On a cloudless evening, the first iron-smelting shaft furnace on the North American continent burst into flames. The pungent volcanic smell, accompanied by the oxidation of pyrite, billowed from the furnace mouth. And from
The first thick smoke of the Iron Age officially began to pollute the sea and sky that have been pure since ancient times until today!
"This is the flame of smelting iron, and it is also the guidance of the Lord God, entering a new era...May the Lord God bless us!"
Mickey, the knowledgeable man, murmured a prayer and waited patiently. Heating the furnace and pouring in the iron ore was just the beginning of iron smelting. Iron smelting in this era, even if it was just a few hundred kilograms of ore, was not a single step.
It can be completed in two days.
Blacksmith Otani Kengo followed the ancestral experience and instructions while observing the color of the fire head and controlling the progress of ironmaking. According to his instructions, the men continued to add ground charcoal powder at the top entrance of the shaft furnace.
Make the flame brighter, even slightly bluish.
And every once in a while, Ogu would ask his men to hold long sticks wrapped in soil and carefully stir the molten iron inside while avoiding the fire. From time to time, he would even take it with his own hands and scoop it out from under the furnace.
Some precipitated slag.
"Well...these slags affect the quality of the iron the most. They are all bad slags..."
While Otani was reciting ancestral formulas, he was supervising the sweat-soaked work of the young men. From time to time, he would complain worriedly in an incomprehensible language.
"God of Fire! There isn't even a fire-resistant iron rod for stirring molten iron... How can this molten iron be burned evenly and thoroughly?... Keep going! Keep grinding charcoal, keep adding charcoal powder! Don't stop!..."
This furnace of iron ore in Huwan Port was smelted for five full days, almost using up all the charcoal in the camp. When the furnace gradually cooled down and finally went out completely, hundreds of kilograms of molten iron flowed out and condensed into a continuous
The one-piece iron block flashes with a dark black metallic luster, making people unable to take their eyes away with joy.
"Dang Dang Dang..."
Blacksmith Otani knocked off a piece of smelted iron and pounded it with a stone hammer for a while to test the hardness of the iron piece. Then he carefully looked at the rough texture and lines exposed during the beating of the iron piece, and his eyebrows couldn't help but wrinkle.
Got up.
"God of Fire! This kind of yellow iron is indeed difficult to burn... It is obviously brittle than the iron that my father burned in Ezo Land. Is it because I forgot the key points or the tools are not good enough?..."
"Otani, how's the iron smelting going?"
Upon hearing the news of the iron smelting, Mickey the Knowledgeable hurriedly walked from the camp. The fleet had been parked in Huwan Port for seven or eight days, just waiting for the results of the iron smelting. And when he saw
There were hundreds of kilograms of iron, and the expression on his face was dull for a moment, and then it bloomed like a flower.
"God bless you! Is this... done?!"
"Ah! Lord Mi Priest...the iron from this furnace has been produced! Without a mold, the molten iron can only be agglomerated like this...that, uh...this pyrite produces a lot of iron, and it is a rich ore containing a lot of iron! That's it!
...The cast iron coming out of this shaft furnace is a little brittle, which is really strange..."
"Witness the Lord God! Next, in order to make these cast irons into tough weapons... you have to break them into thin slices, put them in the charcoal fire to slowly simmer, then forge them, and finally quench them... That's it, oh, let the charcoal fire seep through
Go in! Penetrate in and then stab it hard!…”
"Ah? How hard is it, you ask? After the charcoal fire is carefully infiltrated, it is estimated to be like a hundred iron smelting... Ah? Further back? Further back, it is the fried steel of Tang Dynasty, or the jade steel inherited by various schools... But
, I really don’t know this kind of craftsmanship... I can only make iron a hundred times..."
"What? You ask about the iron that comes directly from the furnace...oh!...They can be made into farm tools for farming and iron axes for cutting trees. It's pretty good!..."
"O God! The molten iron can be made into farm tools and axes directly from the furnace?!"
Hearing this, the knowledgeable Mickey was simply stunned. He pulled out the copper ax from his waist and tested the hardness of the iron block. Sure enough, it could meet the requirements of farm tools! These iron blocks that were directly solidified by molten iron were the same as Wang Guoye's.
Compared with those large and small sponge irons, the iron produced is obviously much better!…
"It's just as your Majesty said! The iron-smelting skills of these Xihai tribes are far superior to those of the Kingdom!..."
In fact, this kind of mature shaft furnace liquid smelting can directly produce cast iron that can be used as agricultural tools, but it is an iron smelting process invented as early as the Han Dynasty! And after thousands of years of inheritance, this kind of shaft furnace that produces molten iron is used for iron smelting.
The technology has long been fully developed and has spread throughout East Asian countries!
As for the kingdom’s iron smelting plant, it was only established a few years ago. Even with Shulot’s vague divine inspiration, how can it compare with this technological accumulation that has been passed down for thousands of years?…
"Praise the Lord God! Dagu, you really know how to make iron! Good, very good, really good!"
Seeing the flashing black iron light, Mickey the Knowledgeable was shocked at first, and then extremely happy. After groping in his arms for a while, he generously took out a gold amulet and hung it heavily on the neck of blacksmith Otani.
