"No, the quality of the steel used in the artillery is extremely high, and charcoal must be used to make iron, so that the steel smelted meets the requirements!" I saw that Priest Nader was very serious.

"For what can't be done, we have always used coke in iron smelting, this fuel is very powerful, and it is easy to smelt iron from ore, but if you use charcoal, first, the price is too expensive, and second, the firepower burned out is not as good as coke, and iron ore is not easy to produce iron, so it is not cost-effective!" For the words of Priest Nader, one of the burly iron-smelting masters was very unconvinced, this iron-making master's name was surnamed Zhao, because of his burly figure, so others called him Zhao Tieta, who was the most skilled person in this group of iron-making masters, and was also the head of several Han craftsmen.

"Of course not, although I don't know how this kind of coke is refined, but I know that it is originally coal, and our European blacksmiths have already tried it, and the iron made from coal is too brittle to be used at all, so this kind of coke will definitely have a bad impact on the iron quality, and it must not be used!" Priest Nader was very stubborn.

Priest Nader's words made Zhao Tieta and several others very unconvinced, they have been using coke to smelt iron for generations, but now they are said by this Francoke man that the iron smelted by coke is not good, this is simply an insult to their craftsmanship, just wanted to refute a few more words, but was interrupted by Zhou Zhong who came up with a smile: "Master Zhao, you don't have to argue with Priest Nader anymore, what he said is indeed right, you should use charcoal to make iron according to what Priest Nader said!" ”

Seeing that Zhou Zhong was actually here, Zhao Tieta and the others immediately saluted him, and they were now able to eat a full meal. All thanks to Zhou Chong. Therefore, Zhao Tieta and others did not dare to argue anymore. They all nodded yes, and Priest Nader's face was a little smug because he felt that his opinion was being taken seriously.

In fact, Zhou Zhong didn't know that coke was the best fuel for iron smelting, but the reason why he agreed with Priest Nader to abandon coke was mainly because he knew that most of the coke in the Ming Dynasty was made by soil method, and many of them were unqualified, and coke contained a lot of sulfur, phosphorus and other elements, and the iron smelted with this kind of coke was naturally of poor quality.

Speaking of which, it used to be in the Tang and Song dynasties. Most of the ironmaking is also charcoal, such as the iron-making technique that the Wa Kingdom learned from the Tang Dynasty, and the Japanese knife created is very sharp, but with the increase in the population of the Central Plains, the forest area has been greatly reduced, and the supply of charcoal can not keep up, so in desperation, other fuels are used, and the people of the Central Plains are also very smart to smelt coal into coke, but unfortunately because the technology is not up to par. Coke contains some impurities, and the quality of steel made from coke is not good. This is also the main reason why the weapons of the Ming Dynasty are not as good as the Japanese sword.

In addition to the fuel for ironmaking, there are also many aspects of the ironmaking furnace that need to be modified, although Priest Nader usually does not like to talk, but he is a very strict person, and he strives to do things perfectly, so even if there is a slight problem, he will ask the craftsmen to make modifications, which makes Zhou Zhong a little suspicious that the other party is not a Spaniard, but a German.

Zhou Zhong rarely had free time today, so he stayed in the blacksmith shop all morning, and at noon he also had a meal with Priest Nader and the ironsmiths, a large bowl of rice and fresh sea fish, although the quality of the rice is not very good, and the sea fish is a little fishy, but at least he is full, he can eat as much as he wants, and he must not have leftovers.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to eat and rest, Zhou Zhong found Zhao Tieta, who was squatting in the corner of the wall and eating with a few iron-making masters, and then said with a smile: "Master Zhao, do you have any opinions on letting you use charcoal to make iron today?" ”

Seeing that Zhou Chong came to find him in person, just for the matter of iron-making fuel in the morning, Zhao Tieta was also excited, put down the rice bowl in his hand and saluted Zhou Chong with his fists: "Boss, Priest Nader does know a lot about iron-making and iron-making, and some things also open our eyes, but for iron-making fuel, I think it is more cost-effective to use coke than charcoal!" ”

Zhou Chong also knew that what Zhao Tieta said was what he said, but unfortunately because of his limited knowledge, he couldn't understand the reason why Zhou Chong gave up coke. Thinking of this, Zhou Zhong felt the need to teach them a lesson, so he briefly explained the difference between coke and charcoal, of course, he didn't dare to talk about any elements, but tried his best to say it in a language that the Ming era could understand. Although Zhao Tieta and a few iron-making masters around him didn't know how to read, they had dealt with steel for half their lives after all, so they could understand the things Zhou Zhong talked about.

