Iron Power And Sorcerer

Iron Power And Sorcerer Chapter 266

2021-03-01

Chapter 266 The Smelter
Carlos was leading the way as the three military tribunals galloped back to the smelter Small workers "demolition" the iron smelting furnace, and Shao Sha is also there.

Carlos's face was covered with ashes, and he was sweating again. The ashes and sweat were mixed into mud, and his face was like a small cat.

But the dirty face couldn't hide the joy of Carlos, the little blacksmith swept away his sullen face, flew to Winters, and danced to ask for credit: "It's done! My lord! It's done!"

Carlos was so excited that he could barely speak.

"Shasha!" Winters called the middle-aged blacksmith: "Tell me."

When Winters and the old blacksmith Boltain went to Forge Township, Shasha did not follow him. Instead, he stayed to look after the furnace.

It looks like a day, and there is no "hot metal" flowing out from early morning to dusk. Carlos was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, and Shaosha was a little distracted.

For fear of burning the stove, the two decided to cease fire.

They blocked all air inlets with wet cowhide, smothered the flames in the furnace, and decided to dismantle the furnace to see what was inside.

After inspection, the outlet was blocked by solidified iron slurry and slag, and a large lump of iron wrapped around the slag stuck in the lower part of the furnace, like a dystocia baby.

Carlos succeeded in extracting iron from the ore, just as the old blacksmith Boltain said, "burn charcoal and iron ore together".

However, the little blacksmith soon encountered the second problem: the iron is there, but it is stuck in the furnace and cannot be taken out. What should I do?
There is only one answer: tear it down!
So there is this scene in front of Winters: six or seven small workers wielding pickaxes and hammers, are chiseling the wall with brow beaded with sweat; with the sound of "ding ding dong dong", a place is broken under the furnace wall Huge gap.

Knock open the slag, and the red-hot "iron" is exposed - but at present this big lump of iron is still stuck in the hearth, unable to move even a little bit, and the hole has to be enlarged.

"It was built with great difficulty, and it was demolished like this?" Mason asked regretfully.

Senior felt very uncomfortable seeing the blast furnace that had been built so hard to be demolished.

Winters' eyebrows twitched involuntarily: "Isn't this just a large block furnace? How do I feel... it's not as good as a block furnace?!"

"I succeeded !" The little blacksmith couldn't hear what anyone said at all, just kept repeating: "I succeeded!"

Seeing the madness of the little blacksmith, he finally failed to hold back his anger and kicked the latter's ass: "How did it succeed?!"

Winters didn't try hard. , but at this moment Carlos is like a stake, and it will fall down when pushed.

It wasn't until he fell heavily on the ground that Carlos became sober. The pressure and emotions accumulated in his heart suddenly collapsed, and he fell on the ground and cried.

"How can you kick someone?" Mason rebuked. "He's not your soldier."

"I didn't try hard." Winters was extremely aggrieved.

Mason sighed, squatted down and patted Carlos on the shoulder: "You are almost an adult, why are you crying?"

Winters sighed and came to the little blacksmith. : "Okay okay, I apologize, I shouldn't have hit people..."

Winters hasn't apologized for a long time, and he's still a little uncomfortable.

The blacksmith Shaosha on the side was shocked when he saw the tribunal apologizing to the little blacksmith.

Forty years back, if the master hits you, he hits you. Apologize? Want to get another slap in the face?

The personalities of the tribunal and the little blacksmith are equal - this is really unimaginable for Shaosha.

"How can this be a master? It doesn't have the majesty and demeanor that a master should have!" Shaosha said with a disdainful voice in his heart.

"That's how it should be! Hasn't the lord already been driven away?" Another voice in Shaosha shouted.

No one knows the turbulence in the inner world of the middle-aged blacksmith, this is just a small episode.

Winters and Mason help the little blacksmith, who is still sobbing.

"Or else." Winters thought for a while: "You kick me too? We're even?"

Carlos burst into laughter, and the snot bubble blew a big one .

He didn't cry because he was kicked. He really accumulated too much pressure and negative emotions, and all of them turned into tears when he couldn't control it for a while. The boots on his buttocks were just the fuse.

After all, he was only seventeen.

And Winters inadvertently treated him as an adult, putting too much weight on Carlos' shoulders.

Andre sneered: "This little brat, is it made of mud? It's still water?"

"It's good to laugh." Winters took the little blacksmith's shoulders , there was helplessness in his words: "You... Forget it, let's wait for your brother to come back." few.

