Chapter 48: Iron Smelting

"Good."

Zhao Xu and Liu Fu exchanged a glance, both revealing smiles.

To him, although some Silver was paid out, the land was now in his hands.

To the Rich Clan, land was merely a tool for profit.

But to him, land was the guarantee that the people of Yan Commandery would support him.

Therefore, the Rich Clan could abandon land for Silver, but he could not.

"Your Highness is brilliant, sacrificing small gains to see the greater righteousness. With these hundreds of thousands of mu of land now in hand, more than half of the land in Yan Commandery is in the hands of the Prince's Mansion." Liu Fu felt excited in his heart.

As for the remaining land, it was still in the hands of the Zhang Family and a few other Rich Clan.

However, this did not affect the overall situation.

The matter was settled.

Zhao Xu had Liu Fu bring the contracts for the Rich Clan to sign one by one.

This served as proof of their investment in the Merchant Association.

After everyone signed the agreement, Zhao Xu continued, "Handing over the land this time is truly an act of great righteousness. In the future, this Prince will not treat you unfairly. Later, the Prince's Mansion will have profitable businesses, and when the time comes, there will be minor tasks to distribute to you."

"Thank you, Your Highness." The crowd beamed with joy.

This promise was fine for the Dong Family, Yang Family, and Lv Family; they had already received benefits from the Prince's Mansion.

Supporting the Prince's Mansion this time was a duty they could not shirk.

Just now, they were also the first to take the lead in signing the contract.

After all, they had no way back.

As for the other Rich Clan, they had long coveted the businesses of those few families.

The Prince's Mansion was currently selling a large quantity of Wine, and the Wine Jar needed were also in massive amounts; this was no small amount of Silver.

Next, he discussed the structure of the Merchant Association with everyone.

The Yan Commandery Trading Firm was jointly established by the Rich Clan of Yan Commandery.

Every family had to contribute to the Merchant Association.

Since the Rich Clan were participating in the profit-sharing this time, he would hand over the sale of the Fine Wine from the Prince's Mansion to the Merchant Association, and the Merchant Association would tally the quantity of Wine sold so that it could be transparent.

Besides this, it was the same as ice production.

The Rich Clan would also have to provide people to be responsible for sales, while the responsibility of the Prince's Mansion lay only in production.

On top of the original profit-sharing, if each family could sell additional Fine Wine, they could also receive a commission.

"Commission, that is a fresh term." Dong Yuan stroked his beard and smiled.

Yan Wang proposing this method was exactly to his liking.

The Dong Family had many clansmen, and without land, they could just be sent out to sell Wine.

The larger the Merchant Association grew, the greater their profits would be.

Once this was settled, the way everyone looked at Zhao Xu changed slightly.

At this moment, besides being Yan Wang, Zhao Xu was also their provider.

They could only follow Yan Wang firmly.

They were busy until noon.

Zhao Xu had the Prince's Mansion set up a banquet to keep the Rich Clan for a feast.

Unlike in the past, this time it was more like the founding banquet of a modern company.

The Rich Clan were not discussing romance or poetry, but how to make the Merchant Association bigger and sell more of the Merchant Association's goods.

After drinking heartily for an hour, most of the Rich Clan left tipsy.

Zhao Xu was also slightly drunk.

Returning to the bedchamber, Luan'er was about to serve him to sleep.

At this moment, Feng'er walked in.

"Your Highness, I'm afraid you won't be able to sleep. Manager Wang of the Armory Bureau sent someone to say he requests Your Highness to go over and watch the iron smelting." Feng'er smiled.

Luan'er gently stroked Zhao Xu's back and pouted, "What is there to see in this iron smelting?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xu sobered up more than halfway, and he tapped Luan'er on the head, "What does a little girl like you know? This is the heavy equipment of the state."

Jumping off the bed, he went to the Armory Bureau without stopping.

"Your Highness, over here."

Learning that Zhao Xu had arrived, Wang Ying came out of the Armory Bureau.

It was just that Wang Ying was not wearing his official robes, but a set of common short clothes, and his face was also pitch black.

However, at this moment, Wang Ying carried a fanatical excitement and anticipation.

Following Wang Ying into the Armory Bureau.

