Chapter 157 Molten Steel
Mao Xiang must plead guilty. The Jinyiwei failed to conduct an effective investigation. The amount of steel in the Baochao Tizhusi is at least 100,000 jin.
When Zhu Chong saw the situation in front of him, he became more certain of what he was thinking. Old Zhu was really anxious, otherwise why would he be so concerned about the steel production on his side?
At this time, Old Zhu saw Zhu Chong staring at Mao Xiang in a daze, and his eyes became even gloomier. He glared at Zhu Chong fiercely, but Zhu Chong ignored him at all. This made Old Zhu very unhappy, but he could do nothing about it.
After thinking for a moment, Old Zhu looked at Old Liu beside him, and his expression immediately changed. "Tell me, how much steel can be produced in the Baochao Tizhusi in a day?"
Old Liu was not stupid. He knew from the situation that the emperor was coming to punish him. However, when he looked at Zhu Chong, he didn't get any clue. He didn't dare lie to Zhu Chong and could only tell the truth.
"Your Majesty, the Imperial Banknote Administration has adopted the new method of steelmaking by the Director General. They can produce approximately 70,000 kilograms of qualified steel per day."
Seventy thousand jin? Upon hearing this number, Old Zhu immediately lost his composure and stared at Old Liu as if he wanted to stare a hole through him. He had never expected to hear such a number.
Seventy thousand kilograms of steel are not just pig iron, but also such good steel. This is equivalent to at least three years' output of the Ming Dynasty.
But in the Baochao Tizhusi, which is not a professional steelmaking place at all, they were able to produce it in one day. This surprised Zhu Yuanzhang and made him feel dissatisfied with the Ministry of Works.
At the same time, when Old Zhu looked at Zhu Chong again, the look in his eyes was no longer as unexpected as before, and he even waved at him.
"You're quite capable, kid. Come here and show us how you teach them how to make steel!"
When Zhu Chong heard what Old Zhu said, he hurried over, bowed and nodded, and made a gesture of invitation: "Father, please come this way!"
Afterwards, Zhu Chong led Lao Zhu all the way to the steelmaking furnace at the back.
When everyone saw the steel furnace that looked like a huge gourd and was several stories high, everyone was stunned.
Old Zhu immediately turned to look at Zhu Chong, "Second Brother, is this what you use to make steel? What is it called?"
In Old Zhu's mind, steelmaking is like a craftsman hammering away at pig iron with a huge hammer, hammering it again and again. Why did it become something else when it came to Zhu Chong?
Zhu Chong quickly stepped forward to explain, "Father, I have recently been researching the relevant iron and steelmaking processes in preparation for coinage, and I have discovered a problem."
"Even the iron ore in our Ming Dynasty, under the current conditions, can only be smelted into pig iron. The smelting of pig iron into steel is entirely done manually. The root cause is that the furnace temperature for smelting steel is not high enough."
"If the furnace temperature isn't high enough, the impurities in the pig iron produced from the iron ore can't be removed quickly enough, meaning it can't be burned through and made into fine steel. So, after careful inspection, I found that coal can raise the furnace temperature, so I decided to give it a try. Unexpectedly, it worked."
After listening to Zhu Chong’s introduction, Old Zhu quickly understood it, but he still didn’t understand the steel furnace in front of him.
"You're right, but I've seen plenty of iron smelting furnaces, but this is the first time I've seen one like yours. Can you tell me why you built it like this?"
Zhu Chong smiled upon hearing this, "Actually, this is a method I came up with accidentally. It started when I was watching someone boiling water and noticed that the water boiled at different speeds when the pot was covered and when it was uncovered."
"After careful calculations, I determined that a pot with a lid boils water faster, so I thought I could use this method to make a stove. I stumbled upon this stove by accident, and I didn't expect it to be so useful."
Hearing what Zhu Chong said, Old Zhu had no doubts in his mind. After all, it was something very easy to understand. This stove was also made by Zhu Chong. To be honest, it was not very good-looking, which was consistent with Old Zhu's understanding of Zhu Chong.
"Are you making steel in this furnace now? How long will it take before you can show us?" Old Zhu now became more interested in Zhu Chong's steelmaking and decided to see on the spot how Zhu Chong made steel.
Zhu Chong was unsure of the time, so he looked at Old Liu. Old Liu quickly replied, "My Lord, this furnace of molten steel will take at most half an hour to be ready. You see..."
"Then wait for half an hour. We want to see this today." Once Lao Zhu made the decision, everyone had no choice but to wait here with him.
But Old Zhu was willing to wait, but Zhu Su didn't dare to let Old Zhu wait like that, so he quickly advised: "Father, I'm afraid it's not convenient to see the molten steel here. When the molten steel is produced later, the place will be cleared, and it may not be convenient for you to stay here."
Old Liu followed suit, saying, "Yes, Your Majesty, once the molten steel comes out, the entire room will be uninhabitable. The temperature inside will be enough to roast a person to death."
Hearing what Zhu Chong and Old Liu said, Old Zhu was even more surprised, but he still followed their advice and went outside to wait at the place designated by Zhu Chong.
Half an hour passed quickly, and Lao Zhu saw that the workshop was in a mess. Soon he saw that the furnace was opened with tools, and a stream of red molten steel rushed down the trough like a wild horse.
Wherever the molten steel passed, balls of fireworks shot up into the sky. People standing outside could feel the heat waves gushing out from the workshop.
Seeing such a grand scene, Lao Zhu's eyes widened. After looking at the molten steel, Lao Zhu nodded and patted Zhu Chong's shoulder.
"You have finally accomplished something great. You have solved a big problem for the imperial court!"
After hearing what Old Zhu said, Zhu Chong became more certain that something big must have happened in the court, but he didn't know what the big thing was, and why it was related to steel. Could it be that a war was about to break out?
Just as he was thinking about it, Old Zhu patted Zhu Chong's shoulder and said with a cheerful laugh, "Then we don't want the steel in your warehouse, but you have to hand this thing over to the Ministry of Industry. We won't take it for nothing. So, 100,000 strings of cash. We won't bargain with you this time!"
When Zhu Chong heard what Old Zhu said, he immediately became unhappy.
You haven’t even settled the cement account with me last time, and now you’re targeting my steel furnace. Do you really think I’m a little kid with no temper?
Noticing Zhu Chong's expression was off, Old Zhu glared at him, "What's the matter, you're still not happy? Isn't 100,000 strings of cash enough?"
"It's not a matter of money." Zhu Chong saw that Old Zhu had a bad face and knew that the old man was about to get angry.
The consequences of angering this old guy are not good. If things go wrong, something big will happen. By then, let alone 100,000 strings of cash, you might not even get ten cents.
So Zhu Chong's eyes turned and a plan came to his mind.
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