Naturally, there was no emperor's guard of honor in the yamen, but a group of officials actually made the battle to escort Xue Chongxun out of a short period of time quite imposing, not only accompanied by officials and guards, but also got a large sedan chair carried by four people out of nowhere. It's a pity that Xue Chongxun didn't appreciate it, he felt that this sedan chair was nondescript, and directly asked his generals to bring the war horse over. A soldier from Wugong County was busy crouching in front of the horse and wanted Xue Chongxun to step on his back and get on the horse, but he kicked him away, holding a sword in his left hand, and jumping on the horse's back with one hand on the saddle with his right hand. The officials were busy praising it: "Your Majesty xià Shenwu!" ”

Xue Chongxun was also not modest, so he immediately looked around and said, "Before I won the world, I personally led the army to defeat the barbarians and rebels from all sides many times, and I really can't ride a horse?" After saying that, he kicked the horse's belly lightly, and the war horse raised its hooves and ran out briskly, and the cavalry of the Flying Tiger Regiment immediately rode their horses to follow, and for a while the dust was flying and the horses' hooves were loud, and the horse team ran straight across the school field to the Wei River.

The accompanying officials hurriedly mounted their horses, and the other horseless attendants ran behind, and a decent guard of honor suddenly broke up.

The workshops built next to the river have a large wheel-shaped water drain on the outside, and the chimney on the roof is smoking, which at first glance looks like a large mill, and there are some fire kilns being built around it. These are not factories but workshops, and they do not pollute the river much, and the biggest pollution may be the human and animal manure of the dense population here. The river looks very clear, and you can see green mountains and white clouds in the distance.

After a while, Xiao Dan and other officials finally caught up, Xiao Dan was obviously not the kind of person who was born in the scholar clan and knew the six arts, and his body didn't seem to be very good. When he caught up, he hurriedly dismounted and went to lead the horse for Xue Chongxun, while explaining the usefulness of the workshop and what he was planning to do.

Xue Chongxun glanced back and asked, "What about the old craftsman who spoke at the banquet just now?" He said in his heart that the half a hundred craftsmen have been doing this for many years, and they must know a lot of crafts, and they are not officialdom figures, there are not so many twists and turns, and it is easier to ask something.

Xiao Dan hurriedly said to his subordinates: "Go and call He Laohan over to face the saint!" ”

Then the old craftsman was brought over, and Xue Chongxun asked, "What's your name?" The old craftsman hurriedly bent down and said: "The grass people are called He Er, and others are called He Laohan, and he is not famous." Xue Chongxun said with a smile: "I have a groom named Pang Er who has been following for many years, and you are all the second. ”

He laughed with a craftsman, and the celebrities who were ready to use the scenery to make poetry and praise in front of the emperor didn't even have a chance, and the emperor didn't have Yaxing, so they had to follow silently.

Xue Chongxun's plan for this trip was indeed not to find a romantic article like "The Preface to the Pavilion of King Teng", nor did he think about creating some elegant tastes that could be circulated, he really wanted to inspect practical techniques.

Seeing that there was smoke in the workshop, he suddenly remembered the fuel, so he asked the old craftsman He Er: "What kind of fuel is used to melt iron?" ”

He Er replied without thinking: "The kiln used to burn charcoal, Your Majesty looks at the kiln being built over there, which is used to burn charcoal." ”

"No coal?" Xue Chongxun almost blurted out a question, and then remembered that he had seen the word "stone" in the recital of the Ministry of Industry, and he could literally think that it was coal, so he changed his words and said, "Stone, I heard that it is used locally, can't the Central Divine Machinery Administration use this thing?" ”

He Er was stunned, probably thinking that the emperor was a layman who didn't understand this kind of thing at all, so he said: "It's not as good as charcoal to use charcoal." ”

Xue Chongxun said: "That's if you haven't practiced it, you will burn it directly." He knew that this kind of project could not be arranged by an illiterate craftsman, so he turned his head to look at Xiao Dan, "Build a square kiln sealed on all sides, smash the charcoal and put it in, open the holes on the side to ignite and ignite the fire, and then ignite the charcoal in the kiln, burn it for about ten days until it is no longer angry, and get out the charcoal that has been refined inside, which is coke, and use that thing to try iron smelting...... That's probably the way it is, and you think about it and test it, and you get a reward. ”

Xue Chongxun knows a little about coke, anyway, it is an important raw material for steelmaking, as for how to make it himself, he can't figure it out, knowing the principle does not mean that he can be an engineer himself. And it is impossible for him to just squat here for such a thing to conduct on-site experiments, maybe the officials and craftsmen who are really not in charge of things are insiders, and they are blind toss. So I had to come up with such a method, promising a heavy reward, and let others ponder it...... As for whether it can or not, only God knows.

Xiao Dan and other officials' expressions made Xue Chongxun very satisfied, he hurriedly asked someone to record the will, one scribe directly lay on the ground and took his back as a bookcase, and the other wrote on his back. Seeing this, Xue Chongxun nodded with satisfaction: "Work hard, if you succeed, I won't treat you badly." ”

"Yes, the ministers obey the holy decree!" Xiao Dan clenched his fists a little excitedly and agreed. This is an errand given by the emperor himself, and if it is done, it will be a visible credit, and it is countless times better than doing political performance in obscurity, and the so-called twice the result with half the effort. Xue Chongxun, as the Son of Heaven, can he reward something or be promoted to an official when he is happy, can he be compared to other places? Doing good deeds does not necessarily get good rewards, the key is to do it in a visible place.

Xue Chongxun said: "Haven't you been thinking about ways to improve the durability of cannons, as long as the coking coal is smelted, it is expected to be good iron for casting cannons." ”

All the officials agreed simply, almost patted their chests, and then expressed their loyalty and determination, if they didn't care about the identity of the officials, they would curse and swear like ordinary people.

Xue Chongxun went to visit the workshop again, and the overseers and craftsmen knelt on the ground, and there was a lot of soot in it, and everyone advised him not to enter such a place. Xue Chongxun doesn't care much about this, but he is really a bit of a layman, in addition to knowing that the technology is relatively backward due to the limitations of the times, he can't see any doorway. G