Direct development of Hongji means a significant investment. In military affairs alone, at least one fully equipped infantry battalion must be sent to Hongji. Unlike the barren Sanya and Hong Kong Island, which could be protected by the navy, the Northern Dynasty of Vietnam had to directly confront the Northern Korean army, which had a considerable advantage in land forces. The Northern Korean army was armed with the help of the Portuguese and Dutch, and in terms of professionalism, firearms ability, and combat experience, it was much higher than the level of the Ming army in Guangdong.

If they built a port in Hongji and excavated coal, they would inevitably be expelled by the Northern Dynasties, and without an infantry battalion plus a part of the artillery and navy, they would not be able to ensure the safety of the mining area. The General Staff has established a jihua to occupy and defend the Hongji mining area: a permanent strength of more than three battalions. This is simply a fantasy for the army and navy, which are already short of troops.

The five battalions of the army are currently distributed throughout the northern part of Hainan Island, from Danzhou in the west to Wenchang in the east, to carry out large-scale security operations. All but one battalion remained in Ma Yuan to serve as the general reserve of the whole army, and all the troops were dispatched. If the troops are mobilized again, it will seriously affect industrial and agricultural production.

Wu De thought twice and decided that this matter should be as cautious as possible. The first step is to expand trade - to strive for the adoption of the model of large armed trading stations, using local shili for mining. This also requires the expansion of basic input, at least the establishment of the Vietnamese trading company can no longer be placed under the Leizhou station, and must be directly invested and managed by the Senate.

The steel mill hoarded raw materials faster than Ji Wusheng and Wang Luobin expected, and the Planning Institute organized ships to raid and rush to transport, and iron ore concentrate from Sanya, coking lignite from Qiongshan and lignite from Leizhou were continuously transported to Bopu and Mayuan. Although the navy temporarily lost a lot of freight tons because a third of the ships were towed ashore for repairs, there were many more idle sailors, and the navy adopted the practice of replacing people without changing ships to make some ships run continuously, although this aggravated the wear and tear of the ships, but for the navy that was about to get a new toy, it was worth the sacrifice -- the steel was good for the army and navy, but in the long run it was definitely more beneficial to the navy: after all, the steel consumed to make 100,000 rifles was not worth an ironclad ship, one large-caliber naval gun consumes more steel than ten M1857s.

Under the full rush of the navy, the raw material reserves of Lingao Iron and Steel Company met the basic reserves of 7 days ahead of schedule, and Ji Wusheng decided to start smelting steel immediately. The second oven process takes about 48 hours before it can be officially fed, which can add a few days of reserve.

In the past converter workshop, the steel company has trained the first generation of steelworkers in Lingao, some of whom come from various smelters in Guangdong or are blacksmiths, and have certain experience in ironmaking. The foreman who led the shift was surnamed Li, and he was originally the only blacksmith in Lingao City—the traditional blacksmith was actually similar to a manufacturing worker, and was not familiar with metallurgy. Therefore, most of the blacksmiths absorbed by Lingao are assigned to the mechanical department. However, this person's craftsmanship is really not very good, and even Lu Youtian shook his head when he saw it. Zuihou was sent directly to the metallurgical department as a furnace worker in the iron melting furnace.

However, Blacksmith Li finally has a little bit of smelting and casting ability, and he is somewhat clever compared to others. Ji Wusheng found that this person was quite diligent and studious, but he was studious enough to have a clever master and a competitive environment, both of which were lacking in Hainan.

No one on this plane has ever seen a blast furnace and an open hearth, and the only modern steel jishu production experience of a steelworker comes from iron melting furnaces and converters. For this reason, Ji Silent personally went out to train future steelworkers. A model of a small blast furnace and an open hearth was specially built to teach smelting knowledge. Theoretically, it would be nice for the workers to know what to do, but Ji Wusheng felt that it was better to give them a little theoretical knowledge to facilitate their integration.

This group of workers came to the iron and steel company every day to work and study, and participated in the construction of the steel plant, especially when they saw the magnificent blast furnace and the open hearth rising from the ground that they had never dreamed of, the excitement of the workers was overflowing. For them, the small converter and the molten iron furnace were already a miracle, not to mention the huge tower

"Can this blast furnace really make good steel?" Every day, Ji Silent has to answer the workers' similar questions more than a dozen times.

Now that the blast furnace has been fully completed, the workers have carried out the first oven work and have a certain understanding of the charging material. Ji Wusheng decided to officially carry out the ignition of the blast furnace on February 6.

He personally supervised the loading of the workers - after the last loading the workers had gained some experience. However, the second oven should be more careful, because the second oven is actually entering the official production operation, and any problems will have a significant impact on the blast furnace production.

