amaotonovel Chapter 598 Limestone Ironmaking
Chapter 598 Limestone Ironmaking
And the result was just as Liang Fu said - the Ministry of Industry's experiment failed, and the treasure that was said to be able to help people distinguish between the north and the south was never heard of again.
This made many people in the Salt and Iron Bureau feel very uncomfortable and they were quite dissatisfied with the Ministry of Works.
When history is in books, it is always a light page.
The Four Great Inventions seem simple and easy to invent. People will remember the names of their inventors and praise their contributions to mankind.
But in fact?
A seemingly thin piece of paper or a seemingly short sentence may be the result of the efforts of generations.
Shen Zheng once again transformed from a spectator of history to a witness of history.
The Ministry of Industry tried for decades to make a compass but failed. Isn't that funny?
Not funny.
Eat your food one bite at a time and walk your road one step at a time. It doesn't matter if you can't do it now, there will always be a day when you can do it.
Under Liang Fu's expectant gaze, Shen Zheng held the iron ore and said to him with a smile: "Black iron ore can't absorb other iron ores for no reason. There must be a reason. Let's try again after the blast furnace is built."
Liang Fu was waiting for her to say this and nodded quickly.
He knows it!
If something exists, it has meaning, and it is waiting for people to explore!
Fang Qizhen didn't react much to the "treasure" they mentioned. The most important thing for him was the purification of the iron ore.
He mercilessly interrupted the conversation between Shen Zheng and the others, sat in the main seat and said, "Sir Shen, you have also seen the iron mine, can we talk about business now?"
Yu Zhengqing chuckled and teased Shen Zheng, "Master Fang can't wait any longer, so you'd better not waste his time. Let's get the refined iron as soon as possible and leave."
Fang Qizheng glanced at him upon hearing this, and for the first time ever, he continued, "It seems that Lord Yu is determined to get the fine iron."
Yu Zhengqing didn't even look at him. He stretched out a finger and pushed the iron ore, saying, "I just believe in Lord Shen."
At this time, Shen Zheng had put the magnetite back and picked up the other two iron ores on the table to examine them - one was hematite, which had a high iron content, while the other, limonite, was not very good.
She put down the limonite, and placed the hematite with a higher iron content in front of Fang Qizheng, and asked him: "This should be the best ore you have besides the black iron ore, right? Let's try it out."
After hearing this, Fang Qizheng finally looked at Shen Zheng seriously - among the several types of iron ore, she chose without hesitation. What did this mean?
This means that even if she is not proficient, she at least knows a lot.
"Now?" He recalled what Shen Zheng had said before, and asked, "Didn't Lord Shen say he wanted to chisel it open to see?"
Why aren't you chiseling now?
Shen Zheng smiled gently: "The shapes of the ores you selected are very standard, and the naked eye can still distinguish them. There is no time to lose, let's try the method as soon as possible, and you can give the refined iron to me as soon as possible."
Even at this point, she still spoke with such confidence.
Fang Qizheng's breathing paused for a moment, and his trust in Shen Zheng increased from 10% to 50%.
Maybe she really has a solution?
Can......
Is there really such a way...
Why didn't she report it to His Majesty, and why didn't she hand it over to the General Secretary? Instead, she gave this great achievement to a local salt and iron envoy? Didn't she know what this meant to the entire Great Zhou?
The emperor will be very pleased and will certainly be generous with rewards. The military strength of the Great Zhou will far surpass that of other countries, and iron tools will gradually become popular among the people, greatly improving their quality of life.
He had long known that he had a bad temper and a bad reputation outside, so it was impossible that Shen Zheng was coming for him.
So…why give it to him?
Fang Qi was thinking this and asked the same question.
"I'm in a hurry." Shen Zheng said, "Master Yu should have told you, right? If I hadn't been thinking about refining something that required refined iron, and hadn't asked Master Yu and Master Liang a few days ago, I wouldn't have known that the iron smelting industry in our Great Zhou was like this, like this..."
She racked her brains and came up with an adjective: "So... unpretentious."
Yu Zhengqing laughed mercilessly.
Fang Qizheng's expression remained unchanged. Shen Zheng continued, "As you said, if I pass this method to the higher-ups, I might have fame and fortune. But it takes time to pass the letter to the higher-ups, and it also takes time for them to verify the authenticity and issue the order. But time... waits for no one!"
After Shen Zheng finished speaking, she let out a long sigh.
It's all a bit dramatic.
She first discovered that Wei Jing was nearsighted and wanted to make glasses. Then it happened that the Empress Dowager's birthday was coming and people from all over the country came to celebrate, so the matter of glass manufacturing became urgent.
Then they needed iron to build a furnace, but they found that the iron-making technology of the Zhou Dynasty had stagnated for a long time. Not only had they not produced steel, but even the purification of iron ore had major problems.
Finally, the Salt and Iron Envoy Fang Qizhen refused to "compromise" and forced them to "submit a report", so she had no choice but to push out the iron smelting method and forcibly exchange some iron for use.
It seems that Shen Zheng really believes in the existence of "fate". Now the big hand of "fate" is pushing her forward and urging her to push Da Zhou forward.
"Just that?" Fang Qizheng asked again.
He always felt that it was unreal that such a big pie would fall into his lap.
"Just one sentence, do you want it?" Shen Zheng saw that this man was extremely cautious, so he used provocation directly: "If you don't want the iron smelting method, then I don't want iron either. It's not my order to make colored glaze. To put it bluntly, if I can't make it, it will have no impact on me, but it will be a disgrace to the court."
To say that it had no effect on her would be a lie.
Only Liang Fu knew that if Liuli could not be sent to Beijing before the Empress Dowager's birthday, Lord Shen would be so angry that he would not be able to eat or sleep.
"......" Fang Qi was in silence, and his taciturn look was extremely annoying.
"Okay, okay." Shen Zheng patted the table. "I forced such a big meat pie into your mouth, and you kept choking. Lord Yu, Lord Liang, let's go!"
After saying that, Shen Zheng stood up, shook his head, and walked away without looking back.
Yu Zhengqing and Liang Fu looked at each other, then stood up and followed Shen Zheng's steps, like two middle-aged bodyguards.
--three.
Shen Zheng counted silently in her heart.
--two.
It's really annoying to be with someone who is so defensive! Shen Zheng complained inwardly.
--one.
"Master Shen, wait a minute! Come back first, and let's... talk in detail."
Shen Zheng sat back down like the wind, and Fang Qi was speechless.
"Lord Fang, paper and pen." Shen Zheng stretched out his hand.
After taking the paper and pen, she began to write: "Although I don't know the specific method you use to purify the iron ore, I know that there is an auxiliary item that you must not have used. If you use this item and then refine it according to my method, you will get twice the result with half the effort."
Fang Qi was looking at the black words on the paper and asked, "What kind of auxiliary items are these?"
"Limestone is available in Tongan County."
As soon as Shen Zheng finished speaking, Liang Fu and Yu Zhengqing took a breath of cold air.
Limestone can be used like this! Why didn’t I mention it before?