ps: I really can’t collect relevant information. If I briefly describe this paragraph, no one will blame me, right?
The following text is the Ordnance Casting Bureau, the full name of the Wei Ordnance Casting Bureau. It is located in a desolate area of Daliang City near the northwest of the city. The size of the area occupied by the department is larger than that of the Smelting Bureau, and the number of craftsmen in the department is also equal to that of the Smelting Bureau.
It is twice the size and is the largest and most powerful department among the three construction bureaus.
The so-called three construction bureaus, namely the internal construction bureau, the ordnance casting bureau and the metallurgy bureau, are under the jurisdiction of the internal affairs supervisor, the Ministry of War and the ministry of industry respectively.
However, with Zhao Hongrun taking over the Smelting Bureau, the Smelting Bureau was separated from the control of the Ministry of Industry. The Smelting Bureau became an independent department outside the 24th Department. Its position was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry.
It was replaced by the Yu Zao Shu Department of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, which took over the previous cooperation between the Metallurgical Bureau and the Ministry of Industry.
This change makes Bingzhu Bureau's position at the top of the three construction bureaus more secure.
But what no one expected was that on June 8, Emperor Wei issued an edict to establish a new sub-department under the Smelting Bureau called the Military Construction Bureau, which shocked some officials in the DPRK.
None of the officials in the DPRK and China are fools. They certainly understand what it means to assign the Military Manufacturing Bureau under the jurisdiction of the Metallurgical Manufacturing Bureau.
I remember that a few days ago, the Metallurgical Bureau renovated the official offices, built several underground furnaces outside the city, and even started work on the fourth line. For this purpose, a large number of new craftsmen were recruited, which made many officials in the court secretly shake their heads and mutter.
The steps taken by the Smelting Bureau are too big, as if they are going to become fat in one breath.
But before they could finish lamenting, the Smelting Bureau used the weapon of the Military Manufacturing Administration to openly compete with the Military Manufacturing Bureau for the country's arms orders, which surprised many people.
What shocked them even more was that in the face of the Smelting Bureau that openly came to steal their jobs, Li Jin, the chief minister of the Ordnance Casting Bureau, actually remained silent. He neither took his troops to the Smelting Bureau to protest nor wrote to the court to plead with him.
Emperor Wei took back his life.
Later they found out that the day after the Military Manufacturing Bureau was established, the Metallurgical Bureau sent people to transport a large number of iron blanks to the Military Foundry Bureau's workshop. They were all suitable for reshaping and casting iron swords.
The armor's wrought iron was piled as high as a hill in the open space in the Weapon Casting Bureau.
This move shocked everyone in Bingzhu Bureau and left them speechless.
This is a provocation!
Standing in front of the iron embryos piled up like a hill inside the department, Li Jin, the director of the Ordnance Casting Bureau, looked very ugly.
Of course he understood what this hill-like iron embryo represented.
This is a message!
The people from the Smelting Bureau wanted to tell him: If your Weapons Foundry Bureau wants iron embryos to cast weapons and equipment, our Smelting Bureau will give them to you. We will give you as much as you want. But if all your requirements are met, you
If you still can't keep the meat in the bowl, then don't blame our Smelting Bureau.
This is a fair competition. In fact, the Smelting Bureau is still at a disadvantage. Because of this, Li Jin, the Prime Minister of the Bingzhu Bureau, has no face to make a request to Emperor Wei. After all, this means that their Bingzhu Bureau
Failure to dare to accept the challenge from the Smelting Bureau will cause their prestige and status in the government to plummet.
But having said that, will Bingzhu Bureau be afraid of this kind of challenge?
Li Jin said they were not afraid!
only……
Li Jin raised his head and glanced at the pile of iron embryos that looked like hills, and frowned slightly.
This amount of iron embryos... couldn't really have been calcined by the Smelting Bureau in the past few days, right?
To be honest, Li Jin was not unaware of the news that the Smelting Bureau had hired people from the Ministry of Industry to build several underground furnaces outside the city.
But he is not optimistic about it.
Why? Because the Ordnance Casting Bureau has also tried to use ground furnaces to calcine iron ore, but unfortunately, there are not many qualified iron embryos (wrought iron), and most of them are still half-raw pig iron blocks. Not only is the texture very brittle, but it also loses its quality.
The ability to reshape.
Thinking about it, if Zhao Hongrun knew about this, he might tell him sincerely that this is because the furnace you built, the furnace used to calcine ore, has insufficient thermal insulation performance, so that a large amount of heat is lost, causing the furnace to
The iron ore inside cannot be fully burned, and a large amount of carbon elements still remain. Therefore, a batch of "unqualified" and "defective products" will be produced.
How did Li Jin know that the furnace used by the Smelting Bureau to calcine iron ore was made of firebricks with excellent heat resistance, heat insulation, and thermal insulation properties. For this purpose, people from the Smelting Bureau dug in from all over the country.
Clays with different compositions have gone through a series of adjustments.
But unfortunately, Li Jin knew nothing about it.
This should just be the hidden treasure of the Smelting Bureau...
He comforted himself secretly.
After thinking about it, he ordered the subordinate officials watching nearby with a straight face: "Someone, move these iron embryos to the warehouse!"
Next to Li Jin stood his nephew Zheng Jin, who was also the official of the Smelting Bureau. After hearing this, this man asked in surprise: "Uncle, do you mean to accept these iron embryos from the Smelting Bureau?"
After all, according to what he knew about his uncle Li Jin, it seemed that the Metallurgical Manufacturing Bureau first established the Military Manufacturing Bureau and then sent people to send a large number of iron blanks to this provocation. Based on his uncle's character, he should not accept it.
