Chapter 5 Useless Technology "My lord, what plans do you have for the construction of Changxing Island?" asked Jia Xu, who quickly calmed down. Tian Ze's eyes narrowed slightly. "Recruiting people, training soldiers, expanding farmland, storing grain, raising livestock, fishing, smelting iron, making salt, brewing wine, building ships..." "Changxing Island is not big, and can only accommodate 10,000 people. I plan to build it into a factory in the rear area to provide sufficient meat, salt, iron and other materials for the future entry into Liaodong." While Jia Xu nodded secretly, he suddenly thought of something and felt something was wrong. He asked with a glimmer of hope. "My Lord, do we have anyone who is good at government affairs?" Tian Ze looked at Jia Xu and smiled brilliantly. "Yes! It's Wen and you!" "Apart from that?" Jia Xu's face froze.
"No more." Tian Ze waved his hand. "As you know, I am still a commoner. The imperial appointment document is still on the way. I have few scholars under my command. They are only able to read and educate people. I am good at being an assistant and running errands, but I don't have any great talent. I will have to trouble you, Wenhe, with the government affairs!" It is too costly and time-consuming to train qualified scholars from scratch. After all, it is difficult to obtain teachers, books, learning environment, etc. Tian Ze had limited resources in his early years. Later, when he was valued by his family and able to act independently, he was busy studying, traveling, recruiting refugees, etc., and had no time or energy to slowly cultivate scholars. Therefore, we chose to focus on training a group of soldiers with management capabilities. This is relatively cost-effective and in an emergency, it will not be a problem for these people to manage a village. Looking at Tian Ze's sincere expression, Jia Xu sighed. As expected, people of low birth are destined to be "bullied"! Previously, because of his low birth in the court, he was not given an official position even though he was recommended as a filial and honest official. Now, because of my humble background, I have been "invited" here to do so much work. I really am being treated like a beast of burden. "I understand. Xu will make plans as soon as possible according to the lord's request." Since he couldn't refuse, he could only accept it. "No hurry." Tian Ze took out a stack of papers from his arms, his expression slightly complicated and entangled. "Wenhe, I have mastered some technologies. Although they have many flaws, they also have some advantages that can be used in the management of Changxing Island. Please help me with some advice first, and then plan the development of Changxing Island in the future." "The method of drying salt, the art of brewing fine wine, cement manufacturing, blast furnace ironmaking, hydraulic forging and processing, cotton products..." Looking at the various technologies recorded on the paper in front of him and listening to Tian Ze's introduction, Jia Xu fell into deep thought. Tian Ze felt mixed emotions at this moment. When he first traveled through time, he had thought about shocking the world and making a fortune by relying on these "advanced technologies". But after gradually gaining a deeper understanding of this era, Tian Ze realized how naive and ridiculous his ideas were, and slowly put away the arrogance and prejudice from later generations in his heart. Some of the so-called "advanced technologies" that he considered had already been available in this era, and the rest of the technologies, after experiments and production attempts, were found to be far less effective than he had imagined. It is not as easy as you think to get rich by "inventing". For example, the papermaking and fertilizing techniques that Tian Ze thought were magical tools have already begun to become popular in this era!
