Industry began in 1937

The last vestiges of spring chill were finally dispelled by the warming sunlight and increasingly noisy streams of the Taihang Mountains. Behind Gouzi Village, the "Feng Shui-connected Mill," a testament to the hard work and hopes of the entire village, underwent its final assembly and testing amidst this vibrant landscape.

The massive wooden waterwheel was carefully installed at the end of the newly renovated canal, its heavy iron main shaft mounted in a sturdy stone trough containing wear-resistant bearing seats secretly prepared by the "Flint" platform.

The moment the strongest men in the village worked together to pry open the temporary floodgate, the accumulated stream water rushed down, crashing against the ingeniously designed curved blades.

At first, the waterwheel turned heavily and creaked, but then, propelled by the continuous and steady flow of water, it began to accelerate slowly, eventually emitting a uniform and powerful "splashing" sound as it began to rotate steadily, driving the main drive shaft that passed through the wall and transmitting the surging power of nature into the mill.

Almost simultaneously, on the rooftop, the enormous windmill with its six broad canvas blades began to turn slowly, propelled by the seemingly ceaseless wind blowing from the mountain ridge.

The power of the wind is also transmitted through a complex set of iron gears and a vertical shaft.

Inside the mill, Chen Yuan personally installed and debugged a lightweight iron clutch and gear set that cleverly couples or switches between water power and wind power.

After applying grease for lubrication, all the power finally converged on the huge bluestone millstone in the center, which had been painstakingly carved by the village's old stonemason.

The sluice gate is opened to release water, which is coupled with the windmill. The accumulated stream water enters the culvert, driving the blades to power the main shaft.

The millstone began to turn slowly but steadily.

"It moved! It moved!" The villagers who were watching burst into enthusiastic cheers.

The children jumped for joy, and the adults beamed with pride and anticipation.

Secretary Wen and the village elders, including Third Uncle, stood at the front, their eyes welling up with tears as they looked at the millstone that had never relied on human or animal power to rotate on its own.

This is the first time that the mountain people, who have relied on human and animal power to push and pull the stone mill, have seen and participated in the construction of an "automatic" millstone that utilizes the power of heaven and earth.

Chen Yuan's heart was in his throat, but he was nervous about more than just the millstone.

He tilted his ear slightly, as if he could hear, through the vibrations of the stone and wood structure and the roar of the water and windmills, the generator set hidden deep in the foundation, disguised as a "huge counterweight iron block," its internal rotor emitting a low and steady hum as it was being cut by the magnetic field.

A faint current was being generated there, silently splitting into two paths through copper wires wrapped in thick rubber: one path led along a pre-designed, visible conduit to the mine shaft to light the "soon-to-be-installed lights"; the other path, through a deeper, more concealed cable, was being transmitted directly to the heart of the mine, to the long-awaited core.

The debugging was successful.

When water is plentiful, the millstone spins rapidly; when wind is strong, the millstone keeps spinning; when both water and wind are weak, the two complement each other and can still maintain basic rotation.

Although Chen Yuan's clutch device was simple, it was effective and reliable.

The villagers eagerly and carefully poured the corn, wheat, soybeans and other grains they had prepared into the feed inlet above the millstone.

As the millstone rumbled and turned, fine powder flowed evenly from between the millstones and fell into the wooden trough below.

"Faster! So fast!"

"Look how finely it's ground!"

"We won't have to get up in the middle of the night to grind grain anymore, and we won't have to worry about the livestock getting exhausted!"

Exclamations and laughter echoed through the valley.

Inside the blacksmith's shop, the electric light that Secretary Wen had brought was repeatedly turned on and off by Tie Zhu and the others. For the young people in the mountains, this was the first time they had experienced the charm of electric lights.

The once somewhat dark mine shaft has now become brightly lit.

It's no longer just the oil lamp and stove that provide light.

Chen Yuan quickly stopped them after he returned.

These tungsten filament light bulbs can't withstand this kind of play. Although he understood their feelings, light bulbs are very precious items.

Although Chen Yuan didn't know the exact price, he could guess it.

Thinking about the tungsten filament in light bulbs, Chen Yuan also thought, couldn't we get some tungsten ore raw materials from Jiangxi?

He remembered that China had a lot of tungsten reserves, and that the Red Army had traded a lot of this mineral raw material in Jiangxi back then.

He had read online that the "God of Wealth" had used it to raise a lot of funds for the Red Army.

The Party organization is familiar with all of this.

This platform can produce some tungsten steel, which solves the problem of insufficient alloy steel materials.

Chen Yuan felt he was too smart.

The presence of this mill in Gouzi Village is not only a symbol of hope for escaping some of the heavy physical labor and improving the efficiency of life.

Soon, news of Gouzi Village possessing a "feng shui treasure mill" spread like wildfire throughout the surrounding mountain villages.

Villagers from neighboring villages also began carrying grain, traversing mountains and ridges to reach Gouzi Village, requesting to use this magical millstone.