"Dongjia, I didn't expect you to know how to make iron, and you know more than us iron-making masters, no wonder others want to read, and the scholars know more than us!" After listening to Zhou Chong's narration, one of the iron-making masters was very envious, these people were illiterate, and they had a natural awe for the readers, and now they heard Zhou Chong talk about iron-making, and naturally attributed the credit to the scholars.

Zhou Zhong smiled after hearing this, of course he couldn't tell the other party that this was the knowledge he brought from the afterlife, but at this time, Zhao Tieta suddenly said: "Dongjia, according to what you said, it's not that coke can't be smelted into iron, mainly because when coal is smelted into coke, there are still some impurities in it that are harmful to iron, so the quality of the smelted iron is very poor, so is it that we find a way to remove all the impurities in the coke, so that the quality of the iron smelted is not worse than that of charcoal?" ”

Regarding Zhao Tieta's question, Zhou Zhong nodded with great certainty: "Of course, the temperature of coke burning is much higher than charcoal, if the impurities in it can be removed, the steel smelted is not only inferior to the quality of steel smelted by charcoal, but even much stronger, plus the price of coke is also lower than charcoal, so it is naturally cost-effective to use coke!" ”

"Hey! That's simple, I don't think it's as good as this, we are helping Priest Nader at the same time, but also studying how to refine better coke, if you can really make coke that is not worse than charcoal, the Chamber of Commerce can also save a lot of money! I saw Zhao Tieta slapping his thigh, and he was very excited, and several other ironmaking masters also nodded in agreement.

"You...... Do you know how to coke? Zhou Zhong was also very surprised when he heard this, he invited Zhao Tieta and these people to come mainly to value their iron-making talents, and he never thought that these people would have other skills.

Seeing Zhou Chong's surprised look, Zhao Tieta touched the back of his head and laughed with a few iron-making masters, and then said: "Look at what you said, how can an iron-smelter not be able to coke?" The coke we use in ironmaking is all made by ourselves, and we didn't know that there was so much attention to coke before, but now it's not too late to know it, let's go back and think about it, to see if we can make coke better. ”

Zhou Zhong finally remembered at this time that he was now located in the Ming Dynasty, although the social division of labor in this era has been very clear, but after all, it cannot be compared with later generations, and some of the more recent types of work have not been separated, such as the coke used in ironmaking, which is generally bought by many people, and most of the ironmaking masters build a kiln to make coke, after all, this can save a lot of money.

Thinking of this, Zhou Zhong was also in good spirits, if he could really improve the technique of coking, this would definitely be an epoch-making reform: "Okay, since Master Zhao and a few others are willing to study the technique of coking, as the president, I naturally can't let everyone work in vain, so let's do it, I will give a thousand taels of silver in the name of the Chamber of Commerce, as long as you can refine qualified coke, then this thousand silver is yours!" ”

Zhou Zhong said that he was afraid that Zhao Tieta and the others would not believe it, so he beckoned Wangcai and asked him to prepare pen and ink for himself, wrote two reward documents in black and white, and then signed them himself, handed one of them to Zhao Tieta and said: "You take this Master Zhao, if you research the coke, I won't pay for it, you can use this document to collect debts from me!" ”

"This ...... This is not to be done! "Where has Zhao Tieta seen this kind of formation, in their opinion, they are all people in the Chamber of Commerce, and they should contribute to the Chamber of Commerce, and the prize money is counted, but Zhou Chong actually wrote this matter into a document It really shocked him.

Zhou Chong also knew that his approach might be a little difficult to figure out in Zhao Blacksmith's opinion, but this could make them fully trust their promises, so no matter how Zhao Tieta and the others refused, Zhou Chong still insisted on letting them accept the documents, and the other party couldn't resist him in the end, so Zhao Tieta stretched out trembling hands to take the documents and put them in his arms.

However, although Zhou Zhong knew the significance of refining coke in the Dao, but now for him, artillery is what he urgently needs, so he did not forget to warn Zhao Tieta to let them help Priest Nader smelt iron with charcoal during this time, and only when they can smelt the appropriate steel for artillery can they start the research of coke.

After lunch, Zhou Zhong stayed in the iron shop for more than an hour, originally he wanted to see how Priest Nader made iron, maybe he could put forward some opinions in some places, but looking at the appearance of Priest Nader, it was estimated that the furnace for iron-making alone would go through a few days of modification, and it was impossible to raise the fire, so Zhou Chong simply left first.

Zhou Chong, who left the blacksmith shop, first went to the dock, looking at the non-stop ships coming and going in Beigang, Zhou Chong was also very satisfied, compared to the first time he came to Beigang, this place has been several times prosperous, I believe that under his leadership, Beigang will only be more prosperous. Next, Zhou Chong came to Beigang Tea House again, planning to spend some time here, but when he first arrived, he received two news that surprised him! (To be continued......)