"Commander Yang, I've asked you to go there." Sun Sandao arrived and took a look. Well, the Jianghu people were different. They were lying all over the ground. No wonder he let them form their own camp.

"I'll come right away." Yang Qifeng stood up, patted the dust, and followed Sun Sandao.

"Commander Yang, I asked you to come here to ask if there are any iron mines nearby?" Sun Yu didn't know how to call him, so he called him his job title.

"Sir, there are some, but the output is too low. If you want to go, I can take you to have a look." These villages dare to form strongholds to protect themselves because of the discovery of iron ore. Secretly mining and making weapons cannot really be done.

Let's fight with people with sticks.

"Possible expansion of production?" When Sun Yu heard that there was an iron ore, he immediately became excited.

"The mine is not small, but it is quite difficult to mine. We don't know how to do it, so we mine it indiscriminately." The mines are all in the hands of the imperial court. When I and others discovered it, we had to do it secretly, and we didn't have good tools, so the output was naturally not high.

"Okay, let's set off early tomorrow morning!" Iron ore is a big deal. If you increase production one day earlier, you will have more strength.

"Sir, we are just ahead." At noon the next day, Yang Qifeng pointed to the top of the mountain in front and said.

"It's not far, let's go!" Since they were both on horseback, it only took two hours to reach the mine.

"Lao Yu, come out!" Yang Qifeng led Sun Yu and his party and shouted when they arrived at the mine.

"Chief Yang, the old man is here." An old man with a dark face quickly agreed upon hearing the sound.

Yang Qifeng told Lao Yu the identity and purpose of Sun Yu and his party, including the purpose of coming here.

"Sir, unless the old man is lazy, this mining cannot be rushed. We have few manpower to begin with, half of them have been used to make charcoal, and the rest have to be used to make stoves. Without these, no matter how much ore is mined, it will be in vain." Yu

The old man was a little anxious. There were too many factors that restricted the production of pig iron. Mining more ore would not be useful.

"Master Yu, don't worry. I'm just here to take a look and help you think of something. Does Master Yu know about coal? If you use it to replace charcoal, you can save a lot of manpower." Making charcoal is indeed time-consuming and laborious, and the burning temperature of charcoal is higher than

Coal is much cheaper. If coal is used to make iron, not only will it save manpower, but the quality of the iron produced will be better.

"Coal? I don't know what it is." Old Yu shook his head.

"It's a black stone that can burn, similar to charcoal." Sun Yu thought for a moment, and no one really used this thing yet, so he could only describe its characteristics.

"Sir, are you talking about charcoal? That thing is poisonous and cannot be used, sir!" When Old Man Yu thought of charcoal, he suddenly became anxious. If you are not careful with that thing, you will die.

"Master Yu, this is it. This thing cannot be used directly indoors, but it is fine outdoors. If you have this thing nearby, you might as well get it. After lighting it, I will sit next to you." Sun Yu was willing to come forward in person to dispel the problem.

This person has doubts, otherwise this coal-to-iron production will definitely not work, and he is afraid of death.

"There's it behind the mountain. Xiao Liuzi, take someone to dig some." Upon hearing this, old man Yu realized that the governor was not afraid at such a young age. He had nothing to fear. There was no harm in giving it a try.

An hour later, several baskets of coal were neatly stacked in front of Sun Yu.

"Sir, what should we do next?" Old Man Yu looked at Sun Yu and asked.

"I don't understand this, so just treat it like charcoal and refine it as you like." This Sun Yu doesn't understand, so he can't give random orders.

"come,

Knock them all into powder, mix them with iron ore, and put them into the furnace!" Old Man Yu understood clearly and directly ordered.

"ignition"

The fire in the furnace was getting stronger and stronger. Sun Yu sat next to the furnace and observed the furnace. This furnace had no mouth. How could the molten iron come out after a while?

"Sir, let's eat." Yang Qifeng brought a bowl of brown rice and handed it to Sun Yu.

"You guys eat too." Sun Yu was pulling, thinking that there was something wrong with the stove. The fire was extinguished and the molten iron was not put in. After a while, the iron had all formed into iron blocks. How could he take it out?

"Turn on the stove." It wasn't until it got dark and the stove completely cooled down that the old man said anything.

"Dong dong dong" Several craftsmen carried sledgehammers and hit hard, smashing the stove to pieces.

"Sir, it's done, it's really done." Old man Yu held the torch and stepped forward to sweep away the slag on the iron block, revealing the dark iron block underneath. He was overjoyed. Judging from the quality, it was better than the ones made with charcoal before.

good.

"You all make iron like this?" Sun Yu thought that this is too wasteful. A good furnace has become a disposable tool, no wonder the output is low. This furnace is not easy to build, and it is probably more labor-intensive than quarrying.

"Don't worry, Sir, I'm definitely not wrong. A few years ago, this old man worked in the iron mines of the previous dynasty, making iron like this." Old man Yu assured with his chest that his family had been working in the iron mines of Fujian for generations.

Every step of the work in the mine is understood clearly.

"Master Yu, how long does it take to make this stove?" Sun Yu stepped forward and touched the remaining pieces of the stove and asked.

