The formal conferment of Jiuxi was already held in the morning, and in the evening in the general's mansion, it was a relatively less formal banquet.

Except for the generals of the orthodox army and Gan Ning, who led the fleet to sea, almost all the important civil and military forces of the General's Mansion had already arrived.

Include...... Many people have not seen the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Industry Pang Tong and Pang Shiyuan!

Although Pang Tong's appearance is more "surprising" than rumored, before the banquet, Pang Tong is the most "popular" department!

At this time, Bai Tu had not yet entered the table, and everyone casually exchanged a few words with their familiar colleagues, and naturally there were also officials or representatives of the noble clan who wanted to "progress", and took this opportunity to walk around with the important staff of the General's Mansion.

In the past, the focus at this time was Lu Su. Chen Gong or Lu Kang, these ministers, as well as other subordinate officials of the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Officials.

However, after learning that Pang Tong would also attend this time, countless colleagues and representatives of the family who had not yet appeared began to revolve around him!

Even Lu Su's side was a little cold......

If nothing else, there are too many "projects" in the hands of Pang Tong - not to mention the salt benefits that have been mainly handed over to the Ministry of Households, now from the outskirts of Jinling, all the way to the left of Beigu Mountain, this even Hengqian Mo's hundreds of workshops of all sizes, most of them are for the Ministry of Industry!

For example, after gradually recovering the benefits of copper and iron, the Ministry of Industry has built an iron-making blast furnace, and the iron ore worth 10,000 catties per day has become iron here......

In the early days, the technical content of blast furnace ironmaking was not high, as long as the principle was understood, blast furnaces could be built everywhere when they were poor and white.

When the technology was still very basic, the fuel was generally charcoal, and the modern process uses coke - that is, the product of coal distillation, coke has a lower sulfur content than coal, which can avoid the reaction of sulfur with iron.

Of course, in the world of Chenghime, not to mention the dry distillation technology of coal, there is no coal, and the blast furnaces of the Ministry of Industry naturally burn charcoal.

In the current plan to expand production, factories will be opened in Huiji and Yuzhang - one is close to the mine, and the other is close to the forest.

Bai Tu is also very helpless, relying on charcoal too much, and he can't see anything in the short term, after all, the population and industrial scale are so large at this time, but ...... In the long run, the damage to the environment is great.

However, the refining speed of the iron from such a "rudimentary" blast furnace is indeed amazing, just as they were surprised when they saw the salt mountain in the salt field, but ...... The quality is quite average.

Therefore, the Ministry of Industry has outsourced many steel frying workshops - frying steel method, which is a technology that exists in the Western Han Dynasty.

It is called fried "steel", but the finished product is actually more wrought iron.

The low-quality pig iron produced by blast furnace ironmaking is transported to these private workshops by truckloads, and then contracted their wrought iron output and gave them "commissions".

This alone feeds an unknown number of iron-making workshops.

The personnel are all readily available......

Casting mountains for copper and boiling the sea for salt were originally traditional skills in Jiangdong, just like after the closure of the folk salt farm, a large number of salt workers were repaid to the general's mansion...... The iron-making workshops that have no room for survival that have been squeezed by blast furnace ironmaking can now only take orders from the Ministry of Engineering to make ends meet, also known as "part-time jobs".

As a result, the situation of private iron-making workshops was almost also controlled by the General's Office.

If you want to cooperate with the Ministry of Industry, you can only make the workshop "transparent" and subject to supervision in the eyes of the Ministry of Industry......

In the past, almost all wealthy families in Jiangdong participated in the sharing of private salt and iron, but now the former is extinct, and the latter can only be attached to the Ministry of Industry!

Three years ago, Bai Tu and Lu Kang talked about salt and iron, but Lu Kang was not very optimistic, thinking that not only was there great resistance, but it was also likely to lead to conflict.

And yet now...... It's not like you can only work for the Ministry of Industry!

After all, digging iron ore and making iron by yourself is not as much as earning more from the list of the Ministry of Labor, as for the iron tools in the private collection, Bai Tu really can't look down on it, as long as it is not crossbow arrows, heavy armor and the like, the control is much more relaxed.

Even if some workshops are not skilled enough, but they are highly conscious and obedient, the Ministry of Industry will also provide technical guidance.

Seeing this, other workshops were even more afraid to sneer, after all, there were many workshops that wanted to cooperate with the Ministry of Industry, but there was only one ......

Anyway, the "pig iron" that goes out from the Ministry of Industry must have a sufficient amount of "wrought iron" to be recycled.

In addition, in the Ministry of Industry, the "steel filling method" is used, and pig iron and wrought iron are cast together according to a certain ratio and forged into steel!

The steel-filled method is made by melting pig iron and pouring it over wrought iron to make steel – or "high-carbon steel".

Steel filling technology was born in the present, the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Three Kingdoms, but it was used on a large scale in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, carried forward in the Tang Dynasty, and was recorded and classified in detail in the Song Dynasty, and the technology was improved again in the Ming Dynasty......

In the 19th century, Krupp in Germany rose from a small workshop to a military industrial tycoon, and it was precisely the technology similar to the steel filling method that was used to make steel with a mixture of pig iron and wrought iron.

Of course, the steel forged in this way is, in modern parlance, a "high-carbon steel" with high hardness, but poor ductility and elasticity, also known as "tool steel", and difficult to quench.

However, some modern kitchen knives will also use low-carbon steel and high-carbon steel composite materials - high-carbon steel as the blade and low-carbon steel as the blade to make the kitchen knife both sharp and tough.

In terms of quenching, modern times also have a double-liquid quenching corresponding, that is, water first and then oil, to avoid cracking after quenching......

