After finalizing the trade matters, Wan Lei rushed to Jizhou without delay. Due to the strategic eastward movement of the Ming army along the Great Wall, from Jizhou to Changping, this line of Great Wall defense became the front line of the Peking Army's defense, and Jizhou
To the north of the prefecture was the sphere of influence of the Three Duoyan Guards. The Peking Army had to deploy 20,000 troops and horses in Jizhou, firstly to prevent the Duoyan Army from moving south again, and secondly, to prevent sneak attacks by the Ming Border Guards in the northeast.
It is precisely because Jizhou's strategic position is so important that one of the two commanders of the Peking Army, Zhou Tianshou, is stationed here. Along with the Peking Army, there are 50,000 people who arrived in Jizhou. All the land in Jizhou,
It all belongs to these people. Since it is their own thing, of course they care for it more than anyone else, and they will fight to the death for anyone who dares to come and rob it.
Of course, mines are excepted. According to the Sunchonbu Basic Law, forest minerals belong to the government and can be contracted and operated by private individuals, but they cannot occupy them.
Wan Lei came to Jizhou this time, firstly to inspect military and civilian conditions, and secondly, to inspect mining. Jizhou is not only rich in magnetite, but also gold mines, and there are also copper, lead, tungsten and other mineral deposits in the surrounding area. Therefore, he simply
After reviewing the troops, he took the students on a "spring outing" early that morning.
The spring was bright in April, and a group of nine people were walking in the mountain forest talking and laughing. Birds were singing all around, and squirrels could be seen jumping in the pine forest from time to time. Years of fighting made these little guys live more comfortably. Zhao Xueer
She wanted to get some game for the tooth ceremony, but when she was about to go on a killing spree, Wan Lei stopped her.
After crossing a pine forest, a small stream appeared in front of everyone. Wan Lei pointed to a small sandy beach not far away and said: "Collect specimens there. Remember, all specimens must be marked."
"I understand, you are the only one who talks a lot." Zhao Xueer dropped this sentence and spread out with all the fellow apprentices, and began to rummage and pick up on the river beach. Chixinchicheng, who was responsible for carrying the luggage, put down the suitcase and took it out.
A dozen bottles with the words "concentrated sulfuric acid and light sulfuric acid" written on them, as well as tweezers, oil lamps and other items, were ready for component analysis of the specimens.
Looking at this group of "students" who work well and work well together, Wan Lei is very pleased, because the hard work during these hours has not been in vain. These little guys look like researchers. As long as they are taught well, science will prosper the country.
The seeds are even planted.
"Master, please sit down for a while." Wei'er also walked with him, but to Wan Lei's surprise, after walking on the mountain road for several hours, there was no sign of fatigue on her face, but Wan Lei's.
There was a layer of fine sweat on his face, which showed that the life of a young man who opened his mouth and stretched out his hands after meals was really not good for his health.
"Oh." Wan Lei sat on the big stone that Wei'er had wiped clean beforehand, took the kettle and drank from the cow, and said, "Hey, it's really hot today."
"Master, you are so busy. You shouldn't do everything yourself. Why don't you let others do such a small thing as collecting specimens?" Wei'er took out a handkerchief and wiped it with Wan Lei and suggested.
"The ancients left no stone unturned in their knowledge, and their work was only accomplished when they were young. What they learned on paper was only superficial, and they knew that they had to practice it. I am their mentor, and of course I have to set an example. Besides, it's not a bad idea to go out for a walk, otherwise I will be killed.
You have become a lazy pig." Wan Lei touched his belly that was starting to gain weight and said with a smile.
"Hehe, the young master has worked so hard, how can he be called a lazy pig?" Wei'er also smiled proudly, because the reason why Master Wan was able to "gain fat" was all because she "fed" her well, even though it was ordinary steamed buns
She can think of ways to make rice porridge so that Master Wan can eat and drink well.
"Why don't you sit down for a while? They will be busy here for a long time. How tiring it is to stand." Wan Lei patted an empty seat next to him.
Wei'er didn't hesitate at all, he just leaned on the stone and said, "Can we really find mineral deposits if we search like this?"
"I'm sure I can find it. What I'm worried about is that the mineral is hidden deep in the mountains and old forests. It's hard to dig and bad luck."
"Then we can build a factory on the spot to make iron, right?"
"On-site beneficiation is fine, but building a factory on-site is not possible, because iron-making not only uses iron ore, but also uses a lot of coal and cooling water, so the location of the iron-making plant must be close to the river.
To facilitate the transportation of various raw materials.”
"Oh, it turns out it's so troublesome. The young master will be very busy in the future."
"Everything is difficult at the beginning. Once production is on track, we won't be so busy."
"The Mongols want 10,000 cauldrons, can we deliver them on time?" Wei'er asked again.
"You have to be able to do it even if you can't. When we do business, we pay attention to credibility. Even if we give away our own pot, we can't be short of it."
"What credibility? You just want to save face and suffer. You insist on exchanging 10,000 cauldrons for 100,000 jins of wool. What do you want with so much wool? If you don't want to eat or drink, you might as well exchange it for 1,000 cows.
