On the banks of the Santai River, the newly completed Bazhou Ordnance Supervision Branch is in operation, many craftsmen are busy everywhere, the prison is divided into several areas, and the most striking are the two iron-making furnaces.

The iron-making furnace has been running for a while, and today Bazhou Thorn Shi Yuwenwen came to the scene in person to inspect the two iron-making furnaces that embody the efforts of the craftsmen.

Not to mention the old iron-making furnace of the Ordnance Supervision in the city for the time being, he let Yang Ji participate in the planning of the new iron-making furnace and the Ordnance Supervision Branch, and the safety level is much higher than the original, even if the iron-making furnace leaks molten iron, it flows into the Santai River.

"Have the quarters of the craftsmen and handymen been arranged?" Yu Wenwen asked, because this place is located on the Santai River in the northern suburbs of the city, some distance from Xiyang City, in order to facilitate the work of craftsmen and handymen, there is a residence for them to live in.

"Back to the envoy, there are many more rooms." The sergeant of the Ministry of Engineering replied that the sergeant of the Ministry of Engineering was responsible for the management of hundreds of workers, and it was the second life.

"How was the last time the iron was out? Does it work? He asked, and the smelter corporal who was next to him reported that the iron had gone well, and the smelter corporal and the caster corporal reported one after another, saying that the iron smelted could be used to make agricultural tools.

Corporal, is the lowest rank in the official system of the Zhou State, for the first life, although humble but an official, one hundred and twenty-five stones, and a sergeant, two lives, two hundred and fifty stones, but the Bazhou Supervisor, a small state weapons supervisor, in addition to the Ministry of Engineering for the sergeant, there are only low-level corporals.

"That's good, the people are about to open up the wasteland and farm, and they are in urgent need of iron tools." Yu Wenwen nodded with satisfaction, if you want to do a good job, you must first sharpen your tools, and he is racking his brains for "sharpening his tools".

Ploughing and warfare require one important thing: iron. Iron tools such as hoes, shovels, sickles, guillotines, and the warp plough that was being popularized were needed to plough the fields, let alone combat.

Knives, spearheads, spearheads, arrowheads, armor, helmets, stirrups and other auxiliary tools and materials, which are inseparable from iron, Bazhou does not produce iron ore, so the ordnance supervision is dependent on other states to supply iron ore or iron materials for reprocessing.

Ironmaking is the big head, in order to make iron, you need high temperature, to high temperature you have to burn the fire vigorously, so how to make the fire burn vigorously is the key, first of all, the fuel (wood, charcoal) must be sufficient, and the second is to blow the wind.

The iron-making furnace needs a large amount of blast to make the fire burn more vigorously, that is, to make the furnace temperature higher, so as to effectively make iron, the common iron-making furnace blast is to use the skin, also known as the 'luo', the air volume of the skin is small to use multiple together, and an iron-making furnace needs to use many skins.

Many skins are used to blow air into the iron-making furnace, which is generally lined up together and called "row of bags", but even so, the blowing effect is not very good, so Yu Wenwen asked people to make a wooden bellows.

The wooden bellows can be made very large, the capacity is large, the air volume of the one-time air blast is large, and the non-stop air blowing back and forth can ensure that the furnace is vigorous, but there is a problem: the push-pull bellows are very tiring.

There is no shortage of strong men in the ordnance superintendent, but it is very tiring to pull the bellows, and the iron-making furnace will burn for a long time if it is a little hot, and the strong men have to take turns to pull the bellows, and the first labor-saving solution is the winch.

Yu Wenwen designed a winch, the handymen are like a donkey grinding donkey to turn the winch, the crankshaft on the winch rotates, driving the push rod to push and pull the bellows back and forth, so that a lot of effort can be saved.

But it still has to be pushed around, which still occupies manpower, and after the embankment on the south bank of the Santai River is stable, Yuwenwen spent money to build a new iron-making furnace on the south bank, the biggest purpose is to use water power, one of which is to push the bellows with water power.

The manpower-driven bellows are called human rows, and the water-powered bellows are called water rows, strictly speaking, hydraulic blows are not regarded as Yuwenwen's 'inventions', and they are said to have appeared as early as the Han Dynasty.

The water wheel is pushed by the water, and the rotating water wheel pushes the crank, and the crank rotates to make the connecting rod reciprocate, so that the bellows can be pushed and pulled by hydraulic power.

