If Liaodong is an entrenched dragon, then the chimney in front of Li Xiao is the two protruding scales of the dragon. Li Xiao never dreamed that there would be a chimney up to 100 meters high in today's Ming Dynasty.

This may be the tallest chimney in the Ming Dynasty. Li Xiao still can't figure out how the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty built such a high chimney.

Driven by the huge steam engine, the wheel axle rotates slowly and creakingly, driving the thick horizontal bar. The square steel then drives a smaller gear. This decreases gradually. By the time the last gear is half a person's height, it has already rotated. It was so fast that it drove the huge bellows to blow air into the blast furnace, and a light blue flame more than a foot long came out of the small observation hole.

During Li Xiao's trip to Liaodong, he didn't even go to Shenyang and went directly to Anshan. No one knows how important steel is to a country that is rushing towards industrialization. No one understands it better than Li Xiao.

Steel is needed to manufacture production equipment, and reinforced concrete buildings need steel. People need steel in their daily lives, and farmers need steel to cultivate the land. Not to mention, the main force of the Ming Dynasty's army has been completely firearms. Even such heaven-defying things as the Aka 47 rifle exist. , the military's demand for steel has reached unprecedented levels.

I'm afraid there is no one in this world who understands steel better than Li Xiao.

In the huge steel plant of Anshan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd., Li Xiao listened to the manager's explanation to himself while carefully observing the operation process of the blast furnace. The bellows blowing was not ideal. It could not blow continuously. In any case, there was always a downtime. Just look at the flames that are coming out. They are stretching and contracting as if they are breathing.

"Commander! As you can see, it looks like this. Beizhong and others have adjusted all the joints that can be adjusted. It is now in the best condition. Beizhong thinks that there is still huge room for improvement in the level of steel smelting, but The burning temperature of coke is so high, and there are still many impurities in the steel that cannot be refined. If we scoop out these impurities and store them, they should all be good. When we find better fuel in the future, we can refine them. , then we’ll see what kind of treasure it is.”

The accompanying Mr. Zhou was originally a general supervisor and was recommended to the position of factory director by an old fisherman. His ancestors were Semu people from the Western Regions and were brought to Zhangjiakou by the Mongols to make weapons. It is said that when he arrived at his home, he This generation has been making steel for three hundred years. The method of frying steel is not unfamiliar to him. He just doesn't understand why it is necessary to stir-fry to get good steel. If Li Xiao hadn't explained to him the role of charcoal, I'm afraid I won't be able to figure out the reason behind it even if I speculate on steel for another three hundred years.

Three hundred years of steel-making career has allowed the Zhou family to accumulate enough experience. The only thing missing is the last layer of window paper that cannot be pierced. Sometimes, no one mentions this layer of window paper, even if it takes a thousand years. There will be progress.

The pitiful knowledge of steel in Li Xiao's head was as precious to the Zhou family as poking and touching a woman. After squeezing Li Xiao for three full months, Li Xiao's pitiful knowledge of chemistry and steelmaking, All became Zhou family's.

For this reason! He took his people to the bitter cold Liaodong and began to lay the solid foundation for Ming Dynasty's steel industry.

Anshan Iron and Steel is so huge that it took seven years to build the factory, and it is still under construction. In order to build Anshan Iron and Steel, the imperial court had to build a brick factory and a cement factory in Teng'ao, which produced all the masonry and cement. To Angang Steel.

As for steel bars... Anshan Iron and Steel Group never lacks steel bars.

Later generations used electric furnaces, but because the application of electricity was not widespread enough, and Anshan Iron and Steel's power plant was still under construction. Therefore, the blast furnace could only contain coke. When he was in Pidao, Li Xiao used the wind from the mountains to bring the energy to the blast furnace.

More oxygen. But no matter what, Anshan Iron and Steel's blast furnace cannot be moved to the top of Qianshan Mountain.

If you want to squeeze out the energy from the coke, you need to blow oxygen. Where did Li Xiao get so much oxygen for them to blow into the furnace?

Just as he was talking, twenty cows pulled the gantry crane over. It seemed that they cooperated very skillfully. Once in place, the workers drove the cows away, and the huge steel ladle hung on the iron hook was slowly placed at the steel tap.

"I thought about using machinery, but that would require adding a lot of transmission devices. And it's not very reliable, so there might be problems somewhere. It's good to use animals, it's simple and practical." Seeing Li Xiao shaking his head helplessly, Lao Zhou hurriedly

Replenish.

