UGB #147 - Shocked experts
#147 - Shocked experts
When Li Jixiang first arrived in the border region, he felt a little overwhelmed.
Compared to Chongqing, it was like two different worlds. There were no tall buildings, no electric lights, no department stores, and no hotels.
If it weren't for the fact that almost everyone here was busy and had hopeful smiles on their faces, Li Jixiang would have been tempted to retreat.
But when he braced himself and followed Hu Zi and his group, who had come to meet them, to the place Ren Zhong had named the Dawn Research Institute, Li Jixiang was shocked.
"Comrade Li Hu, is this where our future Dawn Research Institute will be located?" Li Jixiang looked at the construction site where almost every hill was bustling with activity, and his scalp couldn't help but tingle.
"Yes, Professor Li. We've already dug out more than a hundred cave dwellings for us to live in. Boss Ren has equipped each cave dwelling with a coal-burning stove, making it very comfortable," Hu Zi proudly introduced.
"Look over there, that's our steel mill. The four blast furnaces are almost complete. Those blast furnaces are next to the mountain, and it's a little difficult to distinguish them if you don't look carefully. But look at the places next to them where iron ore and coal are piled up. Yes, those black piles are for smelting iron and steel. We haven't had time to build a shed on top to cover them yet, but after we build a thatched shed, you won't be able to see anything from the outside."
Li Jixiang took off his glasses and wiped them, staring intently at the four undulating protrusions on the mountain. There were indeed black things next to them, but they were a bit far away, and if he wasn't told what they were, he wouldn't be able to see them at all.
"Have you found coal and iron ore here?" Li Jixiang asked.
"Yes, there wasn't any originally, but Boss Ren said there was, and we found it very quickly. The iron ore is near here, but the coal is a bit further away and has to be transported from 60 miles away." Hu Zi had met Li Jixiang in Chongqing and knew what he was interested in.
"We built several such steel blast furnaces in the Taihang base area. Boss Ren said that the ones we're building here are the third generation blast furnaces, even more advanced! But that's nothing. Professor Li, you've come at just the right time. Our first hydropower station dam is completed. After we put down our luggage, let's go see if it can generate electricity today. If it does, everyone will have electric lights tonight."
"How could a hydropower station be built so quickly?" Li Jixiang was shocked again, feeling that this place was too magical. How much time had passed? Not only had they dug out so many cave dwellings in this remote wilderness, but they were also about to have electricity?
"Hehe, our hydro-generator was organized and provided by Boss Ren. As long as the dam is built and installed, it can generate electricity. This thing doesn't take much effort, it's just that building the dam takes time," Hu Zi said with a smile.
Following Ren Zhong is an eye-opener. Seeing that even a knowledgeable person like Professor Li is very surprised by us, Hu Zi felt as sweet as if he had eaten honey.
He knew how much hard work Ren Zhong had put in for these experts, traveling nearly ten thousand miles! Hu Zi had been with him the whole time.
"Let's go, let's go! I can't wait any longer!" Li Jixiang urged Hu Zi impatiently.
"Old Li, you're too impatient, aren't you? Don't forget your wife and children as soon as you hear about the hydropower station." Madam Li looked at the place where her family would soon be living, feeling a little lost.
But seeing Li Jixiang like this, she felt it was worth it. It seemed that this was really the place for Old Li to make a career.
Moreover, so many people were building, turning these barren mountains and wildlands into a home for living and working. That Boss Ren seemed to be a remarkable person indeed.
Madam Li was also a modern woman who had read books and was reasonable. She knew how important electricity was to a research institution. Electricity, which had not been popularized in the border region government, had appeared in this originally barren wilderness, which was indeed a miracle.
According to the rules set by Ren Zhong for the research institute, the Li Jixiang family of four was allocated three cave dwellings. One was to ensure a separate study specially prepared for Li Jixiang, one for the children, and one for living and sleeping. They were also equipped with a small kitchen.
Public toilets for men and women were built within 200 meters for centralized biogas treatment.
Li Jixiang saw dozens of people carrying stone rollers, constantly ramming them on a dirt dam that was more than ten meters wide.
"What, are you building a dirt dam?" Li Jixiang's worldview was refreshed again.
"Yes, there is a shortage of stones in this place. Boss Ren said that a dirt dam would also work, so we directly used dirt to build the dam and cut off the flow, then filled it with earth manually and rammed it manually." Hu Zi, who was following Ren Zhong, knew the situation very well and gave a simple introduction, "Now it's the finishing touches. You see, a lot of water has already been stored inside. Our hydro-generator is installed under the dam and can generate electricity when the floodgates are opened and the water rushes down to drive the hydro-generator."
"Isn't this nonsense? How can a dirt dam withstand long-term pressure?" Li Jixiang blurted out.
"Professor Li, you can't say that. Boss Ren has never made a mistake in doing things. Not to mention this small dirt dam, let's talk about the dirt blast furnaces over there. At first, we didn't believe that we could smelt iron and steel, but what happened? Hey, we used those dirt blast furnaces to smelt steel furnace by furnace and made a lot of guns, cannons, landmines, and grenades. To say nothing else, our Independent Regiment, with these weapons, is more powerful than the previous two main regiments!" Hu Zi was unhappy to hear this and immediately retorted.
"Our Boss Ren has people from overseas organizations providing technology, he's very powerful!"
Li Jixiang smiled wryly and followed the road to the dam. After a careful look, he found some differences.
The outer slope of the dam was particularly gentle, probably less than 30 degrees, like a mountain locking the Nangou River. Except for an open canal for generating electricity, nearly 5 meters of recessed space was left in the middle.
"Professor Li is here, you've had a hard journey!" Ren Zhong was directing on the dam. Seeing Li Jixiang, he hurried over to greet him.
"It wasn't hard, Boss Ren. I would like to ask, what will happen to this kind of dirt dam you built when the rainy season floods come?" Li Jixiang asked.
"It's okay, we designed a flood discharge mechanism. I asked the local villagers about this small river. The largest water flow in a year is only about 3 meters above the ditch, which is calculated to be less than 100 cubic meters per second. You see this 5-meter flood discharge channel in the middle of the dam. When the time comes, let the flood water overflow. We added some fired clay bricks to the part of the dam below the flood discharge channel, and the impact of river water erosion will not be great in the short term." Ren Zhong pointed to the place below the recess. Li Jixiang really found that there were other mechanisms. Clay bricks of about 40 centimeters were embedded in the yellow mud, which looked very strong.
"Boss Ren, your creativity is amazing. This simple design has completely utilized the local materials to the extreme," Li Jixiang sighed in admiration.
"Let's go, let me see your hydro-generator." Li Jixiang no longer doubted Ren Zhong and their dirt dam.
The second update, there really is a dirt dam power station, the illustration is the Maojia Village Dam, with 6.435 million cubic meters of earth filled, 1.1 million cubic meters of earth excavated, 93,000 cubic meters of concrete poured, and a total reservoir capacity of 553 million cubic meters.