Phoenix Grand Lord

Blacksmith Gerland Hammers has a stocky build, a black complexion, and exaggerated bulges in the muscles of his arms.

He has just turned 40 this year, but as an ordinary person, his forging skills are already very good.

When he heard that Master Luo Wei had left him alone, blacksmith Geerlan looked uneasy and asked cautiously: "Master Luo Wei, is my little bastard causing trouble again?"

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The "little bastard" he refers to is his son, James Hammers, who is also Rowe's current valet.

Luo Wei smiled and said, "No, little James is very good. He is only 12 years old, right? Ha, he...knows a lot."

Blacksmith Geerlan breathed a sigh of relief, with father-like pride on his face, "Yes, I always teach him some knowledge when I have nothing to do. Although this boy is usually a bit naughty, he still has the shadow of me, haha ”

Luo Wei also smiled and said, "Mr. Gerland, let's talk about business - please sit down."

Craftsmen and servants are different. Although both are civilians, craftsmen have a higher status, and senior craftsmen can even read and write.

All the current craftsmen in Meilin Valley are not Luo Wei's people, they are just part-time workers recruited with money. It is normal for Luo Wei to be polite to key talents.

In the earth world, it is normal for leaders to be polite to subordinate employees, but in Regan's world, in the eyes of craftsmen, Luo Wei's politeness is scary.

Blacksmith Geerlan bowed to Luo Wei in fear, "No, no, sir, my status is not worthy of sitting with you. I can just stand. Please give me your orders."

Luo Wei stopped being polite and asked straight to the point: "What do you think about the construction of the blacksmith shop?"

Blacksmith Geerlan grinned, "Master Luo Wei is wise! With the blacksmith shop, my forging efficiency can be even higher."

Luo Wei frowned slightly and said, "Mr. Galland, I'm not here to hear your nice words. If I want to hear compliments, then I just keep Bachelor Duerdi. Duherdi's words are much nicer than yours." . I came to you just to hear your professional opinion.”

Blacksmith Geerlan was slightly startled.

He never expected that Master Luo Wei, who was a lord, would actually ask his servant's opinion.

Blacksmith Geerlan pursed his lips uncomfortably, "Master Luo Wei, since you ask like this, I will speak frankly. I hope you will never take it off."

Luo Wei smiled and said, "It seems that there is something wrong with my blacksmith shop plan? Tell me."

Blacksmith Geerlan took a deep breath and said, "Master Luo Wei, your idea of ​​building the blacksmith shop next to the waterwheel is really great. The key factor in ironmaking is temperature, and the key factor in temperature is besides the combustion accelerant material. In addition, it is the air volume.

"It is a very genius idea to use waterwheels as power to blow the air. This will not only greatly improve the efficiency of ironmaking, but also greatly improve the yield rate."

Rowe said: "I know this, what I want to hear is - but."

"But..." Blacksmith Geerlan hesitated, and finally summoned up the courage to say: "Master Luo Wei, please forgive me, even if your blacksmith shop is built, it will only be half effective."

After saying that, blacksmith Geerlan quickly took a sneak peek at the expression on Luo Wei's face.

Luo Wei did not get angry, but asked very seriously: "Why do you say that?"

Seeing that Luo Wei did not blame him, the blacksmith Geerlan relaxed his courage and said, "It's like this, Master Luo Wei, the high-temperature shaft furnace you planned... can't be built with just a few words.

"The furnaces currently used in Thoradin's empire are all open-hearth furnaces and block furnaces. The blast furnace you planned... we have never seen before.

“Based on my professional capabilities, blast furnaces require more air intake and more heat-resistant refractory bricks.

“Although the air blast bladder driven by the water wheel can greatly increase the air inlet volume, we do not yet have the ability to bake refractory bricks that can withstand higher temperatures.

“In addition, and the most important point is that the blast furnace also requires a lot of combustion accelerants, and the consumption will be very large.

"Let's put it this way, using your planned waterwheel blast furnace to make iron will definitely be very good, and the quality of the pig iron will be extremely high. Even adding coke to make steel will not be a problem, but with the current situation of Merrill Valley Manor It is impossible to maintain such a high consumption blast furnace.

"Unless you have a fine iron mine and an endless coal mine."

"Oh..." Luo Wei nodded thoughtfully.

Blast furnace ironmaking is a knowledge that was involved in high school in the Earth Age. Luo Wei originally thought that he could directly apply the idea of ​​blast furnace ironmaking to Merrill Valley Manor and use an industrial idea to crush it. Unexpectedly, the actual situation was much better than Luo Wei's. It's more complicated than you might imagine.

A blast furnace must be a blast furnace. This is the correct direction for ironmaking, but first, we must lay a solid foundation step by step.

First take the path that is cheap, low consumption, and easy to use, lay a solid foundation, and popularize iron tools. Once you have the foundation, you can gradually upgrade.

At this time, you have to listen to others’ advice.

Luo Wei then asked humbly: "So, what kind of furnace is most suitable for Merrill Valley?"

Blacksmith Geerlan was impressed by Luo Wei's attitude, so he replied very seriously: "Master Luo Wei, the current mainstream block smelting furnace is the most suitable. The block smelting furnace is not large in scale and does not require too high a furnace temperature. Just throw the crude iron ore in and burn it during smelting.”

Luo Wei asked: "But if this is the case, smelting will take a long time, right? And there will be a lot of impurities."

Blacksmith Geerlan nodded in surprise, "Yes, Master Luo Wei, I didn't expect you to be so knowledgeable about ironmaking."

Luo Wei smiled and said, "I usually like to read books when I have nothing to do, and I have also read a few books on ironmaking."

Blacksmith Geerlan was even more surprised, "My God! There is actually a book dedicated to ironmaking? I never knew about it."

"Ahem," Luo Wei coughed twice, "It's not very detailed in the book. You'd better tell me about the furnace in detail."

Blacksmith Geerlan said quickly: "Yes, Master Luo Wei. As you know, the temperature of the block smelting furnace is not high, and the iron ore burned is a solid block of sponge iron, so it is called a block smelting furnace.

"After reaching the state of sponge iron, the blacksmith must continue to forge it to remove the air and some impurities in the sponge iron. Although the quality of this piece of iron is not high, at least it can be made into iron tools. Forging Level 0 light armor or level 0 crossbows, weapons, farm tools, etc. are enough.

“The construction cost and maintenance of the block smelting furnace are also very convenient. The furnace lining inside is made of fine sand and grass mud, the middle is made of refractory bricks to form a skeleton, and the outer layer is filled with grass mud to fill the gaps.

"It may not seem simple, but this kind of stove has very low requirements for refractory bricks. Once it is about to burn through, just put a few more layers of grass mud on the outside of the stove to seal it. So this kind of stove is very simple, as long as there are fine sand and clay. , any qualified mason can quickly build a refractory brick and block furnace."

Luo Wei thought for a moment and then continued to ask: "What is the output of a block smelting furnace in a day?"

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