Gongshu Jin said: "Today, agricultural tools and weapons use a lot of iron. In the past, Yetie Mansion had a lot of iron in stock, so it could meet the needs of the generals. But now the world needs more and more tools, and Yetie Mansion's iron supply is no longer enough. .”
"In addition, more and more wood is required for the production of large wooden instruments such as waterwheels and textile looms, and only tough pine, elm and other wood can be used. The chief chapter leader is gradually running out of resources."
I didn't realize this problem until I heard Gong Sujin's words. Although the Qin Dynasty had attached great importance to iron and established a separate iron smelting office, the output of iron was still very low, let alone the output of high-quality iron.
I nodded: "I understand. After the court meeting, you, Bai Chong, and Tiewu will go to the Four Seas Palace."
The three of them bowed and said yes.
After the court meeting, the three of them followed me to the Sihai Palace.
"Tie Wu, what is the approximate annual output of Da Qin Iron now?"
The chief iron officer, Tie Wu, cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, the total output is about 8 million jins, and the high-quality iron output is about 2 million jins."
I frowned and said, "So low? And the production ratio of high-quality iron is too low."
Tie Wu said: "Compared to before the emperor concentrated all the iron smelting workshops in Nanyang County, it has been greatly improved. Since the emperor ordered the iron smelting families such as Zhuo, Cheng, and Kong to be concentrated in Nanyang County, and the After the official establishment, the production of iron gradually increased."
I think so. Iron ore is mainly distributed around the line from Handan to Nanyang.
"Can you tell me in detail the method of smelting iron now?"
"Yes. Today's iron smelting is mainly divided into several processes: building a furnace, refining, beating, and forming."
"Build a furnace. The furnace consists of four parts: door, pool, kiln chamber, and chimney. A rectangular pit was dug in the ground, leaving the furnace door. The surrounding walls were tamped and then coated with a thin layer of mud. The bottom of the furnace was paved with fine sand, supplemented by Use the skin bag to blow air to increase heat."
"Refining. After the craftsman gets the ore, he first crushes the ore, mixes the ore with charcoal and limestone, and puts it into the furnace. Then he lights the fire and heats it until crude iron is extracted."
"Beating. After the crude iron is refined, the craftsman takes out the crude iron, heats it with charcoal and beats it repeatedly to remove impurities."
"Shaping. After removing the impurities, you get pig iron. Then beat it into the appropriate shape according to the needs."
"Although His Majesty asked me to report in detail, the approximate process is like this. The complicated procedures involved cannot be reported one by one."
After listening to Tie Wu's words, I nodded and said, "I have a method of smelting iron here. You can order people to test it. If it succeeds, we can vigorously promote it."
Tiewu said yes. I couldn't help but murmur in my heart: 'It is rumored that the appliances used in the palace were all thought up by His Majesty. It's just that smelting iron is not as good as tools, but an extremely complicated matter...'
Then I explained to them the steel pouring method in detail. Taking advantage of the characteristics of high carbon of pig iron and low carbon of wrought iron, molten pig iron was poured into the wrought iron to change the carbon content, and finally produced steel with high hardness and good performance. .
But in fact, the current main task is to increase iron production. For now, the production of agricultural tools only requires crude iron. Whether steel with a suitable carbon content can be produced is not the most urgent.
After hearing this, Tie Wu thought for a moment and said, "What your Majesty said is to melt the iron directly? But I don't know how to melt the iron?"
I nodded with satisfaction. It seemed that he was quite capable of taking charge of the Iron Order, and he got to the point directly.
"Did you know graphite? You can melt iron with graphite."
Tie Wu was shocked when he heard this, and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, no!"
I wondered: "Why not?" Even if it doesn't work, why are you so scared?
"Your Majesty does not know that although graphite can burn, it is not as flammable as charcoal, and its temperature is not as good as charcoal. Moreover, this graphite is highly poisonous! Someone once tried to use graphite for heating, but he was poisoned and died soon after the graphite burned. Your Majesty must never adopt this method."
