Iron Powder and Spellcaster

When the three military tribunes rushed back to the smelting site, Carlos was leading the workers to "dismantle" the iron smelting furnace, and Chauchat was 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 looked like a kitten.

But the dirty face couldn't conceal Carlos's joy. The little blacksmith swept away his dejection and rushed to Winters, dancing and applauding: "It's done! Sir! It's done!"

Carlos was so excited that he could hardly speak.

"Shaosha!" Winters summoned the middle-aged blacksmith: "You tell me."

When Winters and the old blacksmith Boltan went to the forge town, Shaosha did not follow, but stayed to take care of the forge.

At first glance, it is clear that there is no "liquid iron" flowing out from early morning to dusk. Carlos was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot, and Shaosha was also a little upset.

Fearing that the stove would explode, the two decided to cease fire.

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

After inspection, it was found that the outflow port was blocked by solidified iron slurry and slag. A large lump of iron wrapped with slag was stuck in the lower part of the furnace, like a baby with dystocia.

Carlos successfully extracted iron from the ore, just as the old blacksmith Boltan said, "burn the charcoal and iron ore together."

However, the little blacksmith soon encountered a second problem: he had the iron, but it was stuck in the furnace and couldn't be taken out. What should he do?

There is only one answer: demolition!

So there was this scene in front of Winters: six or seven young workers were sweating profusely chipping away at the wall with picks and hammers. With the sound of "ding, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong_dang_ding_dang_dang_dang_ding_dang_dang_ding_dang_dang_dang_dang_dang_dang_dang_dang_dang_dang_dang_dong_dang_dang_dongdang that that clinking, 'dangdang' sound, a huge hole was opened under the furnace wall." Gap.

When the slag is cracked open, the red-hot "iron" is exposed - but currently this large lump of iron is still stuck in the furnace and cannot move, and the hole must be expanded.

"It took so much effort to build it, but it's just torn down like this?" Mason asked regretfully.

The senior felt very uncomfortable when he saw that the blast furnace that he had worked so hard to build was demolished with brutal force.

Winters' eyebrows twisted into a knot unconsciously: "Isn't this just a large block furnace? Why do I feel... it's not as good as a block furnace?!"

"I succeeded!" The little blacksmith couldn't hear what others said at all, he just kept chanting: "I succeeded!"

Winters was woken up as soon as he fell asleep and was in a bad mood.

Seeing the crazy look of the little blacksmith, he finally couldn't hold back his anger and kicked the latter in the butt: "How did you succeed?!"

Winters didn't exert any force, but Carlos was like a wooden stake at the moment, falling down with one push.

It wasn't until he fell heavily to the ground that Carlos became conscious. The pressure and emotions accumulated in his heart suddenly broke out, and he lay on the ground and cried loudly.

"How can you kick someone?" Mason scolded: "He is not your soldier."

"I didn't try hard." Winters felt 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 to you, I shouldn't have hit anyone..."

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

Shaosha, the blacksmith on the side, was so shocked that he couldn't close his mouth from ear to ear when he saw the tribune apologizing to the young blacksmith.

Go back forty years. If I hit you, I will just hit you. Apologize? Do you want to get slapped again?

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

"How can I be a master? I don't have the majesty and grace that a master should have!" A voice in Shao Sha's heart said disdainfully.

"That's how it should be! Hasn't the master been driven away?" Another voice in Shao Sha's heart shouted.

No one knows the inner world of the middle-aged blacksmith. This is just a small episode.

Winters and Mason helped the young blacksmith, who was still sobbing.

"Otherwise." Winters thought for a moment: "You kick me too? Are we even?"

Carlos burst into laughter and blew out a huge snot bubble.

It's not that he cried because he was kicked. He really had accumulated too much stress and negative emotions, and all of them turned into tears when he couldn't control them. The boots on his butt were just the fuse.

After all, he was only seventeen years old.

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

Andre sneered: "Is this little brat made of mud? And brought out water?"

"It's good if you can laugh." Wen Tesla grabbed the young blacksmith's shoulder and said with all kinds of helplessness: "You... forget it, let's wait until your brother comes back."

After crying and venting his anger, Carlos's mental state was much better than before.

