Chapter 111 I have devised a new steel-making method
Chapter 111, I have devised a new steel-making method
Zhao Ji asked: "If what Cao Yushi said about the disadvantages of the steel forging workshop is true, then I will not punish you for ripping off the sleeves of my robe. Instead, I will be glad that I arrived at the Wei Zheng in the prosperous Tang Dynasty! Cao Yushi,
Can you produce witnesses and physical evidence?"
"What Cao Fu said is true." Cao Fu replied sternly: "The officials I sent to investigate the matter, as well as the weapons craftsmen on duty at the steel forging workshop, have been brought here. This is a witness.
.
In terms of physical evidence, I also asked him to collect several pieces of [Tuan Steel] from the steel forging workshop."
Zhao Jidao: "Bring the witnesses and physical evidence to me."
"Your Majesty, Cao Fu, obeys the decree." Cao Fu replied: "Because I, Your Majesty, Cao Fu, are not allowed to bring weapons or steel objects when entering the palace to meet officials. Therefore, both the personal and physical evidence were placed outside the imperial city where I alighted from my sedan chair."
.I will send my servants to summon them and bring them physical evidence for the officials to take a look at."
"Wait a minute." Zhao Ji said: "Six marriage officers from Donghua Gate are sent to accompany us. Four of them will escort Cao Yushi's subordinates and the weaponsmith on duty in the steel forging workshop. Two of them will take the [Tuang Steel] sample."<
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Zhao Ji made this arrangement because he was afraid that if he encountered what happened to Ying Zheng in "Jing Ke Assassins the King of Qin", how scary would that be!
Of course, this possibility is very slim, but Zhao Ji feels that only by being careful can you sail the ten thousand year ship.
Although Cao Fu is currently showing extremely high loyalty, it is still necessary to take appropriate precautions against the subordinate official and the weaponssmith on duty at the steel forging workshop.
Not long after, six imperial city officials came to Donghua Gate with a small official and a weapons craftsman.
Zhao Ji kept a full two feet away from the clerk and the weapon craftsman. After observing their words, he felt that they were not assassins, but he did not let them get any closer to the imperial commander.
The two of them were so frightened that they never expected to see the Emperor Zhao Guan's family so close to the Donghua Gate. The two of them bowed and bowed...
Cao Fu said: "These two are the witnesses that I presented to the officials."
Zhao Ji nodded and asked about whether the officials such as the Secretary of the Forging Steel Factory impeached by Cao Fu had corruption and other issues.
The weaponsmith in the steel forging workshop never expected that he would get into such trouble because he had a drink with his distant relative, a clerk under Cao Yushi, this afternoon and said a few words after the drink.
Trouble.
At this time, how can the weaponssmith of the steel forging workshop grasp the evidence that the chief of the steel forging workshop is corrupt?
However, he was a veteran craftsman on duty at the steel forging workshop. In addition to forging iron and forging steel on weekdays, from chatting with his fellow weapon craftsmen and from what he had seen over the years, he had already figured out that the steel forging workshop
There are many officials here who have a way of making money. Therefore, after he had a few more bowls of wine today, he was told by his relatives that he said a few words about the steel forging boss's behavior that harmed the public and enriched his private life.
The weapons craftsman in the steel forging workshop was trembling with fear and had to report truthfully to Zhao Guan's family:
"When I return to the official family, because of my low position, I really can't prove the corruption of the boss of the steel forging workshop.
However, I have seen with my own eyes that whenever the soft iron is delivered to the forging shop where I am, after being weighed, it should logically go into each [forging], bend the soft iron, and trap the pig iron in between.
The clay is sealed and refined, and the forging orders are mixed together. This is called Tuan Gang.
However, every time the steel forging workshop receives wrought iron, for example, after 10,000 kilograms of wrought iron has been weighed, the chief envoy of the steel forging workshop, the Grand Master, will order his trusted officials to transport about a quarter of it away.
