The fool has become a spirit, and she can speak

Wan Lianxing pointed at the small stove and said, "Shang Xi, don't you want to mix some more mud? It's the same if you pull two carts of bricks to build a stove. What's the matter with this three-foot-high stove of yours? You won't tell me that this is the stove you made."

Wan Lianxing's words and actions reveal that he is untrustworthy, misleading and unreliable.

Shang Xi said: "What's wrong with this furnace? Although it's a little small, it can still smelt iron."

Wan Lianxing asked, "Are you planning to use it to make iron?"

Shang Xi nodded: "I'll use it."

On the other side, Suiying, who had almost finished smashing the iron powder, put down the sledgehammer in his hand, walked over and looked around the furnace, "If you hadn't told me, I would have thought it was a small chimney. Can this be used to smelt iron?"

Shang Xi said confidently: "Yes, small doesn't mean it is not useful. I just want to know if this mine can produce iron. You just wait and see me refine it." Shang Xi has been thinking about it for many days. This iron ore is nothing more than iron oxide. He can just use carbon to reduce the iron back to normal. This should not be difficult.

Shang Xi used a tinder to light the hay in the stove. This time, Wan Lianxing and the others knew the final use of the bundle of grass standing in the middle of the ground. It turned out that it was used to dry the mud stove.

Shang Xi directed everyone to work.

"Someone come and help me pull the blower." As the blower was pulled, the fire in the stove began to burn.

"Add a shovel of charcoal."

With a rustle, the charcoal entered the furnace.

"Add a shovel of iron ore powder."

With a swish, the iron ore powder entered the furnace.

Shang Xi observed for a while and poured half a shovel of limestone into the furnace.

This was repeated many times, with everyone's eyes fixed on this small chimney-like stove for more than two hours. When Shang Xi asked the people pulling the bellows to stop, the brand new blower was almost sparked by everyone's rotation.

Wan Lianxing asked: "Is it done?"

Shang Xi said: "Let the heat dissipate and take it out to have a look and you'll know. There should be no problem." Although it was her first time refining iron, she was confident in the iron she refined. It was just a reduction reaction and it was not difficult.

When the temperature dropped, Shang Xi used a pair of large iron pliers to pick out the iron with impurities piece by piece, and everyone gathered around to watch.

"Is this iron?"

Shang Xi tapped the smelted iron with pliers, making a crisp sound, "You all heard it, this is pig iron."

Wan Lianxing bent over and stared at the pile of stuff for a long time. It didn't look like iron at all. He casually pulled out the sword from Suiying's waist, plucked it twice in the small pile of oddly shaped pig iron, and knocked it again. "It's the sound of iron, but why doesn't it look like iron?"

Shang Xi said confidently: "I guarantee that this is iron, but there are impurities in it, so it is not so pure, and the mechanical properties of iron have not been improved."

Wan Lianxing asked: "How do we remove these impurities? How do you improve the performance?"

Shang Xi said: "It's very simple. Light a fire, heat the pig iron until it's red, and beat it with a hammer. The impurities in the pig iron will be removed. If you want to get iron with better performance, you need to hammer it a thousand times. Only after hundreds of hammering and forging can you forge hard and wear-resistant steel."

"It's that simple."

Shang Xi said: "It's not difficult at all."

Wan Lianxing said: "What are you waiting for? Light a fire and forge."

Shang Xi wiped the sweat off her face with her sleeve: "Is it time for dinner?"

Shang Xi was not the only one who was hungry at this time. In fact, everyone had been hungry for a long time. They had missed the time for this bowl of rice. However, because Wan Lianxing was here supervising everyone, no one dared to mention the matter of eating. After all, Wan Lianxing attached too much importance to iron smelting.

However, when Shang Xi asked this question, everyone seemed a little hungry. More than a dozen pairs of eyes were staring at Wan Lianxing, waiting for him to speak.

Wan Lianxing laughed and scolded, "Look at what you have accomplished. I wanted to strike while the iron is hot and forge the iron he wanted in one go, but seeing how hungry you are, I will let you go eat first. After the meal, no one of you can be left behind. Come here and work."

"Yes, my lord." Everyone rushed to the dining hall, and only a few people were left.

Wan Lianxing was happy at this time. Although the iron he refined looked different from what he imagined, it was still iron, and at least he was halfway successful. He smiled and said, "Shang Xi, you are really capable. You can make iron with just a small furnace."

"Uncle, you usually don't praise me. If you have something to say, just say it." As the saying goes, there must be something wrong when something is abnormal, especially when Wan Lianxing is acting abnormally, there must be a conspiracy.

Wan Lianxing smiled and said, "Shang Xi, the small furnace you made is not as impressive as the big furnace in the blacksmith's shop."

"What do you mean, uncle?"

Wan Lianxing said, "Since you are so talented, I'd like to go all out. You should research and develop a blacksmith factory for me."

Shang Xi's eyes widened: "Uncle, you are risking your life. We are all secretly smelting iron. Do you want to make things bigger? Shouldn't this be kept secret?"

"With my uncle here, what are you afraid of?"

Shang Xi said: "I am afraid of you. Before I knew you, Cheng Feng and I were living a comfortable life. Since we went to Bianjing, we have been experiencing all kinds of excitement."

Wan Lianxing laughed out loud, "Just do whatever I ask you to do. If anything goes wrong, I'll take care of it."

Shang Xi said, "Why did you have to play with fire when you could do something else? My son might still be crying on the road right now."

Wan Lianxing smiled and said, "That kid is much smarter than you. He must be sleeping in the carriage now."

Wan Lianxing was right about this. Cheng Youning fell into Qiao Rong's arms and fell asleep in a dark sleep. Qiao Rong's legs were numb from being pressed by him. Qiao Rong tried to move his legs, and Cheng Youning cried reflexively, but he was actually still asleep.

Seeing this, Qiao Rong patted Cheng Youning's face and said, "Young Master, wake up. You are still crying in your sleep. Do you not want your voice anymore?"

Cheng Youning was awakened and looked at Qiao Rong with a pair of innocent eyes, "Where are we?"

"On the way back to Fengying City."

Cheng Youning pursed his lips after hearing this, looking very aggrieved, but he didn't cry. He knew that even if he cried himself to death, his parents wouldn't be able to see it. "Where's my brother?"

"sleeping."

"Qiao Rong, my hand hurts." He stretched out his hand to Qiao Rong with a wronged look.

Qiao Rong rubbed his wrist and said, "How can it not hurt? You've been tied up with such a thick rope for an hour, and you haven't been honest. The skin is broken."

Cheng Youning pouted and said, "Daddy is bad. He actually tied me up with a rope."

Qiao Rong said: "You must learn your lesson this time. Don't take other people's things casually in the future."