After talking about granular gunpowder, Yunxi has no suggestions for firearms. He did not graduate from explosives or other related majors. These are the only things he can think of in the past six years.
After talking about firearms, let’s talk about blast furnace ironmaking.? ?
Yunxi asked Wang Baoquan, the chief craftsman in charge of firearms, to step down and asked Tingshan to call the leader of the iron smelting craftsmen.
Originally, there were no iron-making craftsmen in the Imperial Guard, and they were not responsible for iron-making. They all needed to be allocated from the Yu Heng Division under the Ministry of Works according to usage, and then the blacksmiths under the Imperial Guard made various kinds of iron.
utensils.
But last month, Yunxi ordered the inner official supervisor to prepare some craftsmen with experience in iron-making. This made the eunuch Tingshan of the inner official supervisor anxious. He did not know how many times he struggled before he successfully obtained more than a dozen experienced workers.
The richer craftsmen allowed Yunxi to have someone to teach him today.
Yes, teach. Although Yunxi has never practiced ironmaking personally or entered an ironmaking workshop, he is also very familiar with blast furnace ironmaking. He has taught himself the ironmaking process and has also obtained various certificates from state-owned steel plants.
Grow 'scrap metal' to make all kinds of gadgets.
The blast furnace body is divided into five parts from top to bottom: throat, shaft, waist, belly, and hearth. During production, iron ore, coke, and slag-forming agent are loaded from the top of the furnace.
Preheated air is blown into the surrounding tuyere. At high temperature, the carbon in the coke burns with the oxygen in the blown air to produce carbon monoxide. During the rising process in the furnace, the oxygen, sulfur and phosphorus in the iron ore are removed and reduced to obtain
Iron. The smelted molten iron is released from the taphole. The unreduced impurities in the iron ore are combined with fluxes such as limestone to form slag, which is discharged from the slag port. The generated gas is discharged from the top of the furnace. After dust removal, it is used as a hot blast furnace or heating furnace.
, fuel for coke ovens, boilers, etc. The main product of blast furnace smelting is pig iron, as well as by-products blast furnace slag and blast furnace gas.
Blast furnace ironmaking has good technical and economic indicators, simple process, large production volume, high labor productivity, and low energy consumption. From the invention of this method until the introduction of this method, it was the production method that produced the most steel in the world.
However, judging from the technological level in the early Ming Dynasty, it was still a little difficult. It is hard to say whether the refractory bricks, fillers, mud, etc. at this time could meet the standards for building a blast furnace. Also, using only limestone as the slag-forming agent would probably be less efficient.
; And if there is no steam engine, whether the power of the blower can send out enough wind is also a problem. The most important thing is the temperature, whether the fuel level at this time can continue to provide high temperature.
Yunxi explained the model and work flow of the entire blast furnace, as well as the various raw materials used and their requirements to the head craftsman in charge of iron-making.
Suddenly, the head craftsman named Deng Zehong forgot Yunxi's identity and said in surprise: "Although I have definitely never used this method to make iron, I can also feel that your method can also make iron.
of."
Tingshan on the side was also stunned when he heard this. Since he is the eunuch of the imperial eunuch, of course he also knows something about the skills of craftsmen. And last month, Yunxi asked the imperial eunuch to prepare to be proficient in iron-making skills.
As a craftsman, Tingshan sharpened his gun and learned about the iron-making process, so he was immediately shocked by Yunxi's idea.
Of course, he is not a skilled craftsman and cannot feel whether this method can produce iron, but he can feel that this is a complete iron-making process, and it is an iron-making process that he has never heard of.
process.
Tingshan definitely didn't believe it if Yunxi read it from a certain book. After he became a young prisoner, he began to study by himself. He knew that because gunpowder is related to national affairs, someone might write it in a book.
Regarding the ratio of gunpowder, there is no book that records how to make iron. So this must have been Yunxi’s own idea.
Tingshan was not a civil servant and had no obligation to advise the emperor not to "not do his job properly", so he only needed to be shocked that Yunxi, an emperor whose main job was to scheming with ministers, was so knowledgeable about ironmaking.
But Tingshan was still rational when he was shocked. He immediately reacted after hearing Deng Zehong's words and scolded: "Don't be rude!"
Deng Zehong was also awakened immediately, fell to his knees and said, "Your Highness, please forgive me."
Yunxi said: "Gu Nian, you are the first offender, so I won't blame you."
Yunxi will not blame him. This is Yunxi's respect for scientific and technological workers.
But Deng Zehong himself was obviously still very panicked and frightened, and stood aside submissively.
Yunxi continued: "Such a blast furnace is naturally not suitable to be built in the capital. Of course, a place outside the capital must be chosen."
"I heard that there is iron ore in Meishan area?"
Tingshan continued: "Yes, Your Highness, the government-run iron mine in the capital is in Meishan, and most of the blacksmiths under the Ministry of Industry are also in Meishan."
Yunxi said: "The blast furnace that the internal officials are trying to build is also built in Meishan Tingshan. This matter is more important, so you should be responsible for it."
"The Internal Affairs Bureau already has a lot of manpower, and it is estimated that there will be no shortage of manpower. But there is not enough manpower, so people from the Ministry of Works are recruited. But the money is definitely not enough. If you are short of money, go to Wang Gong to make sure you have enough money and food.
"
Tingshan was both happy and worried, but for him who was only in his thirties, he was still a little more happy. He bowed and said, "This slave will definitely honor His Highness's orders!"
Yunxi said: "It doesn't have to be like this. Blast furnace ironmaking is a new method that has never been tested before. It is estimated that the first blast furnace must have many problems. It doesn't matter if it can't smelt iron. Don't build many blast furnaces at the beginning. Just build them all at once.
One, wait until there are no more problems, and then build more."
After stewing for a while, Yunxi continued: "When the first complete blast furnace is built, I will go and see it."
At this time, it was not normal for an emperor to study how to smelt iron, but it was normal to care about iron smelting. After all, whether a general’s weapons or a farmer’s hoe did not use iron? Civil servants would not object.
Yunxi then said: "Feng Mo, you will be the deputy in the matter of iron smelting and will be stationed in Meishan." Yunxi always found it strange to let a eunuch supervise things outside the palace, so he decided to choose a normal person.
It's actually been handled.
Feng Mo bowed and said, "Yes, Your Highness."
Yunhe said a few more words and turned back to Qianqing Palace.
Tingshan, Lu Chengfeng, Feng Mo, Deng Zehong and others knelt down to send Yunxi back. It wasn't until Yunxi was almost out of sight that Tingshan stood up and said to Feng Mo and Deng Zehong: "I will immediately send people to Meishan to select a site.
You should also hurry up and prepare, and you must build the first blast furnace as soon as possible!"