On the Guazhou Canal, a 400-material Daming Sailor is sailing from Yangzhou to Guazhou, and the Guazhou Canal is still the main channel of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal at this time.

This warship belonged to the Luzhou Military and Naval Division, and went to Yangzhou to transport supplies to the three divisions of Huang Degong's department, and is now returning to Luzhou.

Luo Jian and Shi Kefa stood at the bow of the boat, the trees on both sides of the river were extremely pleasing to the eye, and the boats on the canal were endless, and they only avoided the sailor boat slightly.

Luo Jian carefully observed these ships, and saw that merchant ships accounted for the vast majority of them, and there were also one or two wealthy mansions mixed in, and their outfits were extremely luxurious.

Yangzhou is only about 20 miles away from Guazhou, and it stands to reason that it is much faster to come by horse, and most of the guards are on the shore and rush to Guazhou.

It was Luo Jian who asked to take a boat to Guazhou. The water network in the Jianghuai area is vertical and horizontal, and Yangzhou is backed by the Yangtze River, Luo Jian felt that it was necessary to have some understanding of the Ming sailors, so he pulled Shi Kefa to take the Luzhou sailors' boat to Guazhou.

After consulting Shi Kefa on the ship, Luo Jian knew that the strength of the Ming sailors was really not weak. There are more than 30,000 people and more than 1,000 warships of various kinds in the vicinity of Nanjing, and there are about 20,000 sailors led by the noble Liu Kongzhao in Nanjing. The naval division of Zheng Zhilong, which was far away in Fujian, was even more powerful, and its warships also had thousands of warships, but its warships were much larger than those of the inland naval division, and they were all seagoing ships.

If the forces of these sailors can be unified and integrated, then Azig wants to go down the river and fight, but these sailors are all under the jurisdiction of the imperial court, and the governor of Huaiyang has no right to command, which makes Luo Jian have the idea of building a shipyard and establishing a sailor.

This thought was only a flash, Luo Jian understood that the current development of Yangzhou has just begun, this shipbuilding and sailor are a lot of money-burning arms, and they can only make some plans and arrangements at present, and they will be considered when they have the opportunity in the future.

"Xinghua, have you checked all the firearms in this army?" Shi Kefa interrupted Luo Jian's musings.

"Yes, although there are many firearms in this army, they are really useless, I am in a hurry to come to Guazhou to have a look, I just want to discuss with Xiao Liu to see how to solve this problem." Luo Jian said with a sigh.

"Can you make that grenade? If it can be imitated, it can also solve the urgent need. "Shi Kefa has seen the power of grenades with his own eyes, so he asked.

"Brother Xian, this is impossible for the time being, the explosives used in this grenade are far from being comparable to the current **."

Luo Jian shook his head, thinking that his predecessors had also used the native method to make grenades, but because they used **, they were often blown in half, and the power was really not great.

"Xinghua, don't you have this knowledge in that computer?" Shi Kefa remembered that Luo Jian said that there were a lot of books stored in the computer, and he might have this knowledge.

Luo Jian just shook his head again and didn't speak.

The knowledge provided by this intelligent system is all found on the Internet, and there is only a very rough description of these technologies that affect social security on the Internet, and it will take a long time to explore them before they can actually be manufactured.

Shi Kefa came to Guazhou to select a site for the newly built gunpowder factory.

Luo Jian looked for a professional craftsman to see the gunpowder issued by the imperial court, the old craftsman grabbed a handful and looked at it in his hand, and then sniffed it with his nose, and said that this gunpowder is definitely not good, the content of nitrate is too low, and there are problems with the production process.

Luo Jian was anxious, and hurriedly pulled Shi Kefa to Guazhou to choose a new gunpowder factory, according to Shi Kefa's meaning, this gunpowder factory was built on the edge of Yangzhou, after Luo Jian's safety education, he went to Guazhou with Luo Jian.

The Guazhou ferry port was very busy, and the sailor boat waited for half a day before it docked to the shore, so that the sailor boat went to Luzhou, and Luo Jian and Shi Kefa went ashore and headed for Guazhou.

