In the blink of an eye, it is the Spring Festival, officially entering the twelfth year of Zhengde.
During the Chinese New Year, Hangzhou officials wanted to visit the governor and take photos to get closer. Unexpectedly, the governor actually did not return from his inspection tour.
For those who don't know, the Governor-General was praised for his hard work for the country, but he was still running around during the Spring Festival and New Year's Day.
Those who were well-informed knew that Governor Wang was not doing his job properly and took several of his disciples to live in the Shaoxing Iron Works.
In the steelmaking furnaces of the Ming Dynasty, the furnace temperature exceeded 1,300 degrees. To make Suzhou Iron and Steel, it had to be at least 1,300 degrees.
It is unclear whether the furnace temperature can continue to increase, but the refractory materials of the Ming Dynasty could not withstand it. Refractory bricks made of clay and various materials will slowly melt when the temperature exceeds 1,400 degrees.
If you want to use a square furnace to make steel, the crucible must be able to withstand a high temperature of 1500 degrees, because the melting point of ordinary steel is above 1500 degrees!
On the ninth day of the first lunar month, Wang Yuan made steel for the first time.
Because he didn't know the specific method, the steelmaking material he chose was directly based on the "pig iron covering method" in the steel-filling method. That is, using pig iron to wrap the inferior steel produced by the steel-frying method, place it in a crucible and send it to the steel-making furnace for heating.
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This kind of gameplay is purely a mistake.
The crucible steelmaking method invented in Europe uses foamed steel. Wang Yuan's material for the steel-filling method is also feasible, and there is not much difference.
There is nothing wrong with the steel, but there is a big problem with the crucible!
"It's out of the oven, it's out of the oven!" a craftsman shouted, and other craftsmen also came to see the strange thing.
The moment the furnace was turned on, Wang Yuan's face looked very ugly.
The pig iron and fried steel melted together, but the molten steel was not refined at all. Instead, the crucible inside was already refined.
The crucible used by Wang Yuan is made of imitation steel-making furnace materials, and now it seems that it must be improved.
Each of the craftsmen was holding back, wanting to laugh but not daring to laugh, and silently returned to their posts.
How to change it?
Wang Yuan first thought of the graphite crucible, which was commonly used in many industries in later generations.
"Zhang Mu!" Wang Yuan called.
Zhang Mu immediately responded and stepped forward: "The humble post is here!"
Wang Yuan ordered: "Get me some graphite, the black kind."
"yes!"
It's a ghost. Zhang Mu doesn't even know what graphite is.
After some inquiring, Zhang Mu finally found out that graphite was actually carbolic acid, which was the name used every day in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Zhang Mu thought to himself: "The governor deserves to be the number one scholar, and the ancient name for graphite should also be used for graphite."
Zhang Muzi went to look for carbon while Wang Yuan stayed behind to improve the steel-making furnace.
The blast channel was redesigned and supplemented with a tall chimney. Anyway, the stove built was nondescript and became the butt of jokes when the craftsmen went home and chatted with their wives.
More than half a month later, Zhang Mu came back with a basket of graphite on his back and said happily: "President, the graphite is here!"
Wang Yuan looked at the frame of coal and smiled bitterly: "You call this thing graphite?"
Zhang Mu was stunned: "Wrong one? It's black, also called graphite."
"Wrong. The graphite I want is very soft and greasy. This kind of graphite is too hard. Look for it again!" Wang Yuan didn't know what graphite was called in ancient China.
Zhang Mu could only continue to inquire, and Wang Yuan also inquired from the craftsmen, but unfortunately they did not get any clues.
Poor Zhang Mu visited everywhere in Shaoxing Fucheng. Some people said they didn't know, and some said graphite was just graphite.
Several days later, a Shaoxing Prefecture student said with a smile: "It's dark, soft, and greasy. It's called graphite, right?"
"Yes, yes," Zhang Mu nodded repeatedly, "Mr. Sir, this governor is of great use, please help me!"
"Follow me." The health worker smiled and led Zhang Mu to a shop selling rouge and gouache.
Zhang Mu asked in confusion: "What are you doing here?"
The health worker didn't answer, and just said to the shopkeeper: "Shopkeeper, please bring me a few kilograms of thrush stone. I want black stone, not soot!"
The shopkeeper asked in surprise: "How many kilograms of thrush stone? This is the first time I heard that thrush stone is bought by the kilogram."
"What nonsense, just sell it to me," said the student.
So Zhang Mu took the students and the few kilograms of thrush stones back to the iron factory to meet Wang Yuan.
Wang Yuan picked up the thrush stone, squeezed it, and wrote on the ground. He said happily: "This is exactly the thrush stone. Is it actually a thrush stone?"
The student raised his hands and said: "There are two kinds of thrush stone, one is called black stone, also called graphite, which is dug out of the soil; the other is called smoke charcoal, which is made by burning pine wood."
Thrush stone is called smoke charcoal, black stone, and graphite.
Coal is also called stone carbon, coke, and graphite.
Who the hell can figure it out?
At least in Wang Yuan's family, Huang E used smoke charcoal, which is usually called brow stone or black ink.
Wang Yuan was overjoyed and asked: "What do you call your friends?"
The student members repeatedly said: "I don't dare to take it. I was born late, with the surname of Li, a given name of Le, and a courtesy name of Shanyun. I entered the school in the fourth year of Zhengde."
Wang Yuan smiled and said: "If you think about it this way, you and I will still enter school in the same year."
Li Le said: "It is a great honor to be born in the same age as the governor."
Wang Yuan asked: "Thrush stone is called graphite, which should be very rare. How did you know?"
Li Le said embarrassedly: "I like to read miscellaneous books, and I forgot where I saw it. Anyway, the black stone used to draw eyebrows is also called graphite, and it is also called soft gangue."
In fact, "soft gangue" is the scientific name of graphite in the Ming Dynasty. It has been used as a refractory material for steelmaking and porcelain firing in some places in China. Graphite crucibles existed in the mid-Ming Dynasty.
Wang Yuan asked: "You are knowledgeable and knowledgeable. Are you willing to do errands in the Governor's Mansion?"
Li Le liked to read some messy books, and felt that it would be difficult for anyone to take the exam, so he immediately said with great joy: "Thank you for your appreciation, President!"
Wang Yuan then mixed graphite with clay to make a graphite crucible, then filled it with pig iron, fried the steel and sent it to the furnace for heating.
After burning in the improved furnace for a long time, when I took it out, it became the laughing stock of the craftsmen again.
This time, the graphite crucible was not burned out, but neither the pig iron nor the fried steel was turned into molten steel. The furnace temperature was not enough!
The stove has been improved to the extreme by Wang Yuan, at least he doesn't know how to increase the temperature.
But how did the Europeans do it?
There must be some other way!
Wang Yuan searched his guts and recalled various physical and chemical knowledge, but still had no clue.
For several days, Wang Yuan locked himself in the room, and his disciples did not dare to disturb him.
The ironworks craftsmen gloated over the misfortune and regarded the governor's steel-making as a joke. The governor could make steel just by tinkering, so what else do they, the smelting craftsmen, do?
A few days later, Wang Yuan woke up in the middle of the night. He dreamed that he was doing a chemistry experiment in high school and was scolded by his teacher for making mistakes.
"Haha," Wang Yuan patted the bed board and laughed, "The chemical reaction is too slow, so we can use a catalyst. The furnace temperature is not enough to melt the fried steel, so I can use a flux!"
Common fluxes include calcium oxide, magnesium oxide, silicon dioxide, etc.
Magnesium oxide is hard to find, but calcium oxide and silica are common. Just get quicklime and glass.