Guo An didn't know that Zhu Laosi's title of merchant prince directly exposed him naked in front of Lao Zhu, showing off a wave.
Moreover, it was the Jin Yiwei who he was most on guard against, allowing him to avoid the wrath of the tyrannical Lao Zhu.
At this time, he was still focused on leading ten old craftsmen, running frequently between Shangzhuang Village Iron Smelting Works and Wanping County Government Office.
A man’s biggest hobby is interest, that is, studying various things, such as money, food, machinery, women...
And once you start studying, you can't stop at all.
Now, Zhu Di assigned him ten old craftsmen and one to guard hundreds of households. He was at his disposal. Whatever kind of stove he wanted and as much iron ore as he wanted, he could be satisfied immediately.
Guo An only needs to brainstorm. For Guo An, who has always lacked hands-on skills, this is nothing more than heaven.
Most importantly, Guo An was also surprised to find that even though it was only the early Ming Dynasty, the ironmaking efficiency of the blacksmiths at Zhu Laosi Iron Smelting Institute was also very high.
However, the only pity is that these blacksmiths still have some inertia in their work and like to use open iron-making furnaces. With such a big hole, although it is easy to blow air into the iron-making furnace, the heat in the furnace will definitely not be built up.
So, Guo An asked a group of old craftsmen to seal up the big hole of an iron-making furnace.
Later, Guo An discovered that these blacksmiths actually used coal to make iron directly. The quality of the iron produced in this way would also deteriorate due to the presence of tar.
So, Guo An asked a group of craftsmen to start building a large coke oven to bake the coal. When the temperature is high, soft dehydrated and degassed coking coal is generated, and then sprinkled with water, it will be good. of coking coal.
However, Guo An then discovered that although the amount of iron produced was larger and the quality was somewhat better, it seemed not enough for the steel he had in mind.
Continue to transform the iron-making furnace!
Add a hole into which the wicker can be inserted, and use the wicker to hit the molten iron to make steel?
Add two, three...
Or, insert a pig iron plate directly from the furnace mouth, clamp it with tongs, and then melt it, then slowly flow it into the wrought iron of the furnace and keep turning it, it seems that you can get uniform steel.
Or, use a stove to melt the pig iron, then pour the molten iron into the wrought iron to make them compatible, and then beat them repeatedly with a sledgehammer to make them merge into one...
Anyway, Guo An seemed to have encountered a fun toy and was immersed in it all day long.
At first, Zhong Huo, the manager of the iron smelting institute, and the ten old craftsmen thought that Guo An, a noble young man, had nothing to do in his spare time and was messing around in the iron smelting institute.
Just play around with me.
Even Zhu Di slowly shook his head after hearing what Guo An did at the iron smelting institute all day long, and then didn't pay much attention.
However, as the iron-making furnaces gradually improved, Zhong Huo and the old craftsmen were shocked to find that the iron-making speed was getting faster and faster under Guo An's whimsical modifications.
Moreover, the most incredible thing is that sometimes what is smelted is not pig iron, but hard steel, which is even as strong as hundred-refined refined iron, and sometimes even exceeds hundred-refined refined steel.
Therefore, Guo An was surprised to find that these old craftsmen, as if they had taken some rejuvenation pills, were full of motivation and energy all day long, and were more active in research than him.
At the same time, under Zhong Huo's arrangement, all the craftsmen in the Shangzhuang Village Iron Mine began to subconsciously learn some of Guo An's operations.
Guo An didn't mind Zhong Huo's secret learning.
Anyway, sooner or later, these will be handed over to Shangzhuang Village Iron Smelting Institute.
…
And while Guo An had been traveling back and forth to the Shangzhuang Village Iron Smelting Works.
Several memorials were sent to Yingtian Mansion.
In Fengtian Hall, Zhu Yuanzhang handed several memorials in his hand to Zhu Biao with a gloomy look.
"Biao'er, look at it, the censor of Beiping Prefecture has started to impeach this piece of shit Guo An again. He doesn't properly serve as his magistrate. Instead, he follows the hundreds of households around Lao Si and digs into the iron mines every day.
Moreover, the bastard Lao Si assigned ten old craftsmen to the thief Guo An. What are they going to do? "
"Now, in the court, officials have begun to report. Although it is not an impeachment, the purpose is to feel that Guo An is often out of office and has neglected his duties.
He colluded with the fourth child to open a barbecue shop and a farm, and now he has started to get involved in iron ore and compete with the people for profits..."
Hearing this, Zhu Biao's expression moved slightly, and he looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and said, "Dad, Beiping Mansion is a feudal state of the Fourth. What does the Fourth want a small magistrate to do? How can a small magistrate resist?
Has Guo An offended someone? Or did the fourth child offend someone? "
Zhu Yuanzhang looked impatient, "Huh, how do we know? I asked Jiang Yu to investigate, but after so long, I still haven't found a clue!"
"What does it mean according to dad's wishes?"
Zhu Biao asked tentatively.
"We are planning to have Feng Sheng, Fu Youde, Lan Yu and other generals lead the Beijing Guard soldiers to Peiping in a few days to meet with the Taoist soldiers to practice by the ditch."
Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Since Lao Si, the King of Yan, and Guo An, the magistrate, like iron-making so much and have been sued, we will ask them to prepare iron tools for our army of 10,000.
In this way, the mouths of officials in the DPRK can also be silenced. "
"hiss……"
Zhu Biao couldn't help but take a cold breath, "Dad, the fourth child has only been in Beiping Mansion for five years. During this period, there are still three Yanshan guards to support. Can the fourth child spend so much money?"
"Hmph, we don't care!"
Zhu Yuanzhang said coldly: "The fourth child doesn't have that much wealth to buy. We have heard that he only ransacked the homes of a few corrupt officials in the palace a few days ago, and found out more than 100,000 taels of silver."
Now, we heard that Laosi's barbecue restaurant can still earn more than ten thousand taels of silver every month.
Damn it, this little bastard Fourth is starting to get rich now! "
"In that case, then listen to dad. But is dad planning to conquer Beiyuan?"
…
Wanping County.
The county magistrate Guo An, together with the official Wang Zhen and a group of scribes, stood at the gate of the county government office.
"Wanping County Government welcomes Zong's experience with great respect!"
"Guo County is respectful!"
The chief envoy of Peking, Xing Zongzhi, quickly returned the greeting to Guo An. He did not dare to show off to the county magistrate, who was the confidant of King Yan.
"The sect invites you!"
"Guo Zhixian please!"
Although he was surprised by the politeness of the Chief Envoy, Guo An didn't think much about it. Instead, he politely welcomed Zong Zhi and the two officials behind him.
As for the scribes in Wanping County, they looked curiously at the two middle-aged men behind Zong Zhi from time to time.
They had long heard the news that those two would be the new assistant officials, county magistrate and principal Bo of their Wanping County government office.
It seems that His Highness King Yan personally went to the Chief Envoy to ask for it!
…
