The great success of the trial production of iron and steel has undoubtedly provided a solid foundation for the future development of various iron and steel industries and firearms. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

It's just that there is actually a major problem with the current steel production.

That is, the current production of high-carbon steel, which is all about luck in iron furnaces, is too small, and we still have to work hard to find a way to achieve mass production of qualified steel.

The method that Li Xiao thought of was to make steel from a crucible.

This kind of steelmaking method has been common in later generations, but in this Ming Dynasty, it is very difficult to succeed.

The key to crucible steelmaking lies in the crucible, and the key to the crucible lies in his refractory material, or high-temperature refractory bricks. The higher the carbon content of iron, the lower the melting point, and the carbon content of steel is much lower than that of pig iron, at least 1600 °C before the steel will melt into molten steel. Although he knew the crucible materials, graphite, china clay, and clay should be molded into shapes after being mixed evenly, dried over low heat, and then burned to the highest temperature with coke before steel could be smelted.

The problem now is that Li Xiao knows this ratio, but for example, graphite, porcelain clay, etc., he has not yet found the origin of raw materials. Among them, porcelain clay is still easy to find, there is one in Lunan area, just graphite mine, Li Xiao recalled the knowledge of the previous life, in Shandong, it is difficult to find it everywhere, only the Laixi County of Qingzhou Prefecture produces the most, it is said that the proven reserves of graphite are 6.8711 million tons, and the reserves are 6.3993 million tons.

Li Xiao made up his mind that after returning to Chifengwei, he would go to the Laixi area to explore and mine graphite ore, and make crucibles that could be used for steelmaking as soon as possible.

However, such steel production, for Li Xiao, can still be solved in the next step, and the top priority now is to establish and operate the entire steel industry.

Li Xiao immediately started planning various production matters in Iron Dragon City.

He planned that the current blast furnace would be dismantled as soon as it had been used sixteen times, and that two more complete iron-making blast furnaces with regenerators and inner walls made of high-alumina-vanadium earth would be rebuilt.

Then within a year, if the situation is normal, there should be 150 days of iron, which is also the time of iron production in the subway mines of the Ming Dynasty, if two blast furnaces with the same volume of 30 cubic meters are built, the amount of iron produced each time is about 12 to 15 tons, and the amount of iron produced in a year is 1800 to 2000 tons.

This is a rather staggering figure, you must know that in the Ming Dynasty, the total amount of iron produced in the country in a year was only 160,000 tons, and the iron ore consumption was 32 to 400,000 tons. Li Xiao only has two blast furnaces, and he has such a high output, which is undoubtedly far beyond this era.

What's more, there are still large tracts of vacant land in the southeast area of Tielong City, and it will not be a problem to build more blast furnaces and iron furnaces in the future.

It's just that in the future steel production, Li Xiao decided to use coking coal instead of charcoal.

He knew very well in his heart that if he only used charcoal to burn, the consumption of wood would be too huge, and even if all the wood in a single county and one place was cut down, it would not be able to produce for long. Li Xiao is thinking that from the beginning, only in the future when high-quality steel is to be smelted, charcoal can be used, if only mature iron and ordinary medium and low carbon steel are smelted, it is better to replace it with coking coal as soon as possible. ”

Li Xiao's worries troubled the British Empire for a long time.

At that time, in order to increase steel production, Britain quickly became the first-class power in Europe, and began to build blast furnaces to make iron all over the country, but the entire British domestic forest timber was almost cut down, and finally it was really not enough, so it finally began to use coking coal to make iron.

The use of coke instead of charcoal in ironmaking blast furnaces laid the foundation for the large-scale of modern blast furnaces and was a major milestone in the history of metallurgy, enabling mankind to finally achieve large-scale steel production.

As soon as Li Xiao told the craftsmen his thoughts, Yan Jun hurriedly said: "What the adults are talking about is coking coal for ironmaking? ”

Li Xiao was taken aback, and hurriedly said, "Exactly." ”

Yan Jun said: "The adults want to use this thing to make iron, but it is easy to obtain, this thing in Shanxi has people who specialize in making coal into coking coal and selling it, and the villain used to buy coking coal from Shanxi to make iron. ”

"Oh, do you know how much Yan Zuotou costs?"

"According to Xiao's understanding, the price of 1,000 catties of coking coal is 10 taels of silver."

