During the Qin Dynasty, the control of iron tools was not strict, and the mine called Guanshan at that time was handed over to the people for contract mining, and the profits were divided according to the output value in the proportion of 37, and the iron ore and iron trading was only taxed and not restricted, and then in addition to the strict management of the iron workshops funded by the government to prevent the loss of state-owned assets, the private blacksmith shops of the people were basically ignored, and the private blacksmiths were allowed to make iron tools and even sell weapons for profit.

In addition, as long as he didn't go to the market to run it himself, and he called for buying and selling, he didn't need to be as unlucky as Yu Zhi and might be judged to be a city member, so Xiang Kang dared to directly discuss with Feng Zhong to open a blacksmith shop, and Feng Zhong, who was an official of the Qin Dynasty, did not have any scruples to agree to try.

He had already tasted the sweetness twice with Xiang Kang, Feng Zhong of course trusted Xiang Kang's words very much, and after drinking in Mrs. Chen's wine shop, Feng Zhong arranged for diners who ate and drank at his house every day to purchase coal and ore, and sent people to inquire around where forging tools such as bellows, hammers, crucibles and anvils could be rented, and then according to Xiang Kang's requirements, he immediately sent someone to send it to Xiang Kang as soon as he bought the coal.

When Feng Zhong's diners brought coal to the village where Xiang Kang lived, Xiang Kang's dilapidated courtyard had become a small construction site, and the Xiang brothers, who had been idle all day long, followed Xiang Kang to swing their hoes together, first built a large kiln with a structure of earth and stone on the deserted vacant land next to the small courtyard, leaving holes next to the furnace for the purpose of igniting a fire, and then built a small smelting furnace with stones and earth in Xiang Kang's dilapidated courtyard.

I have to explain that the reason why the Xiang brothers, who are used to being idle, can help Xiang Kang do such a dirty and tiring job is entirely because Xiang Kang has done the ideological work of the two uncles, and asked the two uncles who want their son Jackie Chan to join forces to put pressure, and the Xiang brothers can't resist the tears and nagging of the two uncles, so they have to reluctantly give Xiang Kang a free coolie.

However, the two uncles were also very puzzled by Xiang Kang's actions, because after the coal was rammed into a coal seam, Xiang Kang actually directly lit the kiln, and calcined the coal directly before the iron ore arrived. When the two uncles saw Daqi, they both asked Xiang Kang, "Kang'er, aren't you preparing to make iron?" How to burn Nirvana stone directly? When the nirvana stone is burned, what will you take to make iron? ”

"Coke first, and then use coke to make iron."

Xiang Kang replied very directly, and then did not explain carefully, let alone ignore the earth-based coke oven that had been burning all the time, and led the Xiang brothers to just prepare all kinds of utensils for smelting steel, and also prepared a few clay molds for swords and farm tools in advance, just waiting for the coke smelting to start smelting strip steel. During this period, all kinds of iron-striking tools that Xiang Kang needed were also delivered in place with the help of Feng Zhong, and everything was soon available, only the east wind was owed.

After the soil method coke oven burned for nine days, under the command of Xiang Kang, the Xiang brothers were full of anger to carry water to extinguish the kiln, and moved out the coke that had been calcined, and then under the command of Xiang Kang, the coke was beaten into a suitable size, and the iron ore was put into the smelting furnace layer by layer, and ignited again.

When the ore gradually melted into molten iron, Xiang Kang decisively drove away all outsiders, including the Xiang brothers, and asked Xiang Zhuang and Xiang Guan, who were secretly persuaded by himself, to stay outside the door to prevent outsiders from peeking, and then took out the graphite powder that he quietly borrowed money from his two uncles, sprinkled it into the molten iron, sweating profusely, and stirred constantly, until the flame on the molten iron turned blue, Xiang Kang opened the door again and asked everyone to come in to help, pour the molten iron into the crucible, and then pour it into the mold, and cool it into a sample embryo.

