When he climbed the peach hill, Zhao Wuxian raised his eyes to look at the four fields, but saw that the cedar pines were luxuriant, and there were trees on the mountainside from time to time with shouts and fell to the ground, and he also heard the sound of local dialect singing from afar.

"I am broken with my axe, and I am lacking in my axe. The Duke of Zhou went on an eastward expedition, and the four kingdoms were emperors. Mourn my people, and I will be the general! ”

"What are they singing?" ”

Ran Qiu, who was accompanying him, pricked up his ears and listened for a while and said, "It's one of the songs in "Feng Feng". ”

"Feng Feng" is also known as Lu Feng, which is a poem in these areas after the old state of Zhou Gong and the eastern conquest of Lu Land, to the effect that the nobles made me break my axe and make me mutilated. The Duke of Zhou led the army to the east, and the nobles of the four eastern countries were all terrified. Unlike the previous lords, Duke Zhou took pity on us civilians, how benevolent and virtuous it was.

"Are the people complaining that I recruited them to open the way for mining?" ”

"Probably not, according to the instructions of the priest, these people who were recruited before the farm were paid food as wages. They should be complaining about the former doctor, the mountains, forests and rivers are all owned by the doctor, and they have to bring their own food and clothes when they go into the mountains to open mines, and there is no compensation for accidentally dying in the mountains. ”

Zhao Wuxian said with a smile: "It's only been half a month since Zi Youshu arrived, and he is also Sima's martial arts, but he has inquired about all these clearly, which is really rare." ”

It is now the end of January, under the overall planning of Zhang Mengtan and the planning of Ji Qiao, the peasant envoy Fan Xu is like a spring breeze blowing on the ground, promoting the method of substituting fields everywhere, and distributing ploughing cattle and farm tools.

The overseer Kan Zhi followed, and he inspected the towns with a straight face, sweeping away the officials and clans who dared to make mistakes and detain the cattle, farming tools, and seeds distributed by the Yi Temple. Therefore, Xilu's spring ploughing this year is going very smoothly, and it is basically carried out at the most suitable time.

The farming work had to last from the beginning of spring to the spring equinox, and during this period, labor could not be levied at will, so more than five or six hundred Qi prisoners were transferred to the north to Taoqiu. Logging opens the mountain.

Taoqiu is located at the junction of Yiyi and Xuju, and was previously under the jurisdiction of Doctor Xuju, but in the meeting to decide the ownership of Xuju, Zhao Wuxian was so good at saying that he finally made Sanhuan make concessions, so it was classified as Wuxian's private property.

With the pitiful iron production of spring and autumn. Sanhuan has not yet paid attention to this kind of "evil gold" that is difficult to smelt and cast. And after Ran Qiu quickly took over the post of Suju Sima, he naturally knew who Zhuo Ba meant this time, and he was still the only one who was Zhao Wuxian.

Confucius, who was far away in Lucheng, was a little unhappy when he heard about Xilu's actions, and he also wrote a letter for Gong Xichi to forward, admonishing Zhao Wuxian.

"Meng Chunzhiyue, burying the bones, this little Si Kou did a good job. But this month also needs to ban the felling of trees and prevent the public from gathering. There is no need to build the city, because the four seasons are different, these are things that can only be done in summer and autumn. If Meng Chun implements the decree of summer and autumn, it will cause rain from time to time, fleas and fleas fall, storms and rains, and the wild grasses such as quinoa, weeds, canopy, and artemisia will flourish, and lead to an epidemic of plague among the people. I also hope that Si Kocha will ......"

Intimidate? Or is it too much to worry about?

Finally, Zhao Wuxian replied with a humbly worded letter. He said that he was deployed to cut wood in the mountains, but he only opened a road, and there was no abuse of labor. In reality, however, he ignored Confucius's advice, because the mining and iron-making had to be done as early as possible, and it was impossible to carry out the spring rains in February. If you don't take advantage of the sunny weather to store some ore, when will you be able to make iron farming tools?

As for the tradition of governing according to the four seasons, he is not the only one who destroys it, and he can appease the people's emotions with small favors and small favors.

So, at the end of January. The Taoqiu Iron Mine began to operate.

……

"It is said that there are 3,609 iron mountains in the world, but as far as the villain knows, there are only three or four large mines in Lu, and Taoqiu is one of them."

The name of the miner who came to greet him was Cao Bing, and I don't know whether it was a relic of Dongyi or a branch of the Cao Gong clan, in short, this thin and strong middle-aged Chinese was one of the few iron smelters in Lu, and he also took into account the ability to search for mines and open mines.

Cao Bing gushed endlessly: "As the saying goes, there is gold under the dansha, copper and gold under the stone, lead, tin and red copper under the mausoleum stone, and iron under the ochre, and this whole peach hill is a big iron mountain." ”

After coming here, Zhao Wuxian learned that there were actually no peaches in Peach Hill, and it was named because the color of the local rocky soil was pink ochre. In his previous life, he remembered that this should be the color of ferric pentoxide, the color of iron ore, and the vermilion lines that he could see were ore seedlings.

