Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 175 Tai Chi Monkey Show: Which One is the Monkey? (Part 1)

Zhang Xianzhong led over 100,000 bandits to attack Luzhou Prefecture in Southern Zhili!
Somehow, the news spread throughout the capital very quickly.

The people of the capital were all talking about it.

Southern Zhili is currently the most prosperous region in the Ming Dynasty. Although the capital is also expanding rapidly, it is still developing and it is unknown how many more years it will take to become more prosperous than Southern Zhili.

If this most prosperous region of the Ming Dynasty were to fall into the hands of rebels, it would be disastrous.

Especially Jinling City, it is incredibly wealthy. Even those who haven't been there have heard of it. It's no exaggeration to say that it is the richest city in the world.

Luzhou Prefecture and Jinling City are separated only by Hezhou, which has only two counties. If the rebels were to take over Jinling, which is the richest city in the world, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Upon receiving the report from the Embroidered Uniform Guard's secret agents, Wei Zhongxian rushed over to inform Zhu Jue.

Around 9 a.m. that day, Zhu Jue had just finished reviewing the memorials and was considering where to go when a voice announced from outside: "Wei Zhongxian requests an audience."

This guy only comes to the temple when he has a reason.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue replied without hesitation, "Summon."

Soon, Wei Zhongxian strode in, respectfully cupped his hands and bowed, saying, "This servant greets Your Majesty."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and asked directly, "Zhongxian, what is it?"

Wei Zhongxian explained in detail: "Your Majesty, my spies have heard rumors these past few days that the rebel Zhang Xianzhong has already reached Luzhou Prefecture and will soon take Nanjing. If Nanjing, the richest place in the world, is taken, it will be a terrible thing."

"This servant feels that even if the rebels march all the way to Nanjing, it has nothing to do with the people of the capital. They might hear about it and talk about it briefly, but this widespread gossip seems a bit abnormal."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Jue couldn't help but let out a cold laugh.

It's definitely abnormal for the news to spread so wildly. The reason these guys are spreading the news so frantically is to put pressure on him, so that he will send a large army to surround and intercept Zhang Xianzhong.

Zhang Xianzhong even captured Nanjing.

Can the Yangtze River get through?
He couldn't be bothered to even acknowledge this guy.

Lu'an Prefecture is three or four hundred miles away from Hezhou, and it would take two days to reach Chaohu by cart, boat or ship.

If Zhang Xianzhong could lead over 100,000 rebels, it would be considered good if he could travel fifty li in a day, let alone capture Nanjing. This fellow won't even be able to set foot on the border of Hezhou!

He merely sneered, then shook his head slightly and said, "It's alright, let them spread the word. Zhang Xianzhong can't reach Nanjing."

fine?

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhongxian was taken aback for a moment before nodding repeatedly and saying, "This servant understands."

Zhu Jue thought for a moment, then stood up and said, "You've come at the right time. Call Zhilong, and let's go to the porcelain factory."

A porcelain factory?
What's so interesting about this porcelain factory?
To be honest, this porcelain factory is really worth seeing.

Leaving aside the exceptionally exquisite porcelain pieces that were fired, many people simply enjoy watching the craftsmen slowly shape the porcelain blanks by hand.

After Zhu Jue entered the porcelain factory, he saw that the craftsmen were also staring at the row of craftsmen who were shaping porcelain blanks by hand.

He wasn't interested in watching this; he was reflecting on how machines replaced this manual process in later generations.

At this point, the efficiency of shaping the porcelain blank by hand is pitifully low.

It seems that the clay used for porcelain making must first be tamped evenly by foot. When it reaches the craftsman who shapes the porcelain blank, he must first roll out a ball of clay of about the same size, and then fix it in the middle of the foot-operated pressing wheel. He then continuously treads on the pressing wheel and, in conjunction with his hand movements, slowly shapes the porcelain blank. During this process, he must occasionally grab the clay to remove water, and sometimes he must take out special tools to refine it.

