In fact, many people don't know that Su Gang in the Ming Dynasty was still producing until the Anti-Japanese War. Even many of the weapons used to fight the Japanese were made by Su Gang. In terms of steel production, there will be no steel production in the Ming Dynasty.
Weaker than the Western Yi.
And He Xi looks at this era from a modern perspective. It should be noted that during the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894, Japan’s steel production was only a few hundred thousand tons, while today the Ming Dynasty’s inventory is 15,000 tons. Moreover, during the Ming Dynasty and the Hongwu period, it was only
Official steel production was relatively large. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, official steel production decreased, but private production became the main force. It was several times more than it is now. It's just that the statistics of the Ming Dynasty were a mess.
Therefore, there are no accurate statistics at all in the mid-to-late period. There are only some sporadic records, such as one furnace can produce six thousand kilograms of iron per day.
It is estimated that the steel output in the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty was no less than that of Japan during the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894, but the quality was estimated to be much worse.
The production method of Suzhou Steel could not be considered backward before the modern steel industry was launched in the West. Otherwise, it would not have struggled tenaciously until the anti-Japanese period, and it has not yet ended. It became history only after New China began to introduce the Soviet heavy trade unions.
Even during the large-scale steelmaking, there was a flashback. The so-called local steelmaking is these techniques.
Although Daming Steel has not yet ignited the highest technology, Su Steel's skills, its own technology accumulation is very solid.
Many problems have been solved by others, or even solved repeatedly.
The reason why steel was never smelted in ancient times is probably due to differences in concepts. For example, modern people’s understanding of steel is different from that of ancient people. Modern people refer to iron-carbon alloys with a carbon content within a certain range.
.But what did people think in ancient times?
It is the essence of iron. In this case, how can it be obtained without tempering?
Many times, it is like this. The earliest steelmaking in ancient times was the Hundred Steelmaking, and many ideas later were extended from the Hundred Steelmaking. This formed path dependence. This path even defines steel and iron.
He Xi thought about it and said, "What fuel is used in the furnace?"
Craftsman Ge said: "Charcoal, good willow charcoal."
He Xi's heart moved and she thought to herself: "Maybe this is the reason." He immediately said: "Why not use coal?"
Craftsman Ge said: "You don't know, the iron made from coal is very brittle and cannot be used at all. To make iron, you need to use all the five elements. Iron ore, earth, charcoal, wood, and there is a fire in the furnace.
Metal. Using coal instead of wood means that one of the five elements is missing, so it cannot be used."
He Xi was speechless for a while.
The Five Elements are only used for fortune telling in modern times. But in this era, they are a philosophy that truly guides production and life.
He Xi was speechless for a while, and he couldn't help but ask: "Isn't there still a shortage of water?"
Craftsman Ge said: "Sir, molten iron is also water."
He Xi was speechless for a while. He knew that this was not the time to teach them. If he insisted on giving a lecture, he probably wouldn't be able to understand it, and the others wouldn't be able to understand it, and it would also affect the process. Three months sounds like a long time, but in fact,
Time was short. He couldn't afford to delay.
So He Xi said seriously: "You don't know, coal belongs to wood, not to soil. Coal was created tens of millions of years ago, when mountains and rivers changed, and a large number of trees were pressed underground. I don't know how many years later, it evolved into
You should have seen coal. Many coals have the shape of trees. This is clear evidence."
As soon as this statement came out, these craftsmen whispered and thought it was good.
If you tell a group of scholar-bureaucrats, they may not understand. But these craftsmen have never left the front line of labor and have personally touched what coal looks like. Naturally, they know that what He Xi said is right.
"Then why is the iron made from coal unusable?" Foreman Ge asked the question that all the craftsmen had in mind.
"Coal contains sulfur." He Xi cursed in his heart, but could not say the words. He still said seriously: "Why don't you use wood to make steel instead of charcoal?"
"Charcoal burns better than wood." I don't know which craftsman said.
He Xi smiled and said: "That's right. The coal has been in the ground for many years, and it has also added earthiness. The coal must be burned into charcoal first to remove the earthiness before we can make better steel."
He Xi was very happy that these craftsmen spoke actively.
After all, he understands very well that there are some things that he cannot do by himself. Only by mobilizing the enthusiasm of these craftsmen can it be done.
He Xi said: "That's enough for today. Next, Mr. Ge will take the lead and do two things. The first thing is to refine coal into charcoal. The other is to prepare a blast furnace and start the first test."
Craftsman Ge said: "The villain takes orders."
Then the other craftsmen were sent away, leaving only Foreman Ge. He Xi asked: "Mr. Ge, I don't know much about iron smelting. When will the two things I told you be completed?"
Craftsman Ge said: "There are many charcoal fields outside the city, which only need to be modified slightly. There are also ready-made blast furnaces outside the city. It will be ready in about a day and a night. This is the time for charcoal refining."
