Du Zhongxiao stood under the big willow tree, watching Tao Seventeen in front of him and bringing people to the coke oven to fill the material. The weather was hot, and the people who did the work were sweating. The cicadas in the trees behind him kept screaming, not stopping at all.

After the loading was completed, Tao Qiqi commanded two people to push a wheelbarrow, load a cart of coke, and arrive in front of Du Zhongxiao.

Putting the car down, Tao Seventeen said: "Official, the coke in the previous furnace has cooled, can you take a look at the effect?" ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "You let the people who install the furnace over there take a break." There was mung bean soup in the big bucket next to it, so let each of them drink a bowl to go to the heat. In such a hot day, doing things by the fireside is the most afraid of heat stroke. ”

Tao Seventeen promised, and said in his mouth: "If you don't take precautions, you won't be able to heat it for a few days." Look at it and it's autumn, it's already cool in the morning and evening. ”

went to tell the workers to rest, and Tao XVII came back again to look at the freshly burned coke together.

After so many attempts, the quality of coke has been able to meet the needs of iron smelting. It is formed into large pieces, hard as stone, loose and porous, relatively light, and shiny. Only its hardness can support the ore.

Tao Seventeen said: "Official, this charcoal is already good. We have tried, and not only is it far better than charcoal, but the iron is much better than that made from coal. There is no dross, and it is hard and not brittle. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Not only to see how the iron is smelted, but also how the steel is fried." Only when good steel is fried can it be regarded as good charcoal. If it's just ironmaking, why bother? ”

Su Song on the side said: "Didn't you try to fry the steel a few days ago?" It also looks pure. ”

Tao Seventeen said: "It is much purer than before. But in the end, you still have to try to make iron. ”

Du Zhongxiao actually doesn't know what kind of coke is good and what kind of bad coke, so he can only determine the effect of use. Now that he understands coke, Tao Seventeen is actually stronger than himself. Practice brings true knowledge, things have always been done by Tao Seventeen, he has a flexible brain, and has mastered a lot of iron smelting knowledge from practice. He also has the habit of being cultivated by Du Zhongxiao's side for many years, and is good at summing up experience in practice.

After seeing the coke, Du Zhongxiao said: "Since the charcoal has been smelted, I have begun to prepare to build an iron-making furnace these days." It is not easy to transport coal from hundreds of miles away, so it is necessary to make the best use of it. The iron-smelting furnace and the steel frying furnace are built together, and the molten iron comes out and the steel is fried directly, saving a lot of coal. ”

Tao Seventeen arched his hand: "What the official said is that the site is being selected these days." There is another piece, although the coke burned now is easy to smelt iron, it is not easy to bake. Bonded together, it is difficult to push and pull. And the block is too big, if you want to be uniform, you have to re-smash the re-election. These days, I'm working with the craftsmen to mix several kinds of coal together to see if I can make something better. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "That's the best." You remember, every time you burn it, keep a detailed record. What kind of coal is used, not only to write down the appearance, but also to leave a sample for physical comparison. When burning, how to install the furnace, what the heat is, and how much time must be remembered. ”

In this era, there is no way to measure the temperature of the flame, only to look at the color of the flame, that is, to look at the heat. Depending on the temperature, there is a subtle difference in the color of the flame, which can be observed by an experienced person with the naked eye. If you can't measure the temperature, it doesn't make sense to record it with temperature, it's better to use the flame color.

Tao 17 promised to write them down one by one. The accumulation of these experiences is a valuable asset, and it is even more significant in words. It is much better for the craftsmen who operate directly to master a certain amount of cultural knowledge and record them in detail each time than for the literati to listen to what they have told and write articles.

