Just when Zhang Mingyu turned around, Hong Liang accidentally turned his head and saw the big knife behind Zhang Mingyu. It was shiny and reflective!

"Ah..." Zhang Mingyu suddenly didn't want to respect this second-grade official. He braked so hard that Zhang Mingyu almost became incontinent!

"Your sword..." Before Hong Liang could finish his words, Zhang Mingyu took off his strap and presented the two swords: "My lord, please look at it first, I am anxious... I can't hold it in anymore!" He didn't wait for Hong Liang to finish.

If allowed, turn around and run away.

When Zhang Mingyu came back, he saw Hong Liang in the yard in front of the hall, holding two ghost-headed knives and dancing like a tiger. Chu Qing and Mrs. Hong stood on the corridor and watched with smiles.

Zhang Mingyu felt a little regretful. He shouldn't have given the knife to Hong Liang. He was playing with the knife to no end. What if he didn't give it back to him?

"Boy! Your knife is pretty good! Where did you get it?" Hong Liang withdrew and asked Zhang Mingyu.

"Ms. Chu gave it to me." Zhang Mingyu answered honestly, feeling uneasy: Don't ask for it!

"Oh?" Hong Liang turned to Mrs. Chu again.

If this person has a higher official rank, he will save his words. The full text of "Oh?" should be like this: "Mrs. Chu, where did you get this knife?" Now look, save your vocal cords!

"Master Hong, this is the blast furnace built by our Baolu Group. It was made by smelting some scrap hoes." Chu Qing replied.

"Oh?" Hong Liang said again.

This "Oh" probably means to ask - can you still make iron?

"Haha, I have nothing to do." Chu Qing answered casually. In fact, she also wanted to save her vocal cords and answer "Yeah!"

But no, we came here with Zhang Mingyu to make a confession, just because we wanted this high-ranking official to get some iron ore for us. Otherwise, why would we be so anxious if we could just give him a banknote?

"If Madam Chu has time, would you like me to get a pair for me? If you don't have time, then..." Hongliang's eyes turned to Zhang Mingyu. Zhang Mingyu suddenly broke down in sweat, and looked at Chu Qing for help.

"Master Hong, this is our test product." Chu Qing received Zhang Mingyu's signal and explained: "We don't have the materials to refine it. These are scrap copper and iron scraped together here and there, so the quality of the iron produced is also poor.

Not very good."

"Well, it's very good. I just tried it on a tree and the blade was not damaged." Hong Liang said, looking to the side, where a plum tree as thick as an adult's arm was cut in half. Zhang Mingyu stared at Hong Liang with a distressed face.

His own sword in his hand.

"It would be great if there were pig iron or iron ore. We use scrap hoes and iron pots to smelt it, so I'm afraid the impurities in it cannot be removed." Chu Qing explained again. It doesn't matter whether it has been removed, but it can't be removed anyway.

Clean it, otherwise Zhang Mingyu will cry.

"That's it..." Hong Liang reluctantly returned the two swords to Zhang Mingyu. Zhang Mingyu took them and held them in his arms, then ran to stand next to Chu Qing. He didn't even bother to put the straps on his back.

No matter how old a man is, he is still naive when faced with a weapon that he can take advantage of.

"Iron ore is easy to get!" Hong Liang said, "I'll get some for you, just because I want to improve weapons and get some iron ore for experiments."

Sometimes things that you think are difficult are actually just a matter of words in the eyes of powerful people. Chu Qing felt that today's offering was not in vain, and there would be a place to get ore in the future.

The ore was quickly delivered to the Baolu Group. It was not much, but there were twenty carts. It was enough for Chu Qing to study. Chu Qing did not start construction easily. She ordered to continue washing coal and making coke while starting to design the drawings.

Chu Qing had a preliminary idea about the time-consuming process of forging iron. The purpose of forging iron is to adjust the carbon content to the appropriate level, so isn’t that the purpose of modern steelmaking?

Modern steelmaking technology is mature, and steel products can be mass-produced with molds. The industrial level of this era has not yet reached the level. But Chu Qing remembers a European named Bessemer who invented the converter technology, making molten iron

The carbon can be removed more easily.

It is said that this invention was invented when Bessemer accidentally discovered a piece of iron stuck to the edge of the crucible when he was making iron in the crucible.

