Herald of Steel



The briquette-making plant was situated close to the shoreline, on a cliff overlooking the sea.

This particular location was chosen because it was relatively close to the open-air coal pit, and so transportation of the staff, soft rock was pretty easy.

"Welcome, my lord. I greet you well," Takfiz bowed as Alexander approached him on horseback.

And after the initial general talk, Alexander got to know about the plant.

"We have started making the briquettes since yesterday my lord," Takfiz gave him the most important part of the news first as he led the lord inside.

There the very first thing that Alexnder saw were coals being laid down on large, flat terraces which were being run over by heavy rollers pulled by horses and crushing the soft rock.

Because the milling machines were expensive and location-dependent, Alexander had decided to use this simple method of grinding the coal, a method possible because of the relative softness of the material as compared to iron ores and clinkers.

"Once the coal is crushed, we take them there," Takfiz then took Alexander to another part of the facility.

Here the powdered coals were being mixed with clay that had been sieved and cleaned by other another group of women in a 3:1 ratio, and then liberally drizzled with water, producing a wet, clay-like consistency.

This by itself was basically the briquette, without the appropriate shape.

To do that, this 'coal clay' would be put in wheelbarrows and transported to the real production center of the plant.

Takfiz led Alexander here, where over the huge, expansive space, he spotted over a thousand mostly women workers, laboring away to make his coal briquettes.

These women were seen working in teams of two, each with their designated task.

One would take some 'coal clay' from the large heap deposited to her from the wheelbarrow and place them into an iron cast mold Alexander had ordered made.

The mold was just a hollow cylinder with both of its sides open and the women were seen filling up the mold with the appropriate amount of coal powder, placing a solid metal plate over the tip as a lid, and then using repeated hammer blows to compact the powder into a solid shape, letting the lid sink as much it could to get the most solid product.

This lid would then be taken off, and a second cast iron lid, this one with 12 spikes, each 1cm thick protruding out of it would be placed over the hollow mold, before again hammering the lid in as much as it would go.

The hammering actions would be done by the second woman of the pair, and once she felt the coal was compact enough, the hollow mold would simply slip off the briquette, producing a 20cm diameter and 30 cm high cylindrical fuel source, weighing around 5kgs with twelve holes in them.

These briquettes would then be stacked in a pyramid and left to sun dry for about a week to remove the excess moisture after which they would be ready to be fired, being able to burn for three to four hours.

This relatively long time period was due to the holes in them, which were quite important to the functioning and particularly the efficiency of the briquettes.

This was because these holes increased the surface areas of the briquettes and allowed oxygen to come into contact with more of the fuel, letting it burn higher and faster.

So if there were no holes, if the briquette was just one solid block, then they would only burn on the outer surface, while many of the volatile materials in the inner surfaces would not be able to combust due to insufficient oxygen and decompose into inert waste products- like ash and soot, reducing efficiency and thermal output.

And that was why the holes were added, and that was why these types of briquettes were called beehive briquettes.

Because the holes made the briquettes look kinda like a beehive.

Alexander observed this almost robotic process being repeated all over the huge facility, as he reminisced how he got to learn this knowledge.

He had learned of this product and how it was produced when was working in a steel mill.

There huge amount of coal would be used to turn iron ore into pig iron.

And in the process of using so much coal, naturally, some coal would be leftover and even be wasted as the soft coal on the lower part of the heap got crushed into powder by the weight of the upper portion.

These excess coals would be collected by the day laborers working there, who would mix them with various other fillers such as sawdust, mill scale, mud, flour, etc. and then bind them using water to produce a briquette.

Which then they would burn in a special stove called the beehive stove to prepare their food.

The reason the workers needed to use coal briquettes or if that was not available firewood to cook their food was because the steel mill was way out of the urban city and had no gas supply lines.

So, for these people, who lived close to the minimum wage, being able to save on their firewood prices was a significant boon.

'A penny saved is a penny earned,' was a saying these poor men learned the hard every day all year long.

And it was observing these workers making the coal briquettes in their free time that Alexander learned the technique.

After finishing his reminiscence, Alexander finally bought himself back as he refocused in eyes on the work being done in front of him and mentally counted that it took around 30-40 seconds to create one briquette.

So, with a working day of 10 hours, and generously assuming that 2 hours were wasted in miscellaneous activities like eating, relieving oneself, a little resting, etc, still just one pair could produce close to a 1,000 briquettes a day, or use around 3.5 tons of coal and 1.5 tons of dirt.

Alexander planned to transform all the coal exacted into briquettes before using them in his industry or making salt.

So, to convert 2,000 tons of coal, he would need around 600 pairs or 1200 workers.

And add another 800 responsible for all the other stuff, like transporting all the coal from the mines to here, crushing the coal, sieving the dirt, creating the mixture, etc, it gave Alexander a total workforce of around 2,000 people.

A number confirmed by Takfiz when Alexander asked, "How many people have we got?"

And then asked about the wages, "So, how much are we paying them?"

"It varies depending on the jobs. The cart drivers are all male and get 5 ropals a day. So does the roller workers who crush the coal." Takfiz readily answered,

"The women sieving the dirt get 2. The one's mixing and delivering the coal slurry 3, and the two workings the mold 4 ropal, my lord." Then he finished.

"..." Alexander silently noted that the women were paid a ropal a day less regardless of their type of the job.

Which was the norm of this time, and a practice that arguably even persisted in his own modern time.

So, he did not childe Takfiz for this.

He figured that the old man might even harbor the impression that just a 1 ropal wage difference per day was being very generous.

And Alexander was right in thinking this because usually women were paid 2-3 ropals less a day, sometimes even more if the owner was particularly cutthroat.

And that was considering if they were allowed to work at all.

In many cities and provinces, women were not even allowed to have jobs.

Sure they could buy and sell stuff, like by pushing vegetable or fish carts, but usually those produce would belong to, or had been caught by her husband or sons, or other some next of kin.

For a regular woman, there was really only one way to earn money all by herself.

And that was working the oldest profession in the world.

"Hmmm, increase all the women's pay by 1 ropal. Let them know I'm aware of the plight the womenfolk especially have suffered during the drought and that I'm a generous lord," Alexander instructed Takfiz.

This was done both for a PR stunt and also because Alexander believed that the same work should deserve the same pay, regardless of one's gender.

He did not strictly believe in the motto 'Women should get as much as men.'

But believed that 'All workers should get as much as they deserve.'

And seeing the women do the bulk of the work, a 1 ropal price increase was the least they deserved.

There was also the third consideration that letting these women get off their feet will help them improve their living standards and they will be able to contribute more to the economy.

After all, living off just 2 ropals a day was very hard.

One might be barely able to just subsist on just bread and some boiled and salted vegetables with that amount of money.

"Yes, my lord. I'm sure the women will be forever grateful for your generosity," Takfiz readily complied.

Since it was an order from his lord he had no reason who ask for anything more.

And besides, it was not like it was his money.

And lastly the clever old man noted to himself to price the women's and men's wages equally, as expressed by Alexander's preference.

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