Li An had already made up his mind to pass on part of the heat treatment technology of iron products to the Jiang tribe. In the future, when he met other tribes with iron ore resources, he would not hide it from them. His purpose was very clear, that was, to let more people have the ability to smelt and produce qualified iron products. Thus, the quantity of pig iron and iron products on the market would be greatly increased, and their prices would be lowered, so that the majority of the people would benefit.
At the same time, if there were more pig iron and iron products on the market, it meant that the Tang Empire could have more construction resources. When building various large-scale infrastructure, there would be more choices. The cost of building roads and bridges would be greatly reduced, which was a huge benefit to the popularization of the infrastructure of the Tang Dynasty. The basic traffic of the Tang Dynasty could be popularized faster. As long as the traffic situation was improved, the economic situation would certainly improve greatly, which could make the Tang Empire richer. Therefore, Ang Lee's decision was absolutely correct. Some technologies needed to be leaked as much as possible. The more they were leaked, the more advantageous it would be for the Tang Dynasty. However, some core technologies could not be leaked casually. Otherwise, it would threaten the safety of the Tang Empire. For example, the newly invented gunpowder technology could not be leaked casually. This threat was too great.
The second patriarch did not know that Ang Lee was going to tell them the heat treatment technology of pig iron. He did not dare to have extravagant hopes in this regard. After all, Ang Lee had done enough for the Jiang tribe. In the world, no one could do better than Ang Lee. No one would be so friendly to them like Ang Lee.
"Second patriarch, do you have blacksmiths here?"
Ang Lee looked at the people working around him and asked.
The second patriarch hurriedly said, "Yes! Of course. "
After that, he called out several blacksmiths who were working.
These blacksmiths looked very strong. Their arms were thicker than ordinary people's. This was caused by working all year round. Because they needed to work all year round, their arms were naturally thicker and stronger than ordinary people's. They were very strong.
"What do you usually forge?"
Ang Lee asked.
"It's repairing and mending, helping the clansmen repair tools and farming tools."
A blacksmith said.
When the rest of the blacksmiths heard this, they only smiled awkwardly and didn't say anything. It was obvious that their skills were very poor. Other than repairing blacksmiths, they only had the ability to make some simple items.
In fact, such low-skilled blacksmiths couldn't even be called qualified blacksmiths. For Ang Lee, such blacksmiths must undergo technical transformation and have strong blacksmithing skills.
"I can only tinker. That won't do. How can I be considered an artisan with such little ability? Blacksmiths need to live up to their name. At the very least, they need to be able to make the most basic farming tools. Nowadays, they need to know how to make all the tools used for work. "
Ang Lee said and proposed the skill standards that a blacksmith should have. Blacksmiths who only knew how to tinker were not qualified blacksmiths.
One of the blacksmiths seemed to have his dignity hurt. He hurriedly explained, "We actually know how to make some tools, but the tools we make are not as good as the tools bought from Central Sichuan. The tribesmen don't want the tools we make and want to buy the tools from Central Sichuan. In the long run, we stopped making tools and changed to being responsible for repairing them. Occasionally, we would make some tools when we have nothing to do."
Ang Lee naturally understood what they meant. He said with a smile, "If the tools you make are not good, it means you don't know how to make. What's the difference?"
"We used to use them well before. Since everyone got used to the tools from Central Sichuan, they started to dislike the tools we made."
A blacksmith said with grievance.
Ang Lee said, "No matter what, it's still because your skills are not good enough. If your skills were good enough and the tools you make were very useful, why wouldn't the tribesmen use them?"
"That's right! It's because the tools we make are not good. It's all our fault. "
The blacksmiths finally realized their mistake. They knew that it was because they were not good enough that their tribesmen were not willing to use the tools they made. This made them feel very ashamed. However, their skills were taught by their fathers and their masters. Their masters only had this ability, so they were very helpless.
The second patriarch seemed to feel something and asked excitedly, "Assistant Minister Li, are you going to help these children?"
Ang Lee said with a smile, "Of course. It's not difficult. As long as they are willing to learn, I can teach them."
The second patriarch and the blacksmiths were all excited when they heard this.
"Kneel down and thank him."
The second patriarch quickly asked the blacksmiths to kowtow to Ang Lee.
"Get up, all of you, get up. You don't have to do this."
Ang Lee helped the blacksmiths up and said that he would teach them how to do the heat treatment correctly. This simple process was not difficult to learn and could be learned easily.
The blacksmiths of the Jiang tribe were naturally very excited. They never dreamed that Ang Lee would teach them the technology of heat treatment for free. In this way, they could make all kinds of tools and farming tools by themselves in the future. Their income would greatly increase, and more importantly, their status would rise. Previously, because the quality of the tools they made was not good, they were only responsible for repairing the tools made in Central Sichuan. This made them feel very embarrassed. The feeling of being looked down upon was really not good. But as long as they could make tools of the same quality as those made in Central Sichuan, they would no longer be discriminated against. Whether it was their own inner pride or the eyes of their tribesmen, it would greatly improve.
"Assistant Minister Li, it seems that it's almost done. A furnace of molten iron has been refined."
A Jiang tribesman came over and said.
Ang Lee heard this and quickly went over to take a look. He found that the smelting was indeed done. The impurities were almost all cleaned up.
"Very good, this furnace is done. Hurry up and release it! Prepare for the next furnace. "
Ang Lee said.
Soon, a large basin full of molten iron was released and flowed into the prepared grinding tools. These grinding tools were all square boxes. After the molten iron cooled down, pieces of pig iron could be obtained. These pieces of pig iron were neither big nor small, just enough for a person to carry. They were probably only a few dozen pounds!
If the iron ingot was too small, it would waste the grinding tools. If it was too big, it would be impossible for a person to carry it. Obviously, it would not work either. Therefore, it had to be neither big nor small.
