When Zhao Chongyang interned before graduating from university, he had seen chrome ore, tungsten ore and manganese ore in the factory, so he was sure that it was chrome sand. And the black tungsten ore is definitely heavier than this.

"I just don't know if this mineral sand is these hundreds of catties, or if there is another source." Zhao Chongyang said in his heart. So he asked Liu Yuhua: "Uncle, where did you get this mineral sand, and do you still have it?" ”

Liu Yuhua said: "Also, on the opposite mountain side of the mountain range where the iron ore is produced. It's just not very concentrated, one in the east and one in the west, which is what people call the chicken nest mine. When I first looked for someone to see the mine, I thought it was a kind of iron ore, but after digging it back, the master who recognized the mine said that it was not iron ore, so we left it there and it was useless. But that mountain is borderland, and if it's useful, you can always dig it up. ”

"Well, since it's borderland, we can get that thing whenever we need it, and of course, it's best to build a simple farm around there, where we can play in our free time, and live there while mining. Now the top priority is to get the open-hearth furnace and converter of steelmaking right. This time quicklime will be used, and someone will be asked to sell a few wagons at once. In the future, you can consider getting your own lime kiln, and you will have to use lime at any time anyway. Zhao Chongyang said.

This time, under the command of Zhao Gongzi Zhao Chongyang, several workers who built the iron furnace took one day to get the open-hearth and converter ready. At the same time, the carpenter made a super large bellows, using the ox to pull the power arm to rotate, and through the gear to drive the connecting rod to make the bellows continue to push out, the wind power is much greater than that of the bellows pedaled by the feet. These simple mechanical designs are pediatric for a doctor who studies machine building. On the third day of the second iron smelting, the steel furnace was built and wrought iron was used to make steel. ”

After three days and three nights of high-temperature fusion, and adding a part of the famous iron ore, Zhao Chongyang asked people to put the molten steel that was still at high temperature into the prepared converter, add deoxidizer to deoxidize, and finally pour it into the prepared model for natural cooling. Three hours later, 152 pounds of cooled steel were obtained. Zhao Chongyang asked people to take a big knife first, and his uncle Liu Yuhua chose a three-pound piece of steel to carry the hammer into battle, and after 20 minutes of busy work, he finally hit the big knife. After quenching, the blade is cut with coarse sandstone. After grinding for more than an hour to sharpen the blade, Zhao Chongyang found a piece of hard wood with the thickness of his arm and handed it to Liu Yuhua.

Liu Yuhua used a steel knife to slash at the wood, and the wood was broken from the disconnection, and the fracture was very smooth, indicating that the knife was very sharp. Zhao Chongyang brought another piece of wrought iron, Liu Yuhua put it on two wooden boards, Liu Yuhua used a steel knife to cut the hollow part of the wrought iron, the iron was broken in half, but the steel knife only had a slight curl. Everyone was shocked: "It's really a treasure knife that sharpens iron like clay." ”

Hearing everyone's applause, Zhao Chongyang said: "No, there are still some rolls, if I improve the next furnace, it should not exist." Because he knew that the chromium content was still lower, and the hardness was a little worse.

The next day, Zhao Chongyang commanded everyone to re-smelt a furnace of steel. After another three days, Liu Yuhua asked the blacksmith to make another knife out, and after polishing it this time, no matter how he cut it, the knife edge was tireless.

After all the steel was smelted, the expansion of the ironwork workshop was on the agenda. On this day, the core personnel of the Liu family sat down with Zhao Chongyang and began to negotiate cooperation. The core personnel of the Liu family mainly include Zhao Chongyang's second grandfather, Zhao Chongyang's uncle Liu Yuhua, and cousin uncle (son of the second grandfather) Liu Yubo.

Zhao Chongyang spoke first: "The second grandfather and the two uncles are not outsiders, we together, if we refine tens of thousands of catties of wrought iron, thousands of catties of high-quality stainless steel every month, and make dozens of swords and swords, and then with beautiful scabbards and scabbards, the income of the entire ironcraft workshop is at least ten times more than the original." ”

His second grandfather said, "Not only ten, but more than thirty." Let's talk about the price of a few catties of steel, there has always been a saying that every inch of steel is gold, not to mention that this is a hundred refined steel that can be made into treasure knives. Therefore, if steel alone can produce 2,000 catties per month, it can be worth more than 30,000 catties. It is worth thirty or forty thousand taels of silver in a year. Combined with the income from iron tools and swords, the annual turnover can exceed one million. Even if he uses half of the expenses, he can earn 500,000 yuan, and we are now trying our best, and the net profit is less than 10,000 yuan. ”

Zhao Chongyang heard that his second grandfather counted the accounts, and sure enough, he just felt that the profit would increase to ten or twenty times the original in the short term, and it was already terrible, how could he know that there would be a hundredfold increase, and this increase was indeed a little scary.

