Fang Xiaoru is not as old as many film and television works show, he was only 46 years old when he died, and at this moment, he has just passed the age of establishment, and it is the time when he is in his prime and ambitious.

It's a pity that Fang Xiaoru's luck is not good, as early as five years ago, someone recommended him to Zhu Yuanzhang.

After Lao Zhu saw it, he said that he was a person of good character, and then politely sent him back...... Facts have proved that Lao Zhu's vision is still accurate, Fang Xiaoru's character is good, as for ability, then hehe!

Lao Zhu meant to let Fang Xiaoru go back to study and improve his skills, and when he had talent, he would become an official again. It's just that Fang Xiaoru's luck was too bad, and he was framed by the enemy again and sent to the capital for questioning.

Fortunately, Lao Zhu still remembered this person, so he let Fang Xiaoru go.

Zhu Biao has always respected literati, and he has also heard of Fang Xiaoru's fame, so he temporarily left him in the East Palace, and talked a few times, Zhu Biao felt that Fang Xiaoru was good, so he wanted to fight for him a chance.

It shouldn't be difficult to settle down and surrender Naha's exit department.

"Father, simply put Fang Xiaoru and Liu Chun together, and at the same time test their skills to see how many catties and taels they have, and whether they can be reused."

"Fang Xiaoru!" Zhu Yuanzhang pondered for a long time, he had the heart to refuse, but the prince proposed it, and it was not easy to lose face.

"In this way, tell him to go, just watch, and then put forward a strategy, what to do, I will decide!"

Zhu Biao readily agreed, he returned to the East Palace, and immediately invited Fang Xiaoru to tell him about the matter.

"Mr. Fang, this is a good opportunity, if it can be done, my father will definitely be happy, and Mr. will be promoted!"

Fang Xiaoru's cheeks were thin and his brows were deep, and he didn't seem to be impressed.

"Your Highness, it is easy to appease the barbarians who have surrendered, and it is not difficult. It's just that Liu Chun, he claims to be Guo Shoujing's disciple, this ......"

"What's wrong, sir?"

Fang Xiaoru said angrily: "Guo Shoujing, as a Han Chinese, serves the Tatars, is the best official, and has enjoyed decades of glory and wealth, and the people are fat and anointed...... What kind of good people can be taught by such a scum? The court must not reuse this person! ”

"Mr. Fang, the so-called Guo's study is the astronomical calendar, water conservancy and people's livelihood, it seems to have nothing to do with character, right?" Zhu Biao smiled awkwardly.

Fang Xiaoru said with a straight face: "It's all some small roads, not worth mentioning." The royal road of benevolence and righteousness is the right way to govern the country, and all the other things can be done by hundreds of craftsmen! ”

Okay, if you directly classify a scientist as a craftsman, Fang Xiaoru is also bold enough to say.

Zhu Biao was like eating a fly.

How do you feel like it's going to be bad?

Yongchang Hou Lanyu strongly recommended Liu Chun, and also told Zhu Biao that with the assistance of this person, he could rest easy, and he was a rare talent.

It's just that Fang Xiaoru's prejudice is so deep, Zhu Biao regrets it a little, he shouldn't have recommended him if he knew it was so. But when the words are spoken, they can't go back.

Zhu Biao talked with Fang Xiaoru for a while, and asked him to prepare first, and then find Huang Zicheng, the companion of the East Palace.

Compared with Fang Xiaoru, Huang Zicheng is much smoother, he won the Huiyuan two years ago, the third in the palace examination, got the Tanhua, and was selected for the Hanlin Academy as an editor. Soon, he was transferred to the East Palace and became the prince's companion.

For Huang Zicheng, the most important thing is to wait for the crown prince to ascend the throne, so that he can show his strength. As for the present, it is to be a good strategist.

"Your Royal Highness, Fang Xiaoru is known as a clear name in Shilin, and the Marquis of Yongchang is a fierce general in the army, if it is for a so-called heir of the Guo family, it is not a blessing for His Highness. I think so, why don't you let Cao Guogong go with him? ”

Who is Cao Guogong?

This person is very famous, his name is Li Jinglong!

