Chapter 81
Chapter 81
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 81
Chapter Title: Industrial Revolution (5)
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The coke oven was operating normally.
Several times a day, they added and removed bituminous coal, raked out the coke for storage, and so on.
It was being run diligently.
Now all that was left was to fire up the steel mill using the coke.
So what needed building right now was a blast furnace—also known as a high furnace.
This one was easier to make than I'd expected.
After all, we'd already laid the groundwork with the coke oven.
We could hunt around for other materials, but it was better to stick with what we had on hand.
So once again, I had the laborers stacking refractory bricks.
"Is this good?"
"Hmm, pull it out a bit farther."
"Got it."
I'd compared the blast furnace to a chimney once before, but naturally, it wasn't the same as one.
The chimney was just a perfect analogy for explaining it.
Anyway, they stacked the bricks like a chimney and poked a hole in the bottom.
By directing them here and there, we soon completed the blast furnace.
That said, we'd still need to run a bunch of experiments this time too.
As anyone who thinks about quartz knows, mineral quality is never consistent.
So a primary screening process was necessary.
That was easy enough with manpower.
No fancy equipment required.
Of course, since it was iron embedded in chunks of rock, it couldn't be pure iron.
But that wasn't an issue.
"The real problem is the ratio."
We had to figure out the proper ratio of iron ore to coke.
I had a rough idea in my head, but in practice, we'd need multiple trials.
Once again, the laborers layered the iron ore and coke inside.
Then we fired up the hot blast stove we'd built alongside it.
The hot blast stove raised the temperature without a hitch.
It didn't crack or break anywhere like the coke oven had.
The successfully generated blast of hot air poured into the furnace.
In an instant, it grew scorchingly hot, and the blast furnace roared to life.
The temperature climbed steadily, heating the contents along with it.
"Alright, everyone! Eyes sharp from here on out!"
"Yes!"
They responded with vigor and watched the blast furnace intently.
From now on, molten iron—pig iron—would start flowing from the furnace.
We had to handle that.
For the time being, since we couldn't process it into steel yet, we'd cool it down and store it.
Ah, here it comes.
After hours of staring, the pig iron began to flow.
The laborers jumped into action.
"You idiot! I said don't stand there!"
"Whoa! Move it, move it! Otherwise it'll be ruined!"
Shouts flew back and forth as they started transferring the outflowing pig iron.
They checked along the way to make sure the molten metal didn't splash anywhere odd.
Soon enough, the pig iron filled a massive ladle.
It was a smooth, natural process, but human oversight was still essential.
"Phew, we're good."
"Kahaha! It actually worked!"
"Hey! Quit goofing off and cast it into ingots!"
They yelled at each other, but grins lit up their faces.
They kept the fires stoked to prevent the molten pig iron from solidifying, shaping it into ingots one by one.
Watching the process, I realized I needed to get a converter built ASAP.
Pig iron had too many impurities to use as-is.
It only became truly useful once refined into steel.
I was pondering the converter build and how to transport the molten metal when—
"Uh, what about the blast furnace? Do we let it cool?"
"Huh? No, absolutely not. If it cools, it's done for. We'd have to smash it and rebuild."
"Whoa, understood."
I nearly jumped.
Letting out a sigh of relief, I issued orders to keep the furnace from dying out.
A cooled blast furnace turned into a solid mass of metal-infused masonry.
You couldn't reheat it, and you sure as hell couldn't empty it.
That's why they never let them go out on Earth, either.
Put another way, it meant I needed to hurry up and build that converter to turn pig iron into steel.
No sense idling an expensive blast furnace.
As I planned to hire more laborers, I sketched out the converter construction.
A few days passed like that.
Fortunately, the converter went up without much hassle.
Transporting the molten pig iron had been tricky, but we solved that too.
We reloaded the blast furnace with ore and coke, cranked the heat, and tapped more pig iron.
Then transferred the melt to the converter, blew out the excess carbon and impurities, and done—steel.
"Wow, three months to get this far."
Between one thing and another, it'd taken longer than planned.
Winter had come and gone, spring already here.
Still, we'd finished the upgraded steelworks, so mission accomplished.
"Phew, now just show the lord and seal the deal."
That would let me expand the refractory brick plant and renew the mine contract.
I wasted no time summoning the lord to show off the shiny new steel mill.
He gawked at the blast furnace and converter in awe.
"Amazing! Just as the reports said—one of these mills outproduces several of the old ones."
"Yes, as you see, output is way up."
Luckily, he loved the upgrade.
He wanted the rest of his mills retrofitted too, so we signed on.
The prototype had been on me—my dime, freebie—but no more of that.
Still, he'd backed me when things were iffy, so I cut him a deal.
A few days later, letters poured into Rerangbur.
Every one requested an upgraded steel mill.
"Haha, the good kind of problem."
Advance payments first—but priority one was trucks.
We'd used actual horse carts for the upgrade builds.
Current engines just didn't have the torque for heavy loads.
"Not that I ordered it."
Still, it burned time and cash.
Especially hauling heavies like steel.
Bulk transport would save a fortune.
Might cost more upfront to recoup investment, sure.
"Merchant guilds can duke it out over that."
Guilds, yeah, those ones.
The massive trading houses and mercenary bands from fantasy tales.
"Gotta send replies at least."
Told them not right now, would reach out if feasible.
Then I wrote the prototype territory, requesting steel.
Months later, I headed to my Rerangbur lab.
"Whoa, check out this dust."
Threw open the windows and cleaned house.
Unlike before, magic made short work—done in half an hour.
Next, dug out my old truck blueprints.
"This'll be a ton of work too."
Improved engines were in production; I'd just fetch one.
Suspension, frame, axles—those were the headaches.
Tons to test while building for real.
Exhausting to even think about, but gotta do it.
Industrial revolution wasn't just cranking out more iron.
I could wait for others to innovate off the surplus.
But that's glacially slow.
Years, minimum.
"Better if I handle it."
Improved engines had been around a bit.
Not a full year, but by now, truck rumors should've surfaced.
Maybe secret dev, but my patience is thin.
Truck done, transport revolution.
"Alright, let's roll."
Days later, steel arrived. I got hammering.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ While Edn threw himself into truck development, Duke Apontuna was busy in his own way.
"Everything handled?"
"Yes. Eradicated the bandit gang that hit us, and forwarded sponsorship to the factories running under Rerangbur's name."
The duke smiled, pleased at his butler's report.
The butler, watching, couldn't shake a disrespectful question.
Why not sponsor Edn Rerangbur directly?
Curiosity burned too hot to ignore.
Risking impertinence, he asked.
"Family head. Why not deliver it in person?"
"Curious?"
The duke's retort lit curiosity across the butler's face.
He nodded firmly.
"Frankly, yes. Very."
"Simple. My daughter's involved."
The butler blanked for a second.
What could make Pretina—the duke's house pride—a problem?
The duke shook his head lightly with a smirk.
Like an amusing yet ridiculous notion.
"You know Pretina's got her eye on Edn."
"Of course. Isn't that why you're interested too?"
"Exactly. She doesn't want to show it openly, for whatever reason."
The duke shook his head—kids' hearts were mysteries.
The butler nodded, getting it now.
The duke had long deferred to Pretina's wishes often enough.
Privately, though, he wished they'd just get engaged already.
He liked Edn, and Pretina seemed halfway there too.
Edn would've freaked if he heard.
"Anyway, keep the sponsorship covert. First time, I didn't know the ropes—but I do now."
"Understood. We'll continue as before."
The butler bowed and departed.
The duke mulled things over briefly, then dove into work.
Pondering the next sponsorship angle.