Outside the east gate of Jinxia City, next to the salt fields.
A huge brick oven suddenly appeared on the beach.
It is almost nine feet high, with an inner diameter of more than fifteen feet. The outer ring is made of bricks for three layers. The cracks in each layer of bricks are filled with fine sand to prevent heat from leaking and also strengthen the resistance of the furnace wall. pressure ability.
Beside the stove, the soldiers were going back and forth to add raw materials, and the person in charge of them was Mo Yun, the head of the Mechanical Engineering Bureau.
"Attention, the iron ingots must be placed in the correct order, and remember to read the numbers on them when picking up the raw materials!"
"One bar is up, two bars are down, the iron ingots are staggered two by two, leaving a gap!"
"If you find a problem, you can't force it. You must report it to me. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Is this the new experimental subject you are talking about?" As a familiar voice sounded, Ning Wanjun shook off the escort and walked quickly to Xia Fan, "Did you hear the incredible whisper again?"
"I have met Your Highness!" When the busy people saw the princess appearing, they all bowed their hands and bowed their heads.
"You continue to be busy with your work, and don't make any mistakes for me!" the princess waved her hand.
"Here!"
Xia Fan sighed helplessly. Ever since she pointed out that Luo Qingqing was a listener, he now legitimately regarded himself as one of the listeners. Although he had never heard any whispers, when the other party met, He would always ask "considerately" if he had lost his mind first, which made him dumbfounded.
"It is indeed a new experimental project, but it has nothing to do with Whispering." Xia Fan curled his lips, "Speaking of which, why didn't you ask Miss Luo if she is still rational?"
"She is more serious than you at first glance. Do you still need to ask?" Ning Wanjun said without thinking, "I have never worried that anything will happen to her."
"Thank you for your trust." Luo nodded gently.
Okay, we got along with each other. Xia Fan rolled his eyes silently, "In fact, I only started this project, and the real person who prepared and implemented it was Miss Mo Yun."
"Oh? Tell me about it?"
"This has to start with Miss Luo's ability..."
Xia Fan's thoughts that day were by no means just stuck in his mind, but he ran into trouble when he tried to come up with a production flow chart at night - he neither knew what the level of smelting technology in this era was, nor did he have any special knowledge of it. Modern steelmaking technology is just like theory, but it is very difficult to transfer it to actual operation.
So he approached Mo Yun with the idea of trying it out.
And the latter actually has a lot of experience in this area.
Speaking of it, the Ministry of Construction manages the entire production and construction of Qi State, and the smelting of iron and steel is naturally included. For one of the supervisors of the Machinery Manufacturing Bureau, even if he has never operated it himself, the technology and craftsmanship in this area are by no means unfamiliar. .
After a night of intense exchanges between him and the other party, a test plan that was in line with the times but also transcended the times was born.
Xia Fan learned from Mo Yun's dictation that the smelting technology of Qi State was not backward. In other words, during the Yong State period, some people had already realized that steel was between pig iron and wrought iron and was an excellent sword-making material. However, iron is more difficult to melt than copper, so large metal utensils are still mainly made of bronze.
After a hundred years of research, the popularity of tower kilns and human-powered blowers has led to a steady increase in iron production, and the Ministry of Industry has naturally shifted its attention to steel with higher strength. The method they advocate today is to burn pig iron into molten iron and then pour it onto wrought iron sheets. The two are mixed to form steel. In layman's terms, iron with a high carbon content is fused with iron with a low carbon content to obtain iron with a moderate carbon content, which is the so-called steel.
Although the Ministry of Industry does not know that the element that determines the performance of steel is carbon, it still produces qualified smelted products based on experience, which is quite amazing. However, this method is limited by the temperature of the molten iron, and only a few steel ingots are mixed in each batch. They are usually used by the Ministry of Industry to build the most elite weapons, or to make core components of machine tools. Even if it is used sparingly, steel is still in short supply.
It can be said that as long as the furnace temperature cannot be raised, large-scale smelting scenarios will ultimately be difficult to realize.
Xia Fan's plan was to directly surround a furnace, place pig iron and wrought iron in layers, and start melting them from the upper layer. As the molten iron flows downward, it will increase the chance of contact with the air, further reducing the carbon content. This is also considering that the wrought iron smelting process at this time is mainly based on stirring, and the carbon content may be overall high, so it is Make this arrangement.
Once the constraints of the heat source are eliminated, the entire process becomes simple and easy to implement.
Ning Wanjun's eyes had lost focus when she heard the following, and she was obviously confused by a lot of nouns. "Uh... I roughly understand the principle. According to you, once this method is successful, I will have no shortage of soldiers." Steel sword and armor?"
"You can think so," Xia Fan smiled, "but its ultimate goal is to make soldiers no longer need steel knives and armor."
Improving weapon performance is only an incidental use of materials technology after breakthroughs are made. Its greatest significance is to go back and improve the quality of original components, thereby further expanding production capacity.
There is only one Luo Qingqing, and trying to rely on her ability to get it right in one step is tantamount to forcing others to do it, but there are more ways to heat than dragon scales. With a high-quality steel furnace, the arc produced by the shock streamer can also have the same effect. Compared to the indescribable listener spell, the magic weapon engraved with the amplification circuit talisman at least has the hope of being copied in batches.
The key is where this initial melting pot came from.
The answer is now at hand.
"Sir, all the ingredients are in place." the soldier reported.
Mo Yun ordered in a deep voice, "Check the ignition mechanism."
"Alarm - the ignition is normal!"
"Close the bottom oven door."
"Report-the furnace door is closed!"
"Everyone evacuate."
"Yes, everyone evacuates the smelting furnace area!"
After all preparations were completed, she walked up to the three of them, nodded lightly to Luo and said, "The rest is up to you."
Luo gently stretched out one palm and pointed it at the brick stove, "I'll do my best."
Under everyone's eager gaze, a sword blade with a faint golden light quietly appeared above the stove top.
Then, it slowly descended and entered the furnace through the hole at the top.
Blocked by the wall, her vision failed here. All Luo Qingqing could rely on was the experience and feeling she had accumulated from previous simulation exercises - she flattened the blade and tried to retract it in her direction.
It was at this moment that the "ignition device" was triggered.
It was essentially a falling platform, with an iron ingot pulled by a rope. When the thin dragon scales cut the hemp rope, the iron ingot hit the sword blade.
Luo lightly felt this change.
The outer layer of the dragon scale temporarily disappeared, and the power flowing in the blade suddenly surged towards the iron ingot. This heat spread quickly and quickly ignited the entire upper level of the furnace.
"boom-"
Everyone saw that a stream of flames several feet high erupted from the top of the brick furnace!