I am an industrial worker during the War of Resistance

Chapter 57 Molybdenite Discovered Through a Fall
"Uncle Niu, we already told you, you don't need to come out with us in this snowy weather."

You're warmer at the campsite.

A small team of twenty people is trekking through the snow-covered Daqingshan Mountains.

The person who just spoke was a young man.

He was Chen Chengshan, a student of Chen Changzai, who majored in metal smelting and forging casting.

He played a part in the success of the first forging press.

Over the past year, in addition to learning from Chen Changzai, Chen Chengshan has also been learning from Master Zhang, who is in charge of smelting, casting and forging.

Master Zhang also taught him everything he knew.

To truly master metallurgy and casting, it's not enough to simply know how to operate a furnace and produce molten iron.

There are many intricacies involved.

In later generations, smelting was classified under the discipline of "metallurgical engineering".

In addition to basic advanced mathematics, physics, and chemistry, its core subjects are metallurgical principles, iron and steel metallurgy, non-ferrous metallurgy, and metallurgical transport principles.

Each of these disciplines has its own set of knowledge that requires a lifetime of study.

The most fundamental thing in metallurgy is that you have to be able to distinguish ores.

You absolutely cannot smelt pyrite as if it were brass ore.

Therefore, students studying metallurgy also need to understand geology and mineralogy.

In this context, when Chen Changzai was teaching Chen Chengshan and the others, he mainly focused on theory and supplemented it with experience.

Master Zhang and the other smelting and casting masters relied entirely on experience when teaching these students.

Because they don't really have much theoretical knowledge.

But the greatest wealth lies in the experience they inherited from their own masters and the experience they gained throughout their lives in smelting and casting.

So-called theories are nothing more than summaries of the experiences of predecessors.

It's simply a summary of underlying rules that humans have built up through their own understanding, making relatively coherent experiences, relatively universal, and somewhat plausible.

However, if theory cannot be linked to practice.

Then it will become increasingly unfounded, and slowly turn into a false theory.

If practice cannot be combined with theory, then practical experience cannot become a system and will always exist in a fragmented state.

Therefore, if we want to move forward and develop, both theory and practice are indispensable.

Chen Chengshan and his team came to the Daqingshan Copper Mine for an on-site inspection.

They also explored the mineral resources within the area actually controlled by the team in the Daqingshan Mountains.

In the field of metal minerals, mountainous areas typically have more metal deposits than plains.

Although the snow in Daqingshan is now knee-deep, it is nothing to the soldiers who have come out of the snow-capped mountains and grasslands.

The students knew best the extent of their teachers' thirst for rare metals.

Although Chen Changzai was younger than most of his students.

However, the students genuinely respected Chen Changzai, their young teacher, from the bottom of their hearts.

This is not only due to Chen Chang's dedication in teaching them knowledge.

Furthermore, during class, they felt that the person standing in front of them was not an eighteen or nineteen-year-old.

He was a learned, dignified yet approachable old professor.

Although this feeling might seem strange, these students all believed that this was how their teachers should be.

At this moment, Old Man Niu, whom Chen Chengshan had just called Uncle Niu, said, "It's alright, I've been running a cart for a lifetime, and I'm still very strong."

You are not familiar with this Daqingshan Mountain.

Furthermore, the Daqingshan Mountains, which have been covered in heavy snow, are not so easy to traverse.

If you really get lost here and something happens to you, how can I face Commander Chen and Factory Director Chen?

They entrusted you all to me with their own hands; even if something happens to me, I can't let anything happen to you.

This old man Niu was the guide that Commander Chen hired when he went to XJ.

On the way to XJ.

Old Man Niu witnessed and personally experienced the actions of Commander Chen and his men.

I also listened to Commander Chen and his three unofficial apprentices talk about their ideals and what the future of this country should look like.

According to Commander Chen, the future of this country should be peaceful and tranquil.

There is no stench of wine and meat behind the rich man's gate, but there are frozen corpses on the road.

When there are no years of famine.

