From the gate of heaven

Chapter 41 [Build a coal mine, the source of industry]

What kind of factory do you want to open in this alien world?
"It is required that this factory can provide many jobs, the technology used should not be too complicated, try not to attract the attention of others, have a certain profit margin, and then not touch the sensitive line of the Great Zhou court."

Around these elements, Lin Ze began to think deeply.

In a farming society where commerce is not very developed, the only industries that can make money steadily are those closely related to the four items of basic necessities of life.

"First of all, exclude housing and travel. These things have been studied by the farming society for countless years, and they have already reached their peak. Unless I get some things like cement excavators and cars from the main world, I have no advantage over the local industry."

"But if you do this, it's too eye-catching, give up."

"Then iron smelting, salt making and the like are not allowed. This is a fight for food with the Great Zhou court, and you will be beaten."

"Papermaking? The technical difficulty is a bit high, not to mention modern papermaking technology, even ancient technology is not something that some uneducated villagers can quickly learn."

"Using modern rich seasonings and optimized cooking techniques to open a restaurant is unobtrusive and profitable, but the problem is that most people eat at home, and the restaurant market is limited and cannot provide many jobs."

"Weaving? Theoretically speaking, women in every household will learn how to weave these days. An improved loom can provide a lot of jobs without being too conspicuous. It can also be quickly operated and profitable. But raw materials are a problem."

"It's impossible for me to transport raw materials from the main world on a large scale. If I do raw materials here in the foreign world, it will affect the interests of large local households, and it is easy to be boycotted collectively."

"They don't need to fight me with force. As long as they ask the farmers who raise silkworms under them not to sell silk to me, I can't do anything about it. They can't attack people's houses and destroy them for some commercial competition."

"Even if the production efficiency of modern looms increases geometrically, it won't work without raw materials."

Thinking of this, Lin Ze suddenly saw a woodcutter on the side of the road carrying firewood to the city, and some inspiration flashed in his mind.

He opened his mouth and asked the driver: "Stone, how much can you sell for a load of firewood? Where's the charcoal?"

The servant driving the chariot also saw the woodcutter carrying firewood into the city.

Thinking that Lin Ze was simply curious, he replied respectfully:

"Returning to the master, the price of a load of firewood is [-] Wen, which is equivalent to [-] Wen per catty. For charcoal, it can be sold for [-] Wen per catty depending on the quality.

"The firewood used by the people in the city, except for the woodcutter who cut the firewood from the mountains and brought it to the city for sale, many others were felled by the firewood dealers near the Yunwu Mountains and then shipped to the city along the Yangchun River."

From Shitou's point of view, it's normal for someone like the master to not be close to a cook, and not understand these prices.

The agricultural society with backward technology has no gas and electricity to use, and firewood is used for cooking.

The people living in the countryside are fine, and they can meet their daily needs by going to the mountains to cut firewood in their spare time, while the people in the city need to buy firewood for use, and charcoal to keep warm when the weather is cold.

Because of the need, the profession of woodcutter was born.

Firewood is everywhere in the mountains, and it is worthless.

What you buy for a penny and a catty of firewood is not the firewood itself, but the labor force that the woodcutter cuts firewood from the mountains and transports it all the way to the city.

"Have it!"

At this time, Lin Ze thought of what to do next.

He intends to occupy the firewood fuel market in Fengping County, and based on this, expand his business to the entire state and county.

Of course, it is not a charcoal factory, but an entire coal mine.

When he used drones to cruise around Fengping County a few years ago, he once saw a huge open-pit coal mine near a barren mountain in Fenglin Township under Fengping County.

If this open-pit coal mine was in the main world, it would be a huge wealth worth tens of billions, and it would have been used long ago.

But in the Great Zhou Dynasty, it was a wasteland that no one cares about.

Although it is not that no one has discovered that coal can be burned, but compared with the industrial society, the agricultural society does not have a large demand for fuel. Only cooking and heating will be used in large quantities, and firewood can fully meet it.

But digging coal is very strenuous, and the physical strength is not as easy as chopping firewood for the same time.

Another reason is that coal burning does not pay attention to the possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning due to ventilation, but the farming society does not know the reason, so in the end they chose to stay away from the existence of coal, and only occasionally used coal in a small amount when smelting iron.

"People in the Great Zhou Dynasty are used to using firewood now, but I can use coal stoves and briquettes to expand the sales market for coal."

Lin Ze thought about it.

When he first discovered this open-pit coal mine, he was busy learning language and martial arts and didn't think much about it. He just wrote it down for later use.

From the looks of it now, it was a good starting point for cultivating confidantes.

First of all, mining coal in coal mines requires a lot of labor, which can provide a large number of jobs in a short period of time. Secondly, there is no technical content in doing this. At best, you need to buy more mining tools such as mining picks.

Then, coal is a thing that can’t be sold at a high price in the Zhou Dynasty, which has no industry, and it is a hard-earned money.

With Lin Ze's current social status in the Great Zhou Dynasty, he can still keep this kind of hard money.

Because the mining is done in the open air, even if the court of the Great Zhou Dynasty is worried that a large number of young men will gather together and cause an accident, they only need to come over and take a casual look to find out that these young men are indeed mining, rather than receiving military training and trying to commit crimes.

"Coal mines can now be used to provide jobs. In the future, coal production will be on the right track. My subordinates will also have enough manpower available. They can completely transfer technology from the main world and use coal mines as the basis to build their own industrial system."

"If you want to expand coal production in the future, you can go directly to the explosives and coal mining assembly line, then smelt steel, manufacture production lines, and mass-produce various products."

"If these miners are recruited well, they can directly transform into my subordinates at that time."

Lin Ze thought about it in his heart, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that this was a promising thing.

Even thinking diverged from providing jobs, Lin Ze thought of many future development plans.

Of course, when conducting transactions between the two worlds in the early stage, it is of course necessary to keep a low profile and carefully hide your own development, but after developing to a certain size, the shadow will inevitably not cover Lin Ze's powerful size. At this time, he needs to come from behind the scenes to the front of the stage.

In order to deal with the inevitable exposure, Lin Ze must have the ability to protect his own wealth, otherwise he will be just a fat sheep that can be slaughtered in the eyes of others.

(End of this chapter)