Dashun Yongchang

Li Zicheng's request was so low that the generals and officials present were a little at a loss. With such a simple request, naturally no one would raise any objections.After everyone responded to Li Zicheng in unison, in the next short period of time, Li Zicheng and everyone appointed the hosts and garrison troops in each theater, and ended today's military discussion.

When Yuan Yuzong, Han Lin and others walked out of the lobby, the sky was already full of stars.Yuan Yuzong raised his head to look at the sky, and then looked around. There was a black curtain covering the front, and he couldn't see the road clearly.He couldn't help but let out a long sigh and said: "If we win this battle, the world will be able to settle down. But if we fail, we really don't know when it will be dawn."

Standing beside him, Han Lin just smiled, and replied confidently: "I don't think we will be able to stop Jiannu, I'm just worried that His Majesty won't dare to give it a go, everyone half-heartedly went to fight Jiannu, It’s more likely to be bad. Now that Your Majesty has made up his mind, we have won at least half of this war. The fortifications we have built in the Jining area in the past few months have not been wasted.”

Yuan Yuzong also came back to his senses, nodded slightly and said: "Indeed, it is a good thing for us that Your Majesty can make up his mind so quickly. At least we don't have to think about retreating. Next, we will go all out to deal with the war." ..."

When the two were talking and walking forward, only Li Zicheng and Li Guo were left in the lobby. Li Zicheng, who kept Li Guo, asked the nephew straight to the point: "Do you know why I changed the Department of Examination and Punishment to Is it the Political and Religious Office?"

Li Guo looked around and saw that there was no one else around, so he replied honestly: "Does Your Majesty want to further rectify military discipline?"

Li Zicheng nodded and shook his head and said, "Rectification of military discipline can actually be done by the Department of Examination and Punishment. The reason why we want to establish the Political and Education Department is to balance it with the General Staff.

Although the General Staff has not been established for a long time, it already has great power.All matters related to military orders are now under the control of the General Staff, but I don't want the General Staff to intervene in the military's government affairs.

I believe that military orders and military administration should be managed by different institutions, which is safe for everyone.If an institution completely governs the military, who can contain it?According to Daming's experience, when it comes to uncontrolled power, there will always be people who can't help but weaken it, and eventually make it into a four-dimensional image.I hope that the system of the General Staff can be maintained, and therefore have to limit its powers..."

Chapter 301 Xuzhou Manufacturing Bureau I

In December of the lunar calendar, it is rare to get up before noon in the northern villages, because it is too cold outside, and there is at least some heat in the bed.The poor are especially reluctant to get up before noon, because they lack cotton-padded clothes, and getting up too early in winter makes them more likely to be hungry.

Although 10-year-old Fang Zhongtong woke up early in the morning, he was lying on the hot kang and refused to get up.In order to keep out the cold, the Marshal's Mansion summoned craftsmen to design an earthen kang that could burn coal, imitating the kang outside the pass. On such a cold winter night, this kind of kang was much warmer than a wooden bed covered with silk.

He heard his mother and father chatting in their spare time, saying that this kind of kang has saved many people at least this year.After all, the migration of several 10 people does not allow every family to live in a solid brick house. Earth houses and half-underground straw huts are the temporary residences for most people.Although Xuzhou is warmer than Hebei, in this era of getting colder every year, there are not enough ways to keep out the cold, and Xuzhou can freeze to death.

Fortunately, although Xuzhou does not have so many warm houses, it has an extremely rich coal. As long as the poisonous gas of these coals can be properly dealt with, then coal can be used for heating.Marshal Du's Mansion found a way to use coal correctly, so even their house built an earthen kang. After all, if you get typhoid in this weather, you will really die.

Fang Zhongtong quietly pulled out a book from under the quilt, and then lay down on the kang and read it under the light from the window paper.This is the time when he feels the happiest. The whole body is curled up in the warm blanket as if he has built a small independent world. The books in front of him have brought him a lot of fresh and interesting knowledge. It would be better if the younger brother didn't bother me.

