Steel was the foundation of the Industrial Revolution. Steam engines required steel as a material, train tracks required steel as a material, and even the trains themselves required steel.

The production of steel also requires steel.

Even the most essential weapons cannot be separated from steel.

Zhao Huan walked over and circled the cannon, examining it closely.

Sima Qi said, "Your Majesty, please wait aside for now. I will demonstrate for you again."

Zhao Huan stepped aside and saw Sima Qi order an artilleryman to aim at a pile of stones four miles away and then light the fuse.

With a loud bang, the pile of rocks four miles away was blasted apart.

Its power is much greater than that of a thunderclap. If it hits a person, it can blast their flesh and blood into pieces.

Clearly, after a year of improvements, the quality of the artillery has been significantly enhanced.

Zhao Huan was very satisfied. If this thing could be brought to the front line, the strength of the Song army would be greatly increased.

Zhao Huan asked Chen Gui, "Minister Chen, how much does it cost to manufacture a cannon?"

"Your Majesty, I have done a calculation, and one cannon will cost approximately two thousand strings of cash."

Zhao Huan's heart tightened. One string of cash in the Song Dynasty was worth about 465 yuan, so two thousand strings would be about 930,000 yuan.

This fee is indeed a bit high.

Chen Gui continued, "Your Majesty, the main expense is the high cost of steel."

"Sima Qi, has there been any progress in the steelmaking process in the blast furnace I gave you last time?"

"Your Majesty, the new method of smelting steel in the Great Song Dynasty is already in use. The purity of the steel produced is twice as high as before, and the time required has also been greatly shortened."

"If that's the case, why is it still so expensive?"

"Your Majesty, the iron ore supply is insufficient and the mining is difficult, resulting in excessively high ore prices."

That is indeed a practical reason.

Although the imperial court's Ministry of Commerce established trading companies to prepare for iron ore mining, and merchants like Han Lixian obtained some mining rights.

However, since the court began updating its weapons and equipment in the second year of the Jingkang era, the demand for iron has skyrocketed, and the rate of iron consumption is simply too fast.

Iron ore trading companies couldn't possibly not make money, so they gave it away for free to the Imperial Ordnance Bureau. Although it was all the emperor's money, each of them had their own tasks and objectives.

With high demand and mining being an arduous task, workers' monthly salaries would naturally be high, and consequently, the price of iron ore would also be high.

Most importantly, it takes a long time.

As time slowed down, supply became insufficient, and iron ore trading companies began to raise prices.

Anyway, they had Tang Ke backing them up, and the Imperial Ordnance Bureau had a lot of money allocated by the emperor, so they were a wealthy entity. The iron ore trading company wasn't worried about the Imperial Ordnance Bureau not making purchases.

However, this made the accounts of the Ordnance Bureau look very bad.

Chen Gui had long wanted to impeach the Ministry of Commerce and Industry of the Song Dynasty, whose iron ore trading companies were arrogant and domineering because they controlled the resources.

When the emperor inquired about the expenses, Chen Gui truthfully recounted them.

Zhao Huan stopped. This exorbitant sum of money was his own money, which had been transferred from his left hand to his right.

However, during the process of transferring from the left hand to the right hand, many people's salaries were paid out in between.

Of course, once the chain of interests becomes complex, it's not just about salaries anymore; a large layer of extra profits is also being extracted.

To solve this problem, the most important thing is not to optimize the organizational structure, but to improve and enhance productivity.

The key is how to increase iron ore production and steel production within a fixed time period.

Once both of these quantities increase, the price will naturally decrease.

To increase these two quantities, in addition to improving the mining and smelting technologies, transportation also needs to be improved, becoming faster and with larger one-time volumes.

Zhao Huan suddenly said, "Sima Qi, I have an idea."

"Please give your instructions, Your Majesty."

"Could you manufacture some gunpowder that is even more powerful than the Thunderclap Bomb? It doesn't matter if it's heavier. I'm thinking of using gunpowder to bombard iron ore. After the bombardment, people can just move it. That way, it will take less time."

The crowd exchanged bewildered glances, utterly shocked by the emperor's audacious idea.

In their minds, gunpowder was used for fighting wars, and they never thought of associating it with iron ore mining.

After being enlightened by the emperor's words, everyone instantly felt that this was feasible.

Sima Qi said, "That's simple, we just need to increase the amount of gunpowder."

"Very well, in that case, you and Chen Gui will manufacture a special gunpowder for me to use in mining iron ore. I will have the Ministry of Works arrange for people to go to the iron mine to detonate it."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. It's the New Year, and my imperial chefs should be here by now." Zhao Huan laughed heartily. "Come with me for a few drinks to warm yourselves up."

The crowd said, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Zhao Huan felt very fulfilled by being so busy, as many of his ideas were gradually being realized.

However, the most important thing is now starting to accelerate.

Steam engine!

This thing was essential to the Industrial Revolution; without it, trains couldn't run, ships couldn't sail, and airplanes couldn't take off.

Let's not even talk about entering the industrial age.

In fact, ancient China had already mastered the principles of steam engines, but they did not use steel to cast them, nor did they think of using them in industry.

So this isn't difficult. Zhao Huan just needs to give a hint, and the people at the Academy of Sciences should understand soon enough.

The emperor walked at the front, and he suddenly asked Sima Qi, "Minister Sima, why do you think Kongming lanterns can fly into the sky?"

Having grown accustomed to the emperor's wildly imaginative mind, the people at the Academy of Sciences were no longer surprised.

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