"It depends on the weather. If the weather is suitable, it will be ready in five or six days. If the weather is bad, it will be useless." The stove must be finished and then dried in the shade. It cannot be exposed to the sun or rain.

"Master Yu, look, let's use this soil to make bricks and build a big blast furnace. Open a small door on the top to dig out the slag, and leave a trap door below to directly release the molten iron and use a mold to cool it.

.What do you think?" This iron furnace is nothing more than two products, iron and slag. The iron is heavy below, and the slag floats on the molten iron. If it can be modified in this way, the iron furnace can keep burning and producing molten iron, and the output will be as high as the sky.

went.

"My lord, you are a genius. The old man admires him greatly. But the bricks are a bit particular. The old man needs to study them." Yes, the molten iron and the slag are separated in the furnace. Otherwise, why would there be no impurities in the condensed iron block? Since it is

Why can't it be operated separately? It's just that this kind of fixed stove is definitely different from the disposable ones now, and it has to be durable. But what this young adult said is absolutely feasible, as long as you explore it yourself for a while.

"This matter is confidential. Master Yu, feel free to go and study it. Commander Yang, get my order early tomorrow morning and you can mobilize a battalion of soldiers to guard this place." Sun Yu thought about it. If he could make iron according to his own ideas,

, this is definitely an epoch-making change. But there are no technical barriers to this thing. Just like stirrups and horseshoes, others can learn it at a glance, but you have to hide it yourself.

"Sir, I have a request, old man, to bring all the family members of the craftsmen here, so that we can make iron here with peace of mind." Old man Yu, a thief, knew what Sun Yu was thinking as soon as he heard it.

"Okay, all the family members of the craftsmen will settle here and arrange to help in the mines. All expenses will be arranged by me. You can rest assured here. Anyone who performs well will be rewarded by me!" Old Man Yu said to Sun Yu.

In my heart, once these craftsmen leave this place, there is a possibility that this technology will be leaked.

"Thank you so much

Man!" The craftsmen huffed and knelt on the ground. They didn't know how useful this thing was. Anyway, in the future, the wife and children will all live together, and the family will not have to worry about food and drink. Unlike now, they can actually eat enough.

I can't figure out what's going on at home.

In the next two days, Old Man Yu did nothing but led a group of people to tinker with refractory bricks.

"Sir, please see, this brick was picked out by the old man. It is the strongest and fire-resistant. If you use it to build a furnace, it will be foolproof." Old man Yu handed a refractory brick to Sun Yu as if he was holding a treasure.

Sun Yu sat down with the refractory brick and looked to the right, but he couldn't see anything famous. He could only say that it was very good. If this thing could really start a blast furnace, it would be much more valuable to Sun Yu than a gold brick.

"How long will it take to heal?" Sun Yu was quite anxious. Seeing that the rainy season was coming, if he didn't turn on the furnace, it would be delayed for a long time.

"Five days, after five days, start the furnace!" Old man Yu also knew that Sun Yu was anxious, and Sun Yu would arrive every day these days.

"Well, the ore and coal must be prepared. Once the furnace is started, it cannot be stopped easily." Once the fire stops, the molten iron cools, and the refractory bricks are easy to break under temperature changes, so once the furnace is started, it must be kept running

Refining.

"Don't worry, sir, we have plenty prepared." Old Man Yu assured, patting his chest.

Sun Yu chatted with Old Man Yu for a few more words and returned with a group of cavalry. There should be good news for Longmen Village today.

"Sir, you are back. The house is ready and waiting for you." As soon as Sun Yu arrived at the village, Qi Wei, who had been waiting there, ran up and said. Sun Yu did not dare to neglect the tasks assigned to him.

Hurrying slowly, the airtight house was finally ready.

Sun Yu went in and looked around. Qi Wei was really attentive in his work. From the walls to the roof, except for the door, everything was airtight.

"Hang another curtain at the door, as thick as possible, you know? Find two more agile and trustworthy women." Sun Yu looked at the door. Although it was thick, it was a wooden door after all, and the gap was still quite large.

"Woman? Sir, this... this is not easy to handle. There are still some unmarried girls in our village. If you are interested, just give me a small gift and I will go to the matchmaker." Sir, it turned out that he was the one who got married.

This house is full of beauty, but the taste is too unique, so no wonder we have to make two earthen kangs.

"Pa" Sun Yu slapped Qi Wei on the forehead.

"I want people to work, you know?" Sun Yu was very angry. I don't have those special hobbies. One or two of them think they can figure out what they want. What do they think?

"I understand, I understand." Qi Wei hurried out without raising his head.

Qi Wei thought as he walked, did the master really not mean that, or was he embarrassed and angry because I saw through it? Oops! This is hard to grasp.

"By the way, it's her." Qi Wei thought of one person, and he was right to find her. She has a beautiful face and a well-proportioned figure. She is also a woman. She can go to the hall and go to the kitchen. Qi Wei thought of his pride, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but show.

With a smile, we are still very suitable to take care of adults' worries.

"Er Gouzi, are you at home?" Qi Wei walked to the door and knocked. The last time he knocked was in the middle of the night, but they didn't open the door for him.

"Creak!" The wooden door was half open. A woman held the door with her left hand and hid her right hand behind her back, looking at Qi Wei.
Chapter completed!