Even the most skilled craftsman can only manage to mold a porcelain blank in half an hour if he is fast.

Of course, considering the income level at that time, this speed was not bad. A load of porcelain would only have about two hundred pieces. Even if we calculate it at five taels of silver per load, that would be about twenty-five coins per piece.

A skilled craftsman can make one every half hour. If he works for four hours a day, he can make fifty or sixty pieces. If the cost is about half the labor and materials, then the labor cost is about five coins per piece. Fifty or sixty pieces would be two or three hundred coins a day, and a month's wages would be seven or eight taels of silver.

Even if half of the wages were divided between the craftsmen who applied the glaze and the craftsmen who fired the porcelain, it would still be three or four taels a month.

These days, three or four taels a month is considered a high income.

The problem is that the efficiency is too low. If a thousand loads are produced a day, then four or five thousand craftsmen are working on it, along with those who apply the glaze and those who fire it. The porcelain factory has a total of five or six thousand craftsmen working, and they can only produce five or six thousand taels of goods a day.

That year, they could only produce a little over 300,000 dan of goods. Spain now needs 200,000 dan a year, and there's not enough to go around in Japan and Southeast Asia. As for the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty, they could only buy porcelain from private workshops.

The demand for porcelain among ordinary people is actually quite large. Even beggars have a broken bowl. Ordinary people would not only have one rice bowl. An average family would have at least ten or twenty rice bowls, dish plates, and soup bowls. Restaurants, teahouses, and taverns would have even more, and teacups and tea sets would also have to be counted separately.

The Ming Dynasty currently has a nominal population of fifty to sixty million. If you include those who are enslaved and not listed in the "Yellow Register of Taxes and Labor," the number must be at least double.

Even if each of these 100 million people only needs to buy one bowl or one cup per year, that would still be a demand of more than 5 million dan!

If we were to enter a period of peace and prosperity, the annual demand would likely exceed ten million dan (a unit of weight). In a truly prosperous era, every household would only have a dozen or twenty bowls, plates, soup bowls, teacups, and tea sets. The demand would more than double. There's also the demand from overseas. The combined population of other countries certainly exceeds that of the Ming Dynasty. Europe alone has at least tens of millions of people. If they were to freely supply porcelain, even several million dan wouldn't be enough.

In other words, there is still a lot of room for growth in the demand for porcelain; they could increase production tenfold or even twentyfold without reaching their limit.

The porcelain processing must be done by replacing most of the manpower with machines; otherwise, even if he recruited 50,000 or 60,000 or even 100,000 artisans to produce porcelain, it would not be enough.

As he was pondering how machines replaced manual labor in later generations, Yuan You and Song Yingxing arrived together, bowing and saying, "Your humble servants pay their respects to Your Majesty."

You've finally made it.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then solemnly said, "Chang Geng, we need to find a way to replace most of the manual labor in the porcelain factory with machines. A daily output of one thousand dan is too low; even ten thousand dan a day is not enough."

Originally, it was because we didn't have enough ships to transport clay that I stopped managing the porcelain production. Now, Liangfu's shipbuilding speed has greatly improved, and in just over a month, they will be able to produce more than 200 large cargo ships with a capacity of 1,600 liters each.

Now that we have enough ships to haul clay, we should consider increasing porcelain production. For example, hand-forming porcelain blanks takes fifteen minutes to produce two pieces, which is too slow. We need to use machines instead.

Uh, how do I replace this?
Upon hearing this, Song Yingxing cautiously replied, "Your Majesty, I have been looking at artificial porcelain since I was a child. I have thought about how to use machines to replace manual labor, and I have thought about it many times."

The problem is that the clay is soft and sticky, and you can't sprinkle fine sand on the surface of the porcelain blank to prevent it from sticking. If the porcelain blank is covered with fine sand, it will be ruined.

In other words, even if we create the mold and press it into shape, we still can't take it out. I've tried using a wooden mold; once it's pressed, it's completely stuck together when you open it.

