In terms of machinery, the most brilliant achievement is of course the Zhang Jian-style steam engine.

In addition, Jiangnan Precision Instrument Factory has successfully imitated Western clocks. Today, Nanjing City, Suzhou City, Kunshan City, Pudong New District and Hangzhou City,

The bell towers like Xiangshan Academy have already been erected, which are relaying the time for citizens every day, and are also subtly changing people's beliefs.

This is why Europe connects churches and bell towers, but in the Ming Dynasty, people only think of science from bell towers...

Smaller clocks have also become a luxury that rich people flock to. Because the number of watchmakers is limited, buyers have to queue up for a year or two before they can buy a bulky clock... In terms of miniaturization, domestic products are indeed inferior to European clocks, but it has only been a few years since then? I can't blame them all.

The big dogs invite the clock home, so they naturally have to place it in the most conspicuous place in the main hall to show off, which will arouse the covetousness of more big dogs. Now that owning a clock has become a symbol of identity and status, the big dogs want to go out and let their servants carry the clock on their backs.

The same is true for bell towers. Although the cost is not expensive, every prefecture and county still want to have their own bell towers. The more complex the structure, the more expensive the construction, the better. Driven by powerful demand, it is estimated that it will not take long for the clocks to have the functions of playing music automatically and dancing villains...

Moreover, the popularity of clocks, especially the bell towers that everyone can see, has brought about a change, that is, people's awareness of time has been significantly enhanced, their lives have become more and more organized, and more things they can do every day.

This is easy to understand. In the past, everyone looked at the sun, so the time plan could only be done in the morning and afternoon, but now it can be accurate to the hour, so of course more things can be arranged. The clocks that you can see when you look up also force people to be punctual, otherwise you will hear flaunts like "I bought a watch last year."

Zhao Hao remembers that some people in the West said that the representative of industrial society is not a steam engine, but a clock.

Because time is no longer exclusive to emperors and princes and ministers, as long as there is a bell tower, everyone can get such valuable information. Therefore, the lives of the people are no longer as chaotic as before. Finally, they can plan their own time, greatly improve their efficiency, and naturally achieve higher personal achievements.

Steam engines will never be as popular as clocks. They are just the changes brought by clocks, which are silent and silent, not as violent as steam engines, and are just impressive.

Zhao Hao didn't know if this was true, because the famous sayings of philosophers were just that. Most of them were lacking logic and no data support. Well, to show respect, it would be better to change it to "golden sentence".

But in short, it was correct to arrange the city. Zhao Hao planned to install a science bell tower for all counties in Jiangnan during the 25th Five-Year Plan. In the future, there would even be a plan to "send the bell to the countryside", and I wonder if someone would be beaten.

In fact, there is another point, that is, the process required for clock manufacturing is ahead of the steam engine. The process of assembling and debugging cog teeth and flywheels is to accumulate technology for the manufacturing of Watt steam engines.

In addition, all companies in the group have completed standardized production specifications. The significance of this is no less than that of steam engines and clocks, because it means the industrialization of production methods, and from then on, the manual workshop can be called factories!

For example, after the shipyard is standardized in production, ships can be built and repaired at different docks and docks; after the arsenal is standardized, the parts of the same type of gun artillery can be interchanged, greatly improving the efficiency of manufacturing and maintenance. Especially on the battlefield, this advantage may be decisive.

Finally, Jiangnan Machinery Factory has also improved all the human or hydraulic lathes, boring machines, grinding machines, drilling machines and other machinery in the East and West, greatly improving the accuracy and efficiency...

~~

The only regrettable thing is the steel aspect.

During the 15th Five-Year Plan, the improvement of the coke furnace was completed, and the coal used for smelting has been replaced by coke. However, major problems arose in conquering steelmaking technology.

Originally, Mr. Zhao thought that the converter steelmaking process was the simplest, the price was cheap and the quantity was sufficient, so he was ready to bypass the reflector and get it in place in one step!

Unexpectedly, he took it for granted that he would have made the choice of director Wang Ying, from the 01st Institute.

In the sixth year of Longqing, Lao Wang worked hard to design the converter and added hundreds of kilograms of red pig iron, and began to blow the wind in with anticipation.

At first, the reaction in the furnace was indeed violent, the temperature rose rapidly, and brown smoke gushed out, which made the researchers who had worked hard for several years cheer.

However, I was so happy that after the steel made from the reactor solidified, the pores and thermal cracks occurred, and they broke into useless scrap steel.

Director Wang was helpless and had to ask Director Zhang for instructions. Zhang Jian knew that his master valued steelmaking, otherwise he would not have placed the Institute of Steel Research in No. 1, so he immediately reported to Zhao Hao.

At that time, Zhao Hao ignored his father-in-law's expression and rushed back from Beijing, just for this matter.

After several months of arduous metallographic analysis, the reason was roughly determined, that is, the phosphorus and sulfur content of iron ore are too high, while the manganese content is relatively low.

Because the phosphorus content is too high, the thermal cracking will lead to excessive sulfur content, and the inadequate manganese content will lead to pores...

It’s easy to say that the manganese content is insufficient, just add it.

