Winter Lord: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 264 The Rise of Star Forging

The vast majority of migrant workers in Starforge are no longer struggling to survive.

They have food, clothing, hot water for washing, and clear and specific work arrangements.

Because Louis prioritized "survival first," he gradually established an operating system centered on team responsibility and performance-based rewards.

Miners are no longer slaves driven to toil away, but producers with status, rules, and security.

At the same time, Qi vein stones are being continuously transported from the wellbore's sliding rails.

Workers on the first sorting line are already skilled at sorting and processing ore.

The faintly glowing azure ore was sorted and piled on numbered racks, some of which had already been sent to the experimental furnace workshop for purification.

The remaining raw ore began to slowly accumulate, like a fuse waiting to be ignited by a raging fire.

The entire transportation system operates almost perfectly.

The Snow Point cattle track, siding, and winter slope paths leading to the various mining areas and the main processing station have all been fully paved in the past few months.

Special stone paving, trained snow oxen transport teams, road signs and nighttime illumination were put into operation simultaneously to ensure smooth operation even when heavy snow closes the mountain.

This not only enabled the rapid transfer of underground materials, but also provided a transportation channel for the subsequent arrival of bulk equipment, building materials, gold refining bases, high-temperature furnaces, and other equipment.

Of course, what was dug out was just the raw stone, and it was still a long way from being truly "used".

Unlike ordinary minerals, Qi vein stones carry extremely high magical energy and active structures. Using them without processing is not only wasteful but may also cause unstable reactions.

When Starforge first set foot on this tundra, there wasn't even a decent furnace here.

There were no factories, no assembly lines, and even very few houses.

All of this has to be built from scratch.

Based on the daily intelligence system, Louis then drew up the first phase of the industrial planning map in the most reasonable way.

It uses the industrial zoning model that he was familiar with in his previous life.

Ventilation flow, zoned safety, material circulation, and even the layout of the workers' canteen and bathing area were all calculated in detail.

The site was chosen on a gentle slope platform on the southeast side of the mine, close to a water source and the main road. It was only five miles from the main mine entrance, making it convenient for ore transportation and easy to guard.

Less than two months after construction began, a smelting and gold refining industrial zone of considerable scale sprang up from the ground.

The five main factory buildings stand in a row, forming the core and heart of the entire industrial zone.

The first step is the ore screening line, which is the first link in the industrial zone. The raw ore delivered from the mine every day first flows into this line.

The factory is equipped with a complete automatic vibrating screen track, which is directly fed into the factory by a snow horn track.

It is a raw ore screening station. The Qi vein stones delivered by the mine carts are directly poured into the coarse screening platform, where the vibrating screen and manual sorting work together to separate the stone chips, soil and valuable ore.

A simple ventilation duct is set up behind the drying shed to dry the damp ore blocks by using cold winter winds and artificial ventilation, so as to avoid moisture interfering with the subsequent ignition efficiency or storage.

The second, third, and fourth main plants are the main furnace areas, which contain three large furnaces.

It's essentially a roughly constructed pyrolysis furnace, similar in structure to a coke oven on Earth.

These furnaces do not refine pure crystals, but instead use a process of "burning, crushing, and screening" to burn away impurities in the Qi vein stones, leaving behind high-energy Qi slag and medium-purity combustion blocks.

After being graded, they are sent to energy storage stations, cast iron furnaces, or steam-driven systems that are about to be put into operation.

The furnace body adopts a double-layer stone masonry structure, with the interlayer filled with rock sand and iron slag to ensure high-temperature heat preservation without leakage.

Each furnace is equipped with a waste heat exhaust duct to direct the exhaust gas to the air outlet for discharge or use in the water heating room.

The fifth main plant is similar to an energy packaging plant, responsible for classifying and storing high-energy blocks, and sealing them in iron boxes and packaging them with moisture-proof cloth.

Although Qi vein stones are not highly toxic, their weak energy field can interfere with a living being's sense of direction if exposed for a long time, and can even cause dizziness. Therefore, there is a clear graded packaging system for them.

Seven auxiliary sheds are distributed around the main factory area. Although they are not essential factory buildings, they serve functions such as tool repair, cooling water pool, workers' dining, temporary dormitories, medical room and ore storage warehouse.

Currently, the energy zone has mobilized over 4,000 craftsmen and technicians, implementing a three-shift system, and can process nearly 50 tons of Qi vein stones daily, producing over 10 tons of standard fuel blocks.

