When Ge Jiangshi and Liu Blacksmith heard Gu Zhenhua's words, Ge Jiangshi frowned first and couldn't help asking: "Dude, are you talking about heating the carbonite? It's like burning bricks?"

"It's almost the same. There are impurities in the charcoal, which will decrease after heating."

"I've heard of this!" Liu Blacksmith slapped his forehead and couldn't help but say, "Dude, some people have used it in the Jiangnan area, but they seem to have just burned odorous charcoal. Guide's charcoal is of good quality, so we simply used it directly, and didn't expect this."

Smell?

I'm afraid there are too many impurities. Gu Zhenhua didn't think much about it and hurriedly said, "Since that's the case, are there anyone in the factory who knows the process?"

"Yes, Zhang Gang, a craftsman from Nanjing, has done this."

"Come here quickly."

At the command of Gu Zhenhua, a craftsman in his forties was brought over soon. The man was not tall, his face was covered with burning pockmarks, a pit bag, and a simple face.

After meeting Gu Zhenhua, Zhang Gang hurriedly fell to the ground: "The villain has seen the Duke."

"Please get up quickly!"

After Gu Zhenhua asked him to get up, he said, "Zhang Jiangshi, I heard that you know how to burn it. I wonder if you can tell me the method?"

Zhang Gang was a little stunned, and Blacksmith Liu said from the side: "It is to burn the smelly charcoal into charcoal."

"This, this..."

"Don't stop this and that. Since you understand, just tell me it quickly. Are we all anxious if you don't see that we are all here?" Liu Blacksmith said impatiently.

Zhang Gang's eyes rolled, and he showed a look of embarrassment: "Mr. It's okay to let the villain burn, but this method really cannot be said. The craftsman just pointed at this to eat. I still want to pass on the family!"

Ge Jiangshi's face was also very bad, "Zhang Gang, Duke Guo said personally, what else do you want? Besides, how much steel has been used to be scrapped these days, why don't you know the importance of it?"

Zhang Gang lowered his head when he was scolded, but this stubborn guy had no intention of retreating at all. He didn't say it, he just didn't say it!

Gu Zhenhua suddenly smiled and said, "I understand Zhang Jiangshi's concerns. I would rather give up a ingot of gold than teach a little spring. Skills are the capital for your meals, and I cannot ask for it for nothing. But how to give this money, I have to discuss it."

"What to discuss?" Liu Tiejiang was impatient and couldn't help but say: "The Duke of the State treats us well, and his salary is several times higher than before. If you do well, you will also have bonus allowances. If you want to ask for more, you are simply greedy!"

"Didn't I want to ask too much? Shouldn't the kid in that family leave a way out? Everyone has learned it in the future, so why do we do with us?"

Zhang Gang argued loudly, and this also touched the thoughts of many craftsmen present. Chinese craftsmen are taught by their words and minds, and there are many things in the father and son master and apprentice. The master would rather bring it into the coffin than stay. As a result, there are often faults in the inheritance of technology, and it is impossible to form a system.

Take coke as an example. In fact, it was used in the Southern Song Dynasty. As a result, after hundreds of years, most craftsmen still did not know the function.

"Zhang Gang, you contribute your coking technology. From now on, I will allow you to spend a penny every time you make a scoop of coke."

"It's only a penny!"

"Hahaha, this is quite a lot. In the future, large-scale steel and ironmaking will require hundreds of thousands of dans of coke, or even millions of dan. With a dan, it will be valid for 30 years. What do you think?"

Zhang Gang's eyes suddenly lit up. He calculated with his fingers, but he still couldn't figure it out. However, he knew that it was definitely a lot of money, but he was a little hesitant, "It's only thirty years old, little boy, by then, it's my age!"

"Damn it!" Ge Jiangshi couldn't help but curse, "Silly, one million dan, the amount of silver you can get in a year is 1,000 taels. It's enough to build a silver mountain for thirty years. At this point, your baby is still pointing to his skills to eat, so you might as well find a cesspool to dig in!"

Now Zhang Gang's head turned around and couldn't help but giggle: "One thousand taels a year, one thousand taels a year, one thousand taels a year..."

Blacksmith Liu even pushed him violently: "Don't be stupid, go and burn the charcoal quickly. If you can't burn it well, throw you into the stove!"

"Oh!" Zhang Gang agreed quickly, turned around and ran away.

Gu Zhenhua also looked at all the craftsmen present and smiled and said, "I know that everyone has many skills in a talented family and is unwilling to tell others easily. From now on, we will set a rule. No matter who comes up with a new craft and proves it effective, we will give you a reward. Whoever designs a new weapon will be able to withdraw money from each piece of it in the future. You all discuss how much it should be, formulate a rule, and then hand it over to me for final confirmation. Everyone remembers that the ideas and creativity in your head are valuable, don't cherish it yourself, the craftsmen can get more!"

"Thank you, Duke!"

