Su Ze and Eunuch Tao stood side by side in front of the blast furnace. The person in charge of the blast furnace, a craftsman named Lu Tie, led them around.
Lu Tie is probably in his forties, but he looks older than sixty. When Tao Eunuch was casting three immortal coins in Fujian, Lu Tie helped solve the technical problems of brass alloy smelting, and was promoted to Dajian Lu by Eunuch Tao. In charge of thousands of households.
After Su Ze's uprising, he solicited the latest iron smelting technology plans among the craftsmen. Lu Tie's new iron furnace plan was sent to Su Ze's desk. After seeing the design drawings, Su Ze's Level 4 [Smelting] skill immediately realized The advanced nature of this blast furnace.
Su Ze immediately ordered Lu Tie to build a new blast furnace. Today is the day when the new blast furnace is completed.
The temperature near the blast furnace was very high. Both Su Ze and Eunuch Tao were sweating, but Lu Tie still said excitedly:
"The servant read Dadu's "Tiangong Kaiwu" and admired Dadu's discussion of wrought iron and steel. Dadu's understanding of steel is really close to Taoism!"
Su Ze frowned and said, "Slavery has been abolished in Fujian and Zhejiang a long time ago. Why are you here as a servant? You are an official under the governor's mansion. From now on, just call yourself a lower official."
Lu Tie was originally illiterate. After being promoted by Eunuch Tao, he taught himself how to read and was able to read through "Tiangong Kaiwu" very quickly.
Lu Tie hurriedly said: "Thank you, Commander-in-Chief, for reminding me. I understand!"
Tao Gonggong asked: "What is the relationship between pig iron, wrought iron, and steel?"
Lu Tie immediately said: "According to what the Governor's book says, these three categories are actually the same thing, the only difference is the content of impurities."
"Pig iron is hard but brittle. When molten iron is smelted from iron ore and cooled, the result is pig iron, which naturally contains the most impurities."
"After repeated forging and removal of impurities, the wrought iron has a soft texture and has the least impurities."
"Steel is right between pig iron and wrought iron. It is hard and malleable. It is the best material in the world!"
Lu Tie is known as the "iron madman" among craftsmen because he promotes iron so crazily. He thinks iron is the most wonderful thing in the world.
Su Ze looked at Lu Tie in surprise. He added this paragraph in "Tiangong Kaiwu" just to explain the principles of steelmaking. Most blacksmiths would not read it at all, but he did not expect that Lu Tie could learn this by himself. situation.
Sure enough, I still underestimated the smart people in the world.
If you think about it carefully, in fact, during the so-called industrial revolution, many engineers who promoted the development of Western technology did not have high academic qualifications and many were illiterate. Many key technologies were far from being improved by advanced mathematics and physics knowledge.
Craftsmen like Lu Tie can often make inventions through work and practice. However, in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, when only imperial examinations were focused on and the status of craftsmen was extremely low, many inventions were lost to history.
Lu Tie continued: "Actually, our ancestors have already studied how to make iron."
Lu Tie led the two of them to a simple mini model and said: "Use refractory bricks as a kiln, put iron ore into the kiln, and then use charcoal to heat and burn the molten iron. This is a technology that existed in the Han Dynasty."
Su Ze nodded. The Han Dynasty was able to kill the Huns so much that they did not dare to go south. In addition to the bravery of the Han people in the Han Dynasty, the great development of smelting technology was also a key reason.
In the Salt and Iron Government Camp of the Han Dynasty, iron smelting technology has made great progress. The technology of refining pig iron in iron kilns and then forging it to make steel appeared in the Han Dynasty. The Han army used iron weapons whose performance far exceeded those of the grasslands. The first golden age in the history of the Central Plains was reached.
Lu Tie began to praise Su Ze again: "The Governor has been a student since ancient times, and his knowledge of iron is the best in the world. If he hadn't read the books of the Governor, I would never have been able to understand why the Han and Tang Dynasties could make high-quality iron." Regarding ironware, by the Song Dynasty, the iron-smelting technology in the Central Plains was surpassed by the peoples on the grasslands."
Eunuch Tao also became interested in this topic. He quickly asked: "Is the ironware of the Song Dynasty not as good as that of the Han and Tang Dynasties?"
Lu Tie immediately walked to the next exhibition room. He took out a wide-blade knife and said, "This is an iron knife from the Song Dynasty. The blade is wide because the hardness of the knife is not up to standard. It is easy to break when cutting. This kind of weapon It is bulky and weak, far inferior to the Mo Dao of the Tang Dynasty."
The Song Dynasty was not far away from the Ming Dynasty, and Eunuch Tao had also seen the weapons of the Song Dynasty. Indeed, as Lu Tie said, the weapons of the Song Dynasty seemed to be inferior to those of the Tang Dynasty.
"Why is this?"
Lu Tie said: "I was also puzzled. Later I saw the fuel chapter of "Tiangong Kaiwu" and then I understood the reason."
"It's the fuel for the wrought iron."
