Daming Crazy Emperor

Chapter 744
How is charcoal fired?

The ancients burned charcoal in earthen kilns by digging a hole on the hillside, opening some air holes around it, then throwing firewood into it to ignite, and then gradually closing the hole and air holes, allowing it to burn and decompose slowly in a state of oxygen deficiency.

The charcoal fired by this method is actually not good. It is easy to have insufficiently burned charcoal, and there may be air leakage, which will burn the charcoal inside.

After all, the mountain cannot be guaranteed to be completely sealed, and it is normal for there to be air leakage from cracks or mouse holes.

Moreover, the soil of the cave where the charcoal kiln can be dug out basically contains moisture. During the charcoal firing process, this moisture seeps into the firewood close to the soil layer, and then there will be insufficiently burned charcoal.

Therefore, those who really burn charcoal professionally will not use this soil method.

The Ministry of Industry of the Ming Dynasty can be said to be the highest professional level, so the methods they use are naturally quite professional.

Early the next morning, nearly 20 people gathered in an open space more than [-] miles north of the pharmaceutical factory.

The soldiers of the Shenwu Battalion had already completed the task of cutting trees and rushed over, and the rest were the young and strong Indian tribes in North America and the civilians of the primitive tribes here, most of whom were civilians who migrated from the giant horse tribe.

It seems that Peng Bin has already explained the details of burning charcoal to Ma Xianglin, Qin Yiming and Qin Gongming, and the three of them are giving lectures to their soldiers at the moment.

The commoners of the primitive tribe here looked at the phalanx of the soldiers of the Shenwu Battalion, and there was a hint of admiration on their faces.

Although they don't know how to fight, they can feel their strength by looking at their neat square formation.

The strength of the soldiers of the Shenwu Battalion is really not ordinary. Not to mention the well-equipped equipment, just their strong bodies and the fortitude on their faces can make people feel a strong sense of iron and blood.

On a hilltop not far away, Taichang held up his binoculars to watch all this, and couldn't help showing a hint of complacency on his face.

The generals of the Ming Dynasty are definitely the most powerful existence in the world. In terms of the quality of soldiers, no European country can catch up.

They are not fighting at this moment, and they are not riding war horses, and they are not wearing full-body armor. The arrays they line up are so imposing, and if they really fight, they will definitely make the enemy terrified.

After Ma Xianglin, Qin Yiming and Qin Gongming finished their training, they each took 3 to [-] thousand horses and started to act.

Their division of labor is very clear.

Ma Xianglin and [-] to [-] soldiers seemed to be cleaning up the site, and they cleaned up all the areas that the officials of the Ministry of Industry used lime coils.

Whether it was branches or stumps on the ground, including the piles of logs, they were all moved outside the lime line.

Qin Yiming led [-] to [-] soldiers to dig the clay. Officials from the Ministry of Industry had already found a clay area for them and prepared some simple wheelbarrows and rattan baskets.

They only need to dig out the clay, put it in rattan baskets, and then push it over with a wheelbarrow, and pour it neatly on the edge of the lime line.

Qin Gongming seemed to be clearing branches with [-] to [-] soldiers.

They clean it very carefully, and they will clean off the forks and leaves of those that are more than one inch in thickness, and chop them into polished rods of the same length.

After all this work, they still sorted and stacked them according to the thickness and type of wood. Those branches thicker than arms and branches thicker than thighs were sawed into sections and then split into firewood of similar size and thickness with an axe.

After a while, many neat piles of firewood appeared on the ground.

The young and strong of the Indian tribes in North America are not idle either. They are watching and learning according to the content of the lectures of Ma Xianglin, Qin Yiming and Qin Gongming, and explaining them to the people of the primitive tribes here.

The soldiers of the Shenwu Battalion are actually demonstrating. Of course, they cannot burn charcoal here for several months or even years. They will only demonstrate here for a few days. It's time for them to move on to other more professional things.

What kind of charcoal kiln will the officials of the Ministry of Industry build?
Not only the young and strong Indian tribes and the civilians of the primitive tribes here are very curious, but Taichang is also a little curious.

After Ma Xianglin led his soldiers to clean up a narrow area several miles long, several directors of the Ministry of Industry began to teach them to draw circles.

Drawing a circle is actually very simple, that is, tie nails at both ends of a line, then insert a nail in the middle, turn a nail on the ground, and then sprinkle lime powder on the drawn line.

After a while, a neat row of hundreds of circles appeared on the ground. These circles were all in a radius of about ten feet, and the intervals were about ten feet apart, very regular.

Immediately afterwards, Ma Xianglin directed his soldiers to pick up shovels and fill the circle with river sand.

These river sands were also prepared long ago, and they were all piled up near the outer lime line, and they shoveled them up quite quickly.

Not long after, a thick sand cake appeared inside the lime circle.

At this time, Ma Xianglin directed his soldiers to carry the steel bars that had been prepared and spread them around hundreds of circles.

The steel bars they moved were not the same, there were thick ones and thin ones, strips of various lengths, and circles of various sizes, and those circles were even marked with a stone pen.

What is this for?

Soon, Ma Xianglin ordered his soldiers to tie the steel bars.

They first took out the four thickest long steel bars and tied one end to a circle roughly the size of a washbasin with thin iron wires, then directly erected the four steel bars and the circle, made a rough gesture, and then tied the other end of the steel bar Divide one end into four corners, and insert them evenly into the lime circle drawn on the ground.

Immediately afterwards, they raised a larger circle and tied it to the inner edges of the four steel bars with thin wires. The position was roughly a little higher than a person.

At this time, Qin Gongming also led his men to move the cleared branches over.