In the future, because of a large number of machines, smelted steel could be made very large. It could be made into iron ingots or very long cylinders of steel. The weight of one cylinder could reach thousands or tens of thousands of pounds. It was impossible for a person to carry it. But as long as a machine was used, it could be easily lifted.
In the Tang dynasty, the number of machines was too small. Without the help of machines, large iron ingots could not be transported and used. Especially for ordinary blacksmiths, they were not capable of equipping machines. Therefore, if they were given an iron ingot that weighed thousands of pounds, they would not be able to handle it. They could only be given iron ingots that weighed dozens of pounds.
All the workshops that produced pig iron in the Tang dynasty used different sizes of grinding tools. Some were bigger, some were smaller. But no matter what, all the iron ingots produced would not be very heavy. They would definitely be able to be carried by a person.
The Tang dynasty did not set a standard for iron ingots. It was impossible to set one, because even if the grinding tools were of the same size, the weight of the iron ingots produced would be different. It was impossible to be very accurate. There would always be a certain amount of error, and this error made it impossible to set a unified standard. Anyway, when selling iron ingots, they were sold according to weight, not according to the number. Selling by weight was undoubtedly the fairest.
Even if they were forging tools, the price of the tools would first consider the weight. For example, the price of a hoe that weighed five pounds would definitely be much more expensive than that of a hoe that weighed three pounds.
A furnace of molten iron was divided into more than a dozen grinding tools. Now, because it was molten iron, the temperature was very, very high. It was absolutely not to be touched. At this moment, if someone touched it, his body would be seriously burned, and the consequences would be very terrible.
The molten iron needed some time to cool down, but this time would not be very long. Perhaps it would take a long time to completely cool down, but it would not take a long time for the initial solidification. As long as the initial solidification was completed, it could be picked up and directly processed. It could be made into various required tool shapes.
"Assistant Minister Li, the molten iron has hardened. This is really iron!"
The second patriarch said happily.
After the initial cooling of the molten iron, not only did the surface of the molten iron become solid, but its color also changed. The red color on the surface gradually faded and was replaced by the color that pig iron should have. At a glance, people could tell that it was pig iron. This naturally made the second patriarch very excited.
Yesterday, Ang Lee said that there were iron ores in the area. In less than a day, the first batch of pig iron had been produced. Looking at the pig iron that had cost a lot of money before, it was impossible for the second patriarch not to be excited. Anyone who had such an experience would be unusually excited.
These pig iron were all money! As long as they were sold, they could earn a lot of money. This way, they could buy more goods and let the people of the clan live a better life.
The second patriarch even took an iron chisel and smashed the pig iron that had just cooled down. Hearing the crisp sound of the chisel hitting the pig iron, his heart was filled with joy.
With the hammering of the chisel, red spots appeared on the pig iron from time to time, but soon disappeared.
"Have you brought the tools? I will now teach you how to forge high-quality iron products. "
Ang Lee said.
"Hurry up and get ready."
The second patriarch was so excited that he almost jumped up.
The equipment in the blacksmith shop was not complicated. There were only a few types. In order to smelt pig iron, many of the equipment had already been moved over. Whether they could be used or not, they had to be moved over first. This made it convenient for Ang Lee to teach them how to forge iron.
Forging iron required one's body to be strong. For this, the blacksmiths of the Jiang tribe were undoubtedly qualified. These guys were very strong and were fully qualified for the job of forging iron. If they were thin and weak, they would not be able to forge iron.
Blacksmithing was not as simple as forging pig iron into the required shape. It also required a certain heat treatment process. Furthermore, other metals could also be added to greatly improve the properties of the pig iron, allowing it to have the required properties. In other words, a high-quality metal product could be produced.
For example, after a certain amount of heat treatment, although the appearance of the farming tools would not change much, the hardness and toughness would increase to a certain extent. Thus, the farming tools would not be easily damaged by touching stones. In this way, qualified farming tools would be created.
For metal products made of alloys made of various metals, the ordinary heat treatment process of the Tang dynasty was still backward. However, there was no other way. After all, the technological foundation of the Tang dynasty was too backward.
The types of metals that had been researched in the Tang dynasty were too few. The difficulty of alloy technology was much more difficult than ordinary heat treatment. It could not be made by simple equipment. It required a lot of auxiliary equipment, which could only be done by large-scale workshops. An ordinary blacksmith shop with a few people could not make alloy materials. The greatest product they could make was the solid iron products made of ordinary heat treatment.
The blacksmith furnace and the bellows were quickly assembled. Several blacksmiths worked together and started the fire. A piece of iron ingot that had not been completely cooled was placed on the operating table.
In the past, when forging iron, the local blacksmiths simply heated the pig iron until it turned red and then forged it into the required shape with a hammer. However, in this process, they did not master the most important problem of heat control. Therefore, the quality of the iron products they made was always unsatisfactory.
"You can forge an axe! Do it the way you usually do it. Let me see how you work. "
Ang Lee said.
Although he had promised to teach them how to make better quality iron products, Li An did not plan to do it himself. He wanted to let them do it themselves and then casually give them some pointers from the side. For blacksmiths, sometimes a very casual pointers could greatly improve the quality of the products, increasing the quality of the products by many times.
Several blacksmiths began to forge seriously. Axes were a very common tool used by the mountain people. Therefore, all the blacksmiths here knew how to forge an axe from a piece of pig iron. They were very familiar with it.
Two blacksmiths tried their best to drive the bellows to make the smelting flame very big. Only in this way could the pig iron be softened. Only when the pig iron was softened could it be forged into shape. Ordinary hammering could only work against the soft pig iron. The hard iron could not be hammered out of shape.
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