The Primitive Adventures of a Chipmunk 96

Chapter 96

As the blast furnace thoroughly dried and the firewood was yet to burn out, Chang Qing, under Hua Shi’an’s command, shoveled up the lumpy charcoal that had been trampled on and poured it into the furnace mouth with a “whoosh.”

One shovel, two shovels… five shovels of charcoal entered the furnace. Chang Qing followed the instructions, a shovel of crushed iron ore, a small amount of crushed limestone, and then more charcoal and iron ore… and so on.

At the same time, the bellows began to operate. The beastman gripped the handle and pushed and pulled the piston. With a huffing and puffing sound, a strong and powerful wind rushed out of the air outlet and into the blast furnace through the tuyere.

The flammable and durable charcoal in the furnace was instantly ignited by the flames. The high temperature rose from the bottom, pervasive, and completely enveloped the iron ore and limestone sandwiched between the charcoal, burning away the impurities and mercilessly refining them.

Smelting iron was a long process. The blast furnace could not be filled all at once, but had to be added in small quantities and multiple times. Based on the ancient iron smelting documentaries that Hua Shi’an had seen, and the size of their blast furnace, he estimated that it would take about three hours.

One person was pulling the bellows, and one person was occasionally shoveling ore. There were only two people actually working at the moment, but there was a circle of beastmen watching from the side. It wasn’t that Hua Shi’an was wasting manpower. The main thing was that this iron smelting business was too complicated. It couldn’t be explained in a few words. You had to see it for yourself and get your hands on it to learn.

Smelting iron was not strenuous, but forging iron was hard work. The suffering was yet to come.

With each push and pull of the bellows, the flames “hissed” upwards, and in the blink of an eye, they broke through the furnace mouth and shot into the air. The roaring flames distorted the surrounding air, showing how high the temperature was.

It was time to add charcoal and ore again. The person pulling the bellows was replaced, and Chang Qing also took the initiative to hand over the shovel, letting the eager beastmen try.

Remembering the ratio and mastering the timing, adding ore to the blast furnace was not difficult.

The only difficulty was that they had to figure out the technique for themselves, how to avoid the flames that shot out of the blast furnace and thus avoid being burned by the high temperature.

The temperature was getting higher and higher. The blast furnace had already turned into a scorching hot furnace, constantly releasing heat. Hua Shi’an and the onlookers were so hot they couldn’t stand it and retreated further and further away. But the beastmen working by the blast furnace had nowhere to retreat. The sweat they produced was baked dry, and then they sweated again and it was baked dry again, over and over. They gritted their teeth and endured the baptism of the high temperature.

Smelting iron was also smelting people.

For the beastmen who had been tormented by the high temperature, three hours passed incredibly slowly. For Hua Shi’an, who was eagerly waiting for the result, a day was like a year, and a second was like a day… he had even pulled out all the weeds at his feet.

The sun had risen to its zenith. Estimating that the time was about right, Hua Shi’an threw away the weeds and shot up, walking back to the blast furnace with a gust of wind. He called for the bellows to be stopped and then said to the crowd, “It’s done, it’s done. Get ready to open the furnace!”

It was Chang Qing’s turn again. She looked at the blast furnace, which was still emitting flames, raised an eyebrow, and looked at Hua Shi’an in surprise. “The temperature is not low, Lord Priest. How do we open it? Do we take the refined iron out from the inside? Why don’t we wait for the temperature to drop a little?”

“We’re taking it out from the inside, but not in the way you’re thinking.”

With that, Hua Shi’an walked to the workstation behind him and soon came back, dragging a one-meter-long stone hammer. He handed the stone hammer to Chang Qing. “Start smashing from the top, to the side. After smashing a large part, you should be able to see the iron.”

The Lord Priest was not waiting for the temperature to drop, so he naturally had his reasons. Chang Qing took the stone hammer and waved to the crowd. “Back off, back off. Move to the side, and stay away from the blast furnace.”