Li Xiao gasped, he secretly calculated in his heart that about one ton of coking coal is generally needed to smelt one ton of pig iron, and if the annual output of 2,000 tons of pig iron is 2,000 tons of coking coal, according to 20 taels of one ton of coking coal, it will cost 40,000 taels of silver to buy coking coal in total.

Li Xiao was glad in his heart, fortunately he had discovered a large number of coal mines in the border mountain outside Jintang City, and there were coke smelting experts like Song Da, and there were four-wheeled carriages to facilitate long-distance transportation, which allowed Li Xiao to save a considerable amount of money.

When he was in Xuanfu Town that day, Li Xiao listened to Song Da introduce the production of coking coal. The specific steps are as follows:

First, workers wash the dug and crushed coal.

Li Xiao knew that the purpose of this step was to remove the ash in the coal, stones, soil, and so on. Because this kind of object contains impurities such as sulfur and phosphorus, which is extremely harmful to ironmaking, in order to remove these impurities, it is necessary to manually wash the raw coal, and the net coal obtained after washing is also called washed coal or refined coal.

Then, a coking kiln is to be built. The shape of this coal-making kiln is quite similar to that of ordinary brick kilns.

Next, the refined coal is dried and then put into the kiln, and under the condition that the air is not isolated in the kiln, the refined coal stacked in the kiln is ignited with the help of the ignition hole on the side wall of the kiln, and the coal is heated layer by layer by the combustion heat of the refined coal itself, which is direct heating. Subsequently, the exhaust gas produced by coal combustion and the hot gas flow formed by a large number of unburned coal cracking products continue to burn through the fuse channel on the side wall of the kiln chamber, and part of the heat is transferred into the kiln, which is indirect heating.

After two direct and indirect heating, a high-temperature gas stream of 800 degrees Celsius is discharged into the atmosphere from the opening of the kiln roof with unburned coal pyrolysis. This process lasts eight to ten days, the coke is made, and then workers can be ordered to inject water from the artificial ignition hole to quench the coke, and when the kiln has cooled, the door can be opened and the prepared coking coal can be removed.

Li Xiao believes that now with the arrival of the displaced people from Xuanfu in Chifengwei, the large amount of coking coal and sulfur transported back from Xuanfu Town should also arrive soon.

Li Xiao decided that in the future, the steel produced in the Iron Dragon City will be used for different purposes, and different steel will be selected for production, so as to make the best use of each one.

The following is the classification of steel use decided by Li Xiao.

1. Items such as household utensils and various agricultural tools are made of medium and low quality wrought iron made of coking coal.

2. The armor and shields used by all the soldiers of Li Xiaojun were produced by smelting medium and high-grade high-carbon wrought iron from coking coal.

3. The weapons and firearms of the whole army are made of high-carbon steel made of coking coal.

4. The armor and weapons of high-ranking generals are made of stainless steel produced from pure charcoal.

Li Xiao decided to transfer Zhang Tongzhu, the head of the blacksmith of Chifengwei, and others to Tielong City, leaving only a few apprentices to continue to open a blacksmith shop in Chifengwei, and he was responsible for the specific operation of the entire forging field.

Li Xiao's preliminary manpower plan for Iron Dragon City is as follows:

1. Now that the construction of the Red Phoenix Acropolis has been nearly completed, more than 3,000 rogues can be transferred back to Tielong City, and the 500 people who have performed better in the past half a year or so can be selected from among them, together with the other 500 Henan people, as smelting assistants or porters, as a reward for their good performance. Of the remaining 2,500 captives, more than 1,500 were arranged to mine, and more than 1,000 were crushed and washed.

2. In addition to the remaining people of Henan and Shanxian County, the forging and smelting field recruited 2,000 displaced workers, who operated in the form of masters and apprentices, and made various items such as living utensils, armor, and weapons in large quantities.

3. Zhao Jie, the chief of firearms, was transferred from the firearms unit to Tielong City, temporarily recruited 200 displaced workers, and used a large amount of sulfur to give priority to the development of granular gunpowder when it was not possible to develop artillery guns for the time being. After all, the powdered black powder used now has problems with the proportion and mixing, which often leads to dumb fire, and in the last battle in Xuanfu, there were always ten Lumi guns to blow up the chamber, and the safety and stability of this gunpowder is the focus of research now.

After the manpower arrangement was completed, Li Xiao began to set up a craftsman hierarchy, which was roughly divided into four types: the head, the craftsman, the craftsman, and the apprentice. And use this to determine the salary standard of each person. This system should be implemented in every factory that has been opened.