While wiping tears with the back of his hands, he choked and said, "I...I can really make iron, and I have really succeeded."

"What kind of success is this? Don't wipe it with your hands! Be careful with your eyes!" Winters took out his handkerchief and wiped the little blacksmith's tears: "Making a furnace of iron requires dismantling a furnace? That means I can smelt iron at any cost. Die!"

Shaosha came back to his senses and explained on the side: "You don't need to dismantle, just dismantle a part of it. The idea of Mr. Sawyer and I is to rebuild this iron smelting furnace. , and use it to refine [heart iron]."

After listening to Shaosha's explanation for a long time, Winters figured out what the two blacksmiths meant - if they were wrong, they would be wrong.

In short, Carlos and Saosha's "Blast Furnace Dream" was shattered by cruel reality. The blast furnace can't be done, at least there must be a problem with this iron smelting furnace at present.

Where is the problem? The two blacksmiths haven't figured it out yet.

But the iron smelting furnace that takes a lot of manpower, material resources and time cannot be wasted, right?
So together, the two decided to abandon their dreams and embrace reality, and if they made a mistake, they would transform this "blast furnace" into a [bottom-blown furnace].

Primordial's block furnaces mostly blow air from the top or waist, while bottom blow furnaces, as the name suggests, blow air from the bottom. Because the larger the furnace body, the worse the blowing effect from the top.

The two of them are not ready to let the "hot metal flow", it is too troublesome. Simply let the smelted iron sink in the bottom of the furnace and take it out at one time, that is, "bottom iron".

The molten iron cannot flow out by itself, so it cannot operate continuously. So every time a furnace of iron is smelted, the furnace must be dismantled. The big step backwards also have the advantage of simplicity.

Winters pondered and asked: "I understand what you two mean. Although the original plan was to buy a horse, you are going to bring me a donkey."

Carlos snorted and patted flattery: "Your analogy is really appropriate."

Actually, according to Carlos' idea-although he did not intend to, it is better to lead a donkey than a horse.

Clever is scared: If he really has to make the blast furnace a success, Winters won't bring his big brother back - alas, Clever.

Winters resisted the urge to kick the little blacksmith again and asked Shaosha, "You mean to use this iron smelting furnace as a large block furnace, don't you?"

"You can't say that, my lord." Shaosha also quickly joined the flattery team. After all, he was partly responsible for the failure of the iron smelting furnace trial.

Shaosha squeezed out a flattering smile: "The bottom blowing furnace is still much stronger than the old block smelting furnace. If we insist, the bottom blowing furnace should be the father of the blast furnace. 'Lead' to the blast furnace, but it is barely considered to have brought the father of the blast furnace to you..."

The gap in the furnace wall has been opened enough, and a big lump of "things that are still on fire" ' was hooked out of the hearth.

Winters and the others take a closer look.

Winters had never seen an iron smelting workshop, but the "thing" in front of him was far from the "iron" he knew.

The edge of the thing in front of me glowed red, and the inside became more yellow. It looks loose and porous, with a very uneven texture. If I have to say it, it is indeed a bit like a red-hot iron.

At least there were some black crumbs scattered on it, like sesame seeds sprinkled on bread.

"Is this iron?" Winters frowned.

Shaosha bent down and observed it carefully for a long time, then slammed the palm of his hand: "Yes, it's iron! It's a bit like sponge iron, but a little bit different! Come on! Give me an axe!"

The worker next to him hurriedly handed Shaosha an axe.

"Several adults, please stand back." Shaosha begged: "The others also stand further away, Mr. Sawyer, please stay!"

Including Winters The idle and miscellaneous people consciously retreated to four or five meters away.

Shaosha chose a good position on the iron pile, pressed the axe blade on the iron pile, held the handle of the axe with both hands, and yelled at Carlos: "Mr. Sawyer! Come!"

p>

Carlos also wiped away his tears and quickly picked up a hammer.

The little blacksmith first taps three hammers on the back of the axe. When the blade of the axe was half an inch deep into the iron lump, and when he was able to bear a little strength, Carlos stood firm, and with all his strength, a groan of "hey", slammed the hammer fiercely on the back of the axe.

Winters, who was watching on the side, could see a hint of the strength of the sword technique with both hands in this heavy hammer.

The loose and porous iron lump was split into a large gap, exposing the hotter, dazzling core.