I don’t understand the reason for this!”
Zhao Ji nodded. He understood what the secret of the steel forging director was doing. It should be like when the chief officer of some grain depots in later dynasties collected grain, everything was collected normally for you.
After that, some of it is smuggled out and resold for profit. Even if Shangfeng sends people to investigate, they can use the excuse that there are rats in the grain depot and classify the smuggled out grain as normal loss... Zhao Ji said angrily: "The wrought iron and pig iron given to the steel forging workshop by the imperial court are numerous. How could the director of the steel forging workshop dare to smuggle out some of them?
The imperial censor Cao Fu listened to the order. Cao Fu also serves as the inspection history of the Tokyo Forging Steel Factory. I order you to investigate this matter thoroughly!"
"I, Cao Fu, obey the decree."
Zhao Ji added: "Bring us the samples of the steel blocks produced by the steel forging workshop."
Two personal servants each held a steel block weighing more than two kilograms and handed it to the two eunuchs beside Zhao Ji.
Then the eunuch in the chamber held the steel block and walked towards Zhao Ji.
Zhao Ji picked up a piece of steel, weighed it, and then looked at the color of the steel piece. It felt that it was not as bright and silver-white as the various steel products he had seen in modern society before he traveled through time.
The two pieces of steel brought out by the weaponsmith of the steel forging workshop are both black and white in color, and there are many small black spots visible in the steel with the naked eye...
Zhao Ji asked the weaponsmith in the steel forging workshop: "Can you, the steel forging weaponsmith, take out the steel blocks in the steel forging workshop so easily?"
"Bang, bang, bang!" The weaponsmith in the steel forging workshop was so frightened that he kowtowed and said:
"I'm sorry, I'm guilty! However, in the steel forging shop where I am, the weaponsmiths can bring out smaller pieces of steel."
Zhao Ji said to Cao Fu: "When Cao Yushi goes to inspect the steel forging workshop, he must also formulate a feasible system to prevent the weapon craftsmen from stealing public property."
"The official's sage is very careful! I, Cao Fu, obey the decree."
Zhao Ji felt relieved a lot when he saw that Cao Fu sincerely admired the decision I had made.
Zhao Ji thought that the quality of the steel block was not very good, so he said: "I will personally serve as an official and bring stones to smash this steel block."
……
When two subordinate officials brought a thick stone slab, placed two steel blocks on it, and then threw large stones at the steel blocks,
The steel block was actually broken by the smash...
Zhao Ji asked the eunuch to get the broken steel block and found that there were a lot of black impurities in the steel block, which was a bit like soil and a bit like charcoal ash...
Zhao Ji angrily asked the weaponsmith in the steel forging workshop: "Do you know what is mixed in the middle of this steel block?"
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The weapon craftsman was simply frightened by Zhao Guan's questioning. He was trembling, stammering, and hemming and hawing without answering.
Cao Fu comforted the weapon craftsman: "Don't be afraid. The officials are generous and kind. If you tell the truth, they will not incriminate you! If you don't answer the officials honestly, then you will be guilty of deceiving the emperor!"
”
The weaponsmith in the steel forging workshop calmed down for a while and felt that Cao Yushi's words were reasonable.
He forcibly overcame his nervousness and replied with fear and fear:
"When I return to the official's house, the black impurities in this steel block should be unforged soil!"
Zhao Ji said: "There is so much soil and slag in it! How unreasonable?! How do you explain it?"
The weaponsmith in the steel forging workshop was so frightened that he knelt down and kowtowed again, saying: "The steel forging workshop outside the capital where I am is all bent with soft iron, and then the pig iron is embedded in the middle and covered with clay.
After sealing and smelting, they are forged many times to infiltrate each other. The steel produced by this method is "tuan steel", also called "filled steel".