What Wuxian didn't know was that this area was under the jurisdiction of Dongping State in the Han Dynasty, and it was one of the forty-eight iron officials in the country.

Under Cao Bing's guidance, they first went to the hills to see the mining sites, most of which were shallow mines, because the mining was limited, and there were enough to dig for several years. The people recruited nearby were responsible for supervising and building roads, and the hard work of mining was mainly done by Qi prisoners.

After digging out the iron ore covered with mud, it was transported to the stream in baskets by mules and horses, and then carried down the downhill road to the workshop.

Originally, in the Spring and Autumn Period, the officials who managed the mountains were Yu people, and the Yu people everywhere were subordinate to Da Sikong. However, since Zhao Wuxian classified this place as his private property, he set up a new official office, called Tieguan, which was responsible for mining and smelting matters, with Cao Bing as the iron official.

Naturally, the iron-smelting workshop could not be built on a rugged hill, but was located in a large sunken clearing surrounded by hills and trees, and not far to the west was the Jishui River, which could be used for boats.

There was some development in the past, but the area was originally small, and the iron was only produced once a year. Under the will of no mercy, it has now been torn down and rebuilt.

The new workshop consisted of three parts: a storage yard, where the red ore that had been brought in after the beginning of spring had been piled up in a mountain, and the Qi captives, under the supervision of the military guards, were using rudimentary stone anvils and stone rammers to crush the whole piece of ore into pieces, and turn it into crushed ore that could be put into the furnace.

What worries Wuxian is that the iron content of these iron ores is probably not high, which is also a common problem in iron mines in China.

The second is a treasury for storing wood and charcoal, which is the necessary fuel for ironmaking.

As the saying goes, "In the month of Meng Chun, logging is prohibited; In the month of Mengxia, there are no big trees cut down; In the summer months, the grass and trees are yellow, and the wages are cut for charcoal; Midwinter Moon. When the days are short, the wood is cut and the bamboo is taken". Some common-sense four-time politics still have some truth, the wood in spring is wet, and it is indeed not easy to burn, so Zhao Wuxian did not lie to Confucius in the letter, and most of the trees in the treasury were pine and bamboo trees cut down in the winter of last year.

Keep going inside. When I arrived at the largest smelter in the workshop of Taoqiu, I saw that the specifications and systems here are completely the more common bronze smelting workshops in various parts of the cottage, and the technical craftsmen found are all the six kinds of "goldsmiths" in Liaoqiu.

For most people, iron smelting was a completely new field, and it was difficult for craftsmen, including Cao Bing, to make iron by simply copying the various facilities and fuels used to smelt bronze. This is also the reason why the iron production in the Spring and Autumn Period is extremely low and is not taken seriously.

In desperation, I can only command the layman and make some bold suggestions.

……

"I think that the bulging bag should be strong enough, the blast should be fast, the smelting furnace should be as high as possible, and the airtight should be better. After iron is smelted, it cannot be cast alone. You have to forge it again and again......"

The craftsmen kept their eyes in mind, and waited with their eyes in their eyes, and then what? And then it's gone.

Unlike when he was in the countryside, he personally went to the field, watched his elders make tofu and soy milk, and entered a pottery class, Zhao Wuxian is not a professional. Not even an engineering man. He only knew some common sense things, such as the fact that iron had a much higher melting point than copper and tin, and that both the West and the East, from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age, had gone through a long period of time.

Manufacture of furnaces suitable for iron smelting. Raising the temperature of the furnace is the first problem to be solved, but fortunately, in the process of firing porcelain, the potters and porcelain craftsmen of Xilu use charcoal to fire, which can make the furnace temperature higher and higher.

But using the charcoal dug up by Yuncheng to smelt iron, all the results ended in failure, and Wu Xi only then remembered that it seemed that he still had to coke the charcoal? However, charcoal burning is also a technical job, and it is necessary to isolate the air in time or it will turn into ashes, which requires the construction of special furnaces and a large amount of coal to try.

In short, after the dredging of the Onozawa and Jishui rivers was completed, and the charcoal from Yuncheng arrived, it could only be replaced by charcoal.

On a sunny day, the wood was first burned into charcoal, cooled and stored in the treasury, and dozens of retainers pulled manpower chariots to shuttle back and forth in the workshop, transporting charcoal to the smelter, and behind them, the military guards carried whips like shadows......

Moreover, according to the vague suggestion of the Warriors, the goldsmiths, who had only been here for a month, scratched their heads and erected several oval-shaped furnaces, which were indeed much higher than the furnaces for smelting bronze. Under the leadership of the iron officials, they subdivided the various parts of feeding, air blasting, iron tapping, and water supply, and tried to overcome one problem after another in the past half a month or so in the experiment.

Today, because Zhao Wuxian came to inspect, he wanted to see how it was going, and the craftsmen also wanted to perform, so he lit the fire and opened the furnace!

……

At this time, the flames were rising under the five or six refining furnaces, and dozens of craftsmen and subordinates were guarding around the refining furnaces they were responsible for. Some people stood on the high platform on their tiptoes, and lifted the basket to pour ore into the furnace; Some people were shirtless, pushing simple bellows and sweating profusely into the furnace; The craftsmen crouched on the sidelines and nervously watched the fire, trying to keep track of the time to open the furnace.