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

"How does this count as a success? Don't wipe it with your hands! Be careful!" Winters took out a handkerchief and wiped the young blacksmith's tears: "To make a furnace of iron, you have to dismantle a furnace? That means I can smelt iron at any cost. Really? If I do business, I won’t be killed by you!”

Shao Sha came back to his senses and explained on the side: "There is no need to dismantle it, just dismantle part of it. Mr. Sawyer and I have the idea to transform this iron smelting furnace and use it to refine [furnace bottom iron]."

After listening to Shaosha's explanation for a long time, Winters figured out what the two blacksmiths meant - make mistakes.

To put it simply, Carlos and Shaosha's "blast furnace dream" was shattered by the cruel reality. The blast furnace cannot be built, at least there must be something wrong with the iron smelting furnace at present.

As for what went wrong? The two blacksmiths haven't figured it out yet.

But the iron smelting furnace that took a lot of manpower, material resources and time to build cannot be wasted, right?

So the two of them decided to give up their dreams, embrace reality, and make the mistake of transforming this "blast furnace" into a [bottom blowing furnace].

The original block smelting furnace mostly blows air from the top or the waist. The bottom-blown furnace blows the air from the bottom as the name suggests. Because the larger the furnace body, the worse the blast effect from the top.

The two of them were not prepared to let the "liquid iron flow", which would be too troublesome. Simply let the smelted iron sink to the bottom of the furnace and take it out at once, which is called "furnace bottom iron".

If the molten iron cannot flow out on its own, it cannot operate continuously. Therefore, every time a furnace of iron is smelted, the furnace must be dismantled. This stride-back approach also has the advantage of being simple.

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

Carlos sobbed and flattered: "Your metaphor is so appropriate."

In fact, according to Carlos's idea-although he didn't mean it, it was better to lead a donkey than a horse.

Smart is scared: if he really succeeds in building the blast furnace, Winters won't save his big brother - well, Smart.

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 smelting furnace, right?"

"You can't say that, sir." Shao Sha also quickly joined the team of flatterers. After all, he was partly responsible for the failure of the iron smelting furnace trial.

Shao Sha forced out a flattering smile: "The bottom-blown furnace is still much better than the old block furnace. If I insist on saying it, the bottom-blown furnace should be the father of the blast furnace. Although we were not able to 'lead' the blast furnace, I barely managed to 'bring' you the father of Blast Furnace..."

The gap in the furnace wall had been opened large enough, and a large pile of "things" that was still smoldering was hooked out of the furnace.

Winters and others walked closer to take a 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 increasingly yellow. It looks loose and porous, and the texture is very uneven. If I have to say it, it does look a bit like red-hot iron.

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

"Is this iron?" Winters frowned slightly.

Shao Sha bent down and observed carefully for a long time, then slapped his palm: "Yes, it's iron! It's a bit like sponge iron, but a bit different! Come on! Give me the axe!"

The boy beside him hurriedly handed Shao Sha an axe.

"Sir, please stand back." Shao Sha requested: "Others should also stand further away. Mr. Sawyer, please stay!"

The rest of the crowd, including Winters, all retreated four to five meters away.

Shaosha chose a good position on the iron lump, pressed the ax blade on the iron lump, held the ax handle with both hands, and shouted to Carlos: "Mr. Sawyer! Come on!"

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

The little blacksmith first tapped the hammer three times on the back of the axe. When the ax blade was embedded half an inch into the iron mass and was able to bear some strength, Carlos stood firm, exerted all his strength, grunted "Hey", and hit the back of the ax hard with the hammer.

Winters, who was watching from the sidelines, actually saw a hint of two-handed swordsmanship in this heavy hammer.

The loose and porous iron lump was split open with a large crack, and the hotter and dazzling core was exposed.

Carlos kept pounding away with his hands. His hammer was very stable and landed accurately on the back of the ax every time.

Sparks were flying and slag was flying, but Shaosha ignored it and held the ax steadily.

At this moment, Carlos is no longer a crybaby child, and Shaosha is no longer a pot-bellied, flattering and smooth city councilor.

The two of them now only have one identity, that is, they are blacksmiths.

