I was a lord farming, how did I become an emperor?

Chapter 9 Blackrock Mountains
[Precision Forging Blast Furnace (Green): After personally or with the help of building a smelting furnace within the territory, the metal recovery (extraction) rate is increased by 50%, the impurity removal efficiency is increased by 50%, and the strength of the finished product is increased by 100%]

"Another enchantment attribute!"

Rod's eyes lit up immediately.

Taking iron ore as an example, the iron extraction rate in this era was usually between 50% and 60%.

With the bonus from the affix, the iron yield of the furnace built by Rhodes can reach 75%-90%, which is a qualitative leap!
Why bother selling ore? You can make money just by buying ore and smelting it into iron billets!
No, no!
These iron billets, with their low impurity content and high finished product strength, cannot be sold for the time being!

Rhodes pondered to himself as he continued to review the information in his mind.

In addition to the ability bonuses, after unlocking the entry, Rhodes also gained a wealth of knowledge about blast furnaces, including details about their construction and use.

The blast furnace itself was not advanced, but it was a modification of an ordinary furnace, and its technology and ideas were far ahead of this era.

The blast furnaces used for smelting are larger, often reaching three to five meters in height, and their design is more rational.

Compared to ordinary iron smelting furnaces, blast furnaces have higher internal temperatures, making iron smelting more efficient and producing iron with fewer impurities.

Furthermore, blast furnaces can be reused continuously. As long as enough raw materials are added to the blast furnace, molten iron can flow out continuously, making them very suitable for large-scale production.

However, building a blast furnace requires refractory bricks or a large amount of stone, and it usually takes several months to half a year to complete. The cycle is too long and not suitable for Rhodes at present.

After quickly skimming through the list, Rhode turned around to check the unlock requirements for the next entry.

[Next entry: 100 catties of pig iron produced by smelting in the territory, unlocks: mineral vein detection]

"Luckily, I wasn't asked to smelt it myself, otherwise I would have been stuck around the furnace the whole time."

Rhodes closed the notification screen and turned around to find everyone staring at him.

"what happened?"

“My lord, your smile just now was quite frightening.”

Rhodes ignored the topic and looked at Hamo, asking, "How much iron ore do we have now?"

Hamo turned to look at another blacksmith, the owner of the blacksmith shop.

The blacksmith shuddered upon hearing the question.

He had initially felt that the lord's personal visit to help him repair the shop today was not a good omen, and now it seemed that his suspicions were indeed correct.

The lord has his eye on my iron mine.

“It weighs over a hundred pounds, sir.”

Seeing the two strong knights beside the lord, the blacksmith still answered honestly.

A little over 100 jin is a bit low.

Iron ore is not expensive in the Northern Wastes; a hundred pounds only costs one silver coin.

In fact, if we disregard the high taxes levied by lords, skilled workers like blacksmiths are truly high-income earners.

The blacksmith should own more assets; a hundred-odd catties of iron ore is really not much.

Even without the exploitation of a lord, they've still ended up like this.

It can only be said that this blacksmith's skills are indeed not very good.

Fortunately, Rhodes brought Hamo over from the city.

One hundred pounds of iron ore can only produce a maximum of twenty pounds of iron. Even with an enchanted furnace built by Rhodes, it can only produce thirty pounds of pig iron.

That's way too far from Rhodes' goal; it's not even enough to make full-body armor for Durant and Gunther.

The plate armor alone requires fifty to sixty pounds of iron, and the ore can only be refined enough to make a single piece.

"Where do you get your iron ore from?"

Rod asked, "Oto didn't tell me there was an iron mine nearby."

"You can sometimes find them in the mountains and rivers, or you can trade them with the people of Black Stone Mountain," the blacksmith honestly replied.

Who is the Black Stone Mountain Man?

“They live in the Black Rock Mountains and rely mainly on hunting for survival. They also often come down the mountain to trade animal hides and iron ore with us for food.”

Rod remembered.

