Chapter 495 What Li Taizhi saw
Hot air balloons sound very high-end, but in fact the principle is very simple. The density of hot air is lower than that of cold air, so the air in the air bag can be heated to fly into the sky. Li Tai is not interested in this. He also understands this principle, but he does not It is believed that it will produce enough power to lift a person to the sky.
He is interested in iron furnaces...
The best craftsmen of this era were recruited by the government. The government-run handicraft industry has always occupied a dominant position in the ancient handicraft industry, representing the highest level of production technology. These craftsmen were concentrated in workshops set up by the government, using raw materials provided by the government and under the supervision of work officials to produce and process products designated by the government.
This is the case for military equipment supervisors and general supervisors.
Their professions are hereditary and they have worked for the government for generations.
But Li Tai never expected that the Fang family's iron-making furnace would be so advanced...
As the temperature of the furnace gradually increased, the molten iron melted, rolled and burned in the furnace, releasing a large amount of smoke and flames rising into the sky. Li Tai, who stood stunned not far away from the furnace, had his cheeks turn red. He looked at the iron that was being blown by the blower. The whining sound of the iron-making furnace almost made your eyes pop out!
Ordinary iron-smelting furnaces emit pitch-black smoke. On a calm day, it can choke people to death within a radius of more than ten feet. Wherever it is like this, even the smoke rushing out of the chimney is filled with flames, and sparks fill the sky. Fly!
Li Tai of Wenwen Guangji understands that this is a scenario that is only possible when the furnace temperature reaches an unprecedented level.
The quality of iron is closely related to the temperature of the furnace. Needless to say, the quality of the iron produced from this furnace must be excellent! If you put it in someone else's iron factory, you may not be able to make such a good furnace of iron in your lifetime!
Li Tai looked around and saw some professional blacksmiths who had gone out and stared outside the iron-making furnace. Almost no one was interested in such a furnace of high-quality iron materials that was about to be released. It seemed that in their eyes, this was just an ordinary thing. I've long been tired of seeing furnace iron, it's more interesting than Fang Jun's super sky lantern...
how so?
Is it possible that the Fang family's iron-making furnace can already produce every furnace of iron to this level? Otherwise, how could the craftsmen treat it so indifferently?
This is incredible!
Li Tai became more and more curious, and kept walking around the iron-making furnace, looking at the novel blower, the iron-making furnace buried underground, and the grooves at the bottom of the iron-making furnace... like a curious baby, He looked at this and that, and from time to time he grabbed a craftsman and asked him questions.
The craftsman knew that he was a prince, and when he pulled his clothes, he turned pale with fright and almost died. However, he kept his mouth shut and did not say a word about Li Tai's question. Being asked anxiously, he could only say with a sad face: "Your Majesty, please do me a favor. This is related to the top secret of our iron-making furnace. I dare not tell you even to death! If you really want to know, you might as well ask Erlang. All these things of ours were created by Erlang alone, and we don’t even know what they mean..."
Li Tai was helpless and knew that he was a little reckless.
As strange as the Fang family's iron-making furnace, it must be kept strictly confidential, otherwise everyone else will learn about it. How does Fang Jun, a money man, make money?
But he is also stubborn, doesn’t he say it? That’s okay, I won’t ask any more questions, I’ll just watch, okay?
So Li Tai stood aside with his hands crossed, staring at every step of the iron-making furnace.
The craftsmen did not dare to say anything.
After all, he is a prince. In ordinary times, he would be a god-like figure. Who dares to go up and drive him away? Besides, since this person was brought by Erlang, Erlang must not be afraid of him taking a look at it casually. Since Erlang doesn't want to chase people away, let him alone.
But then again, who can learn the iron-making furnace designed by Erlang just by looking at it?
No kidding...
The craftsmen pretended that His Highness the King of Wei did not exist and put on several layers of thick kudzu clothes for protection. They held long-handled iron pliers and opened the trap door of the taphole at the bottom of the blast furnace. The orange-red molten iron burst through the gate happily. Rushing out. This completely melted molten iron is mixed with slag. The iron is heavy but the slag is light. Most of the slag floats on the surface. The larger ones are blocked by a baffle made of pig iron on the trench. The craftsmen hold long iron sticks and move the slag. The slag was shoved aside.
Looking at this scene, Li Tai admired Fang Jun to the extreme.
Li Tai has never made iron, but this does not prevent him from knowing that the biggest problem in making iron is the furnace temperature. If the furnace temperature is not enough, the iron ore cannot be completely melted, and the quality of the iron produced is generally not very good.
But raising the furnace temperature is a super difficult problem. Throughout the ages, no great craftsman has been able to come up with a perfect way to improve this.