Although it sounds well-organized and orderly, this system is actually not high-end.

At first glance, it appears to be nothing more than a wooden frame covered with sheet metal, a cart pulled by a thick rope, and a wood-burning stove.

After all, Starforge's industrial system was not built in favorable circumstances from the very beginning.

Unlike the old mining areas of the Jade Federation or the southern part of the Empire, which have been developing for decades or even centuries, many factories have undergone several generations of improvements and have professional stone-refining furnaces that can be turned on for several days in a row.

However, Louis didn't spend too much money on those high-end devices, as the ones available on the market were too expensive, and the transportation costs were outrageously high.

Moreover, what can be bought are mostly old equipment that has been retired by others, and some even lack complete parts.

So he could only pick up cheap goods, and relied on disassembling and repairing them little by little, combining some structural design knowledge he had learned in his previous life, and discussing with local craftsmen and alchemists to assemble what could be pieced together.

Without fancy magic systems or advanced magic arrays, a simple assembly line was built simply by relying on human cooperation, rational workflow, and detailed division of labor.

These devices aren't particularly advanced, but the processes run smoothly. Everyone knows what they're supposed to do and which part of the work can't be done carelessly.

That's how they managed to produce over ten tons a day, through sheer hard work and perseverance.

What's even more remarkable is that this system doesn't rely on imports or external assistance; all components, structures, and processes can be replicated and expanded locally in Star Forging Territory.

Of course, a factory is not just a place filled with magical equipment and iron furnace pipes.

For Louis, the people who operate the hammer furnace, push the ore carts, and adjust the valves are the true "heart" that makes this energy plant work.

Without people, there is no production capacity. Let alone an assembly line.

So Louis immediately ordered that all new workers must undergo basic training, or they would not be allowed to even approach the mine shafts.

So the training camp was set up in an old wooden shed on the north side of the factory.

There was no blackboard, and no advanced knowledge. They taught the most basic content.

How to wear safety goggles, what is overheating of flammable blocks, how to turn the brakes on a minecart, and which color of Qi vein stone should not be touched.

“Take a look at this.” The lecturer held up a piece of raw stone with a bluish glow. “When Qi vein stone is hot, it’s bright white, not red. If it’s red, it’s about to explode! If you put it back in the furnace, the whole line will stop. At that point, not only you, but everyone around you will be in trouble.”

The group of newly arrived slave workers swallowed hard and nodded hurriedly.

"Don't underestimate this problem; one explosion could kill you." The lecturer patted his chest. "This system was personally established by Lord Louis."

During their breaks, the workers gathered around the stove, eating dry rations. One of them lit a tobacco stick and muttered, "Isn't it strange that someone actually cares about the lives of us slaves?" "Yeah," someone next to him nodded. "We've been here for three days, and we've been provided with equipment, clothes, and food. Yesterday, someone even came to check on our scalded feet."

The small house not far away, built with thick stone slabs, was brightly lit.

That was the clinic, which contained cold compress stones, anti-inflammatory ointments, and several pharmacists who took turns seeing patients.

There is usually hot soup, which can be given to workers who suffer from frostbite.

This is not a great favor, but to them it is like a blessing from heaven.

There were no whips, no curses, and no one forcing them to work non-stop.

They have enough to eat and wear, they get paid for their hard work, and their families can live comfortably in town.

For these people who had wandered in turbulent times for too long, these were days they dared not even dream of.

So they kept this kindness in their hearts.

It's not about everyone saying words of gratitude, but about expressing it through concrete work.

They got up earlier, moved things faster, and picked out stones more carefully to maintain the temperature of the stove.

Some people started to take the initiative to maintain the equipment, some taught themselves how to read the fuel pressure gauge, and others polished their tools until they gleamed after each break and put them back neatly on the shelf.

And so, the three shifts worked in shifts without stopping, and the factory operated with the precision of an old clock, down to the second.

With their rough hands, they worked tirelessly, shoveling and hammering, cartload after cartload, pushing their daily ore processing volume to nearly fifty tons and steadily refining more than ten tons of Qi vein stone standard combustible blocks.

And their reward became the foundation for the rise of Starforge.

Therefore, it is still in its initial stage, but Louis has already drawn up sketches for the second and third phases of the factory area.

This mining area is not only rich in Qi vein stones; geological exploration has also discovered several rare resources such as flint marrow oil, magic marrow ore, and burnt iron.

