Peek at my diary, Cao Cao dominates the Three Kingdoms

Steel making and forging!

Cao Ang suddenly understood why Lu Yan must come to discuss with Cao Cao.

Iron and steel and forging (weapons, armor, agricultural tools, etc.) are the lifeblood of a country, so this is a big deal, and Lu Yan must get the support of Cao Cao, the actual power holder.

Cao Cao thought for a while, and he really felt that this was a very necessary measure, "It is indeed a good proposal..."

After pondering for a moment, Cao Cao tentatively asked: "Mr. Lu, if we become independent according to your idea, how much steel can reach the daily output?"

Lu Yan was taken aback by Cao Cao's question, and thought: "I really haven't thought about it..."

After thinking for a while, Lu Yan figured out a rough figure, and then replied: "If it goes well, it should be conservatively estimated to reach [-] catties per day... right?"

"Pfft!" Cao Cao spat out the tea in his mouth in one gulp.

"Hiss!" Cao Ang couldn't help but gasped.

Jiang Zuojian currently produces about [-] catties of steel per day, so can the production be increased by ten times in one fell swoop?

Cao Cao wiped off the tea on the table with one sleeve, and with a big face almost pressed against Lu Yan, he asked, "Really?"

Lu Yan stretched out his hand to push away Lao Cao's face, nodded and said, "Really!"

"Okay!" After Cao Cao got the exact answer, he excitedly said to a row of tables: "It's done!"

Chapter 4 Xu Shu's Visit

Jian'an seven years, March.

The canonization ceremony of Cao Ang's son was successfully completed. From now on, he will be Cao Cao's official heir.

After Lu Yan also received Cao Cao's support, he returned to Chenliu and began to arrange manpower to build a steel factory.

There are two basic requirements for the site selection of a steel factory: one is to be far away from crowds to increase confidentiality and reduce disturbance; the other is to be close enough to iron mines to save a lot of transportation costs.

When it comes to iron ore, the first address that pops up in Lu Yan's mind is Anshan City in later generations, followed by Panzhihua.

Unfortunately, one of these two places is currently in Liaodong and the other is in Yizhou, neither of which is under Cao Cao's control.

Fortunately, after asking some senior blacksmiths, Lu Yan learned that there are very rich iron mines in Yanmen County and Dai County.

Yanmen County is located at the border, and the personnel structure is extremely complicated, so it is not suitable to establish a steel factory there.

Although Dai County was often harassed by the Wuhuan people in the past, now that Wuhuan has been destroyed, the threat to Dai County has been greatly reduced.

After weighing the pros and cons, Lu Yan finally chose to build the steel plant in Dai County, as close as possible to the forest where the iron mine is located.

There is another advantage of building a steel factory in Dai County, that is, modern Shanxi, that is, some territories of Bingzhou, Youzhou, and Silizhou in the Eastern Han Dynasty, has extremely rich coal resources.The iron and steel plant is established here, and the transportation cost of ore and coal has been reduced to a very low level.

And one more point, in the battle outside Liucheng, Cao Cao captured tens of thousands of Wuhuan soldiers. Isn't this group of people the best candidates for labor.

Once the site is selected, someone needs to be responsible for the establishment and operation of the steelworks.

Old Geng was not young, and his health was not very good. It was impossible for him to go to such a difficult place to stay.So in the end, Lu Yan handed over the affairs of the steel plant to Ma Jun, and the governor of Youzhou would do his best to cooperate with him.

Ma Jun is a man of practical work. After receiving Lu Yan's instruction, he ordered 1000 people overnight to go north together.

Although they had too many difficulties to overcome during this trip, none of these craftsmen complained, because they have realized that the world will be changed by their hands!

......

After returning to Chenliu from Yecheng, before Lu Yan could enter the house to take a breather, Chen Dao greeted Lu Yan and said, "Sir, a literati has come to see you three times recently."

"Did he say what his name is?" Lu Yan asked.

"The person here calls himself Xu Shu, and says he is a student from Lumen Academy."

"Xu Shu?" After hearing this name, Lu Yan vaguely remembered that when he was entertaining the brothers from the Shadow Guard Jiaziying on the night of the New Year's Eve, Yan Feng seemed to have mentioned that Xu Shu had come to the Central Plains.

There is no need to discuss Xu Shu's ability, Lu Yan quickly asked: "Where is he now?"

"I don't know..." Chen Dao shook his head and said, "Every time he comes, he just asks if you are there. I told him to give me the address, and I can send someone to inform him when you come back, but he Every time, he just smiled and left."

Lu Yan didn't force it, so he said: "Forget it, I will stay at the house for the next few days. If he comes again, you can just bring him to my study."

"Here!" After Chen Dao handed over his hands to promise, he still stood there and refused to leave.

Seeing this, Lu Yan asked, "Tell me, what else is there?"

Chen Dao seemed to have made a very difficult decision, and said, "Sir, I also want to study in Taiyuan Academy!"

After hearing Chen Dao's words, Lu Yan looked Chen Dao up and down in surprise for a while, and said, "Why did you suddenly get enlightened?!"

