The Ming Dynasty started with caution

Ordered the forging master to forge steel. After watching for half an hour, Yan Chengjin found that the method was the same as what he saw in the Ministry of Industry.

Mao Qu did not cast a new furnace.

Instead, he sawed a hole in the old furnace and modified it according to the shape on the drawing.

However, there was one thing he did not understand.

"May I ask, Lord Yan, what is oxygen?"

Such a simple question is still asked. This official doubts your ability. Yan Chengjin said: "Hold your nose. When you can't hold it anymore, the air you breathe in is oxygen."

Oxygen is extremely important for forging steel, so it needs to be told to Mao Qu.

In addition, lime needs to be poured to remove impurities in pig iron, but Yan Chengjin does not know how to set the material mouth and whether the process is correct.

Mao Ji walked into the thatched shed with a bad face: "Lord Yan, I just gave you two inkstones, why do you harm me like this?"

Follow Yan Chengjin in Liangxiang to fool around, and wait for Yan Chengjin to fail in the future.

How can there be a good end?

Yan Chengjin hadn't had time to look at Mao Ji's family file, and didn't know that Mao Qu was Mao Ji's son.

"I didn't know that, Lord Mao, take the man back. He is no longer an engineer in Liangxiang."

Mao Ji's face looked better, and he waved his hand. Several burly men rushed up.

Mao Qu's face was pale, and he was at a loss: "Father, Lord Yan is making steel, which is a blessing to the world."

"Do you know how much trouble you will cause if you enter Liangxiang in the future? Come back with me."

...

Huagai Palace.

Emperor Hongzhi was reading it intently and was about to turn the page of the memorial. At this time, the clerk walked in: "Your Majesty, the Minister of Works Mao Ji wants to impeach Lord Yan."

Xiao Jing was shocked and suddenly he was no longer sleepy.

Emperor Hongzhi did not take the memorial, and it was useless to read it: "What are you impeaching?"

Mou Bin said: "Mao Qu, the son of Lord Mao, made bad friends and accompanied his friends to take the engineering exam, and he passed."

"Just call Mao Qu back, why impeach him, it's a waste of my energy."

"Your Majesty, you don't know, Yan Chengjin wanted Mao Qu to use a furnace to make steel, and Lord Mao thought it was Yan Chengjin who bewitched him."

Steelmaking has always been forged by craftsmen.

When has it ever been made with a furnace? If it can be made with a furnace, what is the value of steel?

There is already steel everywhere.

Emperor Hongzhi's face became solemn, and he turned around and stared at Mou Bin: "You just said that Yan Chengjin wanted to use a furnace to make steel?!"

"Yes, Your Majesty, but it seems that it has not been done yet. Do you want to summon Lord Yan to ask?" Mou Bin said.

Emperor Hongzhi snorted: "Someone has tried it before. It can be refined in a furnace. Why wait until today?"

...

Fangshan, a newly built straw shed.

Yan Chengjin stared at the huge furnace. It was very hot when he was close to the furnace, especially in September, when it was still hot during the day.

Being close to the furnace was like being roasted on the fire.

The furnace was turned over and put into the mold of clay sculpture. It gradually took shape. Yan Chengjin hurriedly said: "Let's see if it is iron or steel."

Song Jing picked up the long sword, cooled it for a while, and swung it at the steel sword beside him.

There was a click.

There is no doubt...

"My lord, it is iron."

Xie Pi said: "Maybe the craftsmanship of this furnace is poor. The feed inlet and air inlet are not cast properly."

The furnace needs to be remodeled.

The key to refining steel is not the refining of steel itself, but the refining furnace.

As long as the process is correct, this furnace can produce steel continuously.

The problem to be solved now is how air can enter and contact with molten iron.

The high temperature caused all the air in the furnace to escape.

If a hole is cast in the furnace wall or bottom, the molten iron will flow out through the hole.

…

A few days later, Mao Mansion,

Mao Qu was locked in the mansion and was not allowed to go out. During the meal, he told the long-serving servant: "Go and ask, has the furnace in Liangxiang been built?"

More than an hour later, the long-serving servant came back and said: "No, I heard from Engineer Wang that five furnaces failed."

Engineer Wang's name is Wang Xu, and he is a good friend of Mao Qu.