Officials saw that the steel block could be broken by stones, and there were a lot of impurities in the middle of the steel block. It should have been sealed with mud and smelted. It was not forged often enough, so the soft iron and pig iron infiltrated into each other, and
But part of the mud seal remains in the steel."
Zhao Ji observed the words and deeds and thought that the weapons craftsman in the steel forging workshop should not dare to tell lies.
Zhao Ji, who is a top student in the history department at the university, had read "Mengxi Bi Tan" written by Shen Kuo, a scientist in the Northern Song Dynasty.
There is a chapter in that book titled "Methods of Forging Steel", which records two techniques for forging iron into steel in the Song Dynasty:
[Tuan Steel Method] and [Hundred Steel Making Method].
In Shen Kuo's opinion, the steel produced by the Tuan Steel Method is not as good as the steel produced by the [Hundred Steelmaking Method].
The "Hundred Steel-making Methods" was mainly in Cizhou. When Shen Kuo was on an envoy, he visited the Cizhou Iron Forging Workshop. He saw iron making and then got to know real steel.
Anything with steel in it is like gluten in noodles. When the soft noodles are washed away, the gluten will appear.
The same is true for steelmaking. You only need to select refined iron and forge it more than a hundred times. Weigh it once every time, and lighten it a little after each forging. Until the weight no longer decreases after being forged many times, it is pure steel. Even if the weight is no longer reduced, it is pure steel.
Even if it is forged a hundred times, there will be no loss. This is the pure part of the iron. Its color is clear and bright. After polishing, it will show a dull blue-black color, which is very different from ordinary iron. There is also a method of tempering refined iron until it is worn out.
There is absolutely no steel at all, it all depends on where it is produced.
The above is what Shen Kuo, a scientist in the Northern Song Dynasty, thought.
However, time traveler Zhao Ji believes that both the [Tuan Steel Method] and the [Hundred Steel Refining Method] are limited to the technological level and production equipment of ancient times, and are not as good as the steel refined in modern society that he has seen. Zhao Ji lamented that Shen Kuo, the scientist of the Northern Song Dynasty, has been dead for decades. Otherwise, I can reuse Shen Kuo. As for Shen Kuo’s remaining son, he did not like to specialize in scientific knowledge as his father did. Shen Kuo’s son is still
He is still alive, but his son is just mediocre, and there is no record of anything extraordinary about him in the history books.
……
Zhao Jidao: "Get the desk, pen, ink, paper and inkstone!"
The chamberlain eunuch didn't understand what Zhao Guan's family meant at this time. In the past, Zhao Guan's family also came to Yaxing temporarily to take the desk, pen, ink, paper and inkstone, but where was it? It was in Genyue with elegant scenery!
The eunuchs in the chamber hurriedly brought the desk from the palace and presented pens, inks, paper and inkstones...
Even the imperial censor Cao Fu, who was serving at Donghua Gate, didn’t know what the Zhao Guan family meant. Could it be that the Zhao Guan family came to Yaxing to write poems and paintings?
As for the petty officials brought by Cao Fu, as well as the weapons craftsmen in the steel forging workshop, from the beginning to now, they really did not dare to raise their heads and look directly at the family of Emperor Zhao Guan of the Song Dynasty.
When they heard that Zhao Guan asked the eunuch to bring the desk, pen, ink, paper and inkstone, they both became even more frightened. They were worried that they had done something that dissatisfied Zhao Guan's family in the process of meeting the saint, and now Zhao Guan's family wanted to write an imperial edict to punish him.
What about their sins?
Zhao Ji thought for a moment and recalled the modern steelmaking methods he remembered when he was studying the Western socio-economic production part of modern world history before he traveled through time...
Of course, there are several modern steelmaking methods:
The three most important methods are: converter steelmaking, open-hearth steelmaking, and electric furnace steelmaking.
Electric furnace steelmaking is a steelmaking process that uses electricity as energy.
