Li Zhaoji came to the iron-smelting furnace at this time, he greeted a dry furnace master, and when he saw Xu Rongxing, he immediately stepped forward and said, "Shopkeeper Xu, I neglected you." ”

Xu Rongxing didn't care about these false courtesies, went straight to the point, and asked: "Shopkeeper Li, this doesn't seem to be our Foshan furnace shape." ”

Li Zhaoji said: "It can be regarded as a Foshan furnace, and it was built by Master Ma." ”

Master Ma's face was full of bitterness, and now he didn't think that this kind of furnace could smelt raw iron, so he didn't dare to admit it, for fear that he would really fail and ruin his reputation.

"But I see a lot of things that are different from ours." Xu Rongxing has the spirit of getting to the bottom of things.

Li Zhaoji said: "The main body is still in the shape of the Foshan iron smelting furnace, but I arranged for someone to improve it and add a regenerator. ”

"Regenerator....... What the hell. "Xu Rongxing is not stupid, he knows the resources and food and silver consumed by setting up such a furnace, no matter how rich Li Zhaoji is, he will not play with it, and more importantly, there is some truth in inviting so many people to come and see.

The biggest advantage of the regenerator is to increase the furnace temperature, which is a necessary structure for steelmaking, generally speaking, the furnace for smelting pig iron will reach a furnace temperature of 1,200 degrees, and it takes 1,600 degrees to melt the steel.

Another benefit is that it improves thermal efficiency and reduces fuel consumption.

In fact, not only Foshan iron-smelting furnaces, but also iron-smelting furnaces in this era are open, and the thermal efficiency of fuel is very low, and the efficiency can be improved by building a regenerative chamber with refractory bricks and other heat-resistant materials.

It's just that Li Zhaoji only understands the principle of the regenerator, but he doesn't know the specific structure and masonry of the iron-smelting furnace.

Li Zhaoji did not have time to slowly try to make an iron-smelting furnace with a regenerator, so he simply invited Master Ma to build a furnace with the same shape as the Foshan furnace, and then improved it on this basis.

Li Zhaoji said: "There are many wonderful uses of the regenerator, and there is one thing that I think Xu's shopkeeper will be interested in. ”

"What?" Xu Rongxing asked.

"It can reduce fuel consumption, at least 30% of charcoal consumption," Lee said. ”

Xu Rongxing and Master Ma glanced at each other, each laughed, and Xu Rongxing said, "How is it possible, how is this possible." ”

Master Ma also said: "Yes, you are not in the iron smelting industry, how can you understand the craftsmanship that the iron smelting industry does not understand?" ”

Li Zhaoji said: "Then shopkeeper Xu and Master Ma are willing to make a bet with Li?" ”

Master Ma smiled embarrassedly, patted his shriveled chest, and said, "Of course I dare!" ”

But Xu Rongxing's face changed greatly, remembering the person who was locked in the bell tower, waiting to eat the table, and said, "It's better not to." ”

Hai Shuzu nodded with satisfaction, and said in his heart that his brother-in-law was still quite good, and he mentioned him, and he listened, worthy of being a famous trader in Foshan, and listened to people's advice to eat well.

Li Zhaoji said: "Shopkeeper Xu really doesn't gamble? My bet is that if Li wins, the dry shares of the joint iron mill will be given to Brother Hai 60%, if I lose, half of the iron materials of our trading company will be purchased from the iron mill you co-founded, and I will give you a price of one or two or three dollars per load, how about it? ”

When Hai Shuzu heard this, his bowels immediately turned green with regret, and he regretted that he shouldn't have reminded Xu Rongxing before he came just now.

Because of this big gamble, no matter who wins or loses, he will definitely win.

"Master Ma, if you win, I will give you twice the reward, and if you lose, how about listening to the trading company for two years according to the conditions I opened?" Li Zhaoji said to Master Ma again.

Master Ma did not hesitate and immediately agreed.

