Wan Linggen smiled awkwardly, gently pulled her sleeve, and said in a low voice, "Mingzhu? ”

Shen Mingzhu turned sideways and didn't look at him, "What are you doing?" ”

Wan Linggen said sincerely: "Mingzhu, thank you for your hard work!" ”

Shen Mingzhu was stunned for a moment, turned around and looked at him fixedly, tears gradually appeared in his eyes, and said sadly: "Hard? Do you still know that I work hard? The tears in her eyes flowed down, and she said sadly: "I don't know what kind of demon I have, for your words, I am willing to break my leg, and you ...... But you ......"

Wan Linggen took her hand and put it in the palm of his hand, holding it tightly. There were more tears in Shen Mingzhu's eyes.

The kind words comforted the sad Miss Shen, and Wan Linggen decided to go to her workshop to have a look. It was more effective than any sweet words, and the gloom on her face swept away, and she pulled him away excitedly.

The workshop was not very far from the Great Marshal's Mansion, it was carved out of a clearing, and the sound of clanging could be heard from inside in the distance.

"Xianggong," Shen Mingzhu glanced at him, and said sweetly: "Most of the tasks you gave me have been completed, and there are still some things that are not clear, you can just explain those craftsmen in person, it is much better than me to say." ”

Wan Linggen smiled and nodded.

As soon as he stepped through the doors of the workshop, he was taken aback. It was his first time here, and it was on a scale far greater than he had imagined, with neat rows of houses connected together and the jingle sound coming from there. Just looking at the thousands of people who are busy outside, it is no wonder that she asks for at least 10,000 taels of silver every time.

Shen Mingzhu was obviously very satisfied with his reaction and pulled him into a room. After entering, the heat came to his face, and he realized that it was connected inside, and it already had the appearance of a workshop in the future, and he nodded with satisfaction.

When the busy people inside saw Shen Mingzhu and Wan Linggen walking in, they all put down their work and surrounded them, and Shen Mingzhu said loudly: "The handsome man has come to see you, if you have any questions, you can ask him in person." ”

Everyone was about to kneel down in a hurry, but Wan Linggen hurriedly stopped, "Don't be formal, I'll take a look at the fruits of your labor, and if you have any questions, you can also raise them." ”

"Da Shuai, little old man Mo Qingfeng, please come with me!" An old man with gray hair and beard said, and Wan Linggen nodded and walked forward beside him. Shen Mingzhu introduced beside him: "This Master Mo is an expert in iron smelting, and we finally invited his old man over. ”

Mo Qingfeng didn't say anything, and led them to a stove with flames, and there were more than a dozen red-hot iron rods in it. He took out a red iron rod from it, put it on the cutting board, and commanded: "Little Shunzi, wheel hammer!" ”

"Here it is, master!" A young man with a big waist answered, picked up the hammer on the ground and smashed it with a clang.

Wan Linggen frowned and looked at it for a while, the iron rod had already been smashed out of the shape of a shovel, Mo Qingfeng picked it up and looked at it, and put it in the furnace again.

"Master Mo, how many fights do you do a day?" Wan Linggen asked.

Mo Qingfeng said with a smile: "Back to Dashuai, if it goes well, you can produce twenty handfuls a day." ”

Wan Linggen shook his head, "Too slow! ”

Mo Qingfeng's face changed slightly: "Dashuai, in our Great Song Dynasty, the old man hasn't found anyone faster than me!" ”

Wan Linggen hurriedly smiled: "Master Mo, I'm not saying that there is a problem with your craftsmanship, I mean that it is too inefficient to operate by hand." ”

Mo Qingfeng was stunned, "What does this mean?" Can it be done without manpower? ”

Wan Linggen nodded, "Didn't you say that if you want to do a good job, you must first sharpen your tools'?" We can get some tools out there. ”

Mo Qingfeng's brows furrowed: "Tools? ”

Wan Linggen asked, "What's burning in the furnace?" ”

Shen Mingzhu said: "It's charcoal." ”

"Isn't there any coal in Kaifeng City?"

Mo Qingfeng stroked his beard and said; "Dashuai, there is also coal, but that thing is too slow to catch fire, and it will produce poisonous gas if it is not operated properly, it is not as fast as charcoal!"

Wan Linggen nodded, "That's true! Let me think about it, Master Mo, come here, I'll tell you what I think. ”

Mo Qingfeng and Shen Mingzhu followed him to a hut, and Wan Linggen picked up a pen and drew it.

"Blast furnace? What's that? Mo Qingfeng's eyes widened and he looked at Wan Linggen.

Wan Linggen just drew the appearance of an iron-smelting furnace from memory, in fact, he didn't expect to be able to make it in this era, if he could make something with similar functions, it would be a huge progress, this is what he really thought. But seeing Mo Qingfeng's suspicious gaze, he felt a little weak again.

"Can't you do it?" Wan Linggen asked.

Mo Qingfeng frowned tightly, pondered for a long time and said, "It's not completely impossible. Wan Linggen was overjoyed and said, "Okay, we can try to make a smaller blast furnace first." ”

Mo Qingfeng asked: "Does Dashuai mean to use coal as a heat source to turn the iron ore in the furnace into water, and then cast it?" ”

Wan Linggen said: "That's right! ”

Mo Qingfeng shook his head: "Dashuai, this method has been tried before, but it can't form a scale. ”

Wan Linggen asked, "Why is that?" ”

Mo Qingfeng looked at Shen Mingzhu and said: "Dashuai, since the dynasties, resources such as iron and bronze have been controlled by the imperial court, not to mention the limited quantity, this ore mining is also extremely time-consuming and labor-intensive, so ......" He sighed and said: "Also, many of the objects that Dashuai has explained have never been heard of, so ...... I can't do it! ”

Wan Linggen was stunned, thinking that this was a big problem, he pondered for a long time, and asked, "Master Mo, haven't you entered the Iron Age yet?" ”

Mo Qingfeng was stunned for a moment and smiled: "Iron Age? Dashuai is really a punch line. When it comes to the technology of mining, smelting and molding, we do have it, but because of the control of the imperial court, there are many experiments that cannot be done, and the technology cannot be further improved. ”

Wan Linggen asked, "Master Mo, is there an iron and copper mine near us?" ”

Mo Qingfeng replied: "Dashuai, there are some under Kaifeng, especially coal mines, but they require a lot of manpower to mine, so they are now in a state of stagnation. ”

Wan Linggen suddenly had an idea and said, "I don't think manpower is a problem. I still have hundreds of thousands of troops in my hands, and there is no need to leave so many people as targets for training, let them mine! ”

Mo Qingfeng and Shen Mingzhu's eyes lit up at the same time, and Shen Mingzhu said happily: "Yes, why didn't I think of this?" ”