Now, under the inspiration of Wang Heng, after repeated practice, several experienced old blacksmiths have successfully invented the steel filling method.

The steel filling method uses high-grade iron ore to smelt high-quality pig iron with less impurities, and then the liquid pig iron is repeatedly poured on wrought iron to carburize the iron into steel.

The steps of the steel filling method are relatively simple, and Wang Heng has seen the relevant technical information in later generations, so he still remembers.

In fact, the prototype of this steelmaking method has appeared in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, but due to the subsequent years of war, especially the destruction of technological civilization by Wuhu Chaohua, many technologies including the steel-filling method are stagnant, and even lost, until more than 300 years later, during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the steel-filling method was improved and perfected by Qi Wuhuaiwen, and became a practical steel-making technology.

This method is relatively simple to operate, less time-consuming and labor-intensive, the amount of steel tapping is large, and the quality of steel is also quite good, and it is a steelmaking method that is very suitable for the technical level at that time.

When these old blacksmiths restored the steel-filling method, Wang Heng was extremely excited, and each of them was rewarded with ten gold, but this steel-making method is to be absolutely secret, a few years later, it will be a troubled era, and today's colleagues may be enemies in a few years, so such a strategic technology must not be leaked out.

After the success of the steel filling method, Wang Heng also followed the double-liquid quenching method on the technical data, with steel as the cutting edge, wrought iron as the back of the knife, with several kinds of livestock urine and grease to quench successively, after many times of hard work, finally created a hardness and toughness of the treasure knife, can cut off the thirty iron armor stacked together, this kind of steel knife is already a rare knife in the world, if let the world's famous craftsmen make, time-consuming, labor-intensive and incalculable.

For example, it is recorded in history that Cao Cao once ordered Yousi to make five treasure knives, which took five years and cost countless expensive materials, such a treasure knife is already a priceless treasure, but it can be mass-produced by using the steel filling method and the double-liquid quenching method, and the cost is not known how much it has been reduced.

In addition to the improvement of steelmaking technology, there is also a technology that has also been improved.

This is the technology of making glass.

Before crossing into this era, Wang Heng once thought that glass was not original in China, but came from overseas in the Middle Ages, and after coming to this era, he found that this was a mistake, in fact, the Chinese had long begun to burn glass.

Not to mention anything else, Wang Heng has his own craftsmen who can burn glass, Wang Heng has seen the process of firing glass, it turns out that they use the kind of ash and sand left over after smelting lead ore, and the fuel used is charcoal, which is very different from the glass firing method he knew in later generations.

The temperature at which charcoal burns is only 8 to 900 degrees, and the main raw materials used in the colorless transparent glass commonly used in later generations are alkali and sand, and the firing temperature should be about 1,500 degrees.

Sure enough, the glass fired by this firing method has various colors, is not transparent, and contains a lot of bubbles, it appears very turbid, and the texture is very brittle, and it is very easy to break under the sudden heat and cold.

In addition to this kind of glass native to China, in this era, there is also a kind of glass imported from overseas, which is similar to the kind of glass that Wang Heng commonly used in later generations, which is very crystal clear, but due to the difficulty of transportation technology, only small pieces of utensils or prisms can be transported to China.

Such glass now has a name called Poli, and the pronunciation is very similar to glass. However, because the characteristics of this glass are very different from the glass of our country, and the method of making zuò is strictly kept secret by the merchants of the Western Regions who transported them in, the people of the time did not know that the main ingredients of these two glasses were the same, and they regarded these two glasses as two different things.

The price of glass from our country is low, but the price of this kind of glass imported from overseas is very expensive.

After figuring out the ins and outs of these two types of glass and the price difference, Wang Heng of course sensitively discovered the business opportunities, and he decided to make the glass himself.