"Sir, the Prime Minister wiped out the three counties of Wuhuan in the first battle in the west of Liaoning, and made countless men excited... I, Chen Dao, also want to make contributions and expand the territory for the great man!"

"Very good." Lu Yan nodded with a smile, and said, "It just so happens that Boyan is going to enter the Taiyuan Academy this year, so you two can take care of each other when the time comes."

Chen Dao bowed deeply and said, "Thank you sir!"

......

After three days,

Just when Lu Yan thought that Xu Shu had left Chen Liu, Chen Dao's voice suddenly came from outside the study, "Sir, Mr. Xu is here to visit!"

Lu Yan put down the book in his hand and said, "Come in."

As Chen Dao pushed open the door, Xu Shu saw at a glance that a man wearing a blue scholar shirt with a gentle temperament like jade was standing in front of a row of bookshelves.

Lu Yan turned around and saw that Xu Shu was about thirty years old, with a thin face, but his eyes were piercing.

"I'm Xu Shu, I've seen Lu Huqi!" After seeing Lu Yan, Xu Shu hurriedly cupped his hands in salute.

"Yuanzhi come in and sit down..." Lu Yan greeted with a smile, "I thought you were gone."

Lu Yan didn't have the slightest airs, and he didn't have the arrogance that Xu Shu hated from the bottom of his heart, which made Xu Shu's favorability towards Lu Yan rise a lot.

After Xu Shu was seated, Lu Yan asked with a smile: "I've heard all about Yuanzhi from Yanfeng..."

Xu Shu nodded without speaking, and continued to wait for Lu Yan's next question.

After pouring a cup of tea for Xu Shu and himself, Lu Yan suddenly asked, "Have you met your mother?"

Xu Shu was slightly taken aback when he heard the words. He thought that Lu Yan must be the first to test himself, but he didn't expect that Lu Yan's first sentence was to ask if he had seen his mother.

Speaking of his old mother, Xu Shu, who was already extremely filial, immediately stood up and cupped his hands to Lu Yan, saying, "My mother is in good health, and there are neighbors around to take care of me... Shu, thank you sir for taking care of my mother!"

"It's just a little thing..." Lu Yan waved his hand and said, "Actually, not only your mother, we will take care of all the lonely and widowed old people under Mr. Cao's rule. There are many old people of the same age in the nursing home. a talking partner."

"How many have a talking partner..."

Xu Shu suddenly thought of those years when he fled, the old mother was alone, and she still worried about his safety...

Thinking of this, Xu Shu's eyes turned red, "The child is not filial..."

Lu Yan patted Xu Shu's arm and said, "Don't worry, at least here, the old people have a good place to retire."

"The old are supported, the young are educated, the poor are supported, and it is difficult to help." Xu Shu recited a sentence from "Book of Rites: Li Yun Chapter", and then said with emotion: "It was only after I came to the Central Plains that I was able to help." Discover that the world of "Great Harmony" idealized by the ancient sages actually exists!"

"This is just the beginning." Lu Yan smiled 'reservedly', then changed the subject, and asked Xu Shu: "Yuan Zhi, you have been Liu Biao's staff for a while, what do you have for Liu Biao?" view?"

Xu Shu took the teacup respectfully with both hands, and after thinking for a while, he replied: "Liu Jingzhou is just a talker, he is the master...

In times of peace and prosperity, he was naturally a qualified ruler.

But in troubled times, Jingzhou will make wedding dresses for others sooner or later. "

Chapter 4 Steelmaking Plants with Initial Results

Xu Shu stayed in Jingzhou for many years when he was studying, and he is very familiar with the situation in Jingzhou.

Lu Yan and Xu Shu had an in-depth conversation on a series of issues in Jingzhou, which benefited Lu Yan a lot.

Xu Shu is worthy of being Sima Hui's master apprentice, with sharp and unique insights; but compared to Xu Shu, Lu Yan knows more information from later generations, so his views are more comprehensive and in-depth, which also makes Xu Shu's heart against Lu Yan. Yan is completely convinced.

The two chatted happily, and Xu Shu also stayed in Hushi General's Mansion for three consecutive days.

But it was a pity in the end, Xu Shu said that he would go to Hebei to see again, so he declined Lu Yan's invitation to become an official for Xu Shu on behalf of Cao Cao.

In the seventh year of Jian'an, in April, Gan Ning married Zhao Xue, Zhao Yun's righteous sister, and the wedding ceremony was lively and sensational.

In the seventh year of Jian'an, in June, Xia Houlan married Zhen Rong, the fourth daughter of the Zhen family...

In just half a year, several generals and scholars under Cao Cao and Lu Yan chose to marry, which is also a concrete manifestation of the stability of the people.

After nearly half a year of difficult times, the iron and steel plant in Dai County finally began to operate normally with the full support of Tian Chou.

Lu Yan traveled thousands of miles to Dai County, in order to see the situation of the ironworks with his own eyes so that he could feel at ease.

