Chapter 29

On March 8th, a merchant ship from Denmark docked at the port, becoming the second ship to arrive since the end of the war. This galleon carried not only over a hundred tons of various goods but also 179 immigrants from Holstein and Norway. The captain chose to purchase 20 sets of the famous 1631 full-body armor and 100 sabers from the Baltic region, so the穿越众 (time travelers) only needed to pay an additional 4,700 yuan for the cargo.

These immigrants would be settled in the newly established 3rd and 4th production teams of the Dingyuan Fort reclamation area.

All of this was just the beginning.

On March 25th, another old friend of the time travelers, Captain Svensson from Gothenburg, arrived with two large ships. This time, he brought 484 immigrants from Finland, Bohemia, and Livonia; over 100 tons of copper, lead, and pig iron; graphite, mercury, gunpowder, matches, and firearms; over 100 young livestock, seeds, fruit tree saplings, and some living supplies.

The wealthy Captain Svensson had recently struck it rich, so he chose to trade goods for goods. However, due to production limitations, there were only 100 sets of the 1631 full-body armor in stock. Unwilling to make a wasted trip, Captain Svensson set his sights on the 1632 command sabers and steel cannons, which were in high demand in Europe at the time.

To illustrate, let's talk about Sweden's restless neighbor—the rude Russians. The Russians had been striving to modernize their military, not only forming several new infantry and cavalry regiments modeled after Western Europe but also hiring many experienced foreign officers to train and command the Russian army.

While introducing advanced military talent and systems, the introduction of advanced military weapons was also essential. However, due to Russia's backward military industry and lack of high-quality iron ore, they began to purchase weapons from abroad on a large scale. Just last year, Russia purchased 19,000 muskets and 5,000 sabers from Western European countries.

Moreover, the ambitious Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich was determined to reclaim Smolensk, which had been occupied by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. For this, he was willing to expand and prepare his military at any cost. As a result, Russia became a major market for weapons exports, alongside the warring parties of the Thirty Years' War. Swedish merchants, being close to Russia, naturally had the advantage.

Of course, as a competent merchant, Captain Svensson felt no guilt about selling advanced weapons to Russia, Sweden's traditional enemy. He cared only about profit.

Russia had a great demand for high-quality sabers, with an estimated shortage of over 15,000 for both infantry and cavalry. The 1632 command saber, 102 cm long, was forged from high-quality steel using hydraulic machinery. The straight blade with a slight curve was both sharp and resilient, combining practicality and artistic value, far surpassing sabers made in Western Europe. The factory set the sales price at 2.5 yuan per saber, and Captain Svensson immediately ordered 800, almost depleting the time travelers' stock.

Additionally, the time travelers' steel cannons, made from high-quality steel and using a unique barrel self-tightening technique, could withstand high chamber pressure. Therefore, the foundry workshop made the barrels longer, resulting in a longer range, greater power, and a longer lifespan, typically over 5,000 shots. Moreover, the entire cannon weighed only half as much as a cast-iron cannon of the same caliber and was lighter than a bronze cannon. Except for slower cooling compared to bronze cannons, it was almost a perfect, revolutionary cannon.

The committee was still hesitant about selling large-caliber cannons, but there were no issues with 12-pound or smaller land-use light cannons. Currently, the foundry workshop had 22 4-pound cannons, 10 6-pound cannons, and 18 8-pound cannons in stock, which could be sold to the Swedes. The sales price for a 4-pound cannon was 10 yuan, a 6-pound cannon was 18 yuan, and an 8-pound cannon was 35 yuan.

Captain Svensson did not haggle and bought everything. The total price for 100 sets of full-body armor, 800 sabers, and 50 light cannons was 9,030 yuan. After deducting the cargo payment, the time travelers paid an additional 5,850 yuan to Captain Svensson.

By the end of March, the time travelers had completed three arms deals, selling 220 sets of 1631 full-body armor, 1,150 1632 command sabers, and 50 cannons of various sizes, with a total sales amount of 17,105 yuan, of which over 60% was profit.

The arms business was indeed highly profitable! Recognizing this, the committee knew what to do.