Hearing this, Li Jin glanced at his beloved nephew and said coldly: "What I accept is the Smelting Bureau's challenge to our Arms Casting Bureau!... Aren't they going to compete with us in the number of forged armaments? Okay.
! Let’s compete with him!”
At this time, Li Jin did not feel that he would lose at all.
So what if the Smelting Bureau is a research and development institution? So what if the foundry technology of the Hebing Casting Bureau comes from the Smelting Bureau? As the saying goes, there are specialties in the art industry. The Hebing Casting Bureau has been building weapons and equipment for decades. When they are the strongest
In one aspect, is it still inferior to the Smelting Bureau that hammers here and there?
"Tell the craftsmen in the department about this and tell them that the Smelting Bureau is thinking about the meat in the bowl of my Bingzhi Bureau and is trying to grab the meat. If you don't want the meat in your bowl to be taken away by others, then you can get it from me."
Starting today, all craftsmen in the department will
The staff must rush to work, and they must increase the number of weapons they can build, leaving the Smelting Bureau far behind!" After saying that, Li Jin thought about it, and did not forget to remind him: "But you must ensure the quality, and don't hit me.
The signature of Bing Zhu Bureau!”
"Uncle, don't worry!" Zheng Jin clasped his fists and followed the order.
Although Zheng Jin was arrogant in front of the people in the Smelting Bureau, he was actually not a dandy who knew nothing about anything. Although he didn't know much about weapons casting and other businesses, he was quite popular in the Weapon Foundry Bureau.
He also has a mouth that can confuse right and wrong, and with just a few words, the many craftsmen in the Bingzhu Bureau screamed, each with their sleeves rolled up, and they looked like they were going to fight the Smelting Bureau.
Of course, the desperate effort at this time cannot be to fight with the Metallurgical Bureau, but to accept the challenge of the Metallurgical Bureau. They want those in the Metallurgical Bureau to understand what it means to specialize in a craft!
As a result, the entire Ordnance Casting Bureau seemed to be boiling, and everyone's morale was high, and they were immersed in the ironmaking business.
This news reached the Smelting Bureau within half a day.
"His Royal Highness King Su, Li Jin of the Smelting Bureau accepted the batch of iron embryos and ordered the craftsmen in the department to rush to forge weapons. It seems that he also guessed our intention and wanted to compete with us."
"What a surprise..." Zhao Hongrun touched his chin and muttered to himself.
To be honest, Zhao Hongrun was a little worried about using provocative methods to provoke generals, although this worry was actually unnecessary.
"Li Jin...has a very stubborn personality."
"Yes." Wang Fu said with a smile when he heard this. As the Chief of the Smelting Bureau, he had dealt with Li Jin, the Chief of the Military Casting Bureau, so he naturally understood the son of Li Huan, the Minister of the Ministry of War.
What kind of temper did he have? He was a more stubborn person than his father, Li Huan.
As for Li Jin, Zhao Hongrun didn't have any in-depth contact with him. He only learned from other people's accounts that he was proud, upright, stubborn, conservative, and had clear likes and dislikes... Well, just like most people in Wei, the first
One impression determines his subsequent attitude towards you, and it is almost difficult to change his opinion.
To be honest, this kind of people are quite troublesome, at least in Zhao Hongrun's opinion.
"Now that the Military Construction Bureau has accepted the challenge from our Smelting Bureau, it's time for our Smelting Bureau... no, our Military Construction Bureau to take action!"
"The official has made arrangements." Wang Fu said in a low voice.
Just yesterday, Wang Fu called back the craftsmen who had been sent out earlier and those who were quite experienced in iron casting technology and assigned them to the Military Building Administration. The construction of Bolangsha River Port required many excellent casting techniques.
craftsmen, but in comparison, after all, it is more important for the Military Construction Administration. Anyway, the construction of Bolangsha River Port is a ten-year project, and the construction time is extremely long. It will not be a problem to temporarily transfer some experienced craftsmen back.
"Hmm." Zhao Hongrun nodded after hearing this, and then asked: "How are the specific matters of mass production of weapons being considered?"
Bingzhuju is a formidable enemy, Zhao Hongrun knows this very well.
After all, the Weapon Casting Bureau specializes in one field. For decades, it has only been responsible for casting weapons and equipment for the domestic elite army. In this aspect of casting, it is even more experienced than the craftsmen of the Smelting Bureau.
The Smelting Bureau studies carburizing, quenching, and blade plating, and improves and strengthens iron weapons step by step to make them sharper and stronger. This makes the craftsmen of the Smelting Bureau more important in Zhao Hongrun's mind.
But despite this, they are not as expert in forging weapons as the Weapon Casting Bureau. This is also an indisputable fact.
Therefore, there is no way to win the Weapon Casting Game by still using the old forging process. The only way out is to improve the forging process.
The best way is to melt wrought iron into molten iron like mass-produced candles and shape it into the shape of the sword blade in one step.
Of course, this kind of cast sword blade is not stable, and the iron sword still needs to be forged and extruded vigorously to make it stronger. However, compared with the old forging method, this has greatly shortened the time of casting a sword.
The time required for the sword.
As for the sharpness, it's easy to deal with. Just sharpen it with a whetstone.
The only problem is the mold for melting the iron sword and weapons and equipment.
It is undeniable that the clay used to make fire bricks is the best material for making iron sword molds at the moment, but the key is that if clay is used to make molds like casting candles, the cost is really too high.
Of course, this cost refers to the cost of transporting the heat-resistant clay, not the value of the clay itself.
"Let's try it first."
Zhao Hongrun said to Wang Fu.
Following the Military Casting Bureau, the Smelting Bureau, no, it should be the Military Construction Bureau, also started work intensively. (To be continued.)