More than a hundred people of the Ge Clan spread out to dig. Using all kinds of simple tools in their hands, they carried out a comprehensive inspection of the mountain within a one mile radius to determine how much copper ore there was in the vicinity and whether it met the conditions for large-scale mining.
"Chief, there's something here."
"Chief, there's something here too."
"Chief, there's a lot of this ore here!"
Good news came one after another. After digging out the soil on the surface of the mountain, all the copper ore below was exposed. These copper ore were hidden under the soil of the mountain for a long time, covered by soil and vegetation. If it wasn't for the sudden landslide that exposed part of the copper ore, the copper ore here probably wouldn't have been discovered this time. In this way, the Ge Clan's plan to escape poverty would be completely ruined.
Due to the limited manpower and tools, they could not dig all the holes where the copper ores were found. They could only dig selectively. However, as long as they dug a few random spots, they would be able to roughly determine how much copper ores there were in the area.
In order to better investigate the amount of copper ore in this area, the Ge Clan's patriarch hurriedly sent people back to the main city to bring more iron tools to the area where the copper ore was discovered to dig deeper. This would allow him to better determine the amount of copper ore in this area so that he could have a better idea of how much copper ore was hidden in this area.
The main city of the Ge Clan wasn't far from the copper mine area, so very quickly, more than two hundred people ran over with iron tools. They immediately spread out and began to dig. Some people brought more than one tool and distributed it to the people who didn't have tools before, so that all the people of the Ge Clan had iron tools. This way, it was much easier to dig.
Every small hole where a copper ore was dug out had to be taken out and brought to a fixed area for Ang Lee to identify. From there, they could confirm that it was indeed copper ore and the quality of the copper ore.
Due to the constraints of practical conditions, they couldn't dig too deep. Copper ore was also a stone, so it wasn't that easy to dig. It was easy to dig down to half a person's depth, but if they continued to dig, the difficulty would be very high. Except for a few key monitoring areas, most of the small holes were dug down to half a person's depth. As long as they dug a few more spots, they could roughly determine the amount of copper ore. There was no need to dig very deep for every hole.
At first, the people of the Ge Clan only searched for more copper ore within one mile of the discovered copper ore. Then, as more and more copper ore pits were discovered, the people of the Ge Clan began to expand the digging area, from one mile to two miles, and then to three to five miles. The search area was getting bigger and bigger, and the people of the Ge Clan were getting more excited. Because every time they expanded the search area, they successfully found copper ore resources. This was enough to prove that the Ge Clan's territory was extremely rich in copper ore resources. There were so many copper ore resources that they might not be able to mine for hundreds of years. How could they not be excited?
"Congratulations, Patriarch! You have so many copper ores here that you won't be able to mine them all in thousands of years! Moreover, they are all rich ores that are easy to smelt. The Ge Clan will soon be rich! "
Ang Lee said with a smile.
The Chief of the Ge Clan was beaming with joy, but he didn't dare to be arrogant. He knew very well that without Ang Lee's help, even if they had a gold mine, it would be useless. Because the area they lived in was too remote, and there were no talents among the people of the Ge Clan. Even if they knew that this was copper ore, how could they smelt it? They were completely clueless about the process of smelting copper. Even if they wanted to learn, they would need someone to teach them! And this was obviously not an easy task. Even if they were willing to spend money, there might not be anyone willing to teach them. Ang Lee was an exception. Ang Lee didn't care about the smelting technology being spread outside. This was a basic technology. For Ang Lee, the more it spread, the better it would be for the Tang Empire.
"We still have to rely on Assistant Minister Li for everything. My humble house has already prepared a play. I hope that Assistant Minister Li will do me the honor."
The Chief of the Ge Clan invited him very politely.
Since the Chief of the Ge Clan invited him so politely, Ang Lee didn't refuse. He could also taste the local delicacies while he was at it.
Some of the Ge Clan's people were still busy mining copper ores, but more of them accompanied Ang Lee back to the main city. They had to treat Ang Lee with courtesy first, then they could ask for more help from him. For these people, Ang Lee was their savior, a very important savior, a savior that they had to pay attention to.
On the way back, the Chief of the Ge Clan asked a lot of questions about smelting copper ores, and Ang Lee answered them seriously. As long as it was something that could be said and could be understood by the Chief of the Ge Clan, Ang Lee basically told him everything. He didn't hide anything from the Chief.