The types of steelmaking furnaces used in the electric furnace steelmaking method include electric arc furnaces, induction electric furnaces, electroslag furnaces, electron beam furnaces, consumable electric arc furnaces, etc. Generally speaking, electric furnace steel is steel produced by alkaline electric arc furnaces.
Electric furnace steel is mostly used to produce high-quality carbon structural steel, tool steel and alloy steel. This type of steel has excellent quality and uniform properties. When the carbon content is the same, the strength and plasticity of electric furnace steel are better than open hearth steel.
Zhao Ji was very greedy that the Northern Song Dynasty could use the electric furnace steel method to refine the highest quality steel.
But where does the electricity come from?
Even if electricity is invented,
How to build so many high-tech steel-making furnaces? For Zhao Ji, this aspect is definitely his weak point in knowledge.
What the hell!
In Zhao Ji's mind, he first gave up the idea that the electric furnace steelmaking method could be used for experimental production in the Northern Song Dynasty.
If Zhao Ji wants to implement modern steelmaking methods in the Northern Song Dynasty, he must consider what kind of modern steelmaking methods the productivity and production relations of the Northern Song Dynasty, and even the production tools, can support the implementation of...
Obviously, the electric furnace steelmaking method is unlikely to be realized in ancient times for the time being or even for a long time.
The open-hearth steelmaking method uses scrap iron, scrap steel, iron ore, and limestone as raw materials. The heat required for the reaction is provided by blast furnace gas or producer gas, heavy oil...
What the hell! Zhao Ji secretly sighed inwardly. The heat required for the open-hearth steelmaking method was blast furnace gas or producer gas, which was provided by heavy oil. There were no gas or heavy oil used for production in the Northern Song Dynasty!
This open-hearth steelmaking method is not possible for the time being! Then we have to rule it out.
Zhao Ji put his pen on the rice paper and wrote: "Converter Steelmaking Method".
Then, he also used the painter's skills left to him by the original owner and drew a converter shaped like a pear.
He then marked an annotation on the side of the converter and wrote: "This is a converter. The inner wall is made of refractory bricks. There are many small holes (called tuyere) on the side of the furnace to allow air to blow into the furnace from these small holes...
”
Zhao Ji continued to write: "In the converter steelmaking method, the main raw materials are: pig iron, iron ore, or scrap steel.
Smelt pig iron into hot red molten iron and add a certain amount of quicklime.
Then use a hair dryer to blow the air into the molten pig iron, which will cause the impurities in it to burn quickly and release a large amount of heat, which can reach a high enough temperature in the furnace.
Therefore, converter steelmaking does not require the use of additional fuel.
After practicing,
Throw away the slag and keep the fine steel."
Zhao Ji could only write like this. If he also wrote down the scientific principles and some chemical terms from later generations, the forges of the Northern Song Dynasty would not be able to understand it at all, and it would make people doubt me as a time traveler...<
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The principle of converter steelmaking is to allow air to interact directly with molten iron, causing the impurities carbon, silicon, manganese, etc. in it to rapidly oxidize and release a large amount of heat (containing 1% silicon can increase the temperature of pig iron by 200 degrees Celsius).
The temperature in the furnace reaches a high enough temperature.
Therefore, converter steelmaking does not require the use of additional fuel. Iron, silicon, and manganese are oxidized to form slag, and phosphorus is subsequently oxidized and further generates ferrous phosphate. Ferrous phosphate then reacts with quicklime to generate stable calcium phosphate and calcium sulfide.
It becomes slag. It has a very fast smelting speed. At this time, the steel has been smelted.
The converter steelmaking method first started in the West with the acidic bottom-blown converter steelmaking method invented by Bessemer, an Englishman in 1856...
Zhao Ji felt that Western technology was not very advanced in 1856, so today's Northern Song Dynasty might be able to successfully test the converter steelmaking method and put it into production.
In this way, the weapons made of modern steel in the Song Dynasty should have more advantages in the war against foreign enemies...