"Sir, you are here." Foreman Ge's grandson said immediately when he saw He Xi's arrival.
It seemed that the voice of Foreman Ge's grandson disturbed Foreman Ge. Foreman Ge, who was originally in a daze, said, "But Mr. He is here."
Seeing this, He Xi stepped forward and sat down next to Foreman Ge. He said, "Mr. Ge, it's me here."
When Foreman Ge saw He Xi's arrival, he felt as if he had been given a shot in the arm. His gloomy face suddenly became energetic. His breathing became heavier, and he tried to struggle. He Xi quickly held down his hand and said, "Mr. Ge, you
Just lie down and take good care of yourself, I will still rely on Ge Lao in the future."
Foreman Ge said: "You don't need to lie to me. How can I not know what's happening to me at such an old age? My body and bones are broken. I can't help you. Now that I'm still breathing, I'll tell you what's in my heart."
.”
He Xi didn't know what to say. He could only say: "Mr. Ge, tell me, I will listen."
Foreman Ge said: "I thought carefully about the reason for the furnace explosion this time, and noticed that it was a problem with the iron ore. Generally speaking, it is quite good if 30 to 40% of the 10% of the iron ore is iron. Previously, it was smelted
Iron, the fire is not that big. So the iron ore melts slowly. Now the fire is too strong, the iron ore melts too fast, and the wind blows from below. The problem below is much better than the problem above.
.”
"There was a difference in temperature between the bottom and the top. So a cavity appeared under the blast furnace, and the bottom was burned into molten iron. The iron ore at the bottom was not completely melted, so the top was heavy and the bottom was light. In addition to other changes, what happened today was the result.
"
After hearing this, He Xi felt even more guilty and said, "It's my fault. If I hadn't been so anxious, this wouldn't have happened."
"Why do you say this, Your Excellency? My Ge family has been in the iron industry for generations, but we are all confused. Only a few words from Your Majesty are like clearing the clouds. I suddenly realized that if it weren't for the difference between steel and the difference in melting point that Your Majesty said, I wouldn't be able to understand it."
These problems cannot be analyzed. It is said that if you listen to the Tao in the morning, you will die in the evening. Now that I am dead, I have gone to the underground to meet my ancestors and have something to say. This is because you are kind to me." Foreman Ge struggled.
Foreman Ge's words are naturally flattering, but they cannot be said to be completely wrong.
Many things have theoretical guidance, but the difference and speed are completely different from those without theoretical guidance.
Without theoretical guidance, the development of iron smelting in ancient China for thousands of years was all caused by craftsmen groping in the dark, knowing what was happening but not knowing why. Many of them were groping based on experience. But some simple points are as follows:
A direction opens up in the darkness.
Although walking in this direction, there are ravines, mountains, and obstacles of one kind or another. But if you know which direction to go, you will have a direction for your efforts instead of groping in the dark.
As a great craftsman among blacksmiths, Foreman Ge is certainly not a big deal in the long history. But in the Hongwu Dynasty, he was considered one of the leaders. In the iron smelting industry, he was also considered one of the outstanding figures. Yes.
The iron smelting industry has a profound accumulation of knowledge, which is infinitely more than what He Xi knows about a single claw.
It was just that there was no theoretical guidance, so we were stuck in the fog and couldn't make any progress. With He Xi's simple theoretical guidance, Foreman Ge gained much more than He Xi imagined.
He Xi said: "Mr. Ge, there is no need to say this. I deserve it."
Foreman Ge knew that he didn't have much time. He couldn't be polite anymore. He said: "Sir, if you want to make steel, I have two ways."
He Xi was shocked and said: "Two ways."
Foreman Ge nodded and said: "Whether these two methods will work or not. I don't know, but I always have to try. Now I don't have time. I hope you don't think that I am an old man talking nonsense before I die, and that I am an old fool."
Already."
He Xi was very surprised. He was both happy and worried.
I am happy that He Xi finally has a direction.
After all, the idea of a blast furnace is already at the end of He Xi’s train of thought, and every line is like a mountain. He Xi doesn’t know much about iron smelting. And in this era, it’s not even easy to learn. Compared with the Internet era of later generations, most knowledge is online.
They are all there. As long as you are willing, you can always learn. But what is the situation in this era? Firstly, the knowledge of craftsmen is mostly passed down orally and rarely written down. If you want to learn, there is no place to learn. Secondly,
Even if the craftsman teaches it in person, on the one hand, the craftsman may not have formed a system of knowledge. On the other hand, the craftsman treasures his own broom. The skill of eating may not be taught to others.
There is a direction pointed out by Foreman Ge. At least it is one direction.
But He Xi also has some worries. Foreman Ge didn't say anything before, but now he has a direction. Are there two other directions?
No matter what He Xi was thinking in her heart, He Xi said: "Mr. Ge, please speak."