Fang Zhongtong soon realized that he was thinking too well. Not long after he woke up, his younger brother got up in a daze and shouted to him: "Brother, I am urgent to pee."

Although he was only 4 years older than his younger brother, Fang Zhongtong still looked like an elder brother. He sighed and led his younger brother off the kang to urinate in a pot in the corner, and then led him back to the kang .

Just when Fang Zhongtong got back into bed and picked up the geometry book again, his younger brother who had already started to wake up began to pester him and not let him read the book.When the two brothers were fighting in the bed, the cotton curtain leading to the outside room was suddenly lifted, and Pan Zhai, who walked in, saw the two sons messing around again, and gave them a good lesson.

Fang Zhongtong immediately admitted his mistake honestly, but Fang Zhonglu took advantage of his young age and acted coquettishly with his mother. In the end, Pan Zhai had no choice but to dress the younger son, and urged the elder son to get up quickly, Otherwise breakfast should be cold.

When Pan Zhai led his two sons to the main room, Fang Yizhi had already had breakfast served by his daughter.Seeing the listless looks of the two sons, he couldn't help but said with some distress: "If they don't think about it, let them sleep for a while, they have nothing to do."

Pan Zhai ordered his maid to fetch hot water while washing his youngest son's face. However, Fang Zhonglu was extremely dishonest. Sometimes he thought the towel was too hot, and sometimes he thought his mother's hands were too strong. His older sister made a face until Pan Zhai scolded him with a downcast face, and then the kid stood obediently and asked his mother to wipe his face well.

On the other side, Fang Zhongtong cleaned up his personal hygiene quietly, then went to the dining table to greet his father, and then sat next to his sister and began to eat breakfast.

Pan Zhai carried his youngest son to the dining table, and then said to her husband, "Have you forgotten? Your Majesty said that today he will come to Weijiaji to see the manufacturing bureau and the immigration camp. I'm afraid you and I won't be able to come back at noon today. Don't let them get up now, maybe they won't get up at noon either. I'll take them to my side in a while and let Yu'er take care of them."

After being reminded by his wife, Fang Yizhi came back to his senses and said: "Oh, yes, Your Majesty has returned from the south. It seems that there will be a big battle soon, and I don't know if it will affect Xuzhou. We are here It took a lot of hard work, if this is lost, it will be really fatal."

While watching his youngest son eat, Pan Zhai said to her husband, "I don't understand what happened on the battlefield, but have you read the letter from my father?"

Fang Yizhi looked around, except for his wife's personal maid, the other servants all retreated.Going south from the capital this time is actually no different from fleeing, so Pan Zhai dismissed all the servants except his personal maid and Fang Yizhi's long entourage brought from his hometown.Although she is now living in Xuzhou, Pan Zhai only hired two servants and a cook, and did not invite anyone else. On the side, it is much more convenient for the couple to talk on weekdays.

His wife's personal maid is from his own family, so Fang Yizhi said without any scruples: "It's really kind of father to let us send the child back to our hometown, but is Tongcheng really safe? In the letter from my brother-in-law before He also said that because of my relationship with His Majesty, the garrison in Tongcheng was more polite to my family. It can be seen that Tongcheng is not a paradise now."

Pan Zhai also knew that her husband was telling the truth, but when she thought about the soldiers from the north and the bad news the Statistics Department received, she was still a little worried about the safety of her three children.

Seeing that his wife was still a little hesitant, Fang Yizhi said again: "Besides, who is going to send the three children back in the current chaos? The risk on the road is not small. I think it's better to wait a little longer. Since His Majesty is going north, he still has a bit of confidence, no matter what happens, going to Yangzhou with the army is safer than sending them to Tongcheng by ourselves."

Pan Zhai was so confused that he finally agreed with her husband.Here Fang Yizhi also put down the bowls and chopsticks, bid farewell to his wife and went out.Fang Yizhi walked out of his yard to the north and out of the alley, and then walked to the Earth Temple near the river in the northeast of Panjiaji. There was a low wall surrounded by a fence beside the Earth Temple. Inside the wall was Fang Yizhi's working place.

