Chapter 211 Iron and Steel Ambition 5

Chapter 211 Iron and Steel Ambition 5
The next day, the crowd first gathered at the small dock in Lakeheart Town, and then set off in a small boat towards the location of the Iron Factory.

In addition to those in the castle hall yesterday, Old Ford and Hansel from the Council of State, Schroeder and Bryce from the army were also listed.

They entered a tributary of the river Wise, and as the boat proceeded the current became more and more rapid, and gradually a small wharf came in sight, on which the soldiers of the inner guard were stationed. After boarding the wharf, they followed the path into a valley, which was so full of trees that it was impossible to see what was going on inside.

Guy Burns, having received a report from a sentry, rode out to meet them.

“Well, Burns, without further ado, let’s get right to the point.”

“Uh …… yes, Lord Gladman.”

Slightly apprehensive, Burns led Paul and the others towards the “ironworks” still under construction in the valley.

Just like the previous 51st district, this place is also layered with guards, and the internal guards are patrolling around with ferocious military dogs, filled with a sense of moroseness.

Although it is said to be the “first furnace of iron”, but Burns and craftsmen have long been through many tests, otherwise they would not dare to notify Paul to come to visit, in case to let the earl adults to make a trip for nothing would not be very embarrassing.

Gradually heard the sound of splashing water, hiking through the dense forest, a waterfall appeared in front of everyone’s eyes, and the river in front of the waterfall, a building directly across the river, covering nearly 10 meters of the river.

Paul asked, “That building on the river is ……?”

“The water wheel room, from which the power for the blower is exported.”

Paul was a little surprised, was it necessary to go so far as to cover the river directly.

There were openings in the walls of the water wheel room, a drive chain protruded from the opening and into another building located on the river.

Burns introduced Paul, “That room houses the blower regulator.”

“Show me into the water wheel room first.”

Burns led Paul into the water wheel room while the others were stopped by the guards.

The scene inside was an eye-opener for Paul.

He previously thought that Burns can get out of the water power drive device is their own plain cognizance of the kind of common waterwheel, because to be used for drumming, at best, the transmission device is a little more complex.

But did not expect this set of devices so “powerful”, at least visually.

Only to see the center of the room placed several wide water rows, underneath them is the rapid flow of the river, these several water rows almost the interior of the water filled.

Driven by the current, the water rows slowly rotated, sending a steady stream of power through a drive chain.

“In order to facilitate maintenance, we built the house right on top of the river, so that these water rows won’t be subjected to erosion by the external environment.”

It was evident that Burns had taken considerable care of his creation, and the interior of the water wheel room was quite elaborate, with a stone floor and steps, railings, and an aisle across the river built for easy access by maintenance personnel.

But Paul’s main concern was its effectiveness.

“Burns, how much power can these …… these ‘water rows’ generate?”

“75 horsepower, you know the word ‘horsepower’ right? It produces at least 75 horsepower per second.” The two men walked out of the water wheel room as they spoke, and the others who remained outside immediately followed.

Burns brought them in front of the ironmaking blast furnace, where the craftsmen stood waiting for the iron to be made, and they saluted when they saw Paul arrive.

Although it was already winter, the energy emitted from the blast furnace still made the surrounding heat waves roll around, making the people who had just approached the furnace feel like they were in two worlds of fire and ice.

In addition to the iron smiths, there are two other people here – Herman and Marlowe from the 51st District Ordnance Factory, they are responsible for the research and development of muskets and artillery respectively, the manufacturing of those stereotypical firearms doesn’t need them to personally participate in, naturally, there are artisans under their command to carry out the production, the Navy has even divided a part of the artisans to build a second ordnance factory near the port of Fulan, the two of them are not required to personally participate in the manufacturing of those firearms. The navy even took away some of its craftsmen to build a second ordnance factory near the port of Fulan, and the two of them are now mainly responsible for trying various improvements to the firearms and cannons.

As for what they were doing here, they were naturally evaluating the impact of the new way of making iron on the production of weapons.

Counselor Ladi knew a little bit about iron making, but she had never seen such a tall furnace before, and couldn’t help but sigh, “Wouldn’t it be a lot of trouble to dismantle and rebuild a furnace like this over and over again?”

Paul said smugly, “This you do not know, this refining furnace is reusable, and can be used continuously, from the top add ore and fuel, the lower side to release the iron, and then again from the top add ore and fuel, and then from the bottom to release the iron …… unceasingly and continuously. ”

“Ahem! Of course, this is only theoretical, how long it will last is actually limited by the fire resistance of the furnace material. This current one is also just an experiment, but I believe that with the summarization and improvement of the refractory material ratios, this kind of blast furnace will definitely be able to keep working for a very long time, and I estimate that one furnace will be able to make more than ten tons of iron.”

“A dozen tons?”

Those who don’t know anything about iron refining have no feeling about this, but those who more or less know a little bit about this business are stunned by the number in Paul’s mouth, this is too much, no wonder Lord Lord said yesterday that he wants to monopolize the steel supply of the Northwest Gulf.

Hansel even covered his mouth with his hand, he was first shocked and then inwardly ecstatic.

The novelties that the lord had come up with in the past made everyone not so skeptical of his words.

In fact, Paul just did a bit of bragging components, a blast furnace can be refined into how much iron to his own heart is not the bottom, the specific value only in the future practice to know.

Responsible for the management of this group of iron smelting craftsmen’s head name is Conrad, is also before the service in the Gleeman family of old craftsmen. He held a piece of iron nail and ran to Paul with a smile on his face.

“Lord Gleeman, take a look, this is the pig iron we refined in our previous experiment.”

Paul took the iron ingot and turned it over and over several times.

Taking advantage of the moment when the crowd was captivated by the blast furnace, he pulled Conrad aside and quietly asked, “Condra, did your experiments go well? Did you encounter any difficulties?”

Conrad honestly answered, “The biggest difficulty is the manufacture of refractory materials, those disposable furnaces in the past couldn’t use this, and then using hard clay as the main raw material only slightly touched the door. Uh …… not to hide it from the Count Sir, in fact we have not found an optimal formula and production method until now.”

Paul cheered him up, “This thing can only rely on continuous accumulation of experience, don’t stop here.”

“This please don’t worry, we will definitely continue to improve.”

At this time, someone on the other side of the blast furnace shouted, “Out of the iron!”

Paul’s attention was immediately attracted and he turned his head and ran towards the blast furnace side.

I’m really sorry, I didn’t write the two chapters that I said I would, and this one was sent out in the early hours of the morning. Just I do not know anything about this aspect of ironmaking, the Internet to find some information to see, the more you see the more you think it is a big pit, did not think before so simple, hesitate to write. Alas …… if I had known this I should have started preparing during the day.

(End of chapter)