Luoyang. Outside Shangdongmen.

Yesterday, it snowed for the first time since the beginning of winter in Luoyang. The old snow has not yet melted. Today, there are dense layers of dark clouds in the sky, pressing down from mid-air, as if the sky is falling.

Outside the moat at the upper east gate, there are many swords and guns, flags and hunting, and the sound of drums and horns is heard continuously.

A newly recruited army of 5,000 Han troops formed a neat formation under various banners fluttering in the wind, ready to go in the howling cold wind.

Captain Gai Xun, who was over fifty years old, looked past the new Youzhou Shepherd, Zongzheng Liu Yu, to Captain Polu, who was wearing silver armor, riding a red war horse, and holding a long iron spear, Yuan Bei

Zou Jing, the Marquis of the Army, nodded secretly.

"Bo'an, when we go to Youzhou this time, we will definitely win the battle and wipe out the rebellion."

Gai Xun was relatively familiar with Liu Yu, and today he came specifically to see Liu Yu off the city as he headed north to Youzhou.

"General Yuan Gu is right. When Zongzheng became the governor of Youzhou in his early years, he had outstanding political achievements and was quite famous. Now that he is the governor of Youzhou, he will be able to kill Zhang Chun, Zhang Ju and other rebels without any effort."

Lu met Gai Xun who went out of the city to see Liu Yu off. General Huben and Lieutenant Yuan Shao of the Xiyuan Army also followed him out.

"Yu Zheng was worried about the difficult future. Now that he has gained Yuan Gu, the two generals at this time have given good words, and Yu is relieved!"

Liu, Yu, and Yuan Shao both bowed their hands to Gai Xun and thanked him for his heroic deeds.

"Yu is going to Youzhou this time, and he doesn't know when he will be able to return to the capital. Now that the emperor is working hard to govern, and the two generals have gained the emperor's trust, Yu hopes that the two generals can do their best to assist the emperor and revive the Han Dynasty."

Liu Yu stared at Gai Xun and Yuan Shao in front of him, thinking of the sickly Liu Hong, with a trace of worry on his face.

He was worried that Liu Hong's time was running out, and he was also worried about the decline of the Han Dynasty.

"Your Majesty is extremely smart, but he was deceived by the favored eunuchs on the left and right. If we work together to eliminate these treacherous eunuchs, and then promote honest and capable people, the Han Dynasty will surely prosper from now on!"

When he thought of Zhao Zhong, Zhang Rang, Jian Shuo and other eunuchs who were favored by Emperor Ling, Gai Xun's face was full of anger.

"General Yuan Gu agrees that Shao is willing to do his part to eradicate the eunuchs."

The eunuch group is the public enemy of the gentry, and the Yuan family is the leader of the gentry group. Of course, Yuan Shao hopes to eradicate the eunuchs and seize control of the court.

"Yu also has Yuan Gu's intention, but he is alone and weak and unable to do anything. Now Yuan Gu and Ben Chu have this intention, and Yu Ding is conspired with the two of them."

Liu Yu had long been dissatisfied with eunuchs wielding power. As soon as Gai Xun suggested it and Yuan Shao agreed, he naturally hit it off.

……

"General Benchu, with the strength of the three of us, can we eliminate all the eunuchs?"

Looking at Liu Yu's army that had gone away, the smug Gai Xun asked Yuan Shao.

"I'm afraid it's a bit unsafe, and we need to bring in another foreign aid from outside the country."

Originally, he hoped that General He Jin could deal with the eunuchs, but Emperor Ling was already on guard against the He family, and He Jin did not dare to take the lead. Yuan Shao turned his attention to the outside world.

"Perhaps we can get former general Dong Zhuo to take a dip in this muddy water!"

————

Yanzhou. Mou County.

After inspecting the mine, accompanied by Yin Li, the magistrate of Mou County, on the left, and guarded by Yan Liang, the majestic "lingguan" on the right, who was already wearing armor and majestic, Tao Ying came to a place outside Mou County City surrounded by mountains.

"The mountain is steep and easy to defend but difficult to attack. It is an excellent place."

While Tao Ying looked at the surrounding terrain, he secretly praised Yin Li's vision.

This is a secret place that Yin Li chose according to Tao Ying's request. It will serve as Tao Ying's steelmaking base and armor manufacturing base.

"My lord, according to my lord's instructions, the craftsmen built a total of twenty blast furnaces for smelting refined iron."

During the days when the boiler was being built, Yin Li watched here almost day and night, and it could be said that he knew every plant and tree in the base.

"Well, not bad!"

Looking around at the twenty boilers that were neatly arranged and with almost the same regulations, Tao Ying nodded with satisfaction.

"Brother has completed another 'sign-in mission' for people traveling through the Qin, Han, Three Kingdoms, Sui and Tang Dynasties!"