Previously, Li Zhaoji proposed to hire Master Ma for a long time, and the salary conditions were not unfavorable, but Master Ma did not want to leave his hometown, so he did not agree, and now out of pride in his craftsmanship and knowledge, he is willing to gamble, and he will not suffer if he loses anyway.

"Brother Xu, hurry up and agree, how can you save the face of Shopkeeper Li." Hai Shuzu couldn't help but remind.

"Is Shopkeeper Li really sure to reduce charcoal consumption by 30%?" Xu Rongxing looked at Li Zhaoji, he stared seriously, as if he wanted to find out his true thoughts from the change in Li Zhaoji's expression.

"This is the first time the furnace has been opened, so I only let people reduce the charcoal by 20%. ”

"Twenty percent is also remarkable." Master Ma doesn't seem to care about two or three percent.

Li Zhaoji said again: "Shopkeeper Xu gambles or not, if I win, the secret of this iron-smelting furnace can be given to you, and it will be counted as a share of Brother Hai, how about it?" ”

When Xu Rongxing heard this, he shook his head helplessly and said: "Shopkeeper Li is really bold, this is feeding me Xu someone's mouth, if I don't gamble anymore, I will be shameless." ”

This time Xu Rongxing is not a loss, he won, and he earns an extra penny of silver per load of iron, even if he loses, the technology that can reduce charcoal consumption is also the blessing of the Xu family, why not do it, he also noticed Li Zhaoji's full sincerity, saying that he was gambling, but in fact, he didn't want to take advantage of himself by gambling.

In front of everyone, the furnace worker filled eighty percent of the charcoal, for such an almost standard Foshan furnace needed how much charcoal, Xu Rongxing and others are very clear, plus the iron ore powder used is also the same, so there will be no place to fake.

Li Zhaoji greeted and said, "Order a plate of incense and prepare to open the furnace." ”

Plate incense is a timekeeping instrument, but also from Foshan, a plate of incense can burn for an hour, which is also the time required for this kind of Foshan iron smelting furnace to produce a furnace of iron. Of course, the specific time is controlled by the stove, if the time is too long, the furnace will burn down.

Li Zhaoji held the torch and said to Xu Rongxing: "Shopkeeper Xu, please light the fire." ”

"Don't dare, don't dare, the stove is lit." Xu Rongxing handed the torch to Master Ma.

Master Ma held the torch and said at a loss: "But this first furnace should be opened by the owner." ”

Li Zhaoji stepped forward, ignoring the dirtiness on Master Ma's body, held his hand holding the torch, and said, "Master Ma, let's be together." ”

The two stepped forward and lit the fire, and soon, the charcoal in the iron-smelting furnace crackled and burned, although Master Ma was invited to open the furnace together just now, it was a great honor, but soon he was in a hurry, the reason was very simple, he was this kind of stove, observing the situation of the furnace was seen on the top of the open furnace, but now the top of the furnace was covered by the big horn, and it was not visible at all.

It was fine at first, but as the movement inside began to go wrong, Master Ma became a little impatient.

The furnace workers are the busiest, turning the iron fan in shifts, making a sound of hey, this sound is very familiar to Master Ma, but in this situation, he is more urgent, sweating profusely on the top of the pit, anxious to turn.

Xu Rongxing didn't bother with this, although he knew a lot about it, but his attention was attracted by the rotating fan, and he found that the rotating fan was different from his own home, because the fan rotated fast, and the furnace worker who shook the fan was no different from his own work efficiency.

"This fan is weird, how did it spin so fast?" Xu Rongxing looked at the fan and asked the stove worker who had changed shifts and was drinking water to wipe his sweat.

"This is the invention of Li Da's shopkeeper, let the carpenter make it, it's really magical, several times faster, we don't understand it when it is called a gear or something, but it's really amazing. The big shopkeeper is simply Lu Ban alive, and Mozi is reborn. The furnace worker was full of excitement, and he still admired Li Zhaoji very much.

