The fire went out, then it came back and went out again.

Yang Er looked at the black soil, which he had repeatedly tried but failed, and felt somewhat puzzled. "Master, this black soil can indeed burn, but it burns out after a short time. It's not as good as firewood."

Jiang Sheng squatted aside and pondered why it was always destroyed. He decided to check the books in the bamboo building again.

He stood up and said, "I'll go back to my room and think about it. I'll clean up here and make sure no one finds out what's going on."

"Yes, sir."

After returning to the room and closing the door, a mountain entered the space.

Jiang Sheng began to search and soon found a book. The pattern on it was clearly black soil, but the color was lighter than black soil, as if something else had been added.

After reading it through, I only know that the black soil is called coal. Its specific function is to burn and replace firewood, etc. It can also be used to smelt iron at extremely high temperatures.

But it doesn't say how to cook it or how to make it.

He had no choice but to put the book down and began to search in the bamboo house. Finally, he found a book on the corner of the table. It was being placed under the table leg and the dust on it was brushed off.

When I opened it, I saw that it was indeed the process of making coal balls. The pictures were very clear and the proportions were also marked.

Jiang Sheng's mouth curled up as if he had found a treasure. He knew that he was lucky. The things were delivered to him, so how could he not find the production steps?

After reading it carefully and copying down the key points, he left the space, opened the door and said with a smile: "I know how to make coal briquettes."

Yang Er and the others looked confused: "......?"

"Yang Er, the three of you go up the mountain and dig up some yellow mud for me. Yang Wu, come with me to town. I need to order something from the iron shop."

"Yes, sir."

Jiang Sheng excitedly took his people to the town, ordered a dozen coal briquette molds, and bought some food, clothing and daily necessities to take back.

Two days later, the coal ball mold was ready.

Several people started to work. Jiang Sheng mixed the black soil and yellow soil according to the ratio, and then asked someone to mix it thoroughly, add water and make it into something like mud.

Stuff it into the coal ball mold, then slowly remove the mold and place it in the sun to dry the water. This way the coal ball will be shaped and it will be easier to carry it in the future.

Yang Er and the others looked at the gradually taking shape and exclaimed in admiration: "This thing is so interesting, just like a beehive on the mountain. No wonder it's honeycomb briquettes."

Jiang Sheng smiled and said, "This thing is very useful. The temperature it burns is much higher than that of firewood, and it is very stable. It will make it easier to smelt iron and forge weapons in the future."

Hearing him say this, several people's eyes lit up instantly.

What are weapons? They are the lives of soldiers on the battlefield. Bronze swords are too heavy, but iron is too expensive and difficult to make.

Now that the iron mine has been found, all that's left is to forge weapons. If we can forge more in secret and recruit soldiers, then there's no need to worry about unrest on the border. We can just destroy it directly.

The sun is strong and the honeycomb coal dries very quickly.

Jiang Sheng tried again, watching the honeycomb coal turn from black to red and begin to burn, and calculated the time nervously.

He waited and waited but it still didn't go out. His eyes became brighter and brighter and he said happily: "It's done, it's done."

Yang Er and the others were also happy: "Yes, Young Master is really a man of great talent. He can even research such a thing. It's really amazing."

"Haha, after the fruit trees arrive, the iron ore will also be transported here. Remember to paint the stones to hide their presence so that they look ordinary."

"Don't worry, sir. I understand everything."

Dozens of people were busy on the back mountain, clearing trees and digging out tree roots. There were also fruit trees piled up on the side, ready to be planted on the mountain.

The villagers worked very hard. As a joke, they were paid 15 cents a day each and paid on the same day, and were also provided with two meals with meat. You would never find such a good job even if you searched with a lantern.

"Hey, our village is going to be prosperous in the future. If we plant so many fruit trees, we'll definitely need people to weed and drive away the birds. These are all long-term costs."

"When our village gets better, more girls will marry in. Then the village will naturally grow stronger. With more labor, who dares to bully us?"

Everyone was talking and laughing, feeling motivated to work and hopeful about the future.

Jiang Sheng sat on the tree and watched them work, with a slight smile on his lips. He was thinking about the iron smelting in his mind, which had to be done before the cold winter.

The cold winter is the most chaotic time on the border. Other countries are short of food in the cold winter. If they don’t want to starve to death, they can only rob other countries.

In the past, villages on the northern wilderness border suffered disasters every year, sometimes so severe that the village might be destroyed, and the people suffered terribly. But this year... we must not let this happen again.

Yang Eryun climbed up the tree and lowered his voice: "Sir, the eldest son sent a letter saying that the ore is being transported here. Please take care of it."

"It's only a few months away from the Chinese New Year. The eldest son said that no matter how busy you are, you have to go back home for the Chinese New Year to reunite with your family. If you can't finish your work, take your time. Being together as a family is the most important thing."

Jiang Sheng's lips curled up, and his eyes softened. "Well, I get it. Brother is really like an old mother. He's been nagging me about this so many times."

"Alas, there's nothing I can do. The young master has been away for two months this time. It's inevitable that his family will miss him. Naturally, the old lady misses him too."

"I understand. I will definitely go back before the New Year. Don't worry, brother."

After a few days, all the fruit trees were planted, and the rest of the watering was left to the villagers. Jiang Sheng began to look for people to build a road. The road to the inner mountain had to be built.

Time passed quickly in the busy schedule. By the time the ore arrived, the road leading up the mountain from the end of the village had been completely repaired. It was far away from the crowd and very well hidden.

Jiang Sheng told others that he wanted to build a cellar so that when the fruits were ripe, they could be temporarily stored on the mountain where the low temperature was conducive to preservation. This deceptive excuse was reasonable.

Neishan was hammering away and starting to build an iron smelting house. He built a yard around it so that no one could see what was going on inside.

There was a constant banging sound, and the ore chunks were broken into pieces and put into containers to burn away the impurities, and then they were hammered and burned repeatedly, and so on.

As the firewood and coal briquettes burned, the surrounding temperature clearly rose. Jiang Sheng wiped the sweat from his forehead and sighed, "Don't mention it, this would be quite warm in winter."

Yang Er pulled the corners of his mouth and showed a stiff smile.

"Yes, there have been more small animals around the wall recently. I think the cold animals after the winter will gather more towards the ironworks."

"Yeah, that's just right for everyone to eat meat."

The temperature in the iron smelting room was even higher. The old craftsman kept wiping his sweat, feeling the black stuff burning. How could it be so hot? It was much hotter than firewood.

Standing on a high place and taking a look inside, I saw the orange-red molten iron boiling, and the color looked much purer than before. Could it be that it contained a lot of refined iron?