He Xi never expected it to be so soon and said: "Then the day after tomorrow. I will go out to the city to see it. Is that okay?"
Craftsman Ge said: "It should be possible. But do you need any other changes this time?"
He Xi said: "No, it was the same as before. It will be the same this time, but just replace the charcoal with coking coal."
Craftsman Ge hesitated to speak, and finally lowered his head and said: "Yes."
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By the time He Xi returned to the palace, it was already evening.
He Xi only felt that her legs were extremely sore.
Those who can ride horses in the palace are all high-ranking officials. Even Xu Da remained humble and could not ride a horse in the palace. So He Xi could not ride a horse. It was not easy to ride a horse when he arrived at the Yamen of the Ministry of Industry. At the end of the day, he estimated that
Walked tens of thousands of steps.
I just don’t know if there is no satellite positioning, and the step count on his mobile phone is no longer displayed.
All in all, very tired.
"It would be great to move out of the palace." He Xi thought while soaking her feet.
Perhaps for some people, being close to Tianyan in the palace is a rare opportunity. But for He Xi, the palace is too unfree. Many things are inconvenient.
When He Xi was enjoying a moment of comfort, Xu Zheng arrived. Eunuch Xu said: "Your Majesty invites you."
He Xi looked at the sky and saw that it was already filled with stars.
He Xi secretly thought: "It's really unpleasant to have a workaholic boss. Even if you work overtime, you still ask me to work overtime." But what can He Xi do? Not to mention, there is no labor law in this era, even if it is labor law.
It is impossible for Zhu Yuanzhang to be restrained by law.
No matter what He Xi thought, he could only obey the order and go to see Zhu Yuanzhang.
He originally thought that Zhu Yuanzhang was going to ask about ordnance. But after arriving, He Xi discovered that this was not what Zhu Yuanzhang was asking.
He Xi's manuscript about the history of the Ming Dynasty is densely packed with countless small characters. It seems that it is because the characters written by He Xi with a gold pen are inherently small, or because Zhu Yuanzhang does not like small regular script. Zhu Yuanzhang switched to gold pen and red ink for annotations.
.
There are many problems in it, from the early Ming Dynasty to the late Ming Dynasty. Especially the battles between the monarchs and ministers in the later period, the subtle relationship between Jiajing and the chief ministers, Wanli's absence from the court for many years, and the three major cases, the Donglin Party, the rise of the Jurchens, etc.
wait.
One question after another.
And the question is very tricky.
Many of them are from the emperor's perspective and ask strange questions.
These are questions that He Xi cannot answer. For example, the relationship between Emperor Longqing, Gao Gong, Zhang Juzheng, Wanli and Empress Dowager Li.
Sorry, He Xi didn't know that there were many subtle relationships between them. He only knew the answers given by history. He didn't know anything about the process.
He Xi felt that some of Zhu Yuanzhang's questions could not be answered except by those who specialize in Ming history.
At the same time, He Xi also had to admit that Zhu Yuanzhang was different from ordinary people. He had a strong thirst for knowledge and a strong learning ability. Even a man in his fifties was first-rate in terms of concentration in learning.
It just made He Xi a little difficult.
Zhu Yuanzhang rubbed his eyes. Although he lit a dozen candles, the visibility was still not high. After a long time, his eyes still felt uncomfortable.
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "How did you do today's affairs?"
He Xi breathed a sigh of relief and reported today's events to Zhu Yuanzhang.
Zhu Yuanzhang pondered for a moment and said, "Are you sure about doing this?"
He Xi said: "I can only say that the direction is right. Whether it can succeed? It depends on the specific progress."
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "I still don't understand something. Is steel so important? Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, mining and metallurgy have been abolished every few years. After several years of mining, the treasury is sufficient. I don't want to be burdened by this.
People. Secondly, so much iron is of no use. Even if there is more steel, what is the use?"
For a moment, He Xi didn't know what to say.
Because this is a completely different way of governing the country.
In later generations, steel output was the fundamental data to measure a country's strength. But in Zhu Yuanzhang's case, the quantity of steel was meaningless. It was even redundant.
He Xi put himself into the role of Zhu Yuanzhang and also discovered that the purpose of iron in the Ming Dynasty was to make weapons. There were not many other uses. 15,000 tons of iron was definitely enough. There are no other uses. There are really so many
If it is used for other purposes, it will not store so much iron.
He Xi said: "Your Majesty is from a farmer's family. You should know that not all people in the world use iron farm tools. Many people cannot afford iron farm tools. Only some wealthy places can use iron farm tools. If everyone in the world uses iron farm tools,
Iron farm tools, or even better steel farm tools. What will it be like for ordinary people to farm?"
"What will it look like?" Zhu Yuanzhang was stunned for a moment.
This was He Xi's obvious change in Zhu Yuanzhang's expression.