By this time, it was late October, and the temperature in Luoyang had dropped significantly. The number of pedestrians on the streets was decreasing day by day, and most people stayed at home and did not go out unless necessary.
Unlike the cold outside, the forging workshop of the engineering college was bustling with activity.
Next to a blast furnace, a huge blower, driven by the combined efforts of the three people, continuously increased the temperature of the flames inside the furnace.
In front of the blast furnace, Yuan Fenghe, several doctoral students from the Engineering College, and a eunuch sent by Lü Qiang, all stood around, sweating profusely.
"How many hours have passed?"
Looking through the furnace hole at the pale yellow glow of the fire inside, Yuan Feng glanced at Gongshu Lian beside him.
Gongshu Lian said, "Minister, three hours have passed since the iron ore was put in. It should be about time to open the furnace!"
Yuan Feng nodded. "Alright! Let's start the furnace!!"
"Let's open the furnace!"
With a loud shout from Gongshu Lian, two craftsmen, each holding a hammer, came to the blast furnace from the left and right, and one after the other raised the hammer and struck the seal at the bottom of the furnace.
"Hey~ drink~"
With each hammer blow, a taphole the size of a human head was quickly hammered out of the bottom of the furnace.
The iron ore, which was in a semi-liquid state (similar to magma), with carbon ash and slag floating on its surface, flowed down the furnace opening into a nearby earthen pool.
Ignoring the intense heat emanating from the iron ore, everyone rushed to the blast furnace, their eyes fixed on the marked capacity dimensions inside the earthen basin.
"Almost there, almost there!"
Everyone stared intently as the semi-liquid iron ore in the pool rose steadily, slowly approaching the previously marked height.
The semi-liquid iron ore flowing continuously from the furnace mouth showed no signs of stopping.
"Passed! Finally passed, haha~".
As the previous markers were submerged, the crowd erupted in cheers.
Even Yuan Feng wiped away his sweat with a smile, turned his head to look at the furnace opening, and found that the flow inside the furnace had slowed down a lot.
Finally, after passing the previously marked one centimeter, the iron ore inside the furnace stopped flowing.
"Quickly, clear away the slag!"
After it cooled and solidified slightly, Gongshu Lian quickly ordered his men to use iron shovels to remove the slag and carbon ash from the surface, revealing the incandescent, coarse iron block underneath.
"Break down the earthen pit and start cutting!"
Six craftsmen, armed with hammers and chisels made of fine iron, then came over and began to methodically cut the hot, thick iron block.
Before long, after the iron blocks had completely cooled, pieces the size of human heads were placed in front of Yuan Feng and the others.
"Weigh it!!"
Bi Lan, the eunuch standing nearby, quickly called over several people from the Imperial Household Department, who were also carrying several large scales.
Yuan Feng and the others watched with keen interest as they began to be weighed.
About fifteen minutes later, the weight of the pig iron shoveled out of this furnace was tallied.
"Reporting to the Minister of Works, the weight of iron produced today has increased by another 10% compared to the previous few days, bringing it to 50% higher than before!" An official in charge of weighing the iron approached Yuan Feng and the others with an excited expression.
"Sikong, we did it! We did it!"
Upon hearing the statistical results, Gongshu Lian looked at Yuan Feng with great excitement.
"Yes! It was a success!"
Yuan Feng smiled and nodded, his excitement barely concealed.
Through years of modifications to the blast furnace and blowers, they finally achieved their initial goal of increasing pig iron production to 50% of the original target by utilizing charcoal.
After the initial excitement, the group arrived at the pile of slag. Gongshu Lian took out a piece of slag and examined it closely.
"Master Si, you see, more than 30% of the pig iron in this slag has not been smelted."
"Doctor Gongshu means that the temperature is still not high enough?"
Yuan Feng frowned slightly as he looked at the slag in Gongshu Lian's hand.
Gongshu Lian nodded and said calmly, "That's right. Charcoal doesn't burn for very long and needs to be added constantly. The process of adding charcoal causes the temperature to drop, and the more times it's added, the greater the impact on pig iron production!"
Yuan Feng then asked, "If we use coal, what is the estimated output?"
After a moment's thought, Gongshu Lian said, "If the coal is really as everyone says, then it only needs to be added twice per furnace, and it won't have much impact on the furnace temperature. It can increase the temperature by at least 20%!"
Yuan Feng's expression shifted, and he couldn't help but look at Gongshu Lian, "So, it can be increased to 70%?"
Gongshu Lian nodded. "That's still my conservative estimate!"
Upon receiving Gongshu Lian's affirmative answer, Yuan Feng nodded in satisfaction and laughed, "Good, good, good!! Don't worry, I'll find a way to get you a batch of coal as soon as possible!!"
Just then, Bi Lan approached Yuan Feng and said respectfully, "Minister, iron production has increased again. Let's hurry to the palace to report the good news to His Majesty!"
"kindness!"
Yuan Feng nodded, then looked at Gongshu Lian and said with a smile, "Dr. Gongshu, I'll go see His Majesty now. I'll leave this to you! Hurry up and see if you can produce two batches in one day!"
"Please rest assured, Master, I will keep a close watch on things here the whole time!"
"That's good!"
Then Yuan Feng looked at Bi Lan beside him and said, "Let's go!"
After saying that, Yuan Feng took the compiled report and left the forge with Bi Lan and the others.
Arriving at the carriage outside the forge, Yuan Feng suddenly heard a series of clanging sounds. He looked in the direction of the sound and saw a dozen people around a pile of unknown objects, hammering away.
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