Chapter 92

The successful coal production at Ping'an Fort Mine provided a strong boost to the development of the Huaxia East Coast Republic.

Starting from December 7th, the daily output of the Ping'an Fort Mine gradually increased, from a low of 140 tons to a peak of nearly 200 tons, and then stabilized at around 180 tons. This alone created a daily value of over 300 yuan, and in the future, it could save 1,500 to 2,000 yuan in coal import costs each month.

However, the mine's significant benefits and production capacity were now facing an embarrassing reality: the current coal transportation capacity was severely insufficient. The six river flat-bottomed boats numbered 331-336, which had been transferred to Ping'an Fort, had an average carrying capacity of only 11 to 12 tons each. Together, they could only transport 70 tons of coal at a time, which was far from matching the coal production.

Moreover, these six boats were not solely responsible for transporting supplies and coal between Ping'an Fort and the mine; they also handled transportation between Zhenhai Fort and Ping'an Fort. Only about half of them, or three boats, were allocated to transport coal between the mine and Ping'an Fort, which could transport about 35 tons of raw coal at a time.

The coal transportation issue was a major headache for Shao Shude, and this was also the reason he personally returned to Eastern Harbor to request funds from the Ministry of Finance to build more ships. However, the long-term solution was not immediate. Although the naval shipyard was currently building four 60-ton displacement river shallow-draft transport ships, the shipbuilders were heavily burdened, as the massive "August 10th" battleship on the slipway occupied almost all the manpower. Therefore, it would take at least three to four months for these four river shallow-draft transport ships to be completed. During this three to four-month gap, they would have to rely on the existing six small transport ships to manage.

To alleviate the transportation pressure and to prepare for the next steps, Ai Zha, who was currently guiding the coal mining, suggested to Shao Shude that a simple coal washing plant be built near the mine to select the coal. The low-calorific-value coal gangue could be used to make bricks or cement, while the remaining high-quality coal could be transported back for coking or as fuel. According to Ai Zha's estimation, the proportion of high-quality coal from the Ping'an Fort Mine was about 50%, and after washing, only about 90 tons of high-quality coal would need to be transported daily. Of course, the coal washing plant might not initially have the capacity to process such a large amount of raw coal, but that was actually better, given the current lack of manpower and transportation capacity. The unprocessed coal could be temporarily piled up.

The two of them wasted no time. The next day, Shao Shude led a group to the mine for an on-site inspection. Currently, there were 545 Tartar residents in the mining area, including about 249 young and middle-aged men. Of these, about 150 were directly involved in coal mining, producing about 180 tons of raw coal daily. The raw coal was piled up everywhere in the mining area. The three transport ships numbered 331-333, which were responsible for transportation, could only make two round trips per day, transporting about 70 tons of raw coal, leaving the rest to be temporarily stored outdoors.

"I think we can build a coal washing plant," Shao Shude finally said after a long inspection. "Ai Zha, you worked in a coal mine before. I remember that coal washing usually involves processes like crushing, screening, and sorting. We don't have the machinery for these processes, right? If we do it manually, will it be feasible, or will the efficiency be too low?"

Ai Zha scratched his head. He had only worked in a small coal mine for a while and was not an expert, so he said uncertainly, "Crushing large pieces of raw coal or coal gangue is easy. We can use a water-powered hammer, which is very efficient. After crushing, the raw coal can be screened with a mesh, and the fine coal can be sorted. This... this might require a sloping channel to sort the coal with water. I can't say exactly how it will work, but we'll figure it out when the time comes."

Shao Shude was speechless. But he realized there was no better idea at the moment. The穿越者 (穿越者 means "穿越者" in Chinese, but in this context, it refers to "the time travelers" or "the people from the future") lacked expertise, and he sighed, thinking that they could only take one step at a time. If all else failed, they could look into how the British did it, as their coal industry was highly developed and there were certainly aspects they could learn from. It wasn't shameful; after all, the time travelers were not omniscient, and they had already been imitating flintlock guns and warships, so this was no different.

In fact, the industrial department had not set overly high requirements for the mine. They hadn't even asked for the coal to be preliminarily washed, mainly because the coal from Ping'an Fort was primarily used as fuel.