After entering the gate, you can see an extremely spacious site, an avenue from south to north, dividing the site within the fence into east and west parts.The place facing the river in the east is relatively small, and several rows of bungalows are mainly built, which are used for offices.The site to the west is relatively large, with bungalows, sheds and unfinished buildings.

This is a branch of the Xuzhou Manufacturing Bureau and the Academy of Sciences. The entire site covers an area of ​​about 77 acres, and eight factories including machinery, woodworking, cast copper iron, wrought iron, guns, guns, gunpowder, and glass have been set up.The artisans here are mainly from the Beijing Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of War, and the artisans belonging to the palace, and the artisans who make glass are from Yanshen Town.

Fang Yizhi stopped and looked towards the factory area to the west, and saw a scene of labor in full swing. Although it was winter, the artisans were working as if they were in summer.Seeing this gradually formed factory area, Fang Yizhi still feels a sense of accomplishment in his heart. Three months ago, it was a river beach and muddy land, but now it looks like a rapidly developing town.

Just when he was watching the scene of the craftsmen working with satisfaction, there was a voice calling him from behind, Fang Yizhi turned his head to look, and couldn't help but greeted: "Good morning, I heard that His Majesty is coming today. do you know?"

Sun Tingquan is two years younger than Fang Yizhi, but he is the same age as Fang Yizhi, but his family background is far less than that of Tongcheng Fang's family, so he is still very respectful to Fang Yizhi.Hearing Fang Yizhi's inquiry, he walked a few steps quickly, stopped in front of Fang Yizhi and said, "Yes, so everyone is asking you to make a decision on how to report to His Majesty, and then apply for some funding. .”

It is very bold to spend money with wisdom. The Fang family of Tongcheng is also a famous family, and he has never been short of money since he was a child.But he was a little timid when it came to asking for money. He looked at the same year in front of him with some surprise and asked: "We have no funds so soon? I remember that His Majesty allocated 30 taels to us when he left. It seems that there is not enough money now." Up to three months."

Sun Tingquan slandered in his heart: Anyone who asks you to sign in front of you, Jinshan Yinshan can't stand such a trick.But of course he couldn't say this directly, he could only hint euphemistically: "30 taels is indeed a huge sum of money, but we do spend a lot of money.

For example, although the land price here is cheap, we spent a considerable amount of money to fill the muddy land and the low-lying places by the river.Of course, these jobs at least benefited those ordinary people.

Afterwards, the construction of the branch and factory of the Academy of Sciences, including the ordering of various experimental equipment, was also a large expense.Then, we also took out a sum of money to support the construction of the immigrant camp, as well as the research funding applied by various groups...

In short, there are less than 5000 taels left in the account. After paying this month's salary and subsidies, there should not be a few taels left.Therefore, taking advantage of His Majesty's visit today, everyone thinks it is a good time to apply for funding for next year. "

After listening to the accounts reported by Sun Tingquan, Fang Yizhi also knew that the money was indeed spent, but what made him a little guilty was that the money was almost spent, but they didn't seem to get any results.

After a few breaths of silence, Fang Yizhi asked Sun Tingquan a little uneasy: "What do you think we have achieved now that can be worth 30 taels?"

Sun Tingquan felt in his heart that neither the Xuzhou Manufacturing Bureau nor the branch of the Academy of Sciences had any achievements worth 30 taels, but as one of the beneficiaries, he could only hold on and said: "Now find a research result worth 30 taels. It is somewhat difficult. But we should let His Majesty feel that the results of our research are of great value, as long as he can continue to invest, the research results of 30 taels will come out."

Fang Yizhi thought for a long time, but finally asked, "For example, those achievements?"

Sun Tingquan thought for a while and said, "For example, the result of the rail carriage?"

Fang Yizhi said in astonishment: "But didn't the Liguo Iron Works study it with us? Let's hand it in, how can we explain it to you?"

