As the charcoal fire slowly heated up, Li Xingzhou and Zhurong put a piece of quickly cut iron sheets into the graphite crucible from the bamboo basket.

"Criminal, just come here for this dirty and tiring villain." Zhu Rong smiled innocently.

Li Xingzhou laughed and said that he had done something dirty and tired than this: "It's okay, but be careful. I'm using this thing for the first time, maybe this crucible will explode."

He didn't want to be so fast, because although he knew the principles, those who have studied high school chemistry and physics can tell you clearly.

But the gap between practice and theory is like a barrier, so you must be careful.

It was also his first attempt at making steel in pot. He was originally planning to try slowly for a long time and then gradually use mature technology. It is true that the crucible can melt the steel after heat storage, but the problem is that it is very dangerous to operate open-air at such a high temperature.

Unfortunately, he has no time to wait.

The emperor forced him to go south in March. If he produced at this rate, without tool steel, there might be only more than 200 guns in the palace at the end of March, which is far from enough.

He even hopes to produce several cannons with him, one is to protect his own safety, and the other is the only criterion for testing truth, and for weapons.

The reason why the gun is not produced is that the gun is not as good as the gun. The gun material is not as good as the blow-off chamber, which can hurt the shooter at most. If the gun is blown up, it will be disastrous. The strength of the material in this era is difficult to support the high temperature and high pressure at the moment of launch.

If there is real steel, he can also try to make a few cannons before heading south.

On the other hand, Iron Niu and Guan Er had already mixed a pile of moist clay with iron powder, and then prepared an iron spoon for willow poles.

Li Xingzhou took a look and found that the iron sheets placed in the crucible were about forty or fifty kilograms, and his hands were cut by the iron sheet. Fortunately, he often practiced guns and his hands were called into calluses, otherwise he would be even more injured.

"Start increase the fire." Lee Sing-cheol said.

The two craftsmen nodded and then began to blow up the charcoal fire with a blower. This charcoal fire is smokeless charcoal burned from an earth kiln. It burns violently and has a very high temperature.

Zhu Rong said with some concern: "Criminal, can these bad guys really stand the fire?"

Li Xingzhou nodded: "It should be possible, in short, you have to try it. Everyone stand back, just in case."

Graphite refractory materials are actually everywhere in life. You can find their traces with a little careful care. Those who have studied chemistry also know that the melting point of graphite is as high as more than 5,000 degrees, and the charcoal fire is only about 1,300 degrees above the sky, so it should be fine.

But who can tell the matter accurately? A slight negligence will lead to a huge mistake. If the Zhu family is not fine when it is burned, there will be cracks in the crucible.

Everyone listened to him and retreated to more than ten meters to drive, leaving only a young man who was trembling with the wind. He was also a big man, but he had to bite the bullet and blow the wind.

After a while, the temperature became higher and higher, but the crucible was not strange at all. The heating process lasted for about half an hour. Zhu Rong leaned over and took a look, then turned around in a daze and shouted to everyone, "It's gone, the prince is gone!"

Several blacksmiths were stunned and asked in disbelief: "What's the point?"

"What else can you do? Crafting iron, the iron melts into water!" Zhu Rong said loudly, everyone was completely shocked.

Several blacksmiths ignored safety and surrounded them to see that they burned the iron into water. This was a scene they had never seen before in their lifetime!

Li Xingzhou also came over and everyone hurriedly made way. The orange iron in the crucible was clearly visible, and the heat wave came over, and the liquid iron was cooked!

He was excited that graphite was not only resistant to high temperatures. After the iron was calcined, the carbon in the graphite would reduce the iron and deoxygenate. At the same time, it separated the magazines such as silicon and sulfur to float onto the surface of liquid steel.

Li Xingzhou blocked everyone: "Be careful, the surrounding gas is toxic, don't suck too much." At this time, harmful gases such as carbon monoxide and sulfur oxide will be produced, so the working conditions of crucible steelmaking are very harsh.

