Chapter 242: Steelmaking

Su Wu stroked his beard, pondering: "Then how much steel is needed for the rails? Our Han produces only a hundred thousand catties of iron a year; I fear……"

Liu Ju had prepared in advance, taking out a sheet of xuan paper from his sleeve: "I've already calculated. Each li of railway requires three thousand catties of iron; first building the Western Regions section of two thousand li needs six million catties of iron. We can temporarily use the reserves of the Salt and Iron Bureau, then conscript ironworking households from across the realm to enter Guanzhong, offering titles and stipends; within three months we will surely gather enough."

Huo Guang tapped the "Jade Gate Pass" mark on the drawing: "The urgent task is to relieve the frontline's grain and fodder shortage; we can first build the section from Jade Gate Pass to the former Hasimoni territory, about eight hundred li. This stretch goes through the desert; ordinary horse and carriage take ten days to arrive, but with the railway they can reach in two days."

Liu Ju nodded: "Exactly what I had in mind. We can appoint Chen Tang as Director of Construction, leading fifty thousand convict laborers, motivating them with the 'Merit Redemption' method."

Wei Xiang, however, frowned: "Conscripting ironworking households already burdens the people; driving convicts to build the road, if mismanaged, could provoke another Chen Sheng uprising."

He paused, then proposed: "Why not adopt the 'Work for Relief' method, recruiting Western Region refugees, giving them three dou of millet per day, building the railway while settling the refugees?"

Liu Ju clapped his hands: "Minister Wei, experienced and loyal to the state. We can also establish the 'Iron Law': deserters be executed, those who complete the work are pardoned and enlisted, granted good farmland."

Xu Wei stared at the "Greater Yuezhi" node on the map, then suddenly said: "If the railway reaches Greater Yuezhi, it can link with sea transport— the naval fleet of the South Sea carries grain to the Indus River mouth, then goes westward by rail; wouldn't that be swift?"

Liu Ju's eyes lit up: "This plan is splendid! Immediately order the Lesser Treasury to draft the 'Sea-Land Combined Transport Map'; once the railway takes shape, we'll test a run."

Liu Xijun gently touched the "Confucian Temple" mark on the map, smiling: "Wherever the railway passes, we can set up Han Pavilions, also serving as Confucian schools; after the railway laborers finish their daily work, they must study a chapter of the Analects, strengthening body and molding hearts."

Liu Ju applauded: "Your Imperial Highness, this plan merges road-building and education into one; truly a female Zhuge Liang!"

Immediately he surveyed the ministers, his expression resolute: "The railway is an undertaking unseen in a thousand years; though there be myriad difficulties and dangers, we must try. Effective today:"

Huo Guang oversees iron smelting, to forge ten thousand zhang of rail within three months;

Wei Xiang inspects the Western Regions, recruiting ten thousand laborers, establishing fifty-nine Railway Camps;

Xu Wei surveys the route, taking Jade Gate Pass as the starting point, heading west through Dayuan and Kangju, straight to the former capital of Hasimoni;

Xijun supervises the construction of the Locomotive Model, ordering Mohist disciples into the Lesser Treasury workshop to produce a mechanism prototype within ten days."

Outside the hall, a rooster crowed at dawn; the first ray of morning light pierced the window lattice, falling on the "Rome" mark of the railway drawing.

Outside Chang'an's Xuanping Gate, the newly posted edict's eight large characters "Nationwide Promotion of Blast Furnace Steelmaking" shone brightly in the sunlight.

When the Feathered Forest Guards finished posting the edict, the onlooking populace whispered among themselves, discussing heatedly.

At the same time, various newspapers of Han Media also rushed to report this decision.

The head of Luoyang's largest iron workshop, Wang Weng, stared at the edict in his hand, sweat seeping from his palms.

His "Wang Family Iron Shop" had for generations used traditional vertical furnaces for smelting iron; if switched to blast furnaces, it would require smashing the ancestral furnace, digging new kilns and laying bricks.

Just as he frowned without relief, suddenly hoofbeats sounded outside the door— Huo Guang personally led Lesser Treasury officials to the door, holding a blast furnace diagram: "Wang Weng, don't fear; the court permits you to buy official coal at half price, and will assign Mohist disciples to assist your renovation."

Wang Weng gazed at the soaring tower-like furnace on the diagram, gritted his teeth: "Give it my all! If we can truly produce Hundred-Forged Refined Iron, even selling the old house would be worth it!"

