After the fresco, there are bronze pillars again.

Zhang Guangchang took a height magnifying glass, used a flashlight to fill the light, and looked carefully around the copper pillar.

In addition to looking, I will knock on it from time to time.

But for some reason, the longer he looked at it, the tighter his brow wrinkled.

What's wrong?

He Anbang raised his chin, and Li Dingan shook his head slightly, meaning to reassure him.

Something is naturally right, and not too right......

Time passed minute by minute, Zhang Guangchang turned around several times, and picked at the piece of rusty skin that Li Ding'an had peeled off before.

After pondering for a while, he raised his head: "White copper? ”

Li Dingan nodded: "Gray copper!" ”

"Origin?"

"Yunnan Muding."

The others were confused and didn't know what kind of dumb riddle the two were playing.

Zhang Guangchang suddenly realized: "Understood! ”

After a pause, he pointed to the data clerk again: "Record...... Shape: Cylindrical. Uses: Ritual utensils. Inscription: Star Chart. Casting process: turn fan hun casting. Anti-rust process: water-cooled annealing...... Focus: nickel-copper alloy ......"

The data clerk quickly recorded, and the others nodded frequently: it is worthy of being a top expert, and what you see is fast......

Huh, wait......

What do you say?

He Anbang was stunned: "Professor Zhang, what did you just say?" ”

"How old are you that your ears are bad? Nickel-copper alloy ......"

Didn't I hear clearly...... I can't believe it: where did the copper-nickel alloy come from in the Yuan Dynasty?

It's still such a big one?

He Anbang's eyes widened: "No...... I remember, this thing was first recorded in the "Ming Yi Unification Chronicles"? And there is only one sentence: Ning Fanwei out of white copper? ”

"That's right!" Zhang Guangchang nodded: "The smelting record is even later, recorded in the Qianlong period when Liu Yong compiled the "Imperial Classics" ......."

Boy?

Xiang Zhiqing was shocked and knocked on the copper pillar, "Li Ding'an, what period was this one cast?" ”

"Roughly around Yuan Chengzong, no later than Yuan Renzong!"

"That's between 1294 and 1320?"

"Yes!"

Everyone understood:

When did Qianlong succeed to the throne?

Year 1736.

It is equivalent to this pillar, which has advanced the historical record of nickel and copper smelting in China by 400 years......

The pen in his hand couldn't help but pause, and the data clerk was stunned.

Wang Yongqian raised his head sharply.

Ma Xianming was excited, pounced on the copper pillar, and as soon as his hand reached out, he was slapped away by Xiang Zhiqing: "Go to the side...... You can't afford to lose a little scum......"

Director Cheng was also stunned for a while: "Li Dingan, have you seen it?" ”

"It should be fine......

"No problem!"

Zhang Guangchang pointed to the copper pillar, "There is too little rust, and there is only glaze rust formed by long-term oxidation of the air in a dry environment, but there is no bone rust and floating rust, which is obviously unreasonable." Therefore, it is by no means only by baking copper rust prevention (cooling and fading to form a protective layer of copper oxide......

At the same time, it also shows that the molecular structure is extremely stable...... Looking at the color again, the yellow is green, and the background color is gray, which is a typical color characteristic of light nickel-copper alloy......"

Let's just say that it has been put for hundreds of years, why is this thing still so bright?

Because the biggest feature of nickel-copper alloy is rust prevention.

Ha ha...... Big, hard to cast, this is the real miracle.

He Anbang's two eyes lit up: "Have you sampled?" ”

"Taken!"

"What about the test data?"

Li Dingan didn't speak.

On the night he found the cave, he was watched, and he couldn't even enter the door of the laboratory to do experiments on yarn?

"Then why don't you talk about it?"

"You're ready to withdraw the project, what else are you talking about......

As soon as he was halfway through speaking, he met the gaze of Director Cheng, Li Dingan hurriedly smiled: "When the material team prepared the application materials, I asked them to make key notes......

He Anbang wanted to grit his teeth angrily: What are you cowardly, continue to scare?

Director Cheng also wanted to grit his teeth: until now, he still doesn't know what the material looks like, how many pages are there in total?

"What else did you find?"

"It hasn't been excavated yet, nothing has been found for the time being, only a few inferences!"

"Tell me about it!"

"I speculate that compared with the same period, the metallurgical technology of this copper pillar is much more advanced, because of the temperature: the melting point of manganese copper is about 1,002, but it is only the melting point, and the furnace temperature at the actual smelting needs to be higher, at least 14 to 1,05. But the maximum temperature of charcoal can only reach about 800, and the maximum temperature of high-quality coal is only 1,000 ......"

