Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

The man was shocked when he heard what Zhang Shikang said, but he didn't dare to speak casually.

This is the imperial examination hall, and any inappropriate behavior may cause all the candidate's preparation to go to waste.

"Answer whatever the president asks you." An accompanying examiner said to the candidate.

"Your Excellency, I am refining some high-quality charcoal." The candidate said honestly when he heard that the person in front of him was the examiner.

"Isn't coal and firewood used in iron smelting? Why are you going to all the trouble of getting this charcoal?"

"Mr. President, if the charcoal burns vigorously, it will be easier to smelt iron."

Even though this man knew that Zhang Shikang was the chief examiner, there was still no sign of fawning on him and he answered whatever was asked.

"Mr. President, I still have a lot of things to do and time is running out..." the man said again.

The implication is that one does not want to be disturbed.

When the accompanying examiner heard this, he immediately got angry, thinking that this candidate was really dull and ignorant. Who is the president? He is the boss here and in the army. How can you compare with his power?

If one can curry favor with Zhang Shikang and gain his appreciation, there is no need to take any exams, as he can be directly recommended to be an official.

"I see other candidates are preparing leisurely, why are you so anxious?" Zhang Shikang stopped his subordinates from making noise and continued to ask.

That person might really want to get rid of Zhang Shikang as soon as possible, so he quickly said:

"My Lord President, my iron smelting method is different from other families. I need to build three furnaces. Although they don't need to be that big, they still need at least three or four days to build.

But the quality of iron smelted by the common people is higher than that of iron smelted by ordinary methods."

At the end of his speech, the man had a very confident look on his face.

"Yin Chuisi, please tell me in more detail." Zhang Shikang asked again with a rare good temper.

"Sir, these candidates are basically descendants of craftsmen from various places. They may have some family knowledge, but this is a secret that they rely on for survival, so it is generally not appropriate to ask about it."

The examiner, who was also an old craftsman from the General Administration of Manufacturing, reminded him quietly. Zhang Shikang frowned when he heard it.

"How about this, if your smelting method can really produce higher quality iron, I will reward you with one thousand taels of silver. Tell me about it?"

The smelting technology at that time was very low, and the iron produced could only be cast but not forged, so it was also called cast iron.

If you want to forge it, you can, but it will require more manpower and material resources and more complicated steps to get pitiful fine iron.

If we look around the world, the problems are actually pretty much the same. In the 19th century, steel production was even used as an important criterion to measure whether a country was strong.

This shows the importance of iron and steel making to a country's strength.

It is also for this reason that ironware was a government-run business in the Ming Dynasty and the output was too low.

I won’t tell anyone else because I want to provide a more secure living for my family. I’ll just give you the money directly.

One thousand taels of silver is enough for this old man to have food and drink for decades without worries. Can you say that?

“Mr. President, these three furnaces, one is used to smelt charcoal, one is used to smelt coal, and one is used to smelt iron.

The first two furnaces are relatively easy to make, but the last one is very complicated, and I am not absolutely sure that I can make it in one go.

Therefore, there is not enough time.”

This person didn't mention the money, but just focused on the problem itself.

"As long as your method works, I will lend you a hand, but I dare not tell other candidates about it."

Zhang Shikang whispered to his subordinates, and the examiner nodded cleverly.

Upon hearing this, the man glanced at Zhang Shikang quietly and felt that this examiner was a little unreliable. These adults had never done any housework before, so how could they endure the hardship of doing physical work?

But seeing that Zhang Shikang did not continue asking questions, he immediately started his work.

Zhang Shikang asked the accompanying examiner to help him supervise the examination room, while he himself stayed in the examination room. He wanted to see how this guy was going to smelt iron. In fact, he also wanted to see the process of iron smelting.

The man took advantage of the break in refining charcoal to start building the second furnace. Zhang Shikang was not idle either, so he went to help the man move bricks.

However, he did not actually move it himself, but asked a personal guard to do it.

As the King of Naisha of the Ming Dynasty, he had to be on guard. Even in the examination room, he was accompanied by Hong Xiucheng and two other personal guards.

Zhang Shikang squatted aside and chatted with the man, and asked questions when he didn't understand.

Seeing that the young man who was helping him was very skillful, the man thought that he could really improve his work efficiency, so he was no longer so impatient and explained to Zhang Shikang while working.

By mid-afternoon, the second stove was finally covered.

The second furnace was roughly similar to the first, except that the raw material was coal.

At this time, the Ming Dynasty had already begun to use small quantities of coal. The reason for this was very simple.

The coal used in later generations has basically been processed in factories. The simplest process is coal washing to remove the toxic gases produced during the combustion process.

At that time, the coal was all raw coal, and direct combustion would produce a large amount of sulfide gas. Although people at that time did not know what sulfide gas was, they knew that they would get sick if they inhaled too much.

The man didn't care. He put the coal provided by the examination room into the stove and lit it. Soon the examination room was filled with smoke again, which choked Zhang Shikang so much that he almost fainted.

"I... cough cough cough... I... understand... cough cough cough, you are making coke!" Although Zhang Shikang was choked, there was excitement on his face.

Although he only had a vague understanding of smelting, he knew very well that the most difficult thing about smelting was actually temperature.

How to raise the temperature high enough to remove all impurities in the ore is the core of smelting all metals.

"Mr. President, I don't know what coking is. These coals can be used in iron smelting to improve efficiency after being processed in a way similar to burning charcoal." The man said as he observed the conditions in the two furnaces.

He didn't understand why Zhang Shikang was so excited. He just thought that this gentleman was quite good and his subordinates worked very efficiently. He just didn't know whether he would come tomorrow, but he didn't dare to ask.

Fortunately, this problem did not bother him for long. Zhang Shikang looked at the sky and said:

"Will you continue tonight?"

The nine-day imperial examination was conducted continuously, even at night.

"My Lord President, of course, the third furnace is the key. In order to increase the tolerance, I must go all out."

It sounds good to say "leaping over the dragon gate", but it is not that easy. It requires more effort than others.

He was locked up in a small room for nine days, without seeing the sun for eating, drinking, defecating or urinating. Fortunately for him, he had the talkative Zhang Shikang to chat with him. You should know that for all the other candidates, those nine days were even worse than those spent in detention centers in later generations.

"How about this? You don't have to work on it tonight. I'll come back tomorrow and ask him to help you. I guarantee that your construction progress won't be affected. How do you think?"

Zhang Shikang wanted to understand the entire smelting process, rather than coming over tomorrow morning and not knowing that a lot of progress had been made.

The man thought about it and felt that if he could get a good rest at night, it would also improve his work efficiency the next day, not to mention that he would have someone to help him, so he agreed.

At this time, the accompanying examiner came over and reminded Zhang Shikang that the time had come.

In fact, the chief examiner should have been in the examination room day and night, but Zhang Shikang had a privilege. He specifically asked his subordinates to remind him to leave work on time.

Zhang Shikang took the towel from Hong Xiucheng and wiped his blackened face with it. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly turned around and asked the examinee:

"What's your name?"

This question was so sensitive that even the accompanying examiner was stunned.

The man looked at the accompanying examiner, who nodded quickly, and the man said honestly:

"My dear President, my last name is Lao, and my single character is a big character."

……