The sound of hammers and axes is very rhythmic and beautiful, as if they are beating time. Winters couldn't help but clap along.

The middle-aged blacksmith and the young blacksmith worked closely together and soon divided the still-burning large lump of iron into eight small lumps of iron.

"Okay." Shaosha wiped the sweat from his forehead and walked up to Winters with a smile: "The sponge iron is easier to work with when it is first released from the furnace. It will harden after a while when it cools down. It has been too long since I started working in person. , making several tribunes laugh."

The cotton clothes Shao Sha wore had been burned with small holes by the flying iron slag, but his smile was very cheerful.

Winters didn't realize it until this moment: Chauchat was a blacksmith who could swing a hammer and bend metal. Before that, he actually classified Shaosha into the same category as old Priskin and other businessmen.

"Good job." Winters praised, and then asked: "Cut it into small pieces? Why?"

Shao Sha replied: "It's a big lump of iron, which is difficult to handle. It's easier to forge it into small pieces."

"Forged? Do you want to be forged next?" Winters continued to ask.

Asking for advice when you don't understand is one of Winters' good habits. He doesn't care about face.

"There is slag in the iron, and the slag can be cleaned during the forging process." Shaosha patiently explained to the young tribune: "First it is forged into a thin plate, and the slag will naturally peel off. Then it is folded and then forged into thin sheets. …That’s what it means to be tempered over and over again.”

"Forging?" Winters immediately thought of the hydraulic forging hammer and asked half-jokingly, "Does it have to be 'forged' by the workshops in Forge Township?"

"That's right." Shao Sha replied matter-of-factly: "There is water forging in Forge Village, so it's perfect for this job. Just relying on people to forge it, I don't know how long it will take to forge this big lump of iron.

Although steel bar iron has been used in recent years, the craft of forging iron is a basic skill of blacksmiths and should not be lost so quickly. If it doesn't work, you can also ask my father-in-law's old brothers to come out and give guidance..."

Andre and Mason were curiously playing with the iron lump on the side, and the little blacksmith proudly explained it to the two officers.

Only Winters and Shaosha stood in the cold autumn wind, seriously discussing the matter of "forging".

"Forging...isn't free?" Winters narrowed his eyes.

"Of course it's not free." Shaosha introduced the internal rules of the blacksmith to Winters: "The simplest way is to hand over all the iron materials to the workshop owners in Forge Township, and you don't have to worry about anything else. Just trade with them. Iron, it can probably be exchanged for half the weight of iron material in wrought iron.”

"Half?" Winters was surprised: "We worked hard to smelt iron, and they want to take half of it as soon as they pass by? This is too damn dark!"

Shao Sha looked helpless, and whispered: "If I can get half of it, it's all for your sake. What you made is not iron, but iron materials. There is a lot of poisonous slag in it. It's useless without forging it properly." For legal purposes.”

Winters was so angry that he laughed: "Then I might as well make a few hydraulic forging hammers and do it myself! What kind of bullshit Steel Castle famous craftsman's hydraulic forging hammer, I can make another one at a glance, or a hundred!"

"It's okay." Shao Sha nodded: "But think about it carefully - except for Mr. Sawyer, you have no other blacksmiths. Even if I come to help, Mr. Sawyer and I can't do it alone. . You’d better leave the iron materials to the workshops in Forge Township and concentrate on smelting iron.”

Winters discovered for the first time that Shaosha's eloquence was also extraordinary.

"We've already set up an accounting school. If I run a blacksmith school, it'll be over!" Winters pointed at the workers who were cleaning the furnace: "I'll train them all to be blacksmiths!"

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

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

"I'm afraid not. Those small workers are farmers who have a winter break, and their families have land. Even if you ask them to come to work in the blacksmith workshop, they will not agree. And there is no money to be made during the apprenticeship."

"I will train anyone who is willing to come. If there is no money during the apprenticeship period? Then I will also pay wages to the apprentices!"

Shao Sha's face became more solemn, and he solemnly told the tribune: "If you do this, I can guarantee you that all the blacksmiths in Tiefeng County will rebel immediately! Even if they don't rebel, they will never stand on the side of On your side."