The weapons built by the Ministry of Industry also follow this principle, and the wrought iron obtained by frying steel is close to "low-carbon steel".

The shape of the knife is also the result of trial and error by the Ministry of Engineering......

Even compared to the knives that are equipped for grass-roots officers and even middle-level officers to load on their armor, the current composite steel knives of the Ministry of Industry also have an absolute advantage!

Although it is still not as good as 100 steel, it is ...... What is the cost of 100 steel?

It often takes several famous craftsmen, and it takes several years to create one, and the number is extremely limited, and it has always been the top generals who are qualified to equip it.

Compared with mass-produced composite steel knives, the cost performance is completely crushed.

Not to mention...... The technology of using hydraulic power to forge has also been in the research sequence of the Ministry of Industry, and once it is successfully applied, it is expected that the mass production of hydraulic steel will also be produced.

It's just that this kind of engineering technology is not in the priority order, after all, Pang Tong's main focus is not in engineering.

And that's just one of the projects of the Ministry of Industry......

If it weren't for the current general's mansion, it would be necessary to continue to raise and maintain the popularity of the people, and Lu Su really wanted to suggest that the projects of digging ditches and roads, and building bridges with waterwheels should also be contracted out - with the increase in demand for the project, Lu Su gradually found that some people have become more proficient in construction.

It is more efficient to hire a "construction team" to work everywhere than to recruit manpower on the spot......

According to this year's grain budget, this situation may become more and more obvious in the future!

Although in the eyes of the wealthy family, power, fame, or status in the court and the opposition are more important than wealth, but ...... Who can ignore a ministry that has led countless workshops?

What's more, Chen Gong of the Ministry of Officials can't reasonably and legally give official positions to people who have a good relationship with him, and the Ministry of Civil Affairs is more inclined to cultivate a "construction team" by itself, after all, the major scholars did not raise this kind of group at home before, and there is no advantage...... However, Pang Tong of the Ministry of Industry can reasonably and legally give the list to the workshop that has a good relationship with him - as long as the results are not wrong.

However, they will definitely be disappointed, Pang Tong's communication skills have not degraded, and he is still the ugly man who will find "interesting souls" after chatting, but ...... The current Pang Tong is not very willing to deal with them.

The compliments to everyone are just a few words that are not salty or light, as for the words that want to be in Pang Tong's mouth, to understand the future direction of the Ministry of Engineering?

Dream!

Pang Tong just didn't want to deal with them, he wasn't a communicator, even if he was a first-class strategist and debater, he didn't want to take advantage of Pang Tong......

If Pang Tong really revealed something, it was also what he wanted to reveal in his plan!

Now, for example, Pang Tong is reminding families to lay out workshops earlier near several ironworks that will be expanded—but the Ministry has already raised the price of land.

Sima Lang also stepped forward to talk to Pang Tong for a few words......

For this Hanoi scholar who has no direct interest in the Ministry of Industry, Pang Tong's attitude is better, although his hair is getting less and less now, but Pang Tong still has some literati temperament.

And Sima Lang was a man of words, and he soon had a good conversation with Pang Tong.

When Sima Lang intentionally or unintentionally turned the topic to the matter of iron smelting, Pang Tong didn't know whether he was really defenseless, or if he had expected it, and directly revealed: "That's right, the matter of iron smelting has indeed made progress, and the reason why I came here today is also to present the first batch of forged swords to the lord." ”

In fact, Sima Lang is more concerned about quantity, after all, the previous "sea salt" only made the general's mansion rich in wealth and goods, and the iron-smelting skills were ...... But it can directly improve the combat effectiveness of the army!

However, Pang Tong brought the topic to the sword, which made Sima Lang not easy to ask about the number for a while.

Instead, Pang Tong took the initiative to say: "The lord was named the Marquis of Chu, and among the nine tin he obtained, there were also three hundred tiger ben...... This time, it was to present the three hundred tiger ben of the lord to the three hundred pairs of war knives and heavy armor newly forged by the Ministry of Industry. ”

In fact, the armor also has the interface of the armor, but compared to the weapon, the value of a "treasure armor" at this time is much lower, after all...... The armor is too thick and will also affect the sensitivity of the armor, the scale armor was only popular during the Three Kingdoms period, and the chain mail and willow leaf armor have not yet appeared, so the military generals are not in great demand for this.

As for the Hime-made soldiers, there are even fewer equipped with thick armor - the cost is too high.

As soon as he heard the "three hundred pairs", Sima Lang's interest was even more ......

Obviously, in Sima Lang's view, the mere 300 pairs of armor only have symbolic significance, and compared to the copper and iron output of the Ministry of Industry that he found, it is only a drop in the bucket.

Pang Tong sensed Sima Lang's disappointment, but he didn't explain much, but sneered covertly.

It didn't take long for the white picture to come out, and the banquet officially began!

First, he drank for Bai Gong's conferral of Jiuxi, and then Ling Tong, who was the representative, reported the results of Jiangxia's battle, and finally before entering the stage of drinking and feasting, the eye-catching Pang Tong stood up......

"The lord is blessed by heaven, and with the blessing of all the people, he was awarded nine tins...... The Ministry of Industry was also fortunate to cast the first batch of armor at this time, hoping to take this opportunity to dedicate it to the lord's tiger warriors. Pang Tong said.

Of course, everyone knows that this must have been rehearsed a long time ago, otherwise how could so many sword soldiers be sent to the General's Mansion?

"Okay, soldiers, the murder weapon of the country, and it is also a blessing weapon and a heavy weapon that protects all people, let's take a look at the sword cast by the Ministry of Industry!"