Work Prophet
Chapter 653 - 26 Bessemer Steelmaking Method

Chapter 653: Chapter 26 Bessemer Steelmaking Method

With the extraction of the first piece of iron ore in Green Field, the construction of the steel mill naturally followed.

Refining iron ore into usable steel was not an easy task.

In another universe, humans had started using natural metals since the Stone Age.

However, it was around 5000 B.C. that they learned to smelt copper, while it is said that the Romans were already using iron nails.

But until the twentieth century, before metallurgical science made significant advancements, producing a good piece of steel was mostly a matter of luck.

Take the Bratis Continent for example. Dwarves were often considered masters of forging secrets, but even those hailed as masters had very limited production capabilities.

Just like the Japanese swordsmiths of the past, who might only produce a few pieces throughout the year.

It wasn’t that they didn’t want to produce more; after all, nobody dislikes money. The real reason was that there were too many uncontrollable factors in the forging process.

Experience was indeed useful, but it was not always reliable.

The good news was that Li Yu had arrived, and mass production of quality steel no longer needed to wait for centuries.

An engineer named Bessemer had already written down the standard answer a long time ago,

—by allowing air to fully contact melted iron, causing the oxygen to react chemically with the carbon inside to form carbon dioxide, thereby removing the carbon from the iron. After that, carbon elements were added back in proportion.

The advantage of this method was that it completely ignored the carbon content of the iron ore itself; any quality of ore could be refined into steel with this method.

Bessemer later opened his own steel mills and made a fortune.

Li Yu remembered that during the great steelmaking era, the principle used was the same as that implemented by the masses in various regions.

It appears that if there are no strict quality requirements for the steel, steelmaking does not require sophisticated equipment. With the existing productivity levels of Bratis, it was entirely achievable.

In this way, Green Field would soon be able to achieve self-sufficiency in armor and weapons, and might even switch from domestic sales to exports in the future.

But of course, that was a story for another time. For now, the most important thing was to get the blast furnace built first. Initially, Li Yu planned to assign this task to Ge Lipeng.

Because Ge Lipeng, as a craftsman, was familiar with the Bessemer Steelmaking Method, but Ge Lipeng had been busy replicating the Iowa Rifling Machine besides learning the Universal Language. This machine was used to cut rifling in gun barrels.

He had already made the smoothbore gun as requested by Li Yu, helping Miss Rabbit win the championship at the martial arts tournament.

But Ge Lipeng was not satisfied, especially after seeing the terrifying flying capabilities of the Wing Tribe. Without needing a reminder from Li Yu, he had already started to improve those flintlock guns.

What he was doing now was cutting rifling inside the gun barrel to further enhance the muzzle kinetic energy and shooting accuracy.

However, Ge Lipeng did recommend another person to Li Yu.

"He Chaoyang?" Li Yu thought for a moment, then shook his head, "He won’t do. He was too deeply hurt by civil engineering. Before his rebirth, I promised not to force him to do civil engineering again."

"The past is the past, and the present is the present. I think, Prophet, if you go find him now, he won’t refuse you,"

Ge Lipeng’s words slightly surprised Li Yu.

"Really? Then do you know where he is now?"

"He should be in the small village south of the Iron Tower. There’s a new windmill being built there, and he went over as soon as he heard."

Li Yu doubted his own ears, the emphatic "Civil engineering, even dogs won’t study it" still echoed in his mind.

But regardless, the Prophet of the Double Rest Sect had found He Chaoyang following the direction Ge Lipeng pointed out.

From a distance, Li Yu saw He Chaoyang wearing a cooking pot on his head, hands clasped behind his back, inspecting the half-built windmill.

Closer still, he could hear him speaking in broken Universal Language, spitting out words one by one and, fearing the nearby craftsmen wouldn’t understand, crouched down to draw something on the ground.

As Li Yu approached, He Chaoyang was getting excited, "This... structure, greasy, understand?"

Unable to bear listening any longer, Li Yu said to He Chaoyang, "You talk to me first, and I’ll translate for you."

Heard talking from behind, He Chaoyang whirled around and, finding it was Li Yu, looked somewhat embarrassed.

The half-drawn branch just stopped there.

"Prophet Merlin, how... how did you get here?"

"I came looking for you."

"Looking for me?" He Chaoyang’s face turned beet red, like a cheater caught in the act, and his back was soaked in no time.

"Finish what you were doing first, then we can talk more afterward."

He Chaoyang nodded, and with Li Yu’s help, he clarified all the issues with just a few simple phrases.

In the admiring glances of the craftsmen, the two walked back together.

Li Yu began, "I thought you hated civil engineering."

"Well..." He Chaoyang stuttered, "I used to hate it, but not anymore."

"Why?"

"Because I think I’ve rediscovered the pure joy of building, just like when I used to play with Legos as a kid, and it also helps others, so... it feels quite fulfilling."

Finally, He Chaoyang opened up about his feelings, addindg nostalgically, "I’ve realized that it wasn’t the profession I hated, but the occupational environment at the time.

"Overtime became a habit, desperately groveling to clients, constantly chasing speed and cutting costs... but what am I anyway? Even if I despised it, it didn’t make a difference," He Chaoyang chuckled self-deprecatingly.

However, his face quickly brightened again, "Fortunately, it’s different here, uh. I feel like I’ve fallen in love with civil engineering all over again."

"That’s good. I was actually wondering what to have you do in the future. Although you said you could do anything but civil engineering, having a job you love is always better than just finding any job to make a living," Li Yu said.

"I actually have a job for you here. Ideally, everyone who arrives would first complete three months of Language School before officially starting work.

"But due to recent instability in various areas, I need to prepare earlier, so you’d have to work while learning. But don’t worry, your rest time will definitely not be reduced and the work will pay a regular salary and bonuses."

He Chaoyang scratched his head, "Actually, I’ve already found a part-time job as a construction consultant for Miss Ireya... We met earlier in the new city. Mainly, I was a bit eager myself to wander around the construction site.

"So I feel ready to work. You can trust me with any task; I’ll definitely complete it with quality and quantity assured."