In the morning, next to Yecheng, at the canal pier, there were dense ships. On the second floor of a restaurant next to the port area, Yuwen Wen, who was out of the palace in a very small dress, looked at the canal river view outside the window, and looked at a sketch in his hand from time to time.

By comparing the two, he determined that the newly widened canal was indeed much wider than before.

Not only that, the completion of a series of water conservancy facilities in Xiangzhou has greatly increased the water volume of the canal connecting Yecheng and Yongji Canal, so the canal can accommodate larger ships for shipping.

In this way, as a strongly beating heart, Hebei Mingcheng Ye is associated with the economic artery of Yongji Canal, playing the role of "one plus one is greater than two".

Yuwen Wen put down his sketches from that year and exclaimed: "Just looking at this scene alone is no less than Weikou Port. Yecheng is worthy of being a metropolis. As long as the transportation problem is solved, it can still shine with a different brilliance."

The senior official and the servant Xu Shao who accompanied him on the trip sincerely agreed: "If you don't have your majesty's wonderful ideas, Yecheng will not be able to achieve the prosperity of today."

"Of course, without the support of industry, the so-called prosperity of business is nothing more than mirrors." Yu Wen Wen said without modesty, reaching out to gently shake the teacup placed on the table, and the small "mirror" in the cup was instantly broken.

"The prosperity of Yecheng comes from politics and the status of the capitals of all dynasties. When this status disappears, Yecheng is no longer a place where high-ranking officials and nobles, wealthy merchants gather, and deviates from the main shipping waterways, then decline is inevitable."

"But with industry, it's different. A large number of industries and handicrafts, while feeding a lot of labor, also absorbs raw materials from surrounding areas and produces a large number of products, so it is difficult to replace them economically."

"Yecheng, as a handicraft industry, industrial base, as a distribution center for raw materials and various products, can still maintain its status as a first-class metropolis, even if it is no longer a capital, or even a capital.

"Then, the court was not stingy in investing manpower and material resources to build and expand the canal for Yecheng so that Yecheng could connect to Yongji Canal."

Xu Shao agreed with Yuwen Wen's statement of self-question and answer. He was the governor of Xiangzhou, laying a solid foundation for the development of Yecheng. With the efforts of previous local officials and the preferential policies given by the court, it was natural that Yecheng "rejuvenated" was.

Yecheng, as the former capital of Qi, as a famous city in Guandong, and as a competitor to Chang'an in Guanzhong, actually existed as a competitor for a long time. Therefore, after the Yuchi family was destroyed, some people suggested that Yecheng be destroyed, which would save some forces in Shandong (east of the Taihang Mountains) from relying on Yecheng to "resurrender" the soul.

But Yecheng still escaped the destruction. Since Yuwen Wen ascended the throne, he has been committed to strengthening Yecheng's status as the "Economic Center of Hebei Region" and turning Yecheng into an "industrial city".

Now, Yecheng has indeed become an industrial city, with a huge industrial city. Many idle laborers in Hebei gather in Yecheng to support themselves and their families by working.

Although Yecheng has a prosperous business, most of the profits of various merchants come from the sale of various industrial and handicraft products, which proves that Yecheng has really successfully "transformed" and, like Xiyang in Huangzhou, has become a prosperous and prosperous metropolis relying on industry.

That's why the court was willing to spend a lot of money and invest "fierce explosives" to broaden the canal connecting Yongji Canal and Yecheng.

Xu Shao has read the relevant report, so he knows how the Xiangzhou government widened the canal last year: directly on the canal bank, burying a regular amount of "strong explosives" every once a distance, and then detonating.

It is said that at that moment, the river bank that lasted several miles long "boiled" at the same time, and the fierce explosives directly "rotted" the river bank. It was easy for the young and strong to widen the river bank.

With the help of "violent explosives", the canal widening project was completed quickly (relatively).

Because Yecheng itself has the ability to produce "violated explosives", it has provided strong support for many large-scale projects and mine mining in Hebei. Xu Shao has a lot of first-hand data in this regard, which makes him quite touched on the important role of "violated explosives".

There was already a 'hard explosive' before, which is a chemical called "picric acid", while the 'hard explosive' that appears now is another chemical.

