Please ask me to be the emperor

Do you know why Governor Zhang had the audacity to ask Zhang Shenyan for these timbers? It turns out that when he was making firearms in Douzhuang, the pig iron he used was crucible iron produced locally.

According to the standards of this era, these pig irons are pig iron, but according to the standards of later generations, they are actually high-carbon steel with high sulfur and silicon content. The iron mines near Qinshui in Yangcheng already have low sulfur content and are rich in coal with low sulfur content, so they can naturally smelt good iron.

The Lushi Iron Mine coal mines are all high in sulfur. No matter how hard the blacksmith Zhang Shun brought back from Yangcheng smelted, they could not smelt iron like that in Yangcheng, Shanxi. Governor Zhang had no choice but to put his mind to the charcoal.

Since the Song Dynasty, China has begun to use coal to smelt iron due to the increasing population in the north, serious destruction of forest vegetation, and widespread shortage of wood and firewood.

Coal-based iron smelting can easily raise the furnace temperature, but it will inevitably be doped with sulfur. Sulfur is a harmful element in steel, which causes thermal brittleness and reduces the ductility and toughness of steel.

Due to the limitations of technical conditions at the time, Shanxi iron smelters had not considered sulfur removal methods. Methods such as adding quicklime, which are often mentioned in later online novels, can only reduce the sulfur content to a certain extent, but cannot avoid the problem of high sulfur content in the smelted steel.

When Zhang Shun gave random instructions and still could not solve the problem of high sulfur content in steel, Governor Zhang suggested that Guangzhou Railway and Fujian Railway had always used charcoal to smelt iron, which was quite superior and could be followed.

Zhang Shun had no choice but to listen to the opinions of professionals. He wrote a warrant and sent Governor Zhang to Zhang Shenyan to ask for the felled wood, so as not to waste more manpower and cut down more wood for charcoal.

Zhang Shenyan felt strange and asked: "These trees were originally alive, but now they have been cut down. How can they burn charcoal if the moisture is too heavy?"

Governor Zhang laughed when he heard this and said: "Zhang Gong has lived in the temple for a long time, but he does not understand these strange skills. This requires fresh wood to make charcoal. It will not work if it is completely dry."

Zhang Shenyan really didn't know, but after hearing this, he was enlightened and said with a smile: "In that case, you can take as much as you need. But there is only one thing I need to trouble you for."

"Originally, I was planning to ask for the lord's warrant and go look for you again. You happen to be here today, so I'll tell you all about it. The lord ordered the wasteland to be reclaimed. Now part of the wasteland has been reclaimed, but there is a lack of equipment. It’s impossible to farm.”

"Not to mention other things, there is currently a severe shortage of shovels, shovels, picks, axes, hoes and other tools, making it impossible to eradicate grass roots and tree roots on wasteland. In addition, the rakes and plows needed to return to farming need to be provided in time, and it takes a lot of trouble. Governor Ichiban."

Governor Zhang was a little confused when he heard that most of these farm tools were made of wrought iron and required a lot of manpower to make them. How could they be completed in such a hurry? After much deliberation, the only option was to use the water-powered forging hammer near Kangjiazhuang to speed up the process.

After hearing this, Zhang Shun knew that this was a big deal, and hurriedly ordered Governor Zhang to burn out a few pits of charcoal, smelt a furnace of good iron, and then use the power of a hydraulic forging hammer to quickly forge tools.

Fortunately, Zhang Shenyan has always had experience. Zhang Shun was born on a construction site in his previous life, and he also knows the beauty of construction in parts. They simply do it to save time and manpower.

The specific method is that everyone performs his or her duties. Some are responsible for clearing the vegetation around the land to be burned to avoid causing fires. Some are specifically responsible for burning wasteland. After burning one area, they will start burning the next area. Some are responsible for cutting down trees and digging roots, some are responsible for leveling the land, and some are responsible for loosening and raking the soil. As for sowing, we won’t mention it for now because it’s not the farming season.

When Zhang Shun finished the population and field statistics work, Zhang Shenyan had only cleared less than a thousand acres of land, and Zhang Shun suddenly became anxious.

According to his estimate, in order to feed the 13,000 people under his command, at least 30,000 shi of food would be needed. Now he only has more than 20,000 taels of silver in his hands. At most, he can buy more than 10,000 shi of food, which can barely sustain him for a while. But until next year, there is no way but to rely on this year's autumn harvest for food.

After Zhang Shun and Xu Ziyuan's statistics, there were more than 2,200 households under his rule, more than 1,400 arable lands, and about 13,000 shi of grain should be paid. In addition, the area around Baodu Village can be reclaimed to produce 5,000 shi of grain, leaving a shortfall of about 12,000 shi.

A rough estimate is that more than 10,000 acres need to be reclaimed to barely support the rebels' one-year rations. If there were other expenses, it would be impossible to survive without nearly 20,000 acres of farmland.

As soon as he thought about this, Zhang Shun didn't bother to rest and hurried to the vicinity of Luanchuan Town to look for Zhang Shenyan.

Zhang Shenyan was not in the Inspection Department of Luanchuan Town, and had already gone to the reclamation area to supervise and direct him personally. Zhang Shun had no choice but to go to the reclamation area to look for him.

When Zhang Shun arrived near the reclamation land, he saw a fire ahead and puffs of smoke brought by the fire. It was the rebel army burning the wasteland there.

When Zhang Shun arrived, the thin Zhang Shenyan stood in the cold wind and pointed, arranging how his subordinate Ding Zhuang should behave.

Zhang Shun shouted, and Zhang Shenyan temporarily put down his work and came to see Zhang Shun. Zhang Shun saw that Shen Yan's face was stained with wood ash and looked a little embarrassed.

He quickly supported Zhang Shenyan and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Zhang! Thanks to you, this matter has made such progress."

Zhang Shenyan had no time to be polite to him, so he just sighed sadly: "There are many trees in this mountainous area. It is different from the past when I and others were working in Tianjin. Cutting down the trees and digging out the roots really delayed the work. The slow progress now is really my fault."

Zhang Shun gave a few words of comfort and quickly followed around to check around. I could see that Zhang Shenyan was really attentive and deliberately selected areas with flat, fertile terrain and sparse trees for reclamation. However, the heavy workload of cutting down trees and removing roots was still unavoidable.

Trees, unlike grass, have roots that spread over an area even larger than the tree's crown. In this era, there are no chainsaw tree pullers, excavators and cranes. Everything can only rely on manpower, but it is very labor-intensive.

Zhang Shun looked at it for a long time, then suddenly frowned and asked: "Why do you still chop with a knife and an ax? Why don't you use a saw?"

Zhang Shenyan quickly pointed out a few points and said: "The workmanship of the saw is complicated, and I was unable to provide it in time. I reluctantly purchased and made more than ten pairs, which have been put into use. It's just that the matter is urgent and I can't wait, so I have to let them do some work first!" "

Zhang Shun raised his eyes and saw that the hillsides and valleys were all crowded with people, but no one was free, and he couldn't help but admire him.

It turns out that there are more than 4,000 strong men and women left in Baodu Village, and they follow the command of the red lady. Firstly, they continue to build the camp, and secondly, they are responsible for reclaiming the wasteland near Baodu Village. The remaining 6,000 people are all here, and they are actually being driven around by Zhang Shenyan alone. It is really a good skill.

Thanks to fan "easonChou" for the reward, thank you for your support!