Hua Shi’an and the beastmen all retreated, leaving only Chang Qing by the blast furnace.

The heavy stone hammer was swung in the air, and with a biting, wind-breaking sound, it slammed into the blast furnace. The mud furnace, which had been refined by the high temperature, was as hard as a stone. With a loud “bang,” fine cracks crawled all over the furnace wall.

“Bang, bang bang—”

The stone hammer continued to strike, and the tightly connected mud walls gradually loosened.

With another loud bang, a basin-sized, arc-shaped piece of mud completely separated from the blast furnace. Chang Qing hooked it down with the stone hammer. The moment it landed, the red-hot inner wall of the mud block exploded like a firework, and scorching hot sparks scattered everywhere.

With a hole broken, the internal scene of the blast furnace was clearly visible. How should he put it? It was as if a long-dormant volcano had suddenly become active. The scorching hot, viscous “magma” was churning and leaping in the furnace, exuding a high temperature that made it impossible to get close.

Chang Qing was sweating profusely. She swung the stone hammer and cut away a large part of the blast furnace. As Hua Shi’an had said, he could see the iron. The shiny, redder-than-the-sun-above-his-head-lumps in the charcoal ash and slag were the pig iron that had been calcined this time.

The temperature of the blast furnace was not enough to melt the iron billet into molten iron. The pitted, sponge-like iron billet in the furnace was called pig iron, also known as sponge iron. As the saying goes, pig iron is brittle, and wrought iron is soft. Sponge iron was mixed with a large amount of impurities, and its hardness after cooling was not even as good as a stone. It would break with a single knock.

Sponge iron could not be made into any tools. They still had to perform the second step, forging iron.

The so-called forging was actually just hitting, the legendary forging of iron.

Iron had to be forged while it was hot. Chang Qing clamped out the red-hot pig iron and placed it on the workstation. At the same time, the beastmen who had prepared in advance squatted by the workstation with stones and stone hammers. They raised the stones high in their hands and slammed them down on the iron billet.

A tooth-grinding sound continued to echo on the grass. The beastmen were sweating profusely, repeatedly hammering the iron billet to squeeze out the impurities. After the pig iron had cooled, it was returned to the furnace and then hammered again…

After being returned to the furnace and hammered repeatedly, the loose sponge iron, with its impurities removed, had turned into two pieces of wrought iron with a relatively high purity, strong toughness, and high plasticity.

Don’t even think about refined iron. This kind of wrought iron was already the end of the line for the tribe.

The wrought iron blocks were returned to the furnace again. After being thoroughly heated, they were placed on the workstation and hammered again. This time, the hammering was no longer to remove impurities, but to forge, using a stone hammer to change the shape of the iron blocks and thus forge them into tools.

Two pieces of wrought iron, one large and one small. Hua Shi’an estimated them to be about seven or eight kilograms. He had already thought it through. The large piece of iron would be forged into a hammer. With a handy tool, the subsequent forging would be more convenient. The smaller piece of iron would be forged into an axe. The charcoal needed for forging iron was not a small amount, so it would be convenient for cutting down trees later.

As for knives, saws, planes, shovels, and hoes… they would come slowly.

The clanging sound continued until night. The shapes of the hammer and axe were not complex, but without a handy tool, the forging was very difficult. And the hammer handle hole and the axe handle hole were even more difficult. One chisel and it would be silent.

The sky had completely darkened, and the camp was already calling for dinner. The hammer and axe were finally forged. After being returned to the furnace and heated red again, Hua Shi’an had the beastmen clamp the forged iron tools to the riverbank and immerse them in the river water to complete the final step—quenching.

They had been hungry all day after a long day of work. The people who were smelting iron by the river had been called several times but had not returned. Chief Mu decided not to wait anymore. He would just leave them some food. The others would eat first.