He observed carefully and found that it was a piece of tempered steel. How did it become a steel piece? After a long period of meditation and experiments, he finally figured out the reason: due to the oxygen blown in, the carbon in the pig iron

Oxidized and turned into steel.

There is no oxygen, but we can blow air. After drawing the drawing, we start construction. Because Master Lu cannot understand the design on the drawing, he cannot give reference opinions.

Chu Qing used the materials used to make refractory bricks to bake a converter that looked like a pickle jar and a batch of refractory brick boxes without lids. He also opened six air vents at the bottom of the converter.

A trench was dug on the ground below the blast furnace taphole, and the inner wall was smoothed and sealed with refractory bricks and kaolin mud to introduce the smelted molten iron into the converter. In this way, the blast furnace and converter formed a complete set.

Continuously operating system.

After half a month of design and production, today it is finally time to test the results. When the finely crushed iron ore turns into molten iron and enters the converter through the pipes, the bellows responsible for heating the air also begins to work "whirring".

With the experience of ironmaking last time, everyone was responsible for a series of operations such as feeding materials, filling materials, digging out slag, pulling bellows, etc. Everyone cooperated in an orderly manner.

This time, the work of the converter was added. When all the molten iron is injected into the converter, the six tuyeres blow air into it at the same time. In an instant, the impurities in the molten iron are oxidized and ejected, and the molten iron heats up. The scene is like a volcanic eruption!

The workers were so frightened that they ran away, shouting "It's going to explode! It's going to explode." However, their servants and long-term workers were still standing there.

When the "volcano" gradually extinguished, Chu Qing shouted: "Down!" The servants pulled up the chain on the mouth of the converter and tilted the furnace body. The molten iron inside, now molten steel, poured out.

Below is a refractory brick box. When a box is full, someone will use a hoe to remove it. The rolling row made of kaolin mud under the box makes it easier to transport the box.

When the molten steel cooled down, Master Lu came over to check. He tried to forge the newly obtained iron block, and then discovered that this was steel! It was real steel! This was steel that could be used for direct shaping!

There wasn't much steel in this furnace, because it was a test, so Chu Qing didn't dare to use more iron ore. But with just this steel, Chu Qing gave Hong Liang a sword.

This horse-cutting sword was designed by Chu Qing. I don’t know if it’s reasonable or not. Anyway, I think it would look good if the tall guy Hong Liang used it.

The blade of this knife is about seventy centimeters long, and the handle is about forty centimeters long. The curved blade is long, narrow and thick, and the blade is extremely sharp. The handle of the knife is wrapped with a leather rope, and Master Lu specially wrapped a layer of red copper for decoration on the blade part.

.

Oh, it’s so beautiful! Chu Qing couldn’t bear to give it away! Master Lu’s craftsmanship is so good! The spirit of excellence of ancient craftsmen is really worth learning from.

Anyway, the steel was still enough, so Chu Qing asked Master Lu to make a combined eight-sided spear. This was completely the design that Chu Qing took for granted. Because she was not sure whether the combined interface could meet her imagination.

But who is Master Lu? He is a great craftsman who has spent half his life in the Ministry of Industry! Master Lu has been researching Chu Qing’s request day and night and must get it done!

For Master Lu, he is also working for others. In the Ministry of Works, Master Lu is used as a machine. He can only do things according to requirements and cannot have his own creativity. But here in Chuqing, the wages are slightly higher than those in the Ministry of Works.

He was respected, and Chu Qing asked him for advice, not orders.

Chu Qing's designs will also give him inspiration, and he can add his own innovation while meeting the requirements. The cooperation between the old and the young is really tacit.

The most important thing is that this steel is good! It has good materials, and for Master Lu, it is the feel! Good feel means confidence.

By the time the combined eight-sided spear was ready, another half month had passed. Chu Yuanlai reported that there were three informants at the mine, two inside the mine, and one responsible for supervising the construction of the mountain road.

.Nothing wrong has been found so far.

After explaining the serious business, Chu Qing took Chu Yuan to the courtyard and showed him the spear. Chu Yuan had not been to the courtyard of the reception hall for a while, busy running errands outside, and suddenly saw the spear.

, I thought someone had forgotten their weapon here.

"It's for you, try it." Chu Qing said.
Chapter completed!