In front of everyone, Zhu Youjian carefully placed the five-pound weight on the hanging glass.

All of us heard people exhaling in one breath. The five-pound weight stood firmly on the hanging glass. The glass trembled slightly, but it did not crack.

Then Zhu Youjian changed the weight ten kilograms, but when it was put on, the glass was bent a little, and then there was a "pop" sound, and the glass broke.

Everyone breathed a sigh again, but this time they sighed mostly, but then there was another cheer. The glass hanging over the air was very good.

‘The compressive strength is still a little weaker.’

Zhu Youjian thought to himself.

In later generations, glass of various shapes and uses emerged one after another. As for the special glass used on the glass plank road, it was fine for people to go up, but Zhu Youjian went up to play.

Of course, that kind of glass with strength is not only a matter of process, but the special materials used in it have exceeded Zhu Youjian's cognitive scope.

"This intensity problem should be related to this annealing step. If it can be improved, the intensity should be improved. As for the problem of bubbles, in addition to speeding up the stirring, you can think about what better process there is."

Zhu Youjian ordered Bi Maokang and Song Yingxing, and then added another sentence.

"And with these craftsmanship and technology improvements, you must hurry up and come up with a reward charter. Personal manpower is exhausted. We must use the intelligence and talents of the craftsmen to encourage craftsmen to improve their skills. I do not cherish money. If you make outstanding contributions, you can be awarded an official."

After the emperor finished speaking, Song Yingxing and Bi Maokang had not responded yet, and the craftsmen in the factory had already bowed and thanked him.

In a feudal society with distinct strata, the idea of ​​officialism is particularly important. If you have an official position, it is not a problem of earning two more silver. Even a ninth-rank miscellaneous official is enough to honor the family for ordinary people.

The development of the commodity economy in feudal society was limited, the ancients had simple thoughts, and although merchants were rich, their status was indeed limited. If there was no official in the merchant family, it would be a piece of fat meat that everyone loved and would have been eaten clean long ago.

Officials in feudal society had extremely strong power, and it was not a casual talk about the magistrate who destroyed the family.

Having an official position, even the smallest ninth rank mistress or even a poor county yamen official, can protect the family's safety.

So when these craftsmen heard that they could be awarded officials, their eyes were straightened.

At this time, Bi Maokang and Song Yingxing also reacted. If it was enough to say that the inventor of the steam engine who used the title to reward him with a title was shocked enough, then this time the improvement of technology and technology to award officials was even more shocking.

Because the invention of the steam engine is really difficult, and the principles inside are complicated, far from what those craftsmen can do.

But general craft improvements are different. These craftsmen have been engaged in this industry for a long time, and sometimes it is easy to improve the craftsmanship.

Compared to being named, it is easier to be awarded an official, so it is even more shocking.

Zhu Youjian was very satisfied with everyone's expressions and took the lead in leaving the glass factory with his hands behind his back.

Zhu Youjian then looked at the steel mills and soap mills, pointed out some problems, and put forward some suggestions such as expanding production scale.

At present, crucibles are still used to produce steel ingots in steel plants, but the open furnace steelmaking method is also under experiments.

Zhu Youjian visited a steel factory in his previous life because of work needs. He also had a general concept of the development of steel smelting technology in previous dynasties, including crucible method, open furnace, and converter steelmaking.

But I only know a little about it, and I can't remember some of the steps very clearly. I can only give a general framework for Bi Maokang and Song Yingxing to lead the craftsmen to study it little by little.

At present, the main focus of Xishan Steel Plant is the open furnace steelmaking method. With the heat storage chamber provided by Zhu Youjian, the blower and coke with higher calorific value as the foundation, the world's first open furnace should not have Zhu Youjian waited for too long.

After leaving the factory area, Zhu Youjian and others walked for a quarter of an hour to arrive at the agricultural area at the foot of the Xishan Mountain. Compared with the noisy and smoky industrial area, it is much quieter and peaceful.

Among the about ten acres of fields, dozens of old farmers were composting in the fields, waiting for the spring to thaw and then water and fertilize.

These more than ten acres of fields are experimental fields, and larger-scale experimental fields are in a farm at the foot of the Xishan Mountain, with a scale of about a few hundred acres. Because of limited breeding, most of them are still planted with traditional wheat or millet.

Before coming to the test field, the fields were covered with straw mats. Because potatoes and sweet potatoes were not resistant to freezing, if there were plastic greenhouses, they could only use straw mats to resist frost.

In fact, Zhu Youjian didn’t know if the sweet potatoes and potatoes could be planted in winter, but the north has been drought for years, so it doesn’t take much time for Zhu Youjian to promote breeding.

If the promotion is one year later, thousands of people may die. Under pressure, Song Yingxing can only give it a try.

Because the tubers are buried deep enough, they are covered with straw mats on them. Initially, the effect is quite good.

At most one month, the earth will be rejuvenated. This batch of potatoes and sweet potatoes should be able to survive, but the yield will probably be in vain.

Last August, when Song Yingxing presided over the potato and sweet potato harvest, he was really shocked.

Although it was the first time to plant it, under the careful care of Song Yingxing, the yield of potatoes and sweet potatoes per mu exceeded 500 kilograms. This is unimaginable in the Ming Dynasty, where two or three hundred kilograms are generally in the northern farmland.

Of course, this was not satisfactory in Zhu Youjian's opinion, because Zhu Youjian remembered that in later generations, the per mu of potatoes reached more than 2,000 kilograms, while the per mu of sweet potatoes could reach 5,000 kilograms.

But what Zhu Youjian forgot was that under the cultivation of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and good varieties, the yield per mu of wheat was only about one thousand kilograms. If converted according to this ratio, the yield of potatoes and sweet potatoes is also acceptable.

Moreover, this is the first time to plant. The professional breeding, planting and cultivation techniques are all oral by Zhu Youjian, who is half-baked. It is entirely up to Song Yingxing to explore it bit by bit. It would be great if he could have this yield.

Because it requires a large amount of breeding, although there are already a lot of potatoes and sweet potatoes, no one dares to use these precious seeds as food. Only during major festivals or Zhu Youjian will use sweet potatoes and potatoes to taste them.

Of course, the way to eat sweet potatoes and potatoes was also taught by Zhu Youjian.

Looking at the potatoes and sweet potato seedlings on the ground, Zhu Youjian was in a state of great excitement and waved his hand at Bi Maokang and Song Yingxing.
Chapter completed!