Ang Lee knew a lot about copper ores and smelting copper ores. Copper was a metal that had been recorded in the history of the Shang Dynasty. In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, it had developed to a very high level. After the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the technology of smelting copper became even more advanced.
However, even so, not all regions had the technology of smelting copper. This technology was still not widely grasped by the common people. For example, the people in the Western Detention Area didn't know the technology of smelting copper. They still needed Ang Lee to teach them.
In ancient times, copper-smelting was a kind of pottery technology. Smelting copper and making pottery had many similarities, so they were considered to be of the same type. It was said that the earliest copper-smelting technique arose during the Longshan culture of the Neolithic Age. There were many legends about Yu Yu casting nine cauldrons in ancient literature. From the archaeological excavations of later generations, it was found that the Xia Dynasty was already able to smelt copper. The Kunwu tribe that lived in the Central Plains was a tribe that was famous for their pottery and copper casting. Linking copper casting and pottery together showed that copper-smelting technique had indeed arisen from the development of pottery technology.
It was said that the smelting and processing of copper and the use of copper tools in the Pre-Qin Dynasty was the turning point for mankind from ignorance to civilization. The Yanhuang Tribe, Dongyi Tribe, Miao Man Tribe and other tribes that formed the Hua Xia Tribe all had ancient legends about metallurgy. There was sufficient evidence to show that the metallurgy technology of Hua Xia was an independent creation of the Chinese people, and not introduced from the West or the North.
The bronze knife that was unearthed five thousand years ago was the earliest piece of bronze found in the modern era. It was cast from a single mold. This bronze knife belonged to the Majiayao culture and was the earliest piece of bronze found in China. The appearance of bronze was of great significance to the progress of society and was often regarded as one of the signs of entering the civilized era. However, the development of bronze in Hua Xia was relatively slow. All kinds of data proved that it was not until the Longshan Era that people gradually grasped the technology of bronze smelting.
The bronze of the Longshan Era was not like the jade ceremonial ware that became the symbol of the epoch, and its influence on the development of society was limited. It was not until the Xia Culture of the 21st century BC that China's history truly entered the Bronze Age. Later on, the Central Plains and other places found fragments of copper vessels and copper arrowheads, indicating that the Xia Dynasty had entered the Bronze Age. The early Shang Dynasty bronze tools unearthed in the Central Plains included copper arrowheads, copper chisels, copper bells and other small tools and utensils. There were also several pieces of copper jue, indicating that the bronze smelting technology at that time had reached a certain level.
In the middle of the Shang Dynasty, the bronze casting technology was further developed. The archeology of the Central Plains area showed that there were already jue, jue, cauldron, jue, and other ritual utensils. The bronze casting technology was at its peak, and the magnificent Simuwu Cauldron was a typical example. It weighed more than eight hundred kilograms, and was the heaviest bronze casting in ancient times. More than a thousand kilograms of copper were put into it. To be able to successfully cast such a large utensils, it indicated that the handicraft production of the Yin Dynasty was on a large scale. There were tens of thousands of bronze utensils unearthed and handed down from later on, mainly in the four categories of ritual, music, weapons, and chariots.
These exquisite bronze products had a high historical, academic, and artistic value, and enjoyed a high reputation in later generations. Ancient Greece used the lost wax method to make artistic casting, but after careful inspection, there was no evidence of the lost wax method in the bronze utensils of the Shang and Western Zhou that had been appraised. The reason why some of the bronze utensils of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties could obtain such complicated shapes was that they had used the separate casting method. They could cast the body first, and then cast the accessories together with the body, or cast the accessories first, and then inlaid the accessories together with the body. The idea of the craftsmanship was very ingenious.
The copper smelting industry was the most important handicraft industry of the Shang Dynasty. On this basis, the bronze casting of the Western Zhou Dynasty had developed. The royal family, vassal states, and even aristocrats all had their own foundry workshops. The locations where bronze utensils were unearthed in later generations were more extensive than that of the Shang Dynasty. They could be found all over the country, and in terms of quantity, they far exceeded the previous generation. In the early stages of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the shapes of the bronze utensils were directly inherited from the style of the Shang Dynasty. Later on, there were more obvious changes. The patterns tended to be simple and smooth, and the walls gradually became lighter, showing the characteristics of simplicity and practicality.
