In any country, a dynasty, especially a feudal dynasty, iron and steel are in a state of scarcity at any time, and it is nothing more than the degree of scarcity.

Even in the early stage of the industrial revolution in Europe, steel was in short supply, of course, this state is that with the large increase in steel production capacity and the development of more use range, it is always difficult for steel production capacity to catch up with the growth of demand.

In Da Zhou, the same is true.

In this era, the iron smelting industry was still in a relatively primitive small-scale workshop production mode, both in terms of quality and output were far from meeting the demand, which also made the use of steel in many fields can only be reluctantly cut and replaced by others.

Not to mention the huge demand for iron and steel from the surrounding grassland nomadic tribes, there is a huge demand for steel like Japan, Korea and even the Nanyang region.

With the development of shipbuilding and construction, the demand for steel will continue to grow in the manufacture of ships, carriages and other means of transportation and the construction of bridges, not just the original ones mainly used in production and life such as farm tools, knives, iron pots and other fields.

The sense of smell of these Jin merchants is undoubtedly sensitive, and even if it is just a sentence that seems to be inadvertent, it can attract their attention.

Of course, this may have a lot to do with the huge influence and prestige that you have established in the strategy of opening up the sea, but two years ago, who would care about you?

Feng Ziying looked at the businessmen in front of her with a lot of amusement, these guys are well-informed and dare to take risks, you have to admire this.

Fan Yongzhan is also very calm, there is nothing unseemly about the channels he has learned, this is not a military priority, and since it is in the Northland, as a Shanshan merchant is a member of the Northland people, of course, he is also qualified to participate, in the end, any industry needs the investment of silver, doesn't this Xiao Feng Xiu need them?

Of course, Feng Ziying needs them to engage in the iron smelting industry, even if he knows some of these doorways, but this cannot be like some golden fingers, which can evolve from the traditional primitive iron smelting technology to the reverberatory furnace overnight.

He only knows a rough idea of the coke reduction technology here, and he doesn't know how many experiments he has to experiment to figure it out, so let these Jin merchants invest in it, and they can be regarded as doing their best to promote this space-time industrial technological revolution.

"Fan Gong, you are really well-informed about this news, those who know about this matter should not exceed a slap in this world, but I didn't expect you to know about it." Feng Ziying pretended to sigh.

"My lord, our Jin merchants are also part of the merchants of the Northland, you can't favor one over the other, some people are already complaining that you are too generous to the Jiangnan merchants, and even they think that this is related to the fact that you are going to marry a Jiangnan woman." Fan Yongzhan snorted, "They wonder if you have fallen for the beauty trick of the Jiangnan gentry, and say why don't you look down on the women of our northern gentry,......"

Beauty Trick?! Feng Ziying couldn't help laughing.

It's a really brain-blowing idea.

Well, it seems to be true, the Shen family is a Suzhou gentry family, the Lin family is also a Suzhou prince's family, and even the Xue family, which has not yet been exposed, is also a family in Jinling.

Feng Ziying's loud laughter made the whole atmosphere relax all of a sudden, and even Jin Liangcai and Tian Shenggui took the opportunity to talk, they were suppressed so much that they didn't say a word before, and it was all up to Fan Yongzhan to deal with it.

"Fan Gong, this idea of yours is really interesting, well, I haven't thought it myself, but when you say this, I think it's really a bit like, well, it's a pity that I went to Yangzhou, and I don't seem to have tasted the taste of Yangzhou thin horses, this beauty is not worthy of the name." Feng Ziying smiled happily.

"Hehe, if the adults like it, the grass people can ask Yangzhou to choose a few of the best skinny horses in the Tianji Pavilion to ,......send to the adults in a few days," Jin Liangyu also smiled and responded.

"Don't, don't, you all know that I fell for the Jiangnan plan, I haven't married yet, if people know, it will be too embarrassing." Feng Ziying waved her hand, "Okay, let's not talk about it, let's get down to business, this iron smelting industry is an important industry related to the national economy and people's livelihood, well, it is estimated that you all know that the current iron smelting industry is actually very common, in Shanxi, in Guangdong, in Jiangxi, in Fujian, in Beizhi, it is very extensive, but in general, its smelting scale is too small, the technology is backward, the quality is low, and with the huge demand for military needs of the imperial court, the demand for iron and wrought iron is increasing, so the imperial court hopes to make a breakthrough in this aspect,......"

