Start Being a Vassal King Today - Chapter 620

[Chapter 620]

“Good job, let’s go, let me see your achievements.” Zhao Xu said.

Wang Chong replied yes, and went to the Iron and Steel Workshop of Bingzhang Division with Zhao Xu.

Here, the hand-drawn bellows of the craftsmen have disappeared, replaced by a huge metal bellows.

On one side of the bellows is a steam engine. This steam engine is connected to six bellows. Every time the connecting rod reciprocates, it will blow huge wind into the blast furnace.

In an instant, the flame in the blast furnace will change from red to blue, and the fire will be high.

“Your Highness, since this steam blower was put into use, the efficiency of iron and steel smelting has increased by more than ten times.” After he came to the Military Division, Wang Ying also followed.

Zhao Xu nodded. This is natural. The key factors to increase the temperature of the blast furnace are coke, and the other is the wind blowing into the blast furnace.

After all, there is oxygen in the wind, and oxygen plays a combustion-supporting role.

In the past, he solved the problem of coke, so he successfully produced liquid molten iron.

Now the blower has solved the problem of too weak blowing wind, which has greatly improved the temperature rise rate of the blast furnace.

The melting speed of iron ore is accelerated, and the efficiency of ironmaking is naturally increased.

In addition, there are wind-heated stoves.

This thing also relies on blasting to burn coal, raise the internal temperature, and then blow it into the blast furnace.

Combining the two places, the efficiency of ironmaking has increased by more than ten times.

For a long time, Bing Zhansi’s iron-making efficiency has been very low for him, but it has only improved compared to the past.

But compared with modern ironmaking efficiency, it is simply too far behind.

Now, Yanzhou’s iron and steel smelting has finally approached the efficiency of modern iron and steel smelting.

After observing the blast furnace ironmaking for a while, Zhao Xu turned his attention to the crucible steelmaking.

There is also a blower driven by a steam engine.

Unlike blast furnace ironmaking, the blower here is not only responsible for raising the temperature of the flame, but also responsible for blowing wind to the crucible through an iron pipe connected to the blower.

In this way, the oxygen can fully burn the impurities in the molten steel and improve the quality of the steel.

After inspecting around, Zhao Xu was very satisfied. Just like what Wang Chong said, the conditions for converter steelmaking were really met.

Because first, the efficiency of iron smelting has been improved. Due to the large volume of the converter, the steelmaking speed is fast. If the supply of molten iron is not enough, the efficiency of the converter’s steelmaking will be affected.

Therefore, improving ironmaking efficiency is a prerequisite for converter steelmaking.

Second, in fact, crucible steelmaking is the predecessor of converter steelmaking. Now iron and steel workshops use top-blown oxygen blowing, combined with crucible smelting methods, which is similar to the top-blowing converter steelmaking method.

It’s just that in converter steelmaking, the lining material of the converter is different from that of the crucible.

To put it simply, converter steelmaking is to make a huge crucible of different materials, and then wrap a layer of iron shell on the outside.

“Everything is ready, the only thing left is the east wind. In this case, you start to build alkaline converters and renovate the iron and steel workshops. You need to combine steam engines here to realize partial mechanized operations.” Zhao Xu urged.

Now that the steam engine has been applied, it is natural to make full use of it in the heavy industry of iron and steel smelting.

In addition to using steam engines to blow air, of course steam engines can also be used to build a lifting system.

In this way, the molten iron smelted in the blast furnace can be hoisted, transported directly to the top of the converter through the cableway, and poured into it to make steel.

“Yes, Your Highness, I will send a batch of dolomite over here immediately to make the alkaline furnace lining.” Wang Chong replied yes, with an excited look on his face.

Steel is the foundation of all industries, and he has learned this from King Yan for so long, and he knows this very well.

Zhao Xu nodded, Wang Chong did it in one step this time.

In the history of converter steelmaking, there have been two stages.

