An Ni dragged the heavy graphite-dark rock crucible across the iron grating and hoisted it into the belly of the central blast fire with a block-and-tackle hoist.
The chains screeched under the strain.
Inside the fire chamber, she arranged twelve metal bars of the First Emperor’s Dragon-Scale Star-Steel in a linked six-sided stack.
Each metal bar rested on heat-proof firebricks coated with powdered bone ash to prevent the molten alloy from adhering to the chamber floor.
She adjusted the twin baked-clay blast nozzles—the tuyeres—pointing their wide sky-slits directly at the base of the graphite crucible.
“The high-pressure gate is open,” An Ni called out. She wiped grease from her brow with her sleeve. “The waterwheel is spinning at full torque. But cold air won’t do anything without starting.”
She turned toward the arched entrance of the smelting hall.
Lu Chen carried three massive cast-iron cooking pots, each holding sixty jin of rendered, purified beef suet salvaged from the royal provision stores.
