Chapter 169 Coke Steelmaking

---- Xuanwu Gate

"Xu, Lord Xu......"

Seeing that the little official was like a mouse seeing a cat, he was suddenly stunned, Zhuge Yan snorted lightly, and then said to Xu Qing: "General, let the above batch some charcoal down yesterday, these bastards actually sent a few carts of charcoal, it really made me angry, I asked him to pull back, and he didn't do it......"

The little official immediately grabbed the words, knelt down and said: "Lord Xu, it's all our treasurer's meaning, the villain is only responsible for sending charcoal, I don't know what the general is going to do." ”

Zhuge Yan pointed at him and said: "You, you just said that after reading our general's letter, he said that he wanted charcoal, but he didn't know that it was charcoal, and he knew that we were going to bake a fire." ”

The little official raised his head and quibbled: "Your general is spewing blood, how can I see your general's letter, and besides, I don't know how to read." ”

Zhuge Yan wanted to scold again, but Xu Qing raised his hand to stop it, and returned: "This charcoal really can't be used, you go back first, and let your treasurer send five more carts of charcoal." ”

The little official's eyes rolled, and he hurriedly admitted: "Hey, hey, the little one will go." ”

As he spoke, he ran away, and Zhuge Yan asked puzzledly; "General, how can such a villain be trusted by him, I don't think he will come back if he goes."

Xu Qing smiled and asked, "Did you sign the paperwork?" ”

"No ......"

"Since they didn't sign or stamp, then their charcoal hasn't been sent yet, and it's not us who are in a hurry. By the way, the charcoal in the camp has been used up? ”

"No, no, there are still a few days of charcoal in the camp, and it can be used for five days."

"Well, that's fine, put the charcoal here first. Charcoal is not really poisonous, as long as it is burned properly, it is even more effective than charcoal. ”

"Wow,"

"General Zhuge , I will go to the general to take a trip to the prison, you have to guard this Xuanwu Gate."

After thinking about it, Xu Qing asked someone to help him pick a load of coal, that is, coal, and then he went to be a prisoner. This charcoal was used by Xu Qing when he was in Cangzhou, and it was transported back by Manid in Shanxi at that time, but Xu Qing only used it to eat a few non-spicy spicy hot meals before being recalled to Chang'an by Li Yuan.

In fact, Xu Qing's purpose in using coal was to make steel. Whether it is a horizontal knife or an iron spear in the Tang Dynasty, they are all made of iron, which is relatively brittle and wears a lot on the battlefield. Occasionally, one or two unintentionally trained steel swords were treated as treasure swords by the generals. The reason why the Tang Dynasty could not make steel was because charcoal could only be used, and the temperature of the flame was not enough, while coke could release a higher temperature than charcoal and quickly smelt steel. There was a saying among ancient alchemists that it was called "Perfection", which was later used to describe a person's skill in a certain skill. This pure green is the blue flame, which is the flame of the high-temperature flame - the flame when the coke burns.

After smelting steel, only a little bit is needed, and later generations "six points of iron, four points of steel" and "steel is used on the blade" of the saying, it shows that steel in weapons play, the amount is small and the price is high, and when combined with iron, the power is doubled.

Xu Qing originally thought that the dignitaries and nobles in the Tang Dynasty rarely used charcoal, and there were many nobles in Chang'an City, so no one would sell this charcoal, but he didn't expect that this would be delivered to his eyes. Immediately, he decided that all the thousands of people under his command must be replaced with weapons and armor made of steel.

Xu Qing walked to the general prison, and then turned his head to the ordnance prison, but before he entered the door, he only heard a banging sound from inside. A few guards in front of the door stopped Xu Qing and asked for his identity, so he let Xu Qing go in alone. The person who picked the coal behind Xu Qing was also stopped, checked the coal for a while, and asked a guard to pick it up and follow Xu Qing.

Someone had already gone to inform the prison that someone was coming, and at this time, before Xu Qing could enter the door, he greeted him. opened his mouth and said: "Xiaguan sees Lord Xu, I don't know what Lord Xu is doing here?" Hey? Master Xu, you can come here, what else do you bring......"

Xu Qing was naturally embarrassed and told him that this was not a gift, but Shi Tan, and he came here just to build a weapon. The prisoner wiped his sweat, these days, the news of the new equipment of the sixteen guards of the Fourth Army has been released, and before it was officially built, many people sent gifts. Today, Xu Qing came to the door in person, and he was also surprised, so he made a fuss about the ugly eating appearance just now. But Xu Qing is a purple-robed boss, he is a little green-clothed eunuch who definitely doesn't dare to show his displeasure in person, and Xu Qing is different from others, this one is the person Pei Xiang Xiao Xiangzhong ordered Qi Qi to take a fancy to, and his power is not at all what the official position shows.

Xu Qing was welcomed into the ordnance prison by the prisoner, but this was a distance from the door without entering the door, and Xu Qing seemed to have reached the equator from the North Pole. A gust of hot wind blew, almost forming a layer of mist on Xu Qing's face.

Jian Cheng explained with a smile that it was time to build new equipment, and now he made some parts first to smelt cast iron, which could save a lot of time in the future. Xu Qing was embarrassed this time, he originally thought that this shop for recycling old iron had just opened, and it was still far from building new equipment.

But all of them came, and with a purple robe to support Xu Qing, Xu Qing still said his own thing: "Lord Supervisor, this official came to the Ordnance Prison, in fact, he wanted to borrow a boiler for use, I wonder if I can free up one?" ”

The supervisor was stunned for a moment, and then patted his chest and said: "I have 3,000 people in the weapons prison and more than 100 boilers. The adults have all spoken, and if there is anything else that the lower officials will not agree, I don't know how long it will take for the adults, and whether someone needs to help. ”

Xu Qing replied: "It's natural to start, just do it this afternoon." By the way, be a little more remote, a little smaller. ”

Jian Cheng smiled and flattered: "That's natural, Xia Guan naturally finds the best material, the best people, and the most quiet place for adults." Adults, please ......"

As he spoke, the prisoner's hand also put on a posture of invitation. Xu Qing sneered, a large ingot of silver leaked out of his sleeve, and as he passed by the hand of the prisoner, he quietly put the silver in his hand. This time, the prisoner was even more enthusiastic.

In fact, Xu Qing didn't need to be like this at all, with his identity, no one would say anything about letting people serve him tea and pour water. But it's another thing to make people happy to do things. Xu Qing also thought that if this boiler was not picked well, it would be himself who would have an accident at that time, and it would be better for people to be willing to do things.

Walking through these outside boilers, Xu Qingxin said, this ordnance supervisor is really big, it's the size of ten football fields, right? One house after another, there is also a water diversion system that passes through the middle of the house, which not only meets the water inside, but also prevents fires. But Xu Qing didn't know, but the general next to him was the two big ones of this weapons supervisor, and the weapons department outside the city was the three big ones. Being an ordnance supervisor is better than refining knives and guns, but the ordnance department is better at bows and crossbows, and the armor is directly borne by the generals.