Chapter 220: The Empire's Iron Capital

Lin Qian left the main hall, rode out of the city on horseback, followed by Geng Wu, a dozen or so guards, and also Ran Qiu and Su Qingmei. The group headed south, exited through Jinghai Gate, and arrived at the ferry crossing on the Pearl River.

The meeting attendees were already waiting there—a full twenty or thirty people.

Lin Qian stepped forward, greeted everyone, then stopped before a man who looked like an officer, clapped him on the shoulder, and said warmly, "Sun Yu, long time no see. I didn't expect Lei Sanxiang to transfer a Battalion Commander like you back."

Sun Yu had been one of the first personal guards to follow Lin Qian. When he married back then, Lin Qian had given him a congratulatory gift of fifty taels of silver.

Because of that, Sun Yu was extremely loyal to Lin Qian and fought very bravely. He was promoted to squad leader early on, and later, after distinguishing himself in the campaign against Jeju Island, he was promoted again to Battalion Commander.

Seeing that Lin Qian had only nodded slightly to the others but was so warm with him, Sun Yu felt his heart surge. He snapped to attention and said in a loud voice, "Reporting to the Helmsman: Commander Lei says that researching the new musket is a major matter—matchlock muskets just never feel right to use—and he wanted me to come back and take a good look."

At present, Lin Qian had already taken the three prefectures of Chaozhou, Huizhou, and Guangzhou. Throughout the rest of Guangdong, Zhaoqing, Luoding, Nanxiong, Qiongzhou, and many other places remained unconquered. These places were either inland or too far from Nan'ao, so the influence of the Nan'ao Times' propaganda was weak, making them not so easy to attack. For now, the New Army's artillery capabilities were basically ahead of their time.

But their line-infantry level was no different from that of the same era—their volley-fire method was exactly the same as the Dutch Maurice's linear formation.

They could gain no advantage against the Dutch army, nor did they hold the upper hand against Ming armies armed mainly with matchlocks, bows, and spears. Against elite shock cavalry, they had even less chance of victory.

The New Army's ability to take cities and win battles in eastern Guangdong like a splitting bamboo was due chiefly to their propaganda offensive, and secondarily to the might of their cannons.

Both Lin Qian and Lei Sanxiang knew that if the New Army's line infantry were to square off in formation against the Ming army, they would gain little advantage.

This was precisely why there was an urgent need to develop the flintlock musket.

The flintlock's airtightness and barrel structure were completely identical to the matchlock's, and its waterproofing was exactly the same. In terms of firepower, it was no different from the matchlock at all.

Where the flintlock excelled was in the safety of loading.

When loading a matchlock, there was a mandatory step: removing the match cord, so that the burning cord wouldn't ignite the powder being loaded or the powder on one's person. When firing in ranks, soldiers in each file also had to keep one man's distance from each other, to prevent the match cords from igniting one another's powder.

This made matchlock line formations loose and scattered, forcing the use of volley-fire—a tactical formation that looked a bit foolish but was actually a helpless necessity. The formation differences caused by this weapon had no effect on naval combat at all; even with flintlocks, to avoid mutual interference, sailors still had to space themselves apart when firing.

But it had a huge impact on land combat. The matchlock's disadvantages had been fully exposed in the Three Days' Battle of Guangzhou.

This was also why Lei Sanxiang placed such special importance on developing the flintlock. If he weren't still needed to lead troops, he would have come to Foshan himself.

At this moment, a Haicang junk was already moored at the ferry. Lin Qian had everyone board the ship.

The Haicang junk first traveled upstream against the Pearl River for a stretch, then turned around and entered the Pearl River waterway south of Haizhu Island. After sailing twelve li, it turned southwest again and entered the Foshan Chong waterway.

Along the way, the various waterways were like a maze—dense and intricate, dazzling to the eye.

If one went by horse, who knew how many days it would take to get from Guangzhou to Foshan.

The saying "south of the river, boats; north of the river, horses" was now made concrete.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

As the boat was traveling, a string of cannon fire came from the waterway ahead on the Foshan Chong. All the craftsmen aboard grew uneasy.

