Hangcheng County, Qiantang Valley.
Amid the stench, Li Zhen covered his mouth and nose with a veil and rummaged around with a poker in his hand.
"What are you going to build?"
Next to him, Qi Lengzi was on vacation today, and he also came out to pick up rags with Li Zhen, carrying a bamboo basket on his back.
Qi Lengzi resisted at first, but after discovering that he could earn more by picking up rags than being an official, he followed Li Zhen into the sea to pan for gold without hesitation. It's a little dirty, a little bitter, a little tired, and I get a lot of looks from others, but I earn more, which is a real benefit.
"CNC machine."
Li Zhen picked up a glass bottle, poured out the unknown yellow liquid inside, and threw it into the basket behind him.
Qi Lengzi was confused: "What is a CNC machine tool?"
"It is a processing instrument that uses power supply, motor, cutter, ruler... to process metal parts. Of course, it can only be called a machine tool. If it is CNC, it needs to install a digital program, but there is no way to do it now The software is used to program digital programs. So to put it bluntly, it can only be called a manual machine tool."
Li Zhen actually thought about this issue very carefully during this period. It seems that a steam engine can be built without machine tools. However, after careful consideration, he still felt that he should build the machine tool first and leave the steam engine for later.
There is no other reason. Because even if the steam engine succeeds, it may be a great invention, but it will never become a mature technology. It will take an extremely long wait to enter the market. And if the steam engine cannot enter the market, Li Zhen will not be able to withdraw funds. Who will buy it? Only after the steam engine technology is extremely mature will it play a huge role and benefit, and this will take too long.
Lathes are different. Jiuzhou has already begun to have an industry, and the processing of steel parts is a very profitable aspect. Li Zhen can guarantee that once his machine tool comes out, he will definitely make a fortune. And he needs the money.
Qi Lengzi opened his mouth and put two old rubber tubes into his back: "I don't understand. What are they for?"
"Machined parts. Screws, nuts, special size castings, even seamless steel pipe."
"What's the use of that?"
"... It doesn't make sense to you."
"How much does it cost?"
Li Zhen straightened up his extremely sore waist, wiped his sweat, and said with a smile, "It's about 10,000 coins guaranteed. I calculated the cost some time ago. If the one-time attempt is successful, it will cost 10,000 coins. But There has never been a machine tool in Kyushu. Without a reference model, we can only rely on imagination. I estimate that trial and error will have to be carried out. The cost of trial and error will be very high, and there is no limit."
"You are going crazy!"
Qi Lengzi was a little anxious: "With so much money, what can't you do? Why do you want to make a useless thing?"
"It's useless?"
Li Zhen smiled and didn't answer.
"Is it useful?"
"Don't you know there is a patent in this world? If I build a machine tool and apply for a patent, countless businessmen will invest in me and mass-produce machine tools. Isn't it useless?"
Qi Lengzi laughed loudly: "Are you crazy? Who would buy that kind of thing? Screws, don't they have the same function as rivets? Rivets are so cheap, who would buy screws? And steel castings are sold in big factories. A batch of iron can be directly cast into a mold and formed into one shape. Who needs you to process it?"
"You do not understand."
"Okay, okay, I don't understand."
Li Zhen shrugged and couldn't explain it to him. Ten thousand years ago, before the advent of machine tools, no one probably understood it, right? After the advent of machine tools, who can still live without them? No one in modern times understands ten thousand years ago better than Li Zhen.
After thinking about it, Li Zhen said again: "That..."
"I'm not going to lend you money. No way."
"Forehead… "
Li Zhen touched his nose, feeling a little embarrassed. Why does this thief have a bright idea now
Qi Lengzi suddenly remembered something: "By the way, you still owe me more than four thousand fucking coins. When will you pay me back? I have protected you for so many days, and I agreed to five hundred coins a day, and I also helped you You killed so many people. I don’t care about your medical bills, how long will you owe them?"
Li Zhen looked at him innocently and said with a pout, "You can't get four thousand coins out of me even if you kill me. I'll definitely give it to you if I have it."
"Humph, don't think I don't know. The salary the public high school gives you is eight hundred coins a month, and you can earn more than a thousand coins a month by picking up rags. Your current savings are at least four thousand coins."
Li Zhen was shocked, how did he know
"Nothing."
"Tch. If you have it, return it to me immediately."
"The sun is nice today."