The steel mill was not far from the ferry, and after walking for more than ten minutes, I saw a chimney erected high in front of me, on which black smoke was emitting outward. The two chatted as they walked, and Zhao Quan followed behind with his long cloth bag and two guards, and arrived after a while.

Accustomed to seeing the big red brick chimney, seeing the chimney made of blue bricks in front of him, Luo Jian felt a little weird.

In front of the chimney is a not very long row of buildings, behind which there is a hill of ore, and next to it is a much smaller pile of coal. There is also a house under construction next to it, and the whole scale is not small.

The construction site was full of shirtless workers, and when they saw the official uniform that Shi Kefa was wearing, they all got out of the way and knelt to the side.

"Hurry up, everyone, just busy with you, don't worry about us." Luo Jian saw so many people kneeling on the ground, turned his head to look at Shi Kefa, and complained that he had to come over in official uniforms.

Under the guidance of the workers outside, several people came to a factory next to the chimney, and as soon as they entered the house, they felt a wave of heat rushing towards their faces.

Liu Weimin was in the house, shirtless, squatting on a brick platform with one foot, his eyes staring at the drawings on the platform, and his mouth was full of thoughts.

There were three or four people standing in front of Liu Weimin, all shirtless, all looking at the drawings, waiting for Liu Weimin to make a decision.

Luo Jian suddenly saw Chen Zilong from among the three or four people, and he was immediately surprised.

Chen Zilong handed over the ore to Liu Weimin in the house that day, washed up, changed his clothes and left, Luo Jian thought that he had returned to Nanjing, but he didn't expect to see him here again today.

Seeing the two of them coming, Chen Zilong was about to come up to salute, Luo Jian said with a smile: "They are all shirtless, what kind of salute are they doing?" Shi Ke also waved his hand to excuse everyone.

"Chief, Governor, why are you here?" Liu Weimin lowered his feet from the platform, turned around and asked.

"Isn't it that the firearms in the army really can't be used, and I was in a hurry, so I ran over to take a look." Luo Jian said.

"Chief, don't worry, we've reduced the size of the furnace, and now the refractory bricks are barely enough."

After Liu Wei finished speaking, he saw that it was too hot in the room, and said, "Chief, Supervisor, let's go outside and talk about it." ”

A few people walked outside the house, and Chen Zilong also came out.

Luo Jian pulled Chen Zilong over and asked, "Brother Mao, why did you come here?" You're no longer doing anything from the military department? ”

"Don't do it, I didn't go out to look for mines last time, I delayed my return to Nanjing, I was impeached, and the Ma Ge Department kicked me out of the military department, I thought about it, I just ran to Xiao Liu to learn from him." Chen Zilong said a little depressed.

"Didn't this Ruan Dacheng know that you went out to look for mines? He's a messenger, and he won't help you speak? Luo Jian asked.

"Expect him to speak for me? Xinghua, you are looking for the wrong person, right? I was squeezed out, and the military department gave him the right people in the middle of the incident, and I wondered if he had instructed someone to impeach me. Chen Zilong said with a wry smile.

"That's right, I have long wanted to invite Brother Mao to come to Yangzhou, and when the matter of the steel mill here is finished, you will go back to Yangzhou to help me, what do you think?"

Shi Kefa listened to what the two said, the expression on his face was a little gloomy, but he didn't speak.

"Okay, Xinghua, to be honest, I was in a bad mood with them in Nanjing, but I still feel happy to work with you." Chen Zilong listened to Luo Jian's invitation and readily agreed.

Luo Jian didn't expect Chen Zilong to be expelled from the imperial court, he had long wanted to dig him up, and he thought that he was an official in the court, I was afraid that it would not be easy, but now his wish has come true, and he is very happy.

"But Xinghua, you have to pay me a salary, this court is gone, and there is still a large family to support, you can't give it less." Chen Zilong said with a smile.

"Okay, okay, okay, as long as you're willing to stay, whatever." Luo Jian also laughed.

