Chapter Thirty-Two: Ignition

The direct development of Hong Gai meant a large investment. Militarily alone, at least a full infantry battalion would have to be dispatched to Hong Gai. The Northern Dynasty of Vietnam was different from the barren Sanya and the navy-protected Hong Kong Island. It would have to directly face the Northern Dynasty army, which had a considerable advantage in land forces. The Northern Dynasty army was armed with the help of the Portuguese and the Dutch. In terms of professional level, firearms proficiency, and combat experience, they were a big step above the Guangdong Ming army.

If they were to establish a port and excavate coal in Hong Gai, they would inevitably be driven out by force by the Northern Dynasty. Without an infantry battalion, plus some artillery and the navy, the safety of the mining area could not be guaranteed. The General Staff had prepared a plan to occupy and defend the Hong Gai mining area, with a permanent force of more than three battalions. This was simply a fantasy for the already stretched army and navy.

The army’s five battalions were currently deployed in a large-scale security operation across the northern part of Hainan Island, from Danzhou in the west to Wenchang in the east. Except for one battalion left in Maniao as the general reserve for the entire army, all troops had been dispatched. To mobilize more troops would seriously affect industrial and agricultural production.

After much consideration, Wu De decided that this matter still needed to be handled with caution. They would start by expanding trade, striving to adopt the model of a large armed trading post and using local forces for mining. This would also require an expansion of basic investment. At the very least, the establishment of the Vietnam Trading Company could no longer be placed under the Leizhou station; it had to be directly invested in and managed by the Senate.

The speed of stockpiling raw materials for the steel plant was faster than Ji Wusheng and Wang Luobin had expected. The Planning Institute organized ships for a surprise transport operation. Iron ore concentrate from Sanya, coking brown coal from Qiongshan, and brown coal from Leizhou were continuously transported to Bopu and Maniao. Although the navy had temporarily lost a lot of cargo tonnage because one-third of its ships had been pulled ashore for repairs, there were many more idle sailors. The navy adopted the practice of rotating crews without rotating ships, allowing some ships to operate continuously. Although this exacerbated the wear and tear on the ships, for a navy that was about to get new toys, this sacrifice was still worthwhile. Mass producing steel was good for both the army and the navy, but in the long run, it was definitely more beneficial to the navy. After all, the steel consumed by manufacturing one hundred thousand rifles could not compare to that of an ironclad ship, and the steel consumed by one large-caliber naval gun was equivalent to that of ten M1857s.

With the navy’s all-out effort, the raw material reserves of the Lin’gao Steel Company met the basic 7-day reserve ahead of schedule. Ji Wusheng decided that there was no time to lose and that they should start smelting steel immediately. The second furnace drying process would take about 48 hours before the official charging, which would add a few more days to the reserve.

The Lin’gao Steel Company had already trained the first generation of steel workers in its previous converter workshop. Some of them came from various smelting fields or were blacksmiths from Guangdong and had some experience in ironmaking. The foreman of the shift, surnamed Li, was originally the only blacksmith in Lin’gao city. Traditional blacksmiths were actually more like manufacturing workers and were not familiar with metallurgy. Therefore, most of the blacksmiths absorbed by Lin’gao were assigned to the mechanical department. However, this person’s skills were not very good, and even Lu Youtian shook his head after seeing them. In the end, he was sent directly to the metallurgical department to be a furnace front worker for the melting furnace.

However, Blacksmith Li did have some skills in smelting and casting, which were somewhat better than others. In his work, Ji Wusheng found that this person was diligent and eager to learn. However, to learn well, one needed a skilled master and a competitive environment, both of which were lacking in Hainan.

No one in this era had ever seen a blast furnace or an open-hearth furnace. The only modern steel technology production experience the steel workers had was from the melting furnace and the converter. For this reason, Ji Wusheng personally took charge of training the future steel workers. He specially built models of a small blast furnace and an open-hearth furnace to teach smelting knowledge. In theory, the workers only needed to know what to do, but Ji Wusheng felt that it was still necessary to give them some theoretical knowledge to promote their comprehensive understanding.

This group of workers came to the steel company to work and study every day, participating in the construction of the steel plant. Especially when they saw the magnificent blast furnace and open-hearth furnace rising from the ground, which they had never even dreamed of, the workers’ excitement was palpable. To them, the small converter and melting furnace were already a miracle, let alone this huge tower!

“Can this blast furnace really produce good steel?” Ji Wusheng had to answer similar questions from the workers a dozen times a day.

Now, the blast furnace was fully completed. The workers had carried out the first furnace drying and had a certain understanding of charging the furnace. Ji Wusheng decided to officially ignite the blast furnace on February 6th.

He personally supervised the workers’ charging. After the last charging, the workers already had some experience. However, the second furnace drying had to be more careful, because the second furnace drying was actually the beginning of formal production operations. Any problems would have a major impact on the blast furnace production.

