Chapter 216

Chapter 216.

Inside the ironworks, Paul and Burns, Conrad and the others stared in silence at an embryo of a sword that was burned red on the workbench.

Blacksmith Herman picked up a hammer and struck it vigorously on the sword embryo.

After a sound of metal cracking, the sword embryo turned into pieces.

What also shattered was Paul and Conrad’s heart.

Herman said with a helpless face, “Lord Lord, that’s it, the cast sword embryo can’t be forged at all, it will shatter with a little force.”

“Why? Why is that so?”

Paul’s face was in disbelief, how did the iron he worked so hard to refine become scrap iron?
“Herman, could it be that your technique is off?”

“Lord Earl, I’ve been smithing iron for more than ten years, a large portion of the swords in the lord’s mansion are made by me.”

Exactly which step was wrong? Paul got a little anxious, he paced back and forth in the room, thinking about every process in ironmaking.

At this time, Conrad said, “Lord Earl, could it be because there are too many impurities in the pig iron?”

“Impurities?”

“Yes, after all, we use your newly invented ‘coke’ to make iron, maybe …… it has some things in it that aren’t quite the same as the charcoal we used to use, and then mixed into the iron? ”

“Oh! Conrad, you’re a genius, right off the bat.”

After Conrad said that, Paul remembered a piece of information he had read before, which said that pig iron made with coke was not suitable for transforming into mature iron, because coke would bring impurities to the iron, and the mature iron would become brittle, and shatter during forging.

At the same time, he also remembered the solution to this problem – the churning method.

In order to use this method, a remelting furnace (reflecting furnace) had to be constructed first, and then the pig iron was melted in the remelting furnace, which could be directly fueled by raw coal, and there was no direct contact between the iron and the raw coal that was used as a fuel, so that the impurities in the coal would not have a detrimental effect on the metal.

After remelting the pig iron in the reflecting furnace, the molten iron is stirred with a stirrer constantly rotating on the furnace bed, and decarbonized by the circulating air in the furnace until it becomes malleable cooked iron. In this process, because contact between the metal and the fuel is avoided, the impurities in the resulting cooked iron are greatly reduced.

Paul said his idea out, although confused about what is called decarbonization, but all people think that the count’s method is worth a try.

So the craftsmen in the ironworks built a remelting furnace as fast as they could according to Paul’s shot, melted and stirred the previous scrap iron, and after a few days of experimentation and process improvement, finally produced the cooked iron that Herman, the old blacksmith, recognized.

Paul also a big sigh of relief, if this hurdle can not pass, the previous investment will be all for nothing.

Under his instruction, the 51st District Arsenal began to try to use iron to cast cannons, because iron is cheaper than copper, once the iron cannons are successfully developed, it will greatly reduce the cost of artillery and increase the number of artillery in the Arda army.

……

As time passes, the old year is finally coming to an end, the people of Lake Town start to prepare for the celebration of the new year, but some people are happy and some are sad.

Little Princess Erin was lying on the windowsill, staring blankly at the goose feather snow outside the house.

Leah, who had just returned home from work – she had found a job as a teacher at the Vis Academy – saw her in this state and asked in a low voice, “Miss, are you homesick?”

“Homesick? Hmph! I’m not, this is my home.”

Leia sighed, knowing that the little princess was just being mouthy.

“Your Highness, why don’t …… we go back to Jingyao?” “Back to Jingyao? Leah, are you asking me to surrender to Father? No, I, Erin Rodney, will definitely not make any compromises.”

“Then let’s send a letter to Jingyao to let them know we’re safe?”

“Send a letter? Are we going to let them come running to the Northwest Bay to arrest me?”

Leah thought darkly, it looks like Her Highness’s resentment still hasn’t subsided, so it’s better not to touch her mold.

So she silently went to prepare dinner.

Eileen looked at the lady-in-waiting who was heading towards the kitchen and felt a pang of guilt welling up in her heart as she felt that her words just now were a bit impulsive.

Her heart was very complicated right now, on one hand, she did still have grievances that hadn’t subsided, and she was afraid that she would be taken back by her father to be used in a political marriage. On the other hand, she did miss her loved ones very much, her sister, her mother, everyone she knew in Jingyao, and even her father, who she still resented, especially during the important period between Advent and New Year.

“Ah …… really annoying!”

Erin was freaking out a little inside.

Just as the little princess was troubled, what she didn’t know was that many eyes were staring at her.

In a house across the street, two figures were talking.

“Finished my rounds, there’s nothing out of the ordinary around!”

“Hard work!”

“Alas, the little princess has made it difficult for us to even celebrate the holidays.”

“What are you talking about, defending the safety of the royal family members is our basic duty, even if the princess is in the royal capital, don’t we still have to be careful during the festivals.”

“That’s true, but I still want to do something more exciting, like going undercover to spy on the enemy within the rebel army or something, instead of taking care of runaway children all day.”

“If you keep saying that, I’m going to have to snitch on you. We’ll do whatever work is ordered from above, don’t pick and choose.”

“Alright, alright, I know. By the way, we have to be more careful in the future, today I was even interrogated by the ‘police’ here for half a day, fortunately I had a sharp reaction, and I was able to fight against the stream, which didn’t give me any questions.”

“It looks like Earl Gleeman is paying more and more attention to the law and order in the territory. This is a good thing, the better the security, the safer Her Highness will be. There’s nothing wrong with our identities, we won’t be able to get into trouble for a while. Besides, it’s not like we’re spying on the secrets of the lord’s family’s properties or the affairs of his army, we’re not afraid of shadows.”

“But I’m afraid of being caught as stalkers and peeping toms.”

“Shut up, it’s not like we haven’t been caught yet.”

“Speaking of which, this place has changed quite a bit! I heard from the locals that half a year ago this was a place where rabbits don’t shit.”

“Ohhh, it’s thanks to that young lord, I’ve inquired about him quite a bit.”

“What a marvelous fellow, even the princess of the grand kingdom is willing to work under him.”

“Those things he has concocted are indeed quite fascinating, if I were a scholar, I would also want to get close to him. Did you go to Vis Academy to see the so-called ‘open class’? That microscope, my god, it’s amazing!”

“Oh, stop it. The thought of those little bugs turns my stomach.”

(End of chapter)