Since ancient times, advanced technology had always been very important. Whether it was for an individual or an empire, it was equally important. If an individual had advanced technology, he could live a better life than others. If an empire had advanced technology, it could easily crush its opponents and let its people live a better life.
Whether it was ordinary people or the entire imperial court, they all understood the importance of advanced technology. Therefore, they would spend a lot of energy to protect their core technology and prevent these core technology from being obtained by outsiders or enemy countries. The blockade of technology by individuals and the imperial court had never been broken.
It was also because of the blockade of exquisite skills by the blacksmiths in Central Sichuan that the blacksmiths in the Western Detention Area could not improve their skills and could not make high-quality ironware. Therefore, they had to go to Central Sichuan to buy various ironware. As a result, these blacksmiths were just tinkerers, polishing blunt tools, adjusting deformed tools, and making ironware with low technical requirements.
Technology was money, and technology was the core competitiveness. Whoever had advanced technology would live a wonderful life. They could have many things that others could not have, especially money, which was very easy to obtain.
For example, Li An was like this. Li An invented a series of advanced technologies. With just a few technologies, he made enough money for himself. He had so much money that Li An was unwilling to continue making money. This was because there was too much money, and he could not use it all. When money reached a certain level, continuing to increase money would not increase happiness. Therefore, Li An gave most of the technologies to the imperial court, and also gave some to others.
Blacksmithing technologies were very basic. Ang Lee knew a little about them. He only needed to give some pointers to the local blacksmiths to greatly improve their skills. They would be able to make more advanced iron tools. In the future, they would be able to smelt iron themselves and make their own advanced farming tools. By then, not only would they be able to satisfy their own needs, but they could also sell them to outsiders and greatly improve their living standards.
As for whether the people here would impact the Central Sichuan ironware market after learning the advanced iron-smelting technology, Ang Lee felt that there was no need to worry at all. Central Sichuan was big enough and had a high demand for ironware. The production capacity of the Western Detention Area alone could not change the situation in Central Sichuan. Even if the people here produced pig iron and iron tools on a large scale, it would at most cause a little competition in Central Sichuan's ironware business. It would not completely shake the market in Central Sichuan.
The Western Detention Area was also the territory of the Tang dynasty. The people here also needed to live a good life. Moreover, in Ang Lee's view, the lower the price of iron tools, the more advantageous it would be for the Tang Empire. The lower the price, the easier it would be to popularize these tools. Popularizing these tools could greatly improve productivity, thus allowing the Tang Empire to develop better and faster.
Now that the Tang dynasty was building railways everywhere, the demand for iron was extremely high. As long as iron ore was discovered, it must be mined as soon as possible. The more iron ore was mined, the more it could support the Tang dynasty to build more railways and extend the interests of the Tang dynasty to farther places. Since iron ore had been discovered in the Detention Area, it must be mined as soon as possible. As for the technology needed for mining, Ang Lee could give it to the local tribes for free. This would also make them feel grateful and be more willing to cooperate with Ang Lee's policies.
Looking at the siderite in front of them, the three chiefs of the Jiang tribe were all overjoyed. They did not expect that there would be so many treasures in their territory. However, at the same time, there was a hidden worry in their hearts. None of their tribesmen knew how to smelt iron ore, and they also lacked the ability to make excellent ironware. These were all core technologies, and they just happened to lack these core technologies. Therefore, it was inevitable that they would be a little anxious.
There were treasures everywhere, but they lacked the ability to use these treasures. How could they not be anxious?
Ang Lee understood the worries of the three chiefs. In order to help them and for the sake of the overall situation of the Tang Empire, Ang Lee decided to give them part of the smelting technology and let them master some of the most basic technologies.
He could give them the most basic technologies on how to smelt iron ore into pig iron and how to forge pig iron into steel. In exchange, they had to support the imperial court in building roads in their territory.
"Chiefs, don't worry. Smelting iron and making steel is not as difficult as you think. There are enough materials here. We only need to make a little preparation, and then we can smelt iron ore into steel. It's not difficult at all."
