After leaving the camp, the four of them looked at several copies of the "Baiting Supervisor" newspaper, and they all found it very interesting. The above generally starts first, which is a few imperial decrees and local notices of the iron prison yamen, followed by some interesting things in production and life, in addition to indicating the author's name and noting the occupation. Most of them were written by the iron supervisors, but there were also some officials in charge. These small essays are all in colloquial terms, extremely simple, and for these four people, there is no literary beauty at all. Shengzhong is a real person and a real story, full of life, and you can learn about the life of the iron eunuch.

At the end, there are generally a few practical articles. There are researchers who overcome technical problems, front-line workers who improve production efficiency, managers who improve their working methods, and even farmers who talk about farming. A common feature is that it introduces the joys and sorrows of the work at a large scale, and for the real technical problems, it is only mentioned that there is such a thing.

In a prominent position, there are some product introductions. For example, the various agricultural tools of the iron superintendent, listing the parameters, how much to improve the efficiency, and how much to sell at a price, are actually advertisements. In addition to farm tools, there are also various daily necessities, and even a certain brand of sweets, soy sauce from various companies, and everything is messy. A tabloid, all-encompassing, I have a general understanding of the iron prison after reading it.

As magistrates, all four of them rose from grassroots prefectures and counties, and they can see the vivid life from the newspaper. The folk culture has never been severed from ancient times to the present. However, in the form of words, most of them are proverbs, simple rhymes, etc., and articles like this kind of whole vernacular are very rare. Obviously, this is not the content of education, and a few people are just watching the fun.

There is nothing wrong with this, the iron supervisor is nothing more than printing the content on the white wall on the street in the past, which is much richer and more detailed. The basis for this is that the literacy rate of the people is high, and generally local state and county schools are not popular, and they cannot learn if they want to.

It was still early, and Du Zhongxiao took the four of them into the iron prison. The factory is the biggest feature of the Iron Supervisor, which is the focus of their visit.

Following several rail cars transporting ore, Du Zhongxiao led everyone to a newly built iron-smelting blast furnace plant.

As soon as they entered the gate, they saw the blast furnace sticking out of the top of the room in front of them, and several people praised it. With the use of steam engines, machines replaced manpower for air blasting and transportation, and the new blast furnace was much taller than the first one. This blast furnace produces more than 10 times more iron per day than the first one built, but the manpower used is about the same, representing the new level of productivity of the iron supervisor.

At this time, it is spring, when the willow wind blows, but the heat in the room is pressing, and the sweat will flow down after a while.

After a while, he saw the waterfall-like molten iron coming out of the blast furnace and being transported to the steel-making furnace next to it, Ouyang Xiu sighed: "I have also seen a lot of iron-smelting furnaces, and I only get a few thousand catties of furnaces a day." This kind of iron smelting method, like a river rushing, is endless, but it is the first time I have seen it. ”

Song Qi on the side said: "Why, isn't iron smelting like this in other places?" ”

Ouyang Xiu said: "A few years ago, I appeased Hedong, and I saw many iron-smelting places there, how could it be so spectacular!" ”

Yan Shu has been an official for decades, in addition to being an official in the capital, most of the prefectures and counties are not far from the Fengfu, and he is the most unfamiliar with the grassroots. After listening to Ouyang Xiu's words, he hurriedly asked him how ordinary people smelted iron.

Ouyang Xiuluo introduced it and asked Du Zhongxiao: "Yun Juan, how much iron can be produced in a day with such a furnace?" ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Day and night, about three or four hundred thousand catties." ”

When Ouyang Xiu heard this, he couldn't help but be dumbfounded, and he was speechless for a while.

When the rest of the people saw it, they hurriedly asked, "Uncle Yong, the folk generally smelt iron, and they can produce tens of thousands of catties a day?" ”

Ouyang Xiu smiled bitterly: "Tens of thousands of catties? The general smelting furnace of the folk only gets a few thousand catties a day. One or two thousand catties, it is already a rare furnace. ”

When several people heard this, they were speechless for a while, and they were all plotting in their hearts. This stove produces hundreds of thousands of catties of iron a day, which is equivalent to dozens of the largest stoves in the people. According to the production of ten months a year, it is nearly 100 million catties, far exceeding the iron class of the imperial court. What kind of efficiency is this? How much can I sell them all for? Looking at the way it looks, the iron flows out like a constant river, almost non-stop. No wonder, Du Zhongxiao will say that steel can't be sold like dirt. New iron is coming out in a steady stream, but that's not the case.

At this time, all smelting steel had been powered by steam engines, eliminating manpower. A steam engine, where the blast furnace is located, drives both the transport of materials and the air blast. On the other side, there is another steam engine, which drives the forging hammer and rolls, etc. The machines roared, and there weren't many people here.

