Xu Xiang locked himself in the study, not knowing what he was busy with, and asked Xu Yi and Lu Tianyao to stay outside the door, which made the entire Xu Mansion very curious.

A utility room next to the study was emptied, and there was a stove and other blacksmith things. There is also the sound of "clanging" from time to time. The one who struck iron was a homeless person outside Pujiamen before, and he had some iron-striking skills before, so Xu Xiang handed him the drawings for making pistol accessories, created the accessories according to the requirements, and then polished them.

It was rainy for both days, the temperature in the utility room was very high, and the fire was constantly burning.

Wei Xiaoping's father, Wei Chengzu, used to be a blacksmith in the town, but because of the disaster in his hometown, the blacksmith shop lost business. The more modest families in the town moved into the city, while the rest of the people who couldn't survive had to leave their homes and find a way to survive.

They were a family of four, and they wanted to go into the city to find a job, but the black-hearted soldiers at the city gate had to charge one person a tael of silver to enter the city. How could they have this money, so they also followed into the ranks of the homeless, and heard that if they went to Ningdu, they would have a way to live.

After coming to Ningdu, they were not allowed to enter the city, but were placed in a shed outside the city like most of the homeless people, and were given a bowl of very thin porridge every day.

Wei Xiaoping's father saw that Ningdu did not have the means to live as rumored, and he even saw some homeless people selling their wives and children in exchange for decent clothes to enter the city in search of work.

Of course, he didn't want to sell his children, so he planned to leave here and find another way.

But at this time, Wei Xiaoping was infected with the epidemic, his own son was infected, and he, as a father, was very powerless, not only could not see a doctor and grab medicine for his child, but he didn't even have a full meal.

Just when he was almost desperate, Xu Xiang appeared, not only gave them food, but also helped them heal, and even promised to bring them close to the city.

Wei Chengzu seemed to have found hope of survival, and at that time he volunteered to sign up and was selected to enter the first batch to enter the city.

Later, he became a buddy for the gnawing chickens, specializing in carrying ingredients.

Xu Xiang also fulfilled his promise, and it didn't take long for his wife and children to be taken into the city in good health, he was full of gratitude to Xu Xiang, not to mention because of his vision for the future, even if Xu Xiang didn't send them money, he was willing to do things for Xu Xiang.

In the past few days, he heard that the other guys said that the young master was looking for an experienced blacksmith, so he took his son and volunteered to come to the Xu Mansion.

Xu Xiang first talked to him about the topic of striking iron, and then asked him how to make iron smelting stronger and tougher. He said it all according to his own understanding.

Unexpectedly, Xu Xiang praised him very much, so he immediately arranged for someone to clean up the utility room next to the study, prepare all the things for ironmaking, and build a small blacksmith shop in Xu's mansion.

Subsequently, Xu Xiang handed him a drawing and asked him to smelt iron according to the new method.

Unlike the iron smelting process he knew, iron ore was turned into molten iron in an iron furnace, and materials such as coke and limestone were added and then quenched and purified.

After several efforts by him, he showed the refined things to Xu Xiang, who was very satisfied and said happily: "Haha, the steel has finally come out." ”

He didn't know what the "steel" in the young master's mouth was, but since it was what the young master wanted, he was relieved that it didn't disappoint the young master.

Subsequently, Xu wanted him to get those objects out according to the drawings, and instructed him not to have the slightest error, and to build them exactly according to the size on the drawings.

The stove in the utility room was red, and Wei Chengzu was shirtless, beating a piece of "steel" repeatedly.

Eventually, the piece of steel under his hand was made into a long wire.

"Dad, what is the young master doing with these things? What's the use of this spring he was talking about? Wei Xiaoping looked at the tiny steel wire and asked with doubts.

"Don't talk nonsense, the young master will do what he tells him to do! Take out the drawings and see what to do next after the wire is made! ”

"Oh!" Wei Xiaoping responded, then took out a small cloth bag from his waist, and solemnly opened the cloth bag, inside was a folded piece of paper, which was a drawing drawn by Xu Xiang.

"Dad, it says, burn the wire red with fire, and let it dissipate heat naturally." Wei Xiaoping said according to what was written on the drawing.

The reason why it was difficult to make springs in ancient times, and when Xu Xiang was in Linzi before, the springs used to make muskets were easily scrapped, and the reason was that there was no steel.

Steel wire is elastic, whereas iron wire is none.

The purpose of using high fire to burn the steel wire red and cool it naturally is to anneal and make the steel wire lose its elasticity.

