After arranging the carpenters 'tasks, Old Liu brought the butler and blacksmith Ou Peng to the northeast corner of the manor. The river entered the manor from here, and the river here was very fast.
"Manager Ou, you can build the blacksmith shop here." Old Liu said to Ou Peng.”
Butler Zhen Zhong found it strange." Why did you build the blacksmith shop here, son-in-law?”
"Butler, there are two advantages to building here. First, it's far from where we live, so the sound of forging won't affect our rest. Second, we like the northwest wind in winter. This way, the dust in the blacksmith shop will be blown out of the courtyard, so as to prevent the dust from flying everywhere in the courtyard.”
The butler was getting more and more impressed by Old Liu. He could even think of such a small detail and even knew astronomy and geography. He was really talented.
"Manager Ou, do you know how to make iron?" Old Liu asked Ou Peng.”
"I know. I've been learning from my father since I was young. When I grew up, I also refined iron with my father. It's just that the iron refined has too many impurities and is not very useful.””
"It's good that you know how to refine. We'll build a blast furnace first. Butler, do you have a brick kiln in Wuji City?”
"Son-in-law, we have a brick kiln in the west of the city, not far from here. It's the largest in Wuji.”
"I want to produce a batch of bricks to build an iron-smelting furnace. How about this? Send someone to call the manager of the brick kiln and a few people who know how to bake bricks.”
The butler agreed and went to make the arrangements.
Old Liu then said to Ou Peng," The quality of the iron you and your father refined isn't good. Firstly, the quality of the iron ore isn't good. Secondly, the temperature of the blast furnace isn't high enough, so the iron refined isn't pure. Manager Ou, do you think so?"”
After hearing Old Liu's words, Ou Peng remembered that he and his father had analyzed the reasons why they could not refine pure iron many times. In the end, they concluded that these were the two reasons. Old Liu was a scholar, so he knew how to refine iron. Moreover, he hit the nail on the head. From his words, it seemed that he knew how to solve these problems. If that was the case, it would be great. He could refine pure iron, which could be considered as fulfilling his father's wish.
"Young Master, do you have a solution?" Ou Peng asked.”
There were all kinds of names for him now. Fortunately, Old Liu did not pay much attention to these things, so he did not care.
Pointing at the rapid river, Old Liu said,""We can use it to solve the temperature problem. As for iron ore, my father-in-law's family also does this kind of business, so I think it won't be difficult to find good ones.”
Ou Peng understood the problem of the iron ore, but Old Liu pointed to the river and said that he would solve the temperature problem. Ou Peng thought for a long time but couldn't think of a reason, so he asked,"Use river water to solve the temperature problem? I still don't understand. Please explain, Young Master.”
"How big is the fan you use to make iron? How many people do we need to pull it?"
"I remember that we used a few connected fans. It took ten people to pull it each time, but it still didn't work. I heard that there were fans pulled by hundreds of people and horses, but we've never seen it before, and we can't do it.”
"The river water here is very fast. We can use the momentum of the water to make a hydraulic fan. According to the width of the river, we can make a disc-shaped thing and put it in the middle of the river.
When water strikes the wooden boards, it will drive the round plate to rotate. We will install some transmission devices by the riverside. In this way, we can use the power of the round plate to push the air blowing machine. No matter how big the air blowing machine is, we can also pull it. When the wind is strong, the temperature in the blast furnace will naturally rise.”
"I don't quite understand. I'll go back and think about it carefully. However, since Young Master is so sure, we'll just do as he says.”
"Alright, tell Butler Zhen about the materials and manpower needed to build the blast furnace, the blowing fan, and the weapons. He will send someone to prepare them. You can do the rest. I will build the blast furnace with you.”
Ou Peng agreed and went to ask the butler for something.
At this moment, the person who was sent to look for the manager of the brick kiln returned with Manager Wang and a few craftsmen. He brought them to Old Liu and said," Young master, I've found the person you're looking for. This is Manager Wang of the brick kiln. These few are highly skilled craftsmen.”
The few of them quickly greeted the son-in-law.
"I called you here because I want you to burn a kind of brick. I want to use it to build an iron-making blast furnace.”
Since he couldn't find any silica at that time, Old Liu could only work on clay.
"The specific method is to first put the clay used to make bricks into the brick kiln and burn it once. Then, smash it. Use the crushed clay as the raw material and fire the bricks according to the original brick making and firing process. It will take a longer time than firing ordinary bricks. Do you think it will work?”
The manager discussed with a few craftsmen." Sure. Please tell us the quantity we need so that we can see how long it will take to complete it."”
