Straight man of steel

Chapter 90

"You said you have new steelmaking skills?"

Liu Che had an indelible hatred for the Huns since he was a child.

When he was young, the court lady who played with him was sent to the Huns. When he grew up, he was even more resentful because of the humiliation of the big man. If the big man can produce steel in large quantities, use fine steel To build the weapons and armor of the army, it is enough for the Han cavalry to confront the Hun cavalry head-on.

"Your Majesty does have it. Don't you know that this method can be exchanged for the land reward that His Majesty said?"

Liu Che was eager to acquire new steelmaking skills, and Zhang Yuan was eager to get rid of the disputes in Chang'an City, and the two hit it off immediately.

"Let me see this steelmaking technique first, not to mention three thousand acres of land, even if it is cracked and sealed, it is nothing."

Zhang Yuan didn't take it seriously at all when he said that he was a Marquis. Painting cakes for his subordinates has always been what the Chinese are best at, and it has nothing to do with which dynasty they belong to.

Once the Guan Gang method is revealed in front of Liu Che, it is not Zhang Yuan's, but Liu Che's.

"Zhang Langguan, the metal smelting place in Chang'an City is just behind the arsenal, please follow me."

Naturally, Liu Che would not go to the smelting workshop to check Guangang method. His every move would fall into the eyes of others. The goal was too big. The closest person around him was the servant of the Huangmen, so naturally he was the one to watch.

"Shangguan, I haven't asked Shangguan's name for such a long time."

I have met this Huangmen servant many times, and he has never felt sorry for Zhang Yuan, and even expressed goodwill many times, Zhang Yuan felt that he was a bit impolite.

"It's not a big deal. To do things by His Majesty's side, you must be willing to be a shadow. Since you want to know my name, it's okay to tell you. My name is Wang Sui. If there are no outsiders present in the future, you don't have to be so polite."

Wang Sui is very optimistic about Zhang Yuan. He has been by Liu Che's side all the time and knows what kind of talents Liu Che needs.

Sima Xiangru and his like can only be favored when the emperor is frustrated, and when the dragon soars above the nine heavens, he can only be surrounded by eagles instead of goldfish in the water.

"After Anguo Wuhou?"

Zhang Yuan quickly went through the heroes of the founding of the Western Han Dynasty, and asked tentatively after confirming one person.

Then Wang Sui nodded.

"It's just a concubine. Although he is rich, he has no chance of a title."

Most of the Lang officials in Weiyang Palace and the officials who served the emperor were like Wang Sui. If they could not inherit the title of the family, they went out of office or joined the army to find other ways out.

But the tomb of Marquis Wu of Anguo is from Pei County, so what if it is a concubine.

"Before, my eyesight was clumsy. If there is any disrespect, please forgive me by Wang Shilang."

Wang Sui waved his hand to tell Zhang Yuan to stop talking. Zhang Yuan turned his head and saw that he had already arrived.

After showing the seal and ribbon to the guards, Zhang Yuan followed Wang Sui into the only smelting workshop in Chang'an City. Although there were various people living in the north of Chang'an City, there were no craftsmen alone.

Entering the smelting workshop, Zhang Yuan saw a furnace that was exactly the same as the high-temperature furnace for smelting wrought iron in Zhuo's smelting workshop, but it seemed that they were making steel by frying steel instead of smelting wrought iron.

The output of cast iron and wrought iron in Dahan is high enough, and it is not practical to use wrought iron as a weapon, mainly for armor.The emperor needed a lot of fine steel to cast weapons, and only the ring-shoulders made of fine steel could kill the Hun cavalry when they cut through their leather armor.

"Zhang Langguan, from now on everyone here will obey your orders, and I will stay here until you use your new steelmaking skills to forge fine steel."

Zhang Yuan nodded and then gave an order to the craftsman beside him who specialized in making steel by frying steel.

"Keep stirring, removing impurities, adding lime powder, and wait until I say stop."

The molten iron in the crucible is ready-made, which saves Zhang Yuan a lot of time, and looking at the luster and color of the molten iron, he only needs to wait a while and find a pig iron plate to prove to Liu Che the existence of the method of pouring steel.

Iron plates are not difficult to find here, Zhang Yuan quickly found a raw iron plate, although it is a bit thick, but it can also be used.

It took an hour to smelt the molten iron. Seeing that the impurities were almost gone, and the temperature was so hot that the air was distorted, Zhang Yuan indicated that he could stop and let the molten iron flow down.

There are no extra tools here, so we can only put the cast iron plate on the sand, let the wrought iron pour on it, until the whole cast iron plate is completely covered, Zhang Yuan takes a yellow mud stick to move the iron plate aside to cool down.

"Is that how Zhang Lang is?"

Wang Sui pointed to the iron plate that was cooling on one side and asked.

"Yes, it's as simple as that. I call this method the method of pouring steel. After the iron plate cools down, find someone to break it off. The middle part is the steel. The conditions here are the only way to do it. According to the specifications I mentioned, at least half of such an iron plate will be smelted into fine steel, and when forging weapons, let the blacksmith temper for an extra day, and you can get a weapon that is all forged from fine steel."

Zhang Yuan said it simply, but Wang Sui on the side was stunned for a moment. It was not that he didn't understand, but that the weapon made entirely of fine steel surprised him so much.

Not to mention that such weapons are popular in the army, even many generals don't have them, as long as they can use some steel on the blade of the sword.

But before he saw the silvery white in the middle of the iron plate, no matter how exaggerated Zhang Yuan said, Wang Sui could only be surprised rather than shocked.

In order to keep Liu Che waiting, Wang Sui asked the craftsmen to put the iron plate into the water to cool it down, and then cut it along the middle with a metal saw. At least one-third of the joint between the pig iron plate and the wrought iron is formed gradually. Wang Sui didn't know what it meant, but none of these craftsmen who belonged to the general master craftsman was the most outstanding talent of the big man, and most of them even had a Mohist background.

"Wang Shilang, the middle of this iron plate is indeed fine steel."

Compared with the steel obtained by the steel frying method they used before, the steel obtained by the steel pouring method just now is not in the same order. Often, the molten iron from such a crucible can have [-]% of the steel. High yield, if the ratio is not balanced, it is likely that the pot of molten iron that comes out will only be a piece of pig iron after cooling.

"Guard Zhang, take this iron plate and let's go see His Majesty."

Wang Sui's voice was already trembling a little, obviously the surprise in his heart had turned into shock.

Zhang Yuan was about to take the iron plate away, but was stopped by someone.

"Wait, it would be impolite to want to leave after using up the old man's space."

ps: Ask for a recommendation ticket, three grams of oil, Wai Rui Ma Chi!
(End of this chapter)