With Clive in charge of the purchase of the ash, Owen could concentrate more on the matter at hand.The next day, he sent all the parts of the steam engine to the mining area and commissioned Geeta to assemble them.It was quite a struggle to transport such a bulky piece of iron to the mountain, enough to keep the guards busy for a while.Two days later, a big black guy was assembled right under the miners' noses.While the miners were privately discussing what the iron pimple was going to do, Owen came over with someone.Unexpectedly, the lord would come to such a broken place, and the miner leader was extremely surprised.Surprise is surprise, and he can only go over to greet him with nervousness.In front of the mine is a relatively open flat area, with several obvious traces of artificial excavation, which is used to stack ore mined from the mine.As soon as he arrived at the mining area, Owen could immediately smell a foul smell, which seemed to be mixed with the smell of sweat, rust, etc., in short, it was very unpleasant.But for the sake of the development of Frontier Town, he still forcibly endured it.But Marpel wasn't so kind.She frowned and said unhappily, "Lord Owen, you don't need to come to this kind of place yourself, the operation of that steam engine can be taught by others." ”"That's not going to work."
Owen shook his head, "I am the only one in the entire border town who is most familiar with the steam engine, and I can only rest assured that I will teach it personally." ”At this time, the head of the mine greeted him with a flattering smile and bowed to Owen: "Good afternoon, Lord Marquis, have you come to us for something?"
”"I've received a report that the steam engine is ready, now take me there."
Owen said."
Steam engines?
Oh!
I see, please come with me, Lord Marquis. ”It turned out that the big guy was called a steam engine, and it was the first time that the mine heard the name of the steam engine, and he almost didn't react.The group came to the mine, and the steam engine was placed on the edge of the cave, and the big black guy could be seen from afar.Noticing the arrival of the Marquis, the miners near the entrance of the cave stopped what they were doing and looked over to Owen.The miners need to know how the steam engine assists them in their work, and what to look out for.Owen then told the head of the mine to gather all the miners, and then ordered the knights to start the steam engine as required.It took some time to gather all the miners, and by the time all the miners were gathered, the water in the boiler of the steam engine was boiled.However, the large iron wheel of the steam engine was in a state of shutdown and did not turn.Because the steam produced by the boiler does not enter the cylinder, but is released through the exhaust valve.Standing next to the steam engine, Owen glanced at the Hundred Miners who were crowding around the entrance to the cave.They were all grizzled, most of them naked, and even if they were dressed, they were in tatters, and they exuded a thick smell of sweat, which suddenly made the place even more stinky.There were quite a few people, and the people standing in the back didn't seem to see the steam engine yet, so it seemed that it would take a few more demonstrations, Owen thought to himself.Clearing his throat, he exclaimed, "I know, you've been talking lately about what this machine is doing here.Now I tell you, this machine is called a steam engine, and it can help you pull the mined ore out of the mine, so that you don't have to have so many people to pull the basket again. ”This news immediately aroused heated discussions among all the miners present, who did not know that the most tiring job of mining is to drag the excavated ore out of the mine.The basket full of ore required at least four people to move, with two people pushing at the back and the rest pulling hard at the front."
My lord, are you telling the truth?"
A young miner raised his hand and asked aloud.As soon as he finished speaking, the head of the mine glared at the miner fiercely, as if to say that even you dare to question the lord."
Of course it's true."
Owen replied, "Raising his hand at the miner who had just asked the question, Owen motioned for him to come over."
Confirming that the lord was calling himself, the miner stepped forward with a winch.Owen pulled a rope with an iron hook from the winch and placed it in the miner's hand.Let him go into the mine and casually hook a basket full of ore, and let him know.There were several baskets full of ore in the cave that had not yet been dragged out, and the miner hooked one of them as requested, and then shouted at the mouth of the cave."
Hold on to the basket!"
Owen also reminded inside.Next, he went to the steam engine to operate the lever.A red and green cloth is tied to the top of the two tie rods, the red one is the linkage exhaust valve, and the green one is the intake valve.At this point, the green lever is in the front and the red lever is in the rear.Lift the green lever up and press down the red lever.Steam poured into the cylinder to push the piston, and the big iron wheel quickly turned, and the winch was turned, pulling the basket out.Due to years of mining, the tunnels in the mine have long been smoothed, so the process of pulling the basket is very smooth.The miners in the back held the basket and almost trotted up.As soon as the basket was pulled up, Owen immediately lifted the red lever and pressed down the green lever, and the steam engine stopped.Seeing this scene, the miners let out a burst of exclamation.It's amazing!
The miners in the back didn't make much effort, just hold the basket and don't let it overturn.The mine head on the side was even more stunned, and he didn't know what to say for a while.For now, let's do it for now, using a steam engine to assist in pulling the basket.Owen didn't think about laying tracks in the mine and adding minecarts, but the wooden tracks were easily crushed, and the rails were limited by the low iron production.When iron production comes up, let's improve the working conditions in the mines, he thought to himself.After the trip, Owen also asked the miner to express his gratitude.He scratched his head and said it was too fast to react.It caused a burst of laughter from the miners present.Adding more water to the boiler, Owen told the miners in front to step back and the miners in the back to squeeze forward.He's going to demonstrate it again.After the demonstration twice, Owen explained some precautions to the miners present.For example, when the steam engine is working, do not get too close to the exhaust valve, so as not to be scalded by the steam, etc.Eventually, Owen asked the mine boss to select a clever guy to train while the other miners continued to work.The head of the mine called a skinny young man in tattered clothes, and introduced him to Owen, "Lord Marquis, his name is Huck.Don't look at him thin, he's the smartest and hardest of our miners. ”"Hello Marquis."
Huck bowed a little stiffly.At first glance, Owen always felt that he seemed to be too young, so he casually asked, "How old are you this year?"
”"Fifteen."
The other party replied.Sure enough, at the age of fifteen, he was already doing heavy work in the traverse mines, although there was no age requirement for recruiting miners.Owen learned about child labor from Winster.While he agrees with this approach, in reality, he cannot order a ban on child labor.Because there are many families living in poverty not only in Bianshu Town, but also in other places, if people of the wrong age are not allowed to work, many families will not be able to eat, which will lead to various problems.So, Owen had to work hard to improve the standard of living of every family.After all, he also plans to implement education for all in Bianshu Town in the future, in addition to improving everyone's literacy rate, and also wants every child to be able to go to school.