Taking Tielong City as an example, Li Xiao stipulated that Yan Jun and Zhang Tongzhu were promoted to the head of the city, with a monthly salary of 5 taels of silver.

The skilled apprentices under these two men were craftsmen, with a monthly salary of 3 taels of silver.

The rest of the blacksmiths with professional skills were craftsmen for 1.5 taels of silver per month.

And those, the apprentice workers who have just been recruited into the factory, are 0.5 taels of silver per month.

In addition, Li Xiao also had to build a canteen to provide these workers with food and lodging. In addition to the fixed salary, there will also be bonuses and shares when the product starts to sell. These specific details are still being designed and planned by Li Xiao.

In Li Xiao's heart, there is a stronger and stronger feeling, that is, the moment of self-exertion is coming.

。。。。。。

When he saw the majestic Iron Dragon City finally appear in front of him, the homeless Lin Xiaowu let out a long breath.

In early October, Lin Xiaowu's family of five, his parents, his brother, and his and his sister finally made the long journey from Datong to the Jintang City under construction on Xuanfu North Road.

Lin Xiaowu's family was taken aback when they saw the Jintang City in Zhou 16 of the city from afar, they didn't expect that in such a remote city on the border with Mongolia, someone would build such a large and majestic city.

The displaced people already know that this city was built by a general named Li Xiao, and it is said that this Chifengwei commander Li Xiao has outstanding military achievements and is quite young, so that Lin Xiaowu, who is only sixteen years old, admires and admires this legendary Li Xiao in his heart.

Then, they were soon shocked by the noisy procession of more than 10,000 displaced people who had gathered under the city. Seeing these large groups of displaced people gathered at the southern wall of Jintang City to resist the cold north wind, Lin Xiaowu and they all knew that these displaced people, like themselves, should have rushed here after getting the news that Jintang City was going to recruit a large number of workers. It's just that when these displaced people arrived, the recruitment quota in Jintang City was full and there were no more residential houses in the city for the time being, so these people naturally could no longer be accepted into the city.

So, after a simple registration, Lin Xiaowu's family also became one of these displaced people.

Lin Xiaowu was particularly envious of the homeless people who arrived first. The 6,000-strong outcasts had already succeeded in becoming part of the city's inhabitants, most of whom worked daily with the craftsmen digging moats and building walls, and a few went to work in the coal and sulfur factories on the border hills.

These homeless people, who have become a member of Jintang City, look at the homeless people outside the city, although they are full of sympathy, but more of a blessing. After all, compared to them, they only came one step earlier to seize this valuable opportunity to stay and work.

What made Lin Xiaowu envious the most was that these city residents could eat three full meals a day, and even had meat and meat from time to time. Compared with the out-of-town homeless people who can only drink two bowls of gruel per person a day, it is a world of difference.

Lin Xiaowu often regretted that it would be nice if he could have come earlier, I heard that the ability of this Jintang City to accommodate displaced people has now reached its limit, and a latecomer like himself is estimated to have no chance to settle in the city again.

As time passed, the number of displaced people outside the city increased to more than 25,000. As the number of displaced people continues to increase, various problems among the displaced people have also erupted.

Fights, quarrels, thefts, and other things happened every day, and although there were soldiers in the city to maintain order and punish the offenders, such things continued to increase.

Even more terrifying than appeals is the weather.

As the time came to the end of the month, the weather became colder and colder, the north wind was bitter to the bone, and the grass nests concentrated in the middle of the out-of-town homeless people became more and more difficult to live in, and there were many elderly people and children who froze to death every day.

However, people are reluctant to leave, because after all, there are still two bowls of thin porridge every day here, and if they go to other places, the displaced people know that they are very likely to be starved to death outside the city, and the more tragic thing is that they may be cut off by those officials and soldiers who have lost their conscience.

Lin Xiaowu saw that at the head of Jintang City, there was an old man with half-white hair, who looked at the people struggling in the cold wind outside the city with worried eyes every day.

Lin Xiaowu knew that this old man's name was An Qian, and he was the person in charge of this Golden Soup City. He also knew that the reason why An Qian was so worried was that he was afraid that these homeless people would be forced by the cold and crowding to confront the soldiers in the city, and it would be a big trouble.

It's just that he didn't dare to put so many homeless people into the city, after all, there were too few soldiers in the city, and if any of these tens of thousands of homeless people wanted to enter the city to make trouble, with more than 1,000 troops in the city, they might not be able to suppress it. Even if it can be reluctantly suppressed, it will bring heavy losses to Jintang City, which has not yet been built.