They moved it very carefully. Under each iron frame are the same type of branches, the length and thickness of which are clearly distinguished, and they also look relatively dry.

Immediately afterwards, Ma Xianglin directed his soldiers to start piling up branches inside.

The branches were not piled up randomly, all the branches were piled up vertically, and there was a slight slope, and the thickness and length of these branches were also piled up quite carefully.

As for what to pay attention to, Taichang didn't understand for a while, because they didn't hear what Ma Xianglin said when he just gave a lecture.

In short, the pile of firewood they piled up is quite regular, just like a round mountain built of wood. Not only is the height just about the same as the washbasin-sized circle above, but the gap between the four sides and the steel bars is almost the same. It is about half a foot.

After the firewood was piled up, Ma Xianglin even ordered someone to fetch bundles of packing bags, and wrapped them directly outside the firewood pile, tightly wrapping them!
These are burlap sacks for corn and coarse sacks for flour, which are not worth much. The question is, what are they wrapping these bags for?

Taichang really wanted to order someone to call Peng Bin over to ask about it, but he decided to forget it after thinking about it.

He is the emperor, it is impossible to burn charcoal, there is no need to get to the bottom of everything.

At this time, Ma Xianglin ordered his men to tie the steel bars again.

There should be some thin steel bars between the four thick steel bars for reinforcement, and at the same time to facilitate the adhesion of the outer clay layer, this Taichang can understand at a glance.

However, there was an operation by the soldiers of the Shenwu Battalion that he didn't understand.

They even set up steel baskets roughly as high as a person around each charcoal kiln!

What is this for? Do you have to open the doors around the charcoal kiln?
After the soldiers of the Shenwu Battalion finished fixing the steel bars, they began to apply clay. They also carried a wooden frame about the height of a person to each charcoal kiln, so that they could directly apply the clay to the charcoal kiln. It's on top.

According to Taichang's visual inspection, they spread clay at least one foot thick on the steel frame.

After the clay was applied, the entire charcoal kiln looked like a volcano, even with a crater above it.

The question is, how do the firewood in this volcano light up?
Could it be that kerosene is poured directly from the crater above, and then lit on fire?

Taichang was really curious.

A Suzu, Zhao Baiyun and others beside him couldn't help but start talking.

Unexpectedly, at this time, Ma Xianglin ordered his soldiers to use black iron knives to draw four door frame patterns around the charcoal kiln, and then directly pulled a few exposed wires or something to pull them out.

Four pieces of door-shaped thick clay were torn out abruptly by them.

It seems that the four steel baskets just tied up are for these four doors.

Looks like it's going to be on fire.

However, Ma Xianglin directed his soldiers to climb up the wooden frame, and handed over a round steel basket with rings around it and some clay, directly sealed the crater above it tightly, and then dug it out with a black iron knife. Take a round cover and put it on the shelf.

Well, it's time to start the fire, right?
Sure enough, Ma Xianglin quickly ordered his soldiers to cut open the packing bag between the four doors and stick it on the dug out door. Then he took some firewood about an inch thick and half a foot long, and poured some firewood on one end. Kerosene, just a little bit of coaxing and it ignited.

Immediately afterwards, the soldiers of the Shenwu Battalion took these branches and carefully stuffed them into the middle of the firewood pile in the charcoal kiln through the gap.

After a while, blue smoke came out of the crater, as if the volcano was about to erupt.

It seems to be over at this time. Generally, when charcoal is fired in an earthen kiln, as long as the firewood inside is lit, the hole and the air holes around it can be gradually sealed.

Unexpectedly, Ma Xianglin was in no hurry.

The directors of the Ministry of Industry also walked slowly to one charcoal kiln, took a look at it, and then walked to the next charcoal kiln to take a look.

After a long time, flames could be seen in the open doors all around, and the round opening on the top began to spew out fireworks like a volcanic eruption, but Ma Xianglin hadn't moved yet.

Those directors of the Ministry of Industry wandered a little faster, but they didn't say anything, just looked at the charcoal kilns one by one.

After a while, the firewood in the four doors of the charcoal kiln was obviously completely burned, and flames burst out from the crater, and the directors of the Ministry of Industry raised their hands and made a gesture of preparation.

Ma Xianglin hurriedly took some sand and wiped it around the door and the cover.

Immediately afterwards, as soon as the head of the Ministry of Industry dropped his hand, the soldiers of the Shenwu Battalion lifted the door up one after another, sealing the original gap.

After a while, the flames of the crater above all shrank back, and the directors of the Ministry of Industry waved their hands again.

The soldiers of the Shenwu Battalion immediately picked up the lid and put it on, sealing the original gap.

This looks like it's done.

The directors of the Ministry of Industry were still pointing and pointing.

Seeing this, the soldiers of the Shenwu Battalion hurriedly grabbed the clay and stepped forward, applying it continuously, blocking all the gaps until there was no smoke coming out.

At this point, the charcoal kiln is considered complete, and the first batch of charcoal will come out.

The directors of the Ministry of Industry beckoned again, and the young and strong North American Indian tribe immediately led the civilians of the tribes around the charcoal kilns to ask questions, while the officials of the Ministry of Industry and the soldiers of the Shenwu Battalion patiently explained to them.

Seeing this, Taichang couldn't help but slightly nodded.

Their teaching method is quite good. There is not only observation of the whole process, but also theoretical guidance, and there must be practical teaching later.

In this way, it is estimated that the young and strong Indian tribes in North America and the civilians of the primitive tribes here will soon be able to learn how to build charcoal kilns and burn charcoal.

(End of this chapter)