"Where is my father?"

"The master said he doesn't want to see you, so you stay in the house, and you don't have to take the college entrance examination."

Mao Ji asked Xie Qian and others for their opinions. The only way to save his son is to lock him in the mansion.

As long as Yan Chengjin hasn't asked that question, there is still hope.

Wait for half a year, and if this kid doesn't go to Liangxiang anymore, let him out.

"Is that carved by my father?"

After not returning to the mansion for a few days, Mao Qu found a new object in the yard that looked like a furnace tripod.

It is round at the bottom and pointed at the top, with a mouth like a teapot, and bamboo sticks on both sides to support the sides like arms.

Mao Qu pondered for a moment, and a flash of inspiration came to his mind: "Go get me a piece of wax, and my father's carving knife."

The long-servant carefully stole the master's carving knife, and then went to get a dozen large candles.

Mao Qu wrapped a layer of paper in the copper basin, and then poured the melted candles into it.

A quarter of an hour later, it melted into a large ball of white wax and began to carve.

Forbidden City, the imperial palace.

Emperor Hongzhi seemed to remember something and looked at Xiao Jing: "Has Yan Chengjin's steel been forged?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, five furnaces were built, and all failed." Xiao Jing whispered.

Li Dongyang and others had different expressions.

Steel cannot be forged in batches. Everyone knows this, but this kid is still so persistent.

"Mao Qing's family, how is the military supervision going?"

"I, I am still thinking of a way."

After the palace meeting, he returned to the duty room of the Ministry of Works.

Mao Ji frowned, thinking about how to get the money to forge weapons. "Your Majesty, we can't just shirk our responsibilities. I have already entrusted you with the task for five days. What good ideas do you have?"

"Why not use futures to raise money?" said Bo Wang, a doctor in the Ministry of Works.

Mao Ji and the ministers looked over.

Bo Wang continued, "When we forge weapons, we will also forge some iron tools and sell them to the gentry, but the gentry need to pay silver."

The gentry can pay the craftsmen wages and food with this silver.

The raw materials can be remelted with the now rusted weapons.

"There are many iron smelting plants in the market. How can the gentry be interested in a few iron tools?"

Mao Ji knew it was a bad idea.

It would be great if Yan Chengjin could forge steel. Steel is in short supply. If it is made into futures, it will definitely cause a scramble among the gentry.

But how can forging steel be so easy?

There was still no solution until the end of the shift. Mao Ji returned to the mansion in a depressed mood. He asked the housekeeper listlessly: "Has the young master been honest these two days?"

"I have been more honest, but today the long-serving servant stole the master's carving knife."

Mao Ji's heart was slightly moved. That was his second lifeblood. "Is it broken?"

This kid actually took out his anger on the old man's carving knife!

"No, I was carving a wax block."

As soon as the housekeeper finished speaking, he saw the long-serving servant coming out of the main hall and ran into Mao Ji, looking guilty.

"The young master wants to eat candied haws, and asked me to buy them..."

Mao Ji took out two taels of silver from his sleeve and waved his hand: "Go."

The long-serving servant borrowed a fast horse from the pawnshop and rushed to Fangshan, and went to the straw shed where he usually went to find Wang Xu.

A quarter of an hour later, Wang Xu hurried over with a wax stove: "Master Yan, Mao Qu sent it."

Yan Chengjin took a closer look.

This thing looks like a furnace, with an opening on the top and bottom, a bucket and an empty pipe on top, and a bracket in the middle, so that the furnace body can shake left and right.

Xie Pi frowned slightly: "The furnace is finely carved, and the air enters from the top, but I have never tried it."

Yan Chengjin has never tried this kind of drawing.

He immediately ordered people to forge a furnace the size of an incense burner. If this furnace can be made, a large furnace will not be a problem.

Two hours later, a small furnace was cast.

Xie Pi followed the process, first poured in molten iron, then poured in lime, kept blowing, and calcined with hot fire below.

The molten iron was poured out, formed in the yellow mud mold, and gradually cooled.

Xie Pi picked up the steel sword and flicked the sword body with his fingers, his face full of excitement: "My lord, it's steel!"

Song Jing and others were stunned.

With this furnace, steel can be forged in batches.

Everyone go to bed after reading it, good night