Old Liu did some calculations. The blast furnaces in his era were at least 100 cubic meters. However, due to the limitations of many conditions, it was not small to make a 20 cubic meter blast furnace. The outer layer was still made of ordinary bricks, and the innermost layer was made of this kind of fire-resistant bricks. He estimated that 5,000 pieces would be enough. He said to Steward Wang,"Five thousand of these bricks will do, and twenty thousand of normal bricks.”
"Yes, we have a lot of ordinary bricks over there. We can ship them over at any time. The bricks you want can be fired according to your method. I estimate that they will be delivered to you in ten days.”
"Alright then, you can send the normal bricks over first. The rest will arrive in ten days.”
Seeing that Butler Zhen Zhong had returned, Old Liu asked,""Butler, does the Zhen family have iron ore, lime, and sulfur in our business?”
" We have iron ores," Zhen Zhong replied after thinking for a while." They're shipped from Handan. We're going to sell them to Yunzhong County and buy some horses from there. We have a lot of lime and sulfur in our house, but not a lot. It's usually used as medicinal herbs. If you're not in a hurry, you can ask the family head to inform our caravan that the iron ore will be delivered within half a month. Sulfur can be purchased from the pharmacy.”
Old Liu knew about the iron ores in Handan. They were of good quality. As for lime and sulfur, they were mainly used to lower the melting point of the iron ores when they were added to the blast furnace.
It was easy to melt and remove impurities to obtain high-quality molten iron.
"Good! Then I'll have to trouble the old butler to make the arrangements.”
Seeing that everything was fine here, Old Liu asked Chu Yan to return to the village and bring his subordinates to the manor tomorrow.
Chu Yan replied and rode back to the village.
Old Liu led the butler and a group of guards to choose a relatively large empty space in the middle of the courtyard. They cleaned it up and used it as a playground in the future.
Since they did not have any equipment yet, he asked the butler to send someone to buy some stone weights and stone locks as training equipment for the personal guards. No matter what, without dumbbells and barbells, these things were still very useful for training one's strength.
After he was done with this, Old Liu went to the carpenters to see how their bunk beds were doing.
When he arrived there, Old Liu realized that he had underestimated the level of carpenters in the Han Dynasty. Since the iron tools were already very developed at that time, the carpenters had all kinds of tools such as saws, planers, chisels, hammers, etc. In addition, with Old Liu's drawings, the first bed was almost completed.
Seeing that Old Liu had arrived, Manager Lu Qi hurriedly said,""Young Master, how are we doing? Is there anything else that needs to be changed?”
Old Liu checked it carefully. He was afraid that it was not sturdy, so he shook it hard. The wooden bed did not move at all. It was much sturdier than the one he used in university.
"You guys have done well. Just do it like this. After you're done, brush another layer of paint and it'll be done.”
Then, Old Liu pulled Lu Qi to the river where he planned to build the iron-making furnace.
He described the appearance of his waterwheel to Lu Qi. At the same time, he took out a piece of paper and drew the general shape, including the supports on both sides of the river bank, the connecting shaft, and the gears.
As he couldn't make steel gears, he could only make do with wooden gears for now. When his iron was refined, he could refine steel and replace it with steel gears. By then, their lifespan and efficiency would be greatly improved.
The two of them studied it repeatedly for a long time before Lu Qi finally understood what the waterwheel that Old Liu wanted to make was for. It was such a complicated thing. Even if his ancestor Lu Ban reincarnated, he probably wouldn't be able to figure out how this son-in-law of the Zhen family was so smart. If he followed him, he would definitely create some shocking things. By then, his reputation might surpass his ancestor's.
Not to mention what Lu Qi was thinking, Old Liu also discussed with him what kind of wood to use to make the shaft and gears so that the finished product would be harder and last longer. These problems were quickly solved by Lu Qi, who was familiar with all kinds of wood materials.
Originally, Old Liu wanted him to make a chair, but thinking about how they had to make bunk beds and a waterwheel now, they didn't have time. They would wait until they were done.
As for the bellows, Lu Qi had made them before. Now, he just needed to make size bigger.
Finally, the arrangements were done. Old Liu let out a long breath. Seeing that it was already late, he and Butler Zhen Zhong returned to the Zhen family in Wuji City with a few servants.
As soon as he entered, Zhen Jiang came forward."Big Brother Liu, we recruited more than 800 people in the afternoon and divided them into three batches for the test. Those who passed, a total of…
In addition, we also followed Brother Liu's instructions and selected fifty of the unsuccessful candidates who were literate and looked rather shrewd to be trained as spies. Those who were not selected were also selected to be strong and strong as servants. The rest were given some money and sent away.”
