Here, Lu Yuan personally examined these military households, but he didn't check them much, just screened out the ones who were too weak.

Most of the military households remained, working directly as workers in the steel mills, half of them as workers in the mining group and half as workers in the steelmaking group.

The military families who were left behind as workers were very happy, and even ran to tell each other with joy.

Liu Fangyun is a military household over forty years old, and at this time he was so happy that he ran home directly: "Daughter-in-law, the official has given us a living to earn money again, and we can continue to earn money to eat." ”

"It's a good thing, seeing that my family has a large population, and the wages I earned a few days ago have been spent, and now that I have a job again, I finally don't have to eat wild vegetables."

Liu Fangyun's daughter-in-law was so happy that she hurriedly added an extra spoonful of rice to her tin can.

The two thin children squatting in front of the fire pit laughed when they saw this.

Liu Fangyun was also so happy when she saw that her daughter-in-law put more rice to cook, and tears welled up for a while.

Zhang Huzi also returned home at this time and poured the wild vegetables that his children had just brought back into the river.

Zhang Xiaojiu, Zhang's bearded son, cried and roared: "Dad, what are you doing with my wild vegetables, I have been walking for a long time to dig up the point, and the rice at home is about to run out again." ”

"In the future, we won't eat wild vegetables, son, let's eat grain, eat grain every day, and eat meat, let's go, Daddy will take you to the department store to get grain on credit."

Zhang Huzi said and pulled Zhang Xiaojiu towards Qingquan Square.

Zhang Xiaojiu refused to leave: "Dad, what credit do you take, now the official master doesn't want anyone to ram it, and there is no salary to help." ”

"The official has started recruiting workers again, and the salary is higher than before, one or two silver a month!"

Zhang Huzi walked up with his chest up as he spoke, as if he felt that he was going to be a little more angry in front of his son.

"Really? Daddy? ”

Zhang Xiaojiu jumped up excitedly, looking at Zhang Huzi's eyes, afraid that his father was lying to him.

"It's true, this is a badge, and it's your daddy and my production group number and name, how could daddy lie to you."

Zhang Huzi proudly took out the badge and handed it to Zhang Xiaojiu.

Zhang Xiaojiu touched the wooden sign engraved with neat italics and jumped up happily: "It's so good, Daddy, I want to eat steamed buns, I want to eat white steamed buns!" ”

"Daddy will go back to make it for you after he goes to get food on credit, and Daddy still has to save money, and when the time comes, bring your mother back, and tell her that the family has income."

Zhang Huzi said with a smile.

Zhang Xiaojiu stood on his feet and said a little lonely: "Daddy, let's not go to the grain on credit, let's eat wild vegetables for a few more days, save enough money early, and bring my mother back as soon as possible." ”

Zhang Huzi smiled a little sourly: "It's okay, we only have one meal on credit, and we will eat wild vegetables tomorrow." ”

"Uncle, these military households are like they don't want to die in order to work, and there are old people in their seventies who are rushing to come to the mine."

Looking at these workers who were running back and forth with truckloads of iron ore running back and forth in the cold winter, Caiyi patted a snowflake on Lu Yuan's body and said.

"It's not about not starving, after all, it's better to die of exhaustion than to starve."

After Lu Yuan said a word, he asked Uncle Fei: "Uncle Fei, one hundred and twenty-eight military households, most of the strong laborers have entered the steel plant, is the degree of farmland deserted more serious?" ”

"Brother, it's not, they're still planting, and now there are still people working in the fields at night, even to earn more income."

Uncle Fei replied.

"Exactly like the migrant workers of later generations, they still farm their family's land when they work outside, and with such hard-working people, why worry about the great cause."

Lu Yuan smiled and said something in his heart.

The left iron arm is in charge of the mining operations, while the steelmaking is directly responsible for Lu Yuan.

After all, Lu Yuan wanted to personally test the new steelmaking method this time.

Although the steel output of the crucible steelmaking method is much worse than that of the converter steelmaking and open-hearth steelmaking method after modern times, it is far better than the steel-filling method commonly used in the Ming Dynasty.

Because crucible steelmaking can use graphite crucible to isolate the direct contact between coal and iron ore, it can also withstand high temperatures, and can directly transfer the heat of media combustion to iron ore.

Iron ore can be smelted with coal to obtain a higher temperature than charcoal, and the sulfur impurities in the coke can be avoided from entering the iron ore to pollute the steel.

As for coke, it was used by the ancients to smelt iron as early as the Song Dynasty, so people of this era are no strangers to this coke, knowing that it is obtained by dry distillation of coal at high temperatures.

Lu Yuan had learned about this crucible steelmaking method in an engineering school in his previous life, and had also restored this basic steelmaking process, so it was not difficult to build a crucible steelmaking process.

However, because the workers of the steelmaking team have never been in contact with the steel industry, they need to be taught and directed by Lu Yuan himself.

Of course, Lu Yuan also took advantage of this to inspect these workers, and if there were workers with strong comprehension and learning ability, he would directly promote them to be the important backbone of the steel plant.

After all, it is impossible for Lu Yuan to personally manage the steel plant all the time.

The workers of the steelmaking group were called by Lu Yuan, and Lu Yuan asked them to build small blast furnaces according to their own instructions, and a specially customized crucible was added to each small blast furnace.

Iron ore is poured into the crucible, and coke is added to the furnace under the crucible.

Then, Lu Yuan asked the carpenter Zeng Dongsheng to manufacture the hydraulic blast equipment according to his own design, and the blast equipment was driven to exhaust the air through the hydraulic power of the valley, which greatly exceeded the efficiency of manpower and horsepower exhaust, making the oxygen in the furnace more sufficient, and because Lu Yuan also increased the height of the furnace, the iron could be fully smelted in the furnace to remove impurities.

And because the crucible is a graphite crucible specially customized by Lu Yuan, the iron ore can also directly absorb the carbon of graphite when smelting, and directly become high-carbon molten steel.

"The molten iron is out!"

Someone shouted next to the blast furnace that had been built first.

Lu Yuan hurriedly walked over, and Zuo Tieji, who also came back for lunch, also followed.

Seeing this, Lu Yuan patted the man's head: "This is not molten iron, this is molten steel, immediately take the mold to get molten steel!" ”

Zuo Tiejian said with some disbelief: "Childe, how can this be molten steel, even the best iron ore can only be burned into pig iron, and then mixed with pig iron and wrought iron to make steel." ”

"You are a blacksmith, you know it yourself, and you will know it when you hammer it when it becomes an ingot," Lu Yuan said.

Zuo Tiejian took off his shirt suspiciously, took the iron chopsticks, walked to the mold, and was just about to pick up the solids, but threw the iron chopsticks on the ground: "It's really steel!" Look at this color, it's still a rare good steel! ”

"Childe, I didn't expect this furnace to really make molten steel, and it will be much cheaper to make steel in the future!"

Zuo Tiejian said with both shock and excitement.

"Not only can steelmaking be more efficient, but this steel is also better, after all, it is high-carbon steel, as a tool steel for drills, reamers and serious spring steel."

Lu Yuan said with a smile, and then asked Zuo Tiejian to immediately recruit a few more blacksmiths he knew, and now that there is a process of molten steel production, there is naturally no need to worry about not having good steel to support a good manufacturing industry.