Wang Heng is generally clear about the raw materials and process of making glass, the only difficulty is the furnace temperature, but with charcoal, this is not a big problem, using charcoal, and then using water to drain the blast, the furnace temperature can easily reach the required temperature, and the first furnace glass is also fired smoothly.

But after the first furnace of glass was fired, Wang Heng was dumbfounded, it turned out that this furnace glass had a faint green color.

This green color does not affect the light transmittance very much, the glass is still transparent, and there is no difference in various properties, but compared with the white glass imported from overseas, the appearance is still a little worse, and the price is obviously far away.

Wang Heng understands that any other color should be caused by impurities in the raw materials, and there can be no impurities in soda ash, so the problem must be in the sand, which itself contains a lot of impurities, and it will stick to the soil in the process of salvage, and what iron oxide, copper oxide and other things are mixed in, and such a color will appear.

In later generations, there are many ways to solve this problem, such as washing with water, using electromagnets to suction, and washing with strong acid, but most of these methods do not have the conditions in this era, and it is impossible to completely remove the impurities in the sand with a single method, obviously, these methods are not feasible.

Then, there is only one way left, and that is to start with the raw materials.

Wang Heng's hometown in later generations is not far from Qichun, he has been to Qichun, knowing that there are abundant silica mines, and the grade is very high, the silicon content can reach more than 99.8%, and there are bare silica mines on many mountains, and it is easy to mine, so he entrusted Tongjiang firm to Qichun to find silica mines, sure enough, it didn't take long for Tongjiang firm to transport back several ships of silica for him.

This thing is gray and inconspicuous, and it is not worth much in the local area, and you only want as much as you want for your personal labor expenses.

Wang Heng asked the craftsmen to use this silica ore to burn glass, and sure enough, this time what they fired was crystal clear colorless glass.

Then this colorless glass can be blown into a variety of utensils, such as cups, bowls, etc., these things are handed over to Tongjiang Firm to be shipped to the north, and immediately become one of the main commodities of Tongjiang Firm, I don't know how popular it is among the wealthy families.

Wang Heng specially selected a set of glass tea sets, including a glass teapot and ten glass tea cups, sent by the Tongjiang firm to the general He Jin's house, became He Jin's treasure, it is said that he was very satisfied, this set of tea sets he was reluctant to use, ready to use as a family heirloom.

Wang Heng strictly controlled the output of this colorless glassware to ensure that its price would not fall, and that kind of green glass produced a lot of wine bottles, which were used to hold the best kind of Wuling Spring wine.

Of course, in addition to making money for Wang Heng, glass also has great military value, that is, to make a telescope, Wang Heng asked the craftsman to make a pair of telescopes, this pair of telescopes is hand-polished by craftsmen, a convex lens and a smaller concave lens are polished evenly, smooth and translucent, the angle is appropriate, and then installed at the two ends of two copper tubes set together, a pair of telescopes are successful.

Glass is of such great significance, of course, Wang Heng, like those merchants in the Western Regions, strictly guards the secrets of its production, in fact, this workshop in his backyard is one of the most heavily guarded places in the entire Thorn History Mansion.

The time when the first pair of telescopes was manufactured, it was already mid-July, after Wang Heng got his hands, he tried it himself, and felt that the effect was not bad, this pair of telescopes was composed of a convex lens and a concave lens, which belonged to the Galilean type telescope in later generations, and the images seen were positive, unlike the telescopes composed of two convex lenses, the images seen were inverted, which was very convenient, and Wang Heng took it to Huang Zhong's house diligently.

Huang Zhong is watching his son Huang Xu walk in the small courtyard of his home, Huang Xu is less than eleven years old this year, but he has been lingering on the sickbed for ten years, and he is afraid of wind and cold, so Huang Xu rarely walks out of his room, and spends most of his life lying on his couch.

But he is extremely smart, usually taught him to read by his mother Sun, his father Huang Zhong taught him his own martial arts formulas, as well as military books, he listened to everything he understood as soon as he listened, but unfortunately due to physical limitations, he could not practice martial arts, which has always been a regret by him.