The Thirty Years' War was raging, Russia was sharpening its knives against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Dutch and Portuguese were fiercely competing in the Amazon River...

Each of these wars was a treasure trove in the eyes of the committee. With their high-quality weapons, even if they couldn't monopolize the market, they could still capture a significant share. This was crucial for the time travelers' base, which was in the process of revival.

Despite having nearly 180,000 yuan in cash, the committee knew the costs of running the base were significant. For example, the army, with 236 personnel, required over 300 yuan in monthly salaries.

This didn't include training costs, which were even more substantial. With each soldier training three times a week, using five live rounds each time, a soldier would consume about 500 grams of gunpowder, 160 grams of matches, and 40 kilograms of lead bullets per week. At import prices, these materials cost about 2 to 3 jiao, totaling about 60 yuan for 236 soldiers. This was during peacetime; during wartime, the consumption would be much higher. The naval coastal artillery, with 32 large cannons, was even more of a money pit, costing over 100 yuan per week for training.

In total, the monthly maintenance cost for the army and navy in peacetime was about 1,250 to 1,300 yuan, a staggering amount. Additionally, the committee had to pay wages and subsidies to free citizens, resulting in a monthly expenditure of over 1,600 yuan. Given the high demand for various living and production materials and the increasing frequency of transactions and immigration, this amount would not last long. Although the warehouse still had over 600 sets of valuable porcelain, these were non-renewable resources from the old timeline. Relying on selling porcelain was like living off a dwindling resource.

Therefore, the committee was eager to find new sources of income. The arms business was a long-term solution. With the time travelers' steel smelting technology, which was one to two centuries ahead of the time, and advanced cannon manufacturing techniques, they could produce and profit from the resources of this era.

They had to expand! This was the unanimous decision of the committee.

Thus, the committee organized a thorough investigation of the foundry workshop. The foundry workshop, after several rounds of personnel additions, now had over 30 craftsmen, 40 skilled apprentices, and 60 new apprentices. The invention of water-cooling for casting cannon barrels had significantly increased production speed and yield. In fact, the workshop's capacity was far from fully utilized, with the only bottleneck being the supply of steel.

The situation in the armor and cold weapons manufacturing workshop (formerly the weapons factory) was similar. The adoption of hydraulic machinery and hydraulic hammers had greatly improved production efficiency. However, the lack of steel supply was preventing the full utilization of its capacity.

After thorough investigation, the focus turned to the steel mill.

The head of the steel mill and industrial committee member, Ma Jia, was also helpless. Ma Jia explained that the current method of smelting steel using graphite crucibles, even with large crucibles, could only produce about 1 to 2 tons of steel per batch, which was only enough for one 24-pound ship cannon.

"To increase production, sure! Either build more smelting furnaces and more crucibles, or upgrade the existing furnaces to open-hearth furnaces for steel production!" Ma Jia suggested, "This project is technically feasible, and I have a clear understanding of the technical details. I've been thinking about it for a long time. What do you think, everyone?"

However, the committee was still hesitant about the open-hearth furnace project, with the main obstacle being the lack of coal.

Currently, the raw materials for steel production were all brought from the old timeline, including over 1,000 tons of scrap steel and 5,000 tons of coal. While the small-scale crucible smelting had not been a significant issue, with a high coal consumption per ton of steel but a small scale, the total coal consumption for steel production so far had not exceeded 200 tons. However, if the open-hearth furnace project were to be implemented, the scale would increase, and the current coal reserves would not last long.

Moreover, coal was used in many other areas, such as kilns, cement kilns, lime kilns, wood drying kilns, and wood distillation kilns. With the current acceleration of immigration, various building materials were in short supply, and the committee was planning to build two more kilns and a cement kiln to alleviate the shortage, which would further increase coal consumption.

In the year and a half since the time travel, nearly 1,000 tons of coal had already been consumed, and the consumption rate would only increase in the future. The remaining 4,000 tons of coal might not last long.

After much discussion, a compromise was reached: to build another smelting furnace capable of holding 20 crucibles to increase steel production, while the open-hearth furnace project would be put on hold. At the same time, the coal issue was given strategic importance by the committee.

PS: Thanks to Brother Lin Enhai for the tip.