470 platform (24)

"Clay and kaolin are really the greatest gifts of the Heavenly Lord to the residents of Patagonia." In a kiln house in Houtu Township (i.e., the Port of Caromanes in Patagonia later), several craftsmen were busy busy, and a middle-aged man with a goatee was sighing with a smile.

This is a small branch or workshop of the state-owned Nancone Ceramic Factory (formerly the first ceramic factory, the large trust enterprise after the merger of the second ceramic factory) that has been integrated, with about twenty craftsmen and less than one hundred apprentices. It mainly produces various types of stoneware pipes (industrial) and civilian pottery. Occasionally, it will open a furnace to produce some low-end porcelain, mainly used to meet the domestic market. As for the international porcelain market, they are not doing anything for them yet, and even the products of the original second ceramic factory in Hai'an County are sold limited because their technology is very average and they have to compete with porcelain from China, Persia and even Europe. Therefore, the market is not very large and the income is limited.

However, despite this, the people of the East Coast have not changed their determination to improve their technology and technology and seize the domestic and foreign ceramic markets. The integrated Nancone Ceramic Factory has recently begun to expand its production capacity. They have invested heavily in setting up factories in Patagonia, where various clay and kaolin resources are extremely rich. Almost all mines with some development value have been sent. Even the newly established settlement in Houtu Township has not been spared, and many people have been sent here.

Perhaps because of the fact that there were several talents among the people sent here. While completing their jobs (producing low-grade ceramics), these people also used limited funds to carry out some research projects, and they actually received praise from a deputy factory director who came here to inspect. Then they allocated several old craftsmen and some funds to make them start the battle in a prosperous manner.

To put it simply, the project they are a brand new process of glazing ceramics. To be more precise, it is to improve the traditional lead glaze process in ancient China to form a brand new glaze to cover up the sky gray tones of many clay embryos and achieve a more beautiful effect.

Their method is to add tin ash (ie, tin oxide) to the traditional Chinese lead glaze, and then the glaze will appear a special opaque white. Putting it on the ceramic can add a pleasant protective layer to the product, creating some relatively good decorative effects.

This brand new glaze was temporarily named "tin oxide glaze" by its superiors. It is very similar to a Dutch glaze called "tin enamel" by the people of the East Coast at this time. It can even be said to be almost no different. The Nancone Ceramic Factory once imported some ceramic products from Italy and the Netherlands in a small batch, and conducted in-depth research on the bright and exquisite glaze on it. Now, after years of hard work, it seems that it has finally seen the dawn of success. In the future, it can almost break the technological monopoly of the Dutch and Italians and begin to produce it on its own.

Moreover, unlike the Dutch and Italians, the East Coast people are not only using this glaze on ceramics, but also intend to try to glaze the surface of metal vessels. First, add a protective layer to the metal vessels to prevent them from rusting; second, it also looks more beautiful, at least it is easier to get favor from people than canned tin soaked in tin. At present, some cast iron enamel vessels are being sold publicly. Although the sales momentum is still very average, I believe that after the future technology makes breakthroughs and the market promotes it, it will definitely attract more people to buy them.

"I'm more rare in this enamel ware. This time I plan to buy more goods and transport them to Chile to explore the market." Sun Chengli, one of the shopkeepers of Sun Chunyang's South Goods Store, pointed to a large pile of wooden boxes placed at the entrance of the earthen kiln, and said with satisfaction: "The color is pure white, and they are all rare top-quality products. They are not much worse than Dutch goods and Italian goods. Good, it's really good. You can't make cast iron enamel. The market demand for that kind of thing is still very large. I hope it can be made in the future."

After saying this, Sun Chengli left the somewhat stuffy kiln house and sat under a straw shed at the door to rest. He is in his fifties this year. Although he still looks good, he is very tired after years of traveling outside. Sun Chengli thought about it, when he finished this trip, he would return to the main store in Chile and hand over the work outside to the young people. He was just taking care of his life in that beautiful place. Hehe, it is indeed a good place to support people, no worse than his hometown Ningbo, and even seems more livable because of the absence of annoying typhoons and humid plum rainy seasons.