After a moment of silence, Sun Tingquan said: "Isn't Ziyi also a member of the Academy of Sciences? We have invested a lot of energy and funds in this research project. Besides, we must deal with His Majesty first, and then think about it." How do you deal with Ziyi..."

Chapter 302 Xuzhou Manufacturing Bureau II

Seeing Li Zicheng on the horse-drawn railway, he really had a satisfied smile on his face, which made Fang Yizhi and Sun Tingquan, who were accompanying him, feel a lot easier.After spending so much money in three months, the expenses of the Manufacturing Bureau and the Academy of Sciences will not be reduced much after a period of time. After all, studying natural science is not something that happens overnight. If this was in the Chongzhen Dynasty, the two of them would definitely be arrested by the emperor. Interrogate whether there is embezzlement of public funds.

So, not to mention the two of them, even the researchers below are full of fear.So when they heard that Li Zicheng was coming to inspect, everyone worked very hard to cooperate with Fang Yizhi and Sun Tingquan today, as if they could handle Li Zicheng.On weekdays, they would only circle around the two of them when they were requesting funding. Usually, they acted on their own, and they didn't follow the two of them all day to build relationships.

The reason why there is such a different atmosphere in the official circles of the Ming Dynasty is that most of the people who study Western learning are natural science lovers. They did not study Western learning for the capital of being an official. In the field of scientific theory, what they seek is to continue their hobbies, instead of being transferred out of the Academy of Sciences to become an official, and they will naturally just have no desires.

Secondly, although the Academy of Sciences does not prohibit everyone's research direction, if you want to get funding, you still have to produce some results.Maybe you proposed a research project at the beginning, and Fang Yizhi approved it for you, but Fang Yizhi’s ears are soft and he is not an ignorant fool. If you spend money and can’t get results, he will not give you additional funding.

Therefore, in order to obtain more funds, it is not to please Fang Yizhi, but to show him something, so everyone would rather spend their time on research than on friendship. The biggest difference in officialdom.After all, according to the tradition of the Ming Dynasty, officials without interpersonal relationships cannot be promoted, so those children of salt merchants are unwilling to become officials after being admitted to Jinshi, because the chance of getting ahead is too small, it is better to be a country gentry at home.

However, on an occasion like today, the academicians of the Academy of Sciences all have the same goal, which is to make Li Zicheng feel that everyone is useful and not spend so much money in vain. Otherwise, where will the funding for next year be?The study of natural science is quite time-consuming and money-consuming. They spent thousands of taels of silver just to build a Galileo-style astronomical telescope.

Although the scholars who study natural science are all wealthy families, it is still quite difficult to face this kind of research investment.Only with Li Zicheng, can they spend money to study their hobbies without any scruples, and they naturally don't want to let this fool get away.

Fang Yizhi introduced the performance of the rail carriage in front of Li Zicheng: "...the width of the rail is 105 centimeters, and the rail is cast. Each section is about nine meters long, narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, and weighs 612-615 catties...

There are two types of carriages, one for people and one for pulling goods.A human carriage can hold 40 people, and it can be pulled by two horses or mules; a truck can hold 2 sacks of grain when fully loaded, and the load can reach more than 100 catties, which is 2.6 tons according to the new weight and measure.Every 8 sections are compiled into a row, with 4 horses, which can pull 12 tons at a time.Can go 30-8 kilometers per hour..."

After calculating in his mind, Li Zicheng said, "That is to say, at the same distance, it took half the time for the rail carriage, but the weight of the goods transported increased by nearly 9 times?"

Fang Yizhi nodded, and said with some regret: "Your Majesty is right. Rail carriages have improved the efficiency of transportation. Unfortunately, there are still two problems that have not been resolved. One is that the investment in construction is a bit large, and every kilometer is one-way. The cost of the track is 7500 taels, and 1.5 taels for two-way. The price of the rails accounts for two-thirds of the total cost; the other is that there is a relatively large demand for livestock, and at least a stable source of horses is needed..."

