Northern Song Iron Smelting (1010s)

Timeline

1. 1011–1015Kaifeng (Bianjing) · HenanThe court, through the Three Departments and the supervisory offices in the circuits, tracked iron output and collected iron levies, incorporating iron supply into state finance and military logistics, and driving expanded mining and smelting in producing regions.
2. 1015–1020Cizhou · HebeiIron-smelting workshops in Hebei and Henan commonly used coal as fuel in conjunction with blast furnaces, and employed composite smelting techniques such as the co-fusion method, raising pig-iron output and steel quality to meet demand for agricultural tools, weapons and implements.