Chapter 237 Steelmaking

"Master Hou."

Zuo Yidao asked tentatively.

"You don't want to purge these gentlemen?"

Tang Hao glanced at him and said with a faint smile, "Why do you say that?"

"Because if the Marquis really wants to kill these gentry, after Wang Xianwen reveals the list, the Marquis will directly order us to kill people instead of just arresting these family heads!"

"In addition, there is that graphite. Since the Marquis knows where this thing is and its characteristics, he can just let me send a few men to look for it. But it clearly gave Wang Xianwen and others a chance to make meritorious deeds. Why is that? ?”

To be honest, Zuo Yidao couldn't understand it.

Is it possible that after getting married, my Lord Marquis began to restrain his temper and could no longer afford the knife?

Not likely.

Tang Hao smiled and shook his head.

"The reason is simple. They did nothing illegal."

"The iron factory is different from the salt field. The imperial court has never relaxed its control over the salt field, so of course those corrupt officials who colluded with merchants to resell salt for profit should die!"

"But what about the iron factory? The imperial court has relaxed restrictions and allowed merchants to make profits from it. So even if we know that Wang Xianwen and others have embezzled a lot of national interests from it, it is indeed as he said, and they should The money given to the court is a lot!”

"How much money they can earn in this position all depends on their ability. At least the court cannot accuse them of corruption and bribery. This is the difference between Wang Xianwen and Zong Yue. Do you understand? "

Zuo Yidao suddenly understood after hearing this.

It turned out that it was not that the Marquis could no longer carry the sword, but that he had indeed not violated the law.

So, here comes the problem.

"If it's not the Marquis, why do you want me to arrest these family heads?"

Zuo Yidao was anxious. He didn't commit any crime, so you want me to arrest him?

"Did I ask you to arrest me?"

Tang Hao spread his hands with an innocent face and said with a smile: "I asked you to invite me!"

Zuo Yidao: "..."

After a period of silence, Tang Hao raised his head and looked at this guy.

"What are you still doing?"

"Why don't you "invite" these family heads in?"

Zuo Yidao snorted angrily and went to "invite someone" with a proud face.

A moment later, a total of thirty-six family heads walked in with fear.

As soon as they saw the Marquis of Zhongshan sitting on the throne, all the family heads fell to their knees on the ground, even Wang Wenbo, the head of the Langya Wang family, did the same.

There was no way, the Marquis of Zhongshan in front of him was really too fierce and ruthless.

The entire Shandong officialdom was completely overturned because of him!

All the top officials of the three local departments were skinned by him!

This is a lawless and reckless man, a complete lunatic!

Facing such people, what else can these gentry family owners say? What else can they say?

Just kneel down and give in!

For gentry family heads like Wang Wenbo, preserving the family is the most important thing.

The number of wealthy gentry families that died at the hands of this man last time was hundreds or even thousands!

No one dares to challenge the majesty of Zhongshan Marquis at this moment!

Especially these Shandong nobles!

Seeing this, Tang Hao forced out a smile and said, "You don't have to be so polite, just get up and take your seats!"

When all the family heads heard this, they all looked at each other and did not dare to make any move.

"I'll let you sit down!" Tang Hao slammed the desk, making everyone tremble in fright.

All the family heads looked at Wang Wenbo. After all, he, the Wang family of Langya, was undoubtedly the most powerful among these gentry, otherwise Wang Xianwen would not have taken the position of head of the Ministry of Industry in charge of the Laiwu Iron Works.

Wang Wenbo suppressed the fear and anxiety in his heart, tentatively stood up, moved slowly, and then sat down.

After confirming that there was no problem, all the family heads dared to stand up and sit down. They all sat up straight and looked at Zhongshan Hou.

"Actually, I just wanted to invite you to come over to discuss matters. I didn't expect that the people under my command were so ignorant that they actually arrested you!"

Hearing this, the corner of Wang Wenbo's mouth twitched. Only a fool would believe the nonsense of a lunatic like you!

If it weren't for your instructions, would these guards dare to break down the door and arrest people?

"The Marquis of Zhongshan made serious remarks. We are the ones who are ignorant and should have come to pay our respects earlier."