After Zuo Bo of Donglai improved the papermaking technique, the skill had become relatively mature. Tian Ze saw it when he traveled to Donglai and was greatly shocked. It uses mulberry and hemp as raw materials. The paper produced is of uniform thickness, fine texture and bright color, and can achieve excellent writing effects. If it weren't for the subsequent chaos in the world, the papermaking technique would have been quickly developed and promoted. However, this papermaking technique still has some defects. First, it cannot be anti-moth, anti-insect and moisture-proof. Second, it is not convenient for long-term preservation. Third, it is not cheap to manufacture, so it has not completely replaced bamboo slips. The fertilization technology has long been popularized within the control of wealthy and powerful families, but the technology is not yet mature enough. Even in this era, the rudiments of breeding technology and sowing technology had already appeared, which made Tian Ze, a history scum, marvel. "My lord, these skills do have many exquisite aspects, but I am not good at them. I will just explain them to you. I hope you can forgive me." Jia Xu said first. "It's okay, just tell me. Judging from the text and your knowledge, there must be nothing wrong." Tian Ze waved his hand. After getting Tian Ze's approval, Jia Xu took out one of the papers first. "This is the art of brewing. Xu once heard that there is a rare and fine wine in the world, called Yuye Wine, which is sweet, refreshing and mellow. A jar is worth no less than ten thousand coins. Xu was fortunate enough to drink a small cup, which cost a full one hundred and eighty coins, but he didn't know..." "Yes, this Yuye Wine is my property." Tian Ze said with a smile. This art of brewing fine wine was one of the few skills he had that were put to good use. He made a lot of money from it, and it also expanded Tian's social circle and improved his status among the aristocratic families. But the process is also extremely complicated. Although the salt, iron and wine business has changed from being state-run during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han to being state-run today, allowing wealthy families to participate in the wine business. However, the imperial court has always maintained a repressive attitude towards the liquor business. Because brewing wine will consume a lot of grain and it is not a necessity. Simple distiller had already existed in this era. Tian Ze had seen them at home when he was young, but they were used in the wrong way, and the alcohol content of the brewed wine was only about 20 degrees, and there were still many impurities. The so-called craft of brewing was actually basically guessed the moment the Jade Wine came out. If any powerful family spent some time and effort, it should not be difficult to copy it. However, this business has high risks and a small market. Those without ability cannot do it, and those with ability look down on it, so Tian Ze took advantage of the opportunity. Of course, this loophole is not so easy to pick up. On the one hand, with Tian Ze's secret support, Tian's strength has been greatly enhanced and it can barely protect this business. On the other hand, because Tian Ze saved Zhao Bao's family. In a sense, this is the most crucial reason. Zhao Bao was not only the prefect of Liaoxi, he also had an extremely important identity. The younger brother of Zhao Zhong, one of the Ten Attendants! That’s right, it was the Zhao Zhong that Emperor Lingdi said “Empress Zhang is my father, and Empress Zhao is my mother”. Although Zhao Bao, the younger brother, is passionate and deeply ashamed of his identity and has a bad relationship with Zhao Zhong, the two are connected by blood after all. Upon learning that Tian Ze had saved his brother and family, Zhao Zhong was very grateful. He took the initiative to help Tian Ze build connections in the court and even got the wine a name as an imperial wine, which really made the business flourish. Tian Ze also reciprocated the favor by secretly sending people to regularly pay tribute to Zhao Zhong with a lot of "filial piety", thus establishing a relationship and stabilizing the business in the long term.
If you think about it carefully, the role played by this technology is not as big as imagined, but this is already a rare achievement that Tian Ze can show off. "Yuye wine is expensive, but because of this, I'm afraid only the nobles of aristocratic families can afford to enjoy it. Sales volume is limited, and although the profit is huge, it basically ends here." Jia Xu said incisively. Tian Ze smiled bitterly and nodded. What Jia Xu said was true. Today, the liquor business is Tian Ze’s most important source of income, but the market is already saturated and difficult to expand. Jia Xu pulled out another piece of paper. "Cement manufacturing. My Lord, this cement needs volcanic ash and quicklime as raw materials. Quicklime is not difficult to obtain, but this volcanic ash, I'm afraid there are some limitations, right? How does the effect of the manufacturing compare to the cement mortar?" Tian Ze's face was slightly gloomy: "The current technology is not mature enough. It is a little worse than cement mortar, but the hardness is enough. The most important thing is that the cost is much lower than cement mortar. There is a lot of volcanic ash on Changxing Island and the surrounding islands, which is enough for our current needs." "What about saving it?" "It is difficult to preserve it for a long time. But there are a lot of volcanic ashes on the islands near Changxing Island. It is no problem to manufacture and use it on Changxing Island, but it is estimated that it cannot be transported out of Liaodong." Tian Ze sighed. After continuous attempts, Tian Ze has only produced a low-end primitive version of cement, which has low strength and is difficult to store and transport over long distances, and is incomparable to later cement. There is no way, the basic technology is not enough. To make cement in later generations, the high temperature of blast furnace iron smelting is required, and blast furnace iron smelting requires coke. However, Tianze does not understand the technology of coke and has not yet made a breakthrough in research, so Tianze can only produce this semi-finished product. Also because of this problem, Tianze's glass production is nowhere in sight. "Well, if that's the case, then we can mass-produce it. Just like you said, my lord, we can use it to build houses in the village, and the effect should be good." After hearing Tian Ze's introduction, Jia Xu immediately understood. This cement is a low-profile, cost-effective mortar with high use value, but due to raw material limitations, it can only be limited to the surrounding areas. (End of this chapter)