When Ge Jiangshi heard this, he cried and fell to the ground. The same was true for other craftsmen. For thousands of years, craftsmen have been suppressed at the bottom of society, regarded as strange skills, and the lives of craftsmen are even more embarrassing. It is precisely because of this embarrassment that they cherish themselves and regard technology as life. The more they are, the more they lose some good things.

In later generations, when archaeology is done, I often amazed at the wonderful ideas of my ancestors. Unfortunately, these wonderful ideas have not been widely spread and passed down. After all, it is the disadvantage of this kind of master-apprentice inheritance.

"Everyone, I have said that whoever can make An** stronger is a useful talent. Your craftsman is responsible for the weapons of soldiers and cannot belittle himself. In the future, craftsman can award medals, become officials, and make big money. There is only one requirement, that is, to produce better things!"

"Abide by the order!"

All the craftsmen present shouted loudly, as if they were injected with chicken blood. Some people even surrounded Mr. Ge and actively proposed their own secret skills.

"Be honest first, the most important thing is to make good steel, speed up sword production, and put the rest aside for the time being."

...

Five days passed in a flash, but during these five days, Zhang Gang, Ge Jiangshi, and Liu Blacksmith almost didn't have much rest.

In order to ensure the best coke was refined, they first made the coke oven urgently, and Zhang Gang carefully supervised the whole process, and then he carefully put the selected coal in and heated it.

The furnace temperature rises little by little, and the complex chemical changes are taking place in the coal inside. Of course, these craftsmen outside cannot understand it. Zhang Gang just paid close attention to the furnace temperature, for fear of a little mistake.

Sweat fell down, and Zhang Gang just kept drinking water and left without a single step. Finally, about eight hours later, the first stove of coke was finally ready.

Liu Blacksmith and the others were waiting. After the oven was released, Liu Blacksmith slapped his thighs excitedly after just taking the first look.

"It's done!"

Indeed, the coke looks better than ordinary coal, with a black and shiny luster and scattered with pores, and the effect of burning must be good!

Ge Jiangshi was even more excited. He hurriedly ordered the use of these fresh cokes to make steel. After working hard for a whole day and night, the first batch of steel was finally forged.

These craftsmen were crowded together and looked carefully. The hardness was almost no different from the ones bought in Japan. Everyone was overjoyed and hurriedly reported to Gu Zhenhua.

The more you got the news, the more you were. The coke breakthrough, it meant that the iron smelting efficiency was higher and the quality was better. With enough steel, An**’s guns and cannons were equivalent to a green light all the way.

Gu Zhenhua personally encouraged all the craftsmen and promoted Zhang Gang to serve as the senator of the arsenal, specializing in the production of coke. Gu Zhenhua also asked Zhang Gang to explore how to produce the best quality coke. Zhang Gang was particularly active. Not only did he get a stable income, but he also became an official. He never dared to think that such a good thing could have!

Not only him, but other craftsmen were also very encouraged. After having abundant high-quality steel, the arsenal immediately started running at high speed. According to Gu Zhenhua's requirements, the output of muskets must first be increased to 100, and the production of guns must also be put into the right track.

Of course, in addition to these, Gu Zhenhua also requires the emergency production of 50,000 long spears, which can be discounted in quality, but the quantity must not be small.

After receiving this strange order, Ge Jiangshi even suspected that the order was given wrong. How could Gu Zhenhua, who had always been strict with him, allow quality discounts!

However, he didn't dare to ask too much, so he could only urge everyone to complete it as soon as possible, and outsourced all the guns and red tassels and other things.

Of course, Gu Zhenhua did this not a fool. He had his own reasons. In the past few days, tens of thousands of refugees flocked to Guide. There were crowds of fleeing famines everywhere. They were basically running from village to village. People continued to join along the way, with hundreds of people fewer than thousands of people, and they could almost see the edge of the elderly and young.

The refugees basically don’t cover their bodies, they just have a simple piece of linen cloth, holding a wooden stick in their hands, holding a broken bowl. There was no one or two meat on their bodies, all of them were full of rugged bones. Their eyes were dull and there was no magic at all, just like a group of zombies moving.

The officials responsible for resettling refugees in various places were all shocked. No matter how much food An** gave her, she could not feed so many mouths. As the granary shrank day by day, more people were still coming, no one was convinced.

"Listen to everyone, starting today, we will only give you one meal a day, everyone is lined up, don't be messed up!" Zhou Yingjie shouted at the top of his throat.

Gu Zhenhua and Xu Fang were just here, looking at the huge crowd from afar, Xu Fang smiled bitterly: "Duke, this is the reason for the endless killing of bandits. A natural disaster can send them many people. When there is no porridge, I am afraid that these people will rebel! Duke, you really have to come up with an idea, otherwise we won't be able to hold on for long."

"Hahaha, Xu Shengsheng said it well. I think for the sake of the present, just follow Li Zicheng, turn refugees into bandits, and release them to grab things!" (To be continued...)
Chapter completed!