That's right?

Wang Yongqian frowned: "What is that for?" ”

Li Ding'an thought for a while: "I suspect it's coke...... However, the earliest coking record is recorded in the "Physics Knowledge" written in the Ming Chongzhen period: coal is produced everywhere, and the smelly one burns and melts it and closes it as a stone, and then chisels it into the furnace as a reef (coke), which can be burned for five days, and the ore is fried and boiled ...... stone."

It means that you have advanced China's coking history by another 300 years, right?

At that time, Europe had just begun to make iron from coal.

Director Cheng sighed: "Go on!" ”

"Secondly, the design of the blast furnace is also advanced, if it is a single tube, no matter how many air pockets there are, it can only enter the air from one side, which will lead to uneven oxygen in the furnace, insufficient coke combustion, and also cannot reach the required temperature...... So I suspect that the copper smelting blast furnace should have applied double-tube blast technology, or even multi-tube ......"

This is the materialized knowledge of junior and senior high school, and I basically understand it.

Therefore, the more I think about it, the more I feel that what Li Dingan said is very likely......

"Is there any historical record about it, and which one was the earliest?"

"Yes, the "Heavenly Creation" compiled by Song Yingxing in the Ming Dynasty!"

The bronze pillar was cast before 1320...... "Heavenly Creations" was written in 1637.

Director Cheng was stunned: It means that you have advanced the historical record of metallurgical multi-tube blast technology by 300 years?

"What about abroad?"

"Around 1720, Britain introduced coking technology, and I don't know where it came from, but then the double-tube blast furnace was invented......"

The crowd was silent for a long time.

A copper pillar that broke three historical records?

Before, everyone thought that this was just a feng shui site: rare enough, rare enough, high enough value, and if verified, it could fill in several historical and cultural gaps.

But I didn't expect that it could be more valuable?

No one has ever thought of technology and science, and the latter is several times more important than the former.

To use an analogy: even the British themselves are not sure, where did their coking technology come from?

Now let's try to make sure......

Another analogy: Mongolian porcelain.

Just a few dozen bottles and cans, put in the antique market, it is estimated that no one asks, but it can become a ministerial-level research project?

The reason lies in science and technology.

It is not that there is any gain to modern science and technology, but to restore history and make the footprints of the national development process clearer.

In the big picture, we will trace the source and enhance our influence in the world, and in the small way, we will increase national pride.

After thinking about it, Director Cheng actually regretted it a little: If it weren't for Li Ding'an, this place would still be just a barren mountain for another ten years...... Therefore, when the Supervision Committee came to the National Museum to ask for people, it should have insisted a little longer.

At the same time, the dissatisfaction in his heart was one more point: in order to find this cave, Li Ding'an ate in seconds, sat on the top of the mountain in the cold winter, wrapped in a torn cotton coat, and watched the stars all night.

What about the locality?

It's been a week, and I haven't even prepared the materials, and I'm doing all the crooked ways?

It can be seen that the lack of knowledge and the backwardness of the level: I don't realize what it means to be "copper-nickel alloy in the Yuan Dynasty......

Wang Yongqian also sighed: I didn't understand before, why did Li Ding'an work so hard to find this site?

Now I understand: where this bird doesn't, who can find it but him?

Others have a similar mentality.

Of course, it's all their own brains: before entering the cave, how did Li Ding'an know anything about copper-nickel alloys, coking, and double-pipe blasts?

The previous pillars were just ordinary iron cores, so they didn't have much technical content......

Meeting everyone's eyes, Li Dingan didn't know what to say: here it is again...... Followed up with a martyr's cemetery?

The point is, there is no way to explain it yet?

With emotion, a head poked into the hole, Zuo Peng trembled, holding his mobile phone: "Li ...... Mr. Li, could you take the phone? ”

"Who?"

"It's Secretary Mi!"

Li Dingan looked at Director Cheng.

"Go pick it up...... Tell the local leaders that they don't need to come up, we will go down immediately......"

After a pause, Director Cheng looked at him again and let out a long sigh: "Li Ding'an, remember: no matter how strong a person's ability and energy are, he only has two hands and two legs, and he only has twenty-four hours a day...... So, no matter how anxious you are, you can't do all the work alone......"

In an instant, the cold sweat on Zuo Peng's head came down.

From another perspective, isn't this sentence like: no one is in a hurry, why are you in a hurry?

Li Ding'an opened his mouth, not knowing how to say.

Habitual thinking kills people...... What is it bad to do, you give gifts?

Okay now, right? (End of chapter)