At this time, the man in charge of pulling the bellows happened to be idle, and when he heard the words of the Son of Heaven on the side, a look of surprise and excitement appeared on his face, he walked quickly to Ji Yan, and knelt on the ground with a plop: "Xiaomin to meet my king." Pen Fun Pavilion www.biquge.info"

"Get up!" Ji Yan hurriedly stretched out his hand to help, looking at this sweaty man, who was covered in darkness and couldn't even see his age, and said: "In this kind of place, there is no need to kneel down to worship." ”

After the man stood up, he said excitedly: "What the king said just now, Xiaomin heard it and felt that it made a lot of sense. ”

"Oh?" Ji Yan was even more excited than him, there was actually someone here who could understand what he said?

The man said eagerly: "The king is waiting!" With that, he hurried to a small room on the side, and soon ran over with some things in his hand, he put the things in his hand in front of Ji Yan and said, "Your Majesty, please see, there are white pieces of iron here, which have been forged many times without heating; There are also black pieces of iron, which are calcined and quenched many times without being forged. ”

Ji Yan immediately squatted down and looked carefully at the iron bars on the ground. There is white iron very similar to the white iron of later generations, but the surface is full of forged dents; There is a black and black appearance of pig iron in later generations.

"That's right," Ji Yan said movingly: "This white iron must have been forged countless times, and all the carbon in the iron has been removed, and it has become wrought iron, which is full of toughness; This black iron must have been calcined and quenched countless times to make the carbon content high enough to become pig iron, and its hardness is incomparable to that of ordinary iron. ”

"My king is worthy of being the Son of Heaven, and he really knows everything!" The man was already in tears, knelt down again and said: "In the past, Xiaomin told these techniques to the craftsmen in charge of iron casting, but they always ridiculed Xiaomin for not knowing how to pretend to understand, and they didn't pay attention to it. The pieces of iron were all made by the minions themselves after they finished their work. ”

"How did you come up with the idea to do that?" Ji Yan asked in a deep voice.

The man hesitated slightly, and after a long silence, he gritted his teeth as if he had made up his mind: "When Xiao Min used to carry iron tools, he accidentally dropped a valuable iron plough to the ground once in a while, and as a result, it was broken. Xiaomin is a serf, and he can't afford to pay for such a valuable thing, and he knows that he will definitely be severely punished. Frightened, I wondered if I could find a way to connect it. After everyone got off work, Xiaomin quietly brought the iron plough here, put the broken part together after it was burned red in the furnace, put another piece of red-hot iron on the broken place, beat it on both sides, and after a night of testing, it was finally connected, thus exempting from a punishment. ”

Since then, Xiaomin has a strong interest in the forging of iron, often thinking about how to make ironware not so easy to break, so every day after the craftsmen have finished work, the furnace calciner is idle and constantly do experiments, some iron pieces are not heated and forged, the result gradually turns white, and the iron pieces are really not so easy to break; Some pieces of iron are not forged, but are constantly heated and quenched, and the result is gradually blackened and extremely hard. ”

Ji stretched out his hand to help the man and asked excitedly, "What's your name?" What is in charge here? ”

The man was about to speak, but Lin Tong frowned on the side and said, "The Son of Heaven is so noble, don't take away your dirty hands." ”

Only then did the man realize that he was being supported by the Son of Heaven, and quickly withdrew his black oily hands, rubbing his hands against each other, and his face was red and he couldn't speak anymore.

Ji Yan looked at Lin Tong with a little dissatisfaction, Lin Tong hurriedly arched his hand and said: "Qi my king, this person's name is Duan Que, who has been a serf who has been carrying gold and iron items for generations, and the year before last under an accidental situation, he suggested to Weichen that the leather bellows be changed to wooden bellows, which greatly improved the air supply equipment, not only made more simple and economical, but also more stable wind, so Wechen let him make bellows and be responsible for management. ”

Ji Yan nodded slightly, looked at Duan Que and said, "You have brains, you are good at researching, you can not only come up with various ways to strengthen iron, but you can also think of using bellows instead of bellows, you are amazing." He paused and thought for a moment before saying, "From today onwards, this king will promote you to a countryman and give you the position of a steelmaker, and in the future, you will be in charge of steelmaking." ”

Lin Tong frowned and said, "Qi my king, the Winter Official Mansion has never had such a position as a 'division'. ”

"It'll be later." Ji Yan looked at Lin Tong and said in a deep voice: "In the future, as long as they are the most outstanding craftsmen in a certain aspect, they will all be given the title of 'master', for example, among the smelters, those who are particularly outstanding are promoted to smelters, and those who are particularly outstanding among the smelters are promoted to refiners, and the salary is three times that of ordinary craftsmen; Dr. Lin, do you have a problem? ”

"This, this ......" Lin Tong stammered: "You have to get Sikong's consent, Weichen can't be the master." ”

Ji Yan sneered: "Sikong? Is this king's decision not as good as commonplace? That's it! ”

"No!" Lin Tong responded with some concerns.

Ji Yan looked at Duan Que again: "Duan Que, go and change your clothes immediately, and go to the Winter Official Mansion with this king later, let's talk about steelmaking." ”

"No!" Duan Que went in a hurry.

