The most arrogant in history

Chapter 252 tells you a secret.

Old He was interested in scientific research and asked, "Master Ye, can this metallic zinc be extracted? What is its use?"

"It can be refined and is very useful. In some places, it is more valuable than silver."

Ye Kun drew a picture on the spot and asked the alchemist and iron smelter to design the iron smelting furnace and use the evaporation-condensation method to extract a batch of elemental zinc.

This time, we brought back many mineral samples from Zhuti County, which can be refined on site.

As for the specific use of metallic zinc, Ye Kun kept it secret for the time being.

Metallic zinc plus pure copper can produce brass, which is golden and can be mistaken for gold.

Because the melting point of metallic zinc is very low, it can be galvanized by hot-dip galvanizing of iron sheets, iron wires and other ironware to prevent rust and make them durable.

If Ye Kun can produce metallic zinc, his metallurgical process and technology will be greatly advanced.

Fortunately, the extraction of metallic zinc went unexpectedly smoothly.

The next day, several iron smelters and alchemists used small equipment to refine more than three kilograms of elemental zinc particles.

Putting these particles in a steel crucible to melt, then putting iron wire and iron sheet in and taking them out is the most primitive hot-dip galvanizing process.

This industry certainly has many drawbacks, such as zinc liquid accumulation, unstable adhesion, and easy peeling.

But we have finally developed the galvanizing process, and we can gradually improve it in the future.

Ye Kun was very happy and immediately sent technicians to the Zhuti County silver mine to find silver mines with high zinc content, modify the equipment, and extract large amounts of elemental zinc.

Equipment modification is nothing more than adding a flue gas condensing device;

Technical transformation is simpler, slowly heat up, don't let the metal zinc play too fast. Extend the heating time to allow the metal zinc to play its full role.

After getting the metallic zinc, Ye Kun ordered the smelting workshop to produce tinfoil in large quantities.

If there is not enough raw material, we purchase it from other places.

He Tiantian didn't understand and asked, "Master Ye, are we producing a large amount of tin foil because we are planning to promote solar cookers on a large scale?"

Lao He’s laboratory already has a solar stove made of tin foil, which works quite well.

The servants in the laboratory are very comfortable. There are biogas digesters, several solar stoves, and several coal stoves of varying sizes. They never use firewood to cook, let alone grass!

Ye Kun smiled and said, "Solar stoves are not suitable for large-scale promotion now, because the tin foil is also very expensive."

Due to insufficient craftsmanship, the tinfoil produced by Ye Kun was relatively thick, and the large-scale promotion of solar stoves was not cost-effective.

He Tiantian laughed and said, "Then what do you need so much tin foil for?"

"Canning."

Ye Kun greeted Lao He and Tian Tian and asked, "Do you know what is the first guarantee for victory if we send troops on an expedition?"

Tiantian thought for a moment and said, "The food and fodder must be sent before the troops move. Is that the food and fodder that are most important?"

"Little girl, you guessed it right again." Ye Kun nodded approvingly and said:

"If 100,000 men go out to fight, 100,000 men will be needed to transport food and fodder. If it is an expedition, 200,000 men will not be enough to transport food and fodder. If we can produce a kind of military ration that will not spoil for several months and can be taken out and eaten at any time, it will save a lot of manpower, material resources and financial resources, and greatly increase the probability of winning the battle."

Tiantian nodded: "That's what Lord Ye said, what canned food?"

"Yes, I also bought a lot of rice dumpling leaves this year and dried them for preservation."

Ye Kun asked someone to bring some rice dumplings leaves, wrapped the mutton, pork and rice separately, then wrapped them in two layers of tin foil, wrapped them tightly with hemp thread, and put them in the steamer to heat.

It is not safe to wrap food directly in tin foil because it may be poisonous, so we use rice dumplings leaves to isolate it.

Tian Tian asked: "Master Ye, is this a can?"

Ye Kun smiled and said, "I'll tell you a secret. If you seal the food and then heat and cook it, it will achieve the high temperature sterilization effect and can be preserved for a long time. As long as there is no leakage, you can eat it ten years later."

"Can be eaten for ten years?" Tiantian was surprised.

“Twenty years is fine, as long as there is no leakage.” Ye Kun was very confident.

It is said that the invention of canned food came from Napoleon.

This thing was also designed for the long-term preservation of military rations.

The sealed eight-treasure porridge on the market generally has a shelf life of half a year, but from the perspective of filling your stomach alone, it can be stored for twenty years and still be eaten!

Ye Kun couldn’t make eight-treasure porridge or canned food, so he could only use multi-layer sealed packaging to make long-term dry food.

Zhuge Liang led his troops to Qishan six times and Jiang Wei led his troops to the Central Plains nine times. Many times they had to retreat due to lack of food supplies, which eventually led to the destruction of the Han Dynasty. It is a pity!

If Ye Kun wants to conquer the world, the problem of storage and transportation of food and fodder must be solved.

With such simple cans, it is easy to carry and reduces transportation costs.

The soldiers could survive for a month without making a fire, which saved a lot of cooking fuel.

He Tiantian still didn't believe it, and said with a smile: "Master Ye, when this batch of canned food is made, I will quietly put it away, and see if it can be eaten after ten days."

"Okay, I'll leave this experiment to you. After ten days, open a few cans and taste them. After twenty days, open a few more cans and try them..."

Ye Kun smiled, and instructed Lao He to make a pressure machine to compress the small dry firewood used for cooking.

These small pieces of dry firewood were all paid by the common people in the form of taxes.

It was like this in ancient times. The common people were not only taxed for grain, but also for various fodders and firewood.

The grass is used to feed cattle and horses, and firewood is used as daily fuel and marching fuel.

The large amounts of tung oil and neem oil that had been refined in the past were also put to use.

First, the firewood is soaked in waste oil, and then compressed into square bundles of uniform specifications using a lever machine and piled up in the firewood warehouse.

When marching, carrying such firewood does not take up space and is easy to stack. Because it is oiled, it is moisture-proof and waterproof, easy to burn, and has high heat.

Of course, these refined firewoods are also exclusively supplied to elite troops. Ordinary troops don't need to waste them like this.

In the last few months of the year, Ye Kun needs to prepare food and fodder so that he can attack Hanzhong after the New Year.

Because of the breakthrough in iron and steel making technology, Ye Kun also began to create new armor, which was required to be lighter and stronger.

Just as the new hemp was on the market, Youde’s spinning mill was completed and started production.

This time, in addition to the spinning workshop, there is also a weaving workshop, both of which are large in scale.

Ye Kun designed the flying shuttle loom, in which all the rotating shafts were equipped with bearings, which greatly improved the precision and speed.

Currently, a large number of female textile workers are being recruited for training.

The spinning mill has 500 employees and the weaving mill has 800 employees, which are considered large units.

Ye Kun went to the weaving factory to inspect and debug the machines, then came to Youde's office to drink tea and said with a smile:

"Youde, I finally returned your spinning mill to you, as well as your weaving factory. Tell me, how do you thank me?"

"Then tell me, how should I... thank you? I don't have anything good to give you." Youde looked shy.

"Who said there are no good things? All the good things are hidden on you. Let me check..."

Ye Kun is not behaving himself again.