Liu Bei hurried all the way to the mansion and saw Ma Jun, but when he saw Ma Jun, he bowed and said: "Lord, the minister does not live up to the trust of the lord, and now the water is lined up!" ”

When Liu Bei heard this, his heart was like this, so he said happily: "Deheng, you will take me to see it." So the kings and ministers and others went out of the house and got on their horses and ran out of the city.

When he arrived at a smelting site, Liu Bei saw black smoke billowing in the blast furnace, and the water row was long, and when he entered the river, the river was roaring, and the river was rolling endlessly, driving the water row to keep rolling, and the blower connected to the water row was blowing into the blast furnace quickly and rhythmically. After watching it for a while, I heard the craftsman shouting, "Get out of the way, open the furnace, open the furnace." ”

Ma Jun said beside him: "Lord, please stay away." ”

Liu Bei took everyone and stood far away on the high ground, and saw that under the operation of a group of craftsmen, the fiery red molten iron slowly gushed out and slowly flowed into the molds that were made into long strips or rounds. In the smoke, the craftsmen's faces were red, and their shirtless sweat was like rain. Liu Bei thought that from ancient times to the present and even in later generations, the development of Huaxia's technology depends on these diligent and down-to-earth craftsmen. They are neither lacking in wisdom nor hands-on ability. It's a pity that it wasn't taken seriously in ancient times.

Historical records of China at the latest in the late Spring and Autumn Period, there is a history of steelmaking, the historical records and Xunzi military chapter have said that the weapons produced in Wancheng of Chu State are as sharp as bee stings, and various unearthed cultural relics in later generations can also be proven. At the same time, the swords of Roman soldiers were wrought iron, which were bent when stabbed in battle. It is a pity that there were many wars, and this advanced steelmaking method has not been handed down.

Liu Bei learned before that the craftsmen at this time generally used charcoal as fuel, smelted the ore into a solid in the furnace, then cooled it and took it out, and then heated and folded the solid iron repeatedly, and tempered it until it was not reduced, so it was necessary to make 100 steel.

In history, Cao Cao once ordered the division to make five hundred knives, Sun Quan had a treasure knife called a hundred refining weapons, and Liu Bei's treasure knife was engraved with seventy-two refinements. These are all steel knives that can cut gold and jade, and sharpen iron like clay.

However, at this time, the production efficiency is very low, not to mention the difficulty of obtaining raw materials, the iron after smelting can only start forging after being completely cooled, and the hundred refining must be heated repeatedly, folded and forged until the impurities are exhausted, such a technology is too labor-intensive and manpower-consuming, so the famous craftsman casts the knife, and the time is calculated in months or even years at every turn.

Now that there is coal, there is water drainage, and in terms of fuel and combustion, it is no longer a problem. Liu Bei believes that the iron production under his command will increase significantly. With so much iron, are you afraid that there will be no steel?

In fact, Liu Bei, a blind man in science, didn't know that the craftsmen under his command were already using the most advanced pig iron steelmaking technology of the Han Dynasty. It is recorded in the Taiping Sutra: "Today's army and soldiers, the ominous weapon is also ...... Later, the engineer struck the stone, and begged the iron to be burned and smelted, so that it could be made into water, and then the good work was forged, and it became a mosa, and it could fight against the emergency......"

At present, Qingzhou has obtained coal and water discharge, and has begun to directly dissolve iron ore into molten iron, and then stir it in a furnace to neutralize it with the help of oxygen in the air and carbon in the molten iron, reduce the carbon content to obtain steel or wrought iron, and then forge. At this time, this is still a state-of-the-art technology. Because Liu Bei recruited famous craftsmen from all over the world in Qingzhou, Qingzhou Gongcao mastered this kind of technology that most places except Qingzhou did not know. And this, in the entire history of mankind, can also be called a technological revolution, after all, looking at the world, Europe does not seem to master this smelting technology until Britain a thousand years later.

Liu Bei actually understood the difference between pig iron, wrought iron and steel, he came from a country that ranked first in the world in terms of steel production in later generations, and he didn't understand how amazing the craftsmen under his command were. He thought that the other princes were smelting iron similar to him. At most, he has an extra water drain, and the efficiency is much faster than that of other princes, and the output will be higher than theirs.

However, Liu Bei didn't understand, but Ma Jun was an understanding person. He traveled far and wide as a teenager, and later ran all the way from Fufeng to Qingzhou, which can be said to be from the west to the east of the Han Dynasty, spanning the entire Han Empire. I don't know how many craftsmen I met along the way. Naturally, I know the contribution and awesomeness of the craftsmen in Qingzhou. So Ma Jun explained to Liu Bei in detail.

After listening, Liu Bei reacted, so his face changed, and he said to the left and right: "Order, transfer a battalion of the pro-army and garrison the smelting camp." Strictly order to keep secrets, and those who leak without permission will be killed. ”

He also said to Ma Jun: "Deheng, I appoint you as the captain of Si Jin, responsible for all the affairs in the craftsman camp, the preferential treatment of the craftsmen's children, the salary increase and the reward, you can quickly report to me." ”

After the order, accompanied by Ma Jun, he met with a few famous craftsmen, and comforted him with kind words, and then returned home. Along the way, Liu Bei's heart fluctuated, and his thoughts were thousands, my Qingzhou is about to enter the steel age?

In ancient times, the continuous development of iron and steel technology was first of all due to the continuous pursuit of divine weapons by princes and princes. And if a craftsman wants to get ahead, what could be easier than a ruler casting a divine weapon that can be chuán shì? Therefore, in history, the gods and the craftsmen reflected each other. Such as Ou Yezi, such as the cadre Mo Ye and the like.

And these famous craftsmen, in the deep mountains and wilderness, endured loneliness, experimented for several years and got the name of the sword casting method, naturally they did not want to easily pass on this secret method to others, but as a family secret. It is a pity that due to various reasons, these secret methods have been lost and disappeared in the long river of history. And for hundreds of years, gods and craftsmen such as Ou Yezi and Ganjiang Mo Ye have also disappeared and never reappeared.

After the slight progress of ancient steel technology, the first reaction of the princes was not to use it for people's livelihood, but to equip the army first. Used to fight and fight. This greatly limits the production and use of steel. After all, the military market is not as promising as the civilian market. Moreover, with so many troops, not all emperors can afford the cost of the equipment of the whole army. At most, it is the change of clothes of henchmen generals and elite troops and pro-army. In this way, after the craftsmen have worked hard to create a batch of míng dāo, they may never have the opportunity to cast them in large quantities again in their lifetime. This may be one of the reasons why many technologies in Chinese history have shone and then disappeared quickly. The society of the small-scale peasant economy could not withstand the will of the rulers.

However, Liu Bei Youqing, Xu Erzhou and Liaodong are in hand, and he has discovered large iron ore mines in these places, will he give up the opportunity to promote steel on a large scale in his territory?

Naturally not, how can Liu Bei's ambitions be satisfied by collecting some poll tax and field rent. I don't know how many times Liu Bei has turned over and over the map of the Han Empire and watched it repeatedly. It's hard to come here for a while, is it enough to rejuvenate the big man? No, it's not enough! If you don't lay enough territory, how can you be worthy of these famous generals? How can you be worthy of the descendants of the Hereafter?