He was almost fainting from hunger. Chief Mu sat down next to the Great Chief after getting his food and quickly picked up a chopstickful of fragrant wild vegetables. But just as the wild vegetables touched his lips, a loud shout came from not far away.

“Chief, Great Chief, it’s done! We’ve smelted the iron!”

The iron smelting team was back. Hua Shi’an and a group of dusty beastmen hurried back to the camp.

The mixture of sweat and dust, they looked as if they had just returned from a disaster, each more pathetic than the last. But everyone’s face was filled with pride, overflowing with irrepressible joy.

He was suddenly not hungry anymore. Chief Mu and the Great Chief put down their bowls and chopsticks almost at the same time, quickly stood up, and strode towards them under the night sky.

The heavy iron tools were still warm. Two people, one for each. As soon as Chief Mu and the Great Chief walked over, Chang Qing immediately handed the iron tools over. “Take a look, you two chiefs. This is our day’s work.”

Chief Mu got the hammer. The first feeling he had was that it was heavy. A small thing the size of two fists was heavier than a stone in his hand.

The surface of the hammer had a unique luster, as if it had been rubbed by hand for years and had been polished to a smooth and shiny pebble. The feel was also very special, not like stone, not like wood, and different from anything he had ever touched before.

Is this really something that was smelted from a stone?

The more Chief Mu looked, the more surprised he became. He then exchanged with the Great Chief and took the axe to look at it.

This was even more incredible. Chief Mu’s fingertips brushed over the smooth body of the axe. He pinched the thin blade and exclaimed, “How is it so thin? How did you do it? Did you grind it?”

Chang Qing chuckled. “Grinding would have been easier. This was hammered out, one stone after another, hammered flat, and finally hammered thin.”

“Won’t it break?” the Great Chief quickly asked.

Chang Qing shook her head. “No.”

“Iron is really a magical thing. We used the method that the Lord Priest mentioned to heat it. When we heated it red, it suddenly became much softer. At this time, we used a stone to hammer it, and by repeatedly hammering it, we could forge it into the desired shape and thickness. And after it cooled down, it would become hard again. You can try it, Great Chief. It can easily smash a stone.”

The Great Chief held the hammer as if it were a priceless treasure, his eyes instantly lighting up. “Good, good, this is a good thing! You guys continue tomorrow. No, I’ll go too tomorrow. Let’s smelt some more iron!”

“Hey, that’s not right.”

Chief Mu, who had been studying the axe, had found a problem. He repeatedly rubbed the blade with his thumb and looked at Hua Shi’an with a bewildered expression. “Shi’an, didn’t you say that knives and axes made of iron are sharper than those made of stone? This, why is this not sharp at all? It can’t even cut my finger.”

Chang Qing couldn’t answer this question either, so Hua Shi’an stepped forward to clear up the confusion. “After a knife or axe is forged, it still needs to be sharpened. Just like a stone tool, if you find a rough stone and polish it, it will become extremely sharp. It’s too late today. We don’t have time to sharpen it. The axe handle and hammer handle also haven’t been made yet. We’ll show it to you tomorrow after it’s done.”

Chief Mu held the axe behind his back. “I’ll sharpen it myself.”

Great Chief: “You’re old. Don’t get involved. Quick, give it to the Lord Priest.”

“What do you mean, I’m getting involved? You’re old and you’re still going to smelt iron with the young people. What’s wrong with me sharpening an axe?”

“I’m younger than you, anyway!”

“Hahaha…”

“Everyone has worked hard. The food is in the pot. Wash your hands and face and eat!”

“It’s not hard. In the future, we’ll have iron tools that are better than stone tools!”

…

He had been guarding by the blast furnace all day. Hua Shi’an was almost dehydrated from the heat.

But looking at the tribe members who were cheering with excitement because of the iron tools, everything was worth it. The Stone Age was slowly passing. They had skipped the Bronze Age and had officially entered the Iron Age.