The final dipping, forging and polishing were also done by Xiang Kang himself, and under the curious gaze of Feng Zhong, the Xiang brothers, the two uncles and many neighbors, the first steel knife was gradually sharpened into shape, revealing a blade that shimmered with blue light. Then Xiang Kang just said a good word, and Xiang Zhuang, who was quick-eyed, was the first to grab the straight knife that had not had time to install the handle, first carefully looked at the knife edge, and then waved his hand, and immediately cut the wooden stake used for the knife test into two sections, leaving two smooth sections.

"Good knives!"

In the exclamation, the Xiang family brothers and Feng Zhong completely forgot the hard work of more than ten days, as well as the lot of coal wasted in vain, and they just rushed to try the knife, and couldn't wait to ask Xiang Kang to forge such a sharp blade for himself. Xiang Kang only smiled slightly, and asked Feng Zhong, who couldn't put down the steel knife, "Brother Feng, how is it?" How is the knife I made by the secret method of dry Jiang better than the knife made by the blacksmith shop in the city? ”

Feng Zhong didn't answer, he rolled his eyes and gritted his teeth, simply pulled out the saber he had bought in Xiaxiang City before, and handed it to Xiang Zhuang casually, Xiang Zhuang understood, and after taking it, he clenched his hands tightly and slashed hard at the steel knife in Feng Zhong's hand. Then with a bang, the steel knife in the hand of Feng Zhong, who was not as strong as Xiang Zhuang, fell to the ground, but the old sword in Xiang Zhuang's hand was broken out, and the new steel knife that fell to the ground was unscathed. Feng Zhong also roared at this time: "What a knife! It's a good knife made with the secret method of the cadre! ”

"If you still want such a knife, as well as a farm tool made of this iron, you should hurry up and pay for it." Xiang Kang smiled and said, "We open a blacksmith shop in the village, specializing in smelting such iron and making such knives. ”

"No problem, no problem." Feng Zhong couldn't wait to agree, and hurriedly said: "Brother Xiang Kang, hurry up, get a few more knives like this, we will take them to the city and sell them first, and then we will have the money to buy Nirvana stone and ore to make iron." ”

The Xiang brothers also forced Xiang Kang to forge knives for themselves, but unfortunately Xiang Kang was too lazy to work hard this time, and in turn forced the Xiang brothers and Feng Zhong to do the forging, and provided technical guidance by themselves, and it took a day to create five steel knives and ten rakes, and the next day they let Feng Zhong's diners bring them into the city and sell them to the merchants in the market.

The best iron material in this era is the block smelting carburized steel smelted with coal, and the impurities are easy to damage, Xiang Kang smelted the strip steel with coke because the smelting temperature is much higher than that of coal, and a certain proportion of carbon is added relatively reasonably, not only the impurities are much less, the toughness is also much better, such iron and iron knives to the market, of course, it is difficult not to sell at a good price. So in the evening, when the diners brought the money back to the Shiling Pavilion, Feng Zhong, who was very excited, came to pour Xiang Kang's wine overnight, and discussed with Xiang Kang about the formal establishment of a blacksmith shop to expand production.

Xiang Kang's life has been mixed and mixed since the crossing has completely become a thing of the past, in the case that Feng Zhong has been promoted to You You's busy official duties, opening a blacksmith shop has basically become Xiang Kang's own business, fortunately, there are his own brothers and Feng Zhong's diners to help, plus it has entered the winter and is in the countryside, there are relatively more idle laborers in the village, as long as the money is paid, there are manpower can be called, so Xiang Kang is not very tired, and the leader quickly set up a small blacksmith shop that looks like a decent, Some swords and farm tools were forged and sold to the surrounding counties, although they did not make much money because of the output and cost, but they had a little spare money in their hands that they could use freely.

