After inspecting the military training ground, Li Shan and Yu Xinzhi were busy preparing to organize the young adults of Qingsong Valley to carry out military training. Zhang Song and Song Pei invited Yu Minzhi to inspect the iron-smelting yard, Yu Minzhi happily agreed, and the three of them went to the place where the blacksmith built the iron-smelting furnace.

At Zhang Song's request, the iron-smelting furnace was built next to a small river, in another small valley between the military training ground and the hinterland of the Qingsong Valley.

"Zhang Song, why did you choose that place in the first place? Wouldn't it be nice to build an iron-smelting yard in the hinterland of Qingsong Valley? ”

"Madam, the work of smelting iron is quite dirty. Once the iron smelting furnace is running, it will produce a large amount of black smoke and dust, which are poisonous, and if you live in this environment for a long time, it is very easy to get incurable diseases. ”

Zhang Song had personally experienced the pollution brought about by modern industry in his previous life, and he had seen the harm that pollution brought to the people's bodies. He left an indelible impression on him was that he had handled a case of pneumoconiosis work-related accidents, he was acting for dozens of farmers in Guangxi and Guizhou who worked in a well-known ceramic company in Guangdong, and those dozens of farmers worked in that well-known ceramic company for nearly ten years. In the end, under Zhang Song's struggle, the ceramics family paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to everyone. The dozens of peasants were very happy after receiving the money, but what they didn't expect was that if they wanted to continue to live, the hundreds of thousands of yuan would not even be enough to buy medicine.

The pollution caused by the iron-smelting factories in this era was only more serious than that of Zhang Song's steel and ceramic factories in his previous life, because the technology was much more backward. Zhang Song didn't want the people of Qingsong Valley to be like those dozens of farmers, if that was the case, it would be better not to build an iron-smelting plant.

"I see, then you should build it a little further."

"It doesn't need to be too far, it can't be too far, now this location is just right, except for the west wind, the wind in several other directions will not blow black smoke and dust to the hinterland of the Green Pine Valley, and if it is built too far, the transportation of iron ore will be difficult, and it will take much more manpower and material resources."

Yu Minzhi nodded and said, "Thinking about it this way, it is indeed that you are more thoughtful. ”

"Lord, are the black smoke and dust really that terrible?"

Song Pei still didn't believe it, originally he strongly requested that the iron-smelting yard be built in Qingsong Gukou, which would be more convenient for the transportation of iron ore and shorten the travel time of workers to work, and the efficiency of iron smelting would be higher. Song Pei is a little anxious now, it is really Zhang Song's strength is too weak, even if he holds Qingsong Valley in his hands, his strength is still very weak, he is now as long as he can improve Zhang Song's strength, he is willing to do whatever he wants.

Zhang Song also understood this, but he thought about it more long-term, and he said to Song Pei seriously: "Very serious! Severe enough to drastically weaken the power of the Green Pine Valley. Song Jun, I understand your mood very well, but we can't improve efficiency at this cost. People are always the most important thing! ”

"My lord, I have been taught." Seeing that Zhang Song said something serious, Song Pei knew that there was no room for discussion in this matter, so he stopped talking about this topic.

"Zhang Song is reasonable, talent is the most important." Yu Minzhi was very touched.

Not too far from the hinterland of the Green Pine Valley, turn left and you will reach the small valley where the ironworks are located.

Standing at the mouth of the valley and looking into the valley, the vast mountains are all covered with tall trees, and those tall trees are green all year round, and the whole valley is verdant.

There was a small river in the valley, and the water rushed down the valley into the only river in the valley of the green pines.

As the construction of the ironworks is underway, the water flowing out of the valley is no longer clear, but muddy. The only way he can think of is to find some bamboo tubes to drain the unpolluted river water into the Qingsong Valley as domestic water to ensure the safety of the living water in the Qingsong Valley.

"Whoa!" A loud bang came from the small valley, it was a huge tree that had been cut down.

"Ma'am, let's go in!" Zhang Song reminded Yu Minzhi, who was standing at the mouth of the valley and looking at the river in contemplation.

"Zhang Song, after the iron smelting yard is built, the river water here will be dirtier, right?"

"It's going to be dirtier, and there's no way to do it now, unless we don't build an iron smelting yard."

"It is impossible not to build an iron smelting plant, and the development and growth of Qingsong Valley requires an iron smelting field. There are pros and cons to everything! Yu Minzhi sighed and walked forward.

Someone in the small valley had already seen Zhang Song, Yu Minzhi and Song Pei, and Liu Yongsheng and the blacksmith hurriedly ran down to greet the three.

"Madame, Zhang Jun, and Song Jun arrived, but the servants couldn't welcome them from afar, and I ask for forgiveness." Liu Yongsheng and the blacksmith saluted in unison.

The blacksmith was dressed in a short coat on his upper body, and the short clothes were stained on his body, and the sweat was pouring down the large bare bronzed skin on his chest. The trouser legs were rolled up high, both legs were covered in mud and sand, and the feet were bare.

Liu Yongsheng was also covered in sweat, sweat soaked through his clothes, and his usual clogs were gone, and he was standing barefoot.

"What, there's not enough manpower? Do you want Yongsheng to work yourself? Yu Minzhi asked in surprise.