Sun Tingquan quickly interrupted Fang Yizhi's words, and made amends for him: "Brother Mi is still a little pessimistic. The price of the rail is only relatively high now. The iron factory has already smelted qualified pig iron with coke. Looking at the price of iron in the future It is definitely going to fall.

Moreover, the first places where rail carriages can be used are coal mines, iron mines and iron smelters, which will greatly facilitate the production and labor of these factories and mines.In the long run, the prospect of railroad carriages is still very good..."

Indeed, the prospect of the railway is bright, but the cost per kilometer is 7500 taels, which can equip almost 70 cavalrymen.

After Li Zicheng complained to Sun Tingquan silently in his heart, he responded with deep approval on his face: "Indeed, if the price of steel can be lowered, this rail carriage is very promising.

In the section of the Grand Canal north of Xuzhou, local people had to be prohibited from watering the fields due to insufficient water all year round. Although the cities along the canal became rich, it also caused the people on both sides of the canal to suffer.

If rail carriages can be used to replace part of the canal sections with insufficient water sources, it will really benefit local agriculture.However, I always feel that it is not convenient enough to use horses as the power to pull the carriage.If we can develop a coal-burning power, then we don't have to worry about horses, and we can transport it day and night..."

When Fang Yizhi's speech was interrupted by Sun Tingquan, he was still a little embarrassed, because he knew that he seemed to have said the wrong thing.Everyone is waiting for the rice to go to the pot. He said that the defects of the horse-drawn rails are not for himself.

However, seeing that Li Zicheng didn't care about the flaws he said, but praised the horse-drawn rails, he was relieved.Now that he heard Li Zicheng's views on power, he finally had a chance to express himself, so he took over Li Zicheng's topic and said: "According to your Majesty's previous assumptions about steam as power and your guess about the pressure of the atmosphere, the Academy of Sciences will These two issues were initially studied.

Coincidentally, the missionaries of the Society of Jesus also said that because the water pump can never exceed 10 meters, some European scholars put forward the conjecture of atmospheric pressure or vacuum resistance.So we had craftsmen make glass tubes one meter long and experimented with mercury..."

Li Zicheng listened carefully to the experiment described by Fang Yizhi, and then he understood that the other party had completed the Torricelli experiment. He didn't know whether Torricelli had completed the experiment, but at least it had not spread to China yet.Is this a restart of natural science research in China?

Fang Yizhi told Li Zicheng that the atmospheric pressure should be equivalent to 76 centimeters of mercury column. As for the research on steam conversion power, the Academy of Sciences is studying the production of a high-pressure iron tank, but there are still some problems in funding.

Listening to Fang Yizhi's description, what the Academy of Sciences wants to make should be a pressure cooker.Although it is still far from the simplest steam engine, at least they have taken the first step.Although a certain person has some understanding of the shape of the steam engine, he doesn't want to backfire, because he knows that if he skips the basic research, he will suffer later.

Compared to succeeding once without knowing why, someone would rather these ancients fail a thousand times, so as to know a thousand reasons for failure.Before the first industrial revolution, the knowledge gained by research failure actually far exceeded the knowledge gained by success.

However, Li Zicheng did not plan to allocate funds to the Academy of Sciences immediately. He said that he would first look at other projects of the Academy of Sciences and the Manufacturing Bureau, and then discuss the allocation of funds next year.

Although Fang Yizhi spent 30 taels within three months, after seeing the manufacturing capabilities of Xuzhou Manufacturing Bureau, Li Zicheng did not think it was worth the money.For example, the completion of the horse-drawn rail project still brought him a great surprise. What surprised him was not the project itself, but the mechanical design, manufacturing and processing capabilities demonstrated by this project.

For example, the casting precision of the rails and the invention of the carriage bridge chassis all mean that the craftsmen of the Manufacturing Bureau are indeed capable, not low-level blacksmiths who can only make farm tools. This makes Li Zicheng more aware of the capabilities of the Xuzhou Manufacturing Bureau Big expectations.

