Time Travel: After Seizing the Throne, I Lead the Ming Dynasty to Take Off

"Your Majesty, it's not a big deal."

"It's the spring I mentioned before."

"I have made some new discoveries."

"It's not something worth discussing. Your Majesty is busy with many things every day, and I shouldn't bother you with this."

"But I thought, Your Majesty has always attached great importance to this little thing, and since it is related to the flying shuttle loom, I have come here after much deliberation."

Although Qin Kui still couldn't quite figure out Zhu Yunhuan's occasionally divergent thoughts, he had naturally become much more relaxed after helping Zhu Yunhuan for so long.

He also thought that he had been frustrated several times in his attempts to guess the emperor's intentions, but he had the audacity to use the new iron-making method of the Alchemy Department to make springs, and was praised and recognized by Zhu Yunhuan...

He felt that there was a high probability that his flattery this time would not hit the target.

"Well, tell me."

Zhu Yunhuan really couldn't figure out what Qin Kui's so-called "little discovery" was.

But he hopes that his subordinates will actively try and think divergently.

Seeing Zhu Yunhuan's calm expression, Qin Kui also calmed down.

He continued, "A few days ago, I went to the Alchemy Department to discuss Ministry of Industry matters with the Taoist priests. Coincidentally, the Alchemy Department had produced a batch of defective steel products. They said they were too hard and brittle, difficult to bend, and difficult to connect. They were not suitable for making anything..."

Having said that, Qin Kui hesitated for a moment.

After thinking for a moment, he said, "Oh yes, the barrel!"

Although he said the word "gun barrel", he seemed unfamiliar and confused with the word, even as if he didn't know what it meant.

After all, in this era, guns refer to cold weapons, and even the gun barrels are generally wooden sticks.

Gun is the correct name for this era.

The Alchemy Department followed Zhu Yunhuan's habit of calling for a gun, and Qin Kui was of course confused.

After hearing what Qin Kui said, Zhu Yunhuan roughly knew what the situation was - it was probably because the steel was not pure enough, which led to the insufficient performance of the steel. Too many impurities would make it too brittle and its weldability would be even worse.

There is no seamless steel pipe technology now, and it is certainly not suitable to be used to make gun barrels if it has poor weldability.

"And then?" Zhu Yunxun asked, taking a sip of tea slowly.

"At that time, I suddenly had an idea. It is not easy to bend... Would it be more suitable to use this defective product to make springs instead of using those perfect finished steel products?" When Qin Kui said this, his voice sounded a little excited.

His eyes lit up slightly, as if he was very proud of his previous attempt.

And when Qin Kui said this.

Zhu Yunhuan put down the teacup in his hand, and a look of realization appeared on his face. He understood what Qin Kui had discovered:

Application of carbon content in steel!

The applications of steel are many, wide and complex. There has never been only one type of steel in later generations. The purity of steel is not the case that the purer it is and the fewer impurities it has, the better.

After mature development.

Steel is further divided into low carbon steel, medium carbon steel, high carbon steel... and so on according to its carbon content. In addition, there is also alloy steel with a small amount of other metals added.

And steel with different carbon content.

There is no simple distinction between high and low.

Instead, they are efficiently applied in different fields based on their characteristics. For example, low-carbon steel is often used to manufacture bolts, nuts, and building structural parts; medium-carbon steel is suitable for manufacturing parts such as shafts and gears; and high-carbon steel is often used to manufacture simple-shaped parts such as torsion springs, circlips, and springs.

Admittedly, we don’t even have the concept of bolts, nuts, bearings, etc. now, but with gradual development in the future, the emergence and application of these things are inevitable, and they will definitely be used in large quantities.

And now, these things have not appeared yet, but the Ministry of Industry and the Alchemy Bureau have already started tinkering with a large material base!