Shaosha's words seemed to threaten Winters, and Winters thought so at the first time.

But he soon realized that wasn't the case, that Shaosha was admonishing him. In a sense, it was because Shaosha already considered himself a member of his faction that he warned him to his face with words that were so blunt as to threaten him.

"Why?" Winters asked sincerely.

"Those who can make iron are not blacksmiths." Shao Sha also answered honestly: "Only those who are recognized as blacksmiths by the blacksmith guild are blacksmiths. The blacksmith guild has a complete set of apprentice promotion rules, which are the cornerstone of the guild. . If you want to set up a blacksmith school, you are destroying the roots of the guild."

Guild! Winters rubbed his chin. Living in Plato for so long, he had forgotten what life in a city dominated by guilds was like.

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

Before the Sovereignty War—there was no Republic of Veneta at that time, and the power of [the noble Seablue Republic] was limited to Seablue City and its surroundings—the position of President of Seablue General Assembly was concurrently held by the consuls.

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

After the Sovereignty War, the large and small commercial city-states of Veneta and the inland noble territories were merged into the [Dignified Republic of Veneta], and the chairman of the Hailan Association was still concurrently served by the Grand Consul of the Republic. The lofty status of the guild can be seen from this.

It was not the city that gave birth to the guilds, but the guilds that built the city. The city does not belong to the citizens either, the city belongs to the guilds.

Unexpectedly, Tiefeng County, which is poor and isolated and on the edge of the Republican Alliance, actually operates a guild?

Winters shook his head, turned to smile, and asked the middle-aged blacksmith: "Can you also be my consultant? Mr. Shaosha. Anonymous. Even if I lose the battle one day, I will not hold you accountable. I There are still many things I want to ask you about.”

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

Shao Sha then suggested: "You'd better talk to my father-in-law about the blacksmith's guild. He founded the blacksmith's guild in Tiefeng County."

"Okay." Winters laughed dumbly.

Over there, Mason happily pulled Carlos over.

"If we work harder, I think we can make a cast-iron cannon." The senior looked forward with great enthusiasm: "The blacksmiths of the false emperor don't have more eyes or hands than us!"

Carlos was stunned.

"How much information was released?" Shaosha asked Carlos.

"The furnace temperature is not enough. I think what comes out should be wrought iron, not pig iron. According to the estimated input, there can be about 400 kilograms of wrought iron." Carlos hurriedly added: "It can't be calculated too well, even if it's 250 kilograms, Ten kilograms of material is sufficient. The exact weight needs to be weighed."

"How much charcoal was used?" Shao Sha asked again.

"Primary ore and charcoal, three to one." Carlos did a mental calculation and answered.

"What does three versus one mean?" Winters asked, entering an area he didn't understand again.

"It's three parts of charcoal, one part of ore - volume." Shaosha explained, he smiled and said: "That's really good! My father-in-law said that when they smelted iron, they had to use six or seven parts of charcoal to smelt it. A share of ore.”

"When can the furnace be opened again?" Winters is concerned about production capacity. After all, for him, charcoal is free.

"The furnace wall needs to be repaired, and I also want to renovate the furnace with Mr. Shaosha." Carlos said with his fingers: "The furnace should be able to be reopened the day after tomorrow. But at that time, more people will be needed for mining, refining, and... More hands are needed to burn charcoal.”

"It doesn't matter, I'll let Samkin prepare it for you." Winters patted Carlos on the shoulder: "Don't be idle during this period. Although you failed this time, maybe you can succeed next time? "

Carlos' eyes widened in horror at Winters' words.

"Senior, you chose a bad location for the smelting furnace." Winters looked at Senior Mason: "Look at the blacksmith workshops in Forge Township, all of them are close to the river! If they were not close to the river, where would the water power come from? ?”

Mason was shocked: "Huh? Is there such a thing? Does the iron smelting furnace also need water power?"

"Water-powered blowers! I only discovered this after I went to Forge Township." Winters laughed proudly: "The workshops in Forge Township all use water-powered blowers. But here, oxen are used to pull the bellows. Oxen They are farm animals, so they are inherently nervous. If we continue to expand the scale, where can we find cattle? We have to be close to the river."