"I'm afraid the most important thing is to save money by doing this!" Li Xiao sighed, and Lao Zhou lowered his head and said nothing.

The Ming Dynasty, which entered industrialization, still used livestock as the driving force. Li Xiao believed that this was a shame of industrialization, but there was nothing he could do about it. Everything needed development, and Li Xiao could not transform into an inventor or chief engineer and solve construction problems one after another. In that case,

Even if Li Xiao transformed into the Thousand-Armed Avalokitesvara, he would still be too busy.

The Ming Dynasty needs tens of millions of Lao Zhou, and it needs tens of millions of Ao Canghai. It just cannot have tens of thousands of Li Xiaos. If there are tens of thousands of Li Xiaos, the Ming Dynasty will definitely bring chaos to the world.

A naked idiot yelled: "I'm out of steel!"

The gate of the steel-making furnace was opened, and a stream of orange-red molten steel flowed out from the outlet, falling into the ladle and splashing countless steel flowers. The lively scene made people's blood boil.

There was not much steel in the furnace, so a steel ladle was installed. The cattle in the distance continued to lead the heavy gantry to the casting ground on the other side under the shouts of the craftsmen. A stout man, also shirtless, swung around.

The huge ring on the ladle gradually tilted the ladle, aiming at the pouring opening of the sand mold. He poured the molten steel in quickly and unhurriedly. He had to say that he was good at craftsmanship and stopped before he finished pouring. Li Xiao couldn't help but

Xie looked at Lao Zhou, wondering why he did this.

"Commander! Now the workers are waiting for the air in the mold to come out. You see! The air will expand after being heated. If the air is poured in all at once, pores will be formed in the casting. Look, the air has come out." Lao Zhou explained quickly.

.

Sure enough, a stream of white air came out with a hiss along another hole. Li Xiao estimated that the temperature of the steam must be terrifyingly high. The most feared thing about castings is the presence of pores, which will affect the structural strength of castings.

Extreme damage.

Before Li Xiao arrived in the Ming Dynasty, the cavity when the artillery was cast was the main reason for the explosion. Therefore, the artillery of that era was cast so thickly.

The workers poured in again, and did not stop until the steel overflowed the gate. Due to thermal expansion and contraction, more water was always needed to pour. It seemed that the casting was not big, because there were three models placed side by side, and the molten steel was covered with clay.

It can be stored in the ladle for a period of time, and it only takes an hour for the workers to finish pouring the molten steel in the ladle.

When the strong man stopped and picked up a huge water bottle to drink water, Li Xiao pointed to his scarred upper body and asked: "Didn't the factory give you work clothes?"

"It's hot! It's too hot. I can't wear it!" The strong man said carelessly before he was kicked hard by Lao Zhou's steward. The strong man glanced at the steward with dissatisfaction before reluctantly standing alone.

He knelt down and gave Li Xiao a gift. The nobleman in front of him was very young, and he was probably the son of a powerful family.

"No need, this is a construction site, don't show off those vulgar etiquette here. I just ask you, just because it's hot, you don't need to wear those labor protection products? Look, is there still a good piece of skin on the whole body? Since

I work in this industry. Molten steel will splash when exposed to air. Don't you know this common sense?" Li Xiao likes to have a stubborn temper. Li Xiao also had this temper in the past.

"They are all fine coarse cloth. They are not only strong but also have three layers. One set of clothes can be taken apart to make three clothes. Two clothes are given out in the workshop every year. In this way, the whole family's clothes are covered. I am so thick-handed and thick-footed."

If it's not damaged by the ironing, just leave a mark." The big man immediately had a great impression of this young high-ranking official with no pretensions, and he unknowingly told the truth.

The big man's words made Li Xiao immediately speechless!

Perhaps it is because I have become familiar with the wealthy life since arriving in Ming Dynasty, and have become unfamiliar with the life of these lower class people. I have long betrayed my original class and become an evil landlord and a blood-sucking capitalist. In addition,

The previous shameful bureaucratic status could almost be buried in the ground without treatment.

As a person born before 1990, my childhood memories are blurry. But I still remember that when I was a child, I wore blue overalls that my mother had altered into smaller sizes. Even the famous photo of Ma Shaofu in his childhood was wearing coarse overalls that were altered into smaller sizes.

