The Salt Administration Special Investigation Team was still being formed, but Zhu Yijun's mind was not on it. His mind was now on the Military Bureau because Chen Ju had reported that the wrought iron cannon that Zhu Yijun had asked him to make was a success.
After doing this for so many years, Zhu Yijun finally got some results. This made Zhu Yijun excited.
Coming down from the dragon desk, Zhu Yijun glanced at Chen Ju and found that this honest eunuch of his had really worked hard.
Not only did he look tired, but his hands also had a lot of calluses. It seemed that he had also worked, which was not easy.
"Your Majesty, I have not let you down. The wrought iron cannon has been made!" Chen Ju knelt on the ground and cried loudly.
For so many years, the eunuch of the same generation as him, Xu De, was in charge of the inner factory. Naturally, there was no light. However, he had been constantly investing money, but there was no output. Chen Ju was under a lot of pressure.
Zhu Yijun looked at Chen Ju and laughed, "Get up. What are you crying for?"
"I remember your contributions. If the wrought iron cannon this time satisfies me, I will reward you well."
As he said this, Zhu Yijun kicked Chen Ju again and said, "Take me to see it. Don't embarrass me here!"
Zhu Yijun laughed happily, and Zhang Jing, who was next to him, looked at Chen Ju with a smile.
Although there was a smile on his face, the urgency in Zhang Jing's heart increased. He originally thought that Chen Ju was not a threat because he did not show his strength. But looking at his current posture, he was going to make a big deal!
Obviously, all these years of hard work by Chen Ju had not been in vain. Looking at the Imperial Majesty's attitude towards Chen Ju, it was obvious.
Although Zhu Yijun really wanted to see it now, it wasn't that easy for him to leave the palace.
The Military Bureau's smelting factory was located in the Imperial Plantation. This time, Zhu Yijun traveled light. He was personally escorted by Left Guard Yu Dayou of Dragon Martial Academy. The group of more than a thousand people made their way to the Imperial Plantation in a grandiose fashion.
Yu Dayou was even older. When Zhu Yijun saw him, he knew that this old general's days were numbered.
By the time they arrived at the Imperial Plantation, the place was already under martial law. The guards had also been replaced by the Longwu Left Guard. There were Imperial Bodyguards and Dongchang soldiers everywhere.
Zhu Yijun alighted from the imperial carriage, and the group entered the Imperial Plantation.
On the northwest side of the Imperial Plantation, there were several furnaces that stood out. One look was enough to tell that they were used for smelting iron.
"Your Majesty, the open-hearth steelmaking method that you asked me to research has not been successful. Currently, we are still using a large furnace," Chen Ju said, a little ashamed.
Zhu Yijun nodded. He knew that it wasn't that easy, so he had to learn it slowly!
The large furnace that Chen Ju mentioned was a smelting furnace unique to the Daming Empire. It was similar to the furnaces of later generations.
Looking up, Zhu Yijun discovered that the large furnace was more than four meters tall.
Seeing that Zhu Yijun was staring at the Great Inspection Furnace, Chen Ju explained, "Your Imperial Highness, the Great Inspection Furnace can smelt two thousand catties of iron sand per furnace. It can produce one furnace of iron in one hour, which is about six hundred catties of pig iron."
Zhu Yijun was stunned. This was quite a high output!
This was different from what he had imagined. He had thought that the Daming Empire's smelting industry wasn't very developed, but it was very developed!
Even if they needed a lot, they could just build more of these large furnaces. Once they had enough, the output would naturally increase.
"How about smelting wrought iron and steel?" Zhu Yijun turned to look at Chen Ju and asked again.
"Wrought iron needs to be smelted five times, and steel needs to be smelted nine times."
Hearing Zhu Yijun's question, Chen Ju hurriedly said, "It's just that this kind of large furnace costs a lot. If we forge it every day, after three months, this furnace won't be able to function."
It wasn't because they didn't have the skills, it was because they didn't have the money!
Zhu Yijun also understood that if they wanted to build a large-scale steel factory, they would need a lot of money.
It wasn't convenient to transport ores in this era, and they also needed to use coke for smelting.
Fuel was also a problem that needed to be solved. Zhu Yijun also knew that there were two main places where coking coal was distributed in the country. One was in Shanxi, and the other was in Guizhou.
With the current transportation conditions, it was impossible to transport coal from Guizhou. It was completely unrealistic.
It was also unrealistic to transport coal from Shanxi. For example, it would be more convenient to go to Shanxi or Shaanxi to smelt it.
Zhu Yijun thought for a moment and felt that Shanxi and Shaanxi were still not enough. The most suitable place was Liaodong.
There were ports, convenient transportation, coal, rich forest resources, iron mines, large land area, and no people. These conditions combined were absolutely suitable to be a heavy industrial base of Daming.
It seemed that he needed to put Liaodong on the agenda as soon as possible!
After walking for a while, Zhu Yijun saw another furnace. Different from the large furnace, this one was much shorter.
Zhu Yijun pointed to the furnace and asked, "What is this furnace used for?"
"Replying to Your Imperial Highness, this stove is used to fry wrought iron. The pig iron comes out of the Great Jian Furnace and is fried here. After the pig iron is fried, it will become mature iron." Chen Ju hurriedly explained.
Zhu Yijun nodded. Now that he had a general understanding of Daming's iron smelting technology, he had a general idea. Glancing at Chen Ju, Zhu Yijun said, "Take me to see the wrought 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 were similar to those of a carriage. There were handles on both sides, and it could be pushed by two people.
There was a hook in the front, which could be pulled by horses.
On top of the carriage was a cannon. It looked more than a meter long with a big belly, which looked a little funny.
"Will this one explode?" Zhu Yijun looked at Chen Ju and asked.
Compared to copper cannons, the biggest problem with the cast-iron cannon was that it would explode. Daming had long studied cast-iron cannons. After all, iron was much cheaper than copper.
Daming's skilled craftsmen had also made cast-iron cannons, but it was too easy to explode.
"Replying to the Imperial Majesty, it won't!" Chen Ju said with a smile.
Zhu Yijun had mentioned the granular gunpowder before, but it turned out that Daming already had it. The requirements were quite high. Zhu Yijun looked at the process of making the gunpowder, and he was shocked speechless.
For each ingredient, there were five catties of saltpeter, one catty of yellow, and one catty of eggplant ash.
For the above, there were seven catties of saltpeter, yellow, and ash. They were divided into three troughs and ground 5500 times.
For each ingredient, there were three catties. For each ingredient, there was one catty of good wine. Mix it into mud and throw it into the troughs. Grind it a hundred times.
Mix it into granules the size of yellow rice or mung bean. It had to be placed in the palm of the hand and not feel hot.
Zhu Yijun had seen this kind of gunpowder before. It was really good stuff. If the craftsmanship was strictly required, then Daming's gun would be really powerful.
Looking at the wrought iron cannon in front of him, Zhu Yijun was even more excited.
"Yes, Imperial Majesty!" Chen Ju replied and quickly called the people beside him.
Those people didn't dare to hesitate. They carried the box and started to take out the cannonballs. All of them were solid iron cannonballs.
After quickly stuffing the cannonballs into the box, they took the torches and stood to the side.