The clouds dispersed and the rain subsided, and a scorching sun once again hung in the blue sky, scorching the earth like a fireball.
This kind of heavy rain comes and goes quickly.
But after the heavy rain, there was intense sunshine, and the hot and humid air evaporated from the moist ground made the entire valley look like a big steamer.
It is in this humid and high temperature climate that all animals and plants grow wildly in summer.
The area around the kiln has been covered airtight by weeds and thorns as tall as a person. The entire kiln is surrounded by a rich green color. Even the stone courtyard walls are covered with green vines.
There are also all kinds of flowers blooming.
After being exposed to wind and rain for more than half a year, the thatched hut and five small stone houses have begun to look dilapidated and vicissitudes of life. There are still many vines climbing on the walls and roofs, and there are also many fist-sized thorn melons hanging on them.
Four kiln workers gathered in front of the hot earth kiln, adding firewood inside.
Xu Chen stood far away under the pottery-making shed, holding a banana leaf-like plant leaf in his hand and fanning himself vigorously.
the weather is too hot.
I can't even breathe.
He admired these four kiln workers very much. It was hotter in other places, but the kiln factory was even hotter. If it is said that after the rain and the sky are clear, other places are steamers, and the kiln factory is like a baking workshop.
The kiln fires are scorching all year round. No matter how heavy it rains, the ground cannot hold water and it dries out in the blink of an eye. Especially for earthen kilns, even when there is a torrential rain, the rolling kiln fire is still there, and the falling rainwater is absorbed by the hundreds of degrees high temperature on the surface.
It instantly evaporates into water vapor, making the top of the earthen kiln seem like a dragon of air rising into the sky, soaring into the sky amidst lightning and thunder.
Although heavy rain cannot penetrate the kiln fire, it will still take away a lot of heat after evaporating on the surface of the earthen kiln. Therefore, after each heavy rain, dry firewood must be replenished as soon as possible to increase the temperature of the kiln fire.
The four major hardships in life are: burning a kiln, punting a boat, blacksmithing, and grinding tofu.
It is said that these four industries are the most tiring and difficult jobs.
Kiln burning is the first to bear the brunt, not only from heat and fatigue, but also from respiratory diseases caused by being exposed to kiln fires all year round, commonly known as pyrotechnic lung.
Perhaps due to the abundant oxygen in this era, these primitive people all grew taller and stronger, so they were more adapted to this hot and humid climate. They did not feel too hot when faced with the temperature of the kiln.
Logically speaking, Xu Chen shouldn't be afraid. After all, he also has the body of a savage, but he has been in a state of pampering since time travel. He feels that his body has deteriorated greatly. He dare not get too close to the furnace, otherwise he will feel suffocated.
Same.
This furnace of copper has been burning for the tenth day.
Judging from the temperature at which pottery was fired in the past, it has now reached at least 800 degrees.
This temperature cannot completely melt metallic copper, but maintaining this continuous high temperature can slowly oxidize sulfur, carbon, phosphorus and other non-metallic elements in the ore.
However, since the earthen kiln does not have a blower to continuously supply oxygen, it relies entirely on natural air intake through chimneys and fire holes, so this process takes a long time.
However, based on the continuous smelting and observation these days, the copper ore inside should have been in the continuous refining stage.
In the first two days, the firewood smoke was heavy, and the billowing black smoke was similar to that of an ordinary kiln. Later, the black smoke gradually decreased and turned into a light yellow-black smoke, and the kiln began to be filled with a pungent smell.
the smell.
This mixed smell should be the gas released after the sulfur, phosphorus, carbon and other impurities in the copper ore are oxidized.
As time goes by, this pungent smell gradually weakens, and the smoke from the furnace gradually begins to fade. In the past two days, the color is almost invisible.
The heavy rain has just passed. With the addition of new firewood, after a burst of billowing smoke, the temperature of the kiln fire began to rise. The white mist steaming from the top of the kiln slowly dissipated, and then turned into a twisted and deformed pale mist like hot ions.
blue.
It seems to be almost done.
Xu Chen's face showed a hint of relief.
Ancient Chinese Taoist priests made elixirs and believed that when the furnace fire reaches the cyan stage, it is the highest and purest time of fire, which is commonly known as the furnace fire is pure green.
In addition, the flame reaction of copper ions is also blue.
The fact that the copper ore inside can release such a strong ionic color indicates that the purity of the copper should be quite high, otherwise the flame color reaction would not be so strong.
Thinking of this, Xu Chen couldn't help it anymore, threw away the banana fan in his hand, and walked to the front of the earthen kiln under the bright sun.
"Rega, Rega, Mo Laiga!"
Although several kiln workers were sweating profusely from the heat and their thick hair was almost falling out from the kiln fire, when they saw Xu Chen running over, they still hurriedly shouted to him to leave.
In such a hot place, if Xu Chen is smoked out, they will feel guilty for the rest of their lives.
"Open the kiln door and take a look!"
Explanation of Xu Chen's continuous comparison paintings.
"Okay?" a kiln worker asked with joy on his face.
