Su He talked to Su's mother that he was going to get married.
Su's mother was very happy and immediately arranged for a matchmaker to propose marriage.
She was more anxious than anyone else. Her son was so old and he didn't even have a child.
The family was poor and had no choice before, but then there was trouble and many people got married, but my son still didn't get married.
I tried many times but didn't listen, but now I finally got the idea.
There is no need for Su He to worry about marriage.
He came to the industrial zone that had been built outside the south city of Hanzhong Fu and beside the Han River.
There are many factories in the industrial zone.
As soon as you get off the bus in Suhe, you can see a four-meter-high smokestack.
This is the blast furnace where iron is made.
Among the gentry's domestic slaves were masters of building brick kilns.
Su He drew a simple design diagram of the blast furnace and explained to them the ironmaking process in the blast furnace.
These craftsmen studied together with Wei Shiming, and after many experiments, they finally came up with a blast furnace capable of producing pig iron.
Wei Shiming, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, is in charge of the steel factory and the machinery factory.
He came to greet Su He and took Su He to visit the steel plant.
In addition to many tests, the steel plant found various problems and rebuilt the iron-making blast furnace.
In the steel factory, there are many earthen kilns for making iron.
Wei Shiming pointed to the blast furnace and said, "Commander Su, the iron produced from the blast furnace is directly liquid iron.
It contains very few impurities and can be directly used to make guns without the need for a second forging.
Its hardness and toughness are very strong, so cannons and muskets don't need to shoot very thickly.
For a cannon of the same level, the cannon we made is lighter."
Of course Su He knew that blast furnaces are much better at making iron. The temperature of the blast furnace can directly melt the molten iron, and most of the impurities are separated from the molten iron and become slag.
He watched workers operating the iron-making blast furnace, the first industrially produced iron-making blast furnace.
Workers put iron ore, coke, quicklime and other materials into the blast furnace from above the blast furnace roof.
Add quicklime and other auxiliary materials to remove sulfur and other impurities in the iron ore.
A mule nearby pulled a blower and continuously blew air into the blast furnace.
Wei Shiming proudly introduced: "Commander Su, we have been able to manufacture crucible steel in small batches.
Now it is finally possible to produce pig iron in large quantities.
Your design is so exquisite.
Designed iron-making blast furnace and crucible for steel-making.
Fortunately, our craftsmen are capable and can produce your design.
Although they have some flaws, we will definitely try our best to improve them in the future.”
When Su He saw Wei Shiming flattering him, he interrupted him directly and asked: "How is the output of the blast furnace now? The steel plant has the manpower to add a few more blast furnaces."
Wei Shiming pointed to the blast furnace and said: "This iron-making blast furnace can produce 60,000 kilograms of iron a year.
Now the steel plant has the manpower and raw material supply to maintain the operation of ten blast furnaces at most."
Su He was very satisfied with the output of the iron-making blast furnace.
An iron-making blast furnace produces 60,000 jins of iron a year, but now Hanzhong Prefecture only produces 50,000 jins of iron a year.
This yield is not high at all.
Shaanxi's iron production was last among the entire Ming Dynasty.
Large provinces such as Huguang and Guangdong produce millions of kilograms of iron every year.
This is also the reason why most villagers in Shaanxi villages do not have access to iron farm tools.
"You have done a very good job. The Ministry of Industry will provide rewards to the meritorious craftsmen.
You can report the specific rewards and I will approve them when the time comes.
You want to build ten blast furnaces to maximize the productivity of the steel plant and increase the amount of pig iron.
Sum up experience in production, train new workers, and make better iron."
Su He praised them and asked the steel factory to increase production scale.
Steel is combat power. With this iron-making blast furnace, enough iron can be produced to produce cannons and muskets.
No more risking economic collapse with expensive bronze cannons.
An old craftsman with a broken finger warned loudly: "The iron is about to be tapped, so be careful to avoid it."
Wei Shiming took Su He and left the blast furnace.