In traditional paintings, gray-black and steel-grey dyes are soft manganese ore powder. They are also common colorants in the ceramic making industry. They will be reduced to manganese metal after heating them with charcoal for a period of time.

Moreover, manganese can also react sulfur in molten iron, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone.

But it is not enough for Zhao Hao to remove phosphorus. He knew that pure oxygen was used to achieve miracles in later generations. Unfortunately, with his current pedaling method of generating oxygen, the oxygen produced by electrolyzing is only enough to suck it, and it is a chemical experiment. It is undoubtedly a drop in the bucket and is far from enough to watch.

So there are two ways to face Lao Wang and his researchers. One is to find low-phosphorus iron ore as raw materials, and the other is to continue to improve the process and find ways to remove phosphorus.

After testing, the ore content of the Fanchang Iron Ore that Jiangnan Steel ate during the 1950s was too high. I also tried more than a dozen ores in Jinxian, Xingguo, Handan and other places that did not meet the standards.

As for the Maanshan Iron Mine that Mr. Zhao had high hopes for, he directly found the phosphate mine during the mine search...

Although the institute has not given up looking for new sources of ore, it has turned its attention to improving production processes. I hope there will be a breakthrough during the 25th Five-Year Plan period.

Fortunately, the industrial era has not yet arrived, and pig iron and waxed iron produced with traditional blast furnaces; steel produced with hydraulic forging machines and carburizing methods are enough for the group to use at this stage, and there is still time to solve these problems.

~~

Among the other major achievements, the medical field has been described in advance, and there is no need to repeat them. As for guns, guns, gunpowder, coast guards, etc., it cannot be mentioned even more.

In fact, the progress brought by the 15th Five-Year Plan is comprehensive, such as the production efficiency of the cotton textile industry has doubled. The silk weaving industry has been controlled due to silkworm disease, and the output has also increased a lot.

For example, in the past, people only used hydraulic grinding surfaces. Due to the introduction of variable speed gears, water trucks can now output more stably. So they can be used to tannate leather and make irons...

These seemingly insignificant changes are indeed not as fascinating as the narratives of emperors and generals, but they gather together into towers, and over time, they gradually change people's lives...

"Compared with five years ago, the per capita labor income in Jiangnan is now twice as high as before." After four hours of report, Mr. Zhao's voice was exhausted and hoarse, but he was surprisingly good in spirit, and he announced to the representatives with a proud face:

"And the labor income of our group employees is twice that of theirs!"

The tide of applause sounded like a tide for the dozens of times, and the representatives even slapped their hands and swollen.

"This is a earth-shaking change in the past two hundred years since the founding of the country! Because as society continues to grow increasingly ill and mergers become increasingly heavy, the lives of the people have been declining, and the Jiangnan region is of course no exception!" Zhao Hao continued to say in a deep voice:

"However, the situation has reversed for the first time in the past five years! Five years ago, the people of Jiangnan could only barely afford food and clothing, but now, they are already pursuing a better life!"

The employee representatives in the audience couldn't help but wipe their tears when they heard this.

The only couple representatives - Liang Sanmei, the workshop director of the sixth workshop of Jiangnan No. 1 Silk Weaving Factory, and her husband, Li Hua, the captain of the Fourth Construction Team of the Kunkaisi Construction Department, couldn't help but secretly hold his hands.

When Kunshan was flooded, the poverty situation of the whole family fled to the county town was still vivid in my mind. In just six years, life has turned upside down. It really makes people realize that it is a different world...

Oh yes, Liang Sanmei didn’t have a name at that time, she just named Liang. After entering the factory, women must have a name, so she just named such a name. She regretted it so much... I didn’t expect that I would have one day to be a leader and a representative, so I was sloppy!

"Food is the most important thing for people. The improvement of people's living standards is first reflected in food. According to the survey conducted by the Group's General Research and Development, the consumption of meat, eggs, fish and poultry by people in Jiangnan has become as common as rice and vegetables. The oil, salt, sugar, tea and wine consumed by each family is twice that of the first year of Longqing."

"In addition, the sales volume of various furniture, porcelain, tableware, bedding and cloth in Jiangnan was also monitored, which doubled compared with five years ago. The sales of books, pens, ink, paper and ink have increased by nearly ten times! This proves that the lives of the people in Jiangnan have exceeded the stage of filling their stomachs and have begun to pursue higher pursuits!"

Zhao Hao finally said emotionally: "This is our greatest achievement, because it proves that we have not taken the wrong path - we have indeed led everyone to live a better life! This is why the people in Jiangnan love us!"

The thunderous applause lasted for a long time, and a strong sense of pride echoed in everyone's hearts. If Zhao Hao proposed "becoming the vanguard of the Ming Dynasty's prosperity and strength" before the First Five-Year Plan, everyone was not very clear about it, and even felt that it was too wishful thinking.

But after the first five plans, everyone personally realized how great their careers were. They really changed the Ming Dynasty! They led the people of Jiangnan out of difficulties and towards a new life...

While they change the world, they also transform themselves!

However, all this is just the beginning, because the people in Jiangnan have not been truly rich and have made great progress because of their poor foundation.

In addition to Jiangnan, there are ten or dozens of times the people, struggling on the survival line...

Glory is past, and there is still a long way to go!
Chapter completed!