In the flat valley, due to the lack of sunlight, there are not many trees, but there are quite a few shrubs and ferns. Due to geography, this place seems not to be bound by nature. The autumn wind fails to blow the yellow leaves, and the summer fails to create a trace of heat.
The cool valley is isolated and independent, like a fairyland. And in this fairyland-like place, everyone suddenly discovered that there were several wooden houses vaguely built on the far side.
The gray-yellow facade, dotted with green moss, seems to be integrated into the valley. If it weren't for the smoke rising from the roof from time to time, their existence would not even be noticed.
Obviously, there are still people living in these houses.
"Herod!" A sound of horses neighing awakened the sleeping valley.
"Herod..." The horses of Zhao Kuo and others also neighed.
It turned out that the roar just now was not made by the horses of Zhao Kuo and others. There were actually other horses in the valley.
Before everyone could be surprised, the door of the wooden house in the distance suddenly opened. Several guys wearing Zhao Jun's red clothes suddenly appeared at the door.
Looking at the distance, the figures of Zhao Kuo and others hurriedly ran towards Zhao Kuo.
"General!" Several urgent voices came from afar.
Zhao Wei was confused. Is this his own army? Why did the general arrange for people to be here again?
In a daze, Zhao Kuo had already led everyone forward, and Zhao Wei also hurriedly caught up.
"General!" Several people quickly ran to Zhao Kuo, knelt down and kowtowed to Zhao Kuo, then raised their heads and looked at Zhao Kuo with blazing eyes, their expectant eyes seemed to be Said: "General, you are finally here."
Zhao Kuo smiled and helped the people up one by one, and then said: "Thank you for your hard work, gentlemen!"
"Don't dare, don't dare!" The visitor naturally said he didn't dare.
"How is the situation in the mountains?" Zhao Kuo then continued to ask.
"Report to the General: Many mineral deposits have been discovered in the mountains. The General said that there are abundant coal and iron ore deposits. However, the iron ore deposits are slightly deep, and it is quite difficult to mine them. I am afraid there are not thousands of them. I'm afraid it will be difficult to complete." The leader replied immediately.
Yes, these people were sent by Zhao Kuo to search for mineral deposits.
When Lian Po arrived with the Wei army, the Qin army's defeat was almost certain. And Zhao Kuo had already begun to think about the next battle.
Whether it is for himself or for the country of Zhao, Zhao Kuo must increase the power in his hands as soon as possible. In this barren Shangdang land, although the land is vast, it is mostly mountainous. It is basically impossible to enrich the country and strengthen the people. It's just that the geographical location is really important, which makes it coveted by many countries.
Barren land, meager people, to be honest, no country would really want to run it. Although there were dozens of cities, their tax revenue could not even equal that of one city in Taoyi.
Countries that have always occupied Shangdang have only used Shangdang as a military fortress, or a springboard to attack Zhao, Wei and the Central Plains. This was the case for the Han State in history, and it was still the case for the Qin State that captured Shangdang.
However, others may not know it, but Zhao Kuo, who comes from the 21st century, knows very well: Shangdang is begging for food with a golden rice bowl.
Under the barren mountains of Shangdang, there are countless treasures buried - coal mines! To be precise, it should be a coal and iron mine. Therefore, when his victory was almost certain, Zhao Kuo decisively dispatched hundreds of elite troops to various places in Shangdang to inquire about the location of coal and iron mines.
Fortunately, news came that not only had a coal mine been found, but there was also an iron mine not far away. This made Zhao Kuo very excited, and even letting the Qin army go was not so painful.
Because Zhao Kuo knows that if I have a mine in hand, I have the world!
You must know that although iron tools have been used on a large scale in the Warring States Period, the method of iron-making is still in its most rudimentary stage. As we all know, the most important thing in ironmaking is temperature. Only when the temperature is high enough can the iron ore be in a molten state, thereby precipitating more impurities.
In the Warring States Period, when charcoal was used as the main combustion material, the maximum temperature for iron-making was only about a thousand degrees. Even if the follow-up
With the help of bellows and other things, the temperature of ironmaking cannot be higher than 1,200 degrees.
The so-called "picking the heroes of the East China Sea", "feeding the sword with one's body" and other metaphysical sword-making legends, the approximate effect is to add flux, thereby lowering the melting point of iron, thus obtaining molten iron. The entry of trace elements leads to higher quality steel.
Weapons made of this steel naturally have an absolute advantage in strength and hardness compared to weapons made of pig iron with many impurities, so they are called magic weapons, and the myth is still passed down. .
Now Zhao Kuo uses coal, also known as pebbles, as a combustion material. Even without coking treatment, the temperature can easily rise to more than 1,300 degrees.
If coupled with the several-man-high blast furnace and human-driven blower designed by Zhao Kuo, and if the coking process is harder, the temperature can easily exceed 1,500 degrees.
Even without adding inexplicable flux, iron can be easily melted. Of course, the higher the temperature, the more steel will be produced. If the temperature is too high, the result may be softer wrought iron. As for this, it depends on the blacksmith, it's just a matter of testing it a few more times.
More importantly, higher temperatures also speed up the melting of iron ore, thereby greatly increasing the speed of iron-making. The increase in efficiency allowed Zhao Kuo to have enough iron tools to arm his team in a short period of time.
It can be said that once Zhao Kuo's iron-making business is successful, it will be another leap forward in Zhao's national strength. The suppression of pig iron by steel is comprehensive. Although it is not like the crushing of iron by bronze, it is enough to change the situation on the battlefield. Imagine that on the battlefield, two sides are slashing each other. The two sides are fighting fiercely. Your own sword suddenly breaks, but the long sword on the opposite side is not damaged at all. How can this battle be fought?
And this is also the method that Zhao Kuo can think of that can suppress other countries in the medium to long term.
In this way, in the short term, there will be the suppression of the troops after the selection of the front, in the mid term, the advantage of iron weapons will once again suppress the countries, and in the long term, there will be double insurance such as the Quyuan plow and the field policy. It can be said that Zhao Kuo has already defeated him. All the black technologies from later generations that can be thought of are used.
In the past twenty or even thirty years, the Zhao State under the leadership of Zhao Kuo will maintain an absolute technological lead over other countries in the Warring States Period. If this cannot turn the Warring States Period upside down, Zhao Kuo said, then the only way is to turn Watt over. It's gone!
Steam Warring States, let me ask you if you are afraid?
