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

Thinking of the many difficulties and challenges involved, Qin Kui suddenly showed an embarrassment on his face.

After all, he was the one who had been in charge of this matter from the beginning of building the brick furnace to now.

He could now guess something about the young emperor: with Zhu Yunhuan's cautious nature, this matter would definitely fall on him.

Thinking of this, Qin Kui wrinkled his face.

He stammered timidly, "This... mass production of steel... Your Majesty... is somewhat..."

He really wanted to say that this was somewhat embarrassing.

But who was the person in front of him? The emperor of the Ming Dynasty. Even if the other party said something outrageous, he couldn't just refute the other party's face.

He could only roll his eyes, purse his lips, and force himself to remain calm as he said, "With the coking coal provided by Your Majesty, I can only say... the chances of producing steel will be greater."

Zhu Yunhuan obviously understood what he was thinking.

He laughed out loud and said, "Oh! Qin Kui, what are you afraid of? I didn't say that I would let you do it all by yourself. Don't worry, I have found capable people for you, you just need to cooperate with them."

Qin Kui swallowed his saliva, raised his sleeve to wipe the fine beads of sweat on his forehead, and immediately breathed a sigh of relief: If nothing else, at least it would be better if there were more people to take responsibility for this matter, so that he would not be the only one to bear the blame for incompetence.

As for the so-called mass steelmaking, he felt there was not much hope.

Since ancient times, being able to produce steel while smelting iron has been a very rare thing. Even the so-called casting masters throughout history would be proud enough if they could forge a few pieces of fine steel weapons in their lifetime.

Qin Kui forced himself to calm down and immediately asked, "A capable person? I wonder who Your Majesty is referring to?" He needed to see who the other unlucky people were who were involved in this incident.

Zhu Yunhuan glanced at the memorials that had all been reviewed and stacked on the Dragon Desk, then turned to Ma Sanbao and said, "Send these memorials out and arrange for the Alchemy Department to be dispatched."

Ma Sanbao immediately responded, "Yes, Your Majesty."

Qin Kui frowned in confusion, staring at Ma Sanbao leaving the Qianqing Palace with a bewildered look on his face. He asked, "Your Majesty, I am a fool. What does this mean?"

Weren't they just talking about steelmaking? What's going on?

Zhu Yunhuan said in a matter-of-fact tone, "I found this for you, a capable person to assist you in steelmaking."

Qin Kui sorted things out in his mind.

He asked tentatively, "Alchemy...Alchemy Division?"

One is about steelmaking, the other is about alchemy. They sound similar, but in reality, they are completely unrelated. He couldn't help but mutter worriedly, "Your Majesty's intentions are unfathomable. I'm not... misinterpreting again, am I?"

However, Zhu Yunhuan did not deny his guess this time, but said nonchalantly: "Otherwise, why would you go to the Alchemy Department for no reason?"

The key to stably producing steel is to be able to remove impurities step by step through various complex chemical reactions.

Those times in the past when steel was accidentally produced.

One reason is that the furnace temperature has reached a certain level, and the other more important reason is that the raw materials are good. Perhaps a piece of raw material itself contains relatively few impurities, and the refined material just meets the standard.

It’s just that people in this era and even before didn’t know the underlying principles, so they treated this kind of thing as a golden legendary event with an extremely low drop rate.

Qin Kui would not be able to understand these principles, processes and steps even if he was told them. Zhu Yunhuan was busy with all kinds of affairs and had no time to supervise them personally, but the people in the Alchemy Department understood them!

They knew what manganese, silicon, phosphorus, and carbon monoxide were... Zhu Yunhuan only needed to explain the principles to them, and they could provide Qin Kui with perfect technical guidance.

Qin Kui was stunned for a moment in surprise.

Naturally, his expression immediately calmed down, and he bowed to Zhu Yunhuan, "So you are the Taoist priests from the Alchemy Department. It seems that this humble official is going to gain a lot of experience."