As long as it's new clothes, it doesn't matter what he used to be. As for his father, he can no longer remember the image of his father wearing tattered clothes while busy in the factory. The only thing he can think of is the handsome figure made of work clothes.

Small lapel suit.

Everything in front of him made Li Xiao seem to have returned to that distant era. The sky was gray, the factory buildings were gray, and the people were gray. Or maybe in that era, the heart was also gray.

"From now on, you are not allowed to enter the factory without wearing work clothes, let alone the workshop!" Li Xiao gave the order to Lao Zhou, and the big man who stood up straight had his eyes as big as eggs.

Lao Zhou bowed and promised that Li Xiao's identity would be kept secret from the workers, but he knew everything about it.

"In addition! Work clothes also include masks, gloves, shoes, etc., and an extra pair is issued every year. The government is in financial difficulties now, but it cannot afford to neglect the workers. Be patient, survive these three or two years, and everything will change.

good.

Those of you who are officials should remember that the most valuable thing in a factory is these skilled workers. It is not the chimneys and factory buildings built with reinforced concrete that the court invested heavily in.

You have to wear a mask when the weather is hot. The air here is hot and dusty, which is very bad for the lungs. Work clothes, gloves, and shoes can protect the skin! One day this house will collapse and it can be rebuilt, but once the living people of flesh and blood are gone, they will no longer be able to live.

But come."

Li Xiao said that just after he finished speaking, the tall man with an erect waist bowed and gave Li Xiao a fist. Old Zhou bowed his head and promised! Everyone looked at Li Xiao with a different look.

Except for a few core leaders in the factory, everyone else thought that he was just a young man who relied on the merits of his father's generation to hold a high position and show off his authority.

Everyone despises such a noble disciple.

But this one is different, at least he has humanity!

The development of steel technology to this day has been beyond Li Xiao's control. After all, Li Xiao is not a steelmaking technician. His little knowledge of chemistry is only at the high school level.

Everything requires a process from quantitative change to qualitative change! The remaining thing is to gradually improve during the production process. Materials science is a basic science that requires continuous trial and error to continuously improve. Perhaps more than ten years later, Ming Dynasty's

The level of steel refining will develop by leaps and bounds.

Who can say for sure!

Nowadays, Ming Dynasty has opened many schools, which gather elites from all walks of life to teach. In the final year, you will also combine theory with practice and enter the factory for internship.

Although concentrating people into schools has delayed production to a certain extent, Li Xiao, Sun Chengzong and others feel that it is more useful to put these people in schools to teach. These people are like yeast. As long as certain conditions are given, they will

It can give people a big surprise.

A full five years have passed, and two groups of students have graduated and begun to join various industries. There are hundreds of graduated students in the steel plant. After a few years of internship in the workshop, they will become the backbone of this industry.

There is not much difference between Li Xiao's grassroots inspections under the leadership of the past, and visiting these student technicians is also within the planned schedule.

As a group of knowledgeable and educated people, many of them knew Li Xiao. Because there were portraits of Li Xiao and Sun Chengzong hanging in the corridors of the school.

Li Xiao is almost the idol of young people all over the country. His deeds of conquering the world with his bare hands have become a legend. There are countless versions circulating in the market, and in each version Li Xiao is a fairy-like figure.

I actually saw the handsome man in person today. I was so excited, my hands were trembling, and I couldn't even say a complete sentence.

Li Xiao saw faces twisted with excitement, and several of them showed signs of fainting.

He shook hands with everyone in a very elegant manner, and when he saw someone who was too excited, he even said a few familiar words, which made this guy even more excited. He grinned in a silly way and showed off his little tongue to Li Xiao.

"Thank you for your hard work, students!"

"The handsome man is mighty!"

Li Xiao waved his hands and greeted these technicians. The technicians shouted slogans uniformly. It seemed that military training in the school was necessary.

Under the leadership of the grassroots, they enter the canteen to eat with the workers. This kind of people-friendly behavior must be done.

Lao Zhou was such a stupid person that he didn't know how to make his leaders show the virtue of being approachable. He specially prepared an extremely sumptuous banquet at the factory. Li Xiao just glanced at it, waved his hands and walked out, arresting someone.

Leading the way, he went straight to the factory cafeteria. A group of stunned senior officials could only follow behind Li Xiao.
Chapter completed!