On the white road, there is a zigzag black belt in the middle, which is the charcoal (coal) slag that has fallen from the board cart, and along the way, you can see Ding Fu pushing a wheelbarrow or driving a donkey cart, delivering things to a house in the south. Those carts were loaded with iron ore, iron blocks, wood, charcoal, charcoal, and so on.

There was a constant noise of "ding-ding-clang" in front of me. Guo Shao sat in the carriage, opened the curtain and enjoyed the scene in the snow with great interest. The quaint buildings, the white snowflakes, and the artistic conception, but the small black smoke and noisy clanging noise from the roof chimney completely destroy the poetic feeling...... Maybe the ancient poets would not like such scenes, Guo Shao felt an inexplicable kindness.

"Guo Du checks." "Guo Du is here, and there is a long way to welcome the ......" officials of the Jiafang Bureau, the head of craftsmen and other people greeted the door and greeted them one after another.

Guo Shao stepped down from the carriage and waved his hand. An official stepped forward to praise him, and Guo Shao directly said loudly: "From today to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the officials and craftsmen on duty will be paid three times. In the future, when you keep accounts and ask for money from the internal servants, you can write what I mean. ”

He deliberately spoke loudly, and the craftsmen who were working looked sideways. Guo Shao walked up to a pitch-black man who was adding charcoal and said, "Although I can't rest during the New Year, I can earn more money and go back to buy new clothes for my family, isn't everyone happy?" ”

"Yes...... the officials nodded their heads.

"Bang!" Suddenly, there was a loud noise, startling the inattentive crowd. When Guo Shao turned his head to look, he saw that a heavy forging hammer had just fallen and smashed it, and he heard the friction sound of the chain at any time, and the "door" part of the forging hammer hit into the "V" connector, and was pulled up by the chain.

A craftsman hurriedly took the anvil out with iron tongs, and then picked it up with his hands, it was a helmet. Guo Shao also walked over and stretched out his hand to come over and take a look...... A wrought iron sheet was stamped into shape at once, and it resembled a helmet in the shape of a hemispherical shape; However, because the size of the iron plate is slightly larger, there is a brim around the hemispherical plane.

"It doesn't look like the helmet the soldiers wear, it's a wide-brimmed iron helmet." Guo Shao looked back and said, he pondered for a while, "If you use movable chain mail on both sides to make a circle of ear protection, the protection of the head will be quite good." ”

The official of the Jiafang Department said: "What Guo Du said is that the two sides of the hat can also be pierced and tied to the chin with a belt to stabilize the helmet...... We are not good at making chain mail, there are not enough manpower, so we have to call the master of the ordnance supervisor to make it. ”

Luo Jiye, the leader of the craftsmen, took over the topic: "The most skilled armor maker can only make a piece of chain mail larger than a palm in a whole day." I can't do that job without craftsmanship, so I have to make the wire first, burn it red, make it into a ring, and hammer it flat; It is then punched and connected to the iron ring with rivets to form the 'iron cloth shirt'. ”

Guo Shao nodded after hearing this: "Customize some chain mail ear protectors for generals and elite soldiers, and replace others with hard leather armor It is more troublesome." ”

He turned his head to see that there were some annealed and hardened helmets on a door panel, so he went up and took one and handed it to Dong Er, who was accompanying him, to take it away.

They went to another workshop, where the cuirass was made. Forging hammers and anvils were cast, polished into arc shapes, and became molds; It's also the same as a stamped iron helmet, and it's a piece of plate armor when it's smashed...... However, it is more troublesome to add thin iron plates, and the wrought iron has to be folded and stamped and forged dozens of times repeatedly, and then the blacksmith forges the corners by hand (increases the hardness) in the later stage. It is easy to work a certain size of iron plate after it is finished, and it is a piece when it is put into the anvil mold; If you don't press it well, press it again.

Guo Shao took a pair and looked at it over and over again, it almost conformed to his design intent, and the appearance was not the same as he imagined, but as long as he had defensive power, he would be fine.

Luo Jiye said: "Only the front and side can be protected, only the chest and abdomen can be protected, and the back is empty, so I have to wear a hard leather short." A pair of cuirass had three parts. One side is the front breastplate, and after pressing the shape, the edge is beaten and wrapped with a hammer, which can protect the side waist; The user can also tap and adjust the size by himself, and the large body is pulled apart a little and the small one is closed. The other two pieces were the hanging shoulders, which were attached to the cuirass with rivets and mainly played the role of fixing the cuirass. There are three small holes on each side of the chestnut, which are used to shuttle through the chain to bind the cuirass and make the armor tighter. ”

Guo Shao said with a smile: "As long as you can defend the front, you can't attack the enemy with your back when you fight; If you are defeated and flee, it is useless to wear thick clothes, and if it is heavy, it will affect the speed of escape, and you will not be able to run fast. ”

Everyone laughed for a while.

The design of this cuirass is also quite simple, it is actually an iron vest, but the back is empty.

The shoulder armor is a little more complicated, because the arm has to move, so it needs several pieces of arc iron armor inlaid with iron rings and rivets to achieve the purpose of combination; Rao is like this, when the arm wants to be raised, there is still resistance, and it is really difficult to move like a swallow when wearing iron armor.

This batch of "plate armor" has a total of four sets of armor, the last of which is the simplest arm armor, a semi-cylindrical iron plate with a large top and a small bottom, with perforated edges. When using it, you only need to beat it to adjust to the size, and then tie it to your arm with hemp rope...... Likewise, part of the inside is empty.