His father was Li Wenzhong, the king of Qiyang, who died a few years ago, and Li Jinglong inherited the title.

This has three characteristics, first, he likes to read, among a large number of noble children, he is familiar with military books, and he talks constantly, even the veteran can't compare.

Second, he is burly, tall, and dignified, quite like a father.

As for the third, he is reliable and has good ability, he has trained for the imperial court several times, and in the school review, he has received the best evaluation.

Let Li Jinglong follow, firstly, to show the importance of the imperial court, and secondly, to mediate the contradiction between Fang Xiaoru and Lan Yu.

Zhu Biao thought about it carefully, and also felt that Huang Zicheng's idea was very good, just like that, Li Jinglong and Fang Xiaoru, this "magical duo" set off and embarked on the road to Beiping.

The two of them were still trekking on the road, and Liu Chun's blast furnace had been built.

He tried to light a fire and began to make iron.

The art of ironmaking has been passed down for many years, and the craftsmen are still very experienced.

How to build a blast furnace, how to beneficiate, how to calcinate, all know in mind.

Liu Chun can not give them much improvement, just two things, one is a hydraulic blower, and the other is air preheating!

Obviously, the key to ironmaking is temperature, and to increase it, you need to make the combustion more intense, that is, to provide enough air.

Manpower bellows are not enough, but hydraulics can bring plenty of air.

However, there is enough air, and the problem comes again, the air at room temperature, when it enters the blast furnace, will take away the heat.

Therefore, it needs to be preheated in advance, the air is heated to several hundred degrees, and then sent to the blast furnace, which is called dry firewood fire!

The flame in the blast furnace changed from reddish-brown to bright white, and the red-hot furnace temperature melted the iron ore and finally turned into molten iron......

"It worked!"

Liu Chun smiled contentedly, and he immediately ordered his workers to continue to work hard to make iron.

Store the iron ingots you have smelted for later use, the more the better!

The workers were stunned by Liu Gongzi's blast furnace.

In the past, it took them almost ten days to smelt a furnace of iron, but now, it is compressed to less than a day!

It's not just about saving time!

As we all know, the sword of the Wa Kingdom is very sharp, and it was once far superior to the Ming Dynasty.

The problem is not that Daming's technology is not good, but that ironmaking is too waste wood, Daming can only use coal, but Daming's coal mine has a high sulfur content, resulting in too high iron impurities, and it is unusable.

After air preheating, it saves a lot of time, and there is no need to use coal for the remaining wood.

In fact, Liu Chun knows that the best raw material for ironmaking is coke, but technical things, step by step, just take it step by step, half a step ahead is a genius, one step ahead, that is a demon, will be struck by lightning.

With the current level of ironmaking in Baiyangkou, except for the preheating of air, the rest is only the level of the middle and late Ming Dynasty.

Taking the blast furnace in the late Ming Dynasty as an example, it can produce 6,000 catties of pig iron a day at most, and the current production capacity of Baiyangkou is about 4,000, Liu Chun plans to build two more blast furnaces to make the production capacity exceed 10,000 catties as soon as possible!

Liu Chun's head is always different from others.

He just frantically hoarded pig iron, but did not make any further moves, but everyone knows that the profit of finished products far exceeds that of semi-finished products, and hoarding pig iron alone is far from enough.

"Blacksmith, we don't have that many blacksmiths!" The third master roared, "We need a blacksmith who can turn pig iron into farming tools!" ”

"And then?" Liu Chun shrugged, "Do you have a way to find the blacksmith?" ”

It's this underbeaten look again, and the third master can't control his hands a little.

"I'm asking you to go to a blacksmith, pay a high price, and go to various places to recruit people!"

"Don't go!" Liu Chun shook his head decisively, "I can't find a cheap blacksmith right now. ”

"You still want something cheap?" The third master was mad, "Boy, if you don't hurry up, the army will triumph!" ”

Liu Chun smiled suddenly, he reached out and pressed his father on the chair, "Don't be impatient, I'm waiting for someone." ”

"Waiting for whom?"

"Fang Xiaoru!"

Liu Chun was full of confidence, "This one will send us a blacksmith." ”