Clay is a type of soil, and when it's wet, it becomes soft and mushy like mud, making it impossible to remove from the mold.

Zhu Jue recalled, "We can't use wood to make molds; we have to use ceramics themselves, as well as copper and iron, to make molds."

The mold is divided into two parts. The outer ring is made of fired ceramic in a bowl shape, while the middle ring is sculpted from copper or iron.

We can also use a machine to mix the clay, then extrude it into mud pillars, and then cut it into evenly sized blocks with wire.

Furthermore, we can use a steam engine to drive a row of blank trays, and each blank tray is equipped with a fixture for mounting ceramic molds.

When the time comes, we simply put the divided clay blocks into the ceramic mold, then place the mold under the copper and iron mold, brush some water on the copper and iron mold, make the ceramic mold rotate, then press the copper and iron mold inward, and the excess clay blocks on the side will be automatically scraped off by the small blade, and a ceramic blank will be made.

We make more ceramic molds, and after the ceramic blanks are finished, we put them in the oven to dry in batches, and then take them out to fire. This way, there is no problem of them sticking together.

Upon hearing this, Song Yingxing's eyes lit up, and he nodded repeatedly.

This thing is not complicated. Making ceramic molds and copper and iron molds is not difficult. Rotating the blank plate with a steam engine is even easier.

He couldn't help but exclaim excitedly, "Your Majesty is wise! I understand now. I'll go and give it a try right away."

I haven't finished yet.

Zhu Jue shook his head slightly, then raised his hand to gesture and said, "The clamps that hold the ceramic molds on this blank plate can be made with mechanisms, such as tightening them by pulling a rope and loosening them by pulling them again."

Furthermore, you can also mount the copper and iron molds on a seesaw with an iron ingot, so that the craftsman can easily press it down with his hand and it will automatically rise up when he releases his hand.

This way, the molds can keep spinning, and the craftsmen can quickly process each porcelain blank. If you make more ceramic molds, ten craftsmen can easily produce a load of porcelain blanks in fifteen minutes.

Yes, you can even add mechanisms.

Song Yingxing nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, I understand. Adding a rope mechanism to the clamp is very simple."

In this way, one machine plus ten artisans is equivalent to one hundred artisans, increasing efficiency tenfold.

The key point is that this is just a job of pulling down the copper and iron molds and pressing them down. It doesn't require good lighting; it can be done at night with a lamp. In other words, one such machine, plus twenty craftsmen working in shifts for twelve hours a day, can produce about one hundred loads of porcelain blanks a day.

If one hundred of these machines could be manufactured, ten thousand dan of porcelain could be produced in a single day.

The problem is how big this machine is, how much factory space it will require, and how many more high-temperature furnaces will be needed.

As Zhu Jue was pondering this, Fang Zhenghua suddenly strode over with a memorial in his hand, bowed, and said, "Your Majesty, this is a report from Wang Laipin, the military commander of the Beijing Garrison, who sent it back by steamer."

Wang Laipin should have arrived in Luzhou Prefecture long ago.

Did this kid manage to stop Zhang Xianzhong?

Zhu Jue took the memorial and glanced at it, a smile appearing on his face.

Wang Laipin reported that Zhang Xianzhong was blocked west of Luzhou Prefecture and could not advance an inch. He had already fled to Huangzhou Prefecture in Huguang via Huoshan and Yingshan. Should we still lead a fleet to intercept him?

Zhang Xianzhong wanted to walk his dog, but instead, he was stopped and forced to flee to Huguang.

This guy should hurry up and scurry back to the Northwest with his tail between his legs.

Zhu Jue smiled slightly, then decisively said, "Ruoyu, approve the order and command Wang Laipin to mobilize the thirty ships from Chaohu and the Yangtze River to intercept Zhang Xianzhong in Huangzhou Prefecture, Huguang, and force this guy back to the Northwest."

(End of this chapter)