Wang Wenbo said bravely, keeping his posture extremely low.

Tang Hao twitched the corner of his mouth when he heard this, and then looked at Wang Wenbo.

"This should be the head of the Langya Wang family, right?"

"The Marquis is wise, and I am Wang Wenbo, the current head of the Langya Wang family."

"Well..." Tang Hao nodded, "As expected of a medieval nobleman, his magnanimity is truly extraordinary."

"Then I will tell you frankly. The reason why I came to Laiwu Iron Factory is mainly because the quality of firearms in the army is too poor, even to the extreme. The soldiers are generally resistant to this and are unwilling to use these standard firearms! "

As soon as these words came out, the whole audience was at a loss.

Doesn’t it matter to us that the poor quality of your damn firearms is none of your business?

Aren’t we humble military craftsmen responsible for producing firearms?

Why do you still want to be jointly and severally liable?

"I wonder what the Marquis means by this?" Wang Wenbo asked proactively.

Tang Hao did not answer in a hurry, but said to himself: "How bad is the quality of these firearms? When they were used on the battlefield, the enemy hadn't even hit them. As a result, the firearms suddenly exploded, blowing themselves up first. He was injured and died. How could anything be so outrageous in this world?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Wang Wenbo suppressed his inner uneasiness and immediately echoed.

"Later, I investigated carefully and found that the problem was still with the ironworks and the iron smelting process. Because the iron produced by the ironworks was too heavy and too brittle, it was extremely easy to explode. This was the main reason for the poor quality of firearms!"

Tang Hao showed his true colors and put forward his requirements.

"Therefore, I am determined to reform the Laiwu Ironworks, and you are the actual masters of the Laiwu Ironworks, so I hope that the heads of the families will cooperate."

"The people who should contribute should contribute, and the money should contribute. What do you think?"

Everyone: "???"

Ah?

Ah? ? ?

Reform the ironworks?

Contribute people and money?

Are you bored?

What does this have to do with us?

"My Lord!" Wang Wenbo said with a stiff face: "Laiwu Ironworks is a government-owned private enterprise, and all the power is in the hands of the court. So if you really want to reform the ironworks, you should apply to the court. We are really..."

"Don't say any more nonsense!" Tang Hao waved his hand impatiently, "You have made a lot of money from this Laiwu Ironworks over the years. It seems that the ironworks is still under the control of the court, but in fact it has long been reduced to a tool for you 36 gentry forces to make profits!"

"Of course, this marquis also knows that even if you embezzle national benefits, you have not violated the laws of the Ming Dynasty. You have not lost a penny of the silver that should be paid to the court. However, it is precisely because of this that this marquis did not take action against you, but treated you with courtesy, hoping that you can respond to the call and complete the reform of the ironworks together!"

"If not, then you will leave your heads, and this marquis will send troops to kill your whole family. What do you think?"

Either agree, pay money and people, and complete the reform of the ironworks.

Either refuse, or I will kill you first, and then kill your whole family!

This is the ferocious Zhongshan Marquis, a complete lunatic!

All the family heads turned pale and looked at Wang Wenbo.

To be honest, they had no choice.

Even if this lunatic just wanted money and people now, they should be thankful for it.

Otherwise, the gentry who were confiscated and exterminated last time would not even have the chance to beg for mercy until they died!

Wang Wenbo took a deep breath and finally calmed down.

Facing the huge Zhongshan Marquis, they had no power to refuse.

Even if there were many children in their gentry serving as officials in the court, even if they used some court relations to put pressure on the Zhongshan Marquis, it was meaningless!

Because he was Zhongshan Marquis Tang Hao!

Behind him stood His Majesty the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty!

"Okay!"

"My Langya Wang family is willing to respond to the call of the Marquis!"

Wang Wenbo made a decisive statement without any hesitation.

With the first person to take the lead, the rest of the things will be much simpler.

A group of family heads expressed their opinions one after another, and finally passed unanimously.

After confirming the basis for cooperation, the atmosphere on the scene suddenly became much more harmonious.

At least Wang Wenbo and other family heads no longer have to worry about this madman who will kill the whole family if he disagrees with them.

