5. Copper smelting technology
This technology is actually closely linked to mining technology.
The copper ore of the Divine Envoy King's Legion all comes from the [Malachite City]. There is a large amount of malachite scattered on the surface near the southern mountainous area.
The main component of malachite is basic copper carbonate, with the chemical formula cu2(oh)2co3. It is produced in the oxidation zone of copper sulfide deposits and often coexists with other copper-containing minerals, such as azurite, chalcocite, cuprite, Natural copper, etc.
The main raw materials for copper smelting in the Divine Envoy King's Legion are malachite, which is easy to distinguish, and a few other copper ores. Malachite has a brilliant color and has been a semi-precious stone until modern times.
The only copper-smelting blast furnace of the Divine Envoy King's Legion is located in [Dongyang City], which is not far from the copper mine production area.
This blast furnace is located one meter deep underground, with an internal height of about half a meter. The insulation properties of the soil can be used to greatly increase the furnace temperature. There is a ceramic discharge port at the bottom of the blast furnace, which can introduce molten copper water into the mold, and then the semi-finished product can be polished into finished product after cooling.
There is a smoke outlet on the top of the blast furnace. Because the exhaust gas is poisonous, the ants dare not approach this piece of land that will scorch when it is ignited. The surrounding vegetation is also very sparse, forming a small desert.
Interestingly, often after copper smelting is completed and the ground surface cools down, ants can pick up many insects that have been smoked to death and get some free food.
Although casting large pieces of copper is relatively simple for ants, with the production capacity of this single blast furnace, the cycle of stockpiling, ignition, smelting, discharging, flameout, cooling, and cleaning takes less than half a month, and its output One can imagine. Therefore, the current main use of copper is to produce copper jaw knives, a small amount of copper tools, ballista parts and other small devices for the soldiers of the God's Envoy King's Legion.
The protagonist has plans to expand another blast furnace, or to repair and rebuild the previous blast furnace that had to be abandoned because the outlet was blocked due to a failed copper smelting experiment.
The protagonist has already anticipated that next year's war with the Destroyers will be larger and last longer. For this reason, when the army is expanded to 100 legions, more copper will be needed.
The protagonist has also experimented with iron-making in a copper-smelting blast furnace. The principles of the two are interlinked, and they both rely on the temperature of the blast furnace to achieve oxidation-reduction reactions.
Although large-scale iron ore has not yet been found in the territory, there are still scattered rusty hematite sands. What the ants collected from everywhere is enough for experiments.
Unfortunately, the temperature conditions of the copper-smelting blast furnace never reached the melting point of iron. The protagonist's experiment failed, and the iron ore could only be temporarily thrown into the warehouse.
Next, the protagonist plans to research ways to make better quality charcoal and use charcoal as fuel to increase the furnace temperature.
In ancient China, charcoal was used to smelt a large amount of high-quality iron and even steel. The quality was better than the iron that was later smelted from coal (coal contains sulfur, which will make the finished iron brittle).
Since there is already a successful precedent, the protagonist believes that he can do it too.
6. Animal Husbandry and Domestication Technology
Big-headed ants have been known to herd aphids before, and many species of ants have this technique. However, this is not an invention of ants. It is just that both ants and aphids got what they needed in the long process of evolution.
The real domestication technology was brought by the protagonist and the survivors of the big-headed ants.
What the protagonist teaches the ants is the cultivation of mealworms and the domestication of flies and bees.
The cultivation of mealworms cannot be regarded as domestication in a complete sense. After all, the mealworms themselves are very adapted to the life of being raised, and have not undergone physiological changes due to changes in the living environment, which does not meet the definition of domestication.
It doesn't matter to the ants. Anyway, the meat obtained from raising mealworms is already abundant enough.
The domestication of flies is a very fulfilling thing for the protagonist. Its domestication method is completely different from the domestication of dogs, horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, etc. by humans. The protagonist succeeded by accident and inexplicably without any precedent, and this is how the current Flying Knights Legion came into existence.
Although in a strict sense, the current flies can only be considered in a semi-domesticated state, similar to wild boars that have just been domesticated by humans, they are already a remarkable leap.
The domestication of bees can be regarded as a follow-up to the domestication of flies, and the two are essentially the same. Moreover, bees are inherently social insects and are more closely related to ants and easier to domesticate.
The domestication of beetles is quite different from the previous two. Beetles are not social insects, and they are not as smart and neurally developed as flies. Adults cannot be domesticated.
This technology of domesticating beetles was passed down by the survivors of the big-headed ants. The trick is to domesticate the beetles while they are still larvae and pupae, and then strengthen the domestication results when the adults have just emerged from the pupae.
At present, the number of beetles in the Angel King's army is steadily increasing, and the protagonist also intends to make the beetle army a "steel torrent"!
7. Agricultural planting technology
This technology is lackluster. It actually involves sowing some grass seeds that the ants regard as food on the flat land. The harvest basically depends on the sky. The ants only do some basic care, and there is no seed selection, irrigation and Fertilize.
But even so, the seed yield of densely planted wild grasses is enough to meet the food needs of the ants.
8. Fermentation technology
This technology was also learned from the remnants of the big-headed ants. It is mainly used for food processing, enriching the food types of the ants, and also allowing some foods to have a longer shelf life.
9. City-building technology
Ants have their own technology for building nests. In the human world, some ant nests are famous for their large scale and exquisite structure.
The nesting technology of ants in this world is even better. There are underground nests like [Dongyang City], semi-underground nests with huge hills like [Qingqiu City], and [Linshui City]. tree city.
Whether on the ground, in trees, in swamps, or in deserts, ants have suitable nesting methods.
The protagonist has improved the ants' nest-building method so that it can be called "city-building".
The "Ant City" he designed has tall ant mounds similar to termite mounds, surrounded by city walls, which can play the dual roles of military defense and flood control. The trenches outside the city wall also served the dual functions of military defense and flood discharge.
The greater role of such a city is to improve its defensive capabilities. Whether it is city walls, trenches, protective nets, or intricate underground passages, they are all designed to enhance the defensive capabilities of the defenders.
Coupled with elite defenders and indestructible ballistae, even destroyers or parasitic war beasts will be defeated.
The above nine categories represent the current scientific and technological level of the Divine Envoy King's legions. Generally speaking, they have basically reached the level of primitive people in the Neolithic Age, with some technological points slightly exceeding it.