Geng Wu said, "Everyone, rest assured—that's the Nan'ao navy clearing out river bandits."

The tension on everyone's faces eased.

After sailing another ten li forward and turning left into another waterway, a battlefield appeared before their eyes.

A sand boat sat stopped in the middle of the waterway. Its hull was riddled with holes, and its deck was covered in blood and corpses. Blood flowed through the gaps between the deck planks and into the river, dyeing a large stretch of water red.

A dozen or so paces from the sand boat, a Sea Wolf warship was inspecting it closely. The muzzles of its three bronze Folangji cannons on the port side still gave off faint wisps of blue smoke. Seeing the Haicang junk approaching, the soldiers on the Sea Wolf ran to the stern and shouted, "Clearing out river bandits—don't come near!"

Lin Qian ordered the helmsman to stop the boat.

All the craftsmen crowded to the gunwale to look.

They saw the Sea Wolf first examine the area carefully for a long while, then board the sand boat to inspect it. Spotting bubbles surfacing in the water, it fired at the riverbed. The river bandits were excellent swimmers, and the surrounding environment was complex—matchlock muskets simply couldn't kill them.

Three sailors simply drew their daggers, clamped them between their teeth, and jumped into the water. The surface soon returned to calm, then suddenly a great stream of bubbles burst up. All the craftsmen involuntarily held their breath along with them, their hearts rising into their throats.

On the water's surface, the bubbles grew more and more numerous, as if the water had been brought to a boil.

The craftsmen's faces turned red from holding their breath. They stole a few quick breaths, then held it again.

A moment later, a flush of crimson rose from beneath the water. Then three sailors surfaced, and the three of them barely managed to climb onto the Sea Wolf's deck before collapsing in exhaustion. One of them had an extremely long wound on his arm, blood gushing out steadily, and the soldiers aboard hurriedly helped bandage him.

Even as they bandaged him, the corpses of two river bandits slowly floated up to the surface.

Only then did the craftsmen aboard let out a sigh of relief.

Commerce flourished in the Guangzhou-Foshan area, and river bandits were as numerous as ox hairs—the government simply had no strength to clear them out.

Moreover, being a law-abiding subject meant enduring the endless exploitation of the Liaodong levy and corrupt officials, while becoming a river bandit meant paying no taxes at all and still eating well and drinking well. Thus, those who took to banditry came in an unending stream.

The harm they caused had nearly reached the point of severing transportation between Guangzhou and Foshan entirely.

So much so that the government was forced to build an overland route connecting Guangzhou and Foshan, which later generations called the "Province-Foshan Thoroughfare."

In a land dense with waterways, the imperial court compromising with river bandits and forcing travelers and merchants onto land routes was truly rather surreal.

Therefore, as soon as Lin Qian took charge of Guangzhou, he immediately sent Sea Wolf warships into the inland rivers to suppress the bandits.

Any river bandit, once discovered, was executed on the spot without trial. His style was extremely decisive, his methods exceedingly harsh.

As for accidental casualties?

Lin Qian's men were themselves former sea bandits—fellow tradesmen with the river bandits, so to speak. And fellow tradesmen judge each other most accurately; mistaken identifications were rare.

Besides, there were few legitimate people on the waterways to begin with, and the region had just gone through war—what honest man would dare sail a boat at such a time?

The Pearl River bandits had originally been connected with the sea bandits, mutually dependent, developing together.

After Lin Qian rose to power in Nan'ao, the sea bandits of Fujian and Guangdong were basically wiped out. Trapped in the inland river network, the river bandits' strength had already weakened considerably. Now that Sea Wolf warships had entered the waterways, the river bandits' last refuge was destroyed. It wouldn't be long before the Pearl River network was cleared of banditry entirely. Of course, Lin Qian also knew that heavy-handed suppression was only a stopgap measure. To cure the root cause, the tax system would need reform, giving the people prospects and a way to live. But having just conquered Guangdong, with a thousand matters clamoring for attention, Lin Qian couldn't spare the time to reform the tax system for now—he had only abolished the Liaodong levy first.

The military was the foundation of his standing—it had to take priority.

Only after the army was reorganized could personnel matters be addressed, and only then would the tax system get its turn.