Ji silently inspected the processing of haode coke powder. This is the most haode coke powder sent from the coal coking complex in Bopu. Workers add some tar to the coke powder and stir it evenly. Add an appropriate amount of water to make the coke powder have a certain humidity. Coke powder is used as a lining material for the oven, and there must be a certain humidity, otherwise it will not be able to stick to the furnace wall, but too humidity will affect the furnace temperature.

After beating the lining, Ji Wusheng personally drilled into the furnace to check the thickness and humidity meter by meter to ensure that each link was accurate in place, and all those with a thickness of less than 20mm and a problem with humidity were all dismantled and rebeaten.

After the lining was beaten, the wood mill brought in the shavings, which are a very hot and flammable material. Dozens of large bales of shavings are loaded into the lowest level of the blast furnace, and then the firewood begins to be stacked, piled up in a tic-tac-toe pattern. Add some more shavings to the firewood near each outlet. The wood is then stacked with coke. The coke is placed in layers, each layer is 300mm, and some limestone is added to the upper layers, and the coke is placed loosely between them, which is conducive to ventilation. Fill the entire furnace body until the throat.

After the loading is completed, it is time to officially open the furnace. Blast furnace ignition, even in the old time and space, is a big event, large, extra-large blast furnace ignition production in the past is enough to qualify for news broadcast. For the group, the ignition of the blast furnace is an important step in the development of "our business".

On February 6, a simple and solemn blast furnace ignition ceremony was held under the tall roof of the blast furnace workshop. The workers of the steel plant, the construction workers, students, and soldiers of the army and navy who participated in the construction of the steel plant gathered in groups under the roof of the steel truss factory, and although they built the behemoth in front of them brick by brick, they were still amazed that it was really formed and intact in front of them—this behemoth could actually make iron, which was really something that they could never dream of.

When they came to the foot of the blast furnace of nearly ten meters, they were surprised, and their hearts welled up with great pride - they were about to have the "artifact" of this time and space. The raging fire of the blast furnace and the boiling molten iron that flows out will sweep away the old shijie and leave a new shijie that belongs to them.

The main figures of the Executive Committee and the activists of the Senate, of course, could not give up this good opportunity to show their faces, and they were present one after another. Fang Fei, who specializes in preparing large-scale events, is also the main planner of this event, and he asked Ji Wusheng if he wanted to hold a reception or something.

"The industrial mouth doesn't have the budget for hospitality."

According to the expense reimbursement system established by the Cheka, only a few foreign-related departments have the right to keep accounts and reimburse entertainment expenses, and other departments are not even qualified to appear in the accounts.

Fang Fei said: "This expense can be paid by the general office, you just need to apply." ”

"No, there is a lot of significance in igniting the blast furnace, so there is a ceremony. But don't eat and drink in this sense," Ji Wusheng couldn't see the reception of Paplov's birthday in the old time and space. Therefore, only a notice was issued, no invitations were issued, and there was no decoration other than placards, and no drinks, cigarettes and food were prepared - the notice stated that you need to bring your own food and drink.

Although the steelworks were not very enthusiastic about the senators, they were enthusiastic. In addition to the main leaders of the Executive Committee, there were also many veterans from the industrial and military sectors. Both are big consumers of steel.

The patriarchs were excitedly discussing the production capacity and use of steel under the blast furnace. Of course, it is inevitable that there will be a large number of ironclad ship-building ideas mixed with reckless military force, and the construction of railways has also become the focus of discussion. There was also a small debate over the construction of metre-gauge, standard, broad-gauge or ultra-wide-gauge. The maids looked curiously at the blast furnace and the masters under the blast furnace, and the red-faced and red-eared masters were excited.

Others took advantage of the patriarch's privilege to approach the blast furnace and carefully examine the furnace body, base, and tuyere...... From time to time, some people excitedly point out that this part is designed and manufactured by our department and workshop or looking for materials. For the veterans of the chemical industry, they have made the greatest contribution to the project -- just solving the blast furnace refractory takes a lot of brains from the chemical industry.

The blast furnace workshop already looks very "modern". Not only is the structure of the whole plant made of steel, but there is a crane on the roof, a track on the ground, stairs, corridors, and overpasses...... Most of the internal structures are made of industrial-style wrought iron fence panels. It looks rugged and powerful.

Wen Desi and Ma Qianzhuo both came to the scene together, Wen Desi circled around the blast furnace a few times, and suddenly said to Ma Qianzhuo, who was with him: "Ma Gong, I heard that in ancient times, the furnace was sacrificed by living people. ”。