Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 418 Zhu Biao has gained more knowledge and allowed the people to use electricity independently [Please subscribe]

In fact, as early as the 16th century, European colonists noticed the rubber trees in South America.

However, it was not until more than two hundred years later, in the 18th century, that Europeans began to pay attention to rubber, further study its utilization value and cultivate it on a large scale.

It was not until the mid-to-late 19th century that rubber was applied to industrial production and other aspects with the breakthroughs in related technologies and the birth of various inventions.

The Ming Dynasty had Liu Kuan, a human figure, and Liu Kuan could occasionally connect to the Internet and download some information from later generations. Naturally, the Ming Dynasty's research and application of rubber was extremely fast.

For example, the rough processing of natural rubber latex requires sulfur and basic lead carbonate. Sulfur has been used in China for thousands of years, and now it is just a matter of further purification.

As for basic lead carbonate, it sounds like a rare chemical product, but it is actually the main ingredient in the material used to glaze ceramics and is also an auxiliary material for making certain paints.

The Ming Dynasty's application of this thing was the same as that of sulfur. It was nothing more than trying to make it more pure so that it would be more useful in related research experiments and industrial production.

As for what rubber can do, Liu Kuan can tell you a lot without even looking at any information.

Hearing Zhu Biao's question, he slowed down his pace and said, "Your Highness knows that rubber can be used to produce tires and wire and cable sheaths."

Zhu Biao nodded.

"In addition, rubber can also be used to produce rubber tubes and sealing rings. The former can be used in certain industrial production occasions, and most importantly, it can be used as a medical device for blood transfusion and infusion."

"The latter can make steam engines more airtight and is even an indispensable material for the development of internal combustion engines."

"In addition, rubber is a very good waterproof and moisture-proof material and can be used to make gloves, shoe soles, conveyor belts, gaskets, leather balls and even condoms."

"Condom?" Upon hearing this word, Zhu Biao seemed to understand the literal meaning, and even suspected that he had heard it wrong or thought it wrongly.

Liu Kuan explained nonchalantly, "It's something a man wears during intercourse to prevent the woman from getting pregnant. I heard some people use sausage casings instead."

Zhu Biao showed a constipated expression when he heard this, and felt that he had learned something new.

Before this, he had never heard of the use of sausage casings for contraception among the people - he had only heard of giving women birth control pills and abortion pills, but these drugs were generally very harmful to women's bodies and could cause them to lose their fertility, or even cause serious damage to their bodies and leave behind chronic diseases.

Thinking of this, Zhu Biao said, "The court is already busy encouraging childbirth, so there's no need to develop and produce...condoms, right?"

Liu Kuan said, "Yes, the court now encourages childbirth, but some poor families have limited conditions and don't want to raise too many children, but they also cannot live without sex. For them, condoms are useful."

"Besides, some powerful families who don't want their children to get pregnant can also use condoms, which is better than asking women to take birth control pills or abortion pills."

"But speaking of it, with the current rubber technology of the Ming Dynasty, I'm afraid there is still a long way to go before we can produce condoms that are acceptable to the public. I don't know when we can develop it."

Zhu Biao heaved a sigh of relief after hearing Liu Kuan's last words, and then said, "Even if we develop it in the future, I'm afraid it won't be easy for government-run factories to produce it."

Liu Kuan laughed, "That's right."

After finishing this topic, Zhu Biao and Liu Kuan officially started the inspection work.

As the first specialized rubber factory in the Ming Dynasty, the products are naturally diverse. Therefore, the factory is divided into many workshops, and each workshop has several production workshops.

For example, the tire workshop specializes in producing wheel tires and the relatively recent development of primitive pneumatic tires. Another example is the general product workshop, which specializes in gloves, soles, rubber shoes, and other general-purpose products for military, industrial, and civilian use. Furthermore, rubber parts with high quality requirements, such as seals, are also produced in a separate workshop.

On the contrary, due to its special nature and some technical issues, the electrical wires are currently not related to the Jinling Rubber Factory, but are produced by a specialized electrical wire factory.

After the inspection, Zhu Biao and Liu Kuan sat down in the conference room of the rubber factory's office building and each spoke to the factory's officials.

Zhu Biao said, "Although the Jinling Rubber Factory won't officially start operations until next month, it's one of the largest factories in the capital, with over 3,000 employees (officials, craftsmen, and workers) immediately upon opening."

"Therefore, in addition to production work, we must also do a good job in food, hygiene, and discipline. Otherwise, any problems in any of these areas will have a negative impact on the factory."

"After the factory passes the trial run, we will definitely continue to expand the scale of production. Perhaps within one or two years, we will have tens of thousands of workers, or we may open branches in other places."

"Therefore, I hope that while you will do your job well, you will also strive to improve yourself and be prepared to take on more difficult tasks!"

Zhu Biao's words were not only plain, but also very close to the speeches of later generations. However, after he finished speaking, he was greeted with applause from the factory officials.

One reason is because of their status, and the other is that many officials are either craftsmen or from the lower classes, and are not interested in the Zhihuzheya stuff.

As for why Zhu Biao could say this, it was naturally because he had been influenced by Liu Kuan for many years.

Maybe it was also influenced by some videos he had watched.