Carlos kept his hands and continued to smash. His hammer was stable and landed on the back of the axe accurately every time.

Sparks flying in all directions, slag flying, Shaosha turned a deaf ear, firmly holding on to the axe.

At this moment, Carlos is no longer a crying child, and Shaosha is no longer a potbellied, flattering and sleek city councilor.

The two have only one identity now, that is, a blacksmith.

The hammer and axe strikes are rhythmic and beautiful, as if they were hitting a beat. Winters couldn't even help but want to clap along.

The middle-aged blacksmith and the young blacksmith worked closely together, and soon the big iron lump that was still burning was divided into eight small iron lumps.

"Okay." Shaosha wiped the sweat from his forehead and walked up to Winters with a smile: "Sponge iron is easier to do when it's just out of the oven, but it will harden after a while. It's too long I didn't do the work myself, and I made the tribunes laugh."

The cotton clothes worn by Shaosha have been burnt with small holes by the splashing iron slag, but his smile is very cheerful.

Winters didn't realize until now: Shaosha was a blacksmith who could swing a hammer and bend metal. Before that, he actually put Saosha in the same category as the old Priskin businessmen.

"Good job." Winters applauded, and then asked: "Into small pieces? Why?"

Shaosha replied: "A big lump of iron is not good. Handling. Divide into small pieces, it is more convenient to forge."

"Forge? Will you need to forge next?" Winters continued to ask.

One of Winters' good habits is to ask for advice if he doesn't understand, he doesn't care about face.

"The iron has slag in it, and the slag can be cleaned up during the forging process." Shaosha patiently explained to the young tribune: "Just forge it into a thin plate first, and the slag will naturally peel off. Down and folded, and then forged into thin slices...that's what thousand hammers, hundred refinements mean."

"Forging?" Those workshops in Forge Township go to 'forging'?"

"Yes." Shao Sha replied as it should be by rights: "There is water forging in Forge Township, so this job is the most suitable. Relying on people to forge, I don't know how long and how long this lump of iron will be forged.

Although steel bar iron has been used in recent years, forging iron craftsmanship is the basic skill of blacksmiths, It shouldn't be so Throw it away. If it doesn't work, I can ask my father-in-law's Old Brothers to guide you..."

Andre and Mason were curiously fiddling with the iron lumps, and the little blacksmith proudly explained to the two officers .

Only Winters and Shaosha were standing in the cold autumn wind, discussing "forging" seriously.

“Forging…isn’t free?” Winters narrowed his eyes.

"Of course it's not free." Shaosha introduced Winters to the rules of the blacksmith: "The easiest way is to hand over all the iron materials to the workshop owner in Forge Township, and you don't have to worry about anything else. If you directly exchange wrought iron with them, you can probably exchange for half the weight of wrought iron."

"Half?" ? This is too fucking dark!"

Shaosha looked helpless, he whispered: "If you can take half, it is still for your face. What you make is not iron, but Iron. There's a lot of poisonous slag in it, and it won't work without a good forging."

Winters laughed angrily: "Then I might as well build a few hydraulic hammers and do it myself! What bullshit steel fort is a famous craftsman hydraulic forging hammer, I can make another one at a glance, and make a hundred!"

"It's okay." Shaosha nodded: "But think about it carefully— —Apart from Mr. Sawyer, you don't have any other blacksmiths. Even if I came to help, Mr. Sawyer and I alone would not be able to do it. You'd better hand over the iron to the workshop in Forge Township and concentrate on smelting it. ."

Winters was the first to discover that Shaosha's eloquence was amazing.

"Accounting schools have been established, and I'll start another blacksmith school!" Winters pointed to the small workers who were cleaning the hearth: "I trained them all to be blacksmiths!"

p>

Shaosha's expression became serious, he slowly asked: "What did you say?"

"I said, I will train them all to be blacksmiths."

"I'm afraid not. Those small workers are peasants who are idle in winter and have land at home. Even if you ask them to work in the blacksmith's workshop, they will not agree. And the apprenticeship is not profitable."

"Whoever wants to come, I will train anyone. No money for the apprenticeship? Then I will pay the apprentice as well!"

Shaosha's face became more solemn, and he solemnly told the tribune: " If you do this, I can assure you that the blacksmiths in Iron Peak County will rebel immediately! Even if they don't rebel, they will never be on your side in the future."

Shaosha's words are like It was threatening Winters, and Winters thought so for the first time.

