Iron ware, an object made of iron ore by smelting. The appearance of ironware has made epoch-making progress in human history. The Hittites living in Asia Minor were the earliest people in the world who made iron artificially, and the age was about 1400 BC. 1300 to100 years ago, iron smelting technology was introduced to the two river basins and ancient Egypt, and parts of Europe also entered the iron age around 1000. But at that time, all smelting was ironmaking, and it was not until the end of the Middle Ages (about 1400) that the hydraulic blast furnace was invented in Europe that raw iron was smelted.

The above answers are all about pig iron smelting. In fact, China lagged behind the West for many years in early iron smelting.

Qin Jun's equipment was bronze, because China couldn't make enough iron at that time, and western civilization had already started to equip iron weapons on a large scale. Later, China's smelting technology developed rapidly.