"Whatever is cast of gold; Gold and tin, black and turbid air exhaustion, yellow and white second, yellow and white gas exhaustion, blue and white second. The green and white qi is exhausted, the green qi is second, and then it can be cast. Even the most experienced iron official, Cao Bing, had to admit that he usually relied on luck to smelt iron, and if he wanted to improve the probability of success, he had to rely on countless failures to re-summarize it.

As the sun set overhead into the valley, the smelting workshop was filled with flames, black smoke billowing out, enveloping the depression beneath the small half of the peach hill.

When it came time to bake, everyone's eyes, including Zhao Wuxian, were focused on the tap hole of the stove. They are full of expectations, but this kind of technical work, the slightest difference in hardware facilities, the things produced are lost......

The results of the smelting were disappointing, one furnace was full of waste residue, the other was cracked, and there was even an explosion that killed and injured several people......

Finally, after the failure of the three furnaces, the red iron of the two furnaces finally came out, and they rolled down into the big pit in front of the furnace, and immediately a craftsman took water and poured it on it.

The iron official Cao Bing was like the stars holding the moon, and presented the cooled black iron to Zhao Wuxian as if he were offering a treasure: "Thanks to the blessing of Si Kou, only five furnaces have practiced two iron today!" ”

……

Zhao Wuxian was speechless and choked, this is the result of Taoqiu's tossing for a month? In ancient times, thirty catties were used as one jun, four jun as one stone, and four stones as one drum. So the two are sixty catties, and sixty catties of iron are happy to be like this? In later generations, the daily iron production of any small steel mill was measured in tons......

However, it is said that the small iron smelting workshop under the name of Dr. Suju in the past, the annual output is only more than 400 catties, this comparison, no sympathy can not cry and laugh, should he be happy for the production of Taoqiu iron ore to break through a new high, or should he be depressed about it?

And looking at the quality is not very good, it is extremely shoddy, if you don't go back to the furnace and start over, don't think about forging iron weapons. Or continue to "forge swords and halberds with dollars, and try dogs and horses; Evil gold is cast to cut pounds, and try the loam".

Isn't that sixty pounds of inferior iron enough to make thirty hoes? If it is like this every day, then it can do nearly 10,000 a year, but in February and March, it will rain in spring, and before the beginning of summer, don't think about starting work, and then work overtime, at most there can be a thousand iron farm tools.

This can be regarded as the bottom line that Zhao Wuxian can accept.

Some people in later generations may say, "Iron can be smelted as long as the temperature is high and some carbon is added, right?" ”

Whoever said such a thing would probably not be treated as a celestial person, but by the ancients with the eyes of an idiot. It's like a person who has simply taken a chemistry lab class and thinks that he can become a master drug maker by knowing the equation of methamphetamine......

People can't turn stones into gold, and a technical job that will take years to become a teacher in later generations is not something that can be done by opening one's mouth and talking.

Now is the Spring and Autumn Period, at least in the country of Lu, iron-smelting technology has to rely on exploration, without ten years of accumulation is difficult to cause a breakthrough. Zhao Wuxian still knows something, which can reduce some detours for the craftsmen, but it can be implemented in practice, and he wants to see immediate results? Let's go back to Baidu Encyclopedia and talk about a bunch of iron-smelting materials.

Since the quality cannot soar for the time being, we can only start by improving the quantity.

"Before the spring rain in February, a few more furnaces will be refined, and my order will be passed on, and things such as bulging bags and blast furnaces must be tried repeatedly, and those who can do it will be rewarded!"

There must be brave men under the heavy reward, and the craftsmen can only rely on this temptation to continue to explore.

He hoped that Xing Ao would be able to find one or two craftsmen in Wu who could make smelting and forging mature iron weapons, and besides, he would have to make up his mind elsewhere.

For example, the hometown of Jinguo.

On both sides of the Taihang Mountains of the Jin Kingdom, there are more subway mines outside the river north of Rushui, and there are already prototypes of iron smelting. In that year, Zhao Ying, Zhongyin Shuai Jin Shicheng Rushui Bank, from the local people to collect a drum of iron, in order to cast the punishment tripod.

One drum, that is, four hundred and eighty pounds! It is equivalent to the production of ten days at the best time of Peach Hill, and that was ten years ago.

Therefore, when Wuxian said goodbye to Zhao Ying, he also asked Fu Sue to help find someone who could smelt iron in Jin, just hoping to respond as soon as possible.

"I really hope that the Black Iron Age I created will come soon!"

After sparing the circle of Yiyi and Taoqiu, Wuxian went south along Jishui, and he would return to Yuncheng to meet a person, that is, the thief who had been lured ashore by him earlier and detained.

Speaking of which, this is the first time the two have met.

PS: There are already mules in the Spring and Autumn Period, for example, Zhao Ying has two pampered white mules...... Today's English level 6 test, the big chapter is one top two, and tomorrow two more (to be continued.) )

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