But he soon realized that no, Shaosha was admonishing him. In a sense, it was because Shaosha already considered himself a member of his faction that he warned him face-to-face with blunt and threatening words.

“Why?” Winters asked earnestly.

"Those who can strike iron are not blacksmiths." Shaosha also answered honestly: "Only those who are recognized as blacksmiths by the Blacksmith Guild are blacksmiths. The Blacksmith Guild has a complete set of rules for the promotion of apprentices. A set of rules is the cornerstone of a guild. When you start a blacksmith school, you are breaking the roots of the guild."

The guild! Winters rubbed his jaw. Having lived in Plato for so long, he kind of forgot what city life was like in the Sovereign guild.

Hailan has hundreds of guilds in the same industry, guilds in the same industry are gradually merged into guilds, and there are guilds above the guild.

Before the Sovereign War—there was no Veneta Republic at that time, and the [Honorable Ocean Blue Republic] power was limited to Ocean Blue City and its surroundings—the office of Ocean Blue’s general meeting was held by the consul.

Accurately speaking, it should be: the chairman of the Hailan Association is automatically elected as the consul.

After the Sovereign War, the large and small commercial city-states of Veneta and the inland noble territories merged into [the Venerable Republic of Veneta], and the chairman of the Hailan Association is still held by the Grand Consul of the Republic. The lofty status of the guild is evident from this.

It is not cities that breed guilds, but guilds that build cities. The city does not belong to the citizens, the city belongs to the guild.

didn't expect Tiefeng County, a poor and isolated county on the fringes of the Republican Union, would actually engage in such a guild?
Winters shook the head, turned to a smile, and asked the middle-aged blacksmith: "Will you also be my advisor? Mr. Shaosha. Anonymous, even if I lose the battle one day, I won't hold you accountable. I still have a lot of things I want to ask you for advice."

Shao Sha was a little flattered, and he nodded: "It's a great honor."

Shao Sha suggested: "The blacksmith guild is here. One thing...you'd better talk to my father-in-law. He was the one who started the Blacksmith's Guild in Iron Peak County."

"Okay." Winters smirked.

Over there, Mason happily pulled Carlos over.

"If you put more effort into it, I think it's no problem to make a cast iron gun." Senior looked ten thousand zhang with pride: "The blacksmith of the false emperor doesn't have more eyes or hands than us!"

Carlos was stunned.

“How much is out?” Saosha asked Carlos.

"The furnace temperature is not enough. I think it should be wrought iron, not pig iron. According to the estimate of the input, there can be about 400 kg of wrought iron." Carlos added hurriedly: "It can't be counted either. Great, even if the output is 250kg. The specific weight should be weighed."

"How much charcoal was used?" Shaosha asked again.

"The first ore and charcoal, three-to-one." Carlos did a mental calculation and replied.

“What do you mean by three-on-one?” Winters asked, back into territory he didn't understand.

"It's three parts charcoal and one part ore—volume." Shaosha explained, and he smiled and said, "That's really good! My father-in-law said that when they smelt iron, they use six parts. , seven parts of charcoal, to make one part of ore."

"When will the furnace be restarted?" Winters is concerned about production capacity. After all, for him, charcoal is free of money.

"The furnace wall needs to be repaired, and I also want to remodel the furnace with Mr. Shaosha." Carlos snapped his fingers: "The furnace should be reopened the day after tomorrow. But at that time, more Manual mining, smelting, and more manual charcoal burning."

"It's okay, I'll let Samukin prepare it for you." Winters patted Carlos' shoulder: "You don't have to do this during this time. Idle. Although I failed this time, maybe I can succeed next time?"

Hearing Winters' words, Carlos' eyes widened in horror.

"Senior, you didn't choose a good location for the smelting furnace." Winters looked towards Mason Senior: "Look at the blacksmith workshops in Forge Township, all of them are by the river! Not by the river. , where did the water power come from?"

Mason started: "Ah? There's still this saying? The iron smelting furnace needs water power?"

"Hydraulic blasting! I am also on this matter. I only discovered it after a trip to Forge Township." Winters laughed proudly: "The workshops in Forge Township are all powered by water. Here, cows are used to pull the bellows. Cows are farming animals and are already nervous. Continue to expand the scale, Where can I go to find a cow? It has to be by the river."

Mason Senior looked thoughtful nodded.