Facts have proved that the Academy of Sciences and the Manufacturing Bureau can still produce some good things.For example, use a horizontal waterwheel to drive the waterwheel to the pool at the height of the embankment, and then use the height difference between the pool and the ground to build a more efficient upward-shooting waterwheel, and then drive the waterwheel to machine wood or iron and copper. Tool.Because the amount of water in the pool can be controlled, it means that a relatively stable power can be output, so it is most suitable for drilling gun barrels.

Fang Yizhi saw that Li Zicheng seemed very interested in the waterwheel group of the Manufacturing Bureau, and he quickly said: "The upward-shooting waterwheel is more powerful, because it has requirements for the slope of the river, and it seems to be more suitable for some areas in the south. The rivers in the north are actually not suitable for this kind of waterwheel. If the Marshal's Mansion can approve it, I suggest that you can find a place in Anqing to build a branch of the manufacturing bureau. I remember that there are many suitable for this kind of waterwheel near my hometown. stream."

Li Zicheng nodded slightly and said, "Let's wait until this battle is over. How many barrels can we process every day now?"

Fang Yizhi replied: "If there is water power to help process, 100-120 pieces, but now the river has started to freeze, and I have to return to hand-made in two days, so I can only process 40-50 pieces. It is estimated that this month Up to 2500 can be produced."

Li Zicheng walked to the side, picked up a machined gun barrel, and inspected it. The octagonal prism-shaped barrel on the outside is very thick, and the inner barrel is relatively smooth when viewed from the light. It looks like it was drilled with hydraulic power. The barrel is still fine.After reading it over and over several times, Li Zicheng asked Fang Yizhi again: "How does this gun barrel pass the inspection?"

Fang Yizhi thought for a while and said: "The formula of gunpowder was quite confusing before. According to Your Majesty, the raw materials of gunpowder are only saltpeter, sulfur and charcoal after refining and blending. We took the ratio of the three as 70:15:15, 87.4: The two formulas of 5.5:7.1, and then refer to the European military gunpowder formula 75:12.5:12.5 given by the Jesuit missionaries. After comparing these three formulas, we finally set up two gunpowder formulas.

One is gunpowder for musket firing, 75:12.5:12.5, which is the prescription used by Europeans. Use willow charcoal, add 10 catties of white wine for every [-] catties, mix it evenly, grind it into particles, and then screen and polish it. The power is powder gunpowder Three times that of lead, so the standard amount of gunpowder fired by each musket should be one-half the weight of lead.

For the inspection of each gun barrel, use 4 times the standard charge, and shoot two lead pellets, the barrel is not damaged, and the lead pellets are fired into the target area, which is considered qualified..."

Chapter 303 Xuzhou Manufacturing Bureau III

Li Zicheng is still satisfied with this test standard.The soldiers of the Ming Dynasty suffered a lot from the firearms made by the imperial court who cut corners. In order to prevent the bombs from exploding, they all chose to charge less powder and shoot beyond the range. It became a fireworks display.

In order to convince those soldiers that the weapons in their hands are reliable, Li Zicheng and the General Staff also worked hard, but the easiest way is to ensure that qualified firearms are produced, as long as the soldiers realize that the firearms in their hands are safe Only then will they think about how to kill the enemy with the weapons in their hands.

However, after Li Zicheng put down the barrel, he still said to Fang Yizhi: "In addition to testing the safety of the barrel, you should also select people and test it out. How many times do you need to shoot before the barrel has problems. The staff department will determine the service life of the gun according to the number of reliable shots of the gun, so as to ensure that the guns in the hands of soldiers will not go wrong. Not only guns, cannons and other utensils, it is best to give a quality assurance period, so that everyone can Know how many years it can be used safely, and if there is a problem beyond the time limit, it is not the producer's problem."