At this time, Liu Yuhua asked again: "There are many places in our county and nearby where iron ore is produced, and other people want to sell iron ore to us, can we collect it?" ”

Zhao Congzhong said: "You can accept it." But if they want to bring samples to see, if the grade is high, we will send someone to the mine to inspect it, to ensure that it is all this kind of good mine, and responsible for transportation, and the price is reasonable, we can buy it for a long time. If it's iron ore from other artisans, let them trade iron ore for wrought iron. ”

At this time, Zhao Chongyang's second grandfather, Liu Erye, said to everyone: "Although the price of steel is expensive, it is not as good as making swords and swords. The steel of a treasure knife is no more than ten times that of wrought iron, and it is worth two or three hundred yuan, but if it is made into a treasure knife, the price is at least one thousand yuan. ”

Liu Yubo said: "Can a knife be so expensive?" ”

Second Master Liu said: "It's just a little more." Did you know? Gu said that the Yang family had a treasure knife, which was made of dark iron. It is the heirloom that Emperor Taizong rewarded to the hard-working Yang generals. Two years ago, the palace marshal Gao Yu relied on the favor of the official family, and he gave 10,000 taels of silver to force the treasure knife, and Yang Huaiyu, the current head of the Yang family, said that although the Yang family has declined, the sacred objects given by the emperor will not be sold for 100,000 yuan and 100,000 yuan. Of course, the reason why the Yang family's treasure knife is valuable is mainly because it is stained with the light of Emperor Taizong. But our sword price should be 1000 kan should be no problem. ”

"The second grandfather's suggestion is very good, and I will also add, that is, we should not bring too many swords and swords to a place at a time, at most five in each county, not more than ten at the state level, no more than thirty in Nanjing, Tokyo, Daimyo and other metropolises, and twenty in ordinary prefectures. We can also introduce a new way of selling goods called auction, which can set the minimum price of swords and swords to 1,500 yuan, and then according to the principle of the highest price, whoever pays more will get what he wants to buy. After the county trial is completed, we will do it once in Nanjing City, and everyone will follow it in the future. "As for the issue of cooperation, that is, you are responsible for the land and the qualifications of the craftsman, and are responsible for the management, I will provide the expansion funds and technology, and all the expenses will be paid, and the management will be in charge of the second grandfather, the eldest uncle will be responsible for the expansion and the ironsmith workshop, and the second uncle will be responsible for the export sales, and the three of you will each be paid ten times a month. Textile workshops can protect the large, and all switch to spinning wheels with pedals. After removing all the expenses, the profit will be divided into five or five, depending on whether the second grandfather and uncle have opinions? ”

Second Master Liu said: "Just do what my grandson said, it is said that we have taken advantage, but since we are not outsiders, we will not say more." In the future, Yuhua will be in charge of the expansion and production of the ironware workshop, and Yubo will be responsible for sales. I was in charge of steelmaking, ironmaking, and overall management, and the rest of the business was left to people in other houses. I'm going to tell them that if they want to spend more money at the end of the year, they all have to take action this year. ”

On the first day of the first day of September, after the two sides negotiated the cooperation, they signed a temporary contract for cooperation (because Zhao Congyang believes that after more people join in the future, it will be further improved). Zhao Chongyang brought 5,000 lines from his home to cover the cost of building a new iron-making furnace, a steel-making furnace and expanding an ironwork workshop. According to Zhao Chongyang's suggestion, five new iron furnaces, two coke ovens and one steel-making furnace have been built, which is expected to produce 10 to 150,000 catties of wrought iron and 1 to 20,000 catties of steel every year. There are six to ten people who make swords and swords, all of whom are trusted old men in the original ironsmithy, and the ironsmith has expanded from more than 20 people to more than 50 people. More than 120 workers are needed for iron-making furnaces, steel-making furnaces and coke ovens, 20 horse-drawn carriages for transporting iron ore and coal, a total of 40 people, about 100 horse-drawn carriages and escorts for take-out and transfer of goods, 30 workers who dig iron ore for a long time and are responsible for getting on the car, plus various management personnel, the entire staff will reach more than 400 people.

The escort personnel, the children of the eight Weiyun Dart Bureau brought by Wang Dakuan are responsible for training, and Wang Dakuan is in charge. In view of this, Zhao Chongyang asked Liu Erye to directly recruit 120 young people in Liujia Village to form a bodyguard escort team, helping to build the workshop during the day, participating in training at night, and taking turns to protect the workshop. Those who are willing to participate will be given an additional amount of hardship every month in addition to their regular salary.

After Zhao Chongyang returned from Nanjing, he had to practice the internal skills of the five birds under the guidance of his master every night, and practice various fighting skills in the cheats. Although he is small, he is well-informed, highly perceptive, and flexible, and the tricks that ordinary people can't demonstrate, after repeated dismantling by him and his master, he actually learned slowly. As the so-called teaching master, Master Zhou practiced with his Sajie sparring, and it turned out that many moves that he hadn't figured out were actually understood at once. In more than a month, the growth rate of skill has exceeded that of more than half a year. At this rate, his master said that he might be like Master Jintai Zu and Master Zhou Dong, when he was in his twenties, he could become a super master.

In the past month or so, the only thing I haven't taken care of is learning. Therefore, as soon as the matter here was over, he returned to Zhaojiazhuang, read the book for a few days, wrote a few days of official articles, asked Mr. Chen to comment, and prepared to participate in the county examination of the Double Ninth Festival. If he passes the county test, he will be a talent with a junior reputation. In this way, the disciples of his family will be promoted from agriculture to a higher level of scholars.