Iron Dynasty Novel Chapter 44: Steel and Cement

“Of course, let’s go. Prepare the horses,” Xiao Ming called out loudly, snapping out of his thoughts.

The graphite mine had been found, and the listone mine had also been located. Although the mines hadn’t been fully established yet, and systematic production was still a ways off, it was possible to extract so materials in advance.

However, even extracting a small portion required significant resources. The laborers needed for mining and transportation had to be paid in silver.

This was why Xiao Ming was so eager to collaborate with Liang Dahai. Only with a large number of slaves could the mines and workshops have enough manpower. Then, he could select so strong young slaves to train in various technologies, gradually building Qingzhou’s industrial foundation.

With one master and one servant, the two left the Prince of Qi’s residence and headed to the Machinery Departnt. Nowadays, aside from overseeing the implentation of various policies at the Governor’s Office, Xiao Ming spent most of his ti at the Machinery Departnt.

At the Machinery Departnt, Chen Qi was fine-tuning the production line for crucible steelmaking. While the technology was in place, deviations often occurred during actual production.

During this period, Xiao Ming had focused on training Chen Qi, who had received the most knowledge from the tech crystal.

Other craftsn were only taught specific steps of the process, rather than the entire workflow. Xiao Ming did this to prevent the leakage of technology.

Having ten people each master one part of a process was much safer than having all ten master the entire process.

Moreover, the Machinery Departnt had implented strict confidentiality asures. If one person leaked information, everyone on that production line would be punished.

In the Great Yu Empire, craftsn were considered low-status and were strictly monitored by the governnt to prevent them from privately manufacturing weapons. Their household registrations were categorized separately as “craftsn registrations,” making it easy to control their movents in and out of Qingzhou.

“Your Highness, these are the listone rocks,” Chen Qi said, pointing to a pile of grayish-white stones in the backyard of the Machinery Departnt.

In modern tis, listone was not only essential for cent production but also a necessary flux in blast furnace ironmaking. Listone effectively removed sulfur and silicon impurities, improving the quality of the iron and preventing the resulting steel from becoming brittle.

Xiao Ming walked over to inspect the listone. The pile stood about two ters high, and the stones were of good quality and size.

The two blast furnaces were operating simultaneously, with four workers taking turns operating the bellows to supply air to the furnaces. Craftsn were pouring iron ore, coke, and listone chunks into the furnaces.

Red molten iron flowed from one furnace to another, and finally, the wrought iron flowed into crucibles set on one-ter-high stands. When one crucible was full, it was replaced by another.

While this process was still light-years away from modern efficiency, it was a significant improvent over the previous “pouring steel” thod and could be considered mass production.

The high-quality steel was then taken by different craftsn to create farming tools, machine parts, coal stoves, and various other items.

Chen Qi was currently instructing workers to collect the slag, as Xiao Ming had taught him.

Seeing Xiao Ming observing the steelmaking process, Chen Qi wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, “Your Highness, you told

to collect the slag after adding listone. We’ve gathered quite a bit, but what exactly is it used for?”

“This slag is a valuable material. It can be used to produce sothing very powerful,” Xiao Ming said with a smile.

This was knowledge Xiao Ming hadn’t yet shared with Chen Qi. Curious, Chen Qi asked, “Your Highness, since the slag is already here, why not tell ? Otherwise, I might not be able to sleep tonight.”

Xiao Ming chuckled. “Actually, besides being used in ironmaking, listone can also be calcined into a material called cent! Since the slag contains a lot of cent components, it can also be used to produce cent. I had you collect it to avoid waste. Otherwise, it would be a sha to discard it.”

“Cent?” Chen Qi and Qian Dafu exchanged glances.

By now, they were used to the strange terms that ca out of Xiao Ming’s mouth. They had no idea where the prince had learned such peculiar knowledge.

Xiao Ming stood with the two of them, and the knowledge from the tech crystal flowed into their minds. After a brief explanation, they understood what cent was and its uses.

“Your Highness, if cent is used to build city walls and pave roads, wouldn’t they beco impervious to weapons?” Chen Qi exclaid in amazent.

“No, cent is just the foundation. Structures made of concrete are truly impervious to weapons,” Xiao Ming said, then went on to explain the concept of concrete to Chen Qi.

“…” Chen Qi was now beyond words to describe his astonishnt. He said, “Your Highness, if all the city walls of the Great Yu Empire were built with concrete, the barbarians would have no choice but to retreat.”

Xiao Ming laughed. “You’re getting ahead of yourself. Although concrete and cent are amazing, given our current production speed, we’ll be lucky to et our own needs.”

After a mont of excitent, Chen Qi suddenly felt deflated. He said, “Your Highness, you’ve taught

so much, but look at the Machinery Departnt. We don’t have enough craftsn. We’re already overwheld with the current workload. Producing cent will be impossible without more hands.”

Recently, the Machinery Departnt had recruited more craftsn, bringing the total to fifty, but it was still insufficient. Xiao Ming sighed helplessly. “I’ll think of a solution. Let’s take it step by step. We’ll produce as much as we can.”

Chen Qi nodded reluctantly.

Xiao Ming had co this ti to check on the application of listone and graphite in ironmaking and to familiarize Chen Qi with cent for future production.

As the saying goes, “To get rich, build roads first.” Smooth transportation could greatly boost production. Given that people in this era lived clustered around cities, building roads wouldn’t require the extensive efforts of modern tis, spanning hundreds of miles.

Crucible ironmaking was now well-established, and with the graphite and listone mines under his control, Xiao Ming essentially monopolized the technology of crucible steelmaking.

However, the lack of labor remained a significant. Currently, the Machinery Departnt was still operating on a small scale.

Thinking of this, Xiao Ming knew he had to increase his investnt in Liang Dahai. Every year, many commoners were captured by the barbarians and traded as goods. Nurous smugglers operated between the Great Yu Empire and the barbarians, engaging in the slave trade.

For slaves, Xiao Ming naturally preferred people from the Great Yu Empire. As for foreign slaves, they were mostly suited for manual labor, given the language barrier.

After spending so ti at the Machinery Departnt and guiding the craftsn on the finer points of steelmaking, Xiao Ming and Qian Dafu headed back.

On the way, a man on horseback suddenly erged from an alley and blocked their path. It was Wang Shijie.