The blast furnaces needed to be made higher, and the fuel for ironmaking needed to be changed from coal and charcoal to coke...... These rectification directions seem to be clear, but in fact, they need to be operated, but there are a lot of problems.

For example, Shen Shuren had people spend seven or eight days experimentally increasing the height and temperature of an existing blast furnace and restarting trial production to collect data and see what could go wrong.

As a result, within a few days of preheating, the blast furnace collapsed and the bottom softened, so frightened that Shen Shuren immediately ordered to stop and find a way to turn off the fire and withdraw the fuel.

After a check, it was found that the problem was in the high-temperature resistance of the furnace material - the blast furnace temperature at the end of the Ming Dynasty had reached 14500 degrees, and it could also melt the less pure iron into a molten and viscous state. It's just not as thin as the molten iron of later generations.

Because the melting point of pure iron is about more than 1,500 degrees, it is significantly higher than this value, such as reaching more than 1,600, the molten iron will be very thin and easy to flow, and if it is not hot enough, it will be relatively viscous like glue.

After the blast furnace continues to be heightened, it is easier for the bottom to accumulate heat and is not easy to dissipate losses, and after the temperature exceeds 1,005, although the bricks of the furnace will still not soften, at least the structural strength will decrease.

Originally, the height of the blast furnace was only about two zhang, and the masonry of the upper two zhang high was pressed down, and the base below could still be carried.

In addition to the need for re-research on blast furnace materials, there are also some minor problems in the R&D and trial production of fuels on the other side.

Originally, no one in Daming had ever tried to burn coke, and everyone had no experience at first.

The first few furnaces did not control the amount of air reserved in the furnace, and the subsequent air tightness adjustment was not accurate enough, and the result was either not burned into coke, or the coal itself burned too sufficiently, and directly became cinder ash.

Fortunately, Shen Shuren read a lot of books in his previous life, he remembered that when he was a child, he read a famous book "Railway Guerrillas", and the first chapter of the opening chapter is about the story of the guerrillas in the Zaozhuang area behind the enemy line and near the Zaozhuang Coal Mine during the Anti-Japanese War.

At that time, the bold people near the Zaozhuang Coal Mine were scorched, saying that 100 catties of coal could produce 70 catties of coke, and 100 catties of coke could be sold for 2 catties of coal, so they could make a net profit of 40 catties, which was a bit hard (and it was actually very polluting to burn like this, but no one cared about pollution during the Anti-Japanese War), which belonged to the "dead money" that could be invested brainlessly.

Shen Shuren couldn't remember too many details, so he had to roughly guide a direction first, and let his subordinates control it according to the proportion of "70 catties left after 100 catties are burned".

If it weighs more than 70 catties after burning, it is considered that the air has entered too little and the combustion is not sufficient. Less than seventy catties, that is, it has been burned enough and burned into slag.

After a few more experiments, the actual ironmaking effect is slowly tested according to the product each time.

……

This multi-pronged toss took about ten days.

Shen Shuren didn't go back to Jiangxia County, so he stayed in Daye, still in the wild Tieshan, and didn't even go back to the county seat for more than ten days.

As for the two stunning beauties who stayed in Jiangxia County, Chen Yuanyuan and Li Xiangjun, they also stayed alone in the empty room for 20 days, and their husbands were not at home as soon as they went on a business trip.

As a traverser, how can a beauty make steel and make guns! Guns are the weapons that affect whether you can dominate the world and compete for hegemony in the future! Women will have as much as they want in the future!

Fortunately, winter was originally the agricultural slack season, the army was not allowed to be mobilized, and the thieves were also divided, so the government affairs of the Daotai Yamen and the Yushi Yamen were not busy.

There is a group of staff and deputies to help deal with the daily work, and if there is a big matter, I will go to Daye County to ask for instructions, but there is no delay.

Time is approaching the end of November in a blink of an eye, and it has been almost twenty days since Shen Shuren first arrived in Daye.

On this day, he was preparing to accept a new batch of coke samples and try to use them in the newly adjusted blast furnace.

Suddenly, the assistant Song Mingde finally brought him a good news, saying that the family had replied to the letter, and his uncle Song Yingxing had already set off to move eight days ago, and he would be able to rush to Daye today.

Counting the days, Song Mingde's letter was sent sixteen days ago, and this Song Yingxing was not slow to come. After all, the other party is a fifty-seven-year-old man, and he still moved.

Shen Shuren also attaches great importance to talents, and there are still a few technical problems at hand that he can't solve, so he won't do it for the time being, and he hasn't washed his face, so he directly ordered someone to ride a horse to meet him with him.

A Taoist platform, the imperial history of the capital, personally greeted a Yuheng kiln smelting from the seven products, and this face was also sufficient.

……

An hour later, on the wharf of an unnamed town in the northwest of Daye County, bordering the Yangtze River.

A fifty-seven-year-old man with a long, sparsely curled beard got off the boat with a cane, looking at the dirty but busy dock in front of him, his eyes were also a little wandering, as if he was worried about the future.

This person is Song Yingxing, and his wife, children, and family members who followed him also got off the boat one after another, carrying large bags and small bags to load the car.