During this period, Xiang Kang, who was on fire in his heart, had never been to Yanji Pavilion, but just when the ironware of Shiling Pavilion was gradually becoming famous, Yu Zhi had the cheekiness to find Xiang Kang and give him a gift, saying that because Yan Jiting's Li Dian Huang San had a handle in the hands of the Yu family, he really withstood the pressure of Shan Youwei, and did not rule himself as a city citizen during the case comparison, so that he escaped the drudgery of serving in the frontier. Then while thanking Xiang Kang, he cautiously asked Xiang Kang about the secret method of the cadres that had been passed on to him, and he wanted Xiang Kang to teach him the meaning of steelmaking.

There is still a beautiful little girl of the Yu family in his heart, Xiang Kang did not turn his face and cut off relations with the Yu family, but of course he categorically rejected Yu Zhi's request to learn the steelmaking method, Yu Zhi, who was still a little face, felt ashamed and did not dare to force it, and when he said goodbye, he kindly reminded Xiang Kang: "Xiang Gongzi, there is something you have to be careful, my family heard the news, the Shan Right Lieutenant of Ling County is trying to find a way to clean you up, and he once sent someone to inquire about your situation, you have to be careful." ”

"Thank you." Xiang Kang was not surprised, and said: "I don't have a big problem here, after all, I live in Xiaxiang, and the surname is only the right lieutenant of Ling County, and it is not so easy to rectify me." But Yu Gongzi, you have to be careful, if the surname is caught, it will be too easy to rectify you. ”

Yu Zhi nodded, thanked Xiang Kang again, and then said goodbye and left, but he never mentioned a word about his sister, Xiang Kang also became even more angry in his heart, and hated the Yu family's ingratitude and snobbish reality. However, at this time, the nephew Xiang It suddenly came to Xiang Kang, saying that the third uncle had something to discuss with Xiang Kang, and Xiang Kang had to temporarily put the thoughts of the little girl of the Yu family in the back of his mind, and hurried to the third uncle's house with Xiang It to understand the situation.

The two uncles and mothers were at the third uncle's house, the third uncle's two own sons Xiang Sui and Xiang You were also there, and a strange man was also accompanied, seeing Xiang It leading Xiang Kang into the door, the third uncle first asked Xiang it to stare outside the door, and then said to Xiang Kang with a happy face: "Kang'er, come, let me introduce you, this strong man is Han Li, the family of your Han Liang Han uncle, and he brought a handwritten letter from your third uncle." ”

Having received Han Liang's favor from time to time, Xiang Kang of course hurriedly greeted Han Liang's family and asked about Xiang Bo's current situation, Han Liang's family replied: "Xiang Gongzi rest assured, Xiang Gong is all right in Xiapi, he also knows some of your recent situation, and he is full of praise for you, and I want to bring you a message to the small one, asking you to watch more for him, and the Xiang family is counting on you for everything now." ”

"Thank you, please tell my uncle, please rest assured, I will try my best to take care of the two uncles." Xiang Kang is polite.

"Kang'er, this is your third uncle's letter." The third uncle took out a white cloth full of words, handed it to Xiang Kang and said, "Your third uncle still has something to ask you for help, take a look." ”

"How can Uncle Xiang have something to ask me for help?" Xiang Kang wondered in his heart, and quickly took the white cloth to take a closer look, and then Xiang Kang's face quickly changed slightly, it turned out that the reason why Xiang Bo sent the book home was that he also saw the steel knife sold from the Shiling Pavilion in Xiapi, and knew that this sharp weapon was actually from Xiang Kang's hand, so he asked Xiang Kang for fifty steel knives when he opened his mouth, and asked the Xiang brothers to send the steel knife directly to Xiapi and hand it over to him.