." Zhao Xueer came over with her hands behind her back, as if she was hiding something behind her back and preparing to offer a treasure.
"Of course wool is used for spinning and weaving, but is it used for binding feet?"
"You are just a greedy person. You eat from the bowl and look at the pot. Now that the ironworks have not been settled, you have started spinning and weaving. You deserve to die from exhaustion."
"It's called hard work for those who are capable, and it's also called planning for a rainy day. You little woman, you don't understand." Wan Lei rolled his eyes at Zhao Xueer and asked angrily: "Did you find anything good? Still hiding it."
"Humph, you just look down on women!" Zhao Xueer rolled her eyes at Wan Lei, then stretched out her hand like a treasure, but refused to open it, "Guess what treasure I found, little girl?"
"What kind of treasure is there? Didn't you discover gold ore?" Wan Lei was too lazy to play charades with her. He patted the back of her hand and a small black stone fell out. When Wan Lei saw it, he said with great joy: "Magnetic
iron ore?"
"Yes, it's a magnet. I used this to suck it out of the rocks. Isn't this a very smart trick?" Zhao Xueer proudly held up the small magnet on her other hand and said with a smile.
"A blind cat only encounters a dead mouse. You can only find magnetite with this trick, and other types of iron ore will slip through the net." Wan Lei took the piece of iron ore, and his poker expression quickly returned to his face,
Because he knows that this little girl can't stand praise, and her tail will rise to the sky when she is praised, and she will only become more lawless in the future.
Although his face was expressionless, Wan Lei was happy in his heart, because magnetite is the best iron ore. Its main component is ferric oxide, with an iron content of up to 70%, and
The ore contains few harmful elements and can be directly used for open-hearth steelmaking without having to go through cumbersome processes such as phosphorus and sulfur removal.
With such good ore, the difficulty and cost of steelmaking have plummeted. In addition, magnetite can be processed into magnets, and magnets are one of the accessories for making generators. With magnets, generators can be researched.
With electricity, many impossible things will become a reality. When Wan Lei thought of this, his heart felt like it was equipped with a motor and began to beat faster.
"Sir, come and see, we, we have discovered gold ore." Another extremely excited voice came to Wan Lei's ears, the voice of Chixin with a loud voice.
"What? Where, where, let me see." Wan Lei rushed over anxiously and saw Miaozheng holding a small white stone as big as his thumb in his hand. On the white stone, you could faintly see thin yellow lines.
The wire looked really like gold wire. He was so happy that he said, "Even if it's not gold wire, it's still copper wire. I'll smash it immediately and check it out."
As soon as Wan Lei finished speaking, Chixin put the piece of ore into an iron bowl. He hit it hard with the hammer and the ore was broken open. Then he put part of the envelope into a paper bag and ground the other part into powder.
, divided into several portions, and poured them into various acids respectively. The whole set of work was done so flawlessly that Wan Lei had to admire the boy's carefulness.
Soon, various acids began to bubble, and the onlookers were not surprised, because they all knew that this was a normal chemical reaction. After a while, the acid stopped bubbling. Chixin will react
Pour the acid solution into some small bottles, mark them with numbers, and then pour the undissolved granular materials at the bottom onto pieces of paper to dry.
These granular substances include small yellow granules and small black pieces. Wan Lei picked up a small yellow granule with tweezers and looked at it for a while, then asked Chi Xin to try to crush it, and found that it could be crushed into thin flakes. Needless to say, it could be crushed into thin flakes.
, it is undoubtedly gold.
"Ah, it's really gold, now I'm rich!" Zhao Xueer was the first to cheer, and the others also looked happy.
Gold, who doesn’t love it?
But Wei'er was attentive. When she saw Wan Lei being fascinated by those little black lumps, she asked, "What are these? Even strong acid can't dissolve them."
"What else could it be? It must be some impurities. We have found gold. It would not be a pity to throw away these impurities." Zhao Xueer said happily.
Wan Lei ignored it, picked one up with tweezers and looked at it for a while, then said with great joy: "Come on, pack your things quickly, let's go up the stream and look for tungsten ore!"
"Tungsten mine? What is this?"
"What the hell? Tungsten is a metal more precious than gold. It has high hardness. Adding this element to steel can make special steel." Wan Lei's face became more joyful, waving his hands as if
It was like being hit by a gold ingot falling from the sky.
"More precious than gold?" Zhao Xueer naturally didn't believe it. In her values, gold was the most expensive thing. She certainly wouldn't think that these inconspicuous little black blocks could be more expensive than yellow and white things.
"Let's put it this way, by adding tungsten carbide to molten steel, any iron can be turned into hard and wear-resistant 'magic iron'. When used as a lathe, it can process and forge steel, and make guns, cannons, and bullets!
"
"Wow, is it true or not? So, is it harder than a diamond?"
"It's not as hard as a diamond drill, but it's almost there, but it's more wear-resistant than a diamond drill, so it's more practical."
"Then what are you waiting for? Pack your things quickly and let's go looking for minerals."