[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-overthrowing-the-ming":3,"chapter-overthrowing-the-ming-overthrowing-the-ming-chapter-15":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Overthrowing the Ming",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2289242,4476,"Chapter 15: Iron Ore","overthrowing-the-ming-chapter-15",15,"\u003Cp>\"Come, Scholar, walk alongside me!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Zhuge shouted as he walked in the lead, unaware of the thrilling events that had just transpired behind him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li You immediately followed, though he did not truly walk abreast of Wu Zhuge; he kept half a step behind, walking roughly in line with Zhang Zhuanggen and Cao Er.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The atmosphere among the group was relaxed, especially with Cao Er and Zhang Zhuanggen exchanging constant banter, as if the deaths of Tian Si and the others were no more significant than stepping on ants.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li You walked in silence, saying nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before long, they arrived at the iron smelting site, which consisted of a series of wooden sheds arranged in a row, numbering five or six. On the southern side were three renovated rectangular pools used for washing the ore.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Come, Scholar, take a look. This is where we smelt iron ore. Usually, it’s managed by the blacksmith households; that’s skilled work. We are generally only responsible for mining.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Zhuge pointed ahead and said to Li You.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Li You had seen those pure black lumps of earth earlier, he knew it was hematite, though people at the time were accustomed to calling it ocher ore. This type of iron ore was mostly produced in Gansu in the northwest and Quanzhou in the southeast, and it was considered to have a relatively high iron content.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These three rectangular pools were naturally for washing the ore. Generally, it had to be extracted and washed before being put into the furnace for smelting. This would significantly improve the quality of the iron produced, and theoretically, there was even a chance of smelting steel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At a glance, there were nine small furnaces, square in shape and connected to the iron-refining furnaces, with an additional forging furnace standing separately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The molten pig iron from the refining furnace flowed directly into the iron-refining furnace, where apprentices would use willow wood poles to stir it constantly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li You only took a rough look and could not be certain whether they could actually smelt steel with these square furnaces; he estimated it was more likely they were producing wrought iron.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Great Ming currently had two main methods of steelmaking:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One was \"stir-fry steel,\" but the main products were wrought iron and low-carbon steel. The success rate of producing high-quality steel through this method fell into the realm of metaphysics. Of course, there were some master craftsmen in Foshan who, relying on years of experience, could achieve a success rate of five percent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The other was \"irrigation steel,\" which saw two directions of improvement during the Ming Dynasty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first was the \"pig iron covering method,\" which had already been widely promoted across the country; the second was the \"pig iron pouring method\" used for Su steel, which currently remained limited to the Nanzhili region.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang Kuan's article, \"A History of the Development of Iron Smelting Technology in Ancient China,\" mentions:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This method of creating a 'pouring' iron oxidation process without a crucible allows the slag and iron to separate, resulting in a relatively pure tool steel. Applied to the blades of weapons, this 'pig iron pouring' technique gives the edge a steel-structured surface layer. At the time, this steelmaking technology was far ahead of the rest of the world.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was not until the 18th century that Europe invented the method of placing wrought iron and pig iron in a crucible to make steel, lagging behind by more than a century or two.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The unprecedented development of industry and commerce in the Ming Dynasty is best evidenced by the fact that Ming steel production reached the highest level in feudal history. Huang Qichen mentioned in his article, \"The Development of Steel Production in the Ming Dynasty\":\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the beginning of the 9th century, the annual steel production of the Tang Dynasty was 5,000 tons, rising to 75,000 tons during the Song Dynasty. By the Ming Dynasty, it had reached twice that of the Song, accounting for two-thirds of the world's total industrial output. Even during the Northern Song period, steel production already exceeded that of Britain during the Industrial Revolution.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to the American scholar Professor Robert Hartwell, based on the consumption of weapons production, iron coin casting, and agricultural tool manufacturing in the Song Dynasty, the iron production in the first year of the Yuanfeng era of Emperor Shenzong of Song (1078) was estimated to be roughly 75,000 to 150,000 tons. This output was 2.5 to 5 times that of Britain during the English Revolution more than six hundred years later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some might bring up the issue of population density, claiming the per capita output of others was higher, but why must we always look at per capita?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Population is also a manifestation of national strength.