Next, Ji Yan went to various places in the gold and iron workshop to take a look, and Lin Tong explained the various equipment on the side. He pointed to a circular brick furnace with a height and diameter: "This is a smelting furnace, in which iron ore is put in, calcined at a high temperature of charcoal for several days, and then cooled to become rough iron. ”

Ji Yan nodded and said: "This is the most primitive iron-making method, which is just to reduce the oxidized iron ore with charcoal, and the removal of impurities is very limited, so the rough iron needs to be tempered repeatedly before it can be used." Speaking of this, he pointed to a huge airbag next to him that was sandwiched between two large wooden planks and said, "What is this?" ”

Lin Tong hurriedly said: "This is a bellow, which is made of multiple cowhides. When in use, eight wrestlers push the wooden planks on both sides and squeeze them inward, and the strong wind generated enters the furnace through the copper pipes, which can make the furnace fire more vigorous and the temperature higher. ”

Ji Yan nodded again: "This thing is good, but the efficiency is really not good, it would be better if the manpower was turned into water or wind power." After a pause, he said to himself: "When the temperature of the furnace fire reaches a certain level, the iron ore will melt away, and the molten iron that flows out will solidify to obtain pure iron." ”

Lin Tong opened his mouth wide and said, "Turn iron ore into molten iron?" How hot is that? ”

"It's not too high, about 1,000 degrees Celsius!" Ji Yan said lightly.

Lin Tong was directly petrified, and it took a long time before he muttered: "Li's cloud: Where gold is cast, gold and tin, black and turbid are exhausted, and yellow and white are secondary; Yellow and white are exhausted, followed by blue and white; The green and white qi is exhausted, the green qi is second, and then it can be cast. Even if the furnace is perfect, you can't burn the iron ore! ”

Ji Yan said: "Your so-called pure green furnace fire, because it uses charcoal as fuel, its temperature is about 1,000 degrees at most, and it really can't burn iron ore. To achieve higher temperatures, there is a fuel that is essential. ”

"What kind of fuel?" Lin Tong hurriedly asked.

"Coal, a black, stone-like thing." Ji Yan shook his head slightly as he spoke: "However, the existing technology is afraid that it is difficult to extract coal as a fuel, if you can find open-pit coal." ”

Lin Tong was blind again.

Duan Que had already changed his clothes, and he could see that his body had also been washed, but his skin was already dark, and he still looked black after washing, but his age could probably be seen, he should be in his early thirties, his face was full of surprise and helplessness of a windfall, and he timidly approached the Son of Heaven.

Ji Yan called Duan Que with a smile, and took the group to the Winter Official Mansion.

Xia Xun had just told a few stonemasons and carpenters about building training facilities before he rested, when he heard a report that the Son of Heaven had arrived, and hurried to the door to greet him.

Entering the hall of the main courtyard of the Winter Official Mansion, Ji Yan asked Xia Xun, Lin Tong, and Duan Que to sit down, and then said: "Xia Qing, let people find all the best blacksmiths in your Winter Official Mansion, and ask Li Pai to come over, and this king has something important to discuss with you." ”

Xia Xun arranged for a few people to notify these people to come over.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this king intends to improve the quality and yield of iron, tell me what methods there are."

The three looked at each other, but no one spoke.

When Ji Yan saw the cold scene, he couldn't help frowning slightly, and said: "Today's proposal is only a general direction, and it may not be implemented." If you say good, the king will have a reward, and if you say badly, there will be no punishment. Come on, everyone speak freely, say whatever comes to mind. ”

Xia Xun and Lin Tong glanced at each other and nodded slightly. Lin Tong stood up and arched his hand: "If you want to increase production, you just need to gather back the craftsmen we dismissed before." The two furnaces are ready-made, as are the six-sided calciners, which can be put into production as soon as they have the manpower. As for the iron mine, there is an abandoned iron and stone yard at the foot of the General Mountain, which can be put into use with a little reconstruction. ”

"Increase manpower," Ji Yan nodded, "This is a must." Okay, after going down, Lin Qing went to handle this matter, summoned all the craftsmen back, and made use of the abandoned iron and stone field, idle furnace and calciner. ”

"No." Lin Tong happily accepted the order.

Xia Xun followed and said: "The increase in manpower can indeed increase production, but this part of Yulu is a big problem!" ”

"The matter of Yulu, its standard is the same as those carpenters and stonemasons recalled before, Xia Qing went to draw up the charter, as long as it is not too outrageous, this king will approve it one by one."

"But the local government may not be able to agree!" Xia Xun said worriedly: "Lao Chen yesterday took the newly proposed charter of the carpenter and stonemason, and asked the Xia Guanfu to get it, although it was easy to say that he finally received a part, but it was less than half of the charter, and the old minister is now very worried that these craftsmen will have opinions, and it has not been issued yet." ”

"Smack!" With a bang, Ji Yan slapped his palm on the desk, his eyes were round, and he shouted angrily: "They dare to discount the charter of this king's seal?" ”

Xia Xun, who had never seen the Son of Heaven angry, was so frightened that he stretched out his sleeve and wiped it on his forehead, stood up and said in a low voice: "Qi my king, the local government manages the country's finances and taxes, and now it is really stretched, and the old minister can understand it very well." ”

"Understood?" Ji Yan became more and more angry, and roared, "You understand him? Okay, well, then you don't have to trouble him in the future, you don't have to give these craftsmen a fortune! However, things must be done well for Lonely, the production of iron must be increased, and the quality must be improved! ”

Xia Xun was already in a cold sweat, and his lips squirmed: "This, this ......"