In the Spring and Autumn Period, especially after the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period, due to the further development of productivity, the feudal system began to replace the slave system. The bronze casting technology also underwent a major change. It changed from the original simple casting technology to a new technology system that integrated casting, casting, lost wax method, casting and welding, red copper inlay, gold and silver inlay, and so on. The representative products were Ceng Houyi's large chime group, bronze zun, bronze plate, and so on.
In terms of the production method, the separate casting method of casting the accessories first and then the body of the utensils developed greatly and became the mainstream. This method was conducive to division of labor and cooperation, so it had a higher productivity. The combination of the components was also more stable, which was suitable for the requirements of social production. At the same time, there were many new changes in the shape and pattern of the utensils, which broke through the traditional pattern of the Shang Dynasty and the Western Zhou Dynasty.
In the Warring States Period, mass production techniques such as impression and overlay casting were developed. Many utensils were thin, light, simple, and more practical. With the development of production and the accumulation of experience, there was an obvious increase in the number of documents related to bronze casting during this period. For example, the "Kao Gong Ji" detailed the name of the chime group, the proportion of the scale, the change of the fire color during the casting of the utensils, and the ratio of the six-way alloy. The latter was known as the world's earliest written record of the rule of alloy composition. Physical examination showed that this rule was scientific and objective. Another example was the "Xun Zi: Strong Power Chapter", which described the four major technological elements to obtain high-quality casting, and the "Lu Shi's Spring and Autumn Period: Different Categories Chapter", which put forward the idea that the softness of the metal and the softness of the tin and the combination of the softness of the metal and the hardness of the metal. These were all reflections of people's understanding of the regularity of the bronze casting technology through long-term practice.
More importantly, the gradual progress of the copper smelting technology paved the way for the development of the iron smelting technology. After the copper smelting technology developed to a certain stage, the iron smelting technology also began to develop, which allowed the Hua Xia civilization to enter a more advanced iron age, thus gaining greater strength.
There were many types of copper ores, such as chalcopyrite, spotted copper ore, chalcogen ore, blue copper ore, and peacock stone. No matter which type of ore it was, as long as it had a high copper content, it was called fine copper ore or copper ore sand. Of course, there was also the most powerful natural copper, which was natural copper that could be directly cast into copper products without any smelting.
Of course, natural copper was very rare in nature. Most of it existed in the form of ores, and most of them were copper ores that needed to be smelted.
The copper ores found in the territory of the Ge Clan were not natural copper, but they were copper concentrate ores with a particularly high copper content, which was a copper ore with a particularly high mining value.
There were many ways to smelt copper ores, but many of them required too high of a condition that the Ge Clan could not complete. The smelting methods that Ang Lee was going to teach the Ge Clan were naturally very simple. These methods were the ancient copper smelting technology, and the difficulty of the operation was very low.
This method of smelting copper was called the fire smelting method. The equipment needed were blowers, reverberatory furnaces, blast furnaces, and other equipment. Among them, blowers were available locally, and they were the simple type. The blast furnaces were not difficult to build as long as there was clay. The reverberatory furnaces were also not difficult to build. These could be built very quickly.
After entering the main city of the Ge Clan, Ang Lee looked at the small shops on both sides of the road and lamented that this place was really too poor. There was only one street in the middle, and all the shops were here. There were only a few dozen shops, and the goods they sold were also very shabby. They were all things that ordinary people used every day, and there were no luxury goods. After all, there were no rich people here, and even if they sold luxury goods, no one would buy them.
The residence of the Ge Clan's patriarch was not small. It was about five acres of land, which was not small in the city, especially in the main city of the Ge Clan. The area itself was not very large, so having such a large residence was definitely very impressive. The area of ordinary people's residence was less than half an acre, which was about one-tenth of the area of the patriarch's residence.
Although the size of the Ge Clan's patriarch's residence was not bad, the building of the Ge Clan's patriarch's residence was very shabby. There was no extravagant building, and the gate was also very ordinary. It was similar to the residences of small landlords in the countryside of the Tang dynasty, or even worse.
Such a shabby residence made Ang Lee sigh. The Ge Clan's patriarch said that his home was a poor house, and it seemed that this was really a poor house. In Ang Lee's eyes, this was a real poor house.
The Apex
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