After Zhu Yuyao arrived outside the steel plant, she did not rush in directly. That would not only be irresponsible for her own safety, but also easily cause an accident in the steel plant.

Therefore, she waited outside the factory for Ma Dong, the director of the Nanjing Steel Plant, and other officials to greet her, and then asked the Imperial Guards to go in first to investigate and set up defenses. This was also a time to prepare for the workers of the steel plant, while she greeted Song Yingxing, Ma Dong, and others outside the factory.

People ask about the production situation at the steel plant.

"How many blast furnaces and open-hearth furnaces are there currently in the plant? How much steel can it produce per month?"

Ma Dong is a capable man in his thirties, but his job in the steel factory is the eighth grade from the Ministry of Industry.

When he heard this, he bowed his head and said nervously and excitedly: "Your Majesty, our factory currently has six new iron-making blast furnaces, each of which can produce 100,000 kilograms of iron per day, which is 50 tons, so it can produce 100,000 kilograms of iron per day.

Nine thousand tons of iron.

In addition, there are five new open-hearth furnaces for steelmaking, each of which can produce ten tons of steel per day, so it can produce 1,500 tons of steel per month, which is three million kilograms!"

Ma Dong may have been too excited, and he was not fully adapted to the new unit of calculation for steel, so he converted it into kilograms twice in his speech.

(There is a difference between Ming Dynasty Jin and modern Jin. For the convenience of writing, they will be treated as the same here. If you have any doubts about steel production, please read the author's notes.)

Next to them, Zhu Dadian and Yang Tinglin, who were learning about the production conditions of the steel plant for the first time, were stunned after hearing Ma Dong's words.

Yang Tinglin couldn't help but ask, "Director Ma, you said a blast furnace can produce 100,000 kilograms of iron in one day?!"

"Yes," Ma Dong nodded, "Sometimes it even exceeds one hundred thousand catties."

Although he knew that Ma Dong could not lie in front of Zhu Aelao, Yang Tinglin couldn't help but murmured: "How is this possible?"

He was a Jinshi in the fourth year of Chongzhen. At that time, the Ming Dynasty's main attention was on internal and external wars. Therefore, there were not only many scholars who studied military books and practiced riding and archery, but also paid attention to military preparations.

Yang Tinglin also served in the Ministry of War, handling matters such as food, pay and armaments for the army, so he had a certain understanding of the iron smelting situation in the Ming Dynasty.

As far as he knew, the level of private iron-making in the Ming Dynasty was even higher than that of the official government, with Foshan Town in Guangdong being the worst. It is said that a bottle furnace (bottle-shaped furnace) was used to make iron, and under normal circumstances only three or four irons were produced in a day.

A thousand catties, the highest is more than six thousand catties of iron a day.

But according to what Ma Dong said, the new blast furnace used in the Nanjing Iron and Steel Plant can actually produce 100,000 kilograms of iron per furnace per day!

It was actually ten times more than what he knew before!

Although Zhu Dadian didn't know much about the iron output before the Ming Dynasty, he did have a rough idea.

But what shocked him most was the production of steel, because in his understanding, steel still needs to be forged from iron. Even if you want to produce more than a thousand kilograms a day, you need to hire many blacksmiths.

And this steel plant actually uses an open-hearth furnace to make steel. One furnace can produce 20,000 kilograms (ten tons) per day!

What kind of terrifying steel output is this?

It’s no wonder that the Royal Guards, Imperial Guards and even the Border Guards can use steel plate armor, helmets, weapons, steel cannons, and even wrap warships with steel plates to build steel-armored warships!

Zhu Dadian and Yang Tinglin were shocked, but they saw Zhu Yuyao nodded calmly and said calmly: "This result is barely qualified, but you still have to fully mobilize the enthusiasm of the workers and further increase production. We in the Ming Dynasty will never have too much steel.

of."

Is this just qualified?

Zhu Dadian and Yang Tinglin didn't know what to say after hearing this.

The slight pride in Ma Dong's heart dissipated in an instant, and he responded: "Please remember this."

As the director of the steel plant, and he was selected from among the officials of the government-run iron plant, Ma Dong naturally understood how excellent the new blast furnace ironmaking and flat road steelmaking methods introduced from Chengdu, Sichuan were.

Especially the method of making steel.