Having confirmed there were no living river bandits left, the Sea Wolf sailed to within a dozen paces in front of the Haicang junk, its three Folangji cannons trained on the boat.

The sailors aboard shouted, "Where are you headed? What's your business?"

Though it was somewhat absurd for river bandits to be aboard a Haicang junk, the Sea Wolf still came forward to interrogate them out of caution.

Geng Wu called out in a clear voice, "This is the Helmsman's flagship—move aside at once."

The sailors were startled, then one of them said, "That's Guard Commander Geng's voice—it really is the Helmsman's boat!"

Another sailor said excitedly, "The Helmsman! The Helmsman is on board!"

Then, among the sailors, someone waved excitedly toward the boat: "Helmsman! Helmsman!"

Lin Qian walked to the side of the ship and waved to the Sea Wolf, and the sailors grew even more excited, all waving enthusiastically—even the sailors who had been wounded earlier were no exception.

As his power grew and the newspapers kept up their propaganda, Lin Qian's image in the minds of the common soldiers became ever more towering.

Back on Nan'ao Island, the islanders had seen Lin Qian every day, and no one had ever gotten this worked up.

Under the Sea Wolf's escort, the Haicang ship continued forward, twisting and turning through the waterways until it finally drew near Foshan Ferry.

Gazing out over the waterway, one could see the Foshan area blazing with firelight that reached the sky, green smoke obscuring the sun. Over a thousand chimneys, each two to three zhang tall, stood tall, with transparent waves of heat or pale yellow flames constantly pouring out, warping the surrounding sky and mountain forests with their heat.

Within ten li of Foshan, no trees could be seen—a dozen or so mountain peaks were all completely bare, and the air carried a heavy smell of smoke and dust.

At Foshan Ferry, representatives of the guilds and furnace households were already waiting.

After Lin Qian disembarked, the Foshan representatives stepped forward to pay their respects. Before Lin Qian could react, the guild head with graying hair and beard had already knelt and kowtowed, saying: "This humble one kowtows to the Helmsman!"

Behind him, nearly fifty Foshan representatives also knelt, and in an instant a great dark mass of people prostrated themselves, crying out in unison: "This humble one kowtows to the Helmsman!"

After they had finished kowtowing, Lin Qian helped the old man up and told everyone to rise: "From now on, when we meet there's no need to kowtow—a cupped-fist salute will do. May I ask your esteemed surname, elder?"

The old guild head hastily said with alarm: "The Helmsman honors me too much. This old man's humble surname is Huo, given name Ying. I am the guild head of the Foshan Iron Furnace Guild and also the clan chief of the Huo clan."

"Master Huo."

"The Helmsman is too kind; this humble one is unworthy." Huo Ying saluted with cupped fists, then began introducing the furnace household representatives accompanying him to Lin Qian.

Most of these furnace households bore the surnames Huo, Chen, Li, and Liang—these being the four largest clans in Foshan.

Foshan, known as the "Iron Capital of the Empire," had an extremely complex internal structure.

It was far from being summarizable as "government-run monopoly," and even less was it as simple as a single large enterprise or one big ironworks.

Foshan's iron industry operated on a model of "officially licensed, privately run."

In simple terms, the government issued permits, controlled the supply of raw materials and the bulk of product sales, and handed out licenses to furnace households.

Furnace households, upon receiving their licenses, raised their own capital, handled their own production, owned their own property, and bore their own profits and losses.

Throughout all of Foshan, there were over thirty thousand furnace households holding such licenses.

They cooperated and competed with one another, which naturally gave rise to structures like guilds and clans.

Lin Qian signaled to Geng Wu, who handed two iron components to Huo Ying.

"Let's skip the pleasantries—can you make this kind of ironwork?" Lin Qian asked bluntly.

Huo Ying was somewhat taken aback. In the past, Ming officials who came to Foshan would always spend an hour or two on pleasantries, eat several meals, and receive some tribute before getting down to business.

He never expected Lin Qian to do the opposite and start discussing matters right at the dock.

Nearly all the furnace households in Foshan had read the Nan'ao Times and did not fear the new ruler much.

