Chapter 291 Ying Zheng: Is this steel?

While the First Emperor was still in deep thought, Liu Bowen had already seen the opportunity. As the prime minister of the Ming Dynasty, he had broad knowledge.

Hearing this, he smiled and said:
"Your Excellency has really thought it through. This is not simply exchanging salt for stone, but a grand blueprint for the trade between the country and the people."

"In this way, the country's productivity will explode!"

Only Ying Heng could understand the deep meaning of Liu Bowen's words, while others were all confused.

After all, the Qin Dynasty was a martial nation that valued military achievements and farming. Commerce was like uncultivated wasteland, and few people knew its true value.

Ying Heng stared at Liu Bowen and secretly praised him in his heart, thinking that this prime minister from the future had unique insights and might be entrusted with important tasks in trade.

Then, Ying Heng continued, "Father, there is no need to worry about the lack of limestone in the country."

"If you really have no other options, you can lead your army to destroy the Penglai Fairyland in the East China Sea."

"There are volcanoes everywhere and shells everywhere."

"It is rumored that deeper into the western steppes is the border of the Roman Empire, where the mineral deposits are extremely rich."

"With their current technology, I'm afraid they haven't realized the true value of these raw materials. To them, they may be cheaper than stones."

"At that time, we don't need to fight each other. We only need a little cement to exchange for rich raw materials for building the mansion."

When Qin Shi Huang heard this, his eyes instantly brightened.

Isn't this robbery?
It's just like sitting back and reaping the benefits!

Ying Heng added: "Father, next time you go on an expedition, I will send craftsmen to accompany you. If we encounter stubborn resistance, we will conquer them by force. If we encounter those who pretend to surrender, we will use the power of technology to completely drain their resources!"

The Emperor's eyes flickered, as if a new path had opened up before him. This was more convenient than war, and the effect was immediate!

This kid has such wisdom in his head, it's amazing!
The First Emperor looked at Ying Heng, his eyes glowing with fire. "Forget it, let's produce cement first. The reinforced concrete just now is just a stopgap measure, and its hardness is far from reaching the ultimate."

"Now, I'm going to take you to the steel mill, where I'm going to demonstrate the art of steelmaking for the first time!"

Meng Yi asked curiously: "What is steel?"

Ying Heng responded with a faint smile: "If cement is the cornerstone of national construction, then steel is the core material for scientific and technological development."

"Its uses are so numerous that it is difficult to list them all. All things currently made of copper can be replaced with steel, which will be several times more effective than copper, and the cost of the raw materials is low!"

Everyone arrived at the steel plant, where two large steel furnaces were burning brightly, containing molten iron ore.

The workers kept swinging huge hammers, hitting the hot iron.

Despite the reward of a high-temperature steelmaking furnace, with the current craftsmanship and technology, without Ying Heng's guidance, Lu Ban and Mo Jia could only master the method of ironmaking together. Iron is weak and far less tough than steel.

And today, Ying Heng is ready to reveal the secret of tempered steel to everyone.

In the blazing steel plant, Qin Shi Huang stood among his ministers and the craftsmen of Lu Ban and Mohist school, and everyone formed a focused circle.

The Thirteenth Young Master was sweating profusely beside the stove, and the huge hammer in his hand rose and fell, hitting a piece of red-hot red iron again and again, making a deafening "bang bang bang" sound.

Time seemed to pass with the sound of hammering. After countless rounds, the iron block that was originally as big as a basin gradually shrank to the size of a lunch box under Ying Heng's hammer.

Finally, with his persistence, the iron block was cast into a hard steel bar more than one meter long and as thick as a thumb.

Ying Heng picked up the pliers and quickly immersed them in cold water.

“Squeak~~~!”

Steam rose, and a deep silver steel bar suddenly appeared.

He called Lu Ban and handed him a used black iron bar for comparison.

"Father, you just saw that miniature concrete building."

"But that was just a temporary replacement with iron bars, and its strength has not yet reached its ultimate level."

"A true reinforced concrete structure, with steel bars acting as support bones."

"This is the newly forged steel bar. You will know its strength if you try it yourself."

Qin Shihuang took the iron bar from Ying Heng's hand, held both ends tightly with both hands, and with a little force, the iron bar immediately bent to 90 degrees.

I pulled it again, but it didn't move at all. The quality was unexpected.

Then, he injected his true energy into it and pulled it hard. With a "crack", the iron bar broke.

Despite this, Qin Shi Huang still nodded in approval: "This iron is already quite good, enough to be used to make armor and weapons for ordinary soldiers."

"I just used my master-level Qi to barely break it."

Everyone nodded. When ordinary soldiers fought on the battlefield, masters would not easily intervene. Such sturdy iron was enough to be used in actual combat.

After all, bronze armor was too heavy and expensive.

"anything else?"

Ying Heng boldly handed the dark silver steel bar in his hand to Qin Shi Huang, looking forward to his further inspection.

Qin Shihuang took it and felt that the steel bar was heavier than the iron bar.

He also exerted force, holding both ends of the steel bar with both hands and tried to bend it, but found that the steel bar only bent slightly, and after he let go, the steel bar quickly returned to its original shape, which shocked him.

"Heng'er, is this... steel?"

Ying Heng smiled and nodded to encourage Qin Shi Huang to keep trying.

Qin Shi Huang once again gathered his true energy, clenched his hands, and bent the steel bar with force. Although the steel bar bent, it gave back a huge reaction force.

"So hard!" Qin Shihuang was shocked.

Then, he pulled the steel bar with his hands full of true energy. It was also a master-level strength, but the steel bar did not move at all.

Qin Shi Huang raised his Qi to the Grandmaster level, and the steel bar made a creaking sound, but it still did not break...

The shock of the First Emperor was like a huge wave. His true energy and master-level power were enough to penetrate the enemy's armor and life with just one punch on the battlefield!
At this moment, even a steel bar cannot be broken?

"Bring me the sword!"

As soon as the First Emperor reached out his hand, Wang Ben immediately took out his sword and presented it respectfully.

The First Emperor injected the power of the Grandmaster again, the sword flashed, and a loud clanging sound rang out!
Everyone stared with eyes wide open, only to see that only a tiny crack remained on the steel bar.

Everyone was dumbfounded, and Wang Ben was even more surprised and said, "Your Majesty, don't worry about my sword, just do your best."

The First Emperor glanced at him and pondered in his heart.

Did I really hold back?
This tiny piece of steel bar is so hard that even my master's sword cannot penetrate it?
"Get out of the way!"

This time, the First Emperor was serious and went all out with the strength of a peak grandmaster.

With a clanging sound, the steel bar broke into two pieces with a snap.

However, after the first emperor struck, he couldn't help but take a step back.

The recoil force was so strong that it was like fighting against a top master.

The civil officials did not understand what was going on, but generals such as Wang Ben and Meng Tian saw it and were shocked beyond words.

"Your Majesty, are you all right?"

The First Emperor held his chest, took a breath, and then smiled and said, "I am fine."

Then he laughed out loud:

"Hahaha, wonderful!"

"Heng'er, is this the steel you were talking about?!"

Ying Heng said loudly: "Hundred-fold Refined Steel, the refining process just now is the key."

"By hammering wrought iron for thousands of times and then adding auxiliary materials such as carbon, you can forge steel that is much harder than iron!"

"Father, you should be familiar with this material. The heavy armor of our Great Snow Dragon Cavalry is made of tempered steel, but the steel used in the armor is thicker!"

"Oh~!"

The First Emperor suddenly understood.

(End of this chapter)