And in the iron-making furnace in front of us, just one furnace of iron can completely melt the iron. How high is the temperature? Looking at the dazzling orange-red molten iron in front of him, Li Tai felt as if he was being scratched by a cat!
How did they do it?
At this time, the trench used for casting has been opened, and the mold has been set up on the ground. The molten iron from which large pieces of slag has been removed flows into the mold from the trench and is cast into pig iron ingots. After a while, two hundred pig iron ingots were cast under Li Tai's eyes.
Li Tai no longer knew how to describe his mood, he was completely stupid!
Changsun Wuji is his uncle. Although the relationship has never been very close, before he participated in the fight for the heirloom in the past few years, he still went back to play at his uncle's house every now and then. He also visited Changsun's iron factory in the west of Chang'an City. . I remember that the largest iron-making furnace in Changsun's family at that time could produce thousands of kilograms of iron in one furnace. Changsun Wuji grinned with joy. It was all money!
But there are nearly more than 10,000 kilograms lying on the ground, right?
This is not over yet!
The molten iron in the furnace was not completely released, so it was obviously still useful.
Li Tai concentrated on watching the craftsmen close the trench used for casting and open another trench leading to the iron furnace. The strange iron furnace was nestled under the horizon. It was hard to see what it looked like, and the molten iron flowed by itself. Enter the iron stove that has been burning for half an hour.
The craftsman started the mixing equipment, and the large disk on the top of the furnace slowly rotated, driving the wrought iron rods to stir in circles in the molten iron, causing the molten iron to tumble. Li Tai nodded secretly. This kind of equipment is simple in design, but very practical. It is obviously hundreds of times more powerful than human power.
As soon as the molten pig iron that had just flowed in from the iron-making furnace was stirred, it reacted violently. The molten iron immediately boiled, bubbles popped out, and the slag was pushed to the edge of the furnace and piled up. The molten iron in the wok gradually thickens, from clear soup to sauce, and finally gathers into molten iron balls.
The craftsmen used long-nose pliers to pick up a piece of iron, put it on the chopping board and struck it with a sledgehammer. Because it was winter, the river had already frozen, and the row of tall and heavy hydraulic forging hammers next to it were all closed. Li Tai vaguely remembered seeing such a thing in some book, but he couldn't remember it.
An old craftsman clamped a piece of wrought iron, and two apprentices with big muscles and round waists next to them rounded their arms. The hammers with big heads of children hammered repeatedly, causing bursts of sparks to fly. The iron mass gradually cooled and hardened. The hammer hit sparks everywhere but left no trace. This piece of iron was tough and hard. It was obviously a piece of high-quality steel!
The old craftsman smiled and said: "This piece is good, and the steel mouth is excellent. Wasn't Erlang's cross-blade knife taken away by Mr. Cheng some time ago? Looking back, the old man made another one for Erlang himself! I guess this piece of steel The quality is much better than that batch. This knife should be sharper when it is made!”
Li Tai walked over, not caring about the prince's appearance and royal majesty. He lowered his waist and looked at the piece of steel carefully, admiring in his heart. Look at the quality, it is a rare and good steel!
His Royal Highness the King of Wei straightened up and turned around and shouted at Fang Jun: "I have bought this piece of fine iron. I will send someone back to the palace!"
Fang Junzheng was discussing with Liu Laoshi how to design and install the exhaust valve of the airbag. After hearing this, he came over with Princess Jinyang on his back. The little girl seemed to feel that Fang Jun's wide back was warm and comfortable, and she actually stayed on it and refused to get off the ground...
Fang Jun is not afraid that Li Tai will secretly learn iron-making techniques.
I don’t know how to make coking, what carburizing is, how to preheat air, how to increase the furnace temperature, how to prepare raw materials, how to make graphite crucibles... I just secretly learned the appearance of an iron-making furnace, and I’m just a disciple. It has its shape but not its spirit, and it is impossible to refine steel of the same quality.
The knowledge here spans thousands of years and is so great!
He lowered his head and looked at the piece of steel that Wang Xiaoer was holding, and asked Li Tai: "Why, His Highness likes this piece of steel very much?"
Li Tai said: "It's indeed good. It's rare to see such a good steel mouth. If you use it to make a sword, it will be as sharp as clay. It will be a rare magic weapon! How about making an offer? I bought it!”
"Haha" Fang Jun smiled nonchalantly and said casually: "I can't even stock up on steel of this quality in my warehouse. Your Highness likes it, so just take it. How vulgar is it to say that it's not money?" br>
This thing is not rare in my family. If you think it is a treasure, I will give it to you for free, no money...
Li Tai held his breath in his chest and almost couldn't breathe. The king has taken a fancy to something and wants to buy it back at any cost, but if you leave it here, you just throw it away like a wild vegetable...
Has Fang Jun, this bastard, reached the highest level of slap in the face? (End of chapter)