Qin Dynasty: Who offended my frail and sickly minister?

This rocky wasteland at the northern foot of Mount Li had long been named "Sin Mountain" by Qin Shi Huang. Originally a deserted place, it became a place of ill omen that everyone in the suburbs of Xianyang avoided after a group of criminals were moved here to serve their sentences. It was usually quiet and even birds rarely landed there.

On the surface, this place is no different from the usual place where criminals work.

From afar, passing woodcutters could only see a group of laborers, their clothes covered in dust, hunched over as they carried stones and dug up earth. They were all covered in dirt and looked miserable. They would shake their heads, sigh with bad luck, and hurry away without daring to linger for even a moment.

However, if someone harbors malicious intentions and attempts to approach and spy, they will be silently captured by armored soldiers lying in ambush in no time. When they wake up, they will most likely be in the cold and gloomy prison of the Court of Justice, without even a chance to explain themselves.

Of course, generally no one would come here. Whether they were foreign spies or people with ulterior motives, they would all point their fingers at the Craftsman's Workshop and be unaware of its existence.

Zhou Wenqing led Li Si around a pile of rubble deliberately placed at the intersection as a cover, and as they walked further in, the scene before them suddenly changed.

The rare items of Baiwusi are stacked in boxes and boxes, and can be seen everywhere. There are also many strange and wonderful things to be had.

Even the well-traveled and knowledgeable Li Si couldn't help but look around in astonishment, his eyes filled with surprise, and he clicked his tongue in amazement:

"Tsk tsk tsk! Zicheng, this Sin Mountain is truly a hidden paradise! But you're like this..."

He pointed to a row of neat thatched huts not far away. Although the huts were not luxurious, they provided shelter from the wind and rain, unlike the dilapidated, drafty, and cramped dwellings of ordinary criminals.

Li Si frowned slightly, his tone tinged with confusion and worry: "His Majesty originally decreed that these criminals should quarry stone, cut timber, and transport earth to serve you, in order to atone for their sins. Isn't your treatment of them too lenient?"

Zhou Wenqing said without changing his expression, "This place is not entirely populated by members of the Sin Clan. There are also some highly skilled individuals who are extremely aloof, obsessed with craftsmanship, and have volatile tempers. They don't get along with the craft workshop, so we've settled them here, which is the best of both worlds."

"I see." Li Si nodded.

Seeing this, Zhou Wenqing quickly led him towards the core work area, afraid that if Li Si asked a few more questions, he would reveal his weakness.

What he just said was half true and half false.

If not all of them are members of the Sinners, then... there are also members of the Sinners.

Gongshu Yu's lax management of his household led to the leakage of the mansion's secrets. His personal disciples, who had been indulging Gongshu Li's unruly and mischievous behavior without any restraint, were the main culprits in this disaster. These people should be severely punished according to the law, and they should be forced to perform hard labor and heavy work every day. This is not unjust at all.

Gongshu Yu's three clans and relatives were originally subject to the Qin law of collective punishment, which should have resulted in the extermination of their entire family and even the extermination of ten clans. They were spared death and were instead imprisoned in the Sin Mountain to work. Although they were deprived of their freedom, they were not worried about food and clothing. In this era of war and uncertainty, this was already a blessing.

But what did the child do wrong?

Before they could even enjoy the blessings of the Lord's family, they were imprisoned here.

Even though Zhou Wenqing kept telling himself that this was a chaotic world where human life was cheap and that the "collective punishment" system had its reasons, he had to proceed slowly and methodically.

But every time I come here and see those skinny children carrying logs bigger than themselves, barefoot, wobbling and struggling to climb, even the hardest heart would break.

Therefore, he secretly made an exception and treated the criminals' families differently, separating the elderly, women and children from the main criminals. The old craftsmen and women and children did light work such as washing, cooking and polishing tools, and the children also had a place to stay and did not have to suffer the hardship of quarrying and transporting stones.

This arrangement, though slightly deviating from the strictness of Qin law, preserved Zhou Wenqing's original intentions.

Ying Zheng was not entirely unaware of this, but since he had already dealt with the ringleader, he turned a blind eye and tacitly approved this leniency.

I never expected such a change of approach to yield such a high return—

While developing multiple products in parallel, they also successfully developed blast furnace ironmaking!

Li Si stared dumbfounded at the furnace in front of him, which was four or five meters high and was billowing thick smoke.

The furnace body was covered with a refractory layer of yellow mud mixed with crushed stone, and the outside was bound with rings of iron hoops, tightly bound like firewood.

"What...what is this?"

His voice was ethereal, with the last syllable rising in pitch.

