For the next two days, Ren Baqian went to the academy in the morning and dawdled at the Ministry of Works in the afternoon. He was discussing two important matters with Tong Zhenye. These two matters were regarding the blast furnace and the steelmaking method.
The blast furnace that he introduced was frequently used in the Song Dynasty and was already very close to a modern one in terms of its mechanics. Furthermore, it used charcoal instead of coal, so it was quite suitable for Dayao.
It made use of hydraulic power to operate the furnace bellows through a water wheel beneath it that was driven by flowing water. Utilizing wheels, axles, tension bars, and gears, the furnace bellows would open and close repeatedly. The higher the wind power, the stronger the fire burned.