It is important to note that a water wheel is used, not a water wheel, although they are both wheels propelled by water power, but there is a substantial difference: the water wheel is submerged in the river water, but the water wheel is not.

The water wheel can leave the water surface, and the water flows out of the elevated canal higher than it, and the water wheel can be directly driven by the drop, which is several times more efficient than the sunken water wheel (water wheel), and even a small amount of water can push a huge mechanical device.

The water level of the river changes significantly due to the seasons, and the flow rate fluctuates greatly, so it is necessary to use a water wheel because it cannot provide stable power by relying on traditional waterwheels alone.

There are no mountains by the Santai River, and it is difficult to divert water from the elevated water tank, so the method of storing water in the water tank is adopted, and several water wheels pump the water to the towering wooden water tanks, and use the water from the tanks to push the water wheels below.

The water output can be manually controlled, and the sufficient water storage tank can ensure that the water wheel keeps rotating, so the blower device can operate stably.

The blower device is in place, and the next improvement is another improvement: blower preheating.

The water is discharged to the iron-making furnace to blow air, and the air that is blown in is at room temperature, and the temperature of the furnace in the iron-making furnace is thousands of degrees, and the "cold" air needs to consume a lot of heat to heat up, which will affect the stability of the furnace temperature, so it is best to preheat the air that is drummed in.

In view of this, Yu Wenwen designed the preheating kiln between the iron-making furnace and the water row, of course, he was only responsible for putting forward the idea, which was implemented by the craftsmen, and the experienced craftsmen knew it well, and the preheating kiln was quickly formed, and it was officially put into use after the test.

The preheating kiln burns charcoal, of course, the iron-making furnace also burns charcoal, the temperature that charcoal burning can provide is limited, if you want to make steel is slightly insufficient, Yuwenwen knows that using coke to make iron and steel is the first choice.

The calorific value of coke is very high, it is obtained by dry distillation of coal isolated from air, similar to wood isolated from air dry distillation to obtain charcoal, but to coke you have to have coal, coal is called coal by the world, but the coal mining in this era is very low, and it has not been used on a large scale.

There are not many ready-made coal mines in the prefectures of Shannan, and it is difficult for the so-called Qiao woman to cook without rice, Yuwenwen can only use charcoal to smelt iron according to the old method, as for whether it can be smelted steel, it really depends on the face.

Fortunately, there is no shortage of timber in the Jiangbei region, not to mention anything else, Ba Shui originates in the Dabie Mountains, and the cut timber is transported by boat, and the charcoal is made from a charcoal kiln and then transported to the iron-making furnace.

Then there is the most important raw material: iron ore, or pig iron. Because there is no iron ore in Bazhou, the ordnance supervisor uses "processing with supplied materials", but Yuwenwen has found a new source of minerals: river sand iron separation.

Iron is the river sand selection iron by the Ba water, the selected iron sand accumulated, there is an iron-making furnace built next to the iron selection yard by the Ba water at the beginning of the year, and now Yuwenwen has closed it down, and it is concentrated here at the new site of Santaihe to make iron.

Although the iron selection yard is far away, but there is nothing to do with water conservancy, it is also very convenient to use a boat to carry iron sand from Ba Shui into the Santai River, and it is also very convenient to transport it up to this iron-making furnace, the only deficiency is that the quality of iron smelted by iron sand is not good.

The iron sand selected from the river sand, I don't know what the specific composition is, the iron material smelted is brittle, don't think about it to make knives, and even at the beginning it was used to make an iron plough with a silver-like pewter gun head, which is useless.

Fortunately, it can be used to make arrowheads, which not only solves the needs of archers, but also frees up valuable iron materials to make knives, armor leaves and farm tools, but Yuwen Wen does not give up, and still asks the blacksmiths to study how to use the iron sand in Ba Shui.

Recalling the chemistry knowledge that he had almost forgotten, Yu Wenwen knew that the brittle iron he practiced was about high in sulfur.

It is said that the sulfur content of iron ore in the Central Plains is not low, so that the iron smelted before modern times is brittle, he is not a metallurgical major, so he does not know whether this statement is correct or not, but the high sulfur content is indeed the culprit of iron brittleness.

It is impossible to know how much sulfur content is in the iron sand selected from the river sand, and the blacksmiths of Bazhou Supervisor can successfully smelt good iron from smelting other iron ores, but the iron from the sand cannot be smelted, which shows that the ironmaking process must be improved in a targeted manner.

