After all, this kind of thing is too fantastical. Anyone with a brain would understand how important an increase in steel production is to a country.
"Hehe~ Not bad! This successor of Gongshu Ban is indeed a rare talent!"
Liu Hong nodded in satisfaction. The increase in steel production would not only further enhance military equipment, but also accelerate the popularization of ironware. At the same time, a series of related products would also be further developed and expanded.
It is important to understand that the development of industry and agriculture in any era is directly linked to steel production.
Then Liu Hong looked at Yuan Feng and asked, "Did you encounter any difficulties?"
Yuan Feng nodded and said in a deep voice, "Although this kind of blast furnace has increased the smelting output, it has a very high demand for fuel materials. If there are not enough materials, the temperature will not be sustained, and the quality of the smelted iron will be poor!"
Liu Hong frowned slightly and asked, "How does the situation with consumables compare to before?"
"It's about twice as much as before!" Yuan Feng calculated in his mind, and then said.
"What? Twice the amount...?"
"This is way too much!!"
"Production only increased by half, but costs doubled... This... this..."
As Yuan Feng finished speaking, the crowd couldn't help but whisper among themselves again. The people who were initially excited began to shake their heads and sigh.
Iron smelting originally required a large amount of charcoal, but charcoal production was not easy, which is why the cost of refined iron remained high.
Although production has increased, costs have doubled, which is undoubtedly more harmful than beneficial at present.
Hearing the officials' discussions, Liu Hong felt a sense of loss. Making charcoal required cutting down a large number of trees. In the past, in order to maintain iron smelting, the court had ordered local governments to strictly prohibit people from cutting down trees without permission, so as not to affect the production of iron smelting.
Originally, it was barely possible to maintain a balance, but if this type of blast furnace were promoted, it would inevitably lead to a faster rate of deforestation in order to ensure that iron smelting could continue.
Although people in this era do not value the protection of the ecological environment as much as people in later generations, they also understand that trees grow slowly and it often takes more than ten or even several decades for a tree to mature. Excessive logging will inevitably cause serious damage to the forests.
We don't need to worry about the trees right now; we can cut down as many as we want. But what about our descendants? Once the mature trees are all cut down, new trees will take time to grow, creating a gap and leaving them with no timber to use. What will they use then?
This is a rather serious problem.
Liu Hong's mind raced, and he said in a deep voice, "I do know of something that can be used to replace charcoal, and this thing is far superior to charcoal in both temperature and flammability!"
"What is Your Majesty referring to?"
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