.
"Okay, well done! There will be a reward! This is a reward from the kingdom!..."
"Ah! This is a golden talisman?!...Ah! Thank you for your reward, sir! Thank you for your reward! I kowtow to you!..."
"Haha! This is all a gift from the Lord God!... Dagu, can this iron-smelting furnace you built still be used again?"
"Yes, yes! Lord Priest, once the shaft furnace is rammed and built, it can be used forever... But this is an earth furnace. If it is really going to be useful, you still have to burn bricks to build a brick furnace..."
"The Lord God bless the kingdom! He gave us iron ore and brought the divine method of iron smelting from the Western Sea!..."
Hearing this, Mickey the Knowledgeable prayed a few words devoutly, but did not pay attention to Otani's nagging behind him. When the prayer was completed, he turned to look at Otani who was holding the golden charm and grinning, and his expression suddenly became serious.
He ordered in a deep voice.
"Otani! You make engravings of how to build a furnace and smelt iron, and teach it in detail to the Xibei priest at the port, and bring a few apprentices with you! ... In addition, what about the method of infiltrating charcoal fire and smelting iron?
You must also demonstrate to the believers that there must be no hiding anything!…The Lord God witnesses! If you teach well, there will be a lot of gold in the kingdom, and there will be other rewards!…”
"That's right! Tonight, you go to the West Bee Priest and choose two wives from the local tribe! They will follow you all the time and help you cook and cook. You just need to concentrate on teaching your apprentices to make iron!..."
"Ah! What's this? In addition to the reward of gold, there are also two wives?... Lord God! Master Priest... the younger one... the younger one kowtows to you!..."
Otani Kengang knelt on the ground again, kowtowing to the generous priest. Several Japanese prisoners next to him had red eyes. They looked at the golden charm around his neck with envy while muttering something in their mouths: "There are no samurai."
"the backbone of my body", "kneel down at every turn", "why not me"...
"Well! Otani, you must teach this iron-smelting skill carefully, at least let the Xibei priests and apprentices... have the ability to follow the instructions on the drawing board and use this built shaft furnace to smelt iron alone..."
"Witness the Lord! We will stay at this port for a while longer...until you teach the iron-smelting skills in a solid manner!..."
Mickey the Knowledgeable reached out his hand and shook the short hair on Otani's head. The Tsukiyo hair of the Japanese warrior had long since disappeared. The emerging hair looked like a Mexica craftsman.
When we were working, we deliberately cut our hair short...
"Shi Jian!"
"Chief Priest?"
"God bless you! This furnace of ore really produced good iron!... In the mountains east of Huwan Port, there is probably a large iron mine of astonishing scale... This is the first iron ore discovered on the northern continent, and
It’s probably much bigger and better than the Kingdom’s Black Rock Mountain Iron Mine!…”
Mickey the Knowledgeable's eyes flashed, and thousands of thoughts flashed through his mind. On the northern continent, the weakest link in this series of port openings was not the lack of food, but the lack of production of metal tools... After a while, he
Then he looked at the warrior captain Shi Jian and said solemnly.
"The matter of Datie Mountain is of great importance... I need to personally take the priest Xifen and take people to the mountains to the east to make sure... This trip will take about half a month, or a month..."
"Ah? Chief Priest Mickey, do you want to stay in Huwan Port for a month? Didn't you say before that you wanted to return to the kingdom as soon as possible..."
"Well... there won't be any delay! I left the blacksmith Ogu here and asked him to teach me the skills of iron smelting. Shi Jian, you take the ocean-going ship and go to the next port in the south, Xishan, eight hundred miles away.
Port... This road has been through storms, navigation is difficult, and many sea-going ships have been damaged... The gold shipwright has mentioned to me several times that it is time to repair the sea-going ships in the small shipyard in Xishan Port!
…”
"Chief Priest, you want me to take the ship to Xishan Port for repairs first?...Then when will you..."
"Witness the Lord God! When I see the Big Iron Mountain in the east with my own eyes and confirm that the iron mine really exists... I will return to Huwan Port, and then take the blacksmith Ogu and go south on the long boat of Huwan Port!..."
Mickey the Knowledgeable paused, spoke in a deep voice, and made the final decision.
"If everything goes well, I will arrive at Xishan Port by early October at the latest. By that time, the ship will have been repaired and it will be time to head south again! ... And if it is after November and I am delayed and haven't come, then
You take the ocean-covering ship, the gold shipwright, and the sailmaker, and go directly south to the kingdom!... The divine priests of the kingdom's southern shipbuilding department will lead you to see Talea, the director of divine enlightenment... By then
, you should dedicate all the captured craftsmen and ships to the director, and especially ask the director to build a new Fengshen schooner!…”
"Witness the Lord God! If this big iron mountain on the northern continent, close to the port, really exists... it will be a great opportunity that can change the kingdom, and even the future of the North!... This is a real turning point blessed by fate...
"
"With the large iron mines that are tangible and can produce iron...how can the unknown development in the south compare with our promising north? May the Lord God bless us!"
This chapter has been completed!