After the wire has cooled, find a round bar according to the diameter of the desired spring. The annealed steel wire is tightly wound into a spiral shape on a round bar, and then a basin of cold water is prepared, and the unfinished spring is placed on the fire to burn red, and immediately immersed in water.

This is quenching, the purpose of which is to restore the elasticity of the steel wire.

When Xu Xiang came to the utility room, the father and son had just made the spring.

"Young master, take a look, is this the spring you want?" Wei Chengzu handed the spring over and asked hopefully.

Xu Xiang took this small spring in his hand, the pistol's requirements for the spring are much higher than that of ordinary muskets, there are three springs of firing needle spring, hammer spring, and iron blocking spring, and the spring in his hand is still a little soft, and the elasticity is also a little poor.

The elasticity of the spring, as well as its quality, depends on the last step of production, quenching.

Quenching is the key, the quenching temperature is high, the speed of putting it into water is fast, and the steel wire is harder and brittle; On the contrary, the steel wire is softer and slightly less elastic.

"This doesn't work, the elasticity is a little poor." Xu Xiang shook his head, then told him the key points of quenching, and then asked him to remake it.

It takes one or two hours to build a steel wire, and Xu Xiang's denial will make him waste these two hours.

However, Wei Chengzu did not complain, and once again erected the steel block and rebuilt the steel wire.

In this era when everything has to rely on manpower, there is no way.

Wei Cheng's grandfather and son didn't sleep all night, even though the temperature of the winter night was very low now, and they were sweating all over.

When Xu Xiang got up the next day, he came to the utility room and found that the father and son had not slept all night, and he was a little ashamed.

Fortunately, this night's efforts were not in vain, and half of the hundreds of springs created by Wei Chengzu met Xu Xiang's minimum requirements.

"Uncle Wei, let's do this today, you and Xiaoping go to rest first, the rest of the accessories are simpler than springs, let's get them tomorrow!" Xu Xiang knew that they were already very tired, so he arranged for them to rest.

"Young master, are these springs okay?" Wei Chengzu asked with some expectation.

"That's it!"

The three-day period given by Mingxiao is approaching.

Xu Xiang nested in the study two days ago, making bullets for pistols alone. After Wei Chengzu finished building the other accessories, he began to assemble the pistol.

He was made according to the M1911 automatic pistol, which also had a 0.45-inch caliber bullet and a magazine that could be loaded with 7 pieces.

This is his favorite pistol, convenient and easy to use, its rate of fire is much faster than the crude musket of the past, this small weapon, its lethality is very amazing.

"The previous innate level master could easily dodge the bullets of the earth musket, but I don't know if I can dodge the pistol?" Xu Xiang couldn't let go of the gun in his hand and muttered.

He then placed it in a delicate wooden box and began assembling a second one.

This time, he made two pistol accessories and prepared to take one for himself, and Jiang Shenyu to take one.

The reason why mass production was not considered was because he was now just a small businessman, with no power or power. If such powerful weapons appear in Ningdu in large quantities, I believe that it will not be long before the army will surround the Xu Mansion.

Now he just wants to rely on the pistol and add a little capital to save his life.

The second pistol was assembled, and after playing with it in his hand, he subconsciously inserted it into his waist, but it was inserted into a void.

Only then did he realize that he had to make a belt and a gun pouch so that it would be convenient.

He opened the door, and Xu Yi and Lu Tianyao hurriedly greeted him.

"Young Master, what do you command?" Xu Yi asked.

"Is the young lady in the house?" Jiang Shenyu now has to be in charge of the logistics of the gnawing chickens with Aunt Wang, and he also has to teach those children martial arts and literacy in the house, often going back and forth between the three mansions and the Xu Mansion.

"In the house, Xiaoling has not eaten or drunk for a few days, and only after the young lady has passed over and fed him personally, he is willing to eat a little." Xu Yi said, and then said with some displeasure, "This kid is really, young master, you have done your best to him, and you still refuse to tell the whereabouts of the Ping Jing book, and you have to let the princess feed him before eating!" ”

"The young lady doesn't care, you're quite worried." Xu Xiang said with a faint smile.

"Young Master, today is the three-day period mentioned by His Royal Highness the Fifth Highness of Zhongshan Kingdom, how does the young master plan to deal with it?" Lu Tianyao asked.

"Don't worry, Mingxiao may not dare to do it!" Now that he has a pistol in hand, he is not so afraid of Mingxiao, and Lin Fuhang is outside the mansion, so he has relaxed a lot.

"Xu Yi, you go and invite the young lady over." Xu Xiang said to Xu Yi again.