The Military Governor in Dream of the Red Chamber

How could Jia Chen not understand the matter of iron smelting?

In his previous life, he was an archaeologist, so he naturally had some knowledge of the firearms system of the Ming Dynasty.

Jia Chen was well aware of the drawbacks.

He also wondered if it was possible to improve upon the conditions and technological level of the Ming Dynasty.

If we add some modern chemical and physical knowledge, it can be improved even more.

Now that he has arrived in the Great Hong Dynasty, whose technological level is almost the same as that of the Ming Dynasty, he can certainly make use of some of his strengths.

According to the current standard operating procedure of the Great Hong Dynasty, in order to obtain usable wrought iron for cannon making, ten catties of pig iron can only be smelted into one catty of wrought iron. This is to ensure the quality of the cannon and prevent it from easily exploding.

This kind of loss is extremely large, and when you add to that the huge amount of manpower, hours, and charcoal required, the cost is very high.

But Jia Chen had his own ideas. He had a better way to reduce losses and obtain more qualified wrought iron at a lower cost.

To be honest, Jia Chen had already prepared for the worst before he came, such as He Liding might only give him half of the wrought iron.

Unexpectedly, He Liding did not intend to give him wrought iron, but instead gave him pig iron.

This was an unexpected surprise for Jia Chen.

Perhaps in He Liding's view, instead of giving him wrought iron directly, using this pig iron could trip him up.

While the quantity of pig iron is large, the cost of turning it into wrought iron is extremely high.

Qianshanbao could not withstand it.

This meant that they could only use pig iron to make cannons, and the quality of these cannons was questionable, making them basically unusable.

Unfortunately, He Liding didn't know that he had traveled from another time.

Therefore, Jia Chen can produce more wrought iron with lower costs and less waste.

Jia Chen dared to say that out of four thousand catties of pig iron, he could produce more than two thousand catties of wrought iron that could be used to make cannons.

Although it added some costs, Jia Chen felt it was still bearable.

He still has some silver from Liu Tianwang for the construction of Qianshan Fort. He can use this silver for the time being, and if that's not enough, he'll have to use his own gold and jade jewelry to make it work.

He originally thought that getting 500 jin of wrought iron would be good, but the result far exceeded his expectations.

More wrought iron is needed to cast more firearms such as the Tiger Crouching Cannon.

Jia Chen dared to say that if his plan succeeded, the defensive capabilities of Qianshan Fort would far surpass those of Zhenqiang Fort.

We will have a greater chance of holding our ground when facing an attack from the northern barbarians.

In Jia Chen's view, this wasn't a huge loss, but rather a huge windfall.

However, he couldn't explain these things to Wu Jiangsheng in a short time.

Moreover, Wu Jiangsheng was not a firearms craftsman, and he would have to study some of the mysteries with the firearms craftsmen after they were in place.

Although I have my own theories, I still need to listen to the opinions of local craftsmen. Only by combining theory with practice can I identify and fill in the gaps, and only then can I truly succeed.

"My lord?" Wu Jiangsheng didn't know where Jia Chen got his confidence from.

For Qianshanbao, taking this pig iron back would be no different from taking it for scrap.

Because they simply didn't have that much silver.

"Don't worry," Jia Chen said with a smile. "Take this batch of pig iron back."

Wu Jiangsheng couldn't say anything more. Although he still had doubts, this was the only thing he could do for the time being.

Hopefully, the adults really have a solution.

"Hmph!" Jia Chen glanced back as he walked out of the garrison headquarters, and snorted coldly in his heart.

Although he made a fortune this time, Jia Chen was not grateful to He Liding.

Essentially, it was He Liding who used underhanded tactics against himself.

Unfortunately, He Liding was his direct superior, so it wasn't a good time to have any conflict with him.

It's still because my own abilities are insufficient.

After Jia Chen left, He Liding returned to the inner reception room.

"Lord He, what brings that brat Jia Chen to you?" Sun Shaozu asked.

