national surname chiming

Chapter 150 Greeting Song Yingxing Personally

The blast furnace needs to be built higher, and the fuel for ironmaking needs to be changed from coal and charcoal to coke... These rectification directions seem to be clear, but in actual operation, there are a lot of problems.

For example, Shen Shuren spent seven or eight days experimentally increasing the height of an existing blast furnace, raising the furnace temperature, and restarting trial production to collect data and see what problems might arise.

As a result, within a few days after preheating, the heightened blast furnace collapsed and the bottom softened. Shen Shuren was so frightened that he immediately ordered to stop and tried to turn off the fire and remove the fuel.

After an inspection, it was found that the problem lies in the high temperature resistance of the furnace material - the temperature of the blast furnace in the late Ming Dynasty could reach [-] degrees, and it could also melt less pure iron into a molten and viscous state.It's just not as thin as the molten iron of later generations.

Because the melting point of pure iron is about 500 degrees, if it is significantly higher than this value, for example, if it reaches more than 600, the molten iron will be very thin and easy to flow. If it is not hot enough, it will be relatively sticky like glue.

After the blast furnace continues to be higher, it is easier to accumulate heat at the bottom and less likely to dissipate and lose it. After the temperature exceeds [-], although the bricks of the furnace will not soften, at least the structural strength will decrease.

Originally, the height of the blast furnace was only about two feet high. When the two-foot-high masonry was pressed down, the base below could still hold it. If the height was increased, the pressure would be further increased, and the temperature would also increase.

In addition to the need to re-study the blast furnace materials, there are also some minor problems in the R&D and trial production of fuel on the other side.

In the past, no one in Ming Dynasty had tried burning coke, and everyone had no experience at the beginning.

In the first few furnaces, the amount of air reserved in the furnace was not well controlled, and the subsequent air tightness adjustments were not accurate enough. As a result, either it was not burnt into coke, or the coal itself was burned too fully, and it directly turned into cinder ash.

Fortunately, Shen Shuren also read a lot in his previous life. He remembers reading a famous book "Railway Guerrillas" when he was a child. The opening Chapter 1 tells the story of the guerrillas in the Zaozhuang area behind the enemy and near the Zaozhuang coal mine during the War of Resistance. Their identities are all in the business of burning charcoal, and the book also describes how to burn coke in large sections.

At that time, the courageous people near the Zaozhuang Coal Mine were burned in every household. They said that one hundred catties of coal could produce seventy catties of coke, and one catty of coke could sell for two catties of coal, so it was a bit hard to make a net profit of forty catties In addition, burning like this actually pollutes a lot, but during the Anti-Japanese War, no one cared about pollution), which is "dead money" that can be invested without thinking.

Shen Shuren couldn't remember too many details, so he had to give a general direction first, and let his subordinates control it according to the weight ratio of "[-] catties left after burning one hundred catties".

If it weighs more than seventy catties after burning, it means that too little air has entered and the combustion is not complete.If it is lighter than seventy catties, it means that it has been burned sufficiently and has been burned to slag.

After a few more experiments, slowly test the actual iron-making effect according to the products each time.

……

This multi-pronged toss took another ten days or so.

Shen Shuren didn't go back to the government to govern Jiangxia County, so he stayed here in Daye, still in the wild Tieshan, and didn't even go back to the county seat for more than ten days.

As for the two stunning beauties who stayed in Jiangxia County, Chen Yuanyuan and Li Xiangjun, they also stayed alone in their vacant room for 20 days, and their husbands never came home when they were on business trips.

As a time traveler, how can a beauty be as cool as making steel and making guns!Guns are the sharp weapon that will affect whether you can dominate the world and strive for hegemony in the future!How many women will there be in the future!
Fortunately, winter is the slack season for farming, and the army is not allowed to be mobilized, and the thieves are also safe, so the government affairs of Daotai Yamen and Qiandu Yushi Yamen are not busy at all.

There is a group of staff and assistants to help with the daily work. If there is any important matter, I will go to Daye County to ask for instructions, and there is no delay.

In a blink of an eye, the end of November was approaching, and it was almost 20 days since Shen Shuren first arrived in Daye.

On this day, he is preparing to accept a new batch of coke samples and try to use them in the newly adjusted blast furnace.

Suddenly, the assistant manager Song Mingde finally brought him good news, saying that his family had returned a letter, and that his uncle Song Yingxing had set out to move eight days ago, and he could arrive in Daye today.

Counting the days, Song Mingde's family letter was sent sixteen days ago, and Song Yingxing did not come too late.After all, the other party is a 57-year-old man, and he still moved here.

Shen Shuren also paid attention to talents, and there were still a few technical issues at hand that he could not solve, so he stopped doing it for the time being. He didn't even wash his face, so he directly ordered someone to ride a horse to meet him with him.

A Daotai and the imperial censor of Qiandu personally greeted a Yuheng kiln smelter from the seventh rank, which was enough face.

……

An hour later, at the wharf of an unnamed town in the northwest of Daye County, near the Yangtze River.

A 57-year-old man with a long beard and curly and thin, got off the boat with a cane, looking at the messy but busy pier in front of him, his eyes were a little wandering, as if he was worried about the future.

