The next day, Jiang Bo went back to get charcoal and tools, and also to pick up Bai Jing.
Guo Zifeng needs an assistant to smelt iron, and Bai Jing alone is not enough; Jiang Bo and Chen Yang also need to stay.
After the rough iron is smelted, it needs to be forged and refined into steel. Finally, it needs to be bent and folded into the shape they want.
Hou Yu led Chen Yang and Guo Zifeng toward the center of the lake island, where there was a rift valley.
Chen Yang had visited various parts of the island, but had not conducted a detailed investigation.
Hou Yu led them to the foot of a mountain wall at the bottom of the rift valley, where they immediately saw the exposed red ore.
"It's iron ore, and it's very pure," Guo Zifeng said with delight.
They looked around and concluded that the iron ore mine was quite large, enough to last them a long time.
They carried the iron ore back in bamboo baskets, and by then Jiang Bo had already returned with the materials.
They didn't have iron hammers to strike the iron ore, so they had to use stone hammers.
Fortunately, there were many kinds of stones nearby. They experimented many times and found one that was not so easy to crack to make a stone hammer.
"Our first batch will focus on making iron hammers, which doesn't require much technical skill. The chances of failure are slim," Wang Bing said.
"Let's build the furnace first," Chen Yang said with a smile.
There are no ready-made furnaces on the island to smelt iron, and the furnaces previously used for firing pottery cannot be used for smelting iron.
The stove needed to be built and fired up simultaneously, which was quite time-consuming, so Chen Yang handed it over to Guo Zifeng and Bai Jing, while he went to help build a fence around the vegetable garden.
The vegetable garden is only about an acre, not a big project.
In addition to potatoes, they also planted some nettle seeds.
After a whole day of planting, Guo Zifeng's iron-smelting furnace was still not finished. He and Bai Jing planned to work overtime overnight to finish the last part before leaving.
“Then we’ll join you. We’ll make some tiles, dry them next to the fire for two days, and then fire them during the breaks in the iron smelting,” Chen Yang said.
Hou Yu also expressed his support, saying that this way their house would have roof tiles.
So the group stayed up until dawn. Since Chen Yang had left his watch at the camp, he didn't know the time and was too lazy to log out and check. Logging out and back in was too much trouble.
They made enough tile molds, which were then dried and ready to be fired.
Guo Zifeng and Bai Jing continued to work on the iron smelting furnace.
Since Chen Yang and Jiang Bo couldn't help for the time being, they simply started making some furniture.
Chen Yang also brought his tenacious blade with him. He was adept at whittling wood, and in one morning, the two of them made a wooden bed and two small stools.
“Once you’ve mastered hammering, let Hong Gui come and help you. With his physique, it would be a waste for him not to be a blacksmith,” Guo Zifeng said with a smile.
Chen Yang nodded in agreement and said, "Then let Li Sen come over too. The island needs a sophisticated person."
To be honest, Li Sen lives the most refined life among everyone in the micro-world. Even under these conditions, he still insists on drinking afternoon tea every day.
It was thanks to Li Sen that the camp was always spotless, and he would often ask for things like coasters and trays to be made.
To be honest, some people were against it at first, such as Ye Wu and Jiang Bo, who thought it was unnecessary to waste time on this.
However, it proved to be very effective, significantly improving everyone's standard of living.
Before the new house was completed, it was also the resting room he proposed for women to change and dry their clothes.
If Li Sen were to come to the island for a period of time, the standard of living on the island would definitely improve.
However, the price is that you have to put up with his nagging; he'll definitely find fault with everything.
Although the blast furnace was completed today, it was not completely dry yet, and it was getting darker. The iron smelting work could not begin until the next day.
Upon waking up in the real world, Chen Yang received good news from the Xindu camp.
When Yunhu went out hunting, he discovered a small herd of deer in a valley.
Then all the able-bodied people in the camp mobilized, surrounded most of the deer herd, and then brought them back to the camp one by one.
There were thirteen deer in total, and the camp's livestock sheds were quickly overcrowded. Yun-shi was already redesigning the livestock sheds.
I've been having a lot of good luck lately.
Chen Yang thought happily that discovering the iron ore and catching more than a dozen deer were both very good news.
Yun Hu truly lived up to his reputation as a half-soldier, possessing considerable experience in both survival and command.
With a great harvest at the camp, the islanders were naturally eager to follow suit, and they were finally about to begin smelting iron.
The iron ore was ground into fine powder, and the carbon was burned until it was red-hot.
"Chen Yang, add carbon."
"Keep burning, Jiang Bo, turn the blower up a bit faster, add iron ore, quick."
Guo Zifeng, sweating profusely, directed the operation. Even in winter, the temperature near the iron furnace was enough to make one feel as if they were in a furnace.
Chen Yang was also covered in sweat, while Jiang Bo was shaking the blower so hard his hands were about to break.
Since it was just a homemade blower, the wind power wasn't very strong, so speed was the only way to compensate.
Hou Yu and Jiang Bo took turns fanning the flames, while Chen Yang followed instructions to add charcoal and iron ore.
Although Guo Zifeng didn't do anything, he was the most anxious, which surprised Bai Jing.
She rarely saw a seasoned veteran like Guo Zifeng display such intense emotions.
"Alright, open the furnace."
He smashed the ground open with a hammer, and the liquid formed from the molten impurities flowed out like magma, emitting intense heat and light.
Guo Zifeng used rock pliers to pick out a luminous object the size of a head.
Everyone except Guo Zifeng stared wide-eyed at the unformed piece of iron; it was the first time they had ever seen anything like it.
Guo Zifeng had seen it at an old blacksmith's place, so he wasn't surprised.
"Quick, don't just stand there, grab the hammer and smash it."
He placed the iron block on the wooden stake; it was still too brittle to put on a rock.
Chen Yang, Hou Yu, and Jiang Bo each held a hammer and slowly smashed the surface.
Sparks flew everywhere, debris fell all over the ground, and the wooden stakes were ignited by the high temperature, bursting into flames.
"Keep hitting it, but don't use too much force," Guo Zifeng said, adjusting the angle of the iron block.
With the three men taking turns striking the iron block, it slowly took shape.
“We don’t need to fold it in half for forging, we just need a hammer. Put it back and keep heating it, we’ll hammer it later.”
Guo Zifeng put the iron block, which had cooled down a bit, into the furnace to continue burning it.
"I don't know if it can be pierced with a stone awl; it won't work well if there's no hole in the middle."
Guo Zifeng wiped his sweat and said with some worry.
"Use the Blade of Tenacity," Chen Yang said.
The Blade of Tenacity has the property of never wearing out, so he wasn't worried, but he would sometimes pretend to sharpen it.
Guo Zifeng nodded. He had also used the Tenacious Blade and was certain that its forging process was exquisite. It was a renowned weapon that would not easily deform from heat or break.
After a while, the red-hot iron block was taken out again, slowly hammered into the shape of a hammerhead, then heated again before being taken out.
Chen Yang used the stubborn blade as an awl to pierce a round hole in the iron block.
Lacking tools and resources, they could only make it using this most primitive method. However, it was just a hammer, not a tool, so it wasn't very difficult.
After all the work was done, a hammerhead lay quietly on the wooden stake.
If the micro-world also has historical records, then this must be an important entry in history.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com