Winters took the little blacksmith to the edge of the mountain, pointing to the St. George River down the mountain: "I'll find you a good place. See? It's there! Go and build me another smelter. Furnace! If it doesn't work this time, it's the next time, the next time it doesn't work, the next time, must make the blast furnace impossible!"

Winters laughed and patted the little blacksmith's shoulder: "I didn't really expect you to be able to. Smelting iron. In my opinion, if you don't succeed, then I will re-use the iron smelting furnace of the Old Mister era in Boltain. It doesn't matter if the cost is high, in short, you have to smelt iron. But since you are successful, keep trying Let's go!"

Carlos dumbfounded, wanting to cry without tears.

"Sir, is this iron smelting furnace going to be demolished now?" Shao Sha asked coldly.

"Why dismantle it?" Winters unfathomable mystery rhetorically asked: "What we want now is quantity, not quality. Isn't this furnace usable? Isn't it okay to make do with it?"

>

"I'm afraid... there will be problems." Shaosha explained with difficulty: "The number of forges in Tiefeng County is limited by the blacksmith's guild. It can be less, but not more, each forge has an owner. You If you want to open the furnace again, you have to buy another forge."

Winters' eyebrows twitched involuntarily: "Then what's going on with this iron smelting furnace?"

Only then did Shaosha reveal the truth: "Mr. Suoya's iron smelting furnace was built after my father-in-law dismantled his forge. It was used for my and my father-in-law's forge quota. So there is no problem. My family There is no forge in our workshop now."

Winters was speechless, and he raised his hand to salute Shaosha: "Thank you."

"Don't dare...don't dare. " Shaosha hurriedly bowed in return.

"I'm an iron smelting furnace, and yours is a forge." Winters asked thoughtfully, "Can't you play some word games?"

"No." Shao Sha smiled bitterly: "The rules and regulations of the rules are very fixed. All [furnaces, forges, and smelters that use fuel and flame to process iron and iron ore] are classified in the 'forge' and are limited in number. Each forge is limited in number. Furnace places now have owners. A forge place alone is worth a lot of money.

Only blacksmiths recognized by the blacksmiths guild are blacksmiths; only forges registered with the blacksmiths guild Only the master can open a workshop."

"Oh, it's quite strict." Winters was angry and funny: "Who made the rules?"

Shaosha's smile became more and more bitter. , Helpless: "My father-in-law - Mr. Boltain."

Andre, who had not spoken for a while, suddenly spat in disdain, pulled out his saber, and handed it to Shaosha.

He asked blankly, "Do you recognize what this is?"

Shaosha was shivering with fright and desperately nodded.

Andre sneered fiercely: "Then we want to open as many iron smelting furnaces, let's open as many iron smelting furnaces!"

"Take the knife back, Mr. Shaosha A friend. Why are you threatening him?" Winters stabbed Andre with the elbow.

Andre sneered, but kept the knife in the sheath.

"Looks like it." Winters sighed and told Shaosha with a smile: "You still have to talk to your father-in-law."

[I'm late today too, sorry]
[Limit the number of forges, which is basically the reserved program of the blacksmith guilds. Forge masters, blacksmiths, and apprentices are entirely different classes. In Italy in the sixteenth century, if the blacksmith borrowed other workshops to work, according to the custom, he had to pay "one third" income to the owner of the forge]
[The history of metallurgy is a big pit. The information about the history of metallurgy is vast as the open sea. After reading "History of Metallurgy" (Terry Cote 1976), "History of Technology", "Metal Technology in Ancient China" and "History of Metal Smelting and Processing Engineering in Ancient China", the author decided to— - Abandon the treatment]
[Because of the imbalance in the development of metallurgical technology, it is impossible to point out a metallurgical technology and say "this is how the blacksmiths of that era made iron". Because there must be more backward existences in the same era, and there must be more developed technologies]
[So what the author can do is only "not out of the era". That is to say, the iron smelting technology that appears in this book is indeed the technology that the blacksmiths of that era really applied to production.

But I won't dig too deeply and sort out the principles so much that I write this story as "Cheat Book". After all, this is just a novel story (covering your face)]
[The ratio of ore to fuel is 1:3, which is slightly lower than the normal level of a native blowing furnace. Because blacksmiths in that era used volume instead of weight, so this book also uses volume]
[For the era of lack of platform scales, it is relatively simple to calculate by volume, just count one car and one car]
[Thanks to book friends们的收藏、阅读、订阅、推荐票、月票、打赏和评论，谢谢大家]