Su Ze was even more surprised this time. He knew the reason for the backwardness of iron tools in the Song Dynasty, but "Tiangong Kaiwu" was only a technical book after all, and Su Ze did not discuss this issue in detail.
Unexpectedly, Lu Tie was able to find the answer based on other contents in the book and mutual deduction!
Lu Tie said: "During the Han and Tang Dynasties, the land was vast and sparsely populated. First, there were high-quality iron ores that could be mined, and most of the iron used for smelting was charcoal."
"But in the Song Dynasty, with the growth of population and the emergence of a large number of cities, there was not enough charcoal to smelt iron, so the Song people had to use coal."
"This is all written in the fuel chapter of the Grand Governor's "Tiangong Kaiwu". After the official saw it, he immediately conducted an experiment. Sure enough, coal was directly used to smelt iron. The iron made was just like Song Dynasty iron. It was easy to make. fracture."
"The quality of Song iron is not as good as pig iron. According to the Governor's theory on steel, there are too many impurities in the coal, which are mixed into the molten iron during smelting, resulting in a decline in the quality of the molten iron."
Eunuch Tao exclaimed: "Is it possible that the Song Dynasty's country was weak because of this iron weapon?"
Su Ze nodded and said: "That's right. Because of the development of smelting technology on the grasslands, the era of Han Dynasty conquering Wuhu has passed since the Song Dynasty. And the backwardness of weapons put the Song army at a disadvantage when facing the grassland peoples. "
"But the problem of iron smelting in the Song Dynasty has been solved by the imperial dynasty, right?"
Lu Tie nodded quickly and said, "Yes, Song Tie's problem was solved before our country was founded."
Eunuch Tao did not expect that an iron smelter would have so much knowledge. Although he had presided over minting, he was mainly responsible for management work. Now he also has a strong interest in iron smelting technology.
He asked: "What method did the country use?"
Lu Tie said: "The country's iron smelting also uses coal, but it uses dry-fired coal."
"Dry roast?"
Lu Tie nodded and said: "Dry burning can remove the impurities in the coal and obtain coke. The quality of our Fujian iron is good. In addition to the good quality of local iron and coal mines, the most important thing is that the dry burning is thorough, so Fujian iron can Make a blunderbuss barrel."
What a genius!
Su Ze looked at Lu Tie. Due to the craftsman household system in the Ming Dynasty, most craftsmen did their work according to the script and the methods and steps passed down by their ancestors.
The Ming Dynasty has indeed solved the problem of sulfur impurities in direct iron-making from coal, but because blacksmiths did not leave any writing, the important technology of dry-burning coal to make coke and then making iron was only passed down as a technical procedure.
Most blacksmiths know that good iron can be made by doing this, but few people can sum up the principle of dry burning coke to make good iron by combining practice and history like Lu Tie.
Su Ze looked at Lu Tie and immediately said to his left and right:
"Pass on my order to promote Lu Tie to the position of Counselor of the Governor's Mansion, specializing in iron smelting!"
Lu Tie was stunned, and even Eunuch Tao was stunned.
Although the Counselor of the Metropolitan Governor's Office is not the highest-ranking official in today's Fujian-Vietnam officialdom system, it is definitely the most important position.
Xu Wei's position is counselor of the Metropolitan Governor's Office. This is a position directly under the Metropolitan Governor's Office. Everyone in the officialdom of Fujian and Zhejiang knows the importance of this position.
Su Ze actually granted Lu Tie such an important position all of a sudden?
Eunuch Tao looked at Su Ze in surprise, while Lu Tie knelt down excitedly.
Su Ze quickly helped him up and said: "Lv Gong's research on smelting is better than a hundred thousand soldiers!"
Su Ze was even more looking forward to the new blast furnace designed by Lu Tie. He asked again: "What new technology does Guochao Iron Smelting have? What about the blast furnace improved by Lu Gong?"
Lu Tie said quickly: "The governor has defeated me, how dare the craftsmen claim to be fair!"
Su Ze said: "What I said about the four morals of the people is that scholars, farmers, industry and commerce, and craftsmen also have their own virtues. Those who improve craftsmanship like Lu Gong are the sages among craftsmen."
"If four people are equal, why can't they be called public?"
Lu Tie's heart is filled with passion. He has been a craftsman for generations and has always been regarded as a pariah by the government.
Because of his obsession with iron smelting, he was called "Iron Madman".
Su Ze, who is now in charge of Minyue, actually calls him "Lv Gong". Lu Tie finally understands the meaning of "a scholar will die for his confidant" in the play!
He quickly said: "In addition to the invention of dry coke-burning technology for iron-making in the imperial dynasty, the most important ones were the method of frying steel and combining raw and cooked iron."
"The stir-frying method is to heat the molten iron and then stir it with something. I think stirring is to remove impurities in the molten iron. It is in the same vein as Dadudu's steel impurities."
"The method of combining pig iron and wrought iron is actually based on the same principle. Pig iron has more impurities and wrought iron has less impurities. When the two are mixed, it will be steel with not too much or too little impurities."
Eunuch Tao murmured: "It's no wonder that Guochao was able to expel Yuan Meng. It turns out that Guochao developed iron smelting."
