Thorium element is radioactive, but thorium element in nature generally exists in oxidized form, and the alpha particles it radiates are very weakly penetrating, and can usually be isolated by just a layer of cloth.
Therefore, as long as it is not inhaled or ingested and enters the human body, it will not cause any serious harm.
What Luo Yong and the others are looking for this time is thorium oxide.
Thorium oxide has a special property, which is that it can excite white light at high temperatures and can be used to make biogas lamps or light lampshades.
The intensity of light it emits is approximately equivalent to the brightness of a forty to sixty-watt incandescent lamp.
In today's era, it is not easy to develop natural gas, but biogas is easy to obtain.
As long as you build a biogas digester and hang up biogas lamps, the lighting problem will be solved.
These days, the most common lighting method is torches, oil lamps and candles.
Ordinary people are reluctant to use oil lamps, and only the rich can afford candles.
Not to mention the lighting effect, Luo Yong has lived in this era for so many years, and he is really fed up with the dim lights the size of soybeans.
Nowadays, cement is relatively popular in the Tang Dynasty.
I heard that many cement workshops have been built in Henan, Hebei and other places in the south of the Yangtze River in recent years.
Once cement is available, biogas pools can be built.
Now it will be easier to make biogas lamps and promote them.
This is a good thing that benefits the country and the people, does not involve any political sensitivity, and can also bring in money.
However, the search for thorium oxide and the production of biogas lamps are not easy tasks.
They may require a lot of time, energy, financial and material resources.
For the purpose of this biogas lamp, Luo Yong finally asked his two disciples, as well as two Changle Academy students, and also hired fifteen young men who were strong and seemed to be smart, making a total of nineteen people in the group.
A team was formed.
This team will first go to Yiwu and try to find thorium oxide in Yiwu's coal mining area.
Because thorium element often appears around some coal mines, there is a higher chance of being found there.
They expect to stay in Yiwu for a year.
If there is no progress after one year, they may have to make other plans by then.
Luo Yong knew that the place with the largest reserves of thorium was Baiyun Obo, but that place was too far away from their current location, and it still belonged to the grassland people.
Luo Yong and the others had no business or accumulation in that area.
If they went there rashly, they would More dangerous.
This time, the team was led by two of Luo Yong's disciples, Feng Zhi and Huang Youtian.
They were both steady personalities and had always been reliable in their work.
In terms of research and development, the two of them do not have any outstanding talents.
They are mainly responsible for leading the team, maintaining communication with Changle County, supplying materials, etc.
The two students from Changle Academy are really responsible for research and development.
The two students were respectively from the Zheng family in Xingyang and the Gu family in Jiangnan, let alone the Zheng family in Xingyang.
Although Luo Yong's friendship with them was not very deep, the two sides were generally friendly.
Two years ago, when people from various major families arranged for their children to come to Changle County, the young man arranged by their family was quite outstanding.
His name was Zheng Yu.
He had a good character, a clear mind, and was able to endure hardships.
Luo Yong this time He was selected, on the one hand, because of his personal character and talent, and on the other hand, because of his family connections.
Another Changle Academy student in this team is named Gu Yunshan.
He is from the Gu family in Jiangnan.
He is not bad either.
Luo Yong heard Qiao Junlin praise Gu Yunshan several times before, saying that he was very perseverant and that no matter what he studied, he had to learn it thoroughly and understand it.
It was a pity that he was born in a side branch and was born in Xuxian, and he was a bit dull.
He didn't have that The free and easy temperament of aristocratic people is not very valued in the family.
Aunt Luo has developed in Jiangnan in recent years, and Luo Yong also wanted to manage the relationship between their Luo family and the Gu family in Jiangnan, so he approached Gu Yunshan this time.
As for whether he is valued in the Gu family, there is no absolute in this matter.
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He is not valued at the moment, but when he becomes valuable in the future, he will naturally be valued.
There were nineteen people in their group, plus property, equipment, and gifts prepared by Luo Yong for several old acquaintances in Illinois, and they hired a total of five wooden carriages.
On a crisp autumn morning, Luo Yong sent them all the way to the wooden carriage, and told them to put safety first when going out.
If they encountered any problems, they could also go look for Governor Na Yiwu and make timely arrangements.
When a person comes back, he will be informed.
A few strong horses pulled these ordinary-looking carriages along the wooden track on the deserted beach, heading north, and soon disappeared into the vast Gobi desert.
At Luo Yong, people started to build biogas digesters at this time.
The production of biogas was very slow in winter.
They built the biogas digesters at this time.
After a winter of hoarding and fermentation, by the beginning of next spring, there will definitely be Once biogas is available, even if there are no biogas lamps, it can at least be used to boil water for cooking.
Maybe Feng Zhi, Huang Youtian and others are lucky enough to find thorium oxide soon and successfully make a mesh cover for a biogas lamp.
They will be able to light up biogas lamps next spring.
Who can say for sure?
.
Time passes day by day, and by the eleventh month of the lunar calendar, it will be very cold here in Changle County, and it is time for every household to light the fire bed.
Changle County is very lively, even more lively than in autumn.
There are many people driving their flocks of sheep back and forth in and outside the city.
It is said that the price of mutton is high in Changle County, and Luo Erniang’s cashmere workshop can harvest a lot of cashmere in one winter.
The price of cashmere here is very stable, so after the winter this year, they drove their sheep to Changle County.
There are more herdsmen coming to sell in Le County than last year.
In addition to the herdsmen who came to sell sheep, there were also many merchants coming and going, mainly from Yiwu and Gaochang.