The iron was steaming in the crucible, and several blacksmiths widened their eyes, and the iron was smelted into water! What they had never dared to think about before was that the iron could be burned to the point of being soft. Although the young man who was blowing below was sweating profusely, he became more and more energetic.

Gradually, a layer of light black substance slowly floated up to the liquid surface. Although Li Xingzhou had never seen it, it could almost be concluded that those were the impurities that were restored. "Quick, Iron Bull spoon out the things on the surface."

After hearing this, Tie Niu hurried to the other end of the yard, took the prepared iron spoon, and put the stool on the spoon.

"Snack less and hold it in!" Li Xingzhou ordered that a large amount of gases that are harmful to the human body will be produced at this time. It is most susceptible to the invasion of impurities from directly above and cause lung disease, but this is also helpless.

Tie Niu nodded, holding his breath to remove the impurities on the surface of the molten steel. When he came down, his face was flushed.

Now, only pure orange liquid was left in the crucible, and the gas around it was twisted by the heat waves. The orange yellow was as bright as the scorching sun, so charming and so dangerous.

Liquid steel!

When the impurities are separated, the carbon in the graphite seeps into the clean iron, real steel has been formed, but now it is still a dangerous and terrifying liquid.

A few minutes later, Li Xingzhou made the young man gradually lose his temper.

Refining the iron with a cooked iron removes impurities. At the same time, the carbon in the graphite will gradually penetrate into the iron, which will increase the carbon content of the purer iron and become real steel.

The reason is this principle, and no changes can be seen with your eyes, so Li Xingzhou was also uneasy and could only wait for the results quietly.

The firepower decreases and the molten iron gradually solidifies.

When it was almost cherry-red solid, he asked someone to put down the crucible and then smash it, and the solid inside fell into the pile of debris.

Tie Niu and Guan Zhong had been impatient and used fire tongs to clamp the steel blocks onto the iron felt.

The final test is coming, and Li Xingzhou stared at the cherry-red solid blocks.

As he nodded and said, the iron cow swung the hammer forging, but the iron cow hit the first hammer. The loud noise made his ears buzz. In an instant, sparks splashed, dazzling and flashed away...

There were no dents left on the fiery solid!

Tie Niu was stunned, and the onlookers also laughed: "Tie Niu, why are you? You haven't had breakfast?"

"I think it was a young man who was beaten by his wife last night?"

"Hahaha..." Everyone laughed.

"No..." Tie Niu's face was red, and he didn't know how to argue. He looked up and said, "Guan Er, come and play."

Guan Zhong was surprised, stopped laughing and slammed it down, but there was another loud bang, leaving no trace left.

"Damn!" Guan Er also exclaimed. He finally found that it was not the iron cow shed water, but the material was really surprisingly hard. The material was still in a cherry red state. The pig iron was soft at this temperature, but this ghost thing couldn't knock it!

The blacksmiths stopped laughing, and they were stunned on the spot. The surroundings suddenly became quiet, and the atmosphere seemed to have suddenly turned 360 degrees.

Several blacksmiths looked at each other, as if they were gradually beginning to understand what was going on. Someone stepped forward to take the hammer from Tie Niu's hand, then tried to smash the hammer, then the second one, the third one...

Until everyone tried it all, the steel blocks had turned dark red without any dents.

The blacksmiths were stunned and looked at him. Guan Er looked at him for a long time and exclaimed: "Criminal, what is this... what is this? Could it be a divine iron?"

Li Xingzhou laughed loudly, and he understood that this matter was probably done.

In the 18th century, after the British used graphite crucibles to make tool steel, the method to check whether it was real steel was to heat it to 8000 degrees and smash it with a hammer. If the dents could be made, they would be fake steel and they would have to be returned to the furnace. Because of this, the empire that the sun never set gradually rose.

Now, the steel has obviously reached the mark of tool steel. He said excitedly: "This is not iron, it is steel, real steel!"