As a senior official under his sect, Xu Shao was ranked as the chief magistrate. Of course, he knew the background of the ferrous explosives. Although he did not know the specific production process of the ferrous explosives, he knew its main ingredients.

That is the Nitrogen brothers: nitric acid/nitroglycerin, and nitrosilicate cotton.

According to a specific process, by treating glycerin with nitric acid, nitric acid/nitroglycerin can be obtained; similarly, by treating cotton with nitric acid, nitric cotton can be obtained.

Nitrglycerol was first introduced, so it was the "brother", while the "brother" Nitrg cotton has a hot temper and is very prone to anger. Once it occurs, it will explode violently.

Because of this, nitrified cotton is also known as "fire cotton".

The "Nitr Brothers" have the potential to become a strong explosive, but the "two brothers" have a really bad temper, so whenever the operator is not careful during production, storage, transportation and use, the two brothers will be "furious".

The technicians spent a great price to tame the two brothers. Xu Shao did not understand the specific process, but knew that Liu Yang, the first owner of Wuzhuang Temple, had an accident when taming nitroscopic cotton, which caused spinal injury.

This is pretty good. In order to tame the "Nitr Brothers", at least nearly 200 experimentalists died in various experimental accidents over the past decade, and many others were disabled due to experimental accidents.

Such a tragic price made outsider Xu Shao feel shocking when he saw it.

Therefore, when the policies of giving these people who died of office (developing strong explosives) and were subject to disability were proposed with a series of policies of preferential pensions and preferential treatment, the officials of the Political Affairs Hall passed without objection.

The efforts of countless people have made the "Nitr Brothers" join forces to become a "compound explosive". Its destructive power is even above the chorionic acid of "Furious dynamite", so it is named "Fierce dynamite".

The "fierce explosive" obtained by the integration of the "Nitr Brothers" is not only a kind of strong explosive itself, but also can join forces with the "fierce explosive" to strengthen the country and enrich the people.

Xu Shao took out the notepad he carried with him and reported to Yuwen Wen the news he had just confirmed.

Xiangzhou's explosive production capacity continues to increase, so the production of Fuyang coal and Wu'an iron ore is expected to grow "explosively", and this year's output is expected to increase by 80% compared with last year.

The reason is of course the application of explosives, which leads to a rapid increase in mining speed.

Explosives can not only be used in military and engineering construction, but also in mining. When Yecheng could produce "strong explosives" in large quantities (relatively) the Fuyang Coal Mine and Wu'an Iron Mine (Smelting) with rich mineral veins ushered in a "golden period" of rapid development.

The coal-iron consortium with Yecheng as its core is really about to take shape.

"You know... what are the American chiefs using to exchange iron tools?"

Yuwen Wen suddenly asked a question, and the quick change of topic made Xu Shao stunned. He thought for a moment, and recalled that another ship came back from America not long ago, and then tentatively replied: "Is it gold and silver?"

"That's right, yellow gold and white silver, and we just need to take out iron tools in exchange."

Yuwen Wen said, his tone was a little excited: "Don't think of fighting and destroying the country when you see explosives. Do you know? The native Americans did not popularize iron tools, and even their weapons were made of stone. Iron tools from the Central Plains were magical tools for them."

"They have gold, silver, and a mountain of gold and silver! But there is not much iron!"

"The steel knives produced by Wu'an Iron Smelting in Xiangzhou have cut iron like mud. After crossing the ocean, they can exchange them for equal weight of gold and take some chili in the Americas thousands of miles away!"

"Not only the knife, but also the arrowheads, armor leaves, and various iron tools. After seeing this, the chiefs shone with their eyes, waved the gold and silver in their hands, and made gestures to 'say' as much as they need!"

Xu Shao was shocked when he heard the inside story of "Iron For Gold" and couldn't believe his ears, while Yuwen Wen was still chattering:

"Is fierce explosives expensive? Of course it is expensive, but it can make a lot of money by using it for mining. For example, iron smelting, iron products are produced and dumped in the Americas, which is huge profits. After a few times, the court will have money to overhaul the railway!"

Hearing this, Xu Shao suddenly felt his heart beating faster, and Qiqiai Ai asked: "Your Majesty, how much gold and silver have been transported back from America this time?"
Chapter completed!