The Prodigal Son of the Empire

"It's just that those craftsmen raised their opinions on the hearth furnace we built," Nie Zhongxing said again.

"Oh? What's wrong?"

"You should go and see for yourself!"

Wang Kang followed Nie Zhongxing, and several people surrounded him. Xu Changlin said: "The craftsmen the Earl is looking for have arrived, and three of them are from the Metallurgical Bureau. Let me introduce you."

"This is Li Zheng,"

Xu Changlin pointed to a slightly emaciated middle-aged man and introduced: "Master Li is the iron smelter master of the Metallurgical Bureau, and the furnaces in the Metallurgical Bureau are built by Master Li."

"Master Li came here, and I am far away from welcoming you, please forgive me," Wang Kang said politely.

If you can come from Kyoto, no matter who you are ordering, you should be treated with courtesy.

But Master Li just nodded lightly and did not respond.

Seeing that the scene was slightly awkward, Xu Changlin pointed to another person and introduced: "This is Master Xi, also a famous cast iron craftsman, who has improved the purity of iron embryos..."

"This man named Wang Fuchen is also a master blacksmith."

Xu Changlin pointed to the other people around and said: "They are all craftsmen who came with them, and they are all masters of the Metallurgical Bureau."

Seeing such a lineup, Wang Kang knew that his father must have spent a lot of money, and he didn't know how to invite so many people.

This is also the division of labor between father and son. Wang Dingchang provides resources in the front, while he does construction in the rear.

After seeing several people one by one, Wang Kang said with a smile: "Thank you for coming here to help, it's like adding wings to a tiger!"

However, his words did not get a good response. The thin middle-aged man named Li Zheng picked up a few blueprints and asked coldly: "It is said that you drew this earthen furnace paper?"

"Yes what's the matter?"

Wang Kang asked suspiciously, he was also a little confused, why these people had such an attitude towards him.

"Drawing blindly!"

"It's ridiculous,"

"A young master from a rich family is still correcting me."

Several people echoed repeatedly, which made Wang Kang's face darken...

When we met for the first time, he was indiscriminate, and he was criticized immediately when he came up, even if you are from the Metallurgical Bureau, you can't do that!

Seeing this scene, the people around all responded to each other. Nie Zhongxing had a bad face, but he was convinced by Wang Kang in every possible way.

These people are clearly here to find fault.

Seeing Wang Kangyin's anger, Xu Changlin hurriedly said in a low voice: "Master Kang, the Earl spent all his energy to invite these people here, so please be patient..."

"Patience?"

Wang Kang sneered, he didn't see the real ability, he was just criticizing, he asked lightly: "I don't know how many people, why did you say that?"

Li Zheng unfolded the blueprint, pointed to it and said, "The ground furnace is used for smelting iron, so it needs to be constructed with great care, not even a fraction of it."

"And the blueprint you drew, the molten iron channel extending from the hearth furnace, is connected to another hearth furnace. What are you going to do?"

Li Zheng said coldly: "It is a big taboo to connect two furnaces. The temperature of the furnace is extremely high, and the furnace wall often bursts because it cannot withstand the high temperature!"

"The two furnaces are close together, which is extremely dangerous..."

"Seeing the annotation on your blueprint, the molten iron smelted in the first furnace flows to the second furnace for re-melting. This is simply superfluous."

"And this..." The craftsman named Wang Fuchen also said: "You have divided the molten iron from the second furnace..."

"This is completely random construction!"

After listening patiently, Wang Kang finally understood. It turned out that they said so after seeing their drawings.

He shook his head. What he planned was not just to smelt iron, but to make steel.

The molten iron smelted in the first furnace is heated and smelted in the second furnace, and then the steel can be tapped, and then flow into the pre-installed mold.

After cooling, it becomes steel directly.

This point, they must not understand.

Wang Kang thought for a while and said, "Let me explain the first question to you first. As we all know, iron smelting requires extremely high temperatures, and ordinary furnaces are made of bricks."

"But due to the high temperature in the furnace, the bricks can't withstand it for a long time, so there will be cracks in the bricks, and even the phenomenon of frying the furnace. This is also a problem you are worried about."

Hearing these words, several people nodded. When they looked at Wang Kang, their eyes were different, because what they said was very professional.

Can a young master from a rich family understand this?

Wang Kang ignored it, and continued: "The essential reason for this is that the refractoriness of the bricks is not enough, and I have found a better refractory brick!"

"Impossible!" Li Zheng shouted directly.

Master Xi also shook his head and said, "The refractory bricks are something that our Metallurgical Bureau has been researching, and we have tried many kinds. There is absolutely no way to have better refractory bricks."

"You don't know, but it doesn't mean there isn't one!" Wang Kang said directly.

"Kuangkou boy, this is what my Metallurgical Bureau is engaged in, don't we know?"

But Wang Kang didn't speak, and told Nie Zhongxing, "Bring me the brick I asked you to make."

After a while, Zhongxing Nie brought over a square red brick, and Wang Kang pointed to it and said, "This is the refractory brick I made."

"Ha ha!"

"That's it?"

"What's the difference between this and ordinary bricks, are you kidding?" Several people laughed.

But Wang Kang said coldly: "You can be ignorant, but you can't be fearless!"

"This brick is made of high-alumina bauxite, clay, and pulp. What is high-alumina bauxite? You probably don't know."

Wang Kang continued: "Then I will popularize it for you. High-alumina bauxite is the abbreviation of high-alumina material, and its essence is also a kind of ore, a kind of sedimentary deposit."

"This kind of ore is found in Xinfeng County, and its clinker can be used to make high-alumina bricks, that is, refractory bricks!"

Hearing Wang Kang's words, Li Zheng and the others were taken aback for a while, and many of the terms were heard for the first time.

Wang Kang didn't explain too much. He had already thought about all possible problems when he was preparing to smelt iron.