"May I ask the Marquis of Zhongshan, how many people do we have to contribute and how much money do we have to contribute?"

Wang Wenbo spoke again, with a slightly confused look in his eyes.

Since the iron smelting process is not good, then no matter how much you reform it, it will be useless!

How come you, a crazy warrior, still know how to smelt iron?

Facing Wang Wenbo's questioning eyes, Tang Hao gave a direct answer.

"Simple, each family contributes 50,000 taels of silver, and then recruit young and strong laborers to build the iron factory. As for the manpower, there are some children in your family, such as the former Wang Xianwen, who are mobilized to be responsible for the construction of the iron factory and organize labor. Isn't it too much?"

This request... seems... indeed not too much!

50,000 taels of silver, for an ordinary family, that must be an astronomical figure.

But for the 36 families who made a lot of money from the Laiwu Iron Factory, it was not too much.

Although it was a bit painful, it was estimated to be three years of revenue, but this was fucking buying lives, and the lives of the whole family!

Who dares to object? !

"Not too much, not too much!"

Wang Wenbo spoke immediately.

From the moment they were arrested, they were even prepared for the destruction of their families.

But now they can escape this disaster with only 50,000 taels of silver, which even makes them feel a little overjoyed!

"In this case, then the heads of the families should write a personal letter, and the marquis will send soldiers back to your homes, and let the clansmen prepare the manpower and silver!"

"By the way, pay more attention to the graphite matter. When all these things are in place, you can go home safely."

Hearing this, Wang Wenbo and other heads of the family looked at each other, and finally had to admit defeat.

Why do I feel like a "bandit kidnapping" where the Zhongshan Marquis kidnapped them and asked their families to pay for redemption?

The Marquis of Zhongshan turned into a ferocious kidnapper, and the heads of these families were hostages, blackmailing their families together...

Alas, the world is going downhill, morality is declining, and people's hearts are no longer the same!

Wang Wenbo sighed and began to write a letter.

Tang Hao stood up and walked outside the hall, waving his hand to Zuo Yidao.

"After they finish writing, take them away and settle them down. They should eat and drink. These are all financial sponsors!"

"Then send some brothers to deliver the letters one by one, live in their homes, and return with the team. A team of 20 people, in case of accidents."

Zuo Yidao nodded in agreement, and then quickly went to make arrangements.

Tang Hao ordered people to gather some of the most experienced and experienced old blacksmiths in Laiwu Iron Factory, led by a white-haired old man named Liu Dahu.

Where there is demand, there will be channels. As the third iron factory in the Ming Dynasty, Laiwu Iron Factory can be said to have undertaken the iron production of the entire Shandong Province, and naturally there are a large number of blacksmith workshops.

And they were all recruited by Tang Hao, waiting for the order from Lord Zhongshan.

"You have only one mission!"

"Tear down all the original iron smelting furnaces and rebuild them, and use the drawings of this marquis to build blast furnaces. No deviation is allowed. Do you understand?"

As soon as this was said, the whole audience was in an uproar.

The twenty iron smelting furnaces in the Laiwu Ironworks are their lifeblood. Without these iron smelting furnaces, how can they make iron? If they can't make iron, how can they support their families?

For a moment, all the blacksmiths were clamoring and talking about it.

The blacksmiths didn't know what the three words "Zhongshan Hou" meant. They just felt that the demands of this dog official in front of them were too outrageous, and it was clear that they wanted everyone's lifeblood.

Liu Dahu felt this surging resentment, and he couldn't help but bite the bullet and speak.

"My Lord, this iron furnace is everyone's lifeblood. If it suddenly falls down, how will everyone support their families?"

"In addition, we have to pay silver to the court every quarter, and the ironworks has to bear the corresponding share of military equipment. If we can't complete it, the court will blame us..."

"Don't worry!" Tang Hao waved his hand, "I will be responsible for the court. I have already reported to His Majesty the Emperor. There is no need to worry about this."

"As for your livelihood, during the rectification of the ironworks, all craftsmen will adopt the registration and punch-in system. Every blacksmith will get the corresponding wages if he goes to work on time every day. No one will be treated unfairly!"

