The great hero of the Silk Road, starting from a farm farmer

Chapter 99 To be honest, I know how to make iron myself!

They led eight people on horseback, led by Yang Shun'an, and after walking for nearly a day, they found the village where Qingkeling started a furnace to smelt iron privately.

Due to the influence of the riots, no one in this place has privately smelted iron anymore, and there is only a dilapidated small iron smelting furnace ruins.There are iron-smelting furnace ruins, which shows that there is indeed iron ore in this place.

Walking around in the nearby mountainous area, Song Yingkui found that there were iron ore deposits on the exposed stones.

After inquiring around the village in Shankou, I found a family surnamed He who used to make iron.

"Don't be afraid, old man. I am the garrison of Shiping Pass at the Fifth Battalion. I am looking for you this time not to cause trouble, but to inquire about something. I want to set up an iron furnace in Guanbao to smelt some iron. It is for military use. It seems that there are still iron mines here. Since your family used to do this kind of business, why don’t you do it now? But because the government will not let you do this business?” Seeing the found old man surnamed He, his legs were shaking with fear, Song Yingkui had to explain the purpose of his trip, and asked out his doubts.

"The official wants to make iron by himself? I don't know if there is a shortage of manpower. If there is a shortage of manpower, the little old man and a few children can help." The old man surnamed He answered irrelevant questions and said that he wanted to work for Song Yingkui. thing.

"There is nothing wrong with this matter. I can accept it now. However, you have to explain to me first. Why doesn't your family start this business now?" There are technicians who are willing to work for him. Song Yingkui Will not refuse.But now he wants to find out why the He family no longer makes iron?He fears it may be due to iron ore.

For ironmaking, other conditions can be solved, but if there is a problem with iron ore, nothing will stand.Without usable iron ore, all your talents are idle.

The quality of iron ore is also very important.Without good iron ore, good iron cannot be smelted.In real history, like the Song Dynasty, good iron could not be produced because it did not have good mines.But at this stage, the priority is to solve the problem of availability, and the quality will be discussed later.

"The official said, the reason why the little old man's family no longer smelt iron is mainly because Fanzi destroyed the stove, and it would cost too much to rebuild a stove. After the family business was robbed by Fanzi, the little old man's family could no longer survive. We started this big stall. In addition, after the chaos, it was difficult to get charcoal in our neighborhood. Without charcoal, the iron produced by coal smelting is useless. Therefore, my family has never started a furnace to smelt iron. But the official can rest assured , Our family has smelted iron for several lifetimes, and we have not lost our ability. If the official does not give up and can use us, we will definitely make good iron for you, the official."

From the old man He's words, Song Yingkui probably understood the reason why the He family stopped making steel.It turned out that the chaos destroyed the industrial base and supply chain, which broke the capital chain of the He family, and at the same time the raw material supply chain was also broken, not because of the iron ore.

"How is the quality of the iron ore here?"

"The quality is acceptable, but the iron is relatively brittle when it is forged, so it needs to be forged a few more times."

The paste made out is more brittle?It is likely due to the high content of phosphorus and sulfur, which needs to be solved in the steelmaking process.Most domestic iron mines have problems in this regard.

"The question I want to ask is now finished. Tell me, if you want to serve in our army, what are your conditions?"

"How dare the little old man make conditions in front of the official? As long as the official doesn't treat the little old man and the children badly in terms of salary."

Don't dare to raise conditions, but you emphasize that you can't treat you badly in terms of salary. This old man He is definitely a good person.Good people, as long as you have the ability, Song Yingkui will dare to use it.So he said: "How much do you think it is appropriate to pay you every month?"

"The little old men dare not ask for high prices in front of the officials. Every month, the old man and the children can get three taels of silver each, and that's enough!"

"Three taels of silver per person per month? This is too high a salary. How about it! I will pay the old man three taels of silver, and your child will be paid one tael of silver every month. If you work for three months The children in your family do have the same abilities as you, so I will mention the same money as you, what do you think?" He said that he would give the whole family a salary of three taels of silver, and he would be satisfied, you I really dare to open my teeth!A capable craftsman is worth the price, and Song Yingkui doesn't feel sorry for it, but do other people in his family have the ability to earn this money?

"My lord, iron smelting is a valuable job. My family is an ancestral business. It is definitely not mentioned that the children work. The salary of one tael is too low. I am afraid that the children will complain in the past and not pay the official well." I'm serving you, delaying the official business of the official." Old He Tou said unhurriedly, his words more or less revealed the meaning of using skills to coerce people.

"Old man, to be honest, I know how to make iron furnaces. I invite your family to help me. If your family thinks the wages are low, I will not force you. In a word In other words, as long as you have the ability, this official will not treat anyone poorly, we are all craftsmen, and we rely on our ability to eat."

Want to judge people with technology?I'm afraid you have found the wrong person.Song Yingkui didn't think much of going to Old Man He's family whether he was invited or not.With them in the past, it may save me some detours. If they don't pass, it will not affect the overall situation.

"The official can also make iron?" Old man He looked at Song Yingkui with some surprise. A young military officer said that he knew how to make iron. Can you believe this?

"I was also a famous blacksmith in Wuying before. You can inquire about it. Although there is a big difference between blacksmithing and iron smelting, I know how to make iron. And I also know how to use coal to make good iron. You may not be convinced by this, but it doesn't matter, let's go to your old kiln to see the situation, and let you see if we really know how to do it."

Going to an abandoned iron smelting furnace, what can people see?Hehe, Song Yingkui didn't plan to show off his skills, he just wanted to check the old furnace of the He family carefully, so as to understand the technical means used in ironmaking in this era, so as to provide reference and reference for his own ironmaking furnace.

When they arrived at the abandoned furnace of the He family, Song Yingkui, regardless of his identity, climbed into the furnace to check.While carefully inspecting the abandoned furnace from top to bottom, Song Yingkui also took the opportunity to probe into the bottom line of the He family, and got a lot of old man He's words.

If it was an ordinary person, how could it be possible to use the technology mastered by old man He?But Song Yingkui was different. He knew almost all the details of ironmaking, and he was very expert in asking questions. Old man He felt like two blacksmiths were having a technical discussion.Before he knew it, he uttered almost everything he knew.

"How is it? I didn't say big things to deceive you, did I? Whether you want to work for me or not, it's up to you now!"

(End of this chapter)