The Rise of the European Emperor

In order to cooperate with the publicity plan, Beihai State began to build brick-burning earthen kilns on a large scale. These brick kilns are tall vertical kilns, and the fuel used is not firewood, but briquettes with the characteristics of Beihai.

These spherical briquettes made of coal powder may not be as efficient as briquettes. However, in mass production, it is much better than honeycomb coal. Because the briquette has poor load-bearing capacity and has high requirements for placement, it needs air holes to face the eyes, which is very inconvenient for production. Therefore, large furnaces and earthen kilns prefer simple and crude fuels such as briquettes.

The problem with briquettes though is that it burns too hot...

If firewood is used to burn the kiln, the temperature is generally not very high, generally reaching 700 to 1000 degrees is the best. It just so happens that the temperature range for firing bricks is between 900 and 1100 degrees. If the temperature exceeds this temperature, the fired bricks (also called overfired bricks) will be burnt out, and various deformations will be irregular.

However, when firewood is used to fire earthen kilns, the temperature generally does not exceed 1100 degrees, and the only worry is that the temperature is not enough. It's different with coal, it's so easy to overfire...

You know, coal can burn to a level of 1700 or even 1900 degrees under the condition of sufficient blast. Therefore, when burning bricks with briquettes, controlling the temperature has become a big problem.

Later, Marin thought of a way - to measure the temperature with a copper wire...

Marin remembers that the melting point of copper is 1083 degrees, which is very close to the upper limit of 1100 degrees for firing bricks. So, he thought of a way--someone used a clip to clamp the iron wire with a small piece of thin copper wire, and put it into the furnace. If the copper wire melts, it's overfired. Not melting, naturally it is normal...

Of course, this is only for pre-testing. If you use copper wire to measure the temperature every time, you will lose a lot of copper. In the beginning, the use of coal to burn bricks was in various situations, and there were many strangely shaped fire bricks. Later, after losing a lot of copper wire, some craftsmen who were good at firing bricks modified the path and added some vents to prevent the kiln temperature from being too high, and finally controlled the temperature.

Then, Marin asked people to compile a work manual, and began to promote the well-tested coal pellet shaft kiln as a standard, so that people could work according to the standard guidance steps. Sure enough, a lot of cheap bricks were fired easily.

It should be known that the cost of coal is low and the heat of combustion is large, which is much more convenient than using firewood. For publicity, Marin specially built several briquette brick kilns near Emden Port, burning bricks all day long for outsiders to see. Although it pollutes the atmosphere, Marin doesn't live in Emden, so who cares...

As truckloads of bricks are continuously pulled out of the briquette brick kiln near the port of Emden and shipped out to sea in front of the eyes of the world (it is said that they are shipped to America), people see is believing, believe it or not...

In fact,

The brick kilns in Emden harbor are just demonstrations. The real bulk of production is still in Cape Breton Island.

The local area is close to the Sydney coal mine, and the soil resources are rich, so it is not too easy to burn bricks. If a large number of bricks were fired in the mainland of Beihai, Marin would still be reluctant to bear soil resources. After all, local land resources are not so rich, and clay is also very precious, okay?

But the Americas are different. The most indispensable thing there is land and soil, and it doesn't hurt to burn bricks casually. Moreover, although the Sydney Coal Mine on Cape Breton Island does not produce a lot of coal, in this age without industry, the amount of coal used is also small. It just so happens that using coal to burn bricks can be considered to make the best use of everything and avoid waste.

Marin calculated that if briquettes are used to burn bricks, because the cost of briquettes is already lower than that of firewood, the cost of fuel is much lower. In addition, the calorific value of briquettes is high, so more bricks can be burned, and the kiln body can be enlarged a lot... In this way, more bricks can be burned, and the cost is reduced a lot... Finally, the cost of burning bricks in a briquette kiln is lower than that of a firewood kiln. several times lower...

Moreover, coal gangue and cinders can be crushed, mixed into bricks, and fired into bricks, saving soil...

Marin calculated and calculated, and finally discovered a secret—that is, although bricks are expensive, they are also made by people. The cost is actually mainly spent on manpower.

For example, a brick kiln was set up near the coal mine on Cape Breton Island. The fuel coal was produced by Marin's own coal mine, and only labor costs were required. The same is true for firing bricks, whether it is making adobes, or firing the kiln, and then shipping the bricks... In fact, the cost of materials is almost negligible. The real cost of bricks comes from human labor.

That is to say, as long as there are enough people, a lot of cheap bricks can be burned in a place like Cape Breton Island, where coal and clay resources are abundant, only at the labor cost. Even if it is shipped back to the country, the cost is lower than that of burning bricks in the country. After all, not only the clay is consumed locally, but the briquettes have to be transported from the far Ruhr area or Newcastle.

And this low-cost brick is very conducive to urban construction. Before, in order to save money, Marin promoted low-cost adobe houses in China. But this kind of house is okay in the countryside, but it seems not harmonious in the city. Therefore, Marin's plan is to gradually replace all adobe houses with brick houses in the future.

At that time, this kind of tile-roofed houses built with low-cost sintered bricks will be popular in the cities of Beihai. In addition, this kind of house will also use cement as an adhesive between bricks. After the building is completed, cement will be plastered on the outside of the house, just like the square that is popular in the rural areas of China in later generations. Then, paint a layer of lime on the outside of the cement, white, very bright, very beautiful...

Although the cost has increased greatly, Marin knows that this will also boost GDP. Besides, the business of burning bricks is also Marin's own. Even if you earn less, you still make money. In short, it can be regarded as stimulating domestic demand. This is the trick of China's economic construction in the 21st century - infrastructure madness and stimulating domestic demand...

In order to gain fame in France, the brick ship sent by Marin deliberately docked and replenished at the port of Le Havre at the mouth of the Seine River in France, allowing the French to see with their own eyes many bricks being taken to the Americas to "build the Great Wall". Then, the news will travel down the Seine back to Paris...

In fact, historically, the Port of Le Havre was an important port that was ordered to be built by François I in 1517. Now, Le Havre is just a fishing village and a small port.

But Marin knew the potential of this port. He had arranged for businessmen from the Beihai Chamber of Commerce to sneak in here, bought a large piece of land, and built a wharf to make it an important port of call. When Francois I started building here, the merchants sent by Marin before would be able to drink the soup and get a lot of benefits.

Because of the presence of merchants under Marin, the original small fishing village of Le Havre has gradually become a port town, but the walls have not yet been repaired.

The merchants under Marin built several long bridge piers here, built a lot of warehouses for leasing, and opened taverns and hotels. In time, even if François I did not order the port to be built again, it would still be able to develop here. Because the conditions here are so good—it is located at the mouth of the Seine River and can connect to the capital Paris. It is definitely a first-class transshipment port...

The brick ship from the North Sea country deliberately docked here for supplies, and the sailors also received orders to go ashore to go ashore to drink and brag in taverns. I believe it won't be long before the news reaches Paris. In this way, it is convenient for Marin to send people to recruit immigrants...