It seems that the Song family is indeed not wealthy, his youngest son and eldest grandson are still in the prime of life, and they also carry their luggage with the servants, obviously the number of servants in the family is not so large that they do not have to do housework at all.

Song Yingxing has never been admitted to the Jinshi in his life, although he has tax-free privileges after being lifted, he can still get some silver through various channels. But he himself and his brother always wanted to fight for a jinshi, and they took the exam from about 40 years in Wanli to the early years of Chongzhen, and they took the exam for nearly 20 years.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the price of the capital was already very high, and the cost of long-distance rush to the examination was very large, and every three years I went to the capital from Jiangxi, and I had to live in the capital for more than half a year, and I had to socialize with each other, which made the money a lot of money.

Of course, Song Yingxing himself actually has one of the biggest expenses - he wrote "Heavenly Creations", but no literati or doctors will buy this book, so it is definitely impossible to recoup the book by carving books and selling them for money.

And he couldn't bear to lose his writings, so he had to pay for engraving and printing at his own expense.

At that time, a collection of personal poems, according to the thickness of the length, the cost of work ranged from 500 taels to nearly 1,000 taels. (Not just the money for the engraving, but also the money for the first printing.) Generally, hundreds to 1,000 copies are printed after carving. Just like the current publishing house, for the typeset paper book, it is generally necessary to print 5,000 copies, otherwise it is difficult to give up the paper book)

The length of "Heavenly Creations" is much longer than that of a collection of poems, and there are three volumes, the key is that his book also has to engrave those illustrations of mechanical drawings, which is particularly expensive, and it cost Song Yingxing more than 3,000 taels of silver in total.

This is the most money he has lost in his life, and he has lost all the money he has earned in the past few years as a clear water official who has no chance of corruption.

The loss of book printing caused his family to not afford too many servants, and his family had to follow the housework. When I came to Wuchang this time, I was reluctant to lose anything, and I brought all the big and small bags.

The wharf town where he stopped at the moment is on the opposite bank is the boundary of Qishui County in Huangzhou, and the Xishui River flows into the Yangtze River from Huangqikou Town on the opposite bank, forming a water transport hub for river transshipment.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, this place had not yet been built, and even until the Republic of China in the 20th century, it was an unknown town.

It was not until after the liberation that the "Huangshi City" was set up at the location of this wharf, and then it was the turn of the newly established Huangshi City to annex Daye County in turn.

Song Yingxing and his entourage were busy for a long time, and finally loaded everything into the car and were about to hit the road again. Suddenly, I saw that on the official road west of the wharf, there were bursts of dust flying, and horses' hooves rumbling, as if thousands of horses were coming.

Song Yingxing's face changed abruptly, he had never encountered a war, and he didn't understand the momentum of the cavalry, so he overestimated the number of people who came, and thought that the boundary of Wuchang Mansion was still not peaceful, and Zuo Liangyu's soldiers and bandits and Zhang Xianzhong's thieves were still harassing the place.

After trembling with his wife and children for a while, the dust gradually dispersed, and he saw a tall and sturdy young man in his early twenties, who was walking towards him first.

He saw that the other party's face was so dark and his figure was so powerful, he subconsciously thought that he was a general, who could lead hundreds of horsemen, and it was estimated that the official position was not small.

"This general, I don't know ......"

"What general, it's Mr. Song in person?" The "black-faced general" spoke kindly, and while asking, he stepped forward and grabbed Song Yingxing's arm, so that he couldn't resist.

Song Yingxing staggered: "I don't dare to be called a gentleman, an idle person who resigned from his official position and went into hiding, he has to be blessed with Shen Daotai's great intention to ...... here."

The "black-faced general" said disapprerovingly: "It's because the official came late and didn't welcome Mr. to get off the ship, so next time I will let your family call the sentinel ship at the front station to report earlier." ”

Song Yingxing was taken aback, and then he reacted: "You are Shen Daotai?" How can this be called a gentleman! Don't be improper! The old decay will only be a subordinate official in the future......"

Shen Shuren said undoubtedly: "There is a precedence in hearing the Tao, there is a specialization in the art industry, Mr. can write "Heavenly Creations", of course, he has outstanding points in the study of physics, and he naturally deserves the title of Mr. ”

Song Yingxing gradually came back to his senses, and then felt a little awkward, and laughed at himself:

"Just now, the old man lost his temper, and I thought he had encountered a rebel...... Lord Daotai is young and promising, I heard that he was born in two lists of Jinshi and a minister in the world, but he didn't expect it to be so powerful. ”

Shen Shuren laughed, and realized the problem, so he laughed at himself without care:

"You mean I look dark, don't you? Actually, I don't look dark, this is because I just learned that my husband is coming, and I am in a hurry to go out, and I haven't washed my face. This official has been in Daye Iron Mountain for the past few days, pondering about the scorching of the furnace, and his face is full of cinder ash. ”

Song Yingxing couldn't help but be in awe, it was really rare for the noble soldier to prepare for the Tao and the imperial history of the capital to personally supervise the pondering of these techniques.

It seems that when I came to Wuchang this time, I was really appreciated by the Ming Lord, and I can show my strength!

Sure enough, along the way, Shen Shuren respected the elder and let Song Yingxing sit in the carriage, and he rode a horse by the window to chat with the people in the car, and there was no Shangguan at all.