The first stage is the acid converter. The defect of this converter is that it cannot handle the sulfur and phosphorus in the molten steel, and the steel produced is not high quality.

Later, alkaline furnace lining appeared to solve this problem.

This alkaline material is the brick made from a mixture of dolomite and tar.

Dolomite was not uncommon in ancient times, and potters would use it when firing ceramics, so this is not a problem.

And tar is a by-product of smoldering coke, and it is not a problem for the craftsman to collect it when the coke is smoldering.

Therefore, this time, the converter steelmaking industry in Yanzhou does not have to take the wrong path of acid steelmaking again.

But acidity and alkalinity are just the difference in the quality of steel. The real value of converter steelmaking is the first time in human history that large-scale steelmaking has been realized, which has made the price of steel very low.

Cheap steel further promoted the development of industry.

After chatting with Wang Chong, Wang Ying and his son for a while about the details of the renovation of the Iron and Steel Workshop, Zhao Xu returned to the palace.

Before his butt was hot, he asked Feng’er to pack some clothes for him and prepared to go to Pingcheng.

This time, although he asked Dong An to go to sea to resolve Dongying’s conspiracy, he never put all his hopes on it.

He firmly believes in a word, sometimes what cannot be obtained on the battlefield cannot be obtained on the negotiating table.

If Dong An can resolve Dongying’s conspiracy with his own words, that’s all. If not, war is inevitable.

Therefore, he decided to go to Jinghai County to inspect the warships under construction.

At the same time, he is also preparing to hand over a brand new blueprint of the ship to Chen Shou.

Naturally, this drawing is no longer a conventional sailing warship, but a hybrid warship combined with a steam engine.

In addition to the hybrid sailing warship, there are also some small steamship blueprints.

These small steamships will completely cancel the sails, leaving only a few chimneys on them, which belong to pure steam power.

He wanted Chen Shou to build these small steamships first to accumulate technical experience, and then to manufacture larger steamships.

After the technology matured, they would be qualified to build steam ironclad ships.

After all, although he can provide technical drawings, it does not mean that one drawing can solve all problems.

In the contemporary world, even if the blueprints for making atomic bombs are announced to the whole world, there are only a few countries that can make atomic bombs, because it involves many auxiliary industries.

Therefore, although Zhao Xu wanted to own an ironclad ship right away, he couldn’t do without developing supporting industries.

Fortunately, the most important steel problem has been solved, and the remaining technical problems only need to be overcome by Chen Shou when he is building a small steamship.

With theory, it is true that you can get twice the result with half the effort, but it is also very important to master technical experience in practice.

Two days later, he arrived in Jinghai County.

Due to the limited places suitable for shipbuilding in the Pingcheng Canal.

The Naval Ship Department activated the Jinghai County Shipbuilding Workshop again, except for the twelve warships built in Pingcheng.

There are also twelve warships under construction here.

“When will the battleship be delivered to the navy?” As soon as Zhao Xu arrived in Jinghai County, he and Chen Shou came to Jinghai Wharf.

“It only takes thirty days for these warships to be launched.” Chen Shou said.

Zhao Xu nodded with satisfaction.

This timing is very important. If Dongpu’s conspiracy can be successful, he estimates that it will be launched in the next one to two months. There will be a large-scale naval battle.

At that time, the functions of twelve warships and thirty-six warships will obviously be different.

“We must ensure that we launch on time, and there must be no mistakes. “Zhao Xu said.

It has been almost two months since the battle of the three cities on the south of the Jin River and Dongying’s planting of black shark pirates at sea.

It is already November now, and the cold wind from the north has given Yanzhou a taste of winter.

It will be December in another month, and these twenty-four warships have been built for almost a year.

In addition, after the battleship is launched, the students of the Naval Academy have to adapt to the battleship for a period of time.

Seeing King Yan’s serious expression, Chen Shou knew that something big was about to happen at sea, so he said in a concentrated voice: “Don’t worry, Your Highness, I dare to guarantee it with my own head.”

(End of this chapter)