Chapter 30: The Blast Furnace

If you say this to other emperors.

Maybe those emperors didn't have a concept. But when he said it to Zhu Yuanzhang, it caused a strong reaction from Zhu Yuanzhang.

He was reminded of his difficult childhood, and the few worn-out farm tools he could see in countless dreams. At that time, the farm tools in the family were not sharpened to the point of iron, and my father could not afford to change the plow for the family many times.

What if all the peasants in the world could be replaced with steel farming tools?

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't know, but he was willing to fantasize that if he had good farm tools back then, maybe he could make a few more buckets of rice, and maybe one less person in the family would starve to death.

It's just that Zhu Yuanzhang knows very well that even if the family collects a few more buckets of rice, it is impossible to keep the whole family alive in this era.

Fantasy can only be fantasy, and Zhu Yuanzhang can't go back to his eighteen-year-old.

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled sadly and said, "Do you know what the price of iron is?" Even if I have the heart, I can't do anything. ”

He Xi said: "So did Your Majesty ever think that one day, the price of iron is lower than the price of wood?" ”

Zhu Yuanzhang said: "How is it possible? ”

He Xi said: "How is it impossible? Your Majesty, I think this iron is useless. It's because the price of iron is too high, and once there is a lot of cheap steel, there are too many things that can be done. You can build houses, you can build bridges, you can use them to build railways, you can use them to build ships. More and cheaper guns can be made. Let the Mongols become good at singing and dancing. The cornerstone of all this is a large amount of cheap steel. ”

"This is the basis for the development of productive forces."

Zhu Yuanzhang has some understandable things about what He Xi said. For example, if all the people in the world have steel and farm tools. What kind of changes will be made, this change is obvious, and the biggest proof is the terraces in the south.

It was the common people who had more iron farming tools that gave rise to terraced fields all over the south.

Zhu Yuanzhang said: "I'll wait and see. ”

He Xi said: "The minister will definitely not live up to His Majesty's trust." ”

Zhu Yuanzhang said: "It's not early, if you need anything, you can go directly to the prince." Go back and rest. ”

"Yes." He Xi said.

Then he retreated.

After He Xi left, Zhu Yuanzhang muttered: "Productivity, I have learned a new word this time." There was a stellarity in his gaze that saw through everything.

Zhu Yuanzhang has always known that He Xi has something to hide, and even knows what He Xi is hiding in his heart. It's just that he doesn't care.

There are also different ways to use people, for unimportant people, highly substitutable people, regardless of what he thinks. It doesn't matter if you feel aggrieved or hateful. Whether they are forced or have to, they must be honest and obedient. These people were most of the courtiers, and even the civil servants and doctors.

Yes, these people Zhu Yuanzhang doesn't care at all what they think in their hearts? And to ask them to understand what he thinks as an emperor?

And the kind of person who has special talents, is unique to his great cause, and even determines the outcome of the battle. but to collect their hearts. Surrender to the bottom of his heart. This is the only way to bring out the best in your talents. So He Xi thought carefully, Zhu Yuanzhang has always been tolerant and does not expose it.

He remembered that He Xi had traveled over from 2022. But He Xi gave history that only until the fall of the Qing Dynasty, there were more than 100 years of blankness.

How much is this boring?

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't ask, he was waiting for He Xi to say it himself. Open your heart and soul yourself.

It seems that Zhu Yuanzhang keenly feels that there is a big article behind the word productivity.

------

Suburbs of Nanjing. A small river meanders and flows.

The small river should be a tributary of the Yangtze River, and the amount of water is not small. There is a water wheel on it. It's already slowly turning.

The waterwheel is not yet connected to the blower, which is fixed to the side of the blast furnace.

The blast furnace is more than one zhang high. It's not just a lone blast furnace. Rather, it is a complex structure, with a fire duct underneath, and around the blast furnace, there is a large platform, which is to be fed from above the blast furnace. As for the discharge port below, there is also a square pit several feet deep.

Generally speaking, the molten iron that comes out of the discharge port is pig iron after solidification.

The molten iron is directed into the square pit from the discharge port and stirred continuously. The last iron that cools down is wrought iron. And pig iron and wrought iron, calcined together again to produce steel.

He Xi climbed up and down, tirelessly looked at all the places, and took pictures and recorded them all with his mobile phone when people were not paying attention.

Although He Xi hoped for a success, failure was the mother of success, and he was not sure about this experiment. So I can only record some useful information. as a reference for the future. And he also made some comments. For example, increasing air ducts, increasing wind power, and so on. A cliché.

However, the craftsmen did it one by one.

After a busy day, the blast furnace was renovated.