Senior Mason nodded thoughtfully.

Wen Tesla led the little blacksmith to the edge of the mountain and pointed to the St. George River at the bottom of the mountain: "I'll find a good place for you. Do you see it? It's right there! Go and build me another iron smelting furnace! Not this time. Just next time, if it doesn’t work next time, then next time, we must make the blast furnace work!”

Winters laughed and patted the young blacksmith on the shoulder: "I actually don't expect you to be able to smelt iron. According to my idea, if you don't succeed, then I will re-introduce iron smelting in the era of Mr. Boltan." Furnace. It doesn’t matter if the cost is high, after all, you have to smelt iron. But since you succeeded, keep up your efforts!"

Carlos was dumbfounded and wanted to cry without tears.

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

"Why should it be dismantled?" Winters asked inexplicably: "What we want now is quantity, not quality. Isn't this furnace usable? Isn't it okay to just make do with it?"

"I'm afraid... there will be problems." Shao Sha 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 its owner. If you want to open another one, If you don’t have a furnace, you have to buy another forge.”

Winters' eyebrows furrowed again unconsciously: "Then what's going on with this iron smelting furnace?"

Only then did Shao Sha reveal the truth: "Mr. Sawyer's iron smelting furnace was built after my father-in-law dismantled his forge. It used my and my father-in-law's forge quota. So there is no problem. My family's workshop Here, there is no forge now."

Winters was speechless. He raised his hand and saluted Shaosha: "Thank you."

"I don't dare to take it... I don't dare to take it." Shao Sha hurriedly bowed in return.

"My furnace is an iron smelting furnace, and the one you use is a forge." Winters pondered and asked, "Can't you play a little word game?"

"No." Shao Sha smiled bitterly: "The regulations of the industry are very strict. All [smelters, forges, and smelting furnaces that use fuel and flame to process iron and iron ore] are classified in the 'forge' and are subject to quantitative restrictions. Restrictions. Each forge slot now has an owner. Just one forge slot is worth a lot of money.

Only blacksmiths recognized by the blacksmiths' guild are blacksmiths; only forge owners registered with the blacksmiths' guild can open workshops. "

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

Shaosha's smile became more bitter and helpless: "My father-in-law—Mr. Boltan."

Andre, who had been silent all this time, suddenly spat disdainfully, pulled out his saber, and showed it to Shaosha.

He asked expressionlessly: "Do you recognize what this is?"

Shao Sha was trembling with fear and nodded desperately.

Andre sneered viciously: "Then we can open as many iron smelting furnaces as we want!"

"Put the knife back, Mr. Chauchat is a friend. Why are you threatening him?" Winters poked Andre with his elbow.

Andre sneered, but still sheathed the knife.

"It seems." Winters sighed and told Shaosha with a smile: "I still have to talk to your father-in-law."

[I’m late today too, sorry]

[Limiting the number of forges is basically the preserve of blacksmith guilds everywhere. The forge master, blacksmith, and apprentice are three distinct classes. In sixteenth-century Italy, if a blacksmith borrowed work from another workshop, according to custom, he had to pay "one-third" of his income to the owner of the forge]

[The history of metallurgy is a big pit. There is a vast amount of information on the history of metallurgy. After reading "History of Metallurgy" (Tellicott 1976), "History of Technology", "Ancient Chinese Metal Technology" and "History of Ancient Chinese Metal Smelting and Processing Engineering", the author decided to give up treatment]

[Because of the uneven 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 and more developed technologies in the same era]

[So all the author can do is "not out of touch with the times". That is to say, the iron smelting technology that appears in this book is indeed the technology that the blacksmiths of that era actually used in production.

But I won’t delve too deeply and sort out the principles so much that I write this story into a "Metallurgical Handbook". After all, this is just a novel (face covering)]

[The ratio of ore to fuel is 1:3, which is slightly lower than the normal level of the local blowing furnace. Because blacksmiths of that era used volume rather than weight, this book also uses volume]

[In the era when there was a lack of floor scales, it was relatively simple to calculate by volume, just count one car and one car]

[Thanks to book friends for their collection, reading, subscription, recommendation votes, monthly votes, rewards and comments, thank you all]