Chapter 211 Iron Heart 5

The next day, everyone first gathered at the small pier in the lake town, and then took a small boat to the ironworks.

In addition to the people in the castle hall yesterday, Old Ford and Hansel from the Government Affairs Council, Schroeder and Bryce from the army were also there.

They entered a tributary of the Weiss River. As the boat moved forward, the water became more and more turbulent, and gradually saw a small pier where the internal guards were stationed. After boarding the pier, they followed the path into a valley. The valley was full of trees and the situation inside could not be seen clearly.

After receiving the report from the sentry, Guy Burns rode out on horseback to greet them.

"Okay, Burns, stop talking nonsense and let's get straight to the point."

"Uh... yes, Lord Graman."

Burns was a little nervous and led Paul and others to the "ironworks" that was still under construction in the valley.

Like the previous District 51, there were also layers of sentries here, and the internal guards led the ferocious military dogs to patrol everywhere, filled with a sense of eerieness.

Although it was the "first batch of molten iron", Burns and the craftsmen had already gone through many tests, otherwise they would not have dared to notify Paul to visit. Wouldn't it be embarrassing if the Earl made a wasted trip?

Gradually, the sound of splashing water was heard. After walking through the dense woods, a waterfall appeared in front of everyone, and on the river surface in front of the waterfall, a building directly crossed the river, covering the river surface for nearly 10 meters.

Paul asked: "What is the building on the river surface...?"

"The water wheel room, the power of the blower is output from here."

Paul was a little surprised. Is it necessary to be so exaggerated, directly covering the river surface.

There were openings on the wall of the water wheel room, and transmission chains stretched out from the openings and extended into another building on the riverside.

Burns introduced to Paul: "The blower regulator is installed in that room."

"Take me to the water wheel room first."

Burns led Paul into the water wheel room, and the others were stopped outside by the guards.

The scene inside opened Paul's eyes.

He had previously thought that the hydraulic drive device Burns could make was the common waterwheel he usually knew, because it was used for blowing air, and the transmission device was at most more complicated.

But he didn't expect this device to be so "powerful", at least visually.

There were several wide water rafts placed in the center of the room, and the river water was flowing rapidly under them. These water rafts almost filled the water surface of the room.

Driven by the water flow, the water rafts slowly rotated, and the power was continuously transmitted through the transmission chain.

"For the convenience of maintenance, we built a house on the river to prevent these water rafts from being eroded by the external environment."

It can be seen that Burns took great care of his creations. The interior of the waterwheel room was quite exquisite, and the ground was paved with stone slabs. In order to facilitate maintenance personnel to inspect, stairs, railings, and aisles across the river were also built.

But what Paul was most concerned about was its efficiency.

"Burns, how much power can these... these 'water rows' generate?"

"75 horsepower, do you know the word 'horsepower'? It can generate at least 75 horsepower per second."

The two walked out of the water wheel room while talking, and the others who stayed outside immediately followed.

Burns brought them to the iron blast furnace. The craftsmen stood beside the blast furnace waiting for the molten iron to be smelted. Seeing Paul coming, they saluted one after another.

Although it was winter, the energy emitted by the blast furnace still made the surrounding heat waves roll, making the people who just approached feel like ice and fire.

In addition to the iron smelting craftsmen, there are two people here-Herman and Marlowe from the 51st District Arsenal. They are responsible for the research and development of muskets and artillery respectively. The manufacture of those fixed firearms no longer requires them to participate in person. Naturally, their craftsmen will produce them. The navy even took some craftsmen to build a second arsenal near Fulan Port. The main job of the two now is to try various improvements on firearms and artillery.

As for what the two were doing here, they were naturally evaluating the impact of the new iron smelting method on weapons production.

Female consultant Ladi had some knowledge of iron smelting. She had never seen such a tall furnace before. She couldn't help but sigh: "Wouldn't it be troublesome to dismantle and rebuild such a furnace over and over again?"

Paul said proudly: "You don't know this. This furnace can be reused and used continuously. Add ore and fuel from the top, release molten iron from the bottom, then add ore and fuel from the top, and release molten iron from the bottom... Continuously and continuously."

"Hey! Of course, this is only theoretical. How long it can be used is actually subject to the refractory of the furnace material. The current one is just a test product, but I believe that with the summary and improvement of the refractory material ratio, this blast furnace will be able to work continuously for a long time. I estimate that a furnace can produce more than ten tons of iron."

"More than ten tons?"

Those who know nothing about iron smelting don't feel anything about it, but those who know a little about this industry are shocked by the numbers Paul said. This is too exaggerated. No wonder the lord said yesterday that he wanted to monopolize the steel supply in the Northwest Bay.

No mistakes, just read the content of the book in 6-9!

Hansel even covered his mouth with his hands. He was shocked at first, and then ecstatic.

The novelties that the lord had made before made everyone less suspicious of his words.

In fact, Paul was indeed a bit boastful just now. He himself had no idea how much iron a blast furnace could produce. The specific value could only be known in future practice.

The head of the iron smelting craftsmen was named Conrad, and he was also an old craftsman who had served the Graman family before. He ran to Paul with a piece of iron nail in his hand and smiled happily.

"Master Graman, take a look, this is the pig iron we made in our previous experiment."

Paul took the iron ingot and looked at it over and over again.

While everyone was attracted by the blast furnace, he pulled Conrad aside and asked quietly: "Conrad, did your experiment go smoothly? Did you encounter any difficulties?"

Conrad answered honestly: "The biggest difficulty is the manufacture of refractory materials. The previous disposable furnaces did not need this. Later, hard clay was used as the main raw material to get a little bit of the door. Uh... To be honest with you, Count, in fact, we haven't found the best formula and production method until now."

Paul encouraged him: "This thing can only rely on continuous accumulation of experience, don't stop here."

"Please rest assured that we will continue to improve."

At this time, someone shouted from the blast furnace: "Molten iron is coming out!"

Paul's attention was immediately attracted, and he turned his head and ran to the blast furnace.

I'm really sorry for everyone. I didn't write the two chapters I promised, and this chapter was still posted in the early morning. It's just that I don't know anything about ironmaking. I found some information on the Internet. The more I read, the more I felt that it was a big pit. It was not as simple as I thought before, and I didn't dare to write it. Alas... If I had known this, I should have started preparing during the day.