Ang Lee said very easily.
Indeed, for Ang Lee, smelting iron and steel was a piece of cake. It was really easy and not challenging at all. If he gave these technologies to the local tribes, they could also complete it in a few days. At most, he would leave some words and drawings and let them operate according to the drawings and information.
The smelting technology of Hua Xia had been around since the Spring and Autumn Period, and the technology of making steel appeared during the period of war. It was developed very early. In the earliest days, the method of smelting iron, also known as wrought iron, was used to reduce iron ore into a solid state at a low smelting temperature. This smelting technology had been used for many years. Until the 14th century, when pig iron was produced, the method of smelting iron had been used.
Smelting iron blocks was generally done by digging holes on the ground or at the foot of the mountain as a furnace. High-grade iron ore and charcoal would be put in, and then a blast of air would be used to heat the furnace. When the temperature reached about a thousand degrees, the iron oxide in the ore would be reduced to metallic iron, and the vein stone would become slag.
Because the other unreduced oxides and impurities in the ore could not be removed, a large part or a large part could only be squeezed out while it was hot, and there would still be a lot of large inclusions left in the iron. Because the smelting temperature was not high, the chemical reaction was slow, and the solid products needed to be removed from the furnace, so the output was low, and the labor intensity was high. Unlike pig iron, iron blocks contained very little carbon, were soft, and were suitable for forging. Because iron blocks were porous before forging, they were also called sponge iron.
In the Spring and Autumn Period, iron blocks were first used. Later, more advanced white cast iron appeared, and then steel. As a result, the quality of the metal became higher and more advanced. This also laid the foundation for the Hua Xia civilization to lead the world early.
In the later era, because people realized that iron blocks had low output, much labor, and high labor intensity, in order to increase output, they had to strengthen the blast and raise the furnace. The furnace would gradually develop from pit type to shaft furnace. After the furnace was raised, the rising gas flow in the furnace would be in contact with the ore for a longer time, and the energy efficiency would be improved.
Strengthening the blast had two effects. On the one hand, it increased the gas pressure and the ability to penetrate the material layer of the furnace increased, thus allowing the furnace to be raised. On the other hand, it increased the combustion intensity and directly raised the furnace temperature, which promoted the increase in output.
However, things were always divided into two. Although the production of iron increased with the increase in temperature, the speed of carburizing iron also increased. When the carburization exceeded 2%, it caused a qualitative change, and another product, pig iron, was obtained. The melting point of pig iron could be as low as 1147 degrees Celsius, and the increase in temperature also promoted the reduction of other elements in the raw material into the iron, which made the melting point of pig iron even lower. Thus, the possibility of obtaining a liquid product appeared. Of course, another possibility could not be ruled out, which was that in the primitive block furnace, pig iron could occasionally be obtained because the furnace was overheated or the fuel ratio was too high.
The earliest liquid pig iron was none other than white cast iron. In this kind of white cast iron, almost all of the carbon and iron were combined to form iron carbide. Its fracture was dark white, and its crystal grains were thick. It had great hardness and brittleness, so it was called rigid iron. In the early days of foreign countries, liquid pig iron was definitely obtained because the furnace was overheated or the fuel ratio was too high. However, because the forging tradition was too strong, and pig iron was not resistant to forging, this kind of liquid pig iron was mostly abandoned as an abnormal product of smelting. However, it was different in the Hua Xia civilization. Pig iron had a place to be used from the very beginning and was made into various products.
In addition, it was said that the progress of cast iron technology contributed to Duke Huan of Qi's hegemony. During the reign of Duke Huan of Qi, the cast iron technology of the Hua Xia civilization was already quite mature. Duke Huan's minister, Guan Zhong, immediately discovered this technology and realized the importance of this technology to the development of agriculture and handicrafts. Therefore, he vigorously promoted the iron technology, which made the State of Qi powerful quickly and gave the soldiers of the State of Qi more reliable weapons.
In short, the reason why the Hua Xia civilization was able to achieve achievements that attracted the attention of the world in the early days was inseparable from the advancement of iron smelting technology. In contrast, the development of the outside world was much slower. Therefore, the civilizations of the outside world were far inferior to the Hua Xia civilization.