Several people listened patiently, this is all the way it should be, but how to do this business, how can it be done, well, low quality and small scale This is the key, but how to solve this problem?

"As far as I know, the Xiyi people have made some progress in how to smelt iron, mainly in the screening and processing of iron smelting charcoal, if the quality of the charcoal can be solved, and some innovation in the smelting method, the output and quality of iron smelting can be greatly improved, this point, we have mastered some things, but we still need to make repeated attempts to find out the best way to come out,......"

Feng Ziying naturally couldn't talk to these people in too much detail, and it was useless to talk in detail.

These people are merchants, not craftsmen and technicians, but they only need to instill a little bit in them, this industry is very promising, the court is very interested, and the prospects are very good, then it is enough.

Of course, these people are not stupid, they can rely on their current influence and credibility to make them believe for the time being, if there has been no progress, it is estimated that they will slowly become confident in themselves, but of course they will not be like this, they must give them some hope and sweetness, and there is a long way to go to turn these trade merchants into industrialists.

Now Da Zhou is still making iron from coal (coal) and charcoal, and there have been some attempts at coke ironmaking, but none of them are systematic or conscious, so to make a breakthrough in this area, Feng Ziying knows that it will take a lot of effort.

But as long as the interest and motivation of these people can be mobilized, these problems should be solved.

If what the other party said is true, it means that the smelting industry will also usher in a great change, once the scale and quality of iron smelting go up, the profits it brings can be imagined, this may even be a more considerable industry than sea trade, almost every field needs iron and steel, and the scale of demand will only get bigger and bigger.

As long as you can grasp the key to open the door, its profit is comparable to the salt industry, from ancient times to the present, the monopoly of salt and iron is written into history, but in the last few hundred years the iron smelting industry has been slowly liberalized, allowing private participation, which shows that this industry is prosperous.

The Jin merchants finally left, but Feng Ziying knew that he had hooked up the excitement of these people, they would still come, and they would come through various relationships, and even he couldn't stop their enthusiasm.

However, this still needs a process, how to prepare for such a smelting consortium, and how to plan for Haitong Yinzhuang also needs to be carefully considered.

******

"I'm not sure where these two people came from, the accent is like the south, well, it's a little close to Huguang and Sichuan, but it's still a little different, they occasionally speak local dialect between them,......"

Jia Yun was a little excited, this was the first time he had provided Feng Ziying with a situation that he felt was a little suspicious, but he didn't expect it to attract so much attention from the other party, he felt that this was a kind of affirmation and recognition of what the other party had done for him.

Feng Ziying wrote on the paper, "Then have you heard some specific things they said?" ”

"It's too noisy in the opera garden, so it's not easy to hear the specifics, and if they are with the officials of the imperial court, they will basically choose to go to the private room instead of in the lobby below,......" Jia Yun recalled hard, "I remember that once when the people they were waiting for hadn't come, one of them said a sentence, which probably meant that there was no problem with the General Administration Department and the Metropolitan Procuratorate, but they were afraid of the Long Banwei or something, but they didn't hear it clearly." ”

If you are not a professional eavesdropper, it is naturally impossible to have such a high level, it is already rare to have such vigilance, Feng Ziying cannot expect Jia Yun to do well, it is rare to have such awareness.

"Well, I see, these two people still come a lot?"

"Yes, I've been coming, maybe once every three or five days, but not every time someone else comes, sometimes they come by themselves, just in the lobby, I feel that they are deliberately adapting to life in Jingshi City,......" Jia Yun pursed her lips and took a deep breath, "My lord, is there any problem?" ”

"No, it's nothing, I can't see it now, but you remember, keep watching, it's best to help me figure out where the people who are in contact with them are, but don't deliberately ,......" Daguanlou is full of people, very complicated, if it is a frequent visit, there will definitely be people you know, so it is easy to identify.

"Understood, don't worry, as long as they come often, they will definitely not escape my eyes, I also greeted the people below and reminded me, but I didn't tell them anything specific."

Jia Yun was very honored to be able to do his part for Feng Ziying, and he was full of gratitude to Feng Ziying for giving him such an opportunity to stop eating in that small circle in Jiafu and to be able to come out and see a different world.