Chapter 213：

Inside the ironworks, Paul, Burns, Conrad and others stared quietly at a red-burned sword embryo on the workbench.

Blacksmith Herman picked up a hammer and struck **** the sword embryo.

After a sound of metal shattering, the sword embryo turned into pieces.

Broken were the hearts of Paul and Conrad.

Heman said helplessly, "My lord, that's the way it is. The forged sword embryo can't be forged at all, and it will shatter with a little force."

"Why? Why is this happening?"

Paul couldn't believe it. How could the iron he worked so hard to refine become scrap iron?

"Heman, could it be that your skills are not in place?"

"Lord Earl, I have been forging iron for more than ten years, and most of the swords in the Lord's Mansion were made by me."

Where did I go wrong? Paul was a little anxious. He paced back and forth in the room, thinking about every process in the iron making process.

At this time Conrad said: "My lord, could it be because there are too many impurities in the pig iron?"

"Impurities?"

"Yes, after all, we use your newly invented 'coke' to smelt iron, maybe...something in it is not the same as the charcoal we used before, and then mixed into the molten iron?"

"Oh! Conrad, you are such a genius, you hit the point as soon as you say it."

After what Conrad said, Paul remembered a piece of information he had read before, which said that pig iron made from coke was not suitable for transforming into mature iron, because coke would bring impurities to the iron, and the wrought iron would become brittle. Fragmentation occurs during forging.

At the same time, he also thought of a way to solve this problem - the stirring method.

To use this method, first build a remelting furnace (reverberatory furnace), and then use the remelting furnace to melt pig iron. This kind of furnace can directly use raw coal as fuel, and the iron will not be in direct contact with the raw coal used as fuel. Therefore, the Impurities will not have a deleterious effect on the metal.

After the pig iron is remelted in the reverberatory furnace, a stirrer is used to continuously rotate and stir the molten iron on the hearth, and it is decarburized by the circulating air in the furnace until it becomes malleable wrought iron. In this process, because the contact between the metal and the fuel is avoided, the wrought iron impurities generated are greatly reduced.

Paul expressed his thoughts. Although he didn't understand what decarbonization was, everyone felt that the earl's method was worth a try.

So the craftsmen in the ironworks built a remelting furnace according to Paul's shooting at the fastest speed, melted and stirred the previous scrap iron, and after several days of experiments and process improvements, they finally smelted the remelting furnace that made Herman's Wrought iron approved by old blacksmiths.

Paul also heaved a sigh of relief. If he can't pass this test, all his previous investment will be in vain.

Under his instructions, the 51st District Arsenal began to try to use iron to cast cannons, because iron is cheaper than copper. Once the iron cannon is successfully developed, it will greatly reduce the cost of artillery and increase the number of artillery in Arda's army.

…

As time goes by, the old year is finally coming to an end, and the people in Huxin Town begin to prepare for celebrating the New Year, but some people are happy while others are sad.

The little princess Irene was lying on the window sill, staring blankly at the heavy snow outside the house.

Liya who just came home from get off work—she found a job as a teacher at Weiss College. Seeing her like this, she asked in a low voice, "Miss, are you homesick?"

"Homesick? Hmph! I don't, this is my home."

Liya sighed, she knew that the little princess was just trying to be brave.

"Your Highness, how about... we go back to Jingyao?"

"Return to Jingyao? Liya, are you going to let me surrender to my father? No, I, Irene Rodney, will never make any compromises."

"Then let's send a letter to Jingyao to let them know the news of our safety?"

"Send a letter? Are they going to the Northwest Bay to catch me?"

Liya thought to herself, it seems that Her Royal Highness's resentment has not subsided, and it is better not to touch her bad luck.

So she quietly went to prepare dinner.

Irene looked at the female guard walking towards the kitchen, and felt that what she said just now was a bit aggressive, and she felt ashamed.

Her heart is very complicated now. On the one hand, she still has grievances that have not subsided, and she is afraid of being caught by her father and used for political marriage. On the other hand, she really misses her relatives, sister, mother, everyone she knows in Jingyao, and even her father who is still resentful, especially during the important days from Advent Day to New Year's Day inside.

"Ah... really annoying!"

Eileen was a little mad.

When the little princess was worrying, what she didn't know was that many eyes were staring at her.

In a house across the street, two figures were talking.

"The inspection is over, there is nothing unusual around!"

"Thanks for your hard work!"

"Hey, the little princess's troubles made it difficult for us to even have a good holiday What are you talking about? It is our basic duty to protect the safety of the royal family members. Even if the princess is in the capital, during the festival, Don't we have to be careful too?"

"That's true, but I still want to do something more exciting, such as spying on the enemy's situation inside the undercover rebel army, instead of taking care of the runaway children all day long."

"If you say that again, I'm going to report you. We will do whatever the higher-ups tell us. Don't pick and choose."

"Okay, okay, I see. By the way, we have to be more careful in the future. Today I was interrogated by the 'police' here for a long time. Fortunately, I was sensitive and I didn't ask anything about the intrusion. Here comes the question."

"It seems that Earl Greiman is paying more and more attention to the security in the territory. This is a good thing. The better the security, the safer Her Royal Highness. There is no problem with our identity, and nothing will happen for a while. Besides, we have not spied on the lord. The secrets of the family's property and his military affairs, he is not afraid of the shadow."

"But I'm afraid of being caught as a stalker and a voyeur."

"Shut up, hasn't this been discovered yet?"

"Speaking of which, the changes here are really big! I heard from the locals that half a year ago, this place was a place where rabbits don't shit."

"Oh, it's all thanks to the young lord, I have also inquired a lot about his deeds."

"What an amazing guy, even the dignified princess of the kingdom is willing to work under him."

"The things he fiddled with are really fascinating. If I were a scholar, I would also want to get close to him. Did you go to Weiss College to watch the so-called 'public class'? That microscope, my God, really Amazing!"

"Oh, don't talk about it. It makes my stomach sick to think about those little bugs."