There are many poor people in Bianliang, and there are even more poor people in the world.

Zhao Jun can't take care of everyone, and he can only do some things within his ability.

Da Song is still too short of money.

But making money does not mean that you can get it in a day or two, the domestic cake is so big, making the cake bigger and doing business abroad is the right way.

However, in ancient times, sea and land trade were always limited by one condition - transportation.

Before the increase in productivity, Quanzhou and Guangzhou basically did business in Central Asia, and the annual export volume of tens of millions of yuan was the limit.

Now the only big buyer is Japan, which has dug up silver mines and suddenly become rich.

According to the "Silver Capital" written by the later Western scholar Andre Gonde Frank, in the 14th to 16th centuries, in addition to the Iwami silver mine, there were other silver mines in the four islands of Japan that were not small in storage.

Among them, Iwami silver mine has the largest stock, producing 30 tons of silver per year, 38 tons of silver at its peak, and has been mined for more than 400 years, with an estimated total reserve of 12,000 tons and a value of about 300 million taels.

Together with other silver mines, about 200 tons of silver were produced and supplied from Japan to the Ming Dynasty every year.

It's just that it's just begun, although the Iwami silver mine has been discovered, but the mining volume is still too low, and about 15 tons were mined last year.

Therefore, in fact, although large silver mines were discovered, the annual import volume of the Song Dynasty was mainly copper ore and sulfur.

Silver, together with other origins that had already been discovered, supplied more than 50 tons to the Great Song Dynasty every year, and the amount of silver flowing between the two sides was currently only a quarter of that of the Ming Dynasty.

In proportion, it is almost equivalent to more than 1.3 million taels of silver per year.

There is a lot of gold, according to the Japanese scholar Katsumi Mori in the "Study of the Trade of the Song Dynasty in Japan", from the Northern Song Dynasty to the Southern Song Dynasty, Japan imported more than 10,000 taels of gold into China every year.

Now the Japanese side has "discovered" the Sado Gold Mountain with the help of Song Cai, and this gold mountain also has a large number of associated silver mines and bronze mines, and if it is developed, it can provide more gold and silver for the Great Song Dynasty.

In this way, gold, silver, copper, iron, sulfur, and a large number of other minerals constituted the trade between the Great Song Dynasty and Japan and Goryeo, and the trade volume between the two sides was almost 40 million guan.

According to historical records, during the Renzong period, Mingzhou City received 500,000 guan, and the tax rate of 10 percent of sea trade was used, that is, the private trade volume between Song and Japan was only 5 million guan at that time, and it was not until the Southern Song Dynasty that it could break through to 10 million guan.

However, since the signing of the free trade agreement between the two sides in the first year of Kangding, it has increased eightfold in two years, because it has actively communicated with Japan and helped them expand their domestic gold and silver mines.

In this way, coupled with the trade on the Goryeo side, from the first year of Kangding to the third year of Qingli, more than three years have brought more than 4 million silver to the Great Song Dynasty.

And as time goes by, the trade volume between the two sides will only continue to grow, which will lead to a large number of industries, so that Japan can also upgrade its technology, and naturally it will continue to expand the inflow of silver.

According to scholar Wan Ming's "Study on the Quantity of Overseas Trade in the Ming Dynasty", an average of 7 million taels of silver flowed into the Ming Dynasty every year in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, of which the inflow from Japan reached about 5 million taels per year, and the other 12 million taels came from American silver.

Therefore, as long as the Great Song Dynasty continues to do trade, in the future, the Great Song Dynasty will be like the Ming Dynasty, and the trade volume will reach 70 million taels of silver, and the annual income of 7 million taels of silver will no longer be a dream.

It's just that the most important thing right now is time.

In January, Zhao Jun celebrated his twenty-ninth birthday, and Zhao Zhen planned to make a big deal and celebrate.

But was rejected by Zhao Jun.

He just had a meal with his family and went on to deal with state affairs.

In February, there was good news from the institute.

According to the ammonium sulfate fertilizer provided by Zhao Zhen, it was finally successfully developed.

This thing belongs to the direction of chemistry, Zhao Jun doesn't know it at all, but he remembers that his grandfather did it himself when he was a child.

He was from the countryside, and when he was a child, the family would raise pigs, and the pigsty and the people's toilet were one room, and a big pit was dug underneath, and wooden planks were laid on top, and the pigs next to them stayed in the pigsty, and the human and pig manure fell from the cracks between the planks to the big pit below.

I didn't understand these before, but later I remembered that my grandfather had poured white powder into the dung pit, but I didn't know what it was at the time, and I mentioned it to Zhao Zhen.

It's just that in the Song Dynasty, such a manure technology has actually been popularized, and many rural areas are built like this, so there is no need for popular science.

The only problem is that I don't know what that white powder is.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Zhen asked Zhao Jun for a notebook at the beginning of this year, and actually found the formula in a history.