Moreover, since it involved a professional question, everyone grew curious and crowded around to look.

In Huo Ying's hands were two strange iron components, each only finger-sized, polished to a high gloss and gleaming with silver light.

The material appeared to be made of wrought iron or steel.

One was a long U-shape with a slight curve.

The other was an L-shaped structure, with the long end looking somewhat thick and heavy, and the component bore several small threaded holes. One furnace householder said: "This is simple—a few hammer blows and it's done."

Another said: "I wonder if this was made with puddling steel or crucible steel. The steel might be the only difficult part—my family can do it." Huo Ying's expression was grave as he shook his head: "It's not that simple."

Having said this, he looked up at Lin Qian and asked: "May I ask the Helmsman, what are these two items for?"

Lin Qian said: "Geng Wu, go demonstrate."

"Yes." Geng Wu clasped his fists and stepped forward, took the U-shaped component, and bent it with his hands—the steel plate deformed and then instantly sprang back. He explained: "This thing is called a mainspring. It must guarantee the same bending-and-rebound capability every time, and the rebound force must be no less than this."

Then he picked up the L-shaped component, took out a piece of Qingzhou stone, and struck it against the part—in an instant, a few sparks scattered.

"This one is called a frizzen. Its precision and hardness must both be high—it has to spark on contact with flint."

Lin Qian added: "That's all I can say for now."

The furnace households immediately fell silent.

Huo Ying deliberated for a moment, then said: "Helmsman, Foshan's smelting is primarily pig iron, with wrought iron and steel as secondary products.

This 'mainspring' has extremely high requirements for quenching and tempering. In the hands of Foshan's furnace households, it would likely come out either too soft or too brittle. As for the 'frizzen,' it needs to be both tough and hard—this could perhaps be done by forging a blank from high-quality wrought iron, then locally carburizing the striking surface with fire." A flintlock musket is simple in principle, but it demands high-carbon steel and precision heat-treatment capability.

The Ming Empire's iron smelting, by contrast, focused on large-scale, low-cost, high-yield cast iron technology—it was not on the same technological track as the flintlock's requirements at all.

So cracking the problem was extremely difficult.

In fact, compared to the flintlock musket, cannon casting was actually somewhat less technically demanding—which was why even the Bucalao Cannon Foundry could not produce a flintlock. Lin Qian's components had been purchased at high prices from the Portuguese.

Hearing Huo Ying's analysis, Lin Qian's eyes lit up: "So, Master Huo, you're saying you have a way to make the 'frizzen'?"

Huo Ying gritted his teeth: "I can give it a try."

Lin Qian said: "Try the mainspring as well. If these two items can be made, future orders will be on the scale of a million taels of silver." All the furnace households were stunned.

Lin Qian's expression was serious: "I'm not joking, and I'm not making idle boasts. Whoever can make these two items—their clan will soar to the heavens." After a long pause, Huo Ying's face flushed red, and he clasped his fists: "This old man will do his utmost!"

Lin Qian said: "Come, let's go see your Foshan iron industry."

"Please!" Finally arriving at something he excelled at, Huo Ying breathed a sigh of relief and led Lin Qian and his party deeper into Foshan.

Inside Foshan city, it was like a sulfurous hell. Every household had its own furnace, belching rolling smoke and dust. Scarlet-red molten iron poured out, so bright it stung the eyes. Blacksmiths heated pig iron until it glowed white-hot, then hammered it with clanging, banging blows, sparks flying in all directions.

Hand-cranked bellows wheezed and puffed, as if all of Foshan were breathing heavily.

Truly, "Kunwu's iron smelting sends flying flames and smoke, red light and purple vapor both blaze bright."

Huo Ying walked ahead, proudly introducing: "The furnace Foshan uses is called a 'great shaft furnace.' The tallest ones are three to four zhang high, lined inside with refractory clay, with a tap hole for iron and a slag hole at the bottom—they can smelt iron day and night without stopping…"

Lin Qian interrupted: "What fuel do you use?"

"Charcoal."

"That material's calorific value is too low. Have you tried coke?"

"Er… using coal to smelt iron makes it brittle…" A bad feeling welled up in Huo Ying's heart.