The Blackrock Mountains are located northwest of Frostleaf Town, about eighty miles away, and consist of vast stretches of forest. Covering an area of ​​over a thousand square kilometers, comparable to the territory of some minor counts in the Shattered Rock Empire, the Blackrock Mountains are rich in wild resources, and rivers branch off at their foot.

Rhodes wasn't surprised to find iron ore veins there.

Blackrock Mountains form the northwestern boundary of Blackpine Ridge, but the landmarks of the Northern Wastes are not clearly defined, making the exact location of Blackrock Mountains highly controversial.

Now, according to Rhodes, the Blackstone Mountains could be considered part of Blackpine Ridge.

However, Rhodes hasn't even inspected the entire Blackpine Ridge territory yet, and he doesn't have the energy to manage the Blackrock Mountains for the time being.

"Smelt that hundred pounds of iron ore, and you'll get all the compensation you're owed."

Rhodes looked at the blacksmith and said, "I can give you silver coins, pay you rye now, or record it as work points to exchange for grain later."

Rhodes could have used a tougher approach to collect the iron ore, but since the blacksmith was a talented individual, he should have been more courteous and respectful.

Moreover, having just finished collecting taxes, Rhodes had plenty of food, with over 30,000 jin of barley and wheat combined, as well as various eggs, frozen meat, fish, and so on. With abundant resources, there was no need for excessive exploitation.

The currency was minimal, consisting of only a little over five hundred copper coins.

Currency couldn't circulate here, so Rhodes instructed Lawrence to create a work point record sheet based on the price of copper coins. Except for slaves, commoners' work points would be recorded.

Work points are tallied at the end of the following month, and civilians can use them to exchange for food and supplies, or accumulate them.

Rhodes thought that he couldn't let the civilians work for nothing, otherwise they would run away sooner or later.

The work points not only provided compensation but also established a connection between the common people and Black Pine Ridge.

“There’s enough rye at home… I’d like some meat or fish, sir,” the blacksmith said in a low voice.

"The fish will be delivered to you tomorrow, but for now, the work you've done can only be recorded as work points."

Rod understood that blacksmithing was a physically demanding job, and blacksmiths needed to eat more meat to maintain their strength.

"Okay, thank you."

The blacksmith bowed deeply in excitement.

The lord didn't directly seize his iron mine; instead, he personally helped repair his shop.

The lord is not as bad as I thought.

Rod turned to Durant and said, "Take all the iron ore from our tax revenue and smelt it."

The amount of iron ore in the tax-collected supplies is about two hundred kilograms. Let's put it together and forge two pieces of equipment first.

Whether it's plate armor or chainmail, the production time is nearly a month, so there's still time to gather iron ore during this gap.

"Go prepare the materials to build the furnace, and smelt all the iron ore today."

The main material of the low-temperature furnace is clay, mixed with quartz sand and hay.
The bottom of the furnace should first be covered with a layer of sand, and then a layer of clay mixed with quartz sand, to ensure that the base is hard and flat.

After the clay is mixed, it is rolled into thick cylinders, bent into semi-circular shapes and stacked together to eventually build a frustum (a cone with the top cut off) shaped furnace.

It is worth noting that the fire should be started when the bottom of the stove is about halfway built, and the stove should be dried while it is being built.
The ratio of charcoal to iron ore is 1:1, and the final weight of the iron billet is about 10%-20% of the ore.

Of course, if the quality of the iron ore is high, the output of iron billets will also be high.

"Sir, would you like to help us build the stove?"

The blacksmith looked at Rod in surprise.

Durant and Gundle already knew that Rod had personally tilled the land, so they weren't too surprised.

“I’ll make one, you make one, and Hamo and Gonle will be in charge of mixing the mud.”

Rhodes did this to conduct an experiment—to see just how deep the involvement is required for the so-called "participatory" creation of the furnace.

Theoretically speaking, if Rhodes ordered the blacksmith to make a furnace, wouldn't that count as participating in the project?

After all, in criminal cases, being the mastermind behind something is a serious crime.

The blacksmith scratched his head in confusion, not understanding why he needed to make two.

Rhodes didn't offer any further explanation, and ordered, "Get to work."

(End of this chapter)