“…”
The two continued to look for scraps.
There are still many competitors in Qiantang Valley, and many people are picking up scraps here. After all, this is the only garbage station in the entire Hangcheng County. All the garbage in the city is dumped here, and underneath the rancid odor is gold.
"Oh, isn't this a top student? Why, he didn't go to college and he came back to compete with us for business?"
A young man came over with a large group of people.
Li Zhen rolled his eyes, backed away silently, and pushed Qi Lengzi forward: "This is my boss, if you have anything to say to him."
Everyone felt a little scared when they saw Qi Lengzi's fat and strong figure. They had fought a lot during this period, and this strong man had left a deep impression on them several times.
The young man looked at Qi Lengzi, a little scared, and yelled with an inward look: "Are you a bit too bullying? Everyone is suffering, so stop using violence to solve problems. Conquer people with virtue. You You have gone to school, Li Zhen, you must want to be a person of substance, right?"
Li Zhen flattened a tin can and put it into his backpack, and said nonchalantly: "I majored in mathematics, physics and chemistry. I didn't learn many important principles and didn't have much meaning."
"You... you can't be so overbearing anyway. How about this, let's divide the areas?"
Qi Lengzi's eyes were as wide as copper bells, and he said angrily: "That's okay, divide the entire Qiantang Valley between us two brothers."
"You, you bully others. If you do this, I will report you to the official."
Qi Lengzi laughed loudly and pulled open the tattered 'work clothes', revealing the bright red official robe inside: "I am an official."
"you!"
"It's not good for you to be like this. We are all pointing to this way of survival. We suffer a little loss, can we let the Southeast District belong to you? You only operate in the Southeast District."
Qi Lengzi looked back at Li Zhen: "What do you think?"
Li Zhen shrugged: "That's fine. I'm tired from fighting every two days for three days."
"Well, the Southeast District belongs to us, and you can take care of other places by yourself. You are not allowed to enter the Southeast District to look for scraps, and we will not leave the Southeast District."
"Once a word is spoken, it's hard to follow it!"
"I naturally keep my words."
“…”
After the two of them had collected enough bamboo baskets, they took them to the scrapyard and sold them. Li Zhen sold them for ten coins and Qi Lengzi sold them for twelve coins.
But Qi Lengzi counted six coins out of twelve and gave them to Li Zhen, and said, "Here, you owe me six coins again."
Li Zhen accepted it with a smile. He felt a little warm in his heart when he saw Qi Lengzi taking out a small book to write down the accounts and writing a six after the money he owed him. But he curled his lips and said: "Small tripe chicken intestines, 6 coins still need to be remembered."
"If I don't take care of it, you will be in trouble tomorrow. When I first started collecting waste, I gave you half of it every day, but you forgot the next day and said no, no, I can't remember. I If you’re not stupid, if you don’t keep accounts, you’re going to empty my pocket.”
"Stupid, are you going to get paid?"
"What are you doing!"
Qi Lengzi looked at Li Zhen warily: "Just give you half of my income from scrapping every day. Don't push yourself too hard."
"It's easy to talk about. Anyway, I will definitely be very rich in the future. Once I develop the machine tool, I will definitely be able to pay you back all the money. What are you afraid of? Are you afraid that I will run away?"
"Let's wait until you have that day."
Qi Lengzi said sadly.
The sun was rising high, it was twelve o'clock at noon. The two of them had been busy for a long time and parted ways, planning to go back and take a nap to continue working in the afternoon.
Li Zhen had just taken a few steps when Qi Lengzi suddenly shouted: "Hey."
"What are you doing? Do you want to treat me to dinner?"
"My salary was paid last night. You can go back and wash up and come to the Yamen to see me."
"Oh, that's a good feeling." Li Zhen hurriedly ran back.
Qi Lengzi muttered angrily, took out his small book and wrote down something at the back - "350"
Li Zhen knew it and deliberately pretended not to care.
If there is anyone in this world who vaguely knows Li Zhen's dream, it would only be the female boss of the scrap yard and Qi Lengzi.
Qi Lengzi never said anything to support him. I somehow believe he can succeed. Maybe it's because Li Zhen's aura is so strong, and that kind of strong dream can really affect the people around him...
At this time, more than a hundred riders with haggard but ecstatic faces rushed into Hangcheng County.
As soon as the leader entered the city, he shouted loudly:
"Passed the exam!"
(End of chapter)