"Jiang 'er, you're too capable. From now on, you'll be in charge of managing these spies. As for the specifics, we'll discuss it after dinner.”
"Alright, I also hope to help Brother Liu. However, you must teach me what Jiang 'er doesn't understand.”
The two of them entered the dining hall as they talked.
Zhen Yi beckoned Old Liu to sit beside him and said,""Xuande, I heard from the butler that you are preparing to open a blacksmith shop in the courtyard and have the craftsmen make something that no one has ever seen before. Is that right?”
"Yes, I am preparing to make some of the things I have seen overseas. This way, the Zhen family will be able to mass produce in the future and increase their income.”
"Alright, I've already spoken to my family and those stewards. From now on, they will all listen to Xuande. You can do whatever you want. What belongs to the Zhen family is yours.”
"Thank you, father-in-law. Don't worry. With your support, I'll definitely make the Zhen family the richest family in the Han Dynasty.”
Old Liu's words had a basis. Now that he had the capital and the support of the Zhen family, as well as his own blacksmith shop and woodworking workshop, he would have time to invent some things from his era and mass produce them. He would definitely be able to sell them for a good price. With his money, he would have the capital to compete with the world's heroes.
After dinner, Old Liu called Zhen Yan and Zhen Jiang to the living room. The few of them began to discuss how to train the spies. Old Liu was in charge of the training of the personal guards, and the siblings could not help.
Old Liu first explained the tasks of the spies to them clearly. One was to inquire about the local military and political news, the second was to collect business intelligence, and the third was to pay attention to local talents.
Since these people were to be placed in the Zhen family's businesses in various places, they first had to understand the way of doing business. This part of the training would be done by Zhen Yan first and could start tomorrow. Of course, they could also find some old shopkeepers of the Zhen family to give lectures. Second, he had to learn how to make friends with the local military and political officials. He had to give them gifts and treat them to a meal. Then, he had to think of a way to get information out of them. This was also taught by Zhen Yan. Also, he had to set up secret eavesdropping tunnels in the private rooms of the Zhen family's restaurants. When there were military and political officials eating, he would take the opportunity to eavesdrop. As for the rest, it was up to these people to show their abilities.
As for all the information collected, the Zhen family's caravan was responsible for sending it to the Zhen family. After sorting it out, Zhen Jiang handed it to Old Liu.
Although they didn't know why Old Liu was collecting this information, since Zhen Yi trusted Old Liu so much, Zhen Yan and Zhen Jiang naturally did as he was told. Zhen Jiang was especially happy when he saw that Old Liu had given him such an important task.
In order to ensure the safety of the information, Old Liu thought of using a password to write a letter. In this way, even if his information was obtained by others, it would be a piece of waste paper if they could not understand it. As for the password, Old Liu thought of using the Chinese Pinyin...
Instead, he would first teach Zhen Jiang the initial and final syllables. However, when he was in primary school, it took him more than a month to understand the pronunciation. If Zhen Jiang wanted to learn, it would probably take even longer. Anyway, he could use this opportunity to spend more time with the beauty. When Zhen Jiang was almost done learning, he would let her teach those spies. Everyone would have learned it, and it would be safe to pass on information.
Zhen Yan was still in charge of the Zhen family's business, but he had to discuss important matters with Old Liu.
Zhen Yan was touched to see that Old Liu still believed in him even though he had power. He believed that his father wouldn't make a wrong choice. Therefore, he was determined to follow Old Liu. If his brother-in-law became a high-ranking official, he might be able to get an official position. It didn't have to be too big, as long as it was higher than the county magistrate his father used to be.
"Big Brother Zhen, continue recruiting craftsmen tomorrow. Carpenters, blacksmiths, stonemasons, tailors, and as many as you can.”
"Alright, I'll arrange for people to continue recruiting tomorrow.”
Seeing that Old Liu had already started to teach Zhen Jiang Chinese Pinyin, Zhen Yan left and returned to his room to prepare for the lesson of business for the spies tomorrow.
Today, Old Liu taught Zhen Jiang the writing and pronunciation of the initial and final syllables. Zhen Jiang's comprehension ability was very fast. After learning for more than two hours, he had basically mastered it. Seeing that it was getting late, Old Liu sent Zhen Jiang to the backyard door. Only when Zhen Jiang turned around the corner and disappeared did Old Liu return to his room. He carefully recalled the training methods of the army and special police in his era and prepared to use them on these personal guards tomorrow.
#Review: 18328414957 Time:11 July 2019 6: 31PM #Release:18328414957 Time:11 July 2019 6: 31PM #
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]