After sending off the bewildered envoy of the Duchy of God, Marin overheard the news from his subordinates that the steel plant had been put into operation......

Previously, in order to build a high-level reservoir, Marin specially built fly ash cement, and later, he built a steel mill with the intention of producing steel bars, so that the strongest reinforced concrete could be used in the construction of the reservoir. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

In order to produce steel bars, Marin specially collected materials and built a small blast furnace for iron smelting of 5 tons (5 tons per day), a 2-ton open hearth, and a coke oven for coking coal into coke.

Of course, it is not difficult to build a small blast furnace, and it is not a hassle to build an open hearth. The real trouble is how to collect the coke oven gas, a by-product of the coke oven, and pass it to the open-hearth combustion chamber for open-hearth steelmaking.

The craftsmen worked hard for several months, using expensive bronze to create copper pipes that could prevent rust for a long time, and to direct the coke oven gas to the steelmaking hearth.

After several months of trying, finally, at the end of April 1501, the commissioning was completed and the official iron-smelting and steel-making began......

Although it may be a joke to say that 5 tons of iron and 2 tons of steel per day may be a joke in later generations, the output of a village-run steel mill is much larger than that of a small steel mill in Marin. However, this also has to take into account the historical context.

In later generations, because of the extremely developed industry, steel was produced, and there was no need to worry about it. For example, in the real estate of Huaxia, each building needs to use a lot of steel bars. In addition, the amount of steel consumed in machine building is also very impressive. Therefore, steel production often becomes an important industrial indicator of a country.

However, in this era, because the machine industry had not yet appeared, the use of steel was very narrow. Steel is produced either for the production of daily necessities such as farm tools, kitchen knives, and iron pots, or for the production of weapons and armor.

Therefore, the use of steel in this era is very limited, and the consumption of the whole society is not large. If you really move the steel mills of later generations and produce so much steel, it is estimated that no one will buy them.

A daily output of 5 tons of pig iron sounds like a lot, but over the course of a year, there are 1,825 tons. What is the concept of 1825 tons? Maybe the owner of a steel mill in a certain township will despise it, but in ancient times, it was definitely a lot. You know, according to the data, in 1670, the annual steel production in Russia was only 2,400 tons.

And what era is 1670? It was the eve of Peter the Great's accession to the throne. At that time, Russia was already a European power, with a population of at least a few million.

1,825 tons of iron, counted as catties, is enough to be 365,000 catties. To build a Type 65 cavalry saber, it takes 1.85 kg of steel. Converted, 1,825 tons of iron can be built into nearly 100,000. And a pair of Gothic plate armor, which weighs only 50 pounds, can build 7,300 sets of steel with these steels......

In short, let the East Friesian Lamberan digest it by itself, 1825 tons of iron will definitely not be used up......

Therefore, as soon as it was put into production, Marin was going to have a headache for the steel market......

"Oh, how did you forget about Saxony and Geddes, who were fighting?" Marin suddenly patted his head.

What business is the most profitable in the future? Naturally, it is a product of arms and drugs. However, the manufacture of weapons and equipment in later generations was very technical, and ordinary people could not handle it. For example, Uncle Black Africa couldn't do it himself, so he had to buy it. So, arms dealers can drive up prices and squeeze buyers.

But in this era, whether it is a sword or armor, the technical content is not high, and everyone can produce it by recruiting a few blacksmiths. Therefore, it is very difficult for weapons and armor to sell at a very high price.

However, in this era, the European iron-smelting technology was too rubbish, and the low-level iron-smelting technology of "block smelting" was used in the early days. The iron smelted by such iron-smelting technology is relatively soft. Even, some soldiers have become bent after a sword stab, and the soldier needs to re-straighten the sword on the ground before using it.

However, with the development of the Renaissance, Europeans gradually moved away from the shackles of early religion, and science began to develop. The French first produced large iron ingots in the mid-15th century, and then, during this time, it was time for the English iron industry to begin to flourish. In the early 16th century, the English developed the Hongyi cannon.