Now that he has been taking the medicinal materials brought by Wang Heng for eight months, his physical condition has improved significantly, the symptoms of fear of wind and cold have improved greatly, and his always pale face has gradually become more ruddy, and he can also walk on his own.

Seeing Wang Heng coming, Huang Zhong had a smile on his face, and Huang Xu shouted happily: "Brother Shuping! ”

Wang Heng often came to Huang's house to visit Huang Xu, and every time he would bring some gifts to Huang Xu, sometimes it was delicious, sometimes it was fun, which brought a lot of fun to Huang Xu's lonely hospital bed life, like a ray of sunshine in the dark.

Huang Xu lingered on the sick bed for more than ten years, but his mind became extremely sensitive, he knew that his illness was expected to be cured, all brought by this Heng Gongzi, who was not a few years older than him, Wang Heng was close to him, and he naturally regarded Wang Heng as his own brother.

Wang Heng saw that Huang Xu was able to move around freely on his own, and he was overjoyed: "Brother Xu, your body is much better." ”

Although Huang Xu was still young, he was already quite polite, and he bowed down hard and said, "Thanks to the power of the eldest brother!" ”

Wang Heng hurriedly stepped forward to support Huang Xudao: "Brother Xu, see what I brought?" ”

Wang Heng said, while handing the telescope to Huang Xu, Huang Zhong only thought that Wang Heng had brought something interesting, looking at this scene with a smile, his son had been lying on the sickbed for more than ten years, although he was a father with martial arts, but he could not do anything, he often felt sorry for his son, but in the past eight months, his son's health has improved a lot, and the happiness he got has exceeded all the original ten years of life, which is brought by Wang Heng, and he is deeply grateful to Wang Heng.

Huang Xu took the telescope, this telescope was very beautifully polished by the craftsmen, and there were patterns carved on it, which Huang Xu liked very much, but he didn't know what this thing was for.

Wang Heng put the small head of the telescope in front of Huang Xu's eyes, and pointed the telescope at one of the tallest buildings in Hanshou City in the distance, Wuling Chun Restaurant, for Huang Xu to see.

When Huang Xu saw it, he was startled, and almost threw the telescope to the ground: "What is this?" ”

Wang Heng said with a smile: "This is called a telescope, did you see Wuling Chun Restaurant very clearly just now?" ”

Huang Xu nodded in shock, it's not that he is very timid, in fact, after being sick for so many years, he has nothing to be afraid of, but the telescope is something he has never seen before, he was not mentally prepared just now, and suddenly saw the Wuling Spring Restaurant, which should have been far away, suddenly moved to a place not far away from him, of course, he would be startled.

Huang Zhong listened to the conversation between the two, and his face, which had been smiling, became solemn, he walked over, took the telescope from Wang Heng's hand and said, "This thing can really see far?" ”

Wang Heng nodded and said, "Yes." As he spoke, he taught Huang Zhong how to use it.

Huang Zhong cautiously looked at the small head of the telescope, and at this glance, he was greatly shocked when he was already mentally prepared, and saw that the Wuling Spring Restaurant nearly two miles away clearly appeared in front of his eyes.

Wang Heng also taught Huang Zhong to push and pull the sleeve back and forth to adjust the focus to see different things from near and far.

After a long time, Huang Zhong put down the telescope and said solemnly to Wang Heng: "Shuping, this thing is not trivial!" ”

Huang Zhong, as one of the top generals of this era, of course, saw the use of the telescope in military affairs at a glance, this thing can be seen at a high place can be seen several miles away, even with Huang Zhong's eyesight, it is far from being compared with it, how much advantage can this occupy in the war?

Wang Heng nodded and said, "This telescope was built for use on the battlefield. ”

Huang Zhong immediately thought of what occasions this telescope could be used, and he immediately figured out how many tactics he could design with the telescope.

