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After more than half a month of searching, the craftsmen sent out really found some rare metals. These rare metals are also easy to identify, they are obviously different from copper, iron, tin, or gold and silver, and the people below collected dozens of carts in one go and sent them directly to Geng Jingzhong. Others can't tell what kind of metal ore this is, but Geng Jingzhong knows, although there are a few things he can't remember the name, but the nickel ore he wants is there, it is peridotite containing multiple minerals, and it is mutated peridotite.

Although later generations of scientists investigated, there are not many distributions in Fujian, but this does not mean that there are none. Although the number of this batch is small, only one carriage, it let Geng Jingzhong know that there is such a thing here in Fujian. The production area is also very close to the starting point town, at the junction of Fujian and Guangdong, which is less than 100 kilometers apart, belongs to Fengshi Town, Yongding County, only separated by a Tingjiang River, and is Meizhou, Guangdong. This is still the place where a typhoon passed through last year, causing a large-scale storm to lead to a landslide here, and the ore that was exposed was a piece of turquoise, and if it weren't for Geng Jingzhong's request to collect all kinds of ore, others would not have noticed here.

In fact, there are a lot of steel that can enhance the strength of steel, tungsten steel, manganese steel can be, tungsten is a rare metal, too difficult to find, manganese steel zuò is too difficult and complicated, now Geng Jingzhong can't get these, that can only pick up simple and important ones first. If there is a way to make these now, no matter what weapons are used to make weapons in the future, then there is no need to worry. Now, nickel is easy to find. There are some in each province. And Geng Jingzhong is also familiar with it. Nickel can be replaced with charcoal alone.

Fujian has not officially mined a single nickel mine, but Yunnan has had inlaid ore since the Song Dynasty. Because another name for nickel is fake copper, it is often used by merchants and landlords in Yunnan to make fake copper coins. When Geng Jingzhong heard the report of the craftsmen who were familiar with the matter, he could only sigh that these merchants were too extravagant, and they didn't know that it was a very important steel raw material.

Now that I have found a nickel mineral area in Fujian, I don't have to go all the way to Yunnan to purchase it, otherwise if Wu Sangui knows, he will definitely be knocked again. The first shipment of nickel ore was so small. A few large stones don't produce much nickel at all. Fortunately, the workshop steward who received the order immediately returned to Fengshi Town, transported back dozens of truckloads of ore at a very fast speed, handed them over to Geng Jingzhong for emergency, and then turned around again to preside over the large-scale mining task.

Geng Jingzhong only used the method of using charcoal to reduce the red inlay ore, and suddenly made metal nickel. After the production is completed, the metallic nickel is fused into the molten steel, and the stainless steel with a very shiny texture is obtained. Geng Jingzhong looked at the surprised eyes of the craftsmen, and regretted why he didn't sue them earlier, or put forward a note on the opinion himself. It can also save him a lot of effort. Now that everything has been made, Geng Jingzhong will take the opportunity to tell these craftsmen again. Adding a small amount of other metals to the steel will result in a wide variety of steels, but the exact ratio will have to be tried many times to find the most suitable ratio. So he ordered them to do more research in this area, after all, Geng Jingzhong has more things to deal with, and it is impossible to soak here every day, and he doesn't know much about the names of minerals in the world, he studied chemistry, not geology.

However, as long as they can make the steel that meets the requirements, they can roughly know what the name of the metal is and where it is produced. Large-scale mining can then be carried out, and then the production of such steel can be carried out. After a few days of trying, Geng Jingzhong still came up with some nickel alloy steel that meets the requirements, and he also tested this alloy steel, and the performance is indeed much stronger than ordinary steel. Therefore, Geng Jingzhong called the newly made nickel alloy steel No. 1 special steel, and there will definitely be other special steels in the future, so it will be arranged in the back serial number, so it is easy to remember!!