In the countryside of Shu Commandery, farmer Li Ergou squatted on the field ridge, watching the distant government conscript laborers to dig kilns.

He scratched the back of his head, telling his neighbor: "Why not plant good land, but dig a big pit? Could it be they're refining the Supreme Elder Lord's Golden Pill?"

Before his words finished, a bullock cart rumbled past, piled high with shiny black coal lumps— this is the "Steelmaking Treasure" transported from Yuzhang Commandery by the court.

At dusk, the Village Chief went house to house handing out iron shovels: "Tomorrow go to the Iron Official Camp to haul bricks; three catties of millet per day, complete three months, and you'll be granted an iron plow!"

Li Ergou's eyes lit up, gripping the wooden handle: "Never mind what they're smelting, as long as there's food to eat!"

In Handan City's ironware shop, the young artisan Zhang Xiaogang pondered over the blast furnace diagram.

He had once accompanied Zhang Qian on a mission to Greater Yuezhi, seeing the Western Regions' "crucible steelmaking method", but never imagined the furnace could be built higher than the city walls.

"The furnace body must be divided into 'furnace throat', 'furnace torso', and 'furnace cauldron'……"

He muttered to himself, then suddenly grabbed a charcoal stick and drew on the wall: "If we open twelve air inlets at the furnace belly and use bellows to blow air, the temperature will surely surpass charcoal fire!" Outside the window, a full moon rose over the city wall, revealing the firelight leaping in his eyes.

Northwest of Chang'an, three hundred blast furnaces broke ground simultaneously.

Blue-brick kilns sprouted like spring shoots, each about two zhang high, with red triangular flags atop bearing the inscription "Han Iron Office".

Huo Guang daily visited the site; seeing laborers shape the furnace body with wooden molds, he loudly urged: "The furnace walls must be three feet thick, lined with refractory bricks! If the furnace leaks molten iron, even your heads won't be saved!"

When the first blast furnace was lit, roaring flames illuminated the night sky; furnace workers charged iron ore, charcoal, and limestone in proportion, their sweat condensing into salt crystals in the firelight.

Three days later, upon opening the furnace, crimson molten iron flowed out like lava; the onlooking crowd exclaimed: "The molten iron is like a Yellow River breach!"

Outside Jade Gate Pass, yellow sand filled the sky. Chen Tang stood on a dune, gazing at the ten-li-long "Steel Camp" before him— a hundred thousand laborers divided into three shifts, working day and night in rotation.

To the south lay the mining area, black coal lumps loaded onto carts, transported by camel caravans to the furnace front; to the north was the ore mountain, convicts waist-bound with ropes, chiseling iron ore on the cliffs.

"Listen up, all of you!"

He whipped his horse, shouting: "For every ten catties of good iron smelted, reduce the sentence by one day!"

As the sun set westward, a certain blast furnace suddenly spewed green flame; the furnace chief ecstatically cried: "It's 'Steel Rain'! We've produced steel!" The molten steel splashed onto the sand, steaming up a white mist that instantly condensed into hard iron lumps.

In the bamboo groves deep within Yuzhang Commandery, countless earthen kilns lay scattered.

The locals had never seen such a spectacle:

Men hauled coal bare-chested, women washed ore by the stream, and children carried jars to deliver mung bean soup to the furnace workers.

A white-haired old artisan squatted before the furnace, stirring the fire with a wooden rod; suddenly tears streamed down his face— the finest iron he had ever seen in his life was the "rough iron" forged for the King of Chu's sword; now he could actually behold Hundred-Forged Refined Steel pouring forth like water.

When the first ring-pommel sword forged from blast furnace steel was born, its blade reflected his weathered countenance; a light chop at the edge snapped a bowl-thick bamboo stalk in response.

Three months later, on the weapon racks of Chang'an's armory, uniform blast furnace steel swords gleamed with cold light.

Liu Ju personally drew the sword from its sheath; its aura was chilling, actually shaving off a corner of the bronze paperweight on the table.

Huo Guang reported beside him: "Your Majesty, we can now produce ten thousand catties of steel daily, enough to equip two hundred thousand troops."

Liu Ju gazed at the endless rows of blast furnaces outside the window, suddenly recalling his father's hardships at the Roman frontier; he murmured: "Once the railway and steel are both complete, even if separated by ten thousand li, the Father Emperor will also receive from Chang'an the 'Iron Bone Support'."

At this moment, beyond a thousand li, at the Roman frontier,