Regarding Li Zicheng's request, Fang Yizhi was still a little ignorant. He thought that Li Zicheng was asking him to give a promise on the quality of the items produced by the manufacturing bureau. Just when he was hesitating whether to guarantee it or not, Sun Tingquan beside him came to his senses. Knowing that this is a request that is extremely beneficial to the Manufacturing Bureau, he replied to Li Zicheng and said: "Your Majesty is right, I will carefully investigate the production equipment of the Manufacturing Bureau and determine a reasonable quality guarantee period for them. "

Li Zicheng glanced at Sun Tingquan approvingly, and then said: "Where does the iron for making the barrel come from? Is the quality reliable? What is the quality of the iron from Liguo Iron Factory? Can it be used?"

Fang Yizhi also came back to his senses, and replied in an orderly manner: "Your Majesty said before that the biggest difference between iron and steel is the difference in carbon content. We have conducted experiments with charcoal powder, pig iron, and wrought iron. It is indeed as your majesty said. In other words, wrought iron is closed and smoldered with charcoal powder, and finally steel or pig iron is obtained; or pig iron is covered on wrought iron and smoldered, and steel can also be obtained. This is the principle of the method of frying steel.

Also, the reason why coal is brittle is that there are other impurities in coal besides carbon, which is not as pure as charcoal.So first smelting coal into coke, and then smelting iron, the quality of the iron obtained is almost the same as that of charcoal.Liguo Iron Works uses local good coal to smelt coke, and then smelts iron ore. The quality of the iron obtained is slightly worse than Guangzhou Railway, but it is already better than Fujian Railway.

Although there is still a surplus of iron materials brought out of the capital, it is difficult to distinguish the iron materials from various countries, and we need to process one by ourselves to make guns. Therefore, starting from this month, the gun factory has begun to use Liguo iron materials. The iron block supplied by the iron factory.As long as the quality of iron ingots produced by Liguo Iron Works is stable, there will be no problems here. "

Li Zicheng suddenly became interested and asked: "So the Manufacturing Bureau also has a furnace for smelting iron? Take me to have a look."

At Li Zicheng's request, Fang Yizhi led him to the northwest corner of the Manufacturing Bureau. On the way, he also introduced to Li Zicheng the reason for choosing the site of the iron smelting plant, because other places have poor geology or are too close to the town, and only this place It's just a high platform with a solid foundation, and there are no people around, so don't worry about being opposed by the villagers.

Li Zicheng originally thought that what he was about to see was a majestic iron smelting workshop, but when he got there, he realized that it was just a big bamboo shed surrounded by a yellow mud fence, or it should be said that several sheds were connected together.Although the fence plastered with yellow mud can keep out the rain and snow, it can't keep out the cold wind. That is to say, there are iron smelting furnaces here, so it's not too cold.

There are more than 10 small stoves in the shed. This kind of small stove is specially used to smelt bar iron for making guns. Three iron rods are placed on the iron fence on the upper part of the stove, covered with charcoal, and then covered with a crucible lid. Someone blows air behind the furnace, and takes out the iron rod when it burns white. Three strong men held a hammer weighing five or six catties, and another person held an iron bar on the iron felt, and then beat it in turn until the iron bar was formed.

Well, this is not much different from a country blacksmith beating farm tools. The sound of "ding dong, ding dong" can deafen your ears.Li Zicheng asked the manager of the smelting workshop around him. Six people can produce nearly a thousand catties of bar iron in 6 hours with one stove, and each person can produce about 12 catties of bar iron a day.Of course, the bar iron here still has many specifications, because not all of them are used to make guns.

After passing through these small stoves, I saw two stoves as tall as a person, one in the shape of a bottle, and the other in an oval shape.Bottle furnaces are used to smelt and process pig iron, while oval furnaces are used to smelt crucible steel.

The bottle furnace does not seem to have much technical content, but the furnace for smelting crucible steel is quite interesting. Six crucibles can be placed in the furnace, and each crucible can hold about fifty or sixty catties of iron material. It will be reduced, and in the end only thirty or forty catties of iron materials can be placed.

Calculated in 12 hours a day, about three furnaces can be smelted, about three tons of coke are used at a time, about 300 kilograms of steel in one furnace, and about 800 kilograms of steel can be smelted in a day.Based on the market price of 4 yuan per catty, the value is 320 taels.Almost all of these steels have been digested internally by the manufacturing plant, and there is no possibility of selling them outside. After all, the current steel is considered a high-tech product. Ordinary blacksmiths can only honestly forge it out of wrought iron, and cannot manufacture it on a large scale.