"Lord Wang, I'm afraid the cannon that comes out of this way is very unsafe, the barrel is too thin, once the cannon is fired, it will be troublesome to explode!" Master Liu said cautiously to Geng Jingzhong. He is the person in charge of the artillery workshop in the starting point town, and Nan Huairen is in charge of the two artillery workshops in the north and south. He looked at the parameter requirements given by Geng Jingzhong, and after a moment of hesitation, he still spoke.

"Didn't I ask you to just follow the minimum requirements and decrease step by step. Decrease the barrel thickness by a tenth at a time, make five or six guns to test in turn, find the most suitable one, and then decrease by one-twentieth each time, in short, I will see the results in the next month. How much materials are consumed, how much money is needed, you report it yourself, and I will sue the royal palace for direct approval to you! Geng Jingzhong squinted his eyes and looked at Master Liu, he was really cautious. However, in his position, it is right to be cautious. "I won't be leaving the starting point for a month, and I'll send me the day's report every day in the future. The other cannon casting tasks are suspended, forget about the ones that are being cast, and go all out to test the effect of this special steel casting cannon! ”

"Yes! Subordinates know! Master Liu picked up the paper in his hand and immediately turned around and went into the workshop. The cannon to be cast this time, the barrel must be constantly thinned, but the gun body must be lengthened, if such a gun is successful, the weight will be reduced a lot, but whether such a gun can succeed or not, he really has no bottom. But when I thought that what the prince had done all along, I felt a lot more relieved. If you can really develop a lightweight artillery, you will become a great hero

Starting from the palace garden, Geng Jingzhong took a hot bath. In the steelmaking workshop, it's not just that the smell is bad, the point is that the temperature is too high. It's the end of August in the lunar calendar, and the temperature is indeed much better than in June and July, but it's outside, and inside the steelmaking workshop, the temperature is like this all year round!

"Report to the prince, Chief Geng asks to see you!" Not long after Geng Jingzhong came up from the pool, there was a report at the door.

When Geng Jingzhong heard that it was Geng Da, he immediately knew what was going on. More than half a year ago, he asked him to run the post office, which was completely from scratch, and he just made a plan for him to act cheaply according to the plan. Now that the half-year period has been more than a month, it's time to give back to yourself. "Call him in!"

"Yes!"

"The subordinates see the prince, the prince is safe!" As soon as Geng Da came in, he saw Geng Jingzhong wrapped in a bath towel, lying on the couch, happy in his heart, and immediately saluted. Geng Jingzhong was able to meet him in this way, which showed that he could already be regarded as Geng Jingzhong's confidant, and he did not treat himself as an outsider.

"Hmm!" Geng Jingzhong squirted out of his nose. "You're here for the post office?" Geng Jingzhong comfortably enjoyed the servant girl's pinch for him, and said comfortably.

"The subordinates just want to report the good news for the prince." Geng Da said respectfully.

"Look at your smile, things are going well! Tell me, what's the catch? When Geng Jingzhong saw Geng Da's expression, he knew that things should go smoothly.

"According to the instructions of the prince, my subordinates set up trial points in Zhangzhou, Longyan and other nearby prefectures and counties in advance, but I didn't expect the effect to be surprisingly good. Especially in our starting town and Yuegang, there are a large number of foreign craftsmen in these two places, but they can't often return to their hometowns, so mailing letters has become an important way for them to communicate with their families. ”

"In a town like this one, most of the settlers have moved from other places, and many of their loved ones have stayed in their hometowns. They have been living here for more than five years, but they rarely know their hometown. I miss the workers at the port of Tsukiko even more, so as soon as the mailing business began, they were immediately welcomed. ”

"Now, the business of mailing parcels and money is also being carried out, and at the beginning, the people did not agree with it, knowing that they sent things to distant relatives, either personally or by relatives and friends who dragged them along. Now, our business is booming, and we can't get busy every day! ”

Geng Jingzhong reacted, Geng Da really succeeded, isn't this the express delivery of the future. "Good! Very good. You go on! (To be continued......)