Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1590 - 1129: Han Dynasty Iron Smelting Technology, Miki’s Decision!

On a clear, cloudless evening, the first smelting blast furnace on the North American continent belched out roaring flames. The pungent volcanic fumes, accompanied by the oxidation of pyrite, billowed from the furnace opening. The first plume of smoke from the Iron Age thus began to officially contaminate this sky and sea, which had remained pure since ancient times!

"This is the flame of iron smelting, and even more so the Chief Divine's divine guidance into a brand new era... May the Chief Divine bless us!"

Miki the Sage prayed murmuringly while patiently waiting. Heating the furnace and adding iron ore was only the beginning of iron smelting. During this era, even smelting just a few hundred pounds of ore couldn't be completed within a day or two.

Blacksmith Otani Takegou observed the color of the flame while controlling the smelting progress, following his ancestral mnemonic verse. As per his instructions, able-bodied men continually poured powdered charcoal into the top entrance of the blast furnace to make the flame brighter, sometimes even tinged with blue.

At regular intervals, Otani would have the able-bodied men use mud-wrapped long poles to stir the iron fluid inside, carefully avoiding the flames that erupted. Occasionally, he would also personally remove some extracted slag from the furnace bottom.

"Hmm... This slag can most affect the quality of the iron coming out; it's all bad slag..."

Otani repeated the ancestral mnemonic verse while supervising the able-bodied men sweating profusely with busy work. Occasionally, he would worryingly complain in a language hard to understand.

"Fire God! Not even a single iron rod that's fire-resistant for stirring the iron fluid... How can the iron fluid be evenly and thoroughly melted?... Continue! Continue to grind charcoal, continue to add charcoal powder! Don't stop!…"

This batch of iron ore in Lake Bay Port was smelted for a full five days, almost exhausting all the charcoal in the camp. And as the furnace gradually cooled down and eventually extinguished completely, hundreds of pounds of iron fluid flowed out, coagulating into connected iron blocks, shimmering with dark metallic luster, captivating eyes joyfully.

"Clang clang clang…"

Blacksmith Otani knocked down a piece of smelted iron, testing the hardness with a stone hammer. Then he carefully examined the coarse texture and grain exposed during hammering, unable to resist furrowing his brows.

"Fire God! This yellow iron is indeed hard to melt... It's noticeably more brittle than the iron my father smelted in Ezo land, isn't it? Could it be that I missed some key points or are the tools inadequate?"

"Otani, how's the iron smelting going?"

Upon hearing the news of iron production, Miki the Sage briskly walked over from the camp. The fleet had been resting at Lake Bay Port for seven or eight days, waiting for the iron smelting result. Seeing the hundreds of pounds of iron blocks, his expression froze momentarily before blooming like a flower.

"Chief Divine bless! Does this mean... it succeeded?!"

"Ah! Your Reverence Miki… This batch of iron has already come out! I didn't have a mold, so the iron fluid could only coagulate like this… Umm... This yellow iron ore yielded a lot, it's a rich ore with much iron content! It's just that… just that the cast iron from this blast furnace is a bit brittle, it's really strange…"

"Chief Divine witnesses! Next, to forge these cast irons into sturdy weapons, they have to first be hammered into thin sheets and placed in charcoal fire to slowly heat, then forge, finally quenching… It's about letting the charcoal fire seep in! Only after seeping in will it be firm!"

"Ah? You ask how firm? After thoroughly seeping in charcoal fire, it's estimated to be like refined iron… Ah? Further? Further behind is Tang Land's frying steel, or each sect's inherited Tamahagane… However, such skills, I truly do not know… I only know refined iron…"

"What? You ask directly about these irons coming from the furnace… Oh oh!… Them, making farming tools for tilling fields, making tree-chopping iron axes, that is acceptable!…"

"Chief Divine! Iron fluid directly from the furnace can make farming tools and axes?!"

Miki the Sage was utterly stunned upon hearing this. He drew the bronze axe from his waist, testing the iron block's hardness, and indeed, it met the requirements for farm tools! These iron blocks directly solidifying from iron fluid were noticeably superior to those sponge iron burnouts of varying sizes produced by the kingdom's ironworks!…

"Indeed, as Your Majesty said! These Western Sea Tribe's iron smelting techniques far surpass those of the kingdom!"

In fact, this sophisticated vertical furnace fluid-state smelting, which can directly produce cast iron suitable for farming tools, was a smelting craft invented as early as the Han Dynasty! After thousands of years of inheritance, this technique for iron fluid production in vertical furnaces had already completely matured and spread across East Asian countries!

As for the kingdom's ironworks, been established only a few years. Even with Xiulote's vague Divine Revelation, how could they compare with the technological accumulation of thousands of years of inheritance?…

"Praise the Chief Divine! Otani, you truly can smelt iron! Good, very good, truly excellent!"

Seeing the shimmering black iron light, Miki the Sage was first greatly shocked, then immensely delighted. He searched in his arms for a moment and generously pulled out a golden amulet, heavily hung it around the neck of Blacksmith Otani.

