"It's still too primitive. It would be better to set up a mobile boiler to receive the molten iron. In this way, the molten iron can be used to specifically cast the required castings."
"Well, since we lack large-scale lifting equipment, we still need to install a gantry crane."
Liu Jin looked at the simple and crude way at the water outlet. He was pressed for time and smelted the first batch of steel in a hurry. There were still many things that were not ready yet.
"Old Liu, your method is really awesome. I estimate that this furnace must have 100,000 kilograms of iron."
Zhu Houzhao looked at the red molten iron and said excitedly.
"One hundred thousand kilograms, that's impossible. How could there be so much iron?"
When Zhang Mao heard this, he shook his head and said, the productivity of this era is extremely backward, smelting steel is a technical job, the output is very low, and the quality is extremely poor.
"I guess it's about the same. With such a large amount of molten iron, there shouldn't be much difference between one hundred thousand catties."
"It is incredible to smelt one hundred thousand kilograms of iron in one furnace. The investment of two million taels of silver is also worth it."
Xu Guangzuo looked at the red molten iron in front of him with a smile on his face, as if he had seen countless pieces of white silver.
"It still depends on the quality of the iron. Only with good quality can it be sold at a good price."
At this time, Zhang Mao finally opened his mouth and said with a smile.
Iron is definitely as profitable a business as salt in this era. According to records, in the Ming Dynasty, a shovel sold for 50 copper plates and a kitchen knife sold for 30 copper plates. As for the price of iron, it fluctuated very much and was divided into
Different types and varieties.
The better the quality of the iron, the more expensive it is. The most expensive iron can even cost several hundred yuan per pound. Of course, this kind of iron is generally forged by blacksmiths repeatedly and is very close to steel.
As for some poor-quality iron, the price is not cheap, and costs tens of dollars per pound. Of course, this type of iron generally requires a blacksmith to forge it repeatedly before it can be used.
Zhang Mao already had an understanding of the market in advance and knew very well that the quality of the iron had a great impact on the price. For the same output, if the quality is good, the price will be higher and it will often sell better.
"I'll go get some and come over and have a look~"
Upon hearing this, Huang Jinquan immediately gave instructions to a steward next to him. The other person quickly took a long iron ladle and scooped out a ladle of molten iron. Then someone brought a basin of water and poured it directly, accompanied by a burst of white smoke.
Then, the red molten iron quickly cooled down and turned into a slightly silvery iron block.
Pour the cold water on it one ladle at a time, and the iron block will cool down very quickly, and you can hold it in your hand in a few minutes.
"Your Highness~"
Huang Jinquan handed the iron block into Zhu Houzhao's hands, and his stewards continued to ladle molten iron out, cooling it with cold water to form small iron blocks.
Zhu Houzhao took the iron block and weighed it slightly in his hands. It felt heavy and felt. Then he looked at it carefully, then took an iron rod from the side and tapped it gently.
"Ding~"
A crisp sound rang in everyone's ears, which made the knowledgeable people couldn't help but light up their eyes slightly.
"Good iron~"
Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but admired that even though he was young and didn't seem to understand anything, Zhu Houzhao was smart and could learn anything he wanted to learn very quickly. During this period of time, he built blast furnaces and smelted iron with him.
But I concentrated on studying a lot of relevant books and content, and also consulted many experienced blacksmiths.
So he knows how to distinguish the quality of a piece of iron. The first thing is to look at the eyes. The brighter and silvery the color, the better the quality. Otherwise, the worse the quality.
The second is to listen to the sound. By hitting it, the better the quality of the iron, the crisper the sound, and vice versa.
"Ding~"
“It is indeed the best quality iron~”
Here, Zhang Mao couldn't wait any longer. He took a piece of newly cooled iron and observed it carefully. He was also an expert at hammering the iron ore and listened to the sound.
After inspecting the goods, Zhang Mao suddenly smiled even brighter. The better the quality of the iron, the higher the price, which means the greater the return on his investment.
"Well, it's okay~"
Qin Yi is also checking the quality of the iron. Miyun's iron ore is one of the very few good quality iron ores in China. It has high iron content, low alumina content, few harmful impurities, good sintering performance and many other advantages.
It is not unreasonable for later generations of Shougang to choose here.
The quality of the iron ore here is good, the temperature of the blast furnace designed by me is high enough, the smelting method is also correct, and more importantly, I know how to use chemical methods to eliminate impurities in it. Although the steel produced here is still different from the steel of later generations.
There is no comparison. In the later generations, various professional steels were produced. Some had to be hard, some had to be stainless, and some could be stainless. By adding other metals to the steel, various alloy steels could be obtained.
It cannot be compared with those of later generations, but in this era, it is naturally the best.
"Haha, you brat, you still have the ability."
Zhang Mao gave Liu Jin a thumbs up, and he had to accept it. Although Liu Jin was very good at spending money, and often looked like a prodigal to him, he was even more capable of making money, and he knew how to spend money.
Will make money.
The flowing molten iron in front of Zhang Mao's eyes was nothing like molten iron. It was just flowing gold, all white and white silver.
This top-grade iron can be purchased for several hundred taels of silver per pound, and a pound of iron is only a few cents. The molten iron flowing in front of you may weigh one hundred thousand jins, so this pot of molten iron can be worth tens of thousands of taels of silver.
Just do some simple calculations, and you can earn almost tens of millions of taels of silver in this year. Even if you spend a lot of money in various aspects, the profits will still be very considerable and amazing. You can easily earn millions of taels of silver.
There is definitely no problem.
"If I had known better, I would have invested more~"
Zhang Mao felt a little regretful in his heart. He had only invested 200,000 taels of silver and only had 10% of the shares, which was really too little.
"Thank you, Mr. Zhang. The iron factory is still very crude now. When all kinds of processing equipment are ready, the iron factory will really make money."
Of course Liu Jin could see Zhang Mao's thoughts at a glance. Naturally, what he was most concerned about was making money.
Liu Jin does not want to just sell iron, but plans to sell a variety of iron products, such as iron pots, kitchen knives, hoes, farm tools, etc. The demand for these is high, and when the time comes, steam forging machines will be available.
It is easy to manufacture and maximize the value of your products.
You can even go into the more profitable field of military products, such as swords, armor, muskets, artillery, etc. The arms business has been the most profitable business since ancient times.
However, it is not an easy task to wrest this piece of fat from the hands of civil servants. However, these civil servants are greedy and the quality of the arms and weapons they produce is extremely poor. There is no chance that they will seize it in the future.
What's more, the major shareholders of this iron factory are Emperor Hongzhi and Zhu Houzhao, father and son. They have no reason not to take care of their own business, right?
"It's a bit crude. Build all kinds of things that need to be built quickly. This time is money."
When Zhang Mao heard this, he nodded repeatedly. Originally, he said that Liu Jin was spending money lavishly, and the money was spent like running water. Now when he saw that the quality of the smelted steel was high and the output was high, he wished that Liu Jin would hurry up.
Build the entire iron factory as soon as possible so that you can make money faster and get your money back.
"Haha~"
Zhu Houzhao and Xu Guangzuo on the side couldn't help but laugh.
While everyone was talking and laughing, the molten iron began to slowly cool down, and long steel bars, steel ingots of the same specifications, and iron blocks of various other shapes emerged.
The workers in the iron factory began to weigh the cooled iron blocks while watering them, preparing to weigh how much iron was smelted in this furnace.