There is no other way. People who traveled to the prosperous times and were busy "farming" all knew about the iron revolution, like Tao Ying. When they came to the troubled times like the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms, in order to save their lives, they had to avoid this "hump".

"The wisdom of the ancients cannot be underestimated!"

Looking at the newly built boiler, Tao Ying could see that it contained both the methods he provided for later generations and some of the experience of the craftsmen of this era, truly explaining what the fusion of ancient and modern means.

Of course, this kind of fusion is obviously more scientific and rigorous than the method provided by Tao Ying's two swords.

"Zi Lu, the new steel-making furnace must use coal as fuel. The craftsmen don't have much experience in using coal to make steel. They must verify it repeatedly and don't rush for success."

It's not that Tao Ying is at a loss for words, but that in this era, charcoal is generally used for ironmaking, which is not suitable for new boilers and steel filling technology.

Before the Song Dynasty, coal was not used in iron-making. If we ignore the fact that the benefits of coal have not yet been discovered, the biggest reason is that coal contains too much sulfur.

Iron ore originally contains sulfur. If the sulfur from coal is mixed into the iron, the iron will be more fragile, and the iron will be basically scrap iron.

This has naturally been verified by the ancients.

Therefore, the ancients preferred to use expensive charcoal to make iron instead of coal.

"Mr. Tao Fu, iron made from black stone is fragile and easy to break, especially it cannot be used to forge weapons."

A master smelter couldn't help but question Tao Ying.

During the Qin Dynasty, a master craftsman who smelted iron to make a weapon had to have his name and place of origin engraved on the weapon. If the weapon was of inferior quality, he would be executed according to the drawing and beheaded.

"That's because you didn't melt the iron ore into molten iron before, so that a sulfur substance in the ore was hidden in it, so all the iron produced from coal was scrap iron."

Tao Ying looked at the master craftsman who questioned him warmly and explained patiently.

"I know that all the masters are experienced iron-smelting seniors, but there is a saying that we must remember, 'live until you are old and learn until you are old.'"

Tao Ying glanced at the more than 20 smelting craftsmen who were all in their forties and reminded them not to remain silent.

"Everyone should learn from this master. If you have any doubts, just ask. This is the only way to become a great master."

These people were all Yellow Turban bandits who were originally scattered throughout Taishan County. Because of their skills, they were selected and brought here to smelt iron and make weapons for Tao Ying.

Being chosen as the leader of twenty boilers naturally has a higher prestige than ordinary craftsmen.

The reason why Tao Ying is willing to give advice is that he regards them as his own.

Moreover, Tao Ying came from a later generation and naturally understood the importance of craftsmen better than anyone else.

"Hey, these craftsmen are probably intimidated by my status as a prefect, right?"

Tao Ying would not doubt that the craftsmen did not know how to pretend to understand. He knew very well that this was an era of clearly defined classes, and the reason why they remained silent was because they had scruples.

Scholars, farmers, industry and merchants, as craftsmen, not everyone has the courage to question an unattainable 2,000-stone prefect.

"We will keep in mind Fujun's teachings!"

More than 20 craftsmen with a combined age of more than a thousand years were "disciplined" by Tao Ying, who had just reached the age of being crowned. They all turned red in the face, enjoyed the meal, and knelt down to express their gratitude.

"Masters do not need to kneel down and salute when they see this county governor in the future. This county governor does not like these etiquettes."

Tao Ying pulled up the craftsmen one by one, comforted and encouraged them, and told them the method of filling steel they expected.

"To solve the impurity sulfur in molten iron, just add an appropriate amount of limestone."

The method of desulfurization was not a secret to Tao Ying at all, he casually told everyone about it.

Besides, this is the Laiwu of later generations. The Xintai area is full of coal. Tao Ying would be a fool if he didn't use it.

While inspecting the newly built boilers, Tao Ying explained to the blacksmiths the principles of steelmaking in later generations. After talking about it, his mouth became dry.

"I'll turn on the furnace and try it now."

A group of blacksmiths were worried that they would miss the steps Tao Ying told them, so they immediately struck the iron while it was hot and started a fire to smelt the iron while Tao Ying was there.

"Huh?"

"Did I make a mistake?"

"Didn't I say that before the new furnace is opened for refining, a furnace opening ceremony should be held?"

Tao Ying looked at the blacksmiths who were all rushing into battle, with a daze flashing in his eyes.

"These people are too careless. What about reverence? Don't worry that the furnace god who didn't receive the 'filial piety' will be unhappy and fry the furnace for you!"

More than an hour later, according to Tao Ying's method, molten iron was actually made from coal, and the quality was also good. The blacksmiths who had been working for a long time were so shocked that they couldn't be more excited.

"Could it be that Mr. Tao Mansion is the rebirth of the ancestor?"
Chapter completed!