Hearing old Neil's words, Duke nodded in satisfaction, smiled and followed him to the inside of the blacksmith's shop.

The idea of earth-based steelmaking, blast furnaces, coal, and steelworks constantly flashed in his mind, which can be said to be the basic advantages and necessary operations of the modern traverser.

Although he has never been exposed to the steel industry and smelting technology modules, as a keyboard powerhouse and a veteran bookworm, he still has a wealth of theoretical knowledge and knowledge.

I haven't made steel myself, haven't you heard of it and seen it?

At least that's what Duke thought before he saw the furnace of the blacksmith's shop, thinking that he could use his timeless knowledge to bring the barren Duchy of the North into the Iron Age in one fell swoop.

But when old Neil took him to see the iron-making furnace with his own eyes, a wave of frustration instantly welled up in his heart.

The iron-making furnace was not a semicircular stone furnace in the Middle Ages as Duke had imagined, but a tall, slender cylindrical furnace, almost exactly the same as the blast furnace he remembered, except for the height.

"This ...... Why is this stove high cylindrical. Duke asked Old Neil a little stiffly.

"Ah, my lord, thanks to the dexterous dwarven craftsmen, who three hundred years ago proposed that the tall and long furnace would be useful for the smelting of steel, and that it would be very effective. Old Neil rubbed his hands a little shyly, but when it came to what he was good at, he was always a little more normal.

Dwarf?

Duke didn't expect that the dwarves, who were the natives of this other world, had such superb and advanced technical concepts, and they really couldn't think that they had relied on them because they had a little knowledge of crossing.

Duke calmed down his disappointment and walked around the furnace in front of him with his hands behind his back, which had not yet begun to smelt, so that he would not feel the burning discomfort.

Well?

As he approached the furnace, he found that its base was littered with strange grooves, as if something should have been inlaid with it, but now it was missing.

"What is this for?" said Duke to old Neil, pointing to the strange grooves.

"These are the necessary rune grooves in the furnace, which are used to inlay magic runes to enhance the effect of the furnace, but we don't have much income because of the bad business, and we don't have the money to buy these things. Old Neil came closer to look at it, and said with a sad face.

Magic runes?

Duke was a little surprised, but he didn't expect that this world had initially combined industry and magic, producing an effect that one plus one was greater than two to increase production capacity, which was obviously much more powerful than his own half-traverser.

"There seem to be a number of different functions for what they are effective in. Curious, Duke poked the grooves with his finger, and he noticed that the grooves were also slightly different, especially in shape.

"This is the installation of the energy rune that is responsible for providing magical energy. Old Neil pointed to the largest circular groove in the middle of the base and said, "This triangle is a flame amplification rune, and this cloud-shaped is a wind rune, which has an amplification and cooling, this is ......"

As Neil Sr. continued to explain, Duke gradually understood the effect of these runes, which in general increased fire and reduced fuel, could greatly improve the quality of the finished product and the speed of smelting.

"If there is a constant supply of energy, will it be possible to ensure that the steel is being made all day long?" said Duke, feeling as if he had caught the point.

"If you can guarantee the supply of energy and the inlay of a full set of runes, you can indeed ensure that this furnace can work all day long, and this is how the legendary steel city of Deepas is constantly transporting steel to the outside world. ”

After saying this, Old Neil hesitated, but still gritted his teeth and continued: "But this is just a legend of the dwarves, not to mention the sky-high cost of ensuring an uninterrupted supply of magic runes, our entire city does not need so much steel, and the preservation and maintenance of steel also needs to be costly. ”

"It's true that we don't need so much steel production capacity in the current situation, but in the future it will be the age of steel, and we will have more places to use steel, of course I'm not talking about now. Duke explained with some excitement.

In his vision, sufficient steel production was an indispensable prerequisite, whether it was to build a territory or develop an army.

"With that said, let's talk about ore mining, as a blacksmith you should know something. Duke pondered for a moment, then changed the subject.

"Actually, I don't know much about it, because we don't have formed veins in our territory, and there are almost no big mines nearby. Old Neil rubbed his hands together in embarrassment, and knowledge beyond his ability made him feel uneasy.

"Well, just tell me about the ordinary mining methods on the mainland. Duke felt that he had really not found the right person, so he asked in a different way.

"I do know something from books that most of the mines on the mainland still use manual mining, buying miners or hiring miners to mine. ”

To Duke's surprise, it would be Lenya, who had been silent, to answer the question.

He looked at the chief knight with interest, and then asked, "Then do you think you can use a machine that simply boils water to generate thrust, pump water, and pull minecarts to improve the efficiency of mining?" ”

Duke then turned his mind to the steam engine, which is also a common black technology that can bring great productivity to the construction of the territory.

Lenia frowned in thought, apparently not very well understanding what machinery could pull a heavy minecart by boiling water, and it didn't rely on magic at all.

"I want to ...... You could be talking about the 'steam furnace' invented by the dwarves?" Old Neil pondered as he listened, but finally clapped his palms and said something familiar to Duke.

"'Steam Furnace'?dwarves?" Duke was really stunned this time, are these dwarves monsters, why can they make so many advanced instruments.

"That's right, but this is actually a legend, and although the dwarves are proficient in the use of steam, few people can see it now. Old Neil shook his head, and in a mythical tone, told Duke about the legendary dwarf creature that could produce infinite power purely by mechanical principles.

O dwarves!

Duke was silent for a while, feeling that the construction of his territory could not be avoided by this strange race, and if he could get the help of this group of technical talents, he might really be able to lead his people to run forward into a new era.

"Well, thank you for today's explanation. Duke nodded at old Neil, who immediately bowed in fear, not daring to say anything.

Duke shook his head helplessly and led Lenia to his castle.