If the timber mill is a relatively simple industry, but it plays an important role, then the steel mill is undoubtedly technically complex and the most core industry. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Whether it is civilian or military, steel is inseparable.

And Suzhou, a steel mill with an annual output of 100,000 tons, has poured a lot of effort into Li Hongfei and Song Yingxing.

The Ming Dynasty had the most advanced steel smelting process in the world in the 17th century.

In particular, the iron smelting process at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the steel output and quality of this process were the highest in the world in this era, and even surpassed Western technology for nearly a hundred years.

Only the steel smelting process in Song Yingxing's "Tiangong Kaiwu" has reached the point of large-scale, mass production, and continuous production of raw and wrought iron.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, craftsmen connected the iron-making furnace and the iron-frying furnace in series, so that the molten pig iron smelted by the iron-making furnace flowed into the iron-frying furnace, and stirred with willow sticks to oxidize the carbon in the molten pig iron and mature the iron.

This continuous production process, as well as the systematic idea of combined production, not only improves production efficiency, but also reduces energy consumption.

To put it simply, the conventional iron-making method can only smelt raw iron.

Then the pig iron is forged and decarburized, or the wrought iron is heated and carburized into steel (i.e., the steel filling method).

It's just that this method needs to be heated twice, and the fuel consumption can be imagined.

However, in the Ming Dynasty, China invented the method of frying steel, which did not need to be cooled and reheated to produce steel, which not only reduced fuel consumption, but also greatly increased production.

The iron furnace described in "Heavenly Creation" is actually a churning furnace invented by Europeans at the end of the 18th century.

The difference is that European smelting furnaces usually use wrought iron rods or steel rods to burn the carbon in the pig iron and finally obtain low-carbon wrought iron.

In the Ming Dynasty, willow sticks were used to stir, and the willow sticks were gradually burned off while stirring, which could mix carbon into the pig iron, or reduce the speed of pig iron decarbonization.

Through this step, it is easier for a skilled iron whisk to control the ingredients, and he can directly fry steel with a carbon content lower than that of pig iron but higher than that of wrought iron, and even have the opportunity to fry medium carbon steel and high carbon steel.

This is called frying steel, and Suzhou Heavy Industry, a large-scale steelmaking plant with an annual output of 100,000 tons, is to systematize, scale and scale this steel frying technology.

The timber mill and the steel mill have become the two most basic and important production bases in Suzhou Heavy Industry.

The agricultural tool manufacturing factory mainly builds basic agricultural production tools, which is relatively small in scale.

Precision instrument factories manufacture small accessories for all kinds of weapons, such as triggers, clockwork, springs, etc.

Weapons factories mainly produce gun barrels and cannon barrels, and assemble semi-finished products produced by the previous manufacturers to make muskets, artillery, and other military weapons.

In the past, these processes were all concentrated in the Ordnance Bureau, which led to a huge workload for the craftsmen of the Ordnance Bureau, which seriously increased the cost of weapon production and the casting time.

Today's Ordnance Bureau only needs to produce, mix gunpowder, and test the performance of weapons, which can be regarded as all work.

After such a reform of the subcontracting method, coupled with the assembly line operation, the manufacturing speed of firearms has finally been greatly accelerated, otherwise with the current production level of the Ming Dynasty, even if it is 24 hours a day, it is impossible to make more than 30,000 flintlock pistols in just half a year.

Moreover, the reason why Li Hongfei carried out such reforms was that during the war, when a large number of weapons were needed in a short period of time, it would be convenient to subcontract the work that did not have much technical content to civilian businessmen, so that the core secrets of firearms would not be leaked, and the burden on the Ordnance Bureau would be greatly reduced..........

Li Hongfei just went ashore from the dock, and Wu Hao, Minister of Commerce, led a group of officials to greet him.

Wu Hao now holds the title of prefect and minister, and is also the minister of commerce, and he can be regarded as a big man in the entire Suzhou with infinite scenery.

But he knew very well in his heart that without Li Hongfei's support, he was just a sesame official of the household department, so Wu Hao respected Li Hongfei very much, and at the same time he also understood that this Suzhou Heavy Industry was a key project that Li Hongfei had in mind, so he took the initiative to invite Ying, and came to the "poor ravine" that many officials were unwilling to come over.

"Old Wu! I haven't seen you for a few months, but you're blessed. Li Hongfei said with a smile.

has been in officialdom for a long time, and Li Hongfei has unconsciously become fond of playing official.

"No, no, the main thing is that it's cold this day, and the clothes are a little thick." Wu Hao wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and quickly explained.

He came to this "poor ravine" to suffer, but as soon as the big guy above came, he said that he had gained weight, which is not equivalent to indirectly saying that he only eats and does not do things?

However, Wu Hao has a weak heart, and he has his own reasons for being weak, during this time, the industrial base has developed rapidly, and the people who work here, whether it is a worker or a craftsman, and even a yamen official, have earned more silver than outside.

When you have money in your hands, you naturally want to enjoy life!

So in the past two or three months, more than a dozen restaurants, casinos, and brothels in Baoshan Town have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain.

Although Wu Hao is an official, he also knows how to enjoy life, and naturally, he regards this place as a gentle township, and he has long been happy, and he does not have the spirit of "seeing death as home" when he first came.

"Okay, okay, just joking. By the way, what about Guo Sheng's kid? Why didn't you see him? Li Hongfei changed the subject.

Just said it casually, which scared the other party into a cold sweat, and Li Hongfei was completely speechless.

However, he also knows that most of those who are involved in officialdom are like this, and sometimes the people above, an unintentional word, will change their taste when it reaches the ears of the people below, which is the so-called "speculation of the holy will", and it seems that it is necessary to think about their words and deeds in the future.

"Last month, another 10,000 recruits were recruited, and General Guo should be training recruits at the moment." Wu Hao replied.

The treatment of the new army in Suzhou is quite high, coupled with the implementation of the reform policy, the common people have given Li Hongfei a high degree of recognition, and even those tenant farmers who are most afraid of catching strong men, in order to prevent this Li from "falling" three years later, even took the initiative to let their children join the army.

The tenant farmers did not have the great consciousness of protecting their families and defending the country, but they knew that as long as they could help Master Li, these ordinary people tried their best to contribute, and sometimes the common people of China were so simple.

Therefore, the recruitment of the new army in Suzhou is not worried about the source of soldiers at all, but what Li Hongfei needs is a high-quality source of soldiers, which is why it took half a year to train 7,000 recruits.

If it weren't for the approaching end of the year, Li Hongfei knew that Nanming was about to face war, and he would not be so eager to recruit again.

Now that the war in Yangzhou is about to break out, Li Hongfei is more aware of the urgency of time, which is also the main reason why he hurried to Baoshan Town.