In the backyard of the Armory Bureau, Zhao Xu saw two tower-like structures over three meters tall.

These were the indigenous Blast Furnace.

The Blast Furnace of the Armory Bureau was fired from clay used for ceramics.

Because this was natural firebrick.

The upper opening of the Blast Furnace had a lid, and there were two holes below; one hole connected to the Hot Blast Stove, and one was used for the molten iron to flow out.

"Your Highness, the Coke and Limestone have both been prepared by this subordinate as ordered. This Coke was smothered in a kiln, and the Limestone was chiseled out from Yanshan."

After receiving Zhao Xu's iron smelting method, he pondered for a whole night and studied it for a whole night.

The next day, he ordered the construction of the Blast Furnace and simultaneously had people scour for materials.

After everything was prepared, he notified Yan Wang.

"Then let's begin." Zhao Xu was also somewhat excited.

In his view, the ancients were not stupid.

Some exquisite techniques are even impossible to replicate in modern times.

They simply lacked a guide to lead them onto the correct path.

And without a doubt, he was now that guide.

Therefore, in this iron smelting, he could only give Wang Ying a few pointers and let him figure out the rest himself.

The reality was just as he had thought.

Wang Ying had done the preparatory work very well.

"First, light the fire in the Hot Blast Stove," Zhao Xu ordered.

He had not yet told Wang Ying the specific process of iron smelting.

This was the reason Wang Ying was so eager to find him.

Upon receiving his order, the craftsmen ignited the Coal Cake in the Hot Blast Stove and pulled the bellows.

Next, Zhao Xu had the craftsmen put in the iron ore, Limestone, and Coke in proportion one after another.

After doing this, Zhao Xu and Wang Ying stood to the side to wait for the result.

"Your Highness, what is the pool below used for?" Wang Ying asked.

Zhao Xu looked at the pool in front of the Blast Furnace.

After the molten iron from the Blast Furnace flowed out, it would flow into this pool.

Beside the pool stood three craftsmen holding rods.

He said, "Iron is divided into pig iron and wrought iron. The iron just smelted is pig iron, which contains a lot of carbon. If you stir it while it is hot, the impurities in the iron will burn off, and thus the molten iron becomes wrought iron after cooling. This method is called the Puddling Process."

Wang Ying understood the concepts of pig iron and wrought iron.

But what he did not understand was that the state of the iron was due to the carbon within it.

Hearing this explanation for the first time, he could not help but be greatly astonished.

"So that is how it is," he exclaimed.

Zhao Xu nodded and continued, "Afterward, smelting the wrought iron in a Graphite Crucible will yield steel."

"Graphite Crucible?" Wang Ying was full of questions.

He had once prided himself on knowing all the techniques in the world, but now, after a few brief words from Zhao Xu, he felt completely devoid of confidence.

"There is a type of inkstone made of black stone, which is the cheapest; that black stone is graphite," Zhao Xu continued to explain.

Once the wrought iron came out, the entire steelmaking process was basically complete for him.

Then, just getting this Graphite Crucible made would suffice.

The knowledge in his mind told him that there were graphite inkstones in ancient times.

For those who study, paper, ink, brushes, and inkstones are indispensable.

Therefore, by bringing it up directly, it was easy for Wang Ying to understand.

Upon hearing this, Wang Ying was suddenly enlightened.

Then Zhao Xu told Wang Ying how to manufacture the Graphite Crucible.

The two chatted.

In less than an hour, a craftsman suddenly called out.

A thin, fiery red line was seen flowing out from the Blast Furnace.

Wang Ying immediately stepped forward to examine it, overjoyed.

"It's true, the iron has really turned into water." Wang Ying looked at a loss for what to do.

The craftsmen were also dumbfounded.

Originally, they still did not believe it, but now that they saw it with their own eyes, they were convinced.

Zhao Xu was much calmer.

The ancients could not smelt molten iron because the temperature of their fires was not high enough.

Iron needs over 1,500 degrees to melt; he had used Coke and set up a Hot Blast Stove on the side to blow hot air in, which was how he raised the temperature.

Amidst the exclamations of the crowd, the thin line of molten iron grew thicker.

It gurgled into the pool below.

The red firelight made Wang Ying's face as red as iron.