After drinking a pot of tea, Sun Chengli called two young men over, and after giving them some instructions, he put on seal-skin hats and walked with four capable entourages to a red brick house hundreds of meters away.

There is a wooden sign hanging at the door of the red brick house, with the five big words "Hotuxiang Station" written on it, which clearly illustrates its identity. The brick house should have been built in recent years, but because of the wind, sun and sand and dust, the house looks like an old building from the outside. Just like the residents who are struggling to survive on this land, there is no doubt that because of the relatively difficult living environment, the people here generally look older than the local ones.

After entering the brick house, there is a small living room with a wooden counter. The counter is separated by curtains made of three straw mats. In each individual compartment, there is a listless man sitting. They should be staff of this station. The floor of the hall is covered with broken bricks, which may be because of being trampled by people all year round. These broken bricks have been deeply embedded in the surface, silently telling people about their long journeys to unknown destinations.

Sun Chengli was also a little moved after seeing it. After living on the East Coast for many years, he knew that Patagonia has gained more and more favor from capital over the years, which has also led countless citizens and non-nationals to come here from all directions, go deep into the inland, break into the Gobi, and build an immortal project called "East Coast Dream".

After the entourage bought a carriage ticket for everyone to Baitao Township, Sun Chengli quietly sat on the wooden bench placed outside the door, waiting for the departure to stop there. This was the second shift of the day and the last shift. He would set off in two hours and follow a dry and bumpy second-class national highway to the inland area of ​​Hai'an County.

A carriage route map was painted with lime on the exterior wall of the station, and the approximate time to arrive at each station were given. These stations were small sparsely populated villages, and their only value was that they could supply water. After all, it was more than 200 kilometers from Houtu Township to Baitao Township, which was not a very short journey.

It is worth mentioning that this second-class national highway that arrived in Baitao Township from Houtu Township was also built under the leadership of Yang Mingyang and Cai Huaze. These two people were ambitious. Although the plan to build a railway in Patagonia suffered serious setbacks, the construction of a highway network composed of second-class and third-class national highways has begun to achieve results with their years of efforts. Even the non-main road of more than 200 kilometers from Houtu Township to Baitao Township was built with a large number of Indian slaves, black slaves, and non-national labor workers. From then on, the white clay, fruits, vegetables, and grain from the mainland of Hai'an County can be transported here relatively easily, and the daily necessities and seafood in Linhai area can also be transported to the inland via this national highway to support the uninterrupted conquest of the entire Taiwan region by the East Coast people.

"Forget it, the cold wind blows, and the bones are full of coldness. Let's go to the restaurant next door to sit." Sun Chengli sat on the bench outside the door for a while, then stood up and stomped his feet, and said helplessly: "By the way, warm two pots of rice wine and order two side dishes. After getting on the carriage, there may not be such food."

The restaurant is made of wooden texture, with a small storefront, but it is crowded with people, mostly rude fishermen or sailors. Of course, there are many merchants and guys like Sun Chengli. After all, in recent years, the economy in the North Patagonia area has become increasingly active. Ceramics, salt, fruits, seafood, sea skins, animal fat, and wool are exported in large quantities, attracting a lot of commercial and industrial capital to invest locally. Especially in recent years, the wool industry has become increasingly popular with the continuous growth of market demand. Patagonia, as the largest wool production area, the best conditions and the most produced wool production area in the east coast, has attracted countless merchants to come here to purchase, so it is not surprising to see merchants in these small seaside ports, taverns and restaurants.

The wine was soon served, and with it, there was a plate of beef, a plate of ostrich meat and some expensive vegetables. A man with messy hair looked like a Mediterranean race walked over. His clothes were worn and his face was a little pale. He asked in very poor Chinese: "Do you need to hire someone, sir? I am very strong, and I have served the King of Spain, fighting in the South Netherlands, Francis Conte and Lorraine. Inigo, do you know that I have fought with him, no victory or defeat, really, I almost killed him that time..."