The village office then established a rule that grain was provided free of charge to villagers, while other villages would be charged a small amount as a "wear and tear fee." This income replenished the public granary, creating a virtuous cycle.

Deep within the mine, unseen by most, the changes were even more profound.

When the first steady and continuous current from the mill surged in, Chen Yuan clearly felt that the dark blue light screen in his consciousness seemed to brighten and stabilize a bit.

The platform provided a concise response: "External green energy access, charging mode activated. Current input power... Sustainability assessment: Good."

He immediately increased production.

Although the overall power supply is still insufficient, doubling the output is not a problem.

The five human-powered foot-operated generators were not abandoned; they became an important supplement.

The battery level is slowly increasing, although Chen Yuan has been trying to keep it slightly above capacity.

It's to prepare for the possibility of a sudden relocation.

Having 10% extra battery power on the platform is the most basic requirement.

……

After reporting to his superiors, Secretary Wen came to Chen Yuan and asked him to submit a list of generators produced.

"Secretary Wen, this is the detailed list of materials."

Chen Yuan pushed the written paper in front of Secretary Wen.

Secretary Wen took it and looked at it. He could understand it, but there were two problems with the characters.

One reason is that they are all simplified characters, which makes it difficult for him to understand the meaning of some characters.

I don't know who he learned this from, how can he use words like this?

Secondly, it's this handwriting! Oh dear! It seems the gentleman has never disciplined his hands; it's truly awful.

They are even worse than the students in Gouzi Village who are still learning to read and write.

It wasn't written in neat, regular script, but rather with a lot of cursive writing and occasional corrections, making it a mess that was a real headache to look at.

If it weren't for the years of education he received from the Party, everyone would want him to relearn how to write.

Fortunately, he could still understand the meaning, so they let him off the hook.

600 kg of iron, mainly used for the main structure of the generator.

Chen Yuan did not write down the specific details, but in reality, the cast iron base and end caps used 200 kilograms.

The cast iron yoke and pole core of the magnetic circuit system weigh 120 kg.

Key components of the water turbine: wrought iron or steel main shaft, bushing, simple guide vanes or impact bucket, weighing 120 kg.

Auxiliary components: basic iron parts, connecting fasteners, etc., weighing 80 kg.

The total weight was 520 kilograms, but Chen Yuan reported 600 kilograms. The remaining 80 kilograms were considered "losses" and were also part of the labor costs.

70 kilograms of copper.

The main component is the generator winding: this is the core copper-consuming part.

Based on an estimated output power of approximately 7.5 kW, low speed, hand-wound construction, and thick insulation, the excitation winding and armature winding together require a large amount of copper wire.

Collector ring and brush assembly: small quantity.

In reality, 60 kilograms would have been enough, but Chen Yuan still overstated it by 10 kilograms.

Raw lacquer: 5 kg, tung oil: 10 kg.

These two types are used for coil impregnation insulation and for the protection against corrosion and moisture of some wooden components.

Chen Yuan did not overreport these two types of materials, since there was a surplus and he would not lose money.

Because the water flow in the mountainous area is currently low, Chen Yuan did not design the generator to have a very high power output.

With a power output of only 7.5 kilowatts, and considering that this is a low-speed DC hydro generator, the efficiency will not be very high, and the actual output power may only be around 5 kilowatts.

Although the power output is not large, it is already a remarkable achievement in the current base area.

It is important to know that the People's Army built the first hydroelectric power station in the Taihang Mountains in history, the Wuwushui Hydropower Station.

It was built between 1947 and 1948.

The commander-in-chief personally participated in the site selection and construction. The power station used the waterfall resources to generate electricity, supplying power to Xibaipo and the military factory.

Of course, the power of the repairs was much greater back then.

Secretary Wen looked at the quantity of materials and made a rough estimate. It was indeed a lot, but in reality, it wasn't much.

The higher-ups are waiting for the feng shui millstone here to be successfully tested, so that they can also produce one for the gunpowder factory.

Iron is relatively easy to obtain, and the others aren't difficult either, but it's copper!

It's really not easy to accumulate so much.

"Okay, I'll report to my superiors right away. The materials should arrive sooner." Secretary Wen folded the paper and put it in his breast pocket.

"I have something else I'd like to ask the government for help with."

"What is it?"

"Could you help me collect more alloy?"

"alloy?"

"It's about adding other metals to the steel, which makes the steel of better quality."

"This isn't about helping out; it's our job. Just tell us!"

The steel was of better quality, so that good steel could be produced, and it was used entirely for the cause of resisting Japan.

It's what the organization should do.

"It contains tungsten, chromium, nickel, molybdenum, and manganese."

Hearing Chen Yuan say this, Wen Shizhou slapped his forehead; he had no idea what it was.

He has never studied the periodic table of elements.

Write it down.

Chen Yuan didn't care about all that and picked up a pencil to start writing.

Wen Shizhou still doesn't recognize some characters, but that's okay, the organization can find someone to ask him for help.