This business is a pure loss and no profit!
It seems that we need to re-examine the issue of mining efficiency...

Yue Wenxuan made the excuse that he was tired and wanted to rest for a while, and dismissed his attendants.

Then I realized everything, went back outside the sandbox, picked up my phone and called my dad.

"Dad, I want to ask you about ancient mining."

My dad got excited when he heard this: "Oh, just ask, I know this."

Yue Wenxuan: "Wasn't the gold mining technology during the Northern Song Dynasty very bad?"

My dad laughed when he heard this. "Your time-travel novel is about the Zhaoyuan gold mine, right? Hey! That's right, gold mining technology during the Northern Song Dynasty was terrible. Back then, they used the 'hammer-drilling' technique, which meant first using a hammer to break up the ore, and then panning out the gold sand... You can tell how backward it was just by listening to it."

Yue Wenxuan understood. This was a purely primitive practice. The manpower required was simply unimaginable. No wonder there were more than 1,200 miners here.

"Then how can we improve it? Using modern methods?"

Dad shook his head. "Don't be ridiculous. How could a time traveler possibly use modern methods? Where would you get modern tools? At best, you could use methods from the Ming Dynasty."

What Yue Wenxuan wanted to know was about the Ming Dynasty, because Ming Dynasty craftsmen could be asked from Qiu Zhi Shen Guang Sculpture Company.

Dad said, "Compared to the Northern Song Dynasty's method of digging trenches with iron hammers, the Ming Dynasty used the 'burning and blasting' method to obtain ore, which greatly improved production efficiency..."

Yue Wenxuan: "I understood it right away. You use fire to burn the gold ore first, and then use gunpowder to blast it apart after it's burnt to a crisp, right?"

Dad: "Exactly. This saves a lot of manpower. Furthermore, the Ming Dynasty also saw advancements in tunnel support technology. Wooden stakes and planks were used to support the interior of the mines, preventing collapse. This ensured the safety of the miners and the smooth progress of mining, increasing the depth of the mines. The Ming Dynasty also became more sophisticated in ore washing and beneficiation. They mined the ore and pounded it into a very fine mortar, creating what's called ore powder. Then, using the buoyancy of water, they washed away the stone powder, leaving behind the gold-rich 'ore flesh.'"

Dad: "The last step is smelting. The Song Dynasty still used the very old 'ash blowing method', but the Ming Dynasty improved the ash blowing method and used coal in the smelting of gold ore, which increased the smelting temperature and efficiency. The ore was processed more thoroughly, and the gold could be extracted more effectively and the purity of the gold could be increased." Yue Wenxuan: "Thanks, Dad, I know how to do it."

After hanging up the phone, I called the boss of Qiu Zhi Shen Guang Company and asked for a few sets of Ming Dynasty miner ornaments. The other party immediately agreed. They actually had these things ready and could just ship them out directly.

Yue Wenxuan then returned to the sandbox, possessed Zhao Ye, walked out of the lounge, and came to the center of the mine...

At this time, all the miners were still outside the mine and no one went back into the mine to work.

Luo Jiandang was also anxiously waiting for the follow-up arrangements. When he saw the prince coming out, he was cheered up and hurried to greet him.

Yue Wenxuan slowly glanced at the miners around him. Without speaking to Luo Jiandang, he addressed all the miners directly and said loudly, "Everyone, your work here is very hard! I have decided to give you a raise."

The miners were slightly stunned, and then overjoyed.

However, the prince hasn't said how much it will increase, so we can't get excited just yet.

Yue Wenxuan then turned to Luo Jiandang and asked, "How much money do they make per month now?"

Luo Jiandang said a little embarrassedly, "Before the Jin bandits came, they could earn about 200 kilograms of grain a month. After the Jin bandits came and caused trouble last year, food became a bit tight here, and their wages have been reduced to 100 kilograms of grain."

Huh? Using food as wages?

Well, that's normal! These workers are essentially "digging money out of the ground." Money doesn't really feel like money to them; food is more valuable.

Yue Wenxuan now understood what was going on and shouted to those around him, "From today on, your wages will be increased to 300 kilograms of food per month."

"coax!"

The miners immediately started to make a fuss. The miners in the distance didn't understand what Yue Wenxuan had just said and had no time to react, but soon the miners began to spread the news. The words "300 kilograms of grain" were passed from person to person, like ripples on the lake, spreading to the outer circle. In an instant, more than 1,200 miners all knew about it.

Then everyone started to jeer: "Ah!"

"Your Majesty is kind!"

"Your Majesty!"

"Your Majesty is so kind."

Luo Jiandang was extremely anxious: "Your Highness, you can't just make empty promises. If you can't deliver... the miners are not as easy to fool as the peasants. If they rebel, it will be very serious."

Yue Wenxuan smiled: "Who said it can't be done? I will do what I say! When I return, I will immediately arrange for a grain transport team to come here."

Luo Jiandang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Yue Wenxuan raised his hand and gestured for silence. The miners' roars gradually died down. He cleared his throat and continued, "You have received this high salary from me, so you must do your job well. I will arrange for several highly skilled masters to come to me. They will have faster and better methods of refining gold. You must learn from them. If anyone fails to learn well and refines inferior gold, I will not only withhold their wages, but also expel them."

The miners quickly said, "We promise to do a good job."

"With such a high salary, how can I not work hard?"

"Please don't chase me away. I can't find such high wages anywhere else."

(End of this chapter)