Aztec Eternals

"This is... high-quality bituminous coal?!"

Shulot looked at the black stone that resembled asphalt in his hand, and then looked at the thick smoke burning from the black stone not far away, and shouted in surprise.

A long gust of wind blew, and thick smoke and exclamations were dispersed in the wind. The long wind brought the unique sulphur smell of the mining area, and also blew away the bits of coal dust in the hands of the king.

The king watched with some ecstasy. They seem to be the first seeds, containing a ray of vitality for the sprouting of industry.

"Bottard, you've done a great job!...Where did you get this?"

"The kitchen of the back camp. The miners dug this black stone out of the ground and used it to make a fire for cooking. It seems that it has taken a long time."

Bertard smiled slightly. He knew His Highness very well, and knew that His Highness would definitely be interested in these rare things.

"Ezpan, have you seen this?"

Shilot looked at Ezpan, who was a miner. Ezpan stared at the black stone in the king's hand, and answered in a low voice with some fear.

"His Royal Highness, this is the blood of the demon that coexists with the stone of the dead. It is said that the great gods in the myth killed and suppressed many underground demons. These demons came from the dark abyss, and after death, the blood and body condensed into black The mine has secretly used black stone as fuel for more than ten years, at least since the first time I was a miner. ."

"How many black stones are there?"

"It's not too much, it's not enough. There are two places near the main mine, and some can be mined underground."

"Since this kind of black stone is not too small, why have I never seen it in the capital?"

Hearing this, Shulot was a little excited, but also a little puzzled. In this day and age, logging is a laborious and time-consuming task. After the wood is chopped, it has to wait until it is dry before it can be burned, and the calorific value is not high. In contrast, coal is easy to mine and resistant to burning, and its advantages over wood are obvious.

"Your Highness, because this is the blood of unclean demons!"

Ezpan was surprised by the indifference of the king.

"There used to be miners who brought the black stone and reported to the priests of Tarrasco, hoping to get a reward. The priests were very angry, thinking that it contained evil and was extremely unclean. The priests said that since the fire of the stone of the dead can communicate In the world of the dead, the burning of the blood of the demon will naturally communicate with the demon... This is an extremely dangerous evil that cannot be left to civilians."

Shilot was stunned, this derivation is also in line with theology. he asked curiously.

"and then?"

"Then...then the miner was executed. The priests also sent people to the mining area to identify evil, and also executed a lot of older miners who had used black stone. Fortunately, I had just arrived at the mine, and I had to stay there. The next person came to maintain the mining, and this was the only way to escape... From then on, no one dared to mention it outside. "

"It's just that the work in the mine is really hard, and there are too many tasks to be done. Burning the black stone can save a lot of manpower and make the output of the mine meet the requirements. The Tarrasco warriors in the management turned a blind eye. Shut one eye and let lowly miners use unclean black stones. They themselves will never touch..."

"...So it is...The advanced production methods that challenged theocracy were suppressed, but they were secretly preserved because of the advanced nature of production..."

After listening, Shilot shook his head, quite emotional. This cannot be attributed solely to the conservative ignorance of the age of mythology. As a high-ranking priest, he can better understand the logic of the Tarrasco priests.

The priesthood does not come from force, but from the awe of the heart. The priests of Tarasco burned the stone of the dead, communicated with the dead, and deterred the people, which became one of the important sources of their divine authority. This kind of majesty will not allow the provocation of ordinary civilians, and burning "strange things" is naturally only the privilege of priests. The blood of demons and the stone of the dead are closely related in mythology, and they must not be discovered by lowly miners first, and they will not be allowed to be used by civilians at will!

"Theocracy serves the priests. The root of this encounter lies in the identity of the discoverer! If a high-ranking priest discovered the coal, as long as you put it another way, the outcome of the matter would be very different."

Shirot pondered in his heart. As the governance of the country deepened, the more he could feel, the struggle for power identity and the suppression of traditional authoritarianism were everywhere in the operation of the kingdom. How to constantly balance tradition and innovation, while maintaining the stability of the kingdom, and giving new forces room to grow, will become his lifelong exploration and thinking!

The discovery of coal disrupted the original plan. Shulot suspended the follow-up inspections of the farm, and focused on investigating the "food for industry", and also thinking about the use of coal.

The black wolf's king flag was parked in the mine, the envoys dispatched to support were sent back to the capital, and the new king order was also promulgated. Under the guidance of senior miners, dozens of samurai groups explored all directions. They have to collect all the special rocks and carry samples of black stones to find "where the demons are suppressed".

At the main copper mine in the mountains, miners continue to dig. The king did not interfere much with the operation of the mine, nor did he care about the poor accommodation. He just collected all the coal in the mining area under the uneasy gaze of the miners, and then began to try the local coking method he remembered.

In later generations on the northern Shanxi Plateau, local coking was once very common. Shilot has traveled there, seen real objects, and listened to the story of coking from the tour guide. In general, home-grown coking is very similar to home-grown charcoal burning. It is to ignite coal and calcine under the condition that the air is not completely isolated in the furnace to achieve dry distillation and carbonization at high temperature. And the kiln for coking by the local method can adopt the design of the clay brick kiln, but the shape is slightly modified.

Xiulott summoned more than a dozen senior miners and spent three to five days to build a ground furnace brick kiln more than 2 meters high.