Xu Rongxing was amazed, no matter whether he won or lost, he had to buy this craft back, even if the iron smelting failed, but the improvement of this fan was very useful for improving the efficiency of iron smelting, and he also sighed that this trip was really not in vain.

Time passed minute by minute, Master Ma's face also changed from anxious to solemn, his face was full of hesitation, the reason is very simple, judging from various details, it is time to open the furnace and make iron, but he can't see the situation in the furnace, he can't make up his mind, this is too tormenting for him.

After all, it is a furnace that has been a furnace worker for decades, and has smelted thousands of furnaces of iron, but now I can't figure out when to open the furnace.

At this time, Xu Rongxing came over and said to Master Ma: "Master Ma, how do I think it's time to open the furnace." But there's still a lot of incense left, am I mistaken? ”

Xu Rongxing is also very familiar with the iron-smelting furnace, but the observed situation does not match the time marked on the incense, Master Ma said: "It will take some time." ”

He didn't want to announce the opening of the furnace because of Xu Rongxing's words, because this was also an insult to his technology, when to open the furnace, the furnace head decided, not to mention Xu Rongxing as an outsider, Li Zhaoji, the owner, could not intervene.

But Master Ma was keenly aware of the changes in the furnace body, and he couldn't care about face anymore: "Open the furnace, open the furnace, open the furnace immediately." ”

Xu Rongxing asked, "Isn't it still some time?" ”

"If you don't open the furnace again, the iron-smelting furnace will burn down." Master Ma said anxiously, under his order, the furnace worker immediately stopped the fan, and then the furnace door opened, and a hot liquid flowed out of the furnace door and flowed down the ramp into the iron plate of the flat pit.

"Master, is there something wrong with the incense?" An apprentice handed Master Ma tea and a towel and asked.

Master Ma wiped his sweat, directly threw the towel on the apprentice's face, and scolded: "What kind of incense problem, can't you even see this, it's because of the fire, a dog who doesn't want to make progress!" ”

Xu Rongxing glanced at the extinguished incense, and felt that at least a quarter was left, and with a little calculation, he knew that he could refine at least one more furnace every day.

He also saw the molten iron that came out, and he immediately gave his judgment: "The best molten iron, in Foshan, can smelt this kind of iron, but there are only three or four." ”

Master Ma nodded: "Yes, I have smelted iron for thirty-seven years, and this kind of iron is also the best." ”

The two stared at the pit and waited until the iron was finished, which was to see how much iron there was, each version was 200 catties, and the iron that came out was sufficient, indicating that the furnace workers did not lack fillers, Li Zhaoji did not play tricks, and it also showed that similar ironmaking technology would not damage the iron.

The apprentice who had just handed Master Ma water ran over and said, "Master, Master, go and see the slag." ”

"What is there to see about the slag." Master Ma complained, but he still walked over and looked closely, and many of the slag that had been cleaned up was still burning red, which meant that there was still a lot of charcoal that had not been burned.

The moment Xu Rongxing saw the slag, he sat directly on the ground and muttered to himself: "Sancheng, you can really save Sancheng charcoal, good guy, it's really the ancestor who has descended to ......." ”

At this time, Liu Mingde walked over, helped Xu Rongxing up, and said, "Shopkeeper Xu, what's wrong?" ”

Xu Rong got up, ignored the mud on his body, and said: "Shopkeeper Li, I lost this bet, I lost." ”

"The big shopkeeper went to the Luming Pavilion to set up a drink, saying that he invited you and Master Hai to dinner, and he personally accompanied him, which can be regarded as making amends for neglecting you some time ago." Liu Mingde said.

Xu Rongxing patted his thigh and said: "Where is this, where is this, today Shopkeeper Li opened my eyes, I should invite Shopkeeper Li to dinner." ”

As soon as he thought that he had lost, but the new technology of iron smelting belonged to him, he was inexplicably excited, where is this loss, this is clearly for future generations to win the inheritance of a hundred generations.