Traveling to Ancient Times: My Space Contains Weapons

Chapter 1499: Blast Furnace Ironmaking to Produce Refined Iron

Chu Chen knew perfectly well that privately refining iron was a serious crime, but if he made fine steel and then presented it to Dong Shilan, there shouldn't be any problem, right?

Moreover, once refined steel is available, given enough time, one can handcraft something like a gun.

At that time, what will I have to be afraid of?

"Don't worry, Uncle Tie, there are some things I'm confident in."

"First of all, you are people I bought. It's true that you have to do whatever I tell you to do, even if I tell you to kill someone."

"Also, let me tell you a secret: I call Her Majesty Sister Shilan."

Two sentences stunned Tito.

His employer seemed amiable, but when he spoke, he suddenly became fierce, as if he were seeing a ruthless bandit.

Another point is that if someone like him calls His Majesty "elder sister," then following him means that one can completely disregard the status of a slave.

"Master, rest assured, since I, Tito, am your man, I will do my job for you. Just tell me how."

Chu Chen smiled after hearing this. Sure enough, sometimes you have to show your muscles. See, it's much easier to talk to him now.

"It's alright. What I'm doing is smelting iron, but the iron I'm going to smelt is no ordinary iron. As long as you follow my method, your Tie family may very well be the first family to master refined iron."

As for how to do it, Chu Chen did not continue to explain to him.

After instructing these people to search for iron ore in the surrounding area, Chu Chen returned home.

What he had to do was integrate his memories and refine refined iron, which was the famous blast furnace iron smelting.

This thing may seem complicated, but it's actually not simple at all.

Iron smelting technology in this era still involved calcining iron ore over a large fire and then hammering it, resulting in a high content of impurities due to the low temperature.

Therefore, Chu Chen needs to build a blast furnace and then add auxiliary materials such as coke and limestone to remove impurities and reduce it to refined iron.

Three full days later, he arrived at the suburban courtyard with a set of blueprints.

However, as soon as he stepped into the courtyard, he gave Tito and the others a thumbs up. The courtyard was already piled high with iron ore.

He called Tito over: "You found so many so quickly?"

“Master, actually there are plenty of these things in the suburbs of Seoul, but the government’s production capacity is insufficient, so they have not been utilized.”

"The brothers brought it back basket after basket. If it's not enough, we'll go again."

Chu Chen shook his head: "That's enough. This time, I'm here to teach you how to build a blast furnace for iron smelting."

Immediately afterwards, Chu Chen took out the blueprints and began to explain them to him.

Half an hour later, Tito had a sudden realization: the reason why the iron he had been working with for half his life was not strong enough was actually due to the temperature.

At this moment, the way he looked at Chu Chen changed. It seemed that his employer knew quite a lot.

Whether it's true or not, you'll know once you try it yourself.

So, at his command, everyone sprang into action, with the goal of building the blast furnace first.

For this, Chu Chen also gave them some silver to buy other materials.

After Chu Chen left, these people immediately got to work in a great hurry.

Chu Chen returned to the courtyard to continue manufacturing gunpowder. He was determined to produce a batch of it himself. He also had a bold idea: seamless steel pipes with rifling and bullets.

These things may seem difficult, but they are actually quite challenging.

But Chu Chen knew that as long as there was refined steel, it could be made. If there was no punch press, then molds could be used.

As for rifling, it can be made using the modern method of hand-rolling iron.

Half a month later, Chu Chen had accumulated many barrels of gunpowder in his room in the small courtyard.

News also came from the suburban courtyard that their first blast furnace had been successfully built, and after testing, the first batch of refined iron had been produced.

After receiving the news, Chu Chen excitedly headed towards the suburbs.

This time he didn't bring Gou Shengzi with him, but went alone.

Tito, with tears in his eyes, handed the refined iron he had produced to Chu Chen: "Master, your method is truly effective. The quality of this iron is worlds apart from the iron of the Song Dynasty."

Chu Chen picked up the newly forged iron and examined it; it was indeed much better than the iron in this world.

If this iron is forged one more time, it will probably meet my requirements.

So he said to Tito, "You've all worked hard. Here's some silver. Go buy some meat and improve your meals."

Tito declined, saying, "Master, we haven't spent all the money you gave us before. Just use what we had to buy it. Everyone is grateful for your kindness. I can handle this."

Chu Chen didn't say much. Indeed, for such a small matter, he only needed to express his attitude. He was a human being, not a god, and couldn't manage so many things.

After Tito had made the arrangements, Chu Chen pulled him into the house.

"Master, shall we continue refining?"

“That’s right, I need stronger steel to make what I need.”

After saying that, he took out another blueprint. Some of the parts on the blueprint were so small that even the old blacksmith Tito frowned.

"Master, these things are probably not easy to make."

"Hehe, if it were easy, I wouldn't have come to you. Remember these things, only you know them, and I only trust you. You can't even tell your two sons."

Hearing how highly Chu Chen regarded him, Tito suddenly felt a surge of attention.

After carefully examining the blueprints for a while, he said, "Alright, since you trust me so much, I will certainly handle this matter well for you."

"Good, that's exactly what I've been waiting for. If you do this well, I'll reward you with ten taels of silver."

"However, there is one requirement: the dimensions of these items must be exactly the same, down to the smallest detail."

"Especially this tube, the method for creating a spiral line inside is already written on it. Don't worry about wasting it, just do it boldly and confidently."

Tito was delighted to hear this. If he did a good job, he would not only gain the employer's approval, but he would even receive a reward.

You must understand that they were slaves. Once slaves were bought, let alone rewards, being able to eat their fill was considered a blessing from their masters.

"Master, you are a great benefactor. I will definitely serve you well."

After listening, Chu Chen waved to him, signaling him to get busy, while he himself took the iron that had been forged for the first time and went to Tito's two sons.

"Iron heaven and iron earth, greetings to the master."

"Heh, you two, do you know how to fight with knives?"