Wang Heng also said to Huang Zhong solemnly: "Master, the matter of my building of the telescope must be kept secret and not let anyone know. ”

Although Huang Zhong felt that something was wrong, but now that he was the only one who looked forward to Wang Hengma, he also replied solemnly: "I know." ”

At this time, Huang Xu took the telescope again, looked around in different directions, and also learned from Wang Heng to push and pull the sleeve, adjust the focus, and have a lot of fun.

Wang Heng looked at Huang Xu, and then said to Huang Zhong: "Master, this first telescope will be given to you, and you will be able to use it on the battlefield in the future." ”

Huang Zhong was shocked, this telescope was actually the first one, even if Wang Heng didn't say it, he knew how precious this thing was, not to mention anything else, just these two crystal mirrors were so crystal clear, he didn't know how much it was worth, not to mention that it also had such a heavy military significance, he nodded heavily.

**********

At the end of July, Cai Mao finally came to Hanshou, and his father Cai Yan's illness had been cured, so he came to join Wang Rong as promised.

Wang Rong was overjoyed, because Cai Mao's identity in Jingzhou was not ordinary, the Cai family itself was a crown family in Jingzhou, Cai Mao himself was also very famous, and his uncle was still Zhang Wen, who was the imperial lieutenant, and this was one of the big men of the Three Princes.

Therefore, Cai Mao's exit from Jingzhou is a great piece of good news for Wang Rongshun to control Jingzhou.

Wang Rong held a grand welcome banquet at Wulingchun Restaurant.

All of Wang Heng's subordinates, as well as Wang Heng, participated in this banquet.

Wang Rong raised the wine bottle and said: "Come to Hanshou for Deju, drink to win!" ”

Everyone drank a bottle of wine together.

Cai Mao is in the circle of celebrities and scholars in Jingzhou, with deep qualifications and high reputation, and only the Kuai brothers present can compare with him slightly, so everyone respects him very much and toasts him one after another.

After three rounds of drinking, Kuai Liang said to Cai Mao: "Brother Deqi, I don't know what interesting things happened in Xiangyang recently?" My brother has been away from Xiangyang for a few months, and he misses it so much! ”

The Kui brothers' hometown Zhonglu is very close to Xiangyang, and they and Cai Mao can be regarded as fellow villagers, so they often return to Cai Mao, and they have been away from home for so long, they also want to ask about their hometown.

Cai Mao said: "Nothing else, that is, I went to Yuliangzhou Pang Degong's house a few days before I came, and his nephew Pang Tong was also there, he heard that I was coming to Hanshou, and said that he missed Heng Gongzi very much!" ”

Wang Heng thought of the black and ugly boy, his heart was warm, and he couldn't help but smile. Although Pang Tong has a strange temperament, he treats those who have approved of him with sincerity.

Cai Mao said this matter, but also to Bo Wang Heng smiled, after all, he is now Wang Heng's subordinate, Wang Heng is equal to his young master, and the first day he came to Hanshou, Wang Heng received him so ceremoniously, of course he also wanted to leave a good impression on them, he saw last time that Wang Heng liked Pang Tong very much, and only today he took this matter out.

Seeing Wang Heng smile, Cai Mao was also relieved, and he continued.

Cai Mao's eloquence was given, and after a while, he said a few interesting things, most of which were about Pang Degong and Huang Chengyan, Pang Degong and Huang Chengyan were both indifferent to fame and fortune.

Most of the people in the banquet are from the scholar family, and the most favorite thing to hear is the interesting story of the famous man, and they are also fascinated by such a famous person's demeanor, and they are all amazed.

Wang Rong sighed and said: "It's a pity that Pang Degong and Huang Chengyan, two great talents, refuse to respond to the state conquest, I think it's because of Ei Debo!" ”

Cai Mao hurriedly said: "That's because they have a strange temperament, not because of the prince." ”