After seeing the steel factory, Lu Yan thought to himself: "Although the scale of the area is far smaller than that of later generations, it is undoubtedly the top existence in this world." He is undoubtedly satisfied with the current scale.

"The iron mine with the richest resources is located in the deep mountains, and only a small part is exposed, most of which are buried under the soil, so it is not easy to mine."

"We have now organized more than 21 Wuhuan captives to mine iron ore in the mountains, and built [-] vertical shafts, four sideways, and one open-pit mining pit... Now we are basically on the right track."

"It's just that the transportation of iron ore is a big problem... Due to the difficulty of the mountain road, we have to adopt the method of manpower carrying, which leads to a decent amount of mining, but only about one thousand catties of ore can go out of the mountain and enter the steelmaking industry every day." factory."

"Also, if it rains in the forest, the road will be extremely muddy..."

Lu Yan, accompanied by Ma Jun and several assistants, inspected the newly established steel factory, and Ma Jun's assistants took turns explaining their current situation and the troubles they encountered to Lu Yan.

"There is only about one thousand catties of ore a day..." Lu Yan frowned. This efficiency was completely unacceptable to him.

The bottleneck of the iron and steel plant today is the transportation efficiency of iron ore. To increase the speed of ironmaking, it is necessary to find a way to improve the current transportation method that relies solely on manpower.

The way of transportation...

To be honest, after all, he is someone who has experienced the baptism of the information explosion in later generations. When it comes to improving the transportation method, countless plans flashed through Lu Yan's mind in an instant.

After comprehensively considering the environmental issues such as mountain forest paths, Lu Yan felt that there was only one thing that was most suitable, "unicycle!"

Lu Yan turned to look at Ma Jun's deputy, and said, "Prepare me a pen and paper, I may have a way to relieve the pressure of transportation."

"Ah?! Is there a way?" the deputy said to himself in a daze.

"Quick... go!" Ma Jun kicked the man, hating iron for being weak and said: "Lu... Huss... Hussars said yes, then there must be... definitely... yes !"

"Yes... the little one will go right away!"

The man left quickly, and came back in less than twenty breaths, with a large piece of snow-white paper and pen and ink already in his hand.

Lu Yan picked up the brush on the table, and quickly drew what he just sketched in his mind on the paper.

But Ma Jun and his assistants tilted their heads, staring at a strange thing that appeared in Lu Yan's pen.

After Lu Yan put down his pen, a deputy asked curiously: "Lu Huanqi, what is this painting you painted? Why does the car only have one wheel?"

"Indeed, this is what I just came up with, a unicycle." Lu Yan explained to Ma Jun and others: "The frame can be directly installed on both sides of the unicycle, and only one person needs to hold the two handlebars from the back. It can be carried out.”

"This...seems feasible?"

"The single wheel makes it more flexible, but I don't know if it can move forward in the mountains and forests."

"I don't know how much I can bear..."

Ma Junben is a master of machinery. He knew immediately after seeing the wheelbarrow that it could indeed relieve the pressure of transporting iron ore to a certain extent.

Seeing the people around talking about it, Lu Yan continued, "Because this kind of small car is on the ground with one wheel, it can travel unimpeded no matter whether it is a plain official road or a mountain trail. It is definitely better than manpower carrying or carrying a basket."

"U...a unicycle is good, but...but we...we'd better...drive...open a road to get out."

"That's right, roads must be built... But we can do these two things at the same time, and those Wuhuan people can't waste food for nothing."

"Follow...follow orders!" After accepting the order, Ma Jun turned his head and said to his deputy: "You go... find... find two people to try, first get Lu Hu... Hussar's A wheelbarrow was built."

The assistant picked up the drawings drawn by Lu Yan, nodded hurriedly and said: "We have many skilled carpenters here, I will go find them now!"

The assistant asked someone to make the wheelbarrow, while Lu Yan, accompanied by Ma Jun, went to the factory building to inspect a series of equipment such as the steelmaking furnace.

In the past, the furnaces used for steelmaking by pouring steel were all small furnaces about the height of one person. Although the quality of the steel produced was very good, the efficiency could not keep up with the current demand after all.

When he came to the iron-making area, Lu Yan saw an unusually tall earthen blast furnace in front of him at a glance.Not far from both sides, there are two blast furnaces under construction.

The principle of blast furnace smelting is actually relatively simple. The main thing is to send iron ore, coke and limestone into the blast furnace in batches. It is gradually reduced and melted in the blast furnace, and finally molten steel flows out from the furnace mouth.During this period, with some experience and operation of the steel pouring method, the final steel quality can be made better.

Lu Yan came at the right time, and several craftsmen covered in sweat were about to release molten steel.

With the yell of the craftsman, the valve was slowly opened.

The golden-red molten steel flowed along the valve into the prepared trough, and meandered into the prepared molds everywhere. The eyes of the craftsmen around were shining brightly.

There were even two blacksmiths, who couldn't wait for the molten steel in the mold to cool, so they picked up the big hammer and started beating with their bare arms.

"I... I want to report to Lu Huanqi, with one... one furnace of molten steel, we can... produce [-] catties of steel!"