Restart:Untalented Man

Chapter 74 Mass Producing Steel

?Riz exits the mansion. He can hear the sound of shooting behind him accompanied by cries and wailing. He didn't care. Giving them a painless death is already a mercy. As for Josephine and Reina's reaction, Riz doesn't feel a need to give them an explanation.

He made his way to Coreton's industrial district. It's time to increase the steel-making process. The government plaza project has cost him 10,118,500 Ros.

Depending on Ryntum's wealth alone won't be enough to complete this project. It is all thanks to his personal wealth that he's able to cover sixty per cent of the cost.

The high cost of the project is mainly due to the price of construction materials. Furthermore, he needs steel for manufacturing his weapon. He needs to maintain his weapon superiority.

Using a blast furnace to produce steel is not cost-efficient. In short, blast furnaces allow large quantities of ore to be converted into cast iron which has a high content of carbon. To produce steel from cast iron, workers need to lower the carbon content. To do so, workers heat up the iron to oxidize the carbon and hammer the iron to eliminate the oxidized carbon until it becomes wrought iron. For wrought iron to absorb the carbon, the workers must continuously heat it with charcoal and let it sit for up to a week.

The time and fuel required to produce steel were prohibitively expensive. If something has not been done, the cost of future projects is going to kill him. He needs to have the ability to mass-produce steel at a low price.

'The main problem I need to solve is the method and fuel issue.' He thought.

He takes out his small black notebook to write down the thing he has to do. He started to get into the habit of noting things down since he became a marquess. There's a lot of work and he needs to keep track of everything or he will end up forgetting them.

Riz has no problem with the method as he can just follow the Bessemer process, the first inexpensive industrial process for the mass production of steel. Molten iron will be poured into the converter and hot air coming from the bottom. The iron's impurities; carbon, silicon and manganese are oxidised by the oxygen in the air. Carbon interacts, producing carbon monoxide, which is released in the form of gas. Silicon and manganese oxidise to form a layer of slag.

The structure and shape of the Bessemer converter are unique enough for Riz to remember it accurately.

He also needs to prepare an alloy called spiegeleisen to combat the problem of removing too much carbon.

According to history, Bessemer's process was so effective that it removed all the impurities and carbon altogether. Therefore, the workers need to know exactly when to turn off the airflow so that the right amount of carbon remains. This kind of practice is very hassle. It causes a lot of resources to waste if the steel produced is not up to the standard.

The solution is to burn all the impurities and carbon and reintroduce back a certain amount of spiegeleisen. This way, the quality of the finished product can be controlled.

Riz let out a defeated sigh.

He lacks chemists to handle all of this for him. The only reason he knows all of this is because there's a course called 'Construction Materials' during his degree. Though the subject main focus is on concrete and its ingredients, he still learns about steel and its history.

If he can't find chemists, then it's hard for his territory to advance in every field. He can only depend on his people to naturally have breakthroughs. It can take years, decades or even centuries to happen.

Riz had his mind focused back on the second issue, "The real problem is fuel. I can't rely on charcoal forever. I need to find coal deposits fast so I can make coke, a refined coal product with very few impurities."

He needs to find people to find coal seams or coal beds in Baroks Province.

Riz already sent people to explore the Bideford Province and Gyalcakes Province but found no coal deposits there. He doesn't know if the Baroks Province has a coal deposit in it.

Baroks Province has a large portion of land covered with dense forest and sixty per cent of it is undeveloped. The main population concentrates on the east area.

From the words of locals, there is some sort of unfriendly tribe living in that area. They killed anyone who tried to encroach on their land. He needs to find a way to discuss with the tribes there and avoid conflict. He's sick of war and needs to take a break from a tense situation.

Riz has been involved in war consequently since he arrived here.

"Welcome, milord", Jason Patterson greets him with the utmost respect. He was a former labourer at the paper factory two years ago. Now, he is managing an iron mine for Riz.

"How is the iron mine operation?" Riz charges straight to the main topic.

Jason handed the document to his lord, "As you can see, the production of iron mine was initially decreased but we manage to find several new veins with the black powder you invented. However, the quantity of iron ore is not abundant. We predicted it would run out in one or two years. This mine has a small iron deposit after all. Fortunately, they're all high-grade ores."

Riz looks at the file given to him. It contains estimated deposits, grade of ores, cost of operation etc. This shaft mine cost him around 10,000 Ros to operate which is acceptable for him.

Riz frowns as he sees most of the money goes to refining the ore itself. The workers were recruited on a massive scale to produce a large quantity of steel for him.

Jason shows his concern regarding this issue, "Now that the government plaza project is finished, should we fire them, milord?" The iron division of Gatharix Mining Company barely makes any profits.

Riz shook his head, "No, let's keep them for now. I need a lot of steel in the future. If the ore runs out, buy them from Sidgean. They have an abundance of iron deposits and can sell us for a cheaper price."

He takes out his notebook. "Here, take a look at this."

A few minutes later, Jason excitedly asks, "Is this Bessemer process true, milord?"

"Yes"

"If that is the case we don't need a large number of workers. Give me two to three months to set it up," said Jason confidently.

"Are you sure you can do it in that timeframe?" Riz gave a questionable look.

"I'm sure, milord. You've provided all the necessary information and knowledge."

"Alright then, after everything operates normally, you may reduce the number of workers to an appropriate number or just reassign them. Until we find coal, charcoal is our only option. We will consume so much of it that we might end up razing the entire forest."

"I'll do the best of my ability, milord."

"If there are any problems or difficulties, feel free to inform me. Don't forget to write me a monthly report as always," said Riz before leaving the industrial district.