Hearing Ang Lee say that iron smelting was not difficult, the several clan leaders with the surname Jiang were stunned. They could not imagine that this kind of technology that they could not break through in several lifetimes was actually not difficult in Ang Lee's eyes. This made them unable to understand.
"Assistant Minister Li means that iron smelting is easy? Then Assistant Minister Li knows how to smelt iron. "
The second clan leader said.
This guy had traveled extensively, but he rarely went out in recent years, so he did not know much about what happened in the capital of the Tang dynasty. After all, he had been to Central Sichuan and Dongnu Province, so he knew a little about these two places. As for Chang 'an, the capital of the Tang dynasty, he did not know much about what happened in the capital of the Tang dynasty.
As for the things that happened in Chang 'an, he didn't know much about them. He didn't even know Li An's ability or what kind of shocking inventions Li An had made.
The first clan leader and the third clan leader widened their eyes. They also did not know much about Ang Lee and could not believe that such a high-ranking official like Ang Lee knew how to smelt iron.
Ang Lee said with a smile, "Yes, I do know a little about iron smelting technology. It is no problem to help you refine the iron in the iron ore. As long as you are willing, I can help you now. Anyway, Duan Jianhan has not been caught yet. I have to stay here for a few days and have nothing to do."
Since Li An had said so, the three clansmen were naturally very excited. Happiness had come too suddenly, and they were so excited that they couldn't describe their feelings. This kind of thing that fell from the sky didn't happen every day, and it didn't happen even once in a few hundred years!
"Really? Assistant Minister Li is willing to give us the iron smelting technology? "
"Then what do we have to pay? We, the Jiang clan, are reasonable people. We can't take other people's things for free. "
The second clan leader and the third clan leader said one after another.
Ang Lee said with a smile, "The two clan leaders are too serious. It is just an iron smelting technology, and it is not an important technology. There is no need to exchange anything. As long as you are loyal to the imperial court, don't be bewitched by outsiders, and don't oppose the imperial court's reasonable road construction, it will be very good. I don't need anything in return. Hahaha!"
The Jiang clan was not rich, and Ang Lee was not short of money. Therefore, there was no need to ask the Jiang clan for anything, as long as they did not make trouble for the Tang Empire.
Hearing that Ang Lee did not have any special conditions, the three clan leaders were naturally surprised. This kind of good thing was not common, so they were naturally indescribably happy.
After a while of pleasantries, Ang Lee told the three clan leaders to bring a brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. Ang Lee wanted to start drawing immediately. How to build an iron smelting workshop required drawings. Otherwise, the local clansmen would not understand if he just described it in words.
Because all the iron smelting equipment was in his mind, Ang Lee picked up the brush and drew all the necessary equipment in a very short time. The drawing was very detailed. As long as the local clansmen were not fools, they would be able to understand it.
Ang Lee mainly drew the furnace and bellows necessary for iron smelting, as well as some auxiliary facilities. These facilities seemed simple, but they were very competent in smelting pig iron. With these simple facilities, pig iron could be smelted.
In addition to the facilities, Ang Lee also asked the three clan leaders to mobilize the clansmen to prepare all the necessary raw materials. For iron smelting, fuel was a necessity. Without fuel, there was no way to smelt iron, so sufficient fuel must be prepared. In the detention area, Ang Lee did not find any coal, but there were enough trees here. Since there was no coal, he could only use charcoal instead. Although the effect was not as good, it could be used.
However, the local people were a little lazy and did not have ready-made charcoal. They used firewood to cook instead of turning the firewood into charcoal. After all, it was more convenient to use firewood directly. It would be more troublesome to burn the firewood into charcoal. Anyway, there was not much difference between using firewood directly or using processed charcoal for cooking.
To make charcoal, one needed firewood and a charcoal kiln. Without a charcoal kiln, it would be more difficult to make charcoal. For example, after burning enough firewood, one could immediately cover it with sand to get high-quality charcoal.
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