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The total iron production of all European countries (including the European part of Russia) by the end of the 18th century was roughly between 140,000 and 180,000 tons. This was the output after the Industrial Revolution had already occurred. If compared with the same era, they were not even in the same dimension, so it was quite reasonable for the Great Ming to sometimes refer to them as \"Western Barbarians.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For a race that still defecated in the streets and required collective on-site observation of the bridal chamber on the night of a royal wedding, the term \"Western Barbarians\" was entirely deserved at the time!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Greetings, Great Leader!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing the three shopkeepers arrive together, the bandits naturally cracked their whips with even more vigor. Although there were screams from the miners, they certainly worked harder under this beating.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But when they saw Li You walking side-by-side with the leader, and even the various foremen like Niu Jinku trailing behind him, they were filled with regret and suddenly envied Wa Qingyun.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In front of the wooden sheds, five or six miners with chains on their feet were washing ore in the pools with winnowing baskets, while a lame man came over to check on them from time to time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wore a blue cloth shirt and trousers, a blue headscarf, a wide-edged top, and straw sandals. He wore no chains; this must be the blacksmith household Wa Qingyun had mentioned.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was another blacksmith, also without chains, behind the wooden sheds, leading a few people in firing the furnace, while not far away, two others were repairing a furnace with yellow clay bricks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking a bit further, there was the place where iron ingots were forged. In the wooden shed at the end, there were some people hammering away incessantly. Among them, one man was dressed in a short jacket and bottomless silk trousers; he was about forty years old and was currently hammering an iron ingot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Li You and the others arrived, the bandits responsible for guarding the area shouted in unison to Wu Zhuge, while the miners all knelt in fear to pay their respects.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li You took all of this in. He only got a general idea of the mining operations here, keeping his gaze mostly on the three blacksmiths.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He learned from Wa Qingyun that the blacksmith with the lame leg was surnamed Liu. No one knew his real name, so everyone called him Lame Liu. He had a daughter named Liu Jiandao, who was fifteen and had become a concubine for Wu Zhuge at the North Stronghold.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The other, who looked more robust, was named Qian Chengzhi, and the two people working the furnace beside him were his two direct apprentices, Qian Zhong and Qian Yong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The master and his apprentices were all kidnapped by the Third Leader last year while robbing travelers on the Hanjiang. Qian Chengzhi had a young son named Qian Pinghai, only seven years old, who was being held at the Cao estate in Mianxian.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The last blacksmith, who had a sallow complexion, was named Le Baofu, a native of Lueyang County. He also had a fifteen-year-old son named Le Sheng, who had been forcibly assigned by Zhang Zhuanggen to serve as a child soldier under his command.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These three blacksmiths and two apprentices were naturally not enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So Cao Er had Lame Liu take on three more apprentices, and Le Baofu take on two. In normal times, this would certainly have violated the rules of the trade.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In ancient times, craftsmen were extremely strict about passing on their skills. After all, if the apprentice learned everything, the master would starve. To ensure market scarcity, they generally only taught one person every few years; teaching too many would provoke the dissatisfaction of the entire guild.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But in the current situation, they could no longer concern themselves with such rules.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lame Liu had agreed long ago to save his daughter's life, and Le Baofu did the same for his foolish, ignorant son. However, these bandit masters, who were used to getting something for nothing, were unwilling to do such hard labor. In the end, they had to select five obedient and sensible individuals from among the miners to serve as apprentices.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li You only took a rough look around. Lame Liu was startled by Wu Zhuge's arrival and hurriedly knelt down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Zhuge laughed heartily: \"Why must my father-in-law show such great respect... Hahaha...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bandits behind him also laughed incessantly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the other side, Qian Chengzhi had seen Wu Zhuge long ago. He trotted out, knelt down with fluid grace, raised his head, and bowed to Wu Zhuge with a fawning smile. Wu Zhuge deliberately waved his hand and said: \"Rise!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Thank you, Great King!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wu Zhuge was instantly satisfied. He wanted to suppress the smile at the corners of his mouth but couldn't, and he burst into loud laughter again, looking every bit like a local emperor. Finally, he said to Li You: \"Scholar, you have seen the world. Do I look like I have the majesty of the Emperor?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It is not just looking like it, you clearly do! It is just that this corner of the world is, after all, too small...\"\u003C\u002Fp>",1672,"2026-06-20T03:32:06.992Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","45d79bc89aa098190510c7f09970ba02cebc86787ae65854638b1a496d23b321","overthrowing-the-ming-chapter-16","overthrowing-the-ming-chapter-14",71,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Foverthrowing-the-ming-cover.jpg"]