"This kind of steel cherry cannot be moved at all when it is red. If it is forged, it must be heated until it is red, otherwise it will not be moved at all." He looked at the baby in front of him. If it weren't for the heat waves, he really wanted to carry it up.

"There is such a magical thing in this world?" The iron cow looked around the steel blocks that had gradually cooled to dark red.

Li Xingzhou nodded, and then said happily: "Go and take the clay mixed with iron powder and apply it to the surface."

"Okay!" Tie Niu and a few blacksmiths immediately moved. They didn't know what it was. They only knew that the prince was absolutely right, and he had always been like this. The prince knew more than the fortune telling half-immortal.

Soon, the dark red steel blocks were covered with thick black gray clay.

"What is this for?" the youngest Tie Niu asked in confusion.

"Decarbonize and cool down." Li Xingzhou said and waited quietly.

Everyone started to talk about their experience just now. After all, it was too bizarre. The iron that was ripe into water, the iron that had been heated to the point of cherry red but still could not be moved, etc.... It was hard to imagine how high its strength limit was.

After decarbonizing for about ten minutes, he ordered people to remove the steel blocks and then use water to make the final cooling.

The final product was completed. This piece of steel is about 40 kilograms, with a dark and shiny surface and a metallic color. This is the characteristic of high-carbon steel!

Li Xingzhou suppressed his excitement and pulled out the sword on his waist. This was the hundred-forged sword provided by the military commander. This was what the Ministry of War told him.

The blacksmiths all watched, and he raised his knife to the top of his head and slashed heavily.

when!

With a crisp sound of metal interchange, sparks splashed everywhere, and a large gap had been formed on one side of the blade, and almost no trace was found on the steel block.

Tool steel is called tool steel because its strength can be easily used to cut and polish other metals!

He slashed several times, and finally the blade broke directly from the point near the tip, and there were only white scratches on the steel block that were not painful and itchy.

Li Xingzhou knew that things had really come true, the first tool steel in human history!

In the 18th century, the British used this complicated method to make real steel. All of this is due to graphite, a new material that has never been noticed before. It is corrosion-resistant, high temperature-resistant, and can increase carbon content and reduce impurities such as silicon and sulfur. To him, it is even more precious than gold.

With tool steel, tool steel can be used in the lathe working department of the Wangfu, tools, gun barrels, etc. for cutting iron in the Wangfu, which will greatly improve production efficiency.

"Criminal, if you use this kind of real steel to make a steel knife, wouldn't it be like cutting iron like mud?" Guan Zhong said excitedly after studying there for a long time.

Tieniu also interrupted excitedly: "Yes, prince, if it is made into steel armor, it will be invincible and will be invincible in the world!"

Li Xingzhou couldn't help laughing. Someone had practiced their practices and they were in line with the ideas of ordinary people, but Haogang should be used on the blade.

"This kind of steel can be refined. In the future, Guan Zhong will be responsible for the steelmaking affairs. I will ask Yan Bian to send you the staff, and you can make as much as you can. Zhu Rong is responsible for the firing of graphite crucibles and sliced ​​with iron. The first few batches of steel will be responsible for the remaining people, and they will be forged into work departments on the lathes, and all the outputs will be used to make the barrel."

"Barr?" Tie Niu was a little puzzled, but Li Xingzhou nodded and said unquestionably: "If you all remember today, you will do this in the future. If you don't understand the specific details, please ask me any time."

After telling him that he turned around and wanted to leave, he suddenly turned around and called Guan Zhong over.

He called him to the wall and whispered to him alone: ​​"In the future, let the servants do the cleaning of steel. You must wear a mask when doing it. Remember, if there is any mistake, I will ask you."

Seeing that he was so serious, Guan Zhong nodded quickly.

Li Xingzhou smiled and turned around and left.

The craftsmen behind him were still cheering, surrounding the piece of steel with treasures, boasting loudly, talking and laughing, and the atmosphere was hot.

Of course Li Xingzhou was happy, but after being happy, he was more heavy.

.....
To be continued...