After looking at the coke, Du Zhongxiao said: "There is another thing, that is, the gas that comes out of coking should be classified and distilled into different things." Now you're still too coarse to be of much use. The tower that is distilled has to use more brains to separate things one by one. ”

Tao Qiqi glanced at Su Song on the side and couldn't help but smile bitterly. It's hard for him, the smoke coming out of the stove, he can't see it, he can't touch it, he can only smell it, who knows what the hell is inside. Du Zhongxiao remembered the concept of fractionation, and it took a lot of thought to build a fractionation tower. The name sounds lofty, but it's actually a flue that is divided into layers to collect condensed liquid at regular intervals. Du Zhongxiao was very proud of the fact that he had built a fractionation tower with just one concept of fractionation, and he was particularly concerned about the actual effect. He didn't have time, so he pressed the matter on Tao Seventeen and asked from time to time. Tao Qiqi didn't know what Du Zhongxiao wanted at all, and what he said was vague and very big.

These by-products of coking are important chemical raw materials, as Du Zhongxiao remembers, coal tar, crude benzene, and coal gas. He couldn't remember what they looked like or what they were used for. Anyway, the more detailed the by-products are, the better they are, that's for sure. In addition, by fractionating coking gas, we can accumulate experience, and maybe we will be able to fractionate oil in the future.

Su Song was not very interested in these, and his mind was more focused on coke and the ironmaking behind it.

Seeing that Tao Seventeen answered uncomfortably, Du Zhongxiao said: "Don't underestimate this matter, if you do it well, it will be of great use in the future." And the smoke that comes out at the end of the day, you know, can be ignited. If you want to find a way to use those flue gases, whether it is iron smelting or burning coke, you can use less coal, right? Transporting coal hundreds of miles away is not cheap. ”

Tao Seventeen agreed, only to feel that his head was as big as a fight. When the official was in the Volcano Army, he easily earned hundreds of thousands of yuan at a young age through the business of the cabinet shop, and he was used to spending a lot of money, but now he is not rich in money, so he is extremely concerned about the cost. With such a large iron prison, it can't make 100,000 yuan a year, that's not okay anyway. Without sufficient capital, how to settle the 100,000 fiber box troops that will come one after another? Like this year in Qingtai Town, everything will be done, but Du Zhongxiao is not satisfied.

But the problem is that the world's iron class is only more than 70 million catties, and according to 20 wen and a catty of iron, it is only worth more than 1 million catties. How much money can you make in addition to the huge costs? If you want to make a lot of money, you have to smelt most of the iron into steel, and then make all kinds of iron, which is a lot of work.

Now the iron supervisor has not started work, only the project, no input, Du Zhongxiao's requirements for his subordinates are becoming stricter and stricter. The fifty guan promised by the imperial court has still not been issued, so how much money can be made by the camp and field affairs? When a large number of slender men came, Du Zhongxiao would have no money to invest.

The money was transported from the Jiangxi Road, went up the Yangtze River, and then entered the Hanshui after the Hanyang Army, and then into the Baihe River in Xiangzhou, and God knows when it will reach Tangzhou. Du Zhongxiao wants cash, but it is not as soon as the bank transfers it.

The distance from the coal mine to the iron prison is more than 100 miles, which is not far away, and it can maintain hundreds of large carts to eat and chew, which is not a small number. At present, the grain and grass of the post horse shop are borrowed from Du Zhongxiao Pengruzhou and Tangzhou, and they will be repaid after the harvest of the camp and field work in the autumn. But the current state of the camp is not like it can produce a lot of grain and grass, so Du Zhongxiao has to be anxious.

Just when Tao Qiqi felt a headache, Liu Zhuo came in from outside, holding a piece of iron in his hand: "Yun Judgment, the smelting furnace of the people outside has already produced iron." I went out of my way to get some and see how they were doing. It's a good piece, what do you think? ”

Tao Qiqi glanced at it and said disdainfully: "The color of this iron is not good, there is a lot of slag in it, and there are pores, it is really rough." If this kind of rotten iron can be sold for twenty wen a catty, we can refine it for fifty wen! ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "How can the land of iron be sold for a price of twenty wen?" We produce good iron, and it is enough to sell it for twenty wen. As for these small smelting furnaces of the people, they will be proud for a few days, and when we produce a lot of iron, we will look at them! ”

The iron supervisor here produces a large amount of iron, and the price of iron will inevitably fall, which is inevitable. At that time, these small smelting furnaces are afraid that they will become money-losers.