"It should be almost done!"
Xu Xiaochen nodded, so the four kiln workers quickly stopped adding firewood and removing ashes, found two wooden hoes, and carefully pried open a few fire bricks from the kiln door.
The fire inside the kiln was blazing, and the flames were blazing white. The furnace walls and the inner wall where the ore was placed had been burned red by the flames, like a pillar of fire. Rolling heat waves shot out from the kiln door, and almost ignited two people in an instant.
Kiln worker's hair.
"Roast, roast, roast!"
Several kiln workers quickly protected Xu Chen and retreated two or three meters before stopping.
Because the inner wall is completely sealed, it is unclear whether the copper was successfully smelted or not.
If you want to know, you have to pry open a brick on the inner wall that blocks the juice outlet.
Therefore, under Xu Chen's instructions, the two kiln workers leaned forward again and used a long wooden stick to poke back and forth several times. With a stronger flame spurting out from the kiln door, the two kiln workers
The burnt hair of a kiln worker was directly ignited, and a burnt smell instantly emitted.
"Wow, the water is coming out!"
Although they were almost cooked by the kiln fire, the two kiln workers suddenly jumped up in surprise, took out the two wooden sticks that had been ignited by the kiln fire, threw them on the ground, pointed inside and started shouting excitedly.
Xu Chen's body was shaken and he hurried forward. Under the continuous rolling fire of the kiln, he could clearly see the red metal juice flowing out along the groove.
"Open the kiln door!"
"Bring the mold, bring the pottery spoon..."
Xu Chen was so excited that a kiln worker immediately used a wooden hoe to pry open all the remaining fire bricks at the kiln door. As the groove became unblocked, red copper juice flowed out along the groove.
At this time, a potter brought a large pottery spoon with a long wooden handle, and someone else brought in several clay molds that had already been made.
Xu Chen excitedly took a spoonful of juice from the juice spout with a clay spoon and slowly poured it into a mold.
The four kiln workers were even more surprised and excited than Xu Chen.
Although they have been burning the kiln according to Xu Chen's requirements, no one knows why he burns these messy stones.
But now they all understood that Xu Chen wanted to burn the stone into this kind of water.
Turning stones into water may only be possible by gods.
However, the temperature of this water is extremely high, which makes people feel frightened just looking at it. I wonder why Xu Chen poured this kind of water into the clay mold.
They didn't understand, so they just waited. They believed that they would be able to witness an unprecedented miracle today.
Just like when pottery was fired.
Xu Chen has used his magic to prove the impossible time and time again. What they witnessed today will definitely be greater than pottery.
As four kiln workers watched in surprise and excitement, Xu Chen poured spoonfuls of copper juice into the mold.
There are no good processing tools at the moment, so Xu Chen has planned it from the beginning. All the molds are small. However, copper is a high-density metal, second only to gold and silver among common metals, so this furnace
After ten days of smelting the copper ore, not much was finally produced. After pouring seven or eight times, no copper juice flowed out at all. In addition, a lot of copper juice leaked out below the juice outlet and fell into the sand on the ground.
, the scattered pieces have slowly solidified.
"Okay, let's turn off the kiln fire!"
After pouring the copper juice, Xu Chen was exhausted and sweating profusely. He was both hot and nervous.
"Moga?"
The four kiln workers looked at each other in disbelief, their mouths wide open and it felt incredible.
It took more than half a month to build the kiln and cut firewood, but that's all the credit?
Their surprise and excitement were like a ladle of cold water being poured on them.
It stands to reason that if Xu Chen put in a lot of stones, he would still be able to produce about the same amount of water.
But it is obvious that the investment is not proportional to the reward. The water produced is quite large, and it may not be enough to drink a few sips after it cools down.
But you still have to listen to Xu Chen’s words.
The four kiln workers went to pull out all the firewood from the earthen kiln in low spirits. The burning firewood was covered with sand, soil and plant ashes to extinguish it. The large pieces of red charcoal were doused with water and dried before use as firewood.
These processing methods are Xu Chen’s consistent requirements.
It's not easy to cut firewood now, but I can save one and twenty-one points.
In addition, there is no way to cut down wood on a large scale and burn charcoal. If you want to forge and process it in the future, charcoal will be indispensable. You can only use this simple method to store some for emergencies.
In short, this upgrade task is almost starting from scratch.
You start with a group of savages, and you have to collect all the equipment yourself.
Now that I'm so broke, I have to figure everything out on my own.
Although it is still in a stand-alone state and its development is very slow, the smelting of metallic copper marks a qualitative leap in his upgrade mission.
Copper is too soft and is not suitable for making metal knives, but this does not mean that it cannot be made at all, it is just not durable. In addition, it is still much stronger than stone to make some delicate blunt tools.
Therefore, completely different from the dejected look of the four kiln workers, Xu Chen was so happy that he could not be afraid of the heat anymore. He squatted in the open space in front of the kiln and watched several people pouring copper into the kiln under the scorching sun.
He also used wooden sticks to pull out many large and small copper blocks from the sand at the juice outlet.