Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 57: The Use of Steel, Lao Zhu's Importance of Cement [Seeking Follow-up Reading]

Zhu Yuanzhang had rich life experience.

After a little thought, he found that a large steel ship could really float on the water like a copper basin.

Since iron ships can float on water, with sails and oars, they can naturally sail on rivers and lakes like wooden boats!
Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes lit up and he said, "If we can really build iron ships, wouldn't we be able to ram enemy ships at will during naval battles without fear of enemy artillery fire?"

Although naval battles in the early Ming Dynasty had developed into long-range bows and crossbows, muskets, and artillery bombardments.

However, the artillery in the early Ming Dynasty was not very powerful and its range was not far - in fact, artillery in the early Ming Dynasty was called "bowl-mouth gun", so one can imagine how powerful it was.

Therefore, let alone a steel battleship, even a battleship wrapped in iron armor can withstand the bombardment of artillery shells at this time.

Seeing that Zhu Yuanzhang had grasped the advantages of steel warships, Liu Kuan said, "Your Majesty is wise. In fact, with the current level of warships in the world, the Ming Dynasty only needs to build steam ironclad warships to roam the oceans and be unrivaled!"

"Ironclad ship?" Zhu Yuanzhang laughed. "It seems that what I thought was right. Warships can also be armored."

"If the Ming Dynasty plans to conquer Korea, Japan, or the New World you mentioned, it will need a navy capable of navigating the oceans. Therefore, the construction of these ironclad ships is imperative."

"Well, is an ironclad ship easy to build? How does it compare to building a train?"

Liu Kuan said, "If we just build a sailing ironclad ship, it's easier than building a train because we don't need to build a steam engine."

"Building a steam-powered ironclad warship would be about as difficult as building a train. Building a true steam-powered steel warship would definitely be even more difficult than building a train."

"According to what you said, the Ming Dynasty should be able to build ironclad warships within ten years, right? Well, go on, what else can steel be used for besides building warships?"

When Liu Kuan heard Zhu Yuanzhang ask this, he knew that Zhu's mind had changed.

He continued, "Steel can also be used to make artillery. I heard that many artillery pieces in the Ming army are still made of copper, as are muskets."

"If steel production increases, we can definitely use steel to cast cannons. Iron is also acceptable, but iron cannons are heavier."

"Historically, two hundred years later, Westerners invented a type of iron cannon. The Ming Dynasty even spent a huge sum of money to buy this cannon from Westerners in order to deal with enemies such as the Japanese pirates and the Later Jin Dynasty."

"Because it was purchased from the red-haired barbarians, it is called the Red Barbarian Cannon."

"Later, when the Qing army entered the Central Plains, they were able to repeatedly capture strong cities because some generals defected with many red-haired cannons and musketeers and surrendered to the Qing."

"This type of iron cannon has a range of a little over a mile or as long as three or four miles. It can weigh over a thousand pounds, or even thousands or even tens of thousands of pounds!"

"If the Ming Dynasty wants to manufacture this kind of iron cannon, the iron production will definitely not be too much."

After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang frowned slightly, as if thinking about something.

Seeing Liu Kuan paused, he said, "Go on."

Liu Kuan was actually a little thirsty after talking about this, but he didn't feel comfortable asking Lao Zhu for water.

He thought for a moment and continued, "Besides, steel can be used to build houses..."

"Build a house?" Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but interrupt Liu Kuan again, glaring at him and saying, "Build a house with steel? Isn't that too extravagant?"

Liu Kuan smiled and said, "Your Majesty, please don't misunderstand. The entire house is not made of steel. Instead, it is constructed with steel as the backbone and cement concrete poured in."

"Most houses in later generations were built this way, and this method can also be used to build fortresses. Even the red cannons that I mentioned earlier would probably be difficult to blast through."

Zhu Yuanzhang asked, "What is cement concrete?"

Even if Old Zhu didn't mention the cement issue, Liu Kuan would have talked about it - this was a major achievement of his work at Liuhe Iron Yard this time.

"Your Majesty, cement is a common building material in later generations, similar in use to the glutinous rice mortar used in city construction today."

“It’s just that cement costs less, but its performance is much better than sticky rice mortar.”

Liu Kuan had some knowledge of the ancient building material "glutinous rice mortar".

It uses glutinous rice paste and slaked lime as its main ingredients, and sometimes even eggs or honey are added to enhance its adhesive properties!

Not to mention the prices of glutinous rice and quicklime, the prices of eggs and honey in ancient times were not low - the adhesives used to build cities were often used in large quantities, so the cost was naturally quite high.

As for Zhu Yuanzhang, he understood even more clearly how much glutinous rice mortar cost in building cities and houses.