But Louis knew very well that the worst thing to do at this time was to bite off more than you can chew.

The mining and processing techniques for each mineral are different, often involving an entire independent industrial chain.

He did not want to throw Starforge's resource system into chaos before he had even established a firm foothold.

So he decisively chose to focus on Qi Meridian Stones.

Qi vein stones are the most urgently needed energy minerals at present. They are suitable for use as high-temperature fuel and can also provide energy for basic magic energy equipment. They are the most suitable catalyst to support the start-up of the entire territory's industry.

"Do one thing to the best of your ability first." This is the phrase he has said most often lately.

Therefore, in the first phase of the plan, all resources were concentrated on the mining, transportation, screening, smelting and pressing of Qi vein stones.

We will not diversify our operations or pursue other interests simultaneously. Even if other mineral veins are attractively valuable, we will temporarily freeze them.

Only after the miners became familiar with the work process, the furnace temperature control gradually became standardized, the plant production lines became stable, and they even began to have a certain ability to maintain and expand themselves, did he plan to gradually introduce more types of work.

Soon a batch of support slaves dispatched by the Empire will arrive; they are mostly prisoners of war, debtors, and displaced persons.

Although nominally slaves, they were not exploited to death in Starforge Territory as they were elsewhere. Instead, they were trained as workers to fill the ever-growing labor shortage in the mining areas.

Only then will he consider gradually opening up the other mines and building corresponding refining and storage lines according to different material categories, truly entering a stage of multi-line parallel industrial expansion.

Of course, Louis wasn't just focused on mines and factories.

In his personally planned overall blueprint, mining was merely a pillar, while life was the foundation.

Within a few kilometers of the main mining area, infrastructure such as mining residential areas, medical stations, canteens, schools, and nurseries were successively built.

It not only provides workers with jobs, but also ensures they have a place to live, food to eat, medical care when sick, and support for their children.

Even entertainment venues that are often overlooked, such as taverns, bathhouses, theaters, and markets, were gradually established.

Miners and workers do hard labor, and once they get paid, they need somewhere to spend their money and somewhere to relieve their stress, otherwise problems will inevitably arise sooner or later.

So he encouraged outsiders with business skills to move in, rent small plots of land or houses, and run their own businesses, thus creating a small, self-sustaining economic system.

With the improvement of infrastructure and the steady influx of migrants, the output of Qi vein stones continues to rise, and an industrial territory with mining as its core is rising from the northern tundra.

It is one of the few strongholds in the northern part of the empire that can truly and stably produce high-energy resources.

In Louis's far-reaching vision, it will be the first step in the future magic energy technology system and the starting point of his entire strategic industrial landscape.

The construction of the Qi Vein Stone Energy Zone has lasted for more than three months.

From its initial state of barren rocks and slopes to its present state of towering chimneys, operational well tracks, and roaring furnaces, Xingduanling, a once-forgotten tundra mining area, has finally gotten on the right track.

The daily output can be maintained at a stable 12 tons of standard fuel blocks!

Such achievements are something that even some established mining territories cannot accomplish; Starforge Territory can now be considered the number one mining area in the North.

However, not all of these Qi Vein Stones produced daily were stockpiled.

A portion of it was purchased by the Calvin Merchant Guild and transported via the Southern Trade Route to several major magical energy-consuming territories in the southern part of the Empire, where it was used as fuel in exchange for urgently needed supplies and people.

The other part is used as the Star Forging Leader's own energy, and will be gradually distributed to the smelting furnace group, winter residential heating rooms, and the machine processing plant to be built.

In this way, storage pressure was alleviated and a preliminary external trade cycle was established, providing the necessary capital return and energy support for the steady growth of Xingduanling's industrial ecosystem.

This means that the four basic systems in the first phase of the plan—residential areas, main road traffic, smelting workshops, and basic education institutions—have all been deployed and put into operation.

The entire mining area has evolved from a temporary settlement into a nascent energy town with a clear structure and well-defined functions.

It was now nearly mid-August, and Louis was finally ready to leave temporarily.

He will return to Red Tide Territory to rest and personally oversee preparations for the upcoming autumn harvest.

But this mining operation will not stop.

The next phase of construction has already begun.

The first enslaved population supported by the empire will be transferred to this territory.

The plan is to expand the factory by building three new buildings and bring in more alchemy technicians and junior managers to gradually establish a more complete standardized production line.

Star Forging Industry will fully enter the second stage of its industrial development.

(End of this chapter)