Survival skills maxed out, I feed my wife and daughter by catching fish and shrimp

At the foot of the mountain, people gathered around a newly built furnace.

At this time, the furnace has been shut down and cooled down, and workers are opening the closed furnace mouth and taking out baskets of carbonized coke.

Chen Changfan took a look and felt quite satisfied.

By isolating the coal from air and subjecting it to high-temperature carbonization, the impurities in the sulfur-containing coal are refined, forming coke with high carbon content, high calorific value and low impurities.

Of course, this process also requires good control of the temperature, and coal gas and coal tar will be produced during the preparation process.

Both products are useful, but they are harmful substances, and the current conditions are not sufficient to collect and produce them. Therefore, Chen Changfan chose to prepare coke at the foot of the mountain, directly dispersing these harmful substances on the spot.

The place is well ventilated and the diffusion conditions are good, but workers may inhale a small amount during the operation.

"The workers who make coke should be rotated regularly, and they should be given extra subsidies."

Chen Changfan's words immediately warmed the hearts of the workers who were busy working.

All the talk about verbal praise and promoting spirit is fucking empty. Only the money in your hands is real.

"Boss, we've cleared out the two furnaces. We've also modified the blast mechanism as you instructed. They're ready to go into production anytime."

Hu the bricklayer and others came running over breathlessly, reporting on the progress of the furnace on the mountain.

While preparing the coke, the craftsmen also concentrated on modifying the furnace, and completed the task in just half a day.

"Open the furnace and start production!"

At Chen Changfan's command, everyone immediately started moving, transporting cartloads of coke to the mountain.

Not only Chen Changfan, they were all looking forward to whether these cokes were really as magical as the owner of the manor said and could solve the slag problem.

Everyone came to the renovated furnace and watched the workers skillfully put in ore, auxiliary materials, and coke, waiting quietly for the molten iron to come out.

"Wow! This new blower is really powerful! It produces much more air than before!"

"Coal is also a good thing. It heats up the furnace so quickly!"

During the refining process, the two workers couldn't help but sigh.

When the crowds heard this, their faith unconsciously grew stronger.

With a new furnace, a new blower, and new fuel, it would be strange if we still couldn't smelt iron well.

call!

The time has come, the workers opened the furnace, and the hot molten iron flowed into the molds that had been prepared long ago, gradually cooling down and becoming iron ingots.

Blacksmith Han raised his pliers, picked up a still hot iron ingot, and couldn't wait to put it on the anvil to hammer it.

"What are you still standing there for? Look at the slag!"

Bricklayer Hu gave the order, and the two workers immediately went to dig out the slag. After half a day, they could only collect less than a basketful.

"This slag is at least half as much as before! Coke really is very useful!"

The workers' faces were red from the residual heat of the slag, but they could not hide the joy on their faces.

A series of furnaces have burned down recently, and the workers are feeling a little nervous.

If the furnaces were destroyed, they would lose their jobs, but as small workers, they could not change anything and could only watch one furnace after another stop working.

In fact, several consuls had also thought of ways, but they seemed to have little effect. Today, the owner of the manor took action, and the effect was immediate.

Looking at the eyes cast by the workers, those looks of admiration seemed to be turning into reality.

Chen Changfan only hated that his system could not receive everyone's emotional values, otherwise the words "Respect +1+1..." should appear on the panel at this time.

"Boss, the quality of this pig iron is surprisingly good!"

Chen Changfan was about to go check out the armory when Han the blacksmith's somewhat excited voice suddenly came from behind him.

He was holding a long knife-shaped iron piece in his hand and walking towards Chen Changfan with an excited look on his face.

"Old Han! What do you want to do? Put down the knife!" Fang Chang shouted coldly, which woke up Han the blacksmith.

He quickly bent down, presented the iron sheet in his hands with both hands, and said respectfully, "Boss, the quality of this pig iron is really good. Although it has just come out of the furnace, the impurities are already comparable to those of pig iron that has been preliminarily forged. It is really good iron, really good iron!"

The lower the impurities, the better the quality.

Chen Changfan nodded noncommittally and immediately ordered, "Old Han, you have failed to manage the iron smelting properly. You will be demoted from Consul to Foreman of the Ironworks. Furthermore, Old Hu and Tang Shao, you are also jointly responsible. If you hadn't known about this and kept it secret, Xiaofeng Manor wouldn't have had so many furnaces destroyed. Your interest payments for this month will also be cut in half."

Knowing they had gotten into trouble, the three of them accepted the punishment and nodded in agreement.

"Also, I've just established a coking team in Xiaofeng Village, and I'm transferring staff from the ironmaking team. The interest collected from the fines you two collect will be used as a subsidy for the coking team."

Be clear about rewards and punishments and act decisively.

After Chen Changfan issued these two orders, he turned away.

Everyone looked at Chen Changfan's departing back and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Old Shen, how many people do we have now?"

Chen Changfan and Shen Wanwu asked as they walked towards the armory.

"Boss, we now have a stronghold of a thousand people."

With the experience of Han the blacksmith as a lesson, Shen Wanwu learned his lesson. When answering his boss's questions, he must seek truth from facts. If he was too ambitious and exaggerated, he would probably make his boss angry.

"A large village with a thousand people? How many exactly? What's the population distribution?"

"Not many, not many, just over 1800 people, and not many soldiers either, just over a thousand." Shen Wanwu said with a humble smile on his face.

Chen Changfan: “…”

You call 1800 people a "Thousand-man Stronghold"? Of course, there's nothing wrong with that, but a typical "Thousand-man Stronghold" definitely wouldn't have a thousand soldiers.

"Boss, although we have been developing in a low-key manner this month, our Xiaofeng Manor is well-known after all, and many young and strong men come here because of our reputation, so the population expansion rate is still quite good."

Shen Wanwu explained.

Chen Changfan thought about the territory he currently occupied, which consisted of more than twenty hills of various sizes.

If there are forty or fifty soldiers stationed on any hill, that means there are thousands of people, which is not an exaggeration.

He should be happy that his army has grown stronger.

But what comes with it is whether the supply of food and weapons can meet current needs.

As they were talking, the two of them had already reached the armory. A sharp-eyed soldier spotted Chen Changfan from a distance and immediately called out to the tent:

"Consul Yuan, the owner of the manor is here."

As soon as he finished speaking, a figure rushed out of the tent. It was Yuan Lang, who had just recovered from a serious injury.

He was seriously injured in the previous battle, so Chen Changfan asked him not to lead the troops for the time being. However, Yuan Lang was not willing to sit idle, so Chen Changfan gave him a consul in charge of the arsenal.

The consul has considerable authority, as he is responsible for the development and management of various weapons in the manor, which represent the most advanced technological level of Xiaofeng Manor today.

"Sir, the red cannon you mentioned last time has taken shape."

"Oh?"

Hearing Yuan Lang's words, Chen Changfan immediately became interested.