In fact, by the end of October, there were already many bold and disgruntled people, secretly discussing that all the displaced people outside the city should unite and take over the Jintang City that was being built, and eat a few full meals of his mother, and perhaps, grab some silver and flowers.

Lin Xiaowu felt disgusted with these people. He thinks that these people live on the meager porridge given by Jintang City, but they still want to seize the benefactor's city and money and food, which is too much.

It's just that the weather in winter is getting colder and colder, and it is getting harder and harder, and under such circumstances, there are more and more displaced people who are discussing rebellion and plotting to seize Jintang City.

After all, no one wants to freeze to death outside the city so slowly. They are already dispossessed of nothing, and under the pressure of survival, conscience and morality may of course be the first things to be easily ignored.

When the situation became more and more difficult to control, Lin Xiaowu and his family all believed that the homeless people might be unavoidable, but one day, An Qian, the person in charge of Jintang City, brought good news to these homeless people who were struggling on the verge of death.

That is, the commander of the Chi Fengwei envoy Master Li is ready to take them all in and take them to Shandong.

Lin Xiaowu remembered that when An Qian finished announcing the news, the cheers outside the city were like thunder, and every homeless person had an expression of disbelief with joy.

Two days later, a total of more than 23,000 displaced people, including Lin Xiaowu and his family, set off south, escorted by more than 1,000 soldiers and soldiers in Jintang City, and carried 10 loaded grain carts, a silver cart with 30,000 silver taels, 30 carriages with 900 tons of coke, and 3 carriages with 9 tons of sulfur.

Looking at the open space outside the southern city wall of Jintang City, which was originally crowded with people but is now lonely, Lin Xiaowu quietly left tears.

The team traveled all the way south, from time to time using the silver on the silver cart to supplement the local food, and after nearly 20 days of hard trekking, all the displaced people came to the boundary of Wuding Prefecture in Shandong.

Here, the homeless people are divided into three pulls.

The first people who were selected were about 4,000 people, all of whom were strong adult men, and these people were selected as the soldiers of the Red Phoenix Commander.

Lin Xiaowu's elder brother Lin Xiaosan was fortunate to be selected, after getting the news of the selection, he had an expression of excitement and reluctance, and after saying goodbye to his family, he was taken away by a bald general with a bald head and a shiny general with a smile on his face after saying goodbye to his family.

The other pull, the mainstream of the displaced people, about 14,000 people, was arranged to Chifengwei, and was led all the way east by the officials of Chifengwei.

There was also a group of about four or five thousand people, who turned around and went south, and under the guidance of the officials of Iron Dragon City, they took the 900 tons of coke and 9 tons of sulfur to Iron Dragon City.

In addition to his elder brother, who became a soldier, Lin Xiaowu's family of four was selected to go to Iron Dragon City.

After arriving in Iron Dragon City, Lin Xiaowu's family first registered their information, received the resident number plate of Iron Dragon City, and then was assigned a two-story small building to live in.

This small building is very sturdy and beautiful, but it is only priced at 15 taels, which can be called the cost price. It's just that Lin Xiaowu and others, who are penniless, of course still can't afford it.

However, the official who divided the house told them that they could live in this house first, and they could pay off the house in installments with their salaries. Hearing this news made Lin Xiaowu's family overjoyed.

Lin Xiaowu's family is very lucky, Lin Xiaowu and his father were both selected as apprentices in the forge field, his father was selected to build living utensils, Lin Xiaowu was assigned to build armor, and his 10-year-old sister entered the Iron Dragon City Academy to go to school, leaving only his mother alone to take care of the house.

In this Iron Dragon City, women can also go to school, which makes the newcomers feel very strange.

Lin Xiaowu later learned that this was a policy that Li Xiao had implemented as early as when he was in Chifeng Fort. In Li Xiao's heart, both men and women have the same right to learn when it comes to education. Although many people opposed it at the beginning, Li Xiao insisted strongly, and now, the generals and the people have long been accustomed to it.

Lin Xiaowu, who was holding a brand-new precision forging hammer and was in the sound of clanging iron hammers, listened to the master's explanation of the essentials of striking iron, but secretly swore in his heart that since he had become an apprentice in the armor factory, he would rely on his own ability to stand out from this large number of apprentices and work hard to be a person! (To be continued.) )