You have to slowly explore and study the process, then it will take me I don't know how much time, but it is impossible to choose another iron ore source, and the ore source you choose has to smelt good iron while kneeling, Yu Wenwen still racked his brains to recall what he had learned, and then patted his head and said that he had.

There is sulfur, right, this thing should be acidic, then acid and alkali neutralization, this is not Yuwen Wen messed up, he has seen the information on steel desulfurization when he collects information and writes, although he only knows the fur, but he also remembers that limestone is used for desulfurization when making iron.

As for the ratio of the blanking, he doesn't remember, or use the old way: try slowly until you try it. Anyway, it is to burn money and let the craftsmen try again and again.

After several months of burning money, the iron used to make sickles was finally made before the autumn harvest, and the two new iron-making furnaces, which were put into operation soon after, also maintained a 'high' level of iron for hoes, shovels and curved ploughs.

Although the output of iron is not higher, but also to solve the urgent need, the original iron ore is from Huangzhou, good quality can be needed in many states and counties, can use iron sand to smelt usable iron, at least can save the share to make knives.

"Out of the iron!" The craftsman beside the iron-making furnace shouted loudly, Yuwen Wen and his entourage approached in the heat wave, only to see the furnace gate open, red molten iron flowing out of the pipe, and the blacksmiths who had already prepared began to get busy.

Of course, this is called forging, and if the molten iron is poured into a pre-prepared mold, it is called casting, and in any case, striking iron is the most common process when making iron products.

Put the iron in the furnace and burn it red, put it on the anvil with iron tongs, and then beat it with a hand hammer or a large iron hammer to beat the iron into the shape you want, just like kneading dough.

Therefore, striking iron is a hard work, it is the master who uses a hammer to strike iron, and the one who picks the sledgehammer is the apprentice who has the strength, even if it is nine cold, the craftsmen in the blacksmith shop are sweating like rain, and the sledgehammer is the hardest.

Striking iron and pulling bellows occupy a lot of manpower, Yuwenwen naturally wants to release manpower with the help of hydraulic power, following the hydraulic bellows, hydraulic forging hammers also appear in this newly completed ordnance prison.

The principle of hydraulic forging hammer is similar to that of hydraulic hammer, which is nothing more than that the rice pestle becomes an iron hammer, but in order to ensure a higher forging hammer frequency per unit time, a simple speed change device composed of gears needs to be installed.

A stick of incense in the time of the forging hammer at least 2,000 times, if a stick of incense about fifteen minutes to convert, then the hydraulic forging hammer of the iron frequency is more than 130 times per minute, although there is still a lot of room for improvement, but compared to manpower is a world of difference.

Swing the sledgehammer more than 100 times a minute, at least twice a second on average, even if someone can do it in a few minutes, it is impossible to last, this is the power of mechanical power.

The sound of clanging iron comes and goes, several hydraulic forging hammers of different sizes are operating, with these novel machines, blacksmiths can make iron tools faster and better, Yuwen Wen watched a few blacksmiths build iron ploughs with interest, and unconsciously was sweating profusely.

"Envoy, it's too hot here, let's go outside and cool off." After the Ministry of Industry presented a towel, Yu Wenwen nodded when he heard this, took the towel and wiped his head and asked as he walked:

"It's so hot, the craftsmen are sweating profusely, is there a guarantee of drinking water?"

"Envoy, there are drinking water in a few tanks there, and some salt has been added."

"Is it boiled water?" Yu Wenwen asked again, his requirements for drinking water are very simple and strict, it must be boiled water to drink, one is hygienic, and the other is that drinking river water directly is easy to get sick.

"Exactly, the stove for boiling water is over there." The Ministry of Industry pointed to a stove not far away, Yu Wenwen looked at it and then asked someone to fetch a bowl of water, and after a few sips, he determined that the water was a little salty.

The blacksmith sweats a lot and works hard, not only to replenish water, but also to replenish salt, for this kind of technical craftsman, Yuwen Wen does not regard him as a humble slave like others.

"It's a good job, keep it up." Yu Wenwen nodded, looking back at the hot blacksmith shop, he asked the next question: "Where is the thing?" ”

"Envoy, please come here." After the Ministry of Engineering finished speaking, he took a step forward and led the way, and Yu Wenwen followed along with other escorts and his entourage.

Another purpose of Yu Wenwen's visit to the Ordnance Supervision Branch today is to see a newly created treasure, for this thing, he also burned a lot of money, and he couldn't help but feel a little excited when he saw that he was about to see the real face. (To be continued.) )