The waiter brought a plate of roasted golden lamb again. Sun Chengli seemed to have not seen the man swallowing a mouthful of water, and then sighed comfortably and said, "What? Isn't the inland peaceful? Is the official army's suppression of bandits unfavorable, so that Indian bandits are rampant? Not so, aren't the Tverches no longer in the climate?"

"It's not the Tverches, but the Araucan people. They crossed the Andes and entered Patagonia!" The pale-faced man replied: "I wonder if you have ever been to Chile. The population there has been growing rapidly in recent years, so I have to ask the indigenous people for land. Isn't this a big fight? Many Araucan-speaking Indians were unable to stand in the local area and were forced to cross mountains and ridges to Patagonia to make a living. Therefore, the inland security situation has deteriorated in recent years. I once built a pass in the inland area and knew the situation there. As for the government army, their number is limited, and they care more about the north. I heard that the famous leader Guo Handong Guo has now shifted his focus to the Pampa Plain, so this is a forgotten place. If you want to go to the inland, it's better to hire some experts, which will not cost a lot of money."

Outside the house, the strong wind blew even harder, making the wooden doors of the restaurant whirlpool, and a rustling sound came from the paper-paste windows, which were fine sand wrapped in the strong wind. Sun Chengli handed over a cigarette, currently a national monopoly, and the price was very expensive to the man in front of him, and then ordered a portion of roast lamb for him. Then he said: "We were taking a bus, so it is not convenient to hire someone else. But if you are willing to tell me the situation in the mainland, I don't mind treating you to a roast lamb. You haven't eaten for a whole day, right? Waiter, come another bottle of wine, let's get the Xiangshan Dried Red..."

"What aspects do you want to know? I have worked in the inland area of ​​Hai'an County for three years and are quite clear about the situation in many inland areas." The man's eyes lit up when he heard this, leaned on the heavy subway sword on his hand on the table legs, and then sat down urgently and asked.

"Just talk about porcelain and wool, you should understand it." Sun Chengli asked casually while holding a piece of ostrich meat while chewing it hard.

"I really don't know much about porcelain, but I still know a lot about wool, because like me, many people from Naples are now herders in the inland." The man from Naples looked at the kitchen door with his light and said quickly: "If it were a herder in the inland of Patagonia five or six years ago, it would be a very hard work, because wool cannot be sold at a high price. But the market has completely changed in recent years.

, I heard that the Dutch bought woolen from the East Coast like crazy. In addition, more and more people in China like to wear woolen cloth, which suddenly made the wool market popular. Grazing sheep is no longer an unprofitable thing, so the number of herders in the inland areas has surged in recent years. After all, there are large areas of land in Patagonia to graz. There are no many diseases including hoof disease here, and it is indeed the most ideal sheep grazing land..."

"The key point is Italian." Sun Chengli took a sip of wine and said, "Which village can buy wool in large quantities from Baitao Township in Hai'an County to Jincheng Valley? It's too uneasy along the way?"

Speaking of which, although the Sun family currently has not many shares in the large syndicate company, Sun Chunyang South Goods Shop, it can still bring huge dividends to the family every year. The total amount has been quite large so far. The Sun family's leader, Masayoshi Son, was thinking about entering the more prosperous woolen industry. When Sun Chengli came to Patagonia this time, he also had the task of inquiring about the news, so he was particularly interested in what the Naples said.

"Many villages can buy wool. But if you need a large amount of land, you still have to go to Jincheng and Shangluo counties in the Jincheng Valley area. There are currently two counties with the largest wool production in the country. The output is larger than that of Huangyang, Xuefeng, Xingnan, Araucan and other counties in Southern Patagonia, accounting for almost half of the country." The Italians rushed to take roasted lamb and wine from Xiaoer's hand, and said while swallowing their saliva: "It's safe on the road, at least three years ago. At that time, the troops of Guo's troops had not yet been transferred to the north, so I don't know what they are now."
Chapter completed!