That night, He Xi did not return to the palace at all, but found a place to rest nearby. Xu Baoer and his entourage were closely guarded. Anyway, He Xi should only be guarding them.

Early the next morning, it was officially opened.

A layer of iron, a layer of coke, and then a variety of accelerants fill the one-zhang high blast furnace. With He Xi's order, the ignition began.

The whining of the blower under the action of the hydraulic force began to chirp.

It takes several hours from ignition to the boiling of the entire blast furnace.

He Xi was originally on the edge of the blast furnace, but as the blast furnace was lit, the heat wave was steaming, and there was a real heat, which made He Xi feel like an oven, so he could only retreat step by step, and finally chose a place by the river, put a bamboo and wood chair, and sat on it and waited.

"Your Excellency." Xu Bao'er said: "This is just some rough work done by some subordinates, why should adults be here, why don't you move to the side and drink tea?" ”

He Xi glanced at Xu Bao'er and looked at the craftsmen by the blast furnace. Many of the craftsmen have stripped off their clothes, leaving only calf shorts. Even then, they did not go far from the blast furnace. He Xi had no experience, this kind of scene was the first time he had seen it.

Therefore, it is impossible to see anything from some details of the blast furnace?

For example, the sound of burning in the blast furnace, the color of burning in the blast furnace, and so on. So as to judge what kind of situation is in the blast furnace. These craftsmen are different. At the beginning of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, all the craftsmen in the south of the Yangtze River gathered in Nanjing.

Nanjing's craftsmen represent the highest level of Ming craftsmen. And these great craftsmen who can't be elected don't have a unique skill in their hands.

This kind of blast furnace is not an uncommon thing for them.

So, they kept an eye on the changes in the furnace to see how well the coke worked. I didn't feel like I was still sweating.

He Xi saw it in his eyes and said, "It's okay." You send someone to fetch some herbal tea, it doesn't have to be too good. Just quench your thirst. Or mung bean soup overnight and transported in buckets. Distribute it to the craftsmen. ”

"This ------" Xu Bao'er was stunned for a moment and said.

The eunuchs in the palace have always been high and low, and they are very attentive to serving nobles. But these craftsmen are the objects they never look at. Now let them serve these people. Xu Baoer couldn't turn for a while.

He Xi said: "What? No? ”

Xu Bao'er immediately came back to her senses and said, "How could it not be? The slave and maid will do it, and this will do it. "It's just that I secretly slandered in my heart, this Young Master He is really a weird person. What He Xi did is incomprehensible.

He Xi didn't know what Xu Baoer was thinking. But I guess what I can guess. Even if you can guess, there is no meaning to explain.

Because of this period of time, He Xi has already realized that the 600-year generation gap is fundamentally a chasm. It's hard to get most people to understand you.

Communication comes at a cost.

For some unnecessary people, such as Xu Baoer, He Xi has no desire to explain. Just be obedient and do things.

Facts have proved that Xu Baoer is very capable of doing things.

After a while, people were sent up with several large barrels of herbal tea. Of course, it was good tea for He Xi. There was a little eunuch waiting for He Xi to drink tea.

Although he didn't want to be specialized, He Xi found that if he was really treated the same as the craftsmen, not only Xu Baoer would be at a loss, but even these craftsmen would be uncomfortable. I also drank tea by myself. He secretly said in his heart: "It is estimated that tomorrow morning, the molten iron will be released." I don't know if it's steel. ”

Just while He Xi was drinking tea.

Foreman Ge also drank a large bowl of herbal tea.

However, he had no idea what the herbal tea tasted like, and he listened obsessively to the sound of the flames. The sound of the fire burning under the sound of the blower, and other noises, is not clear. It's even very faint, and it sounds like a background sound to ordinary people.

But to Foreman Ge, it sounded like the most beautiful sound in the world.

"Really, the temperature has really risen." Foreman Ge secretly said in his heart: "This coke can really increase the temperature of the furnace, this temperature is much higher than before, if according to the temperature theory of Lord He, it should be more than 1,300 degrees." ”

The reason why Foreman Ge judged it this way. Because the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty have reached the highest stability, about 1,300 degrees. Therefore, he knows what the representation of 1,300 degrees is, but he doesn't understand what it will look like if it is more than 1,300 degrees.

Yes, he could only judge that the temperature of the furnace had risen to 1,300 degrees. Exceeded all the furnace temperatures before them. I don't know how many degrees it is.

After all, even in the industrial age, determining furnace temperature was a big problem. So much so that physical problems arise.

However, Foreman Ge always felt that something was wrong.

I can't put it into words. Because everything today is also new to these craftsmen, and they don't know what is normal and what is not.

It's just that Foreman Ge still feels that something is wrong.