Foreman Ge coughed twice, regardless of the pain in his body, and said: "The first direction is to use pig iron instead of iron ore. This situation will not happen with pig iron. It is better to have a smaller blast furnace."
In fact, Foreman Ge was ready to say this from the beginning, but he just didn't dare.
There is no other reason. There is a huge difference in status.
He Xi lives in the palace. In the eyes of the craftsmen, he is a noble person. Such a person can kill their whole family with just one word. How can they dare to oppose He Xi in professional or non-professional matters?
Moreover, Foreman Ge did not expect that such a thing would happen. After all, he felt that just failure was not a big deal. With a status like He Xi's, it would be no big deal if he failed a hundred times. But they, the craftsmen, were so angry with He Xi.
A character like this might kill his entire family once.
How dare you say this nonsense?
But it's different now.
Foreman Ge knew he was going to die.
Foreman Ge's sons died early and only had one grandson. The grandson was too young, and many of the ancestral skills were not passed on to his grandson. He is now considered a prominent figure among craftsmen. But he knows very well that this status
, is due to his skills and age. It cannot be passed down to his grandson.
When he felt that he was not good enough, the first thing he thought of was, what should he do with his grandson? What could he leave to his grandson?
After thinking about it, I have nothing. Not even much money.
So at this time, he didn't care about hiding anything. He told He Xi everything he could think of and know. Of course, this was also what He Xi was after spending a few days together. Foreman Ge
He also made a judgment and was willing to use all his power to show off in front of He Xi.
The purpose is to leave this vital connection to my grandson.
Not to mention anything else, just He Xi's willingness to raise his hand can make his grandson change his lifestyle.
It's just that He Xi hasn't understood the value of his current status.
Foreman Ge said: "The second method is what I just thought of. Your Excellency has said that pure iron is very soft, right?"
He Xi said: "Yes."
Foreman Ge said: "Wrought iron is the softest iron I have ever seen. According to adults, wrought iron is the closest thing to pure iron, and it is also the iron with the least carbon content. The principle of steel-making by the steel-filling method is that
Pig iron with a high carbon content and wrought iron with a low carbon content are neutralized together to obtain iron with a suitable carbon content, or steel."
"And how is wrought iron made?"
"The molten iron is introduced from the iron-making furnace. It is continuously stirred in the square pool next to the blast furnace. The final solidification is wrought iron. If the iron is not stirred, the iron produced is pig iron. The stirred iron is wrought iron.
Then the process of stirring is a process of reducing the carbon content. Therefore, as long as the heat is controlled well, the carbon content is controlled, and steel can be made directly."
He Xi listened very hard.
Try hard to understand what Foreman Ge said.
He probably speculated that the reason for this situation is to make the molten iron fully contact with the air, because the high temperature will ignite the carbon in the molten iron and reduce the carbon content, thus achieving the purpose of controlling the carbon content. But the heat is indeed very
Difficult to master.
However, even so, this idea was something that He Xi had never heard of or even thought about. Now that I think about it carefully, it is extremely ingenious, and more importantly, there is no need to increase the furnace temperature.
Of course, there are flaws.
The drawback is that there is almost no room for upgrades.
It's not like blast furnace steelmaking. The technology and experience accumulated after each furnace is very useful for the next step of improvement. This is just a fork in the road.
Foreman Ge coughed twice, and a trace of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.
Hemorrhage from the massive internal organs has begun to rise little by little. It’s time to say less and less.
Foreman Ge said: "Sir, I have told my grandson many details. I am no longer here. Please take good care of my grandson."
Seeing this, He Xi sighed and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Ge, all your achievements will be credited to your grandson."
Foreman Ge said: "Your Majesty, I am extremely grateful for your kindness. However, my grandson is not very qualified, so I still ask you to listen to your guidance. I am very grateful to you even though I am under the spell of Jiuquan."
After speaking, Foreman Ge looked at He Xi nervously.
He Xi was not sure what Foreman Ge was thinking for a while.
In He Xi's view, the merit of steel-making is not worthy of a title, but it is still okay for the grandson of Foreman Ge to be a minor official. However, Foreman Ge asked his grandson to become a domestic slave.
Rhythm. It doesn’t seem like it’s for your grandson.
After all, He Xi doesn’t know enough about the social ecology of the Ming Dynasty.
Foreman Ge's choice is in line with the values of this era.
What is a bureaucrat who is a craftsman? He is the lowest level among all officials, even worse than some petty officials. And what is a domestic servant of a high-ranking official? That is the seventh-rank official in front of the prime minister. Relying on the master's family for a lifetime, no, several lifetimes
There is no need to worry about food and drink. But once a small official with a craftsman background loses his backer, almost any official can take advantage of him.
How to choose, do you need to say? This chapter has been completed!