Even so, the blacksmiths still couldn't accept it.

After all, who would really believe what these officials said?

You said the court would not blame us, so it would not blame us?

You said you would pay us wages, so we would pay us wages?

"No!"

"The furnace must not be stopped!"

"Yes, the furnace cannot be stopped!"

The craftsmen shouted one after another, looking like they were about to take action.

These blacksmiths have been forging iron all their lives, and they are so strong and have a bad temper, so they are ready to fight at this moment, which is quite powerful.

Before Tang Hao opened his mouth, the four guards suddenly rushed over, pointing their shining swords at the craftsmen, reminding them not to act rashly.

Under the threat of the four guards, the craftsmen finally settled down honestly.

Seeing this, Tang Hao looked at Liu Dahu and said in a deep voice: "Let me ask you a simple question, why does the output of the iron factory drop significantly in winter?"

"What else can it be? Because it's too cold in winter, the furnace temperature can't go up, so naturally, iron can't be smelted!"

Liu Dahu rolled his eyes. This damn dog official doesn't know anything, but he still has the face to point fingers here. If he wants to reform the iron factory, won't that smash everyone's rice bowl?

Tang Hao looked at the iron smelting furnace that was about five or six meters high and couldn't help shaking his head.

This broken furnace is so simple, the furnace temperature naturally can't go up.

Moreover, let alone the furnace temperature in winter, how high can the temperature be even in the dog days?

The temperature required for ironmaking is probably more than 1,000 degrees, so steelmaking must be at least 1,500 degrees or more. This broken furnace is hard to make iron, let alone steelmaking.

In fact, the iron smelting industry in all dynasties has long been troubled by excessive phosphorus content, which is probably due to the poor quality of iron ore, or because of cast iron technology, or both.

The most terrible killer of iron smelting is sulfur.

The winter in the north is very cold, so the cold brittleness of ironware with high phosphorus content is very serious, which seriously restricts the development of ironware.

So, using coal to smelt iron is a complete mistake, which has led the entire iron smelting industry astray!

In fact, the solution to the high sulfur content is very simple, that is, to make coke and use coke to smelt iron.

Then use the redox reaction to get iron without sulfur, which is the most correct way.

And if you want to do this, the most common way is to smelt iron in a blast furnace!

The construction of a blast furnace is not complicated, but the problem is that Tang Hao only remembers how the blast furnace works, but he really doesn't know how high it is. It should be at least six or seven feet high, right?

"The reason why the furnace temperature can't rise is because your furnace is too short!"

Tang Hao ordered without hesitation: "Whether you believe it or not, I have given you the drawings. Within a month, I want to see all these 20 furnaces become blast furnaces, otherwise none of you will live!"

Faced with the threat of this dog official, the blacksmiths finally changed their faces.

After all, it is really hard for them not to be afraid when the real swords and guns are in front of them.

In the end, Liu Dahu could only take the drawings handed over by Tang Hao and discuss with the blacksmiths.

Seeing this, Tang Hao called Leng Hantie, a thousand households of the imperial army, and told him: "Watch these craftsmen. It's best for them to do things honestly. Whoever dares to make trouble will be directly chopped off to scare the monkeys!"

Leng Hantie nodded subconsciously.

Tang Hao then turned and left.

To be honest, these blacksmiths are more helpless than those gentry.

Because the gentry are gentry, they know that they can't afford to offend Zhongshan Hou, and they dare not offend him, so they kneel down at the beginning.

But these blacksmiths, they don't know!

They just think that this is a damn dog official, and they can't listen to anything Tang Hao said.

In the end, Tang Hao was forced to no choice but to give a fierce order with a dark face, forcing these blacksmiths to accept.

This is just a small matter in itself, but Tang Hao saw the class gap.

Scholars, farmers, merchants, and artisans, never change.

The reason why these gentry and gentry can control the government and the local discourse power is that they have more insights and more channels to understand the "outside world" than farmers, merchants and artisans!

In addition to the gentry scholars, plus a businessman who does not get up early without profit, there are extremely serious information barriers between the people of the two classes of farmers and workers and the court!

And these information barriers are built by the gentry class themselves!