After talking about Chen Zilong, Luo Jian turned his head and asked Xiao Liu: "Isn't it that open-hearth steelmaking doesn't use blast furnaces?" What are you doing with such a tall chimney? ”

"Alas, I don't want to, chief, if Australia's rich iron ore is not needed, but our iron ore is not of high quality."

Luo Jian immediately understood that the rich iron ore could be used directly to make steel, but this poor iron ore needed an iron-making process, so he knew the origin of this tall chimney.

"This open-hearth furnace has been basically completed, but some molds are still being designed and manufactured, and when these molds are ready, you can open the furnace to make steel, but chief, you have to be mentally prepared, this output may not be very high."

Luo Jian remembered some mold models he had just seen in the room and asked, "Are you going to cast the cannon barrel directly?" ”

"I just want to give it a try, anyway, I can't get it, these steels can also be used to make weapons, and it won't cause waste, if it does, we have to consider gradually reducing the caliber and preparing to directly cast small seamless steel pipes."

The manufacture of seamless steel pipes is not an easy task, and Luo Jian is very worried about whether these current equipment can be made.

"Don't be afraid of waste, do more tests, I will send someone to send you some **, after these barrels are done, you must do more pressure resistance experiments, and strive to find the right data, but I have to remind you that these ** are basically unqualified, and their power is only about half of that of high-quality gunpowder, you have to take this factor into account."

Chen Zilong looked at Luo Jian with some envy and talked eloquently, only feeling that his knowledge was really shallow, and he still felt that he was erudite and talented before, and he blushed a little when he thought about it.

"Chief, when this side is almost busy, I'm going to ask Brother Chen to keep an eye here, I have to prepare for the gunpowder. Brother Chen learns really fast, except for theoretical things, everything else is thorough, and only when he stares at me can he rest assured. ”

"I said Xiao Liu, when will you teach me that theoretical thing?" Chen Zilong stared at Xiao Liu with blank eyes, expecting him to agree.

"Hehe, this theoretical thing can't be learned in a day or two, if you really want to learn, I'll prepare a set of materials for you then, what do you think?" Luo Jian said to Chen Zilong with a smile.

With Chen Zilong's age of thirty-seven, it was really difficult for him to learn from scratch, Luo Jian looked at his eager eyes, and couldn't bear to refuse, so he had to agree to him for Xiao Liu.

When it came to technical issues, Shi Kefa turned around and walked around the factory, and when he came back, he said to Luo Jian: "Why are there no soldiers guarding here, aren't you afraid that the Manchus will steal this steelmaking technology?" ”

"Overseer, it's not time yet." Xiao Liu said first.

"Why didn't it happen, see that your stoves are all set up." Shi Kefa was a little puzzled.

"If the Manchus learn to build the same furnace, I guarantee that all they will produce is scrap iron." Liu Weimin said confidently.

"But the workers in this steel mill have to be better managed, and they are the ones who are most likely to leak secrets." Liu Weimin said to Chen Zilong.

Luo Jian thought for a while and said, "I still want the necessary guards, I'll arrange this when I go back." ”

Liu Weimin quietly pulled Luo Jian aside and said softly: "Chief, the money is a little insufficient now. ”

When the construction of the steel mill began, Shi Kefa allocated 30,000 taels of silver, but he didn't expect to spend it almost at this point, which made Luo Jian a little strange.

"Chief, I didn't calculate the price of the ore at first, but I didn't expect this ore to cost money, so I'm nervous." Liu Weimin was a little embarrassed.

"Is it the cost of mining, or the cost of transportation?" Luo Jian is a little strange, the mining is done by the captives, and the transportation is done by Huang Degong's sailors, all of which are free of money.

"No, it's the ore that has to be paid, saying that this mine is the fief of a nobleman, and if you don't give money, you won't be mined."

"Why is there such a thing? Whose lord is it? ”

"I don't know, I only heard that the surname is Zhu, this price is not low, I am afraid that I will have to take one-third of the 30,000 taels of silver to buy ore."