Compared to Zhu Biao's remarks, Liu Kuan's speech was more casual, more like a conversation between ordinary people—because the Jinling Rubber Factory was affiliated with the Ministry of Industry, not the Tiangong Institute. He said, "I only want to remind you of one thing: 'Safety first.' Whether it's improving product quality or increasing production efficiency, it should be based on ensuring safety."

"Also, if the rubber factory encounters any production technology difficulties in the future, they can always seek help from the Rubber Research Institute, or seek help from other research units under the Tiangong Institute..."

After Liu Kuan finished speaking, he naturally received a round of applause.

Afterwards, Zhu Biao and Liu Kuan discussed some more specific issues with the director, deputy director and other officials of the rubber factory before leaving together.

On the way back to the city, Zhu Biao and Liu Kuan sat in the same four-wheeled carriage. It was in recent years that the dignitaries and officials in the capital changed from riding horses to traveling by car. As more and more cement roads were built and carriages became better and better, traveling by carriage was much more comfortable than riding a horse, and it did not affect its convenience.

Of course, for an important figure like Zhu Biao, the most important thing about riding in a carriage is that it is safer than riding a horse.

Given Liu Kuan's current relationship with Zhu Biao, he would not feel constrained riding in the same carriage, and would even feel more relaxed because there were no outsiders around.

Zhu Biao remembered something and asked, "Does this rubber factory cause a lot of environmental pollution?"

Liu Kuan said, "Your Highness, natural rubber is not chemical rubber. Although the production process will cause some pollution, it will not be significant."

"Furthermore, when formulating the production process for various rubber products, we have taken pollution reduction into consideration. Therefore, Your Highness need not worry about this."

Zhu Biao nodded and said, "Natural rubber production is growing rapidly now. I think providing electricity to the people of the capital can be put on the agenda, right?"

Liu Kuan thought about the technological breakthroughs in thermal power generation and power supply that had been made over the past two or three years, then nodded and said, "It can be put on the agenda. I'll take someone down there to understand the specifics and then write a relevant memorial."

Zhu Biao smiled, opened the curtains, looked outside through the glass window, and said, "I can't wait to think that someday in the future, the people of the capital will be able to use electric lights."

Liu Kuan pondered for a moment, then said, "Your Highness, I believe that even if we possess the technology and production capacity to provide electricity to the entire city of the capital, we should not force the electrification of the city. It is best to let the people choose whether to have electricity or not."

"The electricity produced by the imperial court cannot be provided to the people free of charge, and even less so if it is used only for electric wires and lights. This is not conducive to the development of the power industry, nor to the finances."

"Although people have become much wealthier in recent years, there are certainly some relatively poor families who are reluctant to use electricity."

Zhu Biao suddenly understood and said, "Your reminder is very important. It can be included as an additional content in the memorial to the people of the capital for electricity."

"Yes."

As the two chatted, the carriage followed the wide cement road into the city.

Seeing a bicycle passing by on the street from time to time, Zhu Biao suddenly laughed and said, "With the current rubber production, perhaps the court should build a few vehicle manufacturing plants elsewhere."

"Considering the current steel production in Ming Dynasty, perhaps the prices of bicycles and carriages can be lowered so that more people can afford them."

Liu Kuan sincerely praised, "Your Highness the Crown Prince is benevolent and righteous."

Nowadays, bicycles and four-wheeled carriages are basically produced by state-owned factories, and the money is naturally earned by the Ming Dynasty court.

Lowering the prices of bicycles and horse-drawn carriages is equivalent to the court giving concessions to the people. Zhu Biao was indeed benevolent and righteous for thinking this way.

The carriage continued on for a while, and Liu Kuan saw that they were about to reach Taiping Street and could get off, but he heard Zhu Biao suddenly sigh, "I wonder how Xiongying is doing over on Tsushima Island."

It turned out that since Zhu Zhen handed over the task of supervising Japanese affairs last autumn, Zhu Yuanzhang handed this task over to Prince of Hunan Zhu Bo.

As a result, Zhu Bo worked there for several months but did not achieve any results. He just let things take their course in dealing with Japanese affairs, which made Zhu scold him. He was transferred back last month and assigned to another task.

Perhaps because he was too stubborn, Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to find one of his descendants to supervise Japanese affairs.

After selecting among the remaining princes, he couldn't find a suitable person, so he finally handed it over to Zhu Xiongying.

In Lao Zhu's opinion, supervising Japanese affairs involves many aspects such as military affairs, political intrigue, espionage, and business warfare, which can be a good training for people. Although he attaches great importance to Zhu Xiongying's safety, he still lets Zhu Xiongying go.

Liu Kuan could hear Zhu Biao's concern for Zhu Xiongying, so he said, "Your Majesty has arranged a radio station for Tsushima Island. If Your Highness misses Xiongying, you can send a few telegrams to ask about him."

Zhu Biao said embarrassedly, "As a father, I'm afraid it's not good for me to always take the initiative to greet my son."

"Hahaha," Liu Kuan laughed, "What's the big deal? It's natural for parents to love their children... Well, if Your Highness really feels embarrassed, you can pretend to care about how he's doing on his job."

Zhu Biao's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he seemed to be thinking about something.

(End of this chapter)