After all, although the coal quality was not high, it was perfectly suitable for use as fuel. After the "Galicia Flying Fish" transported the first 200 tons of raw coal back, the brick kilns, cement kilns, and lime kilns under the East Coast Company no longer had to conserve coal. For the first time in three years, they began 24-hour continuous production. The coal consumption per ton of material decreased significantly, and the shortage of building materials was completely reversed, with even some surplus available for export to Brazil and the La Plata region to earn foreign exchange.

At the same time, wood drying kilns, carbonization kilns, and various canteens and bathhouses began to reduce the proportion of firewood and grass in their fuel, gradually increasing the use of coal. This helped free up manpower, as cutting wood and gathering grass also required labor. However, due to the current coal production, it was not yet possible to completely replace traditional fuels.

As the month entered mid-December, and with Shao Shude's insistence, the executive committee finally decided to build a coal washing plant near the Ping'an Fort Mine. Ai Zha, a former member of the exploration team, was appointed as the plant manager. The total investment in the plant exceeded 700 yuan, with most of it used to purchase six sets of water-powered hammers from the East Coast Company. Some of the workers for the plant would be sent from Ping'an Fort, while the rest would be Tartar women. The plant was designed to process 50 tons of raw coal daily.

The mine manager was appointed as Bai Shui from the Internal Affairs Department police, who was also the chief of the newly established mine police station. The security team of Ando Jūgo was incorporated into the police station. He was responsible for commanding the 249 miners, 20 police officers, one platoon of the army, and a few technical personnel. He had the authority to issue rewards, approve leave, manage security, handle prisoners, and suppress riots. Shao Shude's only requirement was to focus on production, and he would not interfere with other matters.

On the Kai River, which had been renamed "Coal River" due to coal transportation, a simple dock was nearing completion thanks to the efforts of the Chaluya construction team. The dock was equipped with several animal-powered cranes for loading and unloading goods, which, while not as efficient as human-powered pulleys, were still somewhat effective. Ando Jūgo, holding his katana, wearing a black Internal Affairs Department police uniform and leather military boots, walked proudly along the dock, inspecting the area. Behind him were two Japanese compatriots, also wearing police uniforms.

The basic infrastructure of the dock was almost complete, and the construction team had left only a few people to finish the remaining work. The majority were divided into two teams: one was building the sewage discharge pipeline for the coal washing plant, and the other was laying a simple track from the mine to the river dock. The coal washing process produced a large amount of coal slurry wastewater, which was initially settled in a sedimentation pond and then discharged directly into the Coal River. The coal slurry from the sedimentation pond could be used to make refractory bricks or honeycomb coal, thus maximizing the utilization of the coal.

The simple track from the coal field to the dock was laid to facilitate coal transportation. Following the example of British coal mines, the track was made of hardwood with an iron layer on top. Coal transport vehicles could travel back and forth on it, which was much more efficient than a simple hard road. Even better, the track was laid with a slight slope, taking advantage of the higher terrain near the Gerar Mountains. The vehicles were fully loaded going downhill and empty going uphill, saving a lot of effort.

The construction team had hired many Guarani workers from a nearby Guarani village. The relationship between the two sides was generally good, and the mine sometimes purchased supplies from the village. These Guarani workers were very cheap, and a small metal knife could hire them for 7 to 10 days, provided they were given three meals a day.

The construction team welcomed these cheap workers, and with their help, the construction progress was always ahead of schedule. However, the arrival of the Guarani workers was not without its drawbacks. During their stay, the construction team and the mine had lost many tools, such as shovels, hoes, and hammers. Even the washed high-quality coal was being stolen by Guarani people who came with bags, as they found it more effective for cooking and less dusty than wood. This theft initially started as individual acts but later developed into large-scale collective theft at night.

After consulting with Shao Shude at Ping'an Fort, Bai Shui decided to compromise with the Guarani people, supplying them with a small amount of high-quality coal daily in exchange for their stopping the theft and improving relations. As for the Guarani temporary workers who stole tools from the construction team and the mine, Bai Shui dispatched a detective team led by Deputy Police Chief Ai Wani to handle the matter.

Ando Jūgo and his team were part of this detective team. In the past two days, he had caught several Guarani people stealing tools at night, and there were even some minor conflicts. One of his Japanese compatriots almost killed a Guarani person with a knife, but both sides were relatively restrained and did not pursue the matter further.

Thus, despite the challenges, the mine continued to produce coal resiliently, contributing significantly to the construction of the Huaxia East Coast Republic.