The brick kiln is more than one meter buried under the soil, the upper end is like an upside-down pot, and the bottom diameter is about 3-4 meters. Overall, it looks like a yurt. There are ignition holes in the side walls of the kiln, and there are also fire guides. The top of the kiln is covered firmly with mud, and in addition to the flue, there are ventilation holes.

While the kiln was being built, another group of miners smashed the coal and carefully passed it through a sieve to remove impurities from the coal. When the two sides are ready, the crushed coal is filled into the kiln and the coal pile is tightly built. Then, the coking coal is ignited from the ignition hole to start coking in the furnace.

Soon, the coal was gradually heated and burned, and the billowing hot air with thick smoke came out of the flue at the top. The flue gas is very strong, not only full of choking waste gas produced by coal combustion, but also carrying a large amount of unpleasant coal cracking products.

Shilot took a few steps back, out of the heatwave and smoke. He sniffed lightly, and vaguely smelled a familiar pungent odor.

"Huh? This smell...ammonia?"

The king's thoughts flew away for a while. A long-term noun appeared in his mind, and he sighed softly.

"Coal chemical..."

The coal smelting continued for ten days, and the smoke gradually faded away. This proves that the coal in the kiln is almost calcined, and the remaining coke is hardened and coked to form a porous coke.

Only then did Shilot arrange for the manpower to pour water stains onto the hot kiln to extinguish it. It was not until the kiln was almost cold that Ezpan did it himself, opened the sealed furnace mouth, and took out the epoch-making metallurgical fuel, coke!

"His Royal Highness, this is the sacred object you got after offering sacrifices! Be grateful for the blessing of the Lord God and purify the blood of the demon!"

Ezpan's expression flashed, and he shouted the slogan of the gods. The surrounding miners all looked in awe and bowed in unison.

"The Lord God is omnipotent, far beyond the comparison of ordinary mortal gods. His radiance shines on the earth and washes away the impurity in the black stone. As long as we pray to the Lord God, the commoners can use the black stone without worrying about depravity! And when After the black stone is calcined, it will become a real fetish, containing the power to change the world!"

In front of all the samurai and miners, Shulot was wearing a complicated sacrificial costume and recited in a quaint tone. He will use unquestionable authority to redefine Blackstone's mythical status.

During the chanting of the priest and king, the crowd moved up and down, facing the kiln completed by coking, and praying loudly to this strange "altar".

"Praise the Lord God! He is omnipotent, and with a warm flame, he bestows us with divine objects!..."

After solemn prayers, Shilot waved his hand and let the samurai and miners resume work. Then, the king resisted the excitement in his heart, took a piece of coke in his hand, and looked at it carefully.

The coke in his hand was in the shape of an irregular block, with pores of varying sizes in the middle, and the color was silver-gray. When he held it a little, he could feel the characteristic hard texture of coke, completely different from loose coal.

In this era, coking technology was only in the hands of the Eastern Celestial Dynasty. Although coke and iron making has been around for two hundred years, it has always been passed down only among the master craftsmen with profound background. This is the first coking in the entire Western Hemisphere!

"Even the coke is there, and now there is no iron!"

There was a momentary emotion in Scholot's heart. This was another seed he sowed with his own hands, and it changed the entire era little by little. After a long while, the king waved his hand, and Ezpan took out the formed coke with two warriors and weighed it with a simple scale.

Ezpan quickly calculated that the focus rate was about 40%. With the increase of coking experience, the coking rate will gradually increase, and the peak value of local coking should reach 60%.

"Well, the first time coking, the coal quality in the mining area is very high! ..."

The king whispered to himself, then waited patiently. Groups of exploration teams have returned from all over the place one after another, bringing with them mineral information from the mining area.

The Chingambat mining area is located near the sleeping volcano and contains a large number of rich mineral deposits. Among them, copper mines are the main ones, estimated to be more than 10 million tons. Then there are the associated gold and silver mines, which are deep and troublesome to smelt, and are not worth mining at present. Then, the sulfur in the volcanic area, the content of which is unknown, must be sufficient for use, and was once secretly controlled by the priests.

Surprisingly, some miners offered a piece of lead-zinc ore familiar to the alliance. According to the geological characteristics of this place, the lead ore should also contain silver.

"Well, the separation of lead and silver, the ashes method..."

Not knowing what to think, a smile appeared on Xiulote's face. He chuckled and shook his head, then asked about the distribution of the most important coal mines.

Within 20 miles of the mining area, five small coal mines with the level of one million tons have been discovered. According to the miners, there are still several "demon stones" stored underground. It is estimated that the total reserves must be above 20 million tons, mainly bituminous coal and lignite.

According to the standards of later generations, the coal reserves here are very small, and the value is far from that of gold and silver mines. The Chingambat mining area of ​​later generations was monopolized by the mining group. Although the Mexica government discovered the coal mine, it was judged that it was not worth mining, and only private teams dig it secretly.

And in this era, in Shilot's view, such reserves are enough.

"Chingambat mining area, copper mines, gold and silver mines, sulfur mines, coal mines, lead-zinc mines... Fengguo handicrafts, gunpowder workshops, bronze workshops... Fengguo's future industrial center should be located here. Here, for the conquest of the kingdom, a steady stream of power is provided!"

Shirot raised his head and looked at the distant sky, the plan in his heart was as vast as the sky. The eagle will fly high in time, the plains in the east, the hills in the south, the mountains in the west, and the great lake in the north will eventually be under the king's gaze!