Outside the Boulder City, towering smoke spews thick black smoke day and night.

Passers-by have avoided it, except for those who have just arrived in Boulder City and cast curious glances at it, and the inhabitants of this wasteland are almost accustomed to the existence of this "monster", although they still cannot understand the concept of "industry".

That's right, it's a monster.

This is true in the eyes of both farmers and businessmen.

This steel mill is like a starving plant. Thirsty behemoths, endlessly devouring iron ore and coal. The factory's monthly ore consumption alone is more than the total iron ore consumption of all blacksmith shops in the entire Boulder City last year. The blacksmiths of the industry alliance complained all the time that they were born in a thorny wasteland rich in iron ore, and they had to worry about not being able to buy materials for making iron.

It was as if the beast could never be fed, and not only that, but it was expanding its stomach at the rate of two blast furnaces a week.

Before Du Wei took over production here, the steel mill produced only flintlock pistols. Now that the weapons of the new militia have been installed, and the surplus flintlock pistols have been stockpiled in two warehouses, in order to digest the excess capacity, Du Wei opened two new production lines under the instruction of Jiang Feng for the production of cuirasses and long swords used by traditional infantry.

The steel produced by the iron-making blast furnace is far stronger than the sword armor produced by the primitive forging process of this world. Although the sword produced by the casting process is a little less ingenious than the forging, it is superior to the stable quality, low cost, and amazing output.

These swords, bearing the coat of arms of the "Shuttle Chamber of Commerce", were very popular in the southern city-states, especially among the mercenaries. Thanks to this, after nearly two months of operating at a loss, the steel plant has finally turned a profit.

Rembert was relieved.

If we can't solve the problem of the source of funds, and keep using the money of the city hall to fill this hole, even if we borrow more silver coins from those merchant families, it will not help.

Early the next morning, Jiang Feng rode in a carriage and accompanied by several knights to the steel mill on the outskirts of Boulder City.

When the carriage arrived at the steel plant, Du Wei was flipping through the ledger.

After hearing the news of Jiang Feng's arrival, he immediately got up and came out of the office.

Without extra greetings, Jiang Feng asked straight to the point.

"Is Fielding here?"

Du Wei said respectfully.

"Yes, sir."

Since the beginning of the month, Fielding has been almost permanent at the steel plant. According to Jiang Feng's request, Du Wei assigned him a separate workshop and two blast furnaces for steelmaking, as well as several experienced blacksmiths to help him conduct experiments.

"Take me to him." Jiang Feng said.

"Yes."

Giving a slight salute, Du Wei walked in front to lead the way, and took Jiang Feng to a separate small workshop on the side of the steel plant.

As early as when Jiang Feng left the Wizard Tower and went to the Eastern Desert, he handed over the blueprints of the steam engine to Fielding and asked him to study it.

Although it is not impossible to make an oil-burning internal combustion engine with the steel produced by the Boulder City Iron and Steel Plant, with the technical conditions of this world, it is much more difficult to build an oil production line from extraction to smelting than to manufacture the internal combustion engine itself.

In contrast, there are more coal mines in the thorny wasteland, and even higher than the reserves of iron ore. Considering these factors, Jiang Feng finally chose a steam engine that was convenient for production and promotion.

At least for the time being, production is more important than quality for the development of Boulder.

The workshop on the side of the steel mill has only one door to enter, and the door is guarded by six guards armed with muskets, and no unrelated personnel are allowed to approach it. In the center of the open space of this workshop, there is a "little monster" about one person high.

It's the workers who gave it a name.

Compared to the steel mill known as the "monster", the chimney above the little monster's head is only a meter high, and the smoke it spits out is not an ominous black, but a gray intertwined with black and white, accompanied by a damp smell.

When Jiang Feng walked into this workshop, several alchemy apprentices and factory workers, under the command of Fielding, were fiddling around the bronze machine. Noticing Jiang Feng who walked into the workshop, Fielding threw the drawings in his hand to the apprentice next to him, and greeted Jiang Feng with a smile on his face.

From the expression on his face, Jiang Feng could see that his research should have made good progress.

"My lord, what kind of wind is blowing you?" Patting the dust off his body, Fielding said respectfully.

"Urgent news from the front, I'm going to go to the front line in the near future, and I'll come here to see before I leave." Jiang Feng looked at the machine in the center of the workshop, scanned it briefly with his brain, and then there was a touch of approval in his eyes, "It seems that you have successfully completed the task I assigned to you." ”

"It's just a little bit closer. However, except for a small problem in the cooling and reflux of the condenser tube, it has basically been successful," Speaking of his experimental results, Fielding's eyebrows suddenly fluttered, "Do you need me to demonstrate it for you?" ”

Jiang Feng nodded, and Fielding immediately returned to the side of the steam engine, directing the apprentice to stuff coal into the fuel chamber and set it on fire.

Soon, a roaring flame rose in the combustion chamber.

It didn't take long for the liquid in the tank to begin to boil, and as one of the alchemist apprentices unscrewed the gate, the exhaust port above the machine spewed white mist and let out a long whining sound. Some of the steam is released to remove excess pressure, and most of the steam is directed into the cylinders. As the air pressure in the cylinder gradually increases, the steam begins to hit the piston, driving the connecting rod to reciprocate, which is converted into the rotary motion of the flywheel through the crankshaft.

Looking at the high-speed spinning flywheel, the apprentices next to the machine let out excited cheers, and Fielding's face couldn't help but float with joy.

Only Du Wei, who was standing behind Jiang Feng, was confused, with obvious confusion in his eyes.

This confusion has been going on for some time.

Ever since the workshop had been established, he couldn't figure out what the alchemists were up to. If that spinning wheel could fit on the wagon, that's a good idea. Of course, the premise is to ignore the high cost and the annoying noise.

Noticing the confusion in Du Wei's eyes, Jiang Feng looked at the high-speed flywheel and explained casually.

"It's the same thing as the guy on the Kairut ship, except it's so much more than just making the ship move. As long as the method is used properly, whether it is swimming in the water or running on land, it can be driven by this machine. ”

"But my lord, with all due respect, what's the use of that?" Du Wei hesitated, "We have already spent at least 50,000 UBS materials to build this thing, and its appetite is like a bottomless pit, we have to keep feeding it coal...... A horse isn't worth that much money. ”

"A horse can't move a dozen tons of steel, but it can."

Let a dozen tons of steel move?!

Dewey's eyes were full of shock.

I still don't understand what the use of this is......

But I always feel ......

It's amazing!