When he was building the city walls of Beijing and the Forbidden City, in order to make the walls strong enough, he asked the craftsmen to add eggs to the glutinous rice mortar. The construction of the city walls of Beijing and the Forbidden City took several years to complete, and the high consumption of glutinous rice mortar was one of the main reasons.

Now when Zhu Yuanzhang heard Liu Kuan say that there was a cheaper but better performing alternative, he could hardly believe it.

"Liu Kuan, is what you say true?" Liu Kuan asked. "How dare I, Your Majesty, deceive you? The cross-river bridge is mainly constructed of steel bars and cement concrete. The crossbeams on the railway are also made of cement."

"Also, this time at the Liuhe Iron Works, I've had the craftsmen trial-produce cement for use in building coke ovens, blast furnaces, and so on."

"Cement has been trial-produced?" Zhu Yuanzhang was surprised again.

Liu Kuan said, "Cement is mainly made of lime, clay, and iron powder, all of which are readily available at the Liuhe Ironworks. I also know the formula and firing process for cement, so trial production shouldn't be difficult."

Zhu Yuanzhang paused for a moment, then asked, "You said earlier that a fortress could be built with steel as the backbone and concrete as the foundation. Then even the Red Cannon wouldn't be able to break it."

Liu Kuan nodded. "As long as the fortress's structure is scientific and reasonable enough, it will not be afraid of the Red Cannon's bombardment."

After hearing Liu Kuan's confirmation, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately said, "Then this cement can be called a military and national treasure. Do you have a secret for its formula and firing process?"

"Old Zhu is really alert. Fortunately, I was prepared."

Liu Kuan secretly admired Old Zhu's sharpness, and then said, "I have asked Captain Zhou of the Feixiong Guard to leave a hundred men to guard the cement factory, and also asked the cement workers to sign a confidentiality agreement."

Old Zhu nodded. "You did a good job, but the cement is so important that only a hundred people are not enough to guard it. We will send another thousand people later."

"As for those craftsmen, their families must be brought to the Liuhe Ironworks. They are not allowed to have any contact with the outside world without our permission."

Liu Kuan didn't expect that Lao Zhu attached so much importance to cement that he wanted to put the craftsmen who made cement under house arrest.

He found it a little hard to accept, and felt that Lao Zhu had missed the point of the matter.

He frowned slightly and said seriously, "Your Majesty, the cement has just been fired, so it must be kept secret to prevent the formula from being leaked and falling into the hands of the enemy."

"However, cement can not only be used in conjunction with steel bars to build fortresses, but can also be used to build cities and houses. Most importantly, it can be used to build cement roads to replace the rammed earth official roads at that time."

"In later generations, cement factories will be everywhere, and the country and the people will be able to fully enjoy the benefits of cement."

"If the Ming Dynasty wants to fully utilize cement, it must produce it on a large scale. Under such circumstances, it would be difficult to maintain the cement formula."

"Instead of trying to prevent cement leaks, I think it would be better to expand cement production as quickly as possible and have craftsmen develop cement with better performance."

"Also, just because the kind of fortress I mentioned earlier cannot be breached by iron cannons doesn't mean there aren't other ways to breach it. For example, more powerful cannons, or more powerful explosives."

After hearing Liu Kuan's words, Zhu Yuanzhang looked at him thoughtfully.

He could tell that Liu Kuan felt that it was unnecessary for him to keep the cement secret so tightly, and was also dissatisfied with his confinement of the craftsmen who made cement.

"This guy is a bit too soft-hearted."

"But he does have some truth to him—this cement must be produced on a large scale to fully realize its effectiveness. It's unlikely that the formula will be kept forever."

Thinking of this, Zhu Yuanzhang said, "I understand what you mean. In this way, I will strictly order those craftsmen to keep the secret of cement production and will not imprison them."

"But we will send people to closely monitor them. If these craftsmen and their families want to leave Liuhe, they must obtain approval from the authorities."

Liu Kuan breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this.

He knew that Lao Zhu had already made a concession.

"Go on, what other uses does steel have? Tell me as much as you know." Zhu Yuanzhang was correcting the topic again.

Liu Kuan pondered for a moment and said, "In addition to being used to produce military weapons, machinery, and military weapons, steel can also be used to make daily necessities needed by the people, such as pots and basins."

"It can also be used to make various tools... In short, it has many uses."

"In my humble opinion, the Ming Dynasty still has a huge demand for steel. Even if we produce tens of millions of pounds of pig iron annually, there is no situation where we cannot use up or sell it."

Having said this, Liu Kuan stopped.

He had said all he could say.

I believe that Lao Zhu’s view on steel should have changed completely.

　Sorry, the second update is late. Something happened at home after get off work today, which delayed my writing.

　　Please collect, read and vote.

　　Good night~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)