He had just been about to take his leave when he overheard someone outside reporting to He Liding that Jia Chen was requesting an audience.

He is now very familiar with Jia Chen.

Abunai asked him to find a way to keep Jia Chen in Qianshandun, and he did just that.

He was just waiting for Abunai's next southward march so he could flatten the front hill.

Of course, it should be called Qianshanbao now.

Even if it's Qianshan Fortress, do you really think you can withstand the iron cavalry of the Northern Barbarians?

Sun Shaozu believed that Jia Chen's big win last time was due to good luck.

Abunai was careless; he didn't expect there to be such a guy behind him.

If Abunai makes a comeback next time, how can we give Jia Chen another chance?

Sun Shaozu still wanted to know about Jia Chen.

Since we've already encountered this place, why not stay and wait a little longer?

"Hmph, Lord Liu ordered Zhenqiang Fort to give him a thousand catties of wrought iron, saying he wants to use it to cast cannons." He Liding sneered, his face full of disdain. "A place like Qianshan Fort wants to cast cannons? What a pipe dream!"

"Don't underestimate him. Who would have thought he could achieve such a great feat last time?" Sun Shaozu said with a smile. "What if he really succeeds? Sir, have you given him the reward?"

"How could that be?" He Liding scoffed. "A thousand catties of wrought iron? Do you think it's some worthless junk? But we needed to give Lord Liu an explanation, so we gave him four thousand catties of pig iron. Didn't he want to make cannons? Then let's use pig iron to make them."

Upon hearing this, Sun Shaozu paused for a moment, then burst into laughter.

He had some understanding of military affairs and was also familiar with the quality of artillery.

If cannons were made from pig iron, those who fired them would probably all die.

Maybe Abu Nai won't even have to lift a finger; that kid Jia Chen will be finished off because of the explosion.

They knew very well that the cost of forging pig iron into wrought iron was too high for Qianshanbao to afford.

Even if Jia Chen had four thousand catties of pig iron, it would still be useless.

"My lord, that's brilliant!" Sun Shaozu said with a smile.

"Brother Sun, I don't like him either," He Liding said in a deep voice. "He's been asking me for this and that because of his relationship with Liu Tianwang. First he asked for people, now he's asking for iron, who knows what he'll ask for next? Does he think the things in my Zhenqiang Fortress are free?"

"My lord, calm down. Why get angry over a mere child?" Sun Shaozu said. "It's just a small fort outside the Great Wall. If the northern barbarians march south again, they can easily flatten it."

He Liding nodded; he understood this, of course.

"Lord He, I'll take my leave now. Please reconsider what happened earlier. You can take 20% of the profits. This is a big deal," Sun Shaozu said.

After Sun Shaozu finished speaking, he cupped his hands in a respectful gesture to He Liding and then walked outside.

He Liding remained silent, immediately starting to calculate in his mind.

Sun Shaozu had just approached him wanting to borrow troops, or rather, he wanted to borrow the garrison under his command to help protect the caravan.

Sun Shaozu told him that the previous two caravans had failed; once they were intercepted by Hu Youcai, and the second time they were robbed by the Chahar tribe heading south.

So this time, we're going to pull off a big heist and make up for all the previous losses in one go.

Because the scale was larger than before, the Sun family's guards were probably not enough, so they sought him out.

"Wait!" Seeing that Sun Shaozu was about to leave, He Liding came to his senses and hurriedly called out.

"Sir, is there anything else?" Sun Shaozu turned around and asked.

"I'll provide three hundred men, but I want 30% of the profits," He Liding said, taking a deep breath.

Sun Shaozu pondered for a moment and then asked, "Sir, what about the three hundred men?"

"Don't worry, they are the three hundred most elite men from Zhenqiang Fort." He Liding understood Sun Shaozu's concerns. "It's almost the end of the year, and the court says to be careful to guard against the northern barbarians moving south. But they say that every year, and how many times have they been right? With the roads blocked by heavy snow, it's almost impossible for the northern barbarians to move south. Otherwise, I wouldn't dare to send out these three hundred men."