After visiting the shaft furnace ironmaking, Zhang Yue, accompanied by Cheng Yuan, Chen Wannian and Sang Jun, came to an open-air operation site located on the south side of the workshop.

"In the service, this is the pride of Shaofu - the place where the masters of frying steel work...... Cheng Yuan smiled and proudly introduced to Zhang Yue: "Now, here, there are fifteen masters who are good at frying steel and hundreds of apprentices and hundreds of official slaves and maids, constantly frying every day, and now the ploughshares of most farm tools such as Xinfeng Quyuan ploughs and cocoon carts must be made of stainless steel produced here!" ”

The steel frying technology and the shaft furnace technology are the crystallization of the wisdom of the Zhuxia people for several generations or even more than ten generations.

The so-called steel frying method, as the name suggests, is a technology in which pig iron is constantly stirred in a crucible and smelted into fine iron or steel like a stir-fry.

To be clear, the vast majority of pig iron in Han China was cast iron, not a block of iron that appeared later in Europe.

The difference between the two is that cast iron is brittle and has poor mechanical properties, while block iron is softer and easier to process.

This is also the reason why iron was called 'evil gold' during the Warring States period.

However, the invention of steel frying completely changed all this!

It's just that......

Frying steel, too particular about technology.

It can take five or even ten years for a craftsman to become proficient in the technique of frying steel from the beginning of learning to the art of frying.

Therefore, the steel production of the Han Chamber is very low!

As far as Zhang Yue knows, the total output of steel speculation in the whole world may only be more than 100,000 catties per year.

That is, about three or five tons of fried steel production a year.

Specific to Xinfeng, the monthly output of fried steel may be less than 1,000 catties.

Basically, they are used on ploughshares.

This is also the fundamental reason why the output of Xinfeng's large-scale agricultural tools is now limited!

This made Zhang Yue a little worried.

Although it is expected that the shaft furnace will be used to smelt crude steel in the future, the quality of the crude steel from the shaft furnace may not be good, and it is difficult to use it as a raw material for ploughshares with extremely high requirements.

It's a pity that Zhang Yue has not studied industry, and among the things he looks back on, there are very few things related to related processes.

The so-called 'alkaline steelmaking method' that he just came up with has almost drained out of his few cognitions.

But......

Never mind!

He's a superior and doesn't understand technology, so he can ask for something from below.

In the steel roasting workshop, after inspecting back and forth, Zhang Yue found that the current steel frying crucibles are generally very small, only about three or five feet wide, and can only fry a few hundred catties of pig iron at a time.

If the crucible furnace is enlarged, better refractory materials are used, and research efforts are intensified, it should be possible to increase the output of frying steel!

Anyway, Zhang Yue felt that Yuan Guangguo and other businessmen would definitely be willing to pay for this technology.

After all, the output of fried steel is directly related to their profits.

So, after leaving the steel frying workshop, Zhang Yue instructed Sang Jun: "Sang Ling, can you carve out a vacant land on the side of the Shaofu Workshop?" ”

"It's okay......" Sang Jun immediately replied: "It's just, I don't know what the waiter plans to do with it?" ”

"Establish a laboratory dedicated to the study of technology and experimentation with new methods......

"Let Ding Lingzhi serve as the head of this laboratory and preside over the experiment......

"As for the funds? The Department of Industry and Commerce will give a part, find the workshop owners to pledge a part, and then the county government will give a part......"

"This official will then give a piece of Chen to the order!"

Zhang Yue plans to let this laboratory mainly undertake the research and improvement of basic materials.

In particular, the research and improvement of various refractory materials and neutralizing materials.

It's a pity, now the ink artists of the Mo family are almost extinct, otherwise it would be best to find a few ink artists to participate in the daily work of the laboratory!

Sang Jun listened, nodded and said, "The lower officials obey the order!" ”

While everyone was talking, they came to the largest workshop in Shaofu Workshop.

As several overseers pushed the door open, Zhang Yue saw a scene that he would never forget.

In an indoor workshop consisting of many rooms, hundreds of workers, squatting or standing, are arranged in three full rows.

From the first person to the last station, everyone has their own role.

Complete the processing of different parts.

Some people grind, some sharpen, some drill, and some are specifically responsible for quality inspection.

Eventually, key ferrous or steel parts that could have been used in columbians, waterwheels, and curved ploughs were manufactured.

Just at a glance, Zhang Yue recognized that this was the original version of the assembly line production model left over from the Qin Dynasty.

Moreover, the current production method and management method are more advanced and scientific than the bow and crossbow production method that Zhang Yue saw last time on the way to Ganquan Palace.

If there were conveyor belts, it would be almost no different from the factory floor of many manufacturing companies in later generations.

Undoubtedly, this mode of production has been much improved compared to the Qin Dynasty.

Cheng Yuan also said triumphantly: "So that the waiter knows that at present, it is only here, and it can produce more than 100 ploughshares every day, and thousands of other accessories to supply the needs of the entire workshop garden!" ”

This is also the most profitable place for this workshop in Shaofu!

It is also his greatest political achievement, and every day here he can make more than 100,000 yuan in the examination room!

As a result, his status and ranking within the examination room have also skyrocketed a lot.

If this situation continues, Chengyuan is likely to take over as the director of the examination office after the year and become a giant within the Shaofu!

Just thinking of this, Chengyuan was a little difficult to bear.

In fact, he was ready to waste resources in Xinfeng.

Anyway, the things of the state, if they are wasted, they are wasted.

But he never thought that this incident would become his political achievement.

Since the opening of this workshop in Shaofu, it has been able to increase the income of more than 100,000 yuan for the inner treasury of Shaofu every day.

Hundreds of thousands a day, tens of millions a year!

It's almost comparable to the deer herding income of the Shui Heng Duwei Yamen in Shanglin Yuan!

………………………………

And when Zhang Yue was inspecting the workshop garden, in Chang'an City, Liu Jin was also walking in a complex of buildings that made him deeply shocked and awe-inspired.

Hundreds of thousands of weapons were densely packed in wooden boxes.

Bows, crossbows, swords, guns, halberds you name it!

Even, Liu Jin saw hundreds of large yellow crossbows hanging on the wall.

"Your Highness...... In the arsenal, the retired weapons, armor and chariots of the Han army of all dynasties since Emperor Gao are stored......" A lieutenant accompanied him, and introduced with a flattering face: "The last general estimated that there are about 150,000 crossbows, 130,000 bows, more than 27,000 sets of armor, and more than 3.5 million arrows in the arsenal...... In addition, there are more than 70,000 bronze swords and more than 30,000 halberds each! ”

"If something happens to the country, the arsenal alone can arm an army of 300,000 at once! And make it fully armed! ”

"Back then, when Tiao Hou went south to quell the rebellion, it was to open the arsenal and arm hundreds of thousands of troops overnight!"

He grinned, looked at Liu Jin, and asked respectfully, "Your Highness, how many weapons do you plan to bring out from the arsenal?" ”

"You just have to say a number, and the last general will be able to bring out the best weapons in the arsenal in no time......"