"Good, well done! You are rewarded! This is the Kingdom's reward!..."

"Ah! Is this a Gold Talisman?!... Ah! I thank the lord for the reward, thank you, my lord! I bow to you!..."

"Haha! This is all bestowed by the Chief Divine!... Otani, can the iron smelting furnace you built still be used?"

"Yes, yes! Honored Shrine Priest, the blast furnace is well built and can be used continuously... but this is an earthen furnace. If we really want to optimize, we should fire bricks to build a brick furnace..."

"May the Chief Divine protect the Kingdom! He has granted us iron ore and brought the divine method of iron smelting from the Western Sea!..."

Upon hearing this, Miki the Sage offered a few devout prayers, not paying attention to Otani's subsequent mutterings. Once the prayer was completed, he turned to the smiling Otani, who was holding the Gold Talisman, and suddenly his expression became stern as he ordered in a deep voice.

"Otani! You need to translate the method of building this smelting furnace into engravings, and teach it in detail to the West Port Priest, along with a few apprentices!... Also, the method of carburizing fire, hundred-refined iron, you must demonstrate and teach it without holding back any secrets!... With the Chief Divine as witness! If you teach well, the Kingdom's gold is plentiful, and there are other rewards as well!..."

"By the way! Tonight, you are to go to the West Port Priest and select two local tribal wives! They will always be with you, helping you cook and tend the fire, so you can focus on teaching apprentices to smelt iron!..."

"Ah! Huh? Besides being rewarded with gold, there are also two wives?... Chief Divine! Honored Shrine Priest... I... I bow to you!..."

Otani Takegou once again knelt on the ground, repeatedly bowing to the generous Shrine Priest. Several prisoners from Wa Country nearby, their eyes red with envy, looked at the Gold Talisman on his neck, muttering things like "no warrior's backbone," "kowtowing at every turn," "why not me"...

"Hmm! Otani, you must wholeheartedly teach this skill of iron smelting, at least ensure that the West Port Priest and the apprentices... have the ability to independently smelt iron blocks with the finished furnace following the illustrated guide..."

"With the Chief Divine as witness! We will stay at this port for a while... until you thoroughly pass on this iron-smelting skill!..."

Miki the Sage reached out and grasped a tuft of short hair on Otani's head. The moon-stage hairstyle of the original Wa Country Warrior had long disappeared, and this tuft of hair was now cut short like that of the Mexica craftsmen when working...

"Stonefirm!"

"Chief Priest?"

"With the Chief Divine's protection! This furnace of ore indeed produced fine iron!... In the mountains east of Lake Bay Port, there might be a remarkably large iron mine... This is the first iron mine discovered on the Northern Continent, and it might be much larger and better than the Kingdom's Black Rock Mountain iron mine!..."

Miki the Sage's eyes flickered, a myriad of thoughts crossed his mind. On the Northern Continent, the weakest link in opening these series of ports was not the lack of food, but the lack of output of metal tools... After a while, he solemnly looked at Warrior Captain Stonefirm and said.

"The matter of Great Iron Mountain is of great importance... I need to personally go to the eastern mountains with the West Port Priest to confirm it... This round trip will take about half a month or a month..."

"Ah? High Priest Miki, you plan to stay at Lake Bay Port for a month? Didn't you say you needed to return to the Kingdom as soon as possible..."

"Hmm... it won't be delayed! I'll leave the blacksmith Otani here to teach the skill of iron smelting. Stonefirm, you shall take the Ocean-Blocking Sea Ship to the next port to the south, eight hundred miles away, the West Mountain Port... Along the way, you've endured storms and difficult navigation, and the sea ships have many damaged areas... The Gold Shipwright has mentioned it to me several times, that it's time to properly repair the sea ships in the small shipyard at West Mountain Port!..."

"Chief Priest, you want me to take the sea ship to West Mountain Port for repairs?... When will you..."

"With the Chief Divine as witness! Once I see the Great Iron Mountain to the east and confirm the existence of that iron mine... I will return to Lake Bay Port, then take the blacksmith Otani and sail southwards on a longship from Lake Bay Port!..."

Miki the Sage paused, speaking in a deep tone to make the final decision.

"If everything goes smoothly, I will arrive at West Mountain Port by early October. By then, the sea ships will have been repaired, and it will be time to head south again!… But if November comes and I haven't returned, then you should take the Ocean-Blocking Sea Ship and the Gold Shipwright, and head directly south to the Kingdom!… The Divine Revelation Priests at the Southern Shipbuilding Department of the Kingdom will guide you to meet Divine Revelation Director Talaya… Then, offer the captured craftsmen and sea ships to the Director, particularly asking the Director to build new wind-powered sailboats!..."

"With the Chief Divine as witness! If this Great Iron Mountain near the port on the Northern Continent truly exists... it is an opportunity that can change the Kingdom and the future of the Northern Land!... This is indeed a true, destiny-blessed turning point..."

"With a tangible, iron-producing Great Iron Mine... how can the unknown southern explorations compare to the boundless potential of the North?! May the Chief Divine bless us!"