Chapter 267: Ironmaking Begins (Please vote and subscribe)

Ling Feng's family was soon taken to an empty house. Enthusiastic tribesmen came to help. Some helped to bring water tanks and buckets, pottery and animal skins.

The women of the neighbor's house helped to spread the kang with animal skins. There were also men who brought two bags of rice from the warehouse with a cart. There were also people who brought firewood with a cart. The necessary tools were also delivered. At least there was an axe and a shoulder pole for carrying water. After

the kang was laid, Ling Feng's women and children sat on the kang. The enthusiastic neighbors taught them how to live in the stove. Two pieces of flint for making fire were also brought, but they were not used at all. Someone directly drew flaming firewood from his own home and lit it. The kang soon heated up, which made Ling Feng's family feel amazing.

The men took Ling Feng to the well at the intersection to fetch water and told him that he would get water from here in the future. The water tank at home should be filled with water every day. When he was free, he should chop more firewood in case of emergency.

After Luo Chong returned, he asked Xiao Die to send some linen and woolen cloth to their family, saying that they were prepared for their children. Now there was a shortage of cloth, so they could only supply the children and senior officials first. The adults still wrapped themselves in animal skins.

The new life brought benefits, but of course there were also disadvantages. For example, Ling Feng's sheep, horses and sheepdogs were all confiscated, which was a problem. There was nothing to say about the confiscation of the sheep, but the horses and Ling Feng were already very familiar with each other. Now that he could not see them often, Ling Feng felt like a cat scratching his heart.

Luo Chong also considered this point, but it was impossible to raise horses in the house. Luo Chong could not give the horses to private individuals for the time being. He could only promise Ling Feng that he could go to the animal pen to see his horses every day when he had nothing to do.

Another trouble was the sheepdogs. These dogs recognized their masters and ran to Ling Feng's house happily. Luo Chong had no choice but to let him take good care of them and make sure they did not bite anyone. It would be better to find a way to get these dogs to stay in a breeding farm.

However, it takes time to get familiar with the new environment. Winter is long anyway, and Luo Chong doesn't have time to focus on these trivial matters every day. He has more important things to do.

The iron pot casting mold developed by the woodworking team has been completed. It is a wooden frame structure with a wooden box at the bottom. The shape of the pot is made of refractory clay. On the top is a die with a wooden frame as the bone, rattan as the flesh, and clay as the skin. A wooden rod is connected to it, which can be pressed down manually.

In fact, it is to make a skeleton with wood, and then install a pot woven with rattan on it. A thick layer of refractory clay is pasted on the outside of the rattan, and finally polished smooth as the inner wall mold of the pot.

When casting, pour the molten iron directly into the earthen pot below, which is the outer wall model of the pot, and then press down the lever to press down the inner wall mold, merge the upper and lower parts, and leave a flat piece of the pot in the middle. Finally, wait for the molten iron to cool naturally.

In addition to this die-casting mold for iron pots, there are also some sharp-angled anvil molds made by the lost wax method, and finally a large number of iron ingot molds.

The crucible used to hold the molten iron is also very particular. It is a large barrel cast with bronze, and the inner wall is covered with a layer of refractory clay, and then placed in a kiln for firing. The capacity inside is enough for one person to squat.

The crucible is equipped with a special small cart with solid oak wheels underneath. It has a strong load-bearing capacity. There is a bronze handle on one side of the crucible, and an extended notch for casting on the other side, like a teapot spout, which is convenient for casting.

There is a lever copper tube on the side of the handle. When the crucible is filled with molten iron and transported to the casting position of the mold, a long wooden lever can be inserted into the copper tube to extend the lever arm. The person behind can tilt the crucible by pressing the lever to pour out the molten iron inside.

Everything is ready, and there are enough people. It is the first day of winter. No one has come to the market. Luo Chong also began to lead the tribe to smelt iron on this day.

In front of the huge star-shaped blast furnace, Da Zui climbed up to the shelf next to the blast furnace and threw a pile of burning firewood into it, and then threw a lot of dry firewood into it, first lighting the fire of the main furnace, and then the four auxiliary furnaces around it also started to light fires at the same time.

After the fire was lit, Luo Chong began to direct the tribesmen to add charcoal into it with a gantry crane. A rattan hopper like a hot air balloon basket was hung with four pulley ropes. More than a dozen people pulled the ropes together to raise the basket to the height above the furnace top, and then pulled the entire gantry crane along the wooden track to the furnace mouth.

After that, the two ropes of the basket near the furnace mouth did not move, and then continued to raise the two ropes at the back, so that the entire basket tilted, and the whole basket of charcoal was poured into the main furnace. Because the auxiliary furnaces around were located below the ground, they could directly add charcoal from above with a cart. Finally, the lid of the auxiliary furnace was covered, and all the hot air inside was directed to the heat storage chamber.

The flames of the auxiliary furnace were burning fiercely, and the temperature of the heat storage chamber was also rising steadily. The main furnace was still being charged under Luo Chong's command. After adding a few baskets of charcoal, it was probably half full. Then he began to add ore bricks, one basket of ore bricks, half a basket of charcoal, and then poured a basket of limestone as a reaction accelerator to help slag formation. Finally, he filled the furnace with charcoal.

After the main furnace was loaded, the auxiliary furnace had been burning for a while, and the temperature of the heat storage chamber was also very high. Luo Chong began to order the four blowers to start.

The blower was located between the heat storage chamber and the main furnace. It was a closed brick pipe with a six-blade fan inside. The fan was made of a wooden shaft with copper sheets inserted. The wooden shaft extended to both sides of the pipe and then connected to the linkage crankshaft. The final power output was a wooden machine with two pedals.

It looks like a fitness treadmill in the park. There is a hand-held bar in front and two pedals below. People just need to stand on it and step on the two pedals back and forth to drive the fan to rotate. Moreover, the fan of each blower is operated by two people, one on each side of the pipe, and they just need to step on the pedals face to face.

The pedal-powered blower is better than the hand-pulled bellows and is more labor-saving. Standing there and stepping on the pedals is like exercising in the park. Moreover, people can change people when they are tired. The air volume provided is not only sufficient, but also uninterrupted. Even when changing people, one person will be left in each blower. People can rest, but the blower will not stop.

The four auxiliary furnaces are burning charcoal desperately. The outer wall of the heat storage chamber has begun to burn. Eight people operate four blowers, constantly blowing high-temperature air into the main furnace to increase the oxygen content in the main furnace, promote the temperature increase and reaction speed.

After about half an hour, Luo Chong looked at the situation in the furnace from the observation port, and then asked people to continue adding carbon.

The high-temperature air ejected from the four blast holes in the main furnace caused the temperature in the furnace to rise steadily, and soon reached the melting point of iron.

The burning charcoal met the oxygen in the air to form carbon monoxide, and then when it passed through the iron ore above, it absorbed the oxygen molecules in the iron oxide and turned into carbon dioxide, which continued to rise until it was discharged from the furnace mouth and turned into black smoke.

The oxygen molecules in the iron oxide were taken away by the carbon monoxide and turned into elemental iron. Because the temperature was higher than the melting point, the elemental iron melted into molten iron, and under the influence of its own gravity, it slowly settled to the bottom of the furnace. The

limestone and impurities inside were mixed, sintered, and melted, and finally turned into liquid alkaline slag, floating on the molten iron and sinking into the furnace together. When the furnace is full, it is time to open the furnace and release the iron.

(End of this chapter)