As far as he knew, in the past, Suzhou Iron and Steel was the most important steel-making company in the Ming Dynasty, but it could only be produced in small quantities through the mature steel-filling method. Not only was the output not as good as the open-hearth steel-making method, but it was also inferior in terms of ease of operation and quality.

Far worse.

When he first learned about these two techniques, he even regarded them as "immortal arts" brought by His Majesty from the fairy world.

As the director of the steel plant, although he has only been in office for a short period of time, it is true that he has not been able to fully exert the effectiveness of his "magic". He should be ashamed. How can he be proud of himself?

Zhu Yulao chatted with a group of officials about steel production for half an hour, and the Imperial Guards finally finished inspecting the steel plant.

Immediately, Zhu Ainao went in with some officials to inspect.

Whether it is the steel plant in Sichuan or the Nanjing Steel Plant, the blast furnaces used are nothing compared to those of later generations.

The new blast furnace used in the Nanjing Iron and Steel Plant is the best blast furnace designed by Hao Guangming through professionals on the modern Internet based on the basics of the steel industry in the late Ming Dynasty. It is generally based on the first two Japanese-style blast furnaces of the Hanyang Iron and Steel Plant in the late Qing Dynasty.

The hearth has a diameter of 2.25 meters, a height of 2.51 meters, and a volume of 248 cubic meters. However, due to some technical and material limitations, the appearance of the blast furnace is actually larger than the two blast furnaces of Hanyang Iron and Steel Plant.

The output is only half of that.

However, looking at the performance of Zhu Dadian and Yang Tinglin, we know that such steel output is enough to dominate the world.

Because these blast furnaces were only one or two feet high at most, they did not shock Zhu, Yang and others at all.

Zhu Yuyao had already seen more spectacular production scenes from the Internet in later generations, and naturally had no idea about the scale of the current Nanjing Iron and Steel Plant.

She didn't know much about the specific production technology or processes, so the focus of the inspection was not on that. She mainly focused on the work and living environment of the workers in the steel plant, and understanding their actual treatment.

After interviewing several people in the middle, Zhu Yuyao felt relieved when they learned that there was no difference between the treatment and the treatment stipulated in the new policy of the Ministry of Industry.

In her opinion, Zhu Aao's inspection this time was very conservative. After all, she did not witness the opening of the furnace and the discharge of molten steel with the craftsmen.

But after she left, the workers in the steel plant were excited and excited, as if they had been given a shot of blood.

"Yesterday, it was said that His Majesty came to inspect. I thought His Majesty was just taking a look outside the factory, but I didn't expect that He actually entered the factory."

"It's so hot in the factory, but His Majesty is willing to come in to visit me, and has set such a high salary for me. He is not confident about the treatment, and even asked me personally. This is really beyond our wildest dreams."

"I'm afraid no one will believe me if I tell you that we, all of us who are stinking iron smelters, can actually get condolences from the emperor. Such an honor is worth it even if we die from exhaustion in this steel factory!"

“···”

When the little official in charge came back, he discussed the workers incessantly. Feeling that people's hearts could be used, they all started shouting——

"Since we are all grateful for His Majesty's kindness, let's get to work quickly!"

"Didn't you hear His Majesty say that producing more steel is the best contribution to the Ming Dynasty!"

The workers also shouted and encouraged each other.

"Brothers, let's do it!"

"For the Ming Dynasty and for Your Majesty, make steel!"

"Strive to increase the steel production of our factory by another 10,000 kilograms!"

···

After leaving the Nanjing Iron and Steel Plant, Zhu Yuluo took everyone eastward and inspected the Nanjing Gun Factory and the Nanjing Ammunition Factory.

Because the gun factory has not yet been put into production and the ammunition factory is relatively dangerous, Zhu Yurao's inspection of these two places was just like a dragonfly, and she did not go to the front line of production to watch.

But she still did not forget to determine the workers' wages, benefits, and working and living conditions.

Finally, he also gave an important speech to the officials and workers in both fields, urging them to do their jobs well and strive to become the armaments support of the Ming Dynasty.

By the time all four factories were inspected, it was already afternoon.

Zhu Aelao could only order to return to the Forbidden City, and tomorrow she would inspect the Nanjing Machinery Manufacturing Bureau, Longjiang Shipyard, Shipbuilding Bureau, as well as military grain factories, clothing factories and other dual-use and civilian factories.
Chapter completed!