Ji Wusheng inspected the processed coke powder. This was the best coke powder made from the best coke sent from the coal coking combined plant in Bopu. The workers mixed some tar into the coke powder and stirred it evenly. Then they added an appropriate amount of water to give the coke powder a certain degree of moisture. The coke powder was used as a lining for the furnace drying and had to have a certain degree of moisture, otherwise it would not stick to the furnace wall. But if it was too wet, it would affect the furnace temperature.

After the lining was applied, Ji Wusheng personally went into the furnace to check the thickness and humidity meter by meter, ensuring that every link was accurate. Any place where the thickness was less than 20mm or where there was a problem with the humidity was dismantled and redone.

After the lining was applied, the woodworking factory sent over wood shavings—shavings are a good kindling material, dry and easy to burn. Dozens of large bags of shavings were loaded into the bottom layer of the blast furnace, and then wood was stacked in a crisscross pattern. Some shavings were also added to the wood near each tuyere. On top of the wood, coke was stacked. The coke was placed in layers, each 300mm thick. Some limestone was added to the upper layers, and the coke was placed relatively loosely to allow for good ventilation. The charging continued until the entire furnace body was full, up to the throat.

After the charging was completed, it was the official opening of the furnace. The ignition of a blast furnace, even in the old world, was a major event. The ignition and commissioning of large and extra-large blast furnaces in the past were worthy of being reported on the news. For the Transmigration Group, the ignition of the blast furnace was an important step in the development of “our cause.”

On February 6th, a simple and solemn blast furnace ignition ceremony was held under the high roof of the blast furnace workshop. The steel plant workers, the construction workers who participated in the construction of the steel plant, students, and soldiers of the army and navy gathered in groups under the roof of the steel truss workshop. Although the behemoth in front of them was built by them brick by brick, seeing it stand complete and whole before their eyes still made everyone marvel—that this behemoth could actually produce iron! This was something they could never have imagined in their dreams.

The scene in front of them not only amazed the naturalized citizens, but also the Senators. Most of them had never seen a blast furnace in person. When they came to the foot of the nearly ten-meter-high blast furnace, besides being surprised, an immense sense of pride welled up in their hearts—they were about to possess the “divine artifact” of this era. The raging fire of the blast furnace and the flowing molten iron would sweep away the old world and leave a new world that belonged to them.

The main figures of the Executive Committee and the active members of the Senate certainly would not miss this good opportunity to show their faces and all came to the scene. Fang Fei, who specialized in preparing for large-scale events, was also the main planner of this event. He asked Ji Wusheng if he wanted to hold a reception or something.

“The industrial sector doesn’t have a budget for receptions.”

According to the expense reimbursement system formulated by the Cheka, only a few foreign-related departments had the right to book and reimburse entertainment expenses. Other departments did not even have the qualification to appear on the books.

Fang Fei said, “This expense can be paid by the General Office. You just need to submit an application.”

“No need. The ignition of the blast furnace is of great significance, so we should hold a ceremony. But we don’t need to eat and drink on this significance,” Ji Wusheng was most annoyed by the reception-style memorials to Pavlov in the old world. Therefore, this ceremony only issued a notice, not an invitation. Besides hanging up slogans, there were no other decorations at the scene, and no drinks, cigarettes, or food were prepared—the notice stated that attendees should bring their own food and drink.

Although the steel plant was not very enthusiastic about the Senators, the Senators were very enthusiastic. Besides the main leaders of the Executive Committee, many Senators from the industrial and military sectors also came. Both were major consumers of steel.

The Senators excitedly discussed the production capacity and use of steel under the blast furnace. Of course, it was inevitable to mix in a large number of militaristic ideas like building ironclad ships. Building railways also became a focus of discussion. There was even a small debate on whether to build meter-gauge, standard-gauge, wide-gauge, or ultra-wide-gauge tracks. The maids curiously looked at the blast furnace and their masters below, who were gesticulating and flushed with excitement.

Some people also used the privilege of being a Senator to get close to the blast furnace, carefully examining the furnace body, foundation, and tuyeres… From time to time, someone would excitedly point out: this part was designed and manufactured by our department and workshop, or the materials were found by us. For the Senators from the chemical industry, they had put in the most effort in the project—just solving the problem of refractory materials for the blast furnace had taken a lot of their brainpower.

The blast furnace workshop already looked very “modern.” Not only was the entire workshop structure made of steel, but there were also overhead cranes on the roof, tracks on the ground, and stairs, corridors, and footbridges… all the internal structures were also mostly made of wrought iron railings in an industrial style. It looked rough and powerful.

Wen Desi and Ma Qianzhan both came to the scene at the same time. Wen Desi walked around the blast furnace a few times and suddenly said to Ma Qianzhan, who was with him, “Ma Gong, I heard that in ancient times, they used living people as sacrifices when opening a furnace.”