"Madame, there are really not enough people." Liu Yongsheng replied.

"There are more than 200 people in the valley, how can it not be enough?" Yu Minzhi asked suspiciously.

"Madam, there are about fifty or sixty people to do farm work, and Yu Jun asked for some more people to set up the military training ground, and now that the military training ground has been arranged, fifty or sixty middle-aged people will be organized for training." Liu Yongsheng counted them one by one.

"Even if there are a hundred people in these two places, there are still more than a hundred people, isn't it enough?" Yu Minzhi still has doubts.

"It's really not enough, there are three parts to the work of the iron smelting plant, one is to burn charcoal, the second is to build a blast furnace, and the third is to dig iron ore, and these three parts of the work require a lot of manpower. I'd like to draw some people over now. Seeing that Yu Minzhi was still a little unconvinced, Liu Yongsheng hurriedly explained.

Yu Minzhi looked at Zhang Song, Zhang Song nodded, and Yu Minzhi stopped asking this question.

"Liu Jun, the manpower can no longer be drawn from the grain, the grain has a season, you must give priority to ensuring that the manpower of the grain is sufficient, if it is really not possible, then iron smelting and military training can be put aside first." Zhang Song really didn't expect Liu Yongsheng to transfer so many people to build the iron smelting plant, and he was worried that Liu Yongsheng had lost his sense of proportion for a while, so he instructed softly.

"Yes. Zhang Jun, I will definitely not delay the agricultural time, I ask you to slow down your military training. ”

"The two of you negotiate and make proper arrangements." Yu Minzhi raised his feet and walked forward, saying, "Let's go, take us to visit first and see how the construction is going." ”

As soon as you climb the hillside in front of you, you can see the appearance of the ironworks, and in the wide valley, there are two tall towers, and there are people on the high towers who are laying stones on them. Under the tower was a wide open space, where a hundred and ten people came and went, and the scene was like ants moving when a rainy day was coming.

"What a big scene!" Yu Minzhi sighed.

"yes!" Zhang Song himself sighed.

Although he had learned a little about steelmaking in his previous life, and also knew the structure of the blast furnace and some other equipment, these were all things that Zhang Song had learned from books, and he had never seen a real steel plant. Now seeing the two blast furnaces standing in front of him, Zhang Song was also shocked.

"Madam, you see, that is the blast furnace, which is the main equipment for iron smelting, that is the wind exhaust, which is used for air blowing, and that is the water drain......" Zhang Song came back to his senses and introduced the equipment in front of Yu Minzhi.

Yu Minzhi walked towards the blast furnace in Zhang Song's introduction, and the busy villagers of Qingsong Valley stopped to say hello to Yu Minzhi and Zhang Song. Yu Minzhi returned the salute with a smile, and Zhang Song returned the salute while greeting everyone warmly.

Walking to the blast furnace, Zhang Song had already introduced all the equipment to Yu Minzhi, and he said to Minzhi: "Madam, please wait, I will check whether the blast furnace they built is qualified." ”

Yu Minzhi waved his hand at Zhang Song and said, "You go and get busy, it's important to get down to business, you don't have to worry about me." ”

"Liu Jun, please accompany Madame. Blacksmith, take me to see the inside of the blast furnace. Zhang Song said to Liu Yongsheng and the blacksmith.

"Madam, please go here, and I'll take you to the shed to rest." Liu Yongsheng led Yu Minzhi towards the shed where he and the blacksmith were resting.

"Zhang Jun, please follow me." The blacksmith led Zhang Song up the steps of the blast furnace.

The blast furnace built at this time is different from the modern blast furnace in that it is mostly half below the ground and the small half above the ground. In addition to the steps on the ground, there are also steps inside the blast furnace that lead to the bottom of the blast furnace.

After entering the inside of the blast furnace along the steps, Zhang Song looked around, the shape of the blast furnace was very round, and the wall of the furnace had been thickly coated with clay, and this coating was quite uniform, without abnormal thickness and thinness.

"Blacksmith, you're doing a good job, you're ready to use the clay bricks. By the way, are the clay bricks fired? ”

"Not yet, Father Fan is leading people to hurry up and make it, and the people he arranged are chopping wood." The blacksmith said with a smile.

"Well, you let them burn more, this thing consumes a lot and often has to be replenished." Zhang Song walked towards the outside of the blast furnace and told the blacksmith, "The furnace wall should be pasted with more fired clay bricks, so that it can withstand the high temperature." At the same time, a deep trench is dug around the blast furnace six or seven feet away from the furnace wall to isolate the blast furnace from other plots, which is conducive to accelerating the increase of furnace temperature. ”

"Remember."

"Very well, blacksmith, an unprecedented iron-smelting field will be born in your hands, and you will be the greatest iron-smelting man in the world!" Zhang Song's voice was proud and enthusiastic.

The blacksmith's face turned red, making his originally dark face a little purple, his lips trembled, his eyes were a little red, and he said in a trembling voice: "Thank you, lord, if there is such a day, I will die immediately without regrets." ”

"Nonsense, you can't die, I still hope that you can build a strong steel industry for me in the future."

"Yes, yes, I don't die, I want to build the most powerful steel industry in the world for the lord!" The blacksmith wiped his eyes with his hand.

At this moment, a loud commotion was heard outside the blast furnace.