Some came to buy needles, and some came to buy Baidianhua seeds.
Since the wooden track was installed, it has been very convenient for people from both sides to come to the Changle area of Dunhuang.
There is little precipitation here and there is not much snow in winter.
Even if the weather is colder, it will not hinder the traffic on the wooden track. .
That afternoon, Luo Yong was discussing with his second wife, Peng Er, and the others some newly woven face towel patterns.
Someone suddenly came over from the Yamen and said that it was Huang Youtian who had just returned from Yiwu.
The person is in the county government office.
After hearing this, Luo Yong quickly put down the towel in his hand, put on his hat and cloak, and went back to the county government office.
"How is it?
Are there any progress on your side?"
Luo Yong asked Huang Youtian as soon as he saw him.
"There hasn't been any progress yet."
Huang Youtian was sitting on the kang to warm his feet.
When he saw Luo Yao, he wanted to get off the kang to salute his master, but Luo pushed him back with a gesture and smiled.
Laughing, still sitting on the kang, he replied: "Bai Qi and the others have picked up a lot of ores from the mining area, and I don't know which one they are.
Zheng Langjun and the others are experimenting."
Luo Yong nodded, he also knew that this matter was not that easy.
Because of the frequent business contacts between Yiwu and Chang Le, Huang Youtian and the others had asked someone to bring letters back, mainly to report that they were safe.
As for the development progress of the biogas lamp grille, they did not mention much in the letters.
At this time, the master and apprentice said a few more words, and Luo Yong asked Huang Youtian: "Is the money and silk still enough?"
"It's not really of any use, it's just for food and clothing."
Huang Youtian replied.
Bai Qi and the others went to the mining area to pick up stones.
They heard that Luo Yong arranged for them to go there.
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The owner of the coal mine didn't stop them at all.
Not only did he not want their money, but he also invited people there for good food and drinks every now and then.
Treat them to a meal, and use various methods to get information from Bai Qi and the others.
After learning that Bai Qi and the others were looking for an ore called thorium oxide, the coal mine owners were eager for them to find it quickly.
Then they, the coal mine owners, would not only be able to sell coal, but also sell thorium oxide to make money.
"Nowadays, several coal-producing mining areas near Yiwu City often send people to deliver ore.
Bai Qi and the others mainly go to mining areas farther away to search."
Huang Youtian said.
"I accepted the favor from those mine owners."
Luo Yong said with a smile.
"Some people also asked us if we should buy coal."
Huang Youtian added: "The price offered is slightly lower than what we previously purchased from other companies.
However, we have cooperated with the previous mine owner for many years, and the quality of the coal supplied to us by the other party has always been very good.
Now if we change the supplier because of this small price difference, There is actually something wrong with the business name.”
"There is no need to replace the original one.
If the price they offer is suitable and the quality of the coal is good, you can just buy it.
In the past two days, I will have someone build a shed on the deserted beach behind the city, specifically for Put the charcoal."
Luo Yong lifted the teapot on the Kang table and poured some hot tea for himself and some for Huang Youtian.
A while ago, they didn't eat meat here.
But in the blink of an eye, it's the season of eating meat until they feel like vomiting.
It's true that they will die from drought when there is a drought, and they will die from waterlogging when there is a flood.
Fortunately, they are in time before winter comes.
Sold all the canned meat I made last winter.
Earlier, when the tea merchants from Lishi were transporting tea, they also helped Luo Yong bring a lot of eucommia gum from the Central Plains.
At this time, Changle County began to collect mutton for canning again, and the scale was even greater than last year.
In addition to the farmers in Changle County who had no winter leisure, they also collected many people from Jinchang who came to Changle County to find work.
Dunhuang people.
"Why should we stock up on coal?
Master is worried about the price increase of coal?"
Huang Youtian asked.
"Exactly."
Luo Yong nodded.
If the price of it increased, what would Luo Yong do with it?
"There are a lot of charcoal even in Hedong."
Huang Youtian doesn't think the price of charcoal will rise: "Except for some pottery and iron casting workshops, ordinary people don't use it."
Common people think it is more expensive than firewood and not cost-effective.
Rich people think it smells bad and don't like to use it.
There are so many fine charcoal and bamboo charcoals.
I heard that some good charcoal and bamboo charcoal still have a fragrance when burned.
Why bother to use them?
That choking, unpleasant-smelling coal.
"When Hengzhi and his friends finish the work, the price of the charcoal may rise."
Luo Yong said with a smile: "It's winter right now, and there are relatively few vehicles on the wooden tracks.
It's a good time to stock up on some charcoal.
Anyway, it's very durable."
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"Here."
Since Luo Yong said so, Huang Youtian agreed.
Taking advantage of the lack of cars in winter, there would be no harm in stocking up on more charcoal.
As for what Hengzhi and the others were working on, Huang Youtian also knew about it.
He said that he was going to make a machine for the needle workshop that could draw and cut iron blocks without manpower and rely on its own strength.
Huang Youtian didn't read much, but he always knew that no matter how exquisitely crafted the devices were, they still had to have something to rely on, whether it was manpower, water power, or wind power, there was no such thing as power.
How can a place run out of thin air?
Moreover, it is also a task in a needlework workshop that requires a lot of effort to complete.
Huang Youtian could not imagine that there could be such a thing in this world.
But what his master said, Hengzhi also followed the devil this time.
After he came back from building the bridge, he plunged into it.
He didn't know if they could really make such a shocking thing in the end. gd1806102: