There are two iron officials in Jingzhao Yin, one is in Zheng County in the east and the other is in Lantian County in the southeast of Chang'an. As the largest iron workshop in the capital, Lantian County, which produces iron, basically undertakes the royal iron needs. This trip to Lantian Iron Officials allowed Ren Hong to fully understand the iron smelting technology of the Han Dynasty.

The division of skills has been very developed, and it has reached a level that even a layman is difficult for him to argue. The process of ore dressing, ingredients, furnace, melting, iron production, casting and forging are divided very finely, and it is no problem if it is the so-called assembly line.

Blast furnace iron smelting has become very popular in Henan County, Nanyang County and Zhao District in Guanzhong and Guandong.

The furnace is made of rammed loess, and with refractory bricks, it is built into an oval that is two tall. It is actually made of coal, but it is just used as a combustion aid, and the main material is charcoal.

What dazzled Ren Hong the most was the "stack casting technique" that the iron officer deliberately showed. The iron castings on hundreds of carriages at a time were simply nesting dolls. The gate between Fan is only a few millimeters. After all, after more than a thousand years of bronze casting in Shang and Zhou dynasties, cast iron technology can also stand on the shoulders of giants and lead the world.

Forging is not a waste. Ren Hong saw the "Hundred Refining Method" displayed by a blacksmith surnamed Guo from Chenliu County. He held a sledgehammer and repeatedly forged and beat the spongy-shaped blocks of iron, roasted and beat, beat, and burned, removed impurities, and repeated many times or even hundreds of times. After cooling, its color was clear and after polishing, it appeared dull blue-black, which was very different from ordinary iron.

At this time, it cannot be called iron, but "steel".

The ancients said that when using a steel and red blade, it is like cutting jade, like cutting mud. The more knives the Han soldiers are, the better. The 200-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300-300

However, steelmaking is extremely expensive and is generally only used for the production of blades, and only cooked iron is willing to use the blade body.

However, another craftsman named Kong introduced to Ren Hong a method that can produce the quality of "twenty-sophisticated and thirty-sophisticated" at one time, which is to stir-fry steel. After producing pig iron, it is put into a blast furnace and continue to heat until it melts into iron liquid, and then add iron ore powder, so that the finished product similar to 100 steel is obtained.

However, this method must be mastered by older and experienced craftsmen. The heat is too important. Once it exceeds the heat, it will be directly fried into ordinary cooked iron.

In the end, the two craftsmen started arguing about which method was better. What did the blacksmith Guo, who was responsible for forging, say: "The so-called steel frying is a pseudo-steel ear. Any iron with steel is like a tendon in the face, forging more than a hundred fires, one is a grease and one light, until it is calcined into two pounds, which is pure steel!"

The quality of forging the 100-year-old steel is not to be said, but it is too time-consuming and labor-intensive. Now the great man needs a lot of high-quality steel to make weapons such as ring-headed swords that are essential for infantry and cavalry. It has high quality and mass production? Ren Hong wants it all!

Although the iron official craftsmen are old craftsmen with decades of experience, they can only explore according to their experience, but Ren Hong knows a little about the principles of steel smelting.

In fact, it is clear that after thinking about it, you need to mix carbon for repeated forging of soft-textured iron.

The hard and brittle pig iron continues to be placed in the furnace and smelted at high temperature to remove carbon.

The two opposite directions, but the ultimate goal is the same: both to get the "sharp steel" that Liezi once said, and to achieve the most perfect state in the middle.

So Ren Sinong began his guidance, straightened his stomach and began to gesture constantly, looking very conscious: "If you can use pig iron to clamp iron and seal it with mud, can you also make steel?"

This is the "steel filling method" in history, which can also be called low-temperature steelmaking method. The principle is very simple - of course it is simple, but the difficult thing is practice, so there is no need to worry about Ren Hong. Even if he wants to try to turn water into oil and stone into iron, there are still many people who hold their feet and say, "Your Majesty's wonderful thoughts, you can try it!"

The two old blacksmiths were stunned when they heard this and looked at each other. Although they would not take it seriously if ordinary Grand Marshals said a few nonsense, General Ma Wei was famous. Both of them hoped that the Marquis of Xi'an could wear their own swords and carved the swords of the masters. Then they bowed to Ren Hongyi, and continued to quarrel while busy trying.

Ren Hong was inspired by the fact that although there were many skilled craftsmen in great men, most of them, just like those who invented Baqiao paper, blast furnace, and steelmaking, were buried in history and had no name. Most of them were even in a state of scrambling to die, so they announced a new policy that he was approved after asking the emperor.

"The Han Dynasty also had strong fields in addition to virtuous literature, and those who were good at farming were also strong fields. Every village was given a strong field. However, the Book of Zhou said: If the farmers do not come out, they will be short of food, and if the workers do not come out, they will be short of work. The craftsman is a pillar of the country, and skillful craftsmen are also indispensable. Therefore, in the official salt and iron weaving room, he added the name of "worker". One person was recommended every county every year, and he was called "Gaogong", and his rank and salary were the same as two hundred stones!"

There are a lot of monks and little porridge, but it doesn't matter. There are also grades. There are "middle-level workers" in the county, rank and fortune of hundreds of stones, and "first workers" in the township. The rank and fortune are equivalent to fighting food officials. Third-level engineers are assigned to be assessed by the Grand Secretary and Farmers. It is better to have nothing than to be too bad. Only those who make outstanding contributions to invention can get the title of senior engineer - such as Ren Hong himself.

Ren Hong hopes that this move will encourage more skilled craftsmen who are affiliated with the government to display their talents.

When he returned to Chang'an, Huang Ba, who was ordered to inspect the iron officials of various counties last year, came back. Huang Ba's experience made Ren Hong realize that compared to the technology that was already at the forefront of the world, the system problems of the iron officials seemed to be bigger.

...

As early as ten years ago, when he was in the Hedong Junshi Office, Huang Ba was famous for his wise observation. He was good at calling subordinates and people, regardless of the size, sent people to investigate and deal with the matters of the people. Even the family matters of civilians were carefully considered. When he was in Loulan Road, he encountered an old official who died. Where was the deceased's hometown? There were old friends in the Western Regions, which big trees in the town could be cut down as coffins, and which pigs raised in the inn could be used for sacrifices, etc. Huang Ba was very clear about it, which was amazing. People who didn't know the inside story all said that he had the help of gods, and the minor officials did not dare to deceive them at all.

Therefore, after becoming an official who lost all the world, the advantages and disadvantages of the subway officials could not escape Huang Ba's eyes. As soon as he came back, he was carrying the "special products" he brought to Ren Hong into the yard.

"The Grand Minister's Agriculture, this is the iron tool produced by the forty-eight iron officials in the world. The subordinate officials sent people to buy and obtain it in the arsenal of the city. Each iron official brought back two swords, one armor, and four sickles."

How do you know who made it? Just pick it up and look at the inscription. The Han Dynasty implemented the same "item name" system as the Qin Dynasty, and the names of the craftsmen in the origin and the names of the cast craftsmen must be engraved.

Otherwise, it is a three-no product.

Ren Hong picked up a ring-headed knife that looked average, and he could indeed see the "Dongyi" engraved on it.

"The first iron official in Hedong is in Pi's County." Geng Shouchang, who was beside him, had a good memory and immediately reported the place of origin.

Similarly, "East II" is the second iron official in Hedong. In Pingyang, "Fu Yi" is the Yong Tieguan of Youfufeng. As long as there is a quality problem, no one can escape!

But the Tieguan is smart and can also read people to download the discs. The quality of things handed over to the army and to the people is completely different. After Ren Hong tried it, he found that there were not many defective products in the weapons and armor, and they were basically qualified.

But the farm tools are hard to describe, there are really many. The "Dongyi" sickle in Ren Hong's hand is really terrible and not unharmed. He suspected that he could handle the blade at will, and even the ropes on the bamboo slips could not be cut.

Ren Hong couldn't help but shook his head: "I heard that Kong Gen and Dongguo Xianyang presided over the Grand Secretary's farming period, the sickle produced by the official iron was of poor quality and could not even cut wheat straw. He thought it was an exaggerated statement from virtuous literature, but he didn't expect it to be a real thing."

After Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, the mountains and lakes were smelted, such as iron smelting, mining, and salt smelting, and other sources were sent to private management, and the people were free to mine. Until Emperor Wen ascended the throne, he still "smelting the people to mint money, smelting iron, and salt", which made many major industrial and commercial masters in the world, such as the Zhuo family in Shu County and the Kong family in Nanyang, who were rich in iron smelting, with a huge amount of money, and the wealth was as rich as the country. This market should not be too free.

By the time of Emperor Wu of Han, in order to raise military expenses for the Xiongnu, he thought that the wealthy businessmen were unkind and were not kind, and they smelted and sold salt, and their wealth might be accumulated tens of thousands of gold, but did not assist the public in the urgent need, which made the people very difficult, so they began to impose heavy taxes and changed salt and iron into the official business.

However, the appointed persons were still big business owners, namely Kong Gang, Dongguo Xianyang and Sang Hongyang. Kong Gang was a member of the Kong family of the iron smelting clan in Nanyang. Dongguo Xianyang was a salt merchant in Qi. Sang Hongyang was a son of Luoyang merchants. He was good at scheming. Hanwu asked them to be their own finance ministers and control the country's economic lifeline. I believe that these three people were the best golden partners and would definitely live up to their trust.

However, the facts disappointed Emperor Wu of Han. Although the salt and iron officials were established across the country, they were already extremely corrupt in just a few years. Most officials used their power to commit fraud. The iron tools produced were not only high in price but also low in quality. Then Kong Gen and Dongguo Xianyang were dismissed, leaving only Sang Hongyang to continue to assist Hanwu in reform. The treasury was indeed enriched, but Guandong complained a lot about this.

When the meeting of salt and iron, Wei Xiang and other virtuous literature fired a gun at Sang Hongyang, belittling the salt and iron system to a value-for-money. For example, in order to complete the prescribed tasks, the official iron tools only focus on output. Regardless of practical value, the iron tools produced are mostly large iron plows with very few applications, which are not suitable for small farmers to use. Moreover, the fraud is serious and the quality is low, so it is not allowed to be selected. Even if it is broken on the same day, it will not be returned. As a result, some farmers cannot afford to use iron tools and can only restore their life as a wooden plow in ancient times.

Ren Hong was not very touched when he lived in Hexi. Later, he walked in Kanto and found that the problem of virtuous literature criticizing that time did exist. The government took charge of the organization and inefficiency was real.

But from the perspective of the country, the large-scale production of the official salt and iron industry is better than the small-scale operation of the private salt and iron industry. As a strategic resource, salt and iron must be firmly controlled in the hands of the government. If it is fully liberalized and returned to the so-called "people", the final result may not be better than now.

Who do you believe in the country and capital?

But looking at the sickle that was too dull to cut the wheat straw in his hand, Huang Ba told the story of similar problems among subway officials. The people of Kanto had indeed suffered for a long time, Ren Hong also understood that the salt and iron system established by Sang Hongyang had already fallen into the dilemma of "eating big pot rice" and had to make a little reform.

Ren Hong remembers that there was a history in his previous life and he also faced this problem. As for the solution...

Don’t ask, it’s a market economy!

...

The next day, Liu Xun was watching the memorial of Jiaodong Xiangwang Cheng in Jianzhang Palace. Previously, Jiaodong absorbed more than 80,000 refugees from the Langya earthquake in the previous years. For a time, the Jiaodong area was crowded and thieves frequently occurred.

He was considering the matter of Lelang, the Hou Zengyan, who sent the people to cross the sea by boat and placed them in Liaodong, but Ren Hong came to pay a visit.

Ren Hongfeng submitted a memorial, telling the ills of the iron officials of the Han Dynasty, and bowed: "Your Majesty, after the discussion of salt and iron, the general only abolished the county and state wine and the iron officials in the Guanzhong area, and the rest remained unchanged. However, in fact, the iron officials in Guanzhong are still there, and it is time to follow the public opinion of the world and continue to be abolished."

Huo Guang was hated by them for cheating on virtuous literature. If the emperor finishes this matter, he will definitely be praised by public opinion.

But Liu Xun was surprised that most people tried their best to take power in their positions, but the Marquis of Xi'an did the opposite and even took the initiative to dismiss some iron officials.

Ren Hong had his own plans: "I think that each county in Guanzhong can retain one iron official. As for the counties in Guandong, the one who is considered the worst iron official when the general government inspected the government last year!"

"When the Tieguan Tieshan is abolished, Your Majesty can follow the prefect of the court and advise the officials to submit the proposals to the Guandong Furen. This may reduce the disadvantages of the Tieguan's negligence."

Of course, this is not "not competing for profit with the people" and "still enrich the people".

Instead, Ren Hong prescribed the right medicine, thinking that the iron official system had long been a stagnant pool of water, and needed to introduce a group of catfish to stir up the pond, and forced the iron workshop, which was eating and waiting to die, to compete with it, and to revitalize the meridians slightly.

But believing in the words of virtuous literature is to hand over the lifeline of the country, and the basic system of salt and iron official business must also be maintained.

The same principle is the same as the two methods of steelmaking, which is not good to go to extremes, and too much is not enough. "Mean" is the most perfect state: Zhong is the foundation of the world; harmonious is the way of enlightenment in the world. To achieve harmony, heaven and earth are in place, and all things are nurtured!

Ren Hong's proposal, in a sentence of later generations, is that the two are unshakable...

"Unswervingly consolidate and develop the salt and iron official business, unswervingly encourage, support, and guide the development of private iron officials, ensure that the two iron workshops participate in market competition fairly, and are equally protected by the Dahan Laws!"

...
Chapter completed!