Kong Jing smiled and picked up a piece of armor from a large basket on the side and said, "Before you build a piece of armor, you have to understand what forging is all about. ”

As he spoke, he turned his head to the hairball on the side and said, "Mao's team is positive (Maoqiu's situation is similar to Liu Yu's, and he is also given the position of a team leader), you come to talk to Liu team's work about this iron craft." ”

As he spoke, he looked at the other servants who were sitting in a circle on the side, looking at Liu Yu and the others in a deep voice: "It's all itchy skin, don't you, go to work!" As he spoke, he kicked the ass of a guy who was closest and desperately wanted to listen with his ears pricked up, and kicked this person six or seven steps away.

The hairball on the side said unhurriedly: "Speaking of this iron way, the words are long." In ancient times, people used bone devices, cut wood for soldiers, with polished stone or bone blades, as a weapon, as for the armor on the body, just like the leather armor you see now, it is taken from the skin of rhinoceros, zebras, elephants and other beasts with thick skin, soaked in oil and sun, and then cut. ”

"The armor made of the skin of the elephant and male rhinoceros can be worn for a hundred years, while the armor made of the skin of the female rhinoceros can be worn for two hundred years, and the armor of the male and female rhinoceros skin can be worn for three hundred years, which is clearly written in the armor-making book handed down in the Spring and Autumn Period."

Liu Yu said with a smile: "In ancient times, the Central Plains was full of rhinoceros and elephants, but now there are more people in the world and more farmland, and there are fewer and fewer of these fierce beasts, where are there so many rhinoceros leather armor?" ”

Feng Qian interjected: "The rhino leather armor is gone, but the buffalo skin, crocodile skin, and shark skin are still there, and they can also be made into leather armor, and the pigskin and sheepskin can also be made into armor. ”

Maoqiu continued: "For thousands of years, with the advancement of leather armor technology, even pigskin cowhide, the leather armor made is not inferior to the ancient rhinoceros skin, of course, leather armor is mainly used to prevent arrows, as well as to prevent the slashing and stabbing of bronze weapons, and after the emergence of a large number of iron weapons, it is difficult for these leather armor to achieve the effect of defense. ”

Liu Yu sighed: "Yes, iron weapons are extremely sharp, even iron armor sometimes can't block the spear lance, no wonder these armor pieces are added in addition to these leather armors to increase the protective ability." ”

Maoqiu smiled: "That's exactly, but the creation and friction of these armor pieces is not an easy task. I just mentioned that in ancient times, bronze weapons were used, leather armor was worn, and in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, iron tools appeared, but at first people only found that these iron could be used to make pig iron, and after refining more times, it could also become wrought iron. ”

"Pig iron can't be forged, it can't become the shape you want, wrought iron is too soft, not hard enough, people don't know what the reason is for many years, so the early iron is far less good than the bronze technology that has matured for thousands of years, and at the end of the Warring States period, it was not used too much. Just like the Qin army, most of their weapons are mature bronze weapons, and there are not many iron weapons. ”

"It wasn't until the Han Dynasty that people gradually discovered that the reason why iron is divided into pig iron and wrought iron is that the ingredients in it are different, and the most important point of this ingredient is charcoal powder!"

Liu Yu's eyes widened: "Charcoal powder? Is it charcoal? ”

Maoqiu smiled slightly: "Exactly, probably when people are making iron, they use charcoal to burn the furnace, and occasionally some charcoal powder floats up and enters the wrought iron, these charcoal powder that inadvertently enters the wrought iron, but it changes the internal structure of the wrought iron, no one expected that the ember charcoal powder after the wood is burned can actually become the key prop to turn iron into steel and become extremely hard." ”

"Not only that, after wrought iron has charcoal powder, after solidification, it is like pig iron, very hard, but because it is very soft, in a red-hot state, it can be forged like wrought iron, this forging is to put the steel that has not yet cooled, put it on the iron plate, and hit it repeatedly with a sledgehammer until it is smashed into the desired shape. Once the shape is complete, it is quickly quenched into cold water, and it can be changed from red hot steel to the shape it was when it was finally shaped. There's a saying that strikes while the iron is hot, and that's what it says. ”

Liu Yu said thoughtfully: "In this way, it should actually be said that the steel is struck while it is hot, right?" ”

Furball laughed: "Exactly." It is steel that is beaten while it is hot, and it has been consciously used since it was known that the infiltration of carbon powder can change the composition of steel and turn wrought iron into steel. In the Later Han Dynasty, people invented the method of frying steel. ”

Liu Yuqi said: "Frying steel? What is it? ”

The hairball pointed to a few melting furnaces on the side and said, "Look, that's how it is to fry steel." When the furnace is heated and the furnace is perfect, the iron ore put in the furnace will melt into molten iron, which is what we call iron liquid. ”

Feng Qian pointed to the craftsmen who were stirring vigorously into this large pot of iron juice, while constantly sprinkling various black powders and said: "Team Liu, please see, this iron juice keeps adding these iron essence powder, as well as charcoal powder, and then stirring it, just like stir-frying, the iron juice that can only be turned into pig iron and then turned into wrought iron is mixed with charcoal powder, so that steel can be obtained." ”

Liu Yu suddenly realized: "I see. He looked at a stove next to him, and more than a dozen men were stirring up a large pot of this iron juice, pouring black molten iron into another clay clay pot, and said, "Is the steel fried in this way to make nail pieces?" ”

Maoqiu smiled and shook his head: "No, the fried steel that has only been refined once, there are still too many impurities in it, not refined enough, after pouring this pot of iron juice into the pottery, it will cool and solidify." Then pour it into the furnace again and re-practice it, turn it into iron juice again, add charcoal powder and iron essence powder, and so on, and keep removing the essence and storing the essence. Generally, after being smelted five times in this way, it becomes stainless steel, which can be cast into armor. If it is refined dozens or hundreds of times, so that the weight is no longer reduced, it is called a hundred steel, and it can be cast with a treasure sword and a famous sword! ”

Liu Yu's eyes lit up: "Hundred steels? is what Liu Kun's famous poem says, what does it mean to make a hundred steels, does it mean a hundred steels around the fingers? ”

Kong Jing's voice sounded from the side: "Yes, it's this hundred steel." Liu Yu, you must know that 100 steels are the best in steel, and the famous swords of the past dynasties are all made of this. In the Han Dynasty, a hundred steel knives were enough for a family of seven to earn for three years, which was very expensive, and even princes and nobles were difficult to equip. ”