Of course, in Li Zicheng's eyes, crucible steel does not seem to be a large-scale production method.It's just that these people around him have already regarded this steelmaking method as a treasure.That is to say, this thing still needs a certain amount of iron smelting as a foundation, otherwise the furnace for crucible steel will have been built here long ago, after all, is it profitable?

After viewing the two furnaces, Li Zicheng couldn't help but asked Fang Yizhi: "I'm afraid that direct contact with coke cannot be avoided when using such a furnace to process iron materials?"

Fang Yizhi nodded and said helplessly: "We have also considered this issue, but it seems that there is no other way to avoid contact between coke and iron."

Li Zicheng then asked: "The place where the sun shines will also heat up, and the flame itself is also a photothermal phenomenon. Then can the light energy be reflected, and the heat be reflected? What is needed to smelt iron is heat, not the flame itself?"

Fang Yizhi was immediately stopped by Li Zicheng's questions. After thinking about it, he clapped his hands and said, "Yes, that's the way of thinking. I remember that there is a kind of stove that seems to rely on the conduction of heat, and boil water while cooking..."

Li Zicheng thought for a while and added, "No matter what kind of furnace you make, the bearing capacity of the ground must be sufficient. If we want to smelt and process iron, we can't do it like this. It would take too much fuel and labor. As long as a successful furnace can be made, it should be scaled up as much as possible to reduce costs."

The last project Li Zicheng visited was a glass factory. Fang Yizhi gave up the explanation of this factory to Sun Tingquan, because Sun Tingquan came from a family that made colored glaze.

Sun Tingquan's great-grandfather, Sun Yanshou, "belongs to the inner court and is a class craftsman", that is to say, the Sun family not only manages and produces colored glaze, but also acts as an "official" who manages colored glaze workshops.Although Sun Tingquan devoted himself to the imperial examination, he also has a good understanding of the colored glaze industry.

Unlike the beauty of colored glaze that the Ming court paid attention to, Li Zicheng paid more attention to the practicality of glass.One is the manufacture of optical glass, the other is flat glass, and the other is chemical laboratory equipment.And his requirements have been completely solved by the glass craftsmen, just like the glass crafts introduced by Sun Tingquan, what they pursue is a glass utensil similar to jade, so it is necessary to make colorless glass first, and then add color to form Glass products similar to fake jade.

According to Li Zicheng's request, just remove the next few steps.Seeing the artisans making various glassware by the glass melting furnace, Li Zicheng also asked enthusiastically, "How much is a piece of flat glass worth now?"

Sun Tingquan pointed to the glass furnace in front of him and said: "This kind of furnace can produce about a thousand catties of material, and can make about 19-20 pieces of flat glass with a square meter. The cost of each glass is about four or five dollars, but if the annealing is not If it is returned, at least half of it will be scrapped, so the cost of a piece of flat glass will be at least eight or nine dollars."

Li Zicheng thought for a while and said: "Find some carpenters to make some glass windows, first replace them for the office of the Academy of Sciences, see if you can continue to reduce costs, and then replace them for the school as well. Yangzhou is building a new city, if you If you can find a way to ship the glass there, it should sell well. I heard that you have mastered the process of grinding telescope lenses, and now a pair of monoculars cost only 4 yuan for a good one, and 2 yuan for a bad one?"

Although Li Zicheng was very businesslike in his conversation, Sun Tingquan seemed quite complacent.As a person who grew up in a craftsman's family, he has come into contact with these market people since he was a child. He is more accustomed to communicating in such a market language, so when facing those scholars, he habitually keeps his Silence is mistaken for stability.

Sun Tingquan quickly replied: "This is thanks to Mizhi. If he hadn't sorted out some principles of optics and calculated the angle of grinding lenses with the craftsmen, we would not be able to improve the success rate of grinding lenses."