Take 50 kg of human urine feces (cattle, sheep, pigs and chickens), 5 kg of calcium sulfate (cooked gypsum powder), add 20 kg of water, stir and mix evenly, and place for 10-15 days.

That is, human urine feces, cooked gypsum powder and water are made in a ratio of 10 to 1 to 4.

Even in that history, there is an ammonium carbonate fertilizer formula, which is made from human urine manure or cow, sheep, pig and chicken manure plus soybean flour and cooked gypsum powder in a ratio of 100 to 1 to 8.

Only then did Zhao Jun understand that the powder was actually gypsum powder.

It's just that the ammonium carbonate fertilizer formula needs soybean flour, which is not only eaten by people in ancient times, but also a strategic material.

So ammonium sulfate fertilizer is best.

The research institute made the finished ammonium sulfate fertilizer in January, and then used the "songcai", that is, the cabbage, which has a relatively short growth cycle, for experiments.

After more than 20 days, the ripe cabbage grew better and stronger than the cabbage without fertilizer, and the yield increased a lot.

The newspaper immediately followed up and publicized, and the marching institutes all over the country were mobilized, and the news of Zhao Zhen's invention of new fertilizer spread all over the country, and the proportion of each ingredient was quickly conveyed, requiring people everywhere to make their own fertilizer.

Zhao Zhen has been in a great position during this time.

The newspapers and the Jinju Academy blew him up, not only publicizing how effective the new fertilizer invented by the officials was, but also encouraging the people to open their brains, develop their own research, and engage in more inventions and creations, and the court would be rewarded.

For a time, the whole country set off an invention fever, and in the next few decades, many useful things were invented and reported to the Invention Bureau to apply for patents.

But that's all for later.

Zhao Zhen was so happy that he was in such a big limelight for no reason, and most importantly, he had a reason to ask Zhao Jun for a notebook to play.

I just want to find more inventions from history, what's wrong with me?

provoked Zhao Jun to roll his eyes and be speechless.

In April, Zhao Jun went to Wu'an.

As we all know, Hebei Province in China is an important base for iron and steel, and it is also the first steel-producing province in the country.

The reason for this is that there are many iron mines and coal mines here, and secondly, the transportation is also the most convenient.

Among them, Handan Iron and Steel and Tangshan Iron and Steel are the most famous.

But in the Song Dynasty, Tangshan was forgotten.

That was the territory of the Liao State.

But why didn't Zhao Jun choose Handan, a famous coal and high-grade iron ore producing area in later generations?

Because of the traffic.

In the Song Dynasty, Handan had only some small rivers and no medium and large rivers.

The nearest big river is the Drain and Drain forty kilometers away.

Wu'an also produces coal and iron, but it is only a few kilometers away from the water, and the water is connected to Zhangshui, which in turn is connected to the Yongji Canal.

Therefore, Wu'an at this time is more suitable for steel smelting than Handan.

Zhao Jun summoned blacksmiths to build a small steel factory in Bianliang, and after several years of experiments, he finally got the Bessewei air steelmaking method and the Bessemer converter steelmaking method.

Then it is imperative to build a steel plant.

Since last year, he has ordered the construction of an aqueduct between Wu'an and Weishui, and expanded the channel of the river, and started to build factories in the east of Wu'an, that is, at the foot of the Jiulongshan mining area.

After a year's hard work, the canal was built, the river channel was expanded, the factory building was almost built, and a large number of smelting equipment and tools were prepared.

On April 6, outside the county seat of Wu'an County, Han Gongyan, the commander of Wu'an County, and Cai Qian, the technical official in charge of the construction, were already waiting.

Zhao Jun's slowly approached.

A group of officials hurriedly went up and said, "I've seen the prefect!" ”

"Hmm."

Zhao Jun got out of the carriage, nodded and said, "Who is Cai Qian." ”

"The lower official is here."

Cai Qian, the supervisor of Wu'an Pit Smelting Cast Iron, hurriedly stepped forward and said.

This person's great-grandfather, Cai Juan, was once the third metallurgical envoy of Wu'an Yuancheng in the early Song Dynasty, and his ancestor was specifically responsible for smelting and manufacturing.

"Wu'an ironmaking has a long history, but this time it is steelmaking, do you have any confidence?"

Zhao Jun asked with a smile.

"The next official will never give up!"

Cai Zhi said busily.

"Well, let's talk about the situation."

"Yes."

Everyone walked away, and Cai Zhen said.

The history of ironmaking in Wu'an can be traced back to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

At that time, charcoal was used as an iron-making material, and later the blower was invented, so coal was used to make iron.

It's just that coal contains a lot of impurities, mainly sulfur and phosphorus, which leads to poor quality, so the quality of iron in the Great Song Dynasty is not very good, and historical records record that it is "extremely brittle and easy to break".