But Eunuch Tao soon thought of another question: "In that case, why is it so difficult to practice the gun barrel?"
Lu Tie said: "Because whether it is the method of frying steel or the method of combining raw and cooked iron, it is too uncontrollable."
"How to have more or less impurities depends entirely on the experience of the craftsman. When I opened a furnace in my youth, it would take ten furnaces to turn into steel. It was still crude steel that needed to be forged and tempered."
"Even at this age, steel can only be turned into steel in at most three out of ten furnaces. Whether it can be turned into steel depends entirely on luck. Some blacksmiths will even offer sacrifices and pray when the molten iron is produced."
Eunuch Tao asked curiously: "What method is used in Mr. Lu's new furnace?"
Lu Tie said proudly: "Temperature!"
"I summarized my experience in making steel and found that the molten iron is red and easy to make steel."
"When I was following Tao Gong to mint coins, I once heard Tao Gong say that the temperature of copper water can be judged by the brightness of copper water. The brighter the copper water, the higher the temperature, and the better it can be stirred and melted."
"So I thought, if we want to make steel, do we need redder and higher-temperature molten iron?"
【Visit the iron smelting plant and gain a lot of "metallurgical" skills and experience! 】
[Metallurgical skill experience +200, Lv4, 200/400]
The system prompts Su Ze to confirm that Lu Tie has really found the direction of smelting iron.
Lu Tie continued: "As for how to increase the temperature of the iron stove, I got the inspiration from watching my old wife at home cooking."
Eunuch Tao said impatiently: "Cooking?"
Lu Tie said: "If you want the fire to flourish, the first step is to blow the wind, and the second step is to add a cover."
Su Ze couldn't help but said: "Mr. Lu is such a talented person!"
At this time, the two finally saw the blast furnace in the distance.
A huge cover is added to the top of the blast furnace, and there are more than a dozen large blowers in the combustion chamber below. Driven by craftsmen and livestock, they are constantly blowing air into the blast furnace.
The scorching temperature swept through the entire iron factory, and Su Ze felt like he was facing a volcano that might erupt at any time.
"The iron is out!"
Just hearing a young man shouting, the craftsmen immediately pulled out the molten iron mechanism, and saw the red molten iron flowing out of the opening.
Immediately, a shirtless craftsman used tools to scoop out the residue above the molten iron.
The craftsmen quickly got busy, introducing molten iron into the predetermined mold to cool.
When Su Ze and his party came down, a young craftsman took a half-cooled iron block and presented it to Su Ze.
Su Ze skillfully clamped the iron block with iron tongs, forged it with a hammer, and immediately said: "Good steel!"
Su Ze immediately said: "All craftsmen of the iron furnace will be rewarded with two silver coins this month!"
Many craftsmen cheered.
Lu Tie summoned the young craftsman to his side and said to Su Ze: "Grand Governor, this is my son Lu Gang. He designed the blower of this iron furnace."
Su Ze looked at the complicated blower and immediately took Lu Gang's hand and said, "I'm going to reopen Tiangong Academy in Fuzhou a few days ago. How about inviting Lu Dajiang and his son to give lectures at the academy?"
Lu Tie and Lu Gang looked at each other and went to give lectures themselves?
Su Ze immediately said: "The merits of the two of you can be recorded in the annals of history! A mere lecture is nothing!"
Lu Tie and Lu Gang didn't expect Su Ze to speak so highly of them, and they immediately became frightened.
Su Ze said: "Can you father and son be literate?"
Lu Tie said: "The little old man can only read, but my son can write and read."
Su Ze immediately said: "Then please Master Lu, please publish the entire iron smelting process, including the history of Chinese iron smelting that Lu Gong just mentioned, into a book. This will be the textbook for the smelting department of Tiangong Academy in the future."
Su Ze then said to Eunuch Tao: "I promote the morality of the four people. If scholars, peasants, industry and merchants can be like the Lu family and his son, the world will be stable!"
"Craftsmen have the virtue of craftsmen. According to the orders of the Dudufu, Zhejiang, Fujian and Susong, if there are those who can improve the craftsmanship and double the efficiency like Lu and his son, they will be awarded the title of 'Great Craftsman', and the great craftsmen will be treated like the seventh grade." , reward another hundred silver coins!"
Su Ze looked at Lu and his son. He pulled Lu Gang and said, "Your father is called 'Iron Madman'. What do others call you?"
Lu Gang lowered his head and said, "When I return to the capital, everyone in the iron factory will call me 'Gang Madman'."
Everyone laughed kindly, and Eunuch Tao asked: "What's the difference between iron madman and steel madman?"
Lu Gang raised his head and said, "My father is obsessed with iron-making, so he is called the Iron Maniac."
"And I think steel is everything!"
"I believe that all the food, clothing, housing and transportation in the future will be inseparable from steel! In the future, we can use steel to make chairs! We can use steel to make beds! We can also use steel to make houses, boats and cars!"
"The future is steel, steel is the future!"
(End of chapter)