After looking at it for a while, Yan Shu asked, "Judge, how many furnaces are there in the iron prison now?" How much iron can be smelted in a year? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "The furnaces are of different sizes, this is the largest one, with a total of twelve furnaces, and more than 600 million catties of iron are smelted every year. Now there are too many furnaces in the Iron Prison, and when it is the hottest time in summer, a few will be removed, and only five large furnaces will be left. ”

Song Qi said with a smile: "Iron is a thing, it is extremely useful, where is there a reason to be too much?" For the imperial court, the more the better. ”

Du Zhongxiao shook his head and sighed: "Xianggong, that's what I said, but it's not like that. For the iron supervisor, hundreds of millions of catties of iron a year cannot be sold at all, and they cannot be transported to the capital. Even if a railway is built now and can be transported by water, it cannot be sold. When the iron furnace was built, it could not be stopped for a moment, and new iron was continuously smelted. The old iron is backlogged, and the new iron is continuous, is it better than sediment? As far as the iron supervisor is concerned, it is best to refine as many catties of iron as he can sell and use, and there is no benefit in refining more. ”

The iron class of the imperial court is ten catties and two catties, even if some small smelting furnaces cannot receive the iron class, the iron produced in the world before is calculated to be only three or four hundred million catties. Baiting Supervisor has expanded more than double its production capacity, and it is mainly steel, which has eaten up the world's production capacity. Before the new use was promoted, there was no initial development of the industry, and the overcapacity of the iron supervisor was already over. The main reason why so many furnaces were built was to experiment with new furnace types. In the summer, the small blast furnaces built in the early stage will be stripped away, leaving only a few large blast furnaces.

After listening to Du Zhongxiao's words, the four of them knew that the truth was so, but they still felt that it was a pity. As a local official, I know that iron is a good thing, and with enough iron tools, the production efficiency of many industries will go to a higher level. In the past, there was a shortage of iron everywhere, but I didn't expect Baiting Prison to be here, but I was worried that the iron would not be able to be sold.

After a sigh, everyone looked at the small steelmaking furnace next to them.

The molten iron enters the steel furnace, and a blower driven by a steam engine feeds a large amount of air into it, and it does not take long for a furnace of steel to come out. After a period of exploration, the preheated air is now blowing into the furnace, which is shorter than the steelmaking time at the beginning. After a while, red molten steel poured out.

It seems that molten steel is no different from molten iron, it is all red, like a river flowing slowly. The backward part is cast into ingots, and the other part is forged into various profiles. The final product, far away from the other side of the factory, is not visible at all.

Liu Zhi watched the molten steel come out and said to Du Zhongxiao: "Yun Judgment, what comes out over there is steel?" ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Not bad. Iron is iron because there is also carbon in it. Blowing wind into the molten iron, burning the carbon, and smelting steel, this is the same as frying steel. As for wrought iron, the carbon is burned too much, and there is no carbon in it, so it is soft. ”

When Yan Shu and the others heard this, they looked at each other, it was the first time they had heard this kind of statement. Now it is a common belief that steel and iron are two different things, and the iron is mixed with steel, and the dregs can be removed to obtain pure steel, which is tempered for thousands of times. If Du Zhongxiao hadn't built such a big iron prison, and iron and steel were constantly coming out in front of him, they would definitely have to argue with Du Zhongxiao.

Facts speak louder than words, let what you say, this is how the steel here is made, and I have to obey it.

It was too hot in front of the blast furnace, and a few people looked at it for a while, and learned how steel was made, so they walked back along the forging machine.

Seeing the red steel ingots change shape like dough under the forging hammer, and finally become square rods of different thicknesses, everyone felt amazing. Blacksmiths have seen all the irons, but they have never seen such a scene, wrought iron so easily.

In the end, there were large sheets of steel, stacked there. On the other hand, there are a variety of profiles.

Looking at the large pile of steel plates, Ouyang Xiu said: "Yun Judgment, I can make sense of making steel into steel bars, which is convenient for making swords and planting utensils, why is it made into steel plates?" What's the use of this thing? ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "It's very useful." Just like the enamel made a few days ago, many of them are made of steel plates, otherwise how can they be so light and thin? Many other utensils can be cut and rolled in steel plates, and the pig iron cast by Xu is much lighter than that. ”

Song Qi said: "What the judgment said is good. I also thought of a use, these steel plates are used to make iron armor, and it is easy to think of it. ”

Du Zhongxiao smiled when he heard this: "Xianggong is right, it is used for weapons, and steel plates are the most convenient way to make iron armor." A few days ago, I tried to make a few pairs of iron armor, but I was not proficient enough to revise them. Another one, the iron armor is heavy, and it is impossible for a wrestler to wear it. ”

After speaking, he said to Thirteen Lang who was following behind: "Thirteen Lang, the iron armor made a few days ago, you go and put it on, and a few ministers will take a look." ”

Thirteen Lang answered the promise and quickly walked to the house next to him.

Several people looked at the figure of Thirteen Lang leaving, and praised: "What a big man!" If you are not such a person, you can't wear heavy armor! ”

With the steel plate, Du Zhongxiao's intuition was to forge iron armor, and it was the kind of iron armor like a full-body canned food seen in previous movies. It's a pity that it looks simple, but in fact the structure is very complicated, and I keep trying.