The head, chest, shoulders, and arms are protected by plate armor all over the place, which can avoid most of the killings. Guo Shao himself started as a pawn and fought in the battle formation for several years, so he is very experienced in this. These four places are particularly susceptible to injury, the head and chest are fatal, and the chest and abdomen are stabbed; Shoulder anti-chopping; The arms are also vulnerable when using weapons.

But it is not enough for the general to want to use plate armor, because for the sake of simplicity and efficiency, the protection is very inadequate; Qualified generals and wealthy soldiers must be equipped with chain mail, especially moving parts, so that the protection is quite high...... However, for ordinary soldiers, people who don't even have a few pieces of armor on their bodies, with such protection, they will definitely be able to increase their courage, because it is not easy to be killed.

Guo Shao walked around, most of the workshop facilities were still under construction, and only two or three yard forging hammers had been put into use. The noise is quite loud, and if the workshops of this whole city are put into operation in the future, I don't know how noisy it will be...... But Guo Shao didn't bother to care, anyway, he didn't live here.

The group walked out of the workshop and saw a cart carrying half of the pigs in. Guo Shao beckoned on a whim: "Split the pork into two pieces." ”

At that moment, he asked Dong Er to take off the chain mail on his body, wrap it in a piece of pork and hang it under the dead tree in the yard; In addition, he had a piece of breastplate taken out, and a rope was tied in the breastplate, and it was hung on a tree.

Guo Shao moved a little, and then asked someone to take a two-stone strong bow.

Everyone finally understood what he wanted to do, and an official flattered: "I have heard for a long time that Guo Du's archery skills are like gods, and today I can wait to open my eyes, which is really the luck of three lives!" ”

Luo Jiye said seriously: "Back then, Guo Du shot Zhang Yuanhui on the battle array, and became famous with one arrow, which is by no means a waste of fame. Another human: "Tsk! The two-stone strong bow can't even be pulled by ordinary people, let alone archery and ......"

Guo Shao ignored them, but it sounded very pleasant, not to mention compliments, everyone knew that it was useless, but even if it sounded very cool, he was not exempt from vulgarity.

At that moment, he opened his bow and set up an arrow, and within fifty paces, he drew his bow and shot at the two armors "crackling", and of course the arrows were not missing. The crowd shouted, "Good, good! Guo Du checked and sure enough, archery was like a god. ”

Guo Shao pulled the strong bow a few times, and he was indeed a little exhausted, dropped the bow and arrow, and said calmly: "It's okay to pierce Yang in a hundred steps, but in order to increase the power of armor piercing, it's close, and it's nothing to hit a big target at such a close range...... Go get it and inspect it. ”

The officials of the Jiafang Department personally rushed over to carry the things, and everyone helped pull out the arrows and take out the pork inside. Seeing this, Guo Shao said: "Sure enough, the defense of the plate armor is better!" ”

In the end, it was repeatedly forged and carburized steel plates, and within fifty paces he shot it with a two-stone strong bow, but it only sank a pit, and the top of the arrow cluster pierced a little and shot through the pigskin; It is conceivable that the eight-bucket bow that is commonly used in the battle array, there is almost no way to take this kind of plate armor, and even the skin cannot be broken.

He looked at another piece of pigskin, which had been protected by chain mail, and the heavy arrow had pierced it completely, leaving broken wire on the wound. He drew his dagger from his waist and looked at the pork closely, the arrow completely pierced the skin and fat, and had penetrated deep into the lean flesh. The chain mail's defense against arrows is also okay, but Guo Shao is close and his arm strength is also strong, so he shoots through the armor.

The people around saw it in their eyes, and they congratulated and praised Xinjia.

Guo Shaodao: "As soon as the surrounding workshops are built, they will be on duty day and night to make armor!" The required money, grain, and raw materials are to be drafted and submitted to the imperial court, and I will send someone to help you approve it. ”

An official immediately took out a booklet and offered it, Guo Shao took it with a smile and put it directly into his sleeve pocket: "The imperial court is very poor now, and the money has to be spent on the bright side." I'll check this account carefully, there must be no problem, right? ”

The official quietly glanced at Guo Shao's expression, but Guo Shao was staring at him with a smile. The official looked worried, and finally bent down, looked at Guo Shao's sleeve and said: "Guo Du checked, the lower official didn't check the accounts carefully for a while, and there may be omissions in the one just now, so it's better to return it to the lower official and check it again......"

Guo Shao showed a hint of a smile, but it looked a bit like a treacherous smile: "Everything has been given, and it's not good to take it back." You draw up a new copy, and I want both. ”

"This ......"

Guo Shao stepped forward to stroke his back and said kindly: "It's okay, you went to get the pork just now, and look at your hands, and you still have a hand of oil, isn't it?" ”

Guan'er stretched out his hand to look at his palm, Yin Tang turned black, and nodded: "Yes, yes......"

Guo Shao said: "It's just human nature, I can't see that you have oil on your hands, so I cut off your hands, right?" ”

"General Guo spares his life." The official suddenly fell to his knees.

Guo Shao helped him and said: "I said that I won't cut off my hands, but it's better to add a pair of gloves." The king's order has merit and hard work, why can't I remember? He immediately turned around and said, "Come on, what does it mean to cut half of that piece of pork and give it to the king, how much does it mean to have some oil on your hands?" ”

The official said thoughtfully: "I understand, I understand......"