"Xiaguan is developing a new weapon, this weapon is called artillery, the range of the finished artillery can reach seven hundred steps, and the lethality is enough to destroy any high-rise thick wall, not Xiaguan is talking nonsense, as long as the artillery is developed, no border wall can stop my Daqin Iron Cavalry!"

"As the saying goes, the better things are, the more expensive they are, and the same is true for artillery, an artillery gun needs at least 20,000 catties of refined iron, according to the price given by the ironmaking division, a catty of refined iron costs about 30 yuan, 20,000 catties is 600,000 yuan, and the contract is 6,000 taels of silver!"

"This is just an estimate, how much refined iron is really needed, it is still unknown, after all, the artillery is still under development, and the development cannot be a one-time success, there will be one failure after another, every failure is a loss of silver!"

"This year's budget of the Ordnance Department is just right, but due to the appearance of artillery, the budget is not enough at all, and I also ask Lord Shangshu to increase the budget of the Ordnance Department by one million taels of silver!" Fang Zi informed Yang Ze of the reason for his budget.

Yang Ze was not lightly frightened, mainly because he was frightened by the numbers, 20,000 catties of refined iron can make a cannon, you know, a pair of fish scale armor only needs 100 catties of refined iron, and 20,000 catties of refined iron is enough to create 200 pairs of fish scale armor.

"What are the chances of success?" Yang Ze asked with hesitation.

"The basic structure and drawings of the artillery have been mastered by the lower officer, but they still need to be continuously improved, as for how long it will take to improve, the lower official cannot give an accurate number!" Fang Zi answered truthfully.

"Okay, the matter of increasing the budget of the Ordnance Department, this official has approved!" Yang Ze nodded in agreement without much hesitation.

As one of the six departments, the annual budget of the military department is considerable, and even an extra million taels of silver budget can be made every year, and the extra budget will naturally not be returned to the household department, but will be left as a backup.

Fang Zi was overjoyed, and hurriedly saluted and smiled: "Thank you, Lord Shangshu!" ”

"If you really want to thank you sincerely, you will take out the finished artillery to thank you!" Yang Ze smiled slightly.

"Naturally!"

"If it's okay, step aside, someone will send a million taels of silver soon!"

"Retire!"

Soon, Fang Zi withdrew from the public hall and walked out of the Yamen of the Ministry of War, in front of the gate of the Yamen of the Ministry of War, Zheng Yue was waiting outside, and when he saw Fang Zi walking out of the Yamen of the Ministry of War, he immediately ran over with an expectant face and asked, "Fang Ling, has Lord Shangshu agreed?" ”

Fang Zi smiled proudly, "Of course, not to mention anything else, the imperial court attaches great importance to the Ordnance Department, go, go to the Iron Smelting Division with this order!" ”

"Okay!" Zheng Yue smiled happily.

Next, Fang Zi took Zheng Yue to the northern suburbs of Xianyang, and now Zheng Yue is completely the little brother next to Fang Zi, follow wherever he goes, Fang Zi also likes Zheng Yue to follow, without him, Zheng Yue can do things, smart, and with him to help, he is a lot easier.

The northern suburbs are a commercial suburb, but this business is not another business, this commercial suburb means that it is all factories that produce goods, such as wine refining factories, soap factories, mosquito coil factories, and so on.

The iron-making division of the ordnance department is located in the north of the northern suburbs, although it is said to be an iron-making division, it is actually an iron-making plant.

The ironworks are very large, covering an area of 1,000 acres, and the scale is the same as that of the weapons test site, except that the ironworks are not open-air, but are covered by a large iron shed.

Fang Zi and Zheng Yue walked for about two quarters of an hour before they came to the Iron Smelting Division, the Iron Smelting Division was very hot, not ordinary heat, not long after Fang Zi and Zheng Yue went in, they took off their clothes and walked inside shirtless.

There are a total of thirteen blast furnaces in the ironmaking division, the blast furnace looks like a super-large iron barrel on the outside, but in fact, the interior is precise and ingenious, the iron ore is thrown into the blast furnace, and the coal is put under the blast furnace to produce high temperature, and the high temperature will melt the iron ore in the blast furnace, so that the iron ore is separated from the impurities, and the impurities are separated, and the iron is practiced.

The iron-making technology of the Great Qin Empire is still very advanced, and the iron-making technology of the countries is still stuck in the iron pot to make iron, which is not only slow in efficiency, but also very labor-intensive, and like the blast furnace iron-making technology of the Great Qin Empire, each blast furnace only needs five or six people to control, which is not a star and a half.

"Wow, that's too big!"

Zheng Yue was like a villager who had just entered the imperial city, curious and surprised by everything in the ironmaking division, especially the blast furnace, which shocked Zheng Yue the most, because the blast furnace was too big, the height was at least three zhang or more, and the thickness required more than twenty people to hold hands to surround it.

"The blast furnace is so high, how can you get molten iron?" Zheng Yue couldn't help but ask suspiciously.

Zheng Yue was both puzzled and curious, there was no ladder next to the blast furnace, how did the people of the Iron Smelting Division take out the molten iron in the blast furnace, could it be difficult to pour it out? This is impossible, if the blast furnace falls, the entire iron-making division will be burned to ashes, and the blast furnace holds so much molten iron, the temperature must be very high, it is estimated that the molten iron has not yet fallen, and people are directly killed by heat.

Fang Zi did not answer Zheng Yue's question, but walked to a blast furnace, and several laborers who controlled the iron furnace saw Fang Zi coming, and hurriedly saluted: "I have seen Lord Fang Ling!" ”

"No need to salute, how long has this blast furnace been burning?" Fang Zi asked expressionlessly.

"Lord Hui Fangling, it's already burned, and we're about to put molten iron!" The head of the labor replied with a respectful expression.

"Well, then let it go!" Fang Zi said.

"Yes!"

As Zheng Yue thought, the temperature of the blast furnace is very high, and it is impossible to get the molten iron closely, and it is impossible to wait for the temperature of the blast furnace to drop to take it, because the temperature of the blast furnace drops, the molten iron has solidified, and it will be in vain at that time.

So how do you get blast furnace molten iron? Originally, there was a pipe connected to the bottom of the blast furnace, and when the blast furnace was operating, the pipeline was closed, and when the iron furnace was finished, the labor that controlled the blast furnace would pull down the machine gate, and the machine gate was connected to the gear, and the official road was opened through the gear, and as soon as the hole was opened, the molten iron in the blast furnace would flow into the designated position along the pipeline, and then the molten iron could be sent to the ordnance department to build weapons.

When Zheng Yue saw this scene, he finally understood how to get molten iron.

Trample... Trample...

At this moment, a rush of footsteps came from not far away, Fang Zi and Zheng Yue subconsciously turned their heads to look, only to see a shirtless man rushing forward, this man had bronze skin and was covered in sweat.

"Iron smelting makes Lu Hai not know that Lord Fang Ling is coming, and he is missing the welcome, and I hope Lord Fang Ling will forgive me!" The man respectfully bowed to Fang Zi and saluted.

That's right, this man is the boss of the Iron Smelting Division, Lu Hai!