Of all the Ming officials, the one type the furnace households feared most was the kind who knew nothing but loved to issue reckless orders about production.

Foshan was short on fuel—to obtain charcoal, all the trees for over ten li around had been chopped down.

Forget coal—cow dung, horse dung, sheep dung, straw, stalks, and every other kind of fuel had long since been tried eight hundred times over by people, and none of them suited as well as charcoal.

A few years back, some officer from Guanghai Guard had a sudden brainstorm and wanted to smelt iron with pure coal.

The furnace workers begged and pleaded, but the officer insisted, and finally even flashed his blade—the furnace workers had no choice but to give in.

The result was that the furnace flame burned too hot and blew the furnace apart. The last bit of molten iron that solidified before the explosion was all soft and brittle waste.

After the incident, the officer was merely dismissed from his post by the Governor-General.

But the furnace worker lost his livelihood, and his whole family ended up joining the river bandits…

Who would have thought that this helm master, who seemed so amiable and kind to the people, was also this sort of character……

Lin Qian shook his head and said: "Not coal—coke."

Just as he had learned before, most people in the south during the late Ming had never heard of coking technology.

When the Hạ Long Bay coal mine was developing coking technology, they had sought out craftsmen from brick kilns, ceramic kilns, and charcoal kilns.

Relying on the advantage of being close to the coal-producing area, they experimented for over a year, spent nearly a hundred thousand taels of silver, built over a thousand kiln openings, wasted no less than five thousand tons of coal, and through trial and error, stumbling and bumbling, paving the way with silver—only then did they finally crack the coking technique.

Fortunately, it was all worth it.

Lin Qian said: "Geng Wu, bring the coke over."

"Yes!" Geng Wu passed the order, and after a moment, over a dozen personal guards came over from the dock, carrying several hemp baskets filled with lumps of coal. Looking closely, the coke differed from ordinary coal—its surface was silvery-gray with a metallic luster, and when the pieces struck one another, they gave off a metallic ring, like aged steel that had been sitting for a long time. It truly looked extraordinary—a fine batch of coal.

Huo Ying grew more and more terrified, wailing inwardly: "It's over, it's over! This helm master even brought coal with him—he came prepared! And he brought so many baskets… This… this is going to ruin who knows how many furnace households!

Sigh… a new broom sweeps clean—this helm master is even worse than those Ming officials who only care about silver…"

Lin Qian asked again: "In all of Foshan, where is the largest and sturdiest shaft furnace?"

Despair welled up in Huo Ying's heart. He gritted his teeth and said: "It is this old man's."

The moment he said this, several Huo-surnamed furnace workers behind him spoke up: "Clan chief!"

"Silence." Huo Ying barked in rebuke.

Every furnace worker present knew the consequences of putting coal into the furnace—wasting one batch of iron was a small matter, but if it went wrong, the furnace could explode.

Blowing up the rice bowl that fed them—that was a matter of life and death!

Assigning this task to anyone was improper, and having Huo Ying refuse Lin Qian—he didn't have the guts for that either.

The Nan'ao army had taken Guangzhou in three days, then suppressed the bandits with thunderous methods, terrifying the furnace workers greatly.

Since Huo Ying was respected by all and had become the guild head, he decided to sacrifice himself.

Lin Qian took in everyone's expressions and merely smiled: "Lead the way."

The group wove through furnace fire and smoke, soon arriving at a large compound where seven shaft furnaces rose from the ground, one of them four zhang tall and especially eye-catching.

Fires burned within all the shaft furnaces, their tops belching rolling waves of heat.

Huo Ying said: "Helm master, once a furnace is lit, it often burns for months without stopping. Someone must tend it day and night—every two hours, a batch of iron must be tapped and a fresh charge fed in."

As he spoke, the shaft furnace reached its iron-tapping time.

The craftsmen in the courtyard divided their duties clearly. One man took an iron rod and pried open the fire clay at the tap hole. Orange-yellow molten iron gushed out, flowing into sand troughs that had been prepared below, then channeled into sand molds, forming a continuous row of block-shaped iron ingots.

At the same time, someone nimbly climbed up the scaffolding beside the shaft furnace, opened the charging port, and poured in fresh furnace charge.

