The salt administration special investigation team there is still in the process of being formed, but Zhu Yijun's mind is no longer there. His mind is now on the military battle. Because Chen Ju came to report, Zhu Yijun asked him to try out the iron cannon to succeed.

After so many years of doing this, Zhu Yijun finally achieved real results, which made Zhu Yijun excited.

From the Longshu desk, Zhu Yijun looked at Chen Ju and found that his honest eunuch was really hard. Not only did he look tired, but he also had a lot of calluses on his hands. It seemed that he was working with him, which was not easy.

"I will live up to your Majesty's entrustedness. The iron cannon has been built!" Chen Ju knelt on the ground and cried loudly.

After so many years, Xu De, the eunuch of the same generation as him, is naturally infinity in the factory, but he is constantly investing money, but he has no output. Chen Ju is under great pressure.

Zhu Yijun looked at Chen Ju and cursed with a smile: "Get up, how do you look like crying?"

"I remember all your credit. If the iron cannon I made this time satisfy me, I will reward you well." Zhu Yijun kicked Chen Ju again and said, "Take me and see, don't embarrass me here!"

Zhu Yijun smiled happily, while Zhang Jing next to him looked at Chen Ju with a smile on his face.

Although there was a smile on his face, the urgency in Zhang Jing's heart increased. He originally thought that Chen Ju was not showing off and was not considered a threat, but judging from his current situation, he was going to make a big fuss!

Obviously, Chen Ju’s hard work has not been in vain for so many years. You can tell by the emperor’s attitude towards Chen Ju.

Although Zhu Yijun really wanted to go and have a look now, it was not that easy for him to leave the palace.

The smelter of the military battle was in Huangzhuang. Zhu Yijun's trip this time was considered a light car. Longwu left guard Yu Dayou personally led people to guard it. The team of more than a thousand people seemed to be heading towards Huangzhuang.

Yu Dayou is getting older. When Zhu Yijun saw him, he knew that this old general would not have much time left.

When the group came to the imperial village, the martial law was already in place, and the guards also replaced the people from the Longwu Left Guard, and there were Jinyiwei and Dongchang men everywhere. Zhu Yijun got off the imperial chariot and the group entered the imperial village.

On the northwest side of the imperial village, several blast furnaces are particularly obvious, and you can tell at a glance that it is the place for iron smelting.

"Your Majesty, the method of steelmaking that you asked me to study for is still not successful. Now I am still using the Great Appliance Furnace." Chen Ju said with some shame.

Zhu Yijun nodded. He also knew that this thing was not that easy, so let's learn it slowly!

The Great Mirror Furnace mentioned by Chen Ju is a kind of iron smelting furnace unique to the Ming Dynasty, which is basically the same as the blast furnace in later generations. After looking up, Zhu Yijun found that the height of this Great Mirror Furnace was more than four meters.

Seeing Zhu Yijun staring at the Dajian Furnace, Chen Ju explained: "Old Master, each Dajian Furnace can smel 2,000 kilograms of iron sand, and one furnace can be produced in half an hour, and about 600 kilograms of pig iron can be produced."

Zhu Yijun was stunned. The output is not low!

This is different from what I thought. I thought the Ming Dynasty's iron smelting was not developed, but it was very developed! Even if there were more needed, you could directly build more of this kind of large furnace. When the quantity was enough, the output would naturally increase.

"Where are the iron and steel?" Zhu Yijun turned to look at Chen Ju and asked again.

"The cooked iron needs to be made of five pig iron, and the steel needs to be made of nine." Chen Ju asked when he saw Zhu Yijun, and hurriedly said, "But this kind of large furnace is very expensive. If you open the way every day to refine it, this furnace will not work after three months."

This is not that technology is not good, it is that there is no money!

Zhu Yijun also understood that if you want to build a large-scale steel plant, you need a lot of money. Ores transported in this era are not convenient, and coke is required to be used for refining, and coal is not possible.

Fuel is also a problem that needs to be solved. Zhu Yijun also knows that there are two main distribution areas for coking coal in China, one is in Shanxi and the other is in Guizhou.

With the current transportation conditions, it is not realistic to transport coal from Guizhou.

It is not realistic to transport Shanxi coal, for example, it is convenient and quick to refine it in Shanxi and Shaanxi. Zhu Yijun thought about it and thought that Shanxi and Shaanxi were still not good, and the most suitable place was Liaodong.

There are ports, convenient transportation, coal, rich forest resources, iron ore, large land area, no one, combined with these conditions, it is definitely suitable to be a heavy industrial base in the Ming Dynasty. It seems that pacifying Liaodong requires the agenda as soon as possible!

After walking a while, Zhu Yijun saw another furnace. Unlike the Dajian furnace, this path is much shorter. Zhu Yijun pointed to that route and asked, "What does this furnace do?"

"Back to the emperor, this stove is fried with iron. Pig iron comes out of the large furnace and is fried here. After it is fried, the pig iron becomes cooked with iron." Chen Ju explained quickly.

Zhu Yijun nodded. He now had a general understanding of the Ming Dynasty's iron smelting technology, and he had a clear idea. He glanced at Chen Ju, and Zhu Yijun said, "Take me to see the familiar iron cannon!"

Chen Ju hurriedly led the way in front. Not far away, Zhu Yijun saw a row of ten sports cars.

The wheels of the sports car are similar to those of a carriage. There are handles on both sides that can be pushed by two people. There is a hookup in front, which can be obviously pulled by horses. On the cannon carriage, there is a cannon, which looks only one meter long, with a big belly, and looks a bit funny.

"You won't explode, right?" Zhu Yijun looked at Chen Ju and asked.

Compared with copper cannons, the biggest problem is the explosion of the cassette. The Ming Dynasty had studied cast iron cannons for a long time, after all, iron is much cheaper than copper. The skilled craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty also made cast iron cannons, but it was too easy to explode.

"Go back to the emperor, I won't!" Chen Ju said with a smile.

Zhu Yijun had mentioned the matter of pellet gunpowder before, but it had already happened in the Ming Dynasty. People's requirements were quite high. After watching the process of making gunpowder, Zhu Yijun was shocked and couldn't speak.

Each material is made of five kilograms of nitrate, one kilogram of yellow, and one kilogram of eggplant ash. A total of seven kilograms of nitrate, yellow, and ash are divided into three troughs, and the mill is fixed for 5,500 times and the trough is released.

For three pounds of medicine, use one pound of soybean wine, make a mud, and then grind it into the trough for a hundred times, and then mix it into the trough. Mix it into particles, such as the size of yellow rice or mung beans, and it must be burned into the palm of the person's palm and it will not feel hot before it can be done.

Zhu Yijun has also seen this kind of gunpowder. It is really a good thing. If craftsmanship is strictly required, the Ming Dynasty's muskets are really powerful. Now looking at the familiar iron cannon in front of him, Zhu Yijun felt even more excited.

"Yes, the emperor!" Chen Ju agreed and hurriedly greeted the people next to him.

The people did not dare to hesitate, and carried the box over and started to pick up shells from it, all of which were solid iron ball shells. They quickly stuffed the shells in, and then they stood aside with torches.
Chapter completed!