"What you lack at this time is a way to directly smelt steel." Liu Weichao was heard talking. "The most critical factor is actually the temperature. But don't you already have a glass factory now? The method of increasing the temperature,

It is also suitable for smelting molten steel...!"

Emperor Chongzhen had already had very high psychological expectations, thinking that the knowledge Liu Weichao would impart next would be very difficult, and he might have to ask a lot of questions.

But unexpectedly, Liu Weichao actually said this. For a moment, he was filled with surprise and quickly confirmed: "That means I can get steel in such a simple way?"

Seeing him like this, Liu Weichao suddenly felt funny in his heart, so he was ready to give him a blow and asked him: "Let me ask you, what is steel?"

"What is steel? Isn't steel just..." When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he blurted it out without even thinking about it.

In his opinion, such a simple question, why bother asking it?

However, as soon as he said the words halfway, he suddenly felt a little dumbfounded because he found that he could not continue.

Fortunately, he was also smart. With an idea, he quickly continued: "...Is iron harder than iron?"

Liu Weichao smiled after hearing this and continued to ask: "Then why is one called iron and the other called steel? Why do they have different hardnesses? What causes it? What means can we use to change the hardness and get what we want?

Where’s the steel?”

"..." When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he was dumbfounded and couldn't say a word.

If there were craftsmen who were skilled in smelting steel, they might be able to answer it, but Emperor Chongzhen had no experience in this area, so it would be strange to be able to answer it!

Of course Liu Weichao knew that it was impossible for Emperor Chongzhen to answer the questions he asked. And this was the effect he wanted.

The reason why we did not give the information directly, but had to go through such a dialogue first, was to impress Emperor Chongzhen and understand the importance of science.

Because he estimated that if he did not emphasize it so much, the promotion of science might be delayed forever.

Fortunately, Emperor Chongzhen had become accustomed to his ignorance. After he came to his senses, he quickly said to Liu Weichao humbly: "Please tell me!"

"There is actually no essential difference between iron and steel. They are just iron elements." After Liu Weichao's popular science, he added, "Oh, by the way, use the microscope you used to observe everything in the world. Of course, some of them need more

If you observe it with a high-magnification microscope, you can see it at the molecular level. According to the different compositions of molecules, we classify them and there is a periodic table of elements. Iron is something containing iron elements."

At this point, he got to the point: "Those with a carbon content of less than 0.2% are called wrought iron or pure iron, those with a carbon content of 0.2 to 2% are called steel, and those with a carbon content of more than 2% are called pig iron. Because of the carbon content

Different, their hardness is different. If other metals are added, it becomes an alloy. Some alloys are harder than steel, but we won’t mention it here because I’m afraid your brain will be confused!”

"The melting point of iron, or the melting point of any metal, is actually related to the contained impurities. The more impurities, the lower the melting point. For example, in steel, the more carbon it contains, the lower the melting point and the earlier it melts.

The melting point of general pig iron is usually around 1100-1300°C. Steel contains less carbon and has a higher melting point, around 1600°C. Wrought iron is around 1800°C. The temperature over there is not high enough and you cannot directly obtain molten steel.

, but now it has been solved..."

In fact, at this time, Emperor Chongzhen was already a little confused. It was iron, carbon, and steel. What was the temperature? What was going on?

Seeing that he didn't ask questions, Liu Weichao continued: "So, the purpose of making steel is to control the carbon content in the molten iron. Only when you understand this principle can you do it with purpose!"

Emperor Chongzhen still knew this point of view, knowing what it is and then knowing why it is so, and he immediately nodded.

"And why the steel in the past was good, but the quality of today's steel is much worse; or maybe the steel in the north is poor, but the steel in Foshan in the south is good, this also involves another problem." Liu Weichao further elaborated,

"Today's Ming Dynasty basically uses coal for heating. Coal contains phosphorus and sulfur, which are other elements like iron. The presence of these two things will reduce the hardness of steel..."

He really spent a lot of effort to understand what he was explaining today. Although he thought he had been like this before, in fact, there was still a difference.

When he first came into contact with Emperor Chongzhen, many of the suggestions he gave Emperor Chongzhen were actually random.

For example, at the beginning, Yuhuatian's majesty appeared in his mind, and he directly quoted that famous sentence to give advice to Emperor Chongzhen. At that time, he felt more that Yuhuatian's words were domineering, rather than taking the advice from Emperor Chongzhen.

Think about it from an angle.

Of course, Emperor Chongzhen did not listen to him completely. Otherwise, if it were really "imperial concession, behead first and report later", it would definitely cause great chaos, and it would not be of much help to the situation.

Also, later he casually told Emperor Chongzhen about inventing new gunpowder, but in the end he found that with Emperor Chongzhen's acceptance, it was impossible to invent new gunpowder.

But now, he has investigated the situation in the late Ming Dynasty in detail, and then based on this situation, he will provide popular science to Emperor Chongzhen and improve the technology in the late Ming Dynasty.

The reason for such a change is actually that the world of Emperor Chongzhen has become more and more important to Liu Weichao. This also forces him to spend more time unconsciously. Because the reason is very simple, only Emperor Chongzhen is better, and he wants to

Only the golden fingers of entrepreneurship can be brought into full play.

Otherwise, not to mention Emperor Chongzhen's demise, he would not have the energy to serve Liu Weichao specifically if he only worried about national affairs every day.

In this way, Liu Weichao told Emperor Chongzhen about the improvements in steel smelting in the late Ming Dynasty. In addition to refining coke as raw material and reducing the phosphorus and sulfur content, he also introduced in detail the importance of steel forging, that is, the introduction of hydraulic power as power.

Forging and other auxiliary facilities.

He even introduced the reverberatory furnace, which separates iron and coke instead of mixed smelting of iron and coke. The impact of the pH of the refractory bricks in the smelting furnace on the steel smelting process was also explained to Emperor Chongzhen.

During this process, Emperor Chongzhen could understand most of it. Only when it came to elements, pH, specific temperatures, etc., he would have difficulty understanding and had to ask questions.

For this reason, Liu Weichao also told Emperor Chongzhen about the creation of measuring tools. For example, thermometers.

Now that glass can be made, it is easy to come up with a mercury thermometer. Just remember that frozen water is 0 degrees and boiling water is 100 degrees, and then average the scale between these two marking points, and the thermometer will come out.

In short, Liu Weichao lectured on this steel smelting course for most of the day. Even Emperor Chongzhen just ate some snacks and listened while eating.

This time also exceeded Liu Weichao's expectations. Because he did not expect to see that Emperor Chongzhen did not understand many things and needed to ask him and let him explain.
Chapter completed!