That charge was granular, grayish-brown—likely a mixture of charcoal, iron ore, and lime in fixed proportions.

When the operation was complete, the tap hole was sealed again with fresh fire clay, and the charging port's lid was closed as well.

Huo Ying said: "Charging and tapping—this must be done every two hours. Slag removal comes two hours after, done every quarter-hour… Helm master, making pig iron is no easy task. If coal gets thrown in, it can't be picked back out—the entire furnace is ruined."

Lin Qian said: "Rest assured."

He then walked over to inspect the sand molds. The craftsman didn't recognize Lin Qian, but seeing so many people gathered around, he knew this was an important figure, and cautioned: "Be careful, sir—a splash of molten iron can kill a man."

Huo Ying grew frantic and scolded: "You raven's mouth—can't you watch what you say!"

Lin Qian smiled: "No matter." Then he said to the craftsman: "Thank you for the warning."

By now the surface of the molten iron had formed a skin, dark red in color, mostly in a solid-liquid mixed state.

"This batch needs to sit for the better part of two hours before it can be moved, and rest for four hours or more before it's cool enough to touch. Helm master, please look—these are the cooled iron ingots."

As Huo Ying spoke, he took down an iron ingot from a pile of goods beside the furnace.

The ingot was rectangular, grayish-black, about the size of a palm, with substantial heft. Struck with metal, it gave a high, clear ring.

Where the ingot had broken from the trough, the fracture surface was bright white with a metallic luster.

This was a standard piece of white iron—as the name suggests, the fracture surface is white.

This type of iron is extremely brittle and extremely hard, difficult to work. Because of its high hardness and wear resistance, it suits casting into daily implements like plowshares and iron pots, and also suits making cannonballs.

The Ming also used white iron for cannons, but because of its great brittleness, it was prone to barrel bursts. Craftsmen could only compensate by thickening the barrel walls, making the cannons heavy and cumbersome. This was also why the Bocarro cannon foundry used ductile bronze for casting cannons instead.

As opposed to white iron, there was also gray iron, formed under higher furnace temperatures, slower cooling rates, and high silicon content. Gray iron has lower hardness, a degree of toughness, is easy to machine, and has good vibration damping—making it an excellent material for heavy castings and engineering components such as large machinery bases and machine tool beds.

If one wanted to cast iron cannons, gray iron was unquestionably the better material.

But for making gun barrels, gray iron's toughness wasn't enough—wrought iron was needed, what they called malleable iron.

And for making the mainspring of a flintlock musket, steel was required—high-carbon steel with complex temperature control at that.

With the current technology of the "Empire's Iron Capital," producing wrought iron was no problem.

But there was no systematic smelting technology for gray iron.

The puddling method, the forging method, and the co-fusion method could make small quantities of steel, but mass production was absolutely impossible.

As for the high-carbon steel needed for mainsprings—that was even more out of reach.

In short, trying to light up the tech tree was extremely difficult.

When it came to making coke, Lin Qian at least knew the principle—seal off oxygen and smolder.

But how to expand steel production, how to make high-carbon steel—he was truly in the dark.

He could only trust in the wisdom of the ancients.

Lin Qian believed that as long as there was market demand, silver as incentive, and institutional encouragement, the wisdom of laborers would surely find a way. What others could accomplish, the people of the Central Plains could too!

Facing the blast furnace of iron-smelting technology, Lin Qian was willing to be the bellows, blowing with all his might toward death, while the furnace charge...

"Geng Wu, bring up the 'furnace charge'!"

Geng Wu understood and passed on the order.

Two personal guards came forward carrying a wooden chest. The chest was not large, only reaching knee height, but the two men carried it with great difficulty.

When set on the ground, it kicked up a fair amount of dust.

The chest was opened, and a faint golden light spilled out. Everyone present stared wide-eyed, their pupils dyed gold by the reflection.

Within the chest lay neatly arranged gold ingots!

Set against the backdrop of the gold, even Lin Qian's voice seemed to gain a magnetic charm: "Two thousand taels of gold. Master Huo, do count them."

Yahei

Fenyuan

Pen