But in 1501, the British probably hadn't made a good Hongyi cannon. Moreover, European steel, I don't know why, has always been soft. Therefore, their plate armor was not used in the early days. This also led to the fact that the French knights who wore plate armor all over their bodies were always pierced by the English longbow at the beginning of the Hundred Years' War......

However, after the French made cast iron in the 15th century, the hardness of plate armor increased greatly, and they no longer feared the English longbow. Therefore, the Knights of Plate Armor were very prominent for a while in the 15th century. Unfortunately, in the 16th century, muskets rose again. The musket doesn't care how hard your plate armor is, and then, the Plate Knight is sent to the dustbin of history by the musketeers.

Still, at this stage, plate armor is useful. Because, there are also very few armies in Europe that use muskets. The pig iron produced in the small blast furnace that Marlin had made was ideal for making armor and swords. And the steel produced in the open-hearth, not to mention.

Since the Saxons and Geddes were fighting, they would definitely need a lot of swords and armor. It just so happened that Marin was worried about the sale of steel. Therefore, Marin planned to take out some of the steel and use it to make weapons and armor, and then sell them to the warring parties......

You must know that in this era, iron swords and plate armor were still very expensive because of the backward iron-smelting technology. A set of Maximilian armor from Innsbruck, Austria, sold for more than 200 gold coins. Of course, that's boutique. Plate armor of ordinary quality, there are also thirty or fifty gold coins. A two-handed sword costs as much as 5 to 10 gold coins.

Generally speaking, the two-handed swords used by knights were forged repeatedly and took a long time. But in fact, the blacksmiths' forging is mainly to squeeze out the impurities in the sword at high temperatures.

However, the steel that has been smelted in the open-hearth of Marin is of excellent quality without forging. However, Marlin did not intend to give the steel weapon armor to anyone else. What's more, whether it is Saxony or Gedes, they are both potential enemies of Marin.

So Marin decided to make weapons and armor out of pig iron and sell them to the Saxons and Geddes......

Moreover, Marin is not a pit for them. Because, at present, the mainstream weapons and armor in Europe are of pig iron quality.

At most, Marlin will add some quicklime to the molten iron to remove sulfur and phosphorus to improve the quality of the pig iron. Anyway, the quality won't be worse than what others use. As for the steel smelted in the open hearth, it was naturally used in the armor of its own weapons......

As a result, Marin ordered to move to a weapons workshop near Aurich and began to make swords and armor from pig iron on a large scale, with the intention of selling them to the warring parties.

Marin then sent emissaries to Saxony and Guedes, respectively, to sell his own swords and armor......

When Duke George and Duke Charles II met with Marin's envoy and learned that Marin wanted to sell weapons and armor, they were confused......

However, if you think about it, as the war continues, they really need to replenish their swords and armor. After all, because of the battle, both swords and armor are worn. Even the weapons and armor used by the honor guards are still worn out, let alone the two armies in the fierce battle?

Moreover, the samples of weapons and armor made of pig iron brought by the envoys sent by Marin were of no worse quality than others, and the price was cheaper (blast furnace iron smelting was much cheaper and more efficient than the small furnaces of the European blacksmiths of this era), and they had no reason to refuse.

However, in fact, because of the high efficiency of blast furnace iron smelting using coke, the cost has been reduced. A cast iron two-handed sword, Marin can make a profit even if he only sells it for 1 gold coin. Now, he sells 4 gold coins, and he actually makes a lot of money. But neither Saxony nor Guedes, as buyers, knew this, and they were still happy that Marin had given them a price lower than the market price......

Both buyers and sellers thought they were taking advantage, and Charles II, Duke of Guedes, thought - "Marin is really a good ally, sell me weapons and armor at a low price!" ”

And George thinks - "The emperor's face is really big enough, and Marin, a bad guy, is willing to sell him high-quality weapons and armor at a cheap price......"

But in reality, Marin has made a lot of money. Relying on the cost of iron smelting several times lower than that of ordinary blacksmiths, even if it is lower than the market price, Marin makes much more profits than other arms suppliers......