This person was Song Yingxing, and his wife, children and family members also disembarked one after another, loading luggage into the car with big bags and small bags on their shoulders.

It seems that the Song family is indeed not rich. His youngest son and eldest grandson are still young and vigorous, and they carry luggage with the servants. Obviously, the number of servants in the family is not so large that they don't have to do housework at all.

Song Yingxing has never been a Jinshi in his life. Although he has tax-free privileges after winning the exam, he can still get some money through various channels.But he and his elder brother always wanted to win the Jinshi examination, and they took the examination for nearly 40 years from about 20 years of Wanli to the early years of Chongzhen.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, prices in the capital were already very high, and long-distance exams were very expensive. Traveling to the capital from Jiangxi every three years, staying in the capital for more than half a year, and making connections and socializing, cost a lot of money.

Of course, Song Yingxing actually had the biggest expense—he wrote "Heavenly Creation", but few literati and doctors would buy it, so it is definitely impossible to get back the money by selling engraved books.

And he couldn't bear to lose his works, so he had to pay for engraving and printing at his own expense.

At that time, a collection of personal poems, depending on the thickness and length, cost from 500 taels to nearly [-] taels. (Not just the money for engraving, but also the money for the first printing. Generally, hundreds to one thousand copies will be printed after engraving. Just like the current publishing house, it usually costs [-] for typesetting paper books Books should be printed, otherwise it will be difficult to sell paper books)

The length of "Tiangong Kaiwu" is much longer than the collection of poems, and there are three volumes. The key is that his book has to be carved with mechanical illustrations, which is very expensive. It cost Song Yingxing more than 3000 taels of silver.

This is the most money he has lost in his life, and he has lost all the money he has earned in the past few years as a Qingshui official who has no chance of corruption.

Due to the loss of printing books, his family could not afford too many servants, and the family had to do chores around the house.When I came to Wuchang this time, I was not willing to lose anything, so I brought all the bags.

The wharf town where he stopped at the moment is on the opposite bank of Qishui County, Huangzhou. The Xishui River flows into the Yangtze River from Huangjiakou Town on the opposite bank, forming a water transport hub for river transshipment.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, there was no city built in this place, and it was an unknown town even until the Republic of China in the 20th century.

It was not until after liberation that "Huangshi City" was established at the location of the pier, and later, it was the turn of the newly established Huangshi City to annex Daye County in turn.

Song Yingxing and his party worked hard for a while, finally loaded all the things into the car, and were about to go on the road again.Suddenly, on the official road to the west of the wharf, there were waves of dust flying, and horseshoes rumbling, as if thousands of horses were rushing forward.

Song Yingxing's complexion changed suddenly. He had never been in a war before, and he didn't understand the power of cavalry, so he overestimated the number of people who came, thinking that the boundaries of Wuchang Prefecture were still not peaceful, and Zuo Liangyu's bandits and Zhang Xianzhong's rogues were still growing. disturb the place.

After hugging his wife and children and shivering for a while, the dust gradually dissipated, and only then did he see a tall, dark-faced young man in his early twenties who got off his horse and walked towards him.

Seeing his dark complexion and his mighty figure, he subconsciously thought he was a general who could lead hundreds of horses. He probably had a fairly high official position, so he didn't care about respect and inferiority right now. He had to bow his head under the low eaves. I want to go up and salute.

"This general, I don't know..."

"What general, is Mr. Song here in person?" The "black-faced general" spoke kindly, while asking, he stepped forward and grabbed Song Yingxing's arm, making him unable to resist.

Song Yingxing staggered: "Don't dare to be called Mr., an old man who resigns from office and goes back to seclusion, I will be hit by the kindness of Shen Daotai here..."

"Black-faced General" said nonchalantly, "It's because I came late and didn't welcome Mr. to disembark. Next time, let your sentry boat at the front station come to report earlier."

Song Yingxing was startled, and then he came to his senses: "You are Shen Daotai? How can you deserve the title of Mr.! You can't deserve it! This old man will just rule a subordinate official in the future..."

Shen Shuren said unquestionably: "There is a priority in learning the Tao, and there is a specialization in the arts. If you can write "Heavenly Creation", you are of course superior in the study of physics, and naturally you can be called a gentleman. "

Song Yingxing gradually came back to his senses, and then felt a little awkward, and mocked himself:
"Just now, the old man lost his composure. He thought he had encountered rebellious soldiers... Master Daotai is young and promising. I heard that he was born as a scholar in the top two rankings and is a political official. I didn't expect him to be so powerful."

Shen Shuren laughed loudly, and realized the problem, he laughed at himself indifferently:
"You mean I look dark, right? In fact, I don't look dark. It's because I just learned that my husband is coming. I was in a hurry to go out and didn't wash my face. I have been in Daye Tieshan for the past few days, thinking about burning the furnace. This face is covered with cinder dust."

Song Yingxing couldn't help being awed. It's really rare that the noble Bing Bei Dao and Qiandu Censor personally supervise the research of these technologies.

It seems that when I came to Wuchang this time, I was really appreciated by the Ming Lord, so I can flex my muscles!
Sure enough, along the way, Shen Shuren respected the elders and let Song Yingxing ride in the carriage, while he rode on the horse and chatted with the people in the carriage by the window, without any airs of being a Shangguan.

(End of this chapter)