Become a feudal king from today

"Well done, let's go and let me see your results. Read М" Zhao Xu said.

Wang Chong said yes and went to the steel workshop of the Bingzhan Division with Zhao Xu.

Here, the bellows pulled by the craftsmen's hands has disappeared, replaced by a huge metal bellows.

On one side of the windbox is a steam engine. This steam engine is connected to six windboxes. Each time the connecting rod reciprocates, it will blow huge wind into the blast furnace.

In an instant, the flames in the blast furnace will change from red to blue, and the fire will become more intense.

"Your Highness, since this steam blower was put into use, the efficiency of iron-making and steel-making has increased more than ten times." After he came to the War Department, Wang Ying also followed.

Zhao Xu nodded. This is natural. The key factors to increase the temperature of the blast furnace are coke and the wind blowing into the blast furnace.

After all, there is oxygen in the wind, and oxygen plays a role in combustion.

In the past, he solved the problem of coke, so he successfully produced liquid molten iron.

Now the blower has solved the problem of too weak blast wind, which greatly increases the temperature rise rate of the blast furnace.

The melting speed of iron ore is accelerated, and the efficiency of iron-making is naturally improved.

In addition, there are air-heated stoves.

This thing also relies on blast to burn coal, raise the internal temperature, and then blow it into the blast furnace.

Combining the two places, the efficiency of ironmaking is increased by more than ten times.

The iron-making efficiency of the Bingzhansi has always been very low for him, but it has only improved slightly compared to the past.

But compared with the iron-making efficiency of modern times, it is simply far behind.

Now, Yanzhou's steel smelting is finally approaching modern steel smelting efficiency.

After observing the blast furnace for a while, Zhao Xu turned his attention to the crucible for steelmaking.

There are also blowers driven by steam engines.

Unlike blast furnace ironmaking, the blower here is not only responsible for raising the temperature of the flame, but also blowing air to the crucible through an iron pipe connected to the blower.

In this way, oxygen can fully burn the impurities in the molten steel and improve the quality of the steel.

After a round of inspection, Zhao Xu was very satisfied. Just as Wang Chong said, the conditions for converter steelmaking are really met.

Because first, the iron smelting efficiency has improved. Due to the large size of the converter and the fast steelmaking speed, if the supply of molten iron is insufficient, it will affect the efficiency of the converter steelmaking.

Therefore, improving ironmaking efficiency is a prerequisite for converter steelmaking.

Second, in fact, crucible steelmaking is the predecessor of converter steelmaking. Nowadays, steel mills use top blowing oxygen to smelt steel in crucibles, which is similar to the top blowing converter steelmaking method.

It's just that in converter steelmaking, the lining material of the converter and the material of the crucible are different.

To put it simply, converter steelmaking is just about making a huge crucible of different materials and wrapping it with an iron shell.

"Everything is ready, all we need is the east wind. In this case, you start to build the alkaline converter and transform the steel mill, so that it can be combined with steam engines to realize some mechanized operations." Zhao Xu warned.

Now that the steam engine has been applied, it naturally needs to be fully utilized in heavy industries such as steel smelting.

In addition to using steam engines to blow air, of course, steam engines can also be used to create a lifting system.

In this way, the molten iron smelted in the blast furnace can be hoisted, transported directly to the top of the converter through the cableway, and poured into it for steelmaking.

"Yes, Your Highness, I will immediately send a batch of dolomite over to make an alkaline furnace lining." Wang Chong said yes, looking excited.

Steel is the foundation of all industries. After studying with King Yan for so long, he knew this.

Zhao Xu nodded, Wang Chong got it right in one step this time.

In the history of converter steelmaking, it has gone through two stages.

The first stage is the acid converter. The disadvantage of this converter is that it cannot handle the sulfur and phosphorus in the molten steel, and the quality of the steel produced is not high.

Later, alkaline furnace lining appeared, which solved this problem.

This alkaline material is a brick made of dolomite and tar.

Dolomite was not uncommon in ancient times and was used by potters when firing ceramics, so this was not a problem.

Tar is a by-product of smoldering coke. It is enough for the craftsmen to collect it when smoldering the coke. This is not a problem.

Therefore, Yanzhou's converter steelmaking industry does not have to follow the wrong path of acid steelmaking this time.

But acidity and alkalinity are just differences in the quality of steel. The real value of converter steelmaking is that large-scale steelmaking has been achieved for the first time in human history, which has made the price of steel very low.

Cheap steel further promoted industrial development.

After chatting with Wang Chong, Wang Ying and his son about the details of the renovation of the steel mill, Zhao Xu returned to the palace.

Before his butt got hot from sitting, he asked Feng'er to pack some clothes for him and prepare to go to Pingcheng.

This time, although he asked Dong An to go to sea to resolve Japan's conspiracy, he never put all his hopes on it.

He firmly believes that sometimes what cannot be obtained on the battlefield cannot be obtained at the negotiation table.

It would be fine if Dong An could resolve the Japanese conspiracy with his own words. If not, war would be inevitable.

Therefore, he decided to go to Jinghai County to inspect the warships being built.

At the same time, he was also preparing to hand over a brand new ship drawing to Chen Shou.

This drawing is naturally no longer a conventional sail battleship, but a hybrid battleship combined with a steam engine.

In addition to hybrid sail battleships, there are also some drawings of small steamships.

These small steamships will all have no sails, leaving only a few chimneys on them, and will be purely steam-powered.

He wanted Chen Shou to build these small steamships first to accumulate technical experience and then build larger steamships.

When the technology matures, they will be qualified to build steam ironclads.

After all, although he can provide technical drawings, it does not mean that one drawing can solve all problems.

In the contemporary world, even if the blueprints for manufacturing atomic bombs are released to the world, there will only be a few countries that can manufacture atomic bombs, because this involves many auxiliary industries.

Therefore, although Zhao Xu wanted to have an ironclad ship immediately, it would not work without developing supporting industries.

Fortunately, the most important steel problem has been solved, and the remaining technical problems only need to be overcome by Chen Shou when building a small steamship.

With theory, you can get twice the result with half the effort, but it is also very important to master technical experience in practice.

Two days later, he arrived in Jinghai County.

Due to the limited space suitable for shipbuilding in the Pingcheng Canal.

The Shipbuilding Department once again activated the Jinghai County Shipyard. In addition to the twelve warships currently being built in Pingcheng.

There are also twelve warships under construction here.

"When will the warship be delivered to the navy?" As soon as Zhao Xu arrived in Jinghai County, he and Chen Shou came to Jinghai Wharf.

"It only takes thirty days for these warships to be launched." Chen Shou said.

Zhao Xu nodded with satisfaction.

This time point is very important. If Japan's conspiracy can succeed, he estimates that there will be a huge naval battle in the next one to two months.

At that time, the roles of twelve battleships and thirty-six battleships will obviously be different.

"We must ensure that we enter the water on time and there must be no mistakes." Zhao Xu said.

Nearly two months have passed since the battle of the three cities in Shanxi and Henan, and then when Japan framed the Black Shark pirates at sea.

It is already November, and the cold wind from the north has already given Yanzhou a winter feel.

It will be December in one month, and these twenty-four battleships have been built for almost a year.

In addition, after the warship is launched, the trainees of the Naval Academy have to adapt to the warship for a period of time.

Seeing the serious look on King Yan's face, Chen Shou knew that something big was going to happen at sea. He solemnly said: "Your Highness, don't worry, I dare to use my own head to guarantee it."