The kind of thing where landlords could exchange three liters of millet for the land that ordinary people had accumulated over a lifetime.

There is no such thing as working for a landlord for a year and then owing the landlord money.

There were no landlords in that world.

All the land belongs to the people.

There are rules there, and people follow those rules.

Everyone is treated fairly.

This country belongs to all its people. After hearing about such a world, Old Man Niu and his apprentices all had a longing in their eyes.

So when Old Man Niu returned, he said to Commander Chen, "Commander Chen, I have a request. My apprentices and I all want to join the army."

We hope the military can take them in.

I believe we can still do something for the military.

The military will also need our ability to trace origins and lead routes.

Commander Chen was naturally more than happy to grant Old Man Niu's request.

The role of an experienced car enthusiast is no joke.

Whether in the mountains or the desert, the role of an experienced driver can often determine the life or death of an entire unit.

This is absolutely no joke.

Moreover, the experience of an old cart driver like Niu Laohan, who is already quite shrewd and experienced, is extremely rare.

Especially after Old Man Niu helped Commander Chen find the copper mine, he said to Commander Chen...

As a veteran of the mining industry, he also has some skills in prospecting for mineral deposits.

So Commander Chen brought Old Man Niu to Chen Changzai's place.

After talking with Old Man Niu, Chen Changzai learned that this old cart driver, who was only in his fifties but looked like he was in his sixties or seventies, was truly skilled.

Later generations of geologists also incorporated many of the practical experiences of the ancients in searching for mountain veins and observing the qi (vital energy) of mountains.

Because a lot of experience does work.

A group of people were talking as they climbed up the mountainside.

The mountain was quite steep, and there was also heavy snow.

Everyone walked very carefully.

At this point, perhaps due to his advanced age, Old Man Niu's physical strength was not keeping up with the climb in the heavy snow.

Suddenly, I stepped into thin air.

The thick felt boots that reached his knees didn't provide any support.

His body tilted and he fell to the ground, sliding down the hillside.

When Chen Chengshan saw that Old Man Niu had fallen, he rushed to help him up, but his balance was also disrupted.

He had just grabbed Old Man Niu's collar when Old Man Niu pulled him down.

Others tried to pull them up, and as a result, more than a dozen of the twenty-odd people on the snowy slope slid down together.

Fortunately, they hadn't climbed very high.

The snow on the ground was quite thick.

Although the dozen or so people who slid down looked disheveled, none of them were injured.

Chen Chengshan, who had already stopped, stood up at this moment.

He quickly walked towards Old Man Niu, who was not far away, and called out, "Uncle Niu, how are you? Are you alright?"

"It's alright, I'm fine. It's just that when you get old, your legs and feet aren't what they used to be."

I lost my footing when I slid just now.

Are you all alright?

"It's alright, it's alright, we're all fine."

Those who slid down shouted back.

At this time, the people on the slope also carefully went down the slope and helped each of them up.

In winter, people wear a lot of clothes, so they look bulky.

Chen Chengshan helped Old Man Niu up and patted the snow off him.

He said with a smile, "Uncle Niu is really healthy. He fell like that and he's fine. He's no less healthy than us young people."

As he was speaking, his eyes seemed to be flashed by the reflection of something.

He turned his head and saw that when Old Man Niu slid down, his feet had pushed aside a patch of snow, revealing the ground beneath.

There was a stone on the ground that Old Man Niu had stepped out of. It was the light reflected from the smooth surface of the stone that caught Chen Chengshan's eye.

For those looking for minerals.

Any strange stone is worth a look.

So Chen Chengshan bent down and picked up the stone.

He was carefully examining the dark gray stone in his hand, which resembled shale and had layers of scale-like slabs.

The surface of the stone has a strong metallic sheen.

There is also a bit of white quartz on its edge.

When Chen Chengshan saw the stone, his expression changed from disbelief to ecstatic joy in an instant.

"Everyone come quick! I've found molybdenite! It's molybdenite!"

　Thank you to all my friends who have supported me.

　　New ore has arrived, and the cannons won't be far behind! Roar ...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)