Prevent molten iron from splashing out and injuring people when the blast furnace taps iron.
Wei Shiming introduced Su He: "This is Master Zhang Dahai. He has rich experience in ironmaking and was rated as an eighth-level worker.
Relying only on experience, he can accurately judge when the molten iron will come out of the furnace and the best quality of the iron will be produced."
Su He looked at the blast furnace from a distance, and the craftsmen opened the tap hole of the blast furnace.
The molten iron trickles out of the blast furnace like spring water, with sparkling iron flowers and billowing heat waves.
Workers guide the molten iron into different molds for cooling.
Some turned into iron ingots, some turned into thick iron bars, and most turned into thin iron bars.
From now on, a steady stream of molten iron will flow from this blast furnace.
They become muskets, cannons, and swords.
In the troubled times of the late Ming Dynasty, steel and food represented strength.
After Su He watched the blast furnace making iron, he walked to another workshop of the steel plant.
There are three very large open graphite crucibles in the workshop, which are heated on the stove.
Graphite crucible is a crucible made of clay and graphite in a certain proportion.
Graphite crucible can withstand high temperatures of more than 1,600 degrees.
This temperature is enough to melt liquid steel.
Su He looked at the first graphite crucible.
Workers put small pieces of pig iron into the graphite crucible.
Increasing the air blast causes the coking coal to burn rapidly, producing extremely high temperatures.
The iron in the graphite stick melts gradually, and the molten iron absorbs the carbon in the graphite to form high-carbon molten steel.
A layer of impurities appears on the melted liquid steel.
These impurities are the impurities in iron.
Workers use tools to remove impurities from the molten steel.
The molten steel in the graphite crucible is flowing.
Su He waited slowly aside, while he and Wei Shiming chatted about the factory's planning.
"It's ready to be baked."
A middle-aged man ordered loudly.
Wei Shiming introduced in a low voice: "This is Lu Jin, a ninth-level worker in our factory.
Nowadays, crucibles are used to make steel, and the quality is unstable.
This is all based on experience, and only the steel produced by Lu Jin has the best quality."
The workers heard Lu Jin's instructions and wore thick cotton gloves.
They picked up the third graphite crucible on the far right. This furnace of molten steel had just been prepared.
Workers pour molten steel into the mold.
After the molten steel cooled slightly, Lu Jin picked up a thin stick of steel, placed it on the forging table, and kept hammering it with a hammer.
Lu Jin is checking the quality of this piece of steel to see if there are any cracks or pores.
After passing the test, Lu Jin put the steel rod aside to cool.
Workers will place the cooled steel rods in wooden boxes.
There are already many steel rods inside the wooden box, shining with silver-white metallic luster.
Wei Shiming said: "The output of steel is very rare. We mainly manufacture tool steel for processing various tools.
Steel tempered in graphite crucibles has very good ductility and toughness.
He is stronger than the hundred-refined steel that craftsmen worked so hard to create in the past."
Su He had an impression of Lu Jin.
He pardoned more than thirty people in total, including more than a dozen craftsmen, including Lu Jin.
Su He remembered that Lu Jin was good at iron smelting and quenching.
After Wei Shiming finished speaking, he asked the craftsman to bring two Bing knives.
He handed the two knives to Su Que next to Su He and asked him to use the two knives to chop each other.
After Su Que asked Su He for instructions, he followed Wei Shiming's request and let the two knives in his hands cut each other.
"Commander Su, the sword on Su Que's left hand is Lu Jin's previous work. It took a hundred days to forge through ancient methods and forge a hundred-refined steel sword.
The knife in Su Que's right hand is just the molten steel from the graphite crucible, which was simply forged and quenched."
Su Que struck hard, and a gap appeared in the steel knife in his left hand, but the steel knife in his right hand was intact.
Su He looked very satisfied. This is not the era of cold weapons, but the status of steel is very important.
With these steel materials, he can let craftsmen create the machine tools in his memory.
"Let's go to the machine shop to take a look at the machine tools."