After hearing Tie Wu's words, I realized that there was no technology to utilize coal in the Qin Dynasty. Untreated raw coal contains a lot of toxic substances, and it burns just like poison gas bombs.
Then I told Tie Wu in detail the process of processing raw coal into coke.
Tiewu was still dubious after hearing this.
I said: "You should try it first. If it is feasible, it will be able to greatly increase the production of iron. As for high-quality iron, it is the steel I just talked about. We must first meet the general government's demand for iron. The production of steel will not urgent."
"Bai Chong, you ordered the Shishi Order to search for graphite and iron from Taiyuan County to Nanyang County, Hedong County to Hanoi County. I guess there are more graphite mines in this area, and we will mine them immediately after we find them."
No need to guess, domestic coal and iron ore are mainly distributed in these places.
Bai Chong nodded in agreement.
"Is there anything you can do about the wood?" I asked.
Bai Chong said helplessly: "Your Majesty, there is no problem with timber mining at present. It's just that the journey to Xianyang is too far, so we mainly need to rely on Deshui. But in the winter months, Deshui will soon freeze, and by then I'm afraid there won't even be enough wood available now The number cannot be reached.”
I wondered: "Why does it have to be transported to Xianyang?"
Bai Chong was stunned: "Aren't all the utensils made in Xianyang?"
I frowned: "Who said that?"
Bai Chong looked at Gongshu Jin, who quickly bowed and said: "Didn't His Majesty say that the drawings cannot be passed on to others? It is the safest way to make it in Xianyang, and there is no risk of leakage!"
I'm speechless, you are such a...
"If it can't be spread externally, it must be produced in Xianyang? Don't you have anyone you can trust? Pick a few trustworthy people and send them to various counties. Wouldn't it save a lot of manpower and material resources to use local materials for production? You have a wooden head!"
Gongshujin looked innocent. Seeing Gongshu Jin's defeat, Bai Chong burst out laughing in his heart: 'You will be scolded for suing me, hahaha...'
I said helplessly: "After I go back, ask He Xian to go to Nanyang County for me and build another Nanyang General's Mansion there! In addition, I will pick a few available people and build them in Ba, Handan, Linzi, Sishui, Kuaiji, and Changsha counties." The general will be in charge of the government. Don’t you understand the principle of using local materials?”
"Not only that, except for the person in charge, the general's government will no longer give the status of an official, nor will it recruit craftsmen through corvee service. Anyone who volunteers to work in the general's government will be given monthly money by the general's government. The monthly payment shall not be less than the official’s salary.”
Gongshu Jin lowered his head and said: "I obey your Majesty's order. In addition, the agricultural tools sold by the general government are sold by the county and county governments. This is in the form of counties and counties first paying to purchase from the general government and then selling them themselves. The money and grain obtained by the general government are Please tell me how to deal with it, Your Majesty."
I had never considered this, so I asked: "It has been half a year since the establishment of the General House. How much food have you received?"
A chrysanthemum-like smile bloomed on Gongshu Jin's face: "We already have 40,000 dan of grain and 100,000 dan of money!"
I asked in surprise: "So much?" Four million kilograms of grain is enough to feed 20,000 people for a year, not to mention 100,000 yuan, which is enough to give these ministers half a year's salary.
I asked suspiciously: "You won't increase the price, will you?"
Gongshu Jin hurriedly said: "I don't dare. I actually purchased too much Guizhou head. Otherwise, how could there be a shortage of wood and iron in the general's mansion?"
I nodded: "You can discuss this matter with Li Si."
Then he scolded: "Baichong, Gongshujin, you are the chiefs of the government office, and there is also the prime minister above you. You have to share my worries about these matters. You can't wait for my decision on everything."
The two quickly said yes.
After a few people left, I looked outside the door and saw that the winter solstice was coming again. Time flies so fast!
I looked at Xing Zhong by the door and Lan'er next to me, and I smiled slightly.