Three vents were opened in front of the furnace, each connected to a wooden pipe. The other end of the pipe was connected to a huge leather bag, which was then carried by a waterwheel, creaking and groaning as it sent air into the furnace.

Li Si circled the furnace with a look of surprise, his boots crunching as they stepped on the scattered slag.

Zhou Wenqing stood to the side, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows to avoid getting them dirty. He pulled Li Si aside and pointed to the top of the furnace: "Brother Gu'an, look up there."

Li Si looked up and saw several bare-chested craftsmen standing on a high wooden platform, pouring baskets of ore and charcoal into the furnace.

The furnace mouth was wide open, like the mouth of a giant beast, swallowing in dark stones and spitting out molten iron.

"This is called a blast furnace," Zhou Wenqing said, his voice muffled by the noise of the waterwheel and bellows. "It's more than half again as tall as our old vertical furnace."

Li Si swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing. "Half as high... so that more iron can be smelted?"

"It's not just higher." Zhou Wenqing walked to the furnace and pointed to the three air vents. "Before, there was only one air vent, but now there are three. The wind blows in from three directions at the same time, so the furnace core burns thoroughly. The temperature is much higher than before, and the ore melts faster and more thoroughly when it goes in."

He crouched down, picked up a piece of iron that was still warm from the ground, and handed it to Li Si: "Brother Gu'an, feel it."

Li Si took it and looked at it over and over again.

The surface of the iron block was no longer pitted and uneven as before; instead, it was much smoother, with a thin layer of silver light shining from the broken edge.

"This iron... why does it feel heavier than before?" His voice trembled, trembling with disbelief. "It's gotten considerably heavier!"

"Solid." Zhou Wenqing nodded. "The iron used to look like a big block, but it was loose inside. When you knocked it open, it was full of holes. Now the temperature is higher, the slag is completely melted away, and the molten iron is solid. The same weight of iron can make a plowshare that is 30% more durable than the old one."

Li Si thought for a moment, then squatted down, placed the iron block on the ground, looked around, picked up a stone, gripped it tightly, and smashed it down hard.

"when!"

The stone chipped off a corner, but the new iron block remained unmoved, leaving only a faint white mark.

Li Si's eyes lit up instantly.

He held the iron block, turning it over and over, as if he were holding a meteorite that had fallen from the sky.

"Don't rush, there's more." Zhou Wenqing smiled and patted his shoulder, leading him to the back of the furnace. There was a row of freshly cast iron ingots, neatly stacked, numbering about twenty or thirty, gleaming with a faint bluish light under the fire.

"In the past, a good furnace would yield about 100 jin of iron, and it would take a whole day and night to burn. After that, the furnace would collapse and have to be rebuilt."

"This furnace can produce three to four hundred catties a day and night, and it doesn't break down. After one batch is finished, it's cleaned up and the next batch can be fired."

He paused, then pointed to the huge waterwheel on a tributary of the Wei River in the distance. The waterwheel was turning slowly, driving the connecting rods to press down on the leather bag.

"It's all thanks to that. The water power pushes the bellows, blowing air day and night without human intervention. In the past, six people took turns pedaling it all day, and they were exhausted. The airflow was also inconsistent. Now the airflow is even and sufficient, the furnace temperature is stable, and the molten iron is stable too."

Li Si stood in front of that row of iron ingots, his face filled with shock, and remained silent for a long while.

He squatted down and touched each piece one by one, as if inspecting a silent army.

The iron ingots were slightly cool, but he felt they were burning hot, so hot that his palms sweated.

After a long silence, he raised his head, his voice hoarse: "Zicheng, does the King know about this furnace?"

"We don't know yet." Zhou Wenqing pointed to the rows of iron ingots, his tone carrying a hint of pride, yet also a touch of regret.

"This furnace was only put into use a few days ago and is still in the experimental stage, so it's not very stable yet. Those are from the first batch. I originally planned to confirm the feasibility of this method before forging them into farm tools, weapons, or something similar, and then present them to the king as a surprise. Unfortunately..."

He shook his head, somewhat helplessly, "It's a pity that before I could do it, I had to leave Xianyang."

"So, Brother Gu'an, I'm entrusting this surprise to you. Please keep an eye on things for me, and make sure nothing goes wrong, or we'll suffer a huge loss!"

"hiss--!"

Li Si gasped and jumped up as if someone had stepped on his tail.

"You, you, you—"

He pointed at Zhou Wenqing, his finger trembling, his voice high-pitched and weak.

"Such a big matter, and you're dumping it on me? I don't understand any of this stuff, how am I supposed to keep an eye on it? You...you...you—!!!"

"Isn't this like taking my old bones apart and throwing them in as firewood?!"