Jia Changchao once said, "If it is not fine, it is brittle".

No way, in fact, after the Song Dynasty, coal has become the main refining method, and the cost of charcoal is still too high, which will inevitably lead to a decline in quality.

However, Zhao Jun's Beswell air steelmaking method can perfectly solve this problem, by adding air to oxidize the sulfur and phosphorus in the molten iron into oxides that are easy to separate, thereby reducing the sulfur and phosphorus in the molten iron and turning the iron into steel.

In fact, Bessemer converter steelmaking method and Beswell air steelmaking method are complementary to each other, one can greatly improve the efficiency of steelmaking, and the other can reduce production costs and improve steel quality.

At present, Zhao Jun has produced a steel converter suitable for these two methods after several years of experimentation, and now is the time to start large-scale manufacturing.

The group soon came to the steel plant, which was built on the original smelter, limited by the level of development, and was certainly not the kind of steel plant of later generations, but was built with rammed earth walls and bricks.

There are even some blast furnaces that are placed directly outside and can only be covered by sheds on rainy days.

It looks rough and rudimentary, but it's the best ironworks out there.

When Zhao Jun arrived, everything had been built, and he looked around, the iron-making process was still the blast furnace iron-making method of the Song Dynasty, which was made into a blast furnace from refractory clay, and iron-making was made from coal inside.

He used to smelt normal iron from charcoal, and then used the Tang Dynasty steel filling method to make a large amount of steel, and then poured it into a mold to make a converter.

The whole process was not a problem at all in the craftsmanship of the Song Dynasty.

After all, the mold manufacturing process of the Song Dynasty is not to mention the converter, even a few tons of iron men can be made, and it is still lifelike.

Moreover, the process of Bessemer converter is not complicated, in fact, it is a large steel furnace with lever wheels installed on both sides.

Molten cast iron is poured into the converter from above, and pressurized hot air is injected into the inside through a special pipe at the bottom.

Hot air passes through the molten iron, burning off the carbon and other impurities in the cast iron, turning it into steel.

As for the Beswell air steelmaking method, it is even simpler, just add the original clay refractory bricks to limestone, there is no technical difficulty at all, what is missing is the method of being discovered.

Zhao Jun took so long to get things out, mainly because he had left Kaifeng a long time ago to inspect the place, and only returned to Bianliang at the end of the second year of Baoyuan.

It only took a few months to build that small steel mill to make all the principles and tools, and it was not difficult at all.

Everything is ready at this point.

Hundreds of workers in the factory welcomed him outside in the aisles.

Zhao Jun glanced around and felt that there was no problem, so he asked Han Qi's nephew Han Gongyan, "Have you tried it?" ”

"I've tried."

Han Gongyan said excitedly: "As the Zhiyuan said, it only takes about a quarter of an hour to smelt molten iron into steel!" ”

"Well, let's try it."

Zhao Jun said.

"Open a furnace!"

Cai Zhen hurriedly ordered.

In an instant, more than a dozen workers were in action.

They first came to a blast furnace, began to add coal to it, and then pushed the blower desperately.

After about 30 minutes, the workers pulled a large amount of pig iron out of the blast furnace.

In fact, according to the records of "Tiangong Kaiwu", the process of smelting raw iron from iron ore should take about 6 hours.

But they naturally didn't dare to let Zhao Jun wait so long, so before Zhao Jun came, they had already smelted a furnace of pig iron, and then heated it after Zhao Jun arrived.

About several hundred catties of pig iron were framed by the workers with steel, and then the four corners of the steel frame were hooked with hooks, and then pulled to a converter through a tall shelf and the principle of pulleys.

The crowd pulled the rope desperately, lifted the steel frame, and poured it into the converter smoothly.

At this time, the temperature of the pig iron was very high, and then the workers of the nearby steel furnace began to pull the blower continuously, and the top of the converter was like a volcanic eruption, gurgling and bubbling sparks.

If it weren't for the steel plates on the head and sides of the blower, I am afraid that the workers who pull the blower would have been burned by the splashed flint.

After about ten minutes, the converter completed the oxidation process.

Then the workers on both sides turned the wheel, and the huge converter slowly collapsed, pouring molten steel like lava from it.

For the time being, these molten steel are first made of refractory bricks, and no matter what you want to make in the future, you only need to make molds, and pour them directly, and even the molds of swords or cannons are no problem.

And watching the molten steel gurgling into the mold, Zhao Jun could feel the heat wave coming to his nose even if he was dozens of meters away.

Even if he had seen such a scene, he could still be shocked by the greatness of the first industrial revolution.

Let's be honest.

These techniques are not difficult.

The hard part is how people find out they exist.

Once Westerners found a way.

And now.

It's also time for the Orientals to stand at the forefront of industry.

Zhao Jun couldn't help but say: "The first step of industry starts here!" ”

(End of chapter)