"Fifty knives?" Xiang Kang was surprised, and hurriedly asked Han Li, who was delivering the letter, "Han Zhuangshi, why does my uncle want so many knives?" What is he going to do? ”

"I don't know about this little one." Han Li shook his head and said again: "Xiang Gong just ordered, saying that you should get things done as soon as possible, and he is waiting for your good news in Xiapi." ”

"But where should I go up there and prepare so many knives?" Xiang Kang complained bitterly and said: "The blacksmith shop in Shiling Pavilion was opened by me and Feng Zhong in partnership, and there are his people staring at it, I beat so many knives and sent them to Xiapi, how could Feng Zhong not know?" Although he is now friends with me, he is still from the government after all, if he knows my uncle's whereabouts, how can he give up? ”

"This ......, the villain doesn't know what to do." Han Li was also very embarrassed, and said, "Xiang Gong just asked Gongzi to get things done as soon as possible, and didn't say anything else." ”

Xiang Kang was even more helpless, but Xiang You over there suddenly spoke, and said in a rather weird manner: "Brother, the blacksmith shop has half of you, and there are only fifty knives, it shouldn't be a big problem for you, right?" ”

"Yes, Kang'er, it's rare for your uncle to open up to you, and you should help him no matter what." The third uncle and aunt also said a little anxiously: "You have to think of a way, anyway, the knife is what you took someone to fight, and it is definitely not a big problem to fight fifty more." ”

"Uncle, do you know how much a knife from Shiling Pavilion will sell for in the market now?" Xiang Kang smiled bitterly and said, "For a thousand yuan, a pair of rhinoceros skin armor is only sold for more than 1,300 yuan." Also, even if the government does not prohibit the sale of swords, how can the government not be suspicious of the fact that so many knives are taken out in one go and sent to Xiapi? If the government investigates it, what if it finds out the whereabouts of the third uncle? ”

Hearing Xiang Kang say reasonably, the third uncle and mother, who had always been reasonable, couldn't help but show a worried look, but Xiang You, who had been obviously estranged from Xiang Kang a lot recently, sneered and said, "Can't you fight quietly?" It's a big deal that our brothers will work together to help you fight, and we've all done this kind of work anyway, so it's nothing to do it again in vain. ”

He knew very well the reason for Xiang You's estrangement from himself, for the sake of brotherly unity and harmony, Xiang Kang didn't pay attention to it, just frowned and calculated, after a while, Xiang Kang made up his mind, gritted his teeth and said: "Twenty, I have a little savings in my hand now, about half of the profit of twenty knives, I will give my money to Feng Zhong, and say that I sold it elsewhere to make it, so that he will not be suspicious." ”

"But Xiang Gong wants fifty." Han Li's face was full of embarrassment.

"I only have twenty of them right now." Xiang Kang shook his head and said, "Please tell my uncle Han Zhuangshi about the situation, please also understand my hardships, and after a while, I will find a way to get him some more." ”

After all, it was not a trip in vain, and seeing Xiang Kang talk to this point, Han Li had no choice but to nod and agree, and Xiang Kang had to ask Han Li to wait another day or two because the blacksmith shop did not have so much stock, and Han Li also agreed, so Xiang Kang said goodbye and left, and hurriedly returned to the blacksmith shop to supervise the making of steel knives.

Sometimes kindness is not rewarded, for the sake of flesh and blood, Xiang Kang gritted his teeth and bought a knife at half price to give to the lion's wide-mouthed Xiang Bo, but what Xiang Kang didn't expect was that as soon as he left on the front foot, the jealous clan brother Xiang You's hind foot complained in front of the two uncles, complaining that Xiang Kang had no conscience, was ungrateful, and refused to meet even his uncle's 'little' request, and was a typical white-eyed wolf who crawled inside and out.

Fortunately, the two uncles were very reasonable, not only did they not help Xiang You accuse Xiang Kang, but they also asked Xiang You to understand Xiang Kang's difficulties. As a result, Xiang You, who was already jealous of Xiang Kang to the extreme, was even more angry, and simply said: "Mother, the knife is ready, Han Zhuangshi and I will send it to Xiapi, I miss my father, I want to meet him!" ”