Seeing Tie Niu's longing look, Zhu Hongsan interrupted his obscenity. Ask him: "How is it, how about I haven't come to give birth in the past few days?" ”

Tie Niu replied: "Lao Liu Tou has done a good job in the steelmaking furnace, he has smelted three furnaces in the past few days, and a total of 10,000 catties of medium carbon steel and 10,000 catties of low-carbon steel have been produced. ”

Zhu Hongsan frowned and said, "Did you run out of raw materials?" ”

Iron Bull nodded embarrassedly. Zhu Hongsan sighed and didn't say anything. The consequences of industrialization were terrible, and the raw materials that they had spent a year and a half collecting made them run out in three days.

Zhu Hongsan said: "What do you think of the steel? ”

Tie Niu's eyebrows danced and said: "Great, in the past, it used to be beaten hundreds of times to get some steel, but now it is directly turned into molten steel." Medium and high carbon steels can be used to make weapons, and mild steels can be used to make armor. I made a few horizontal knives that you said a few days ago, and you came and took a look. ”

Zhu Hongsan and his arsenal, Tie Niu took out two horizontal knives, and the shape was exactly what he painted for him. The blade is straight, about 80 centimeters long, the blade is between 60 centimeters, the grip is about 20 centimeters, and it is wrapped with fine hemp rope. Zhu Hongsan shook it with his hand, it felt good, and it was not bad to swing the knife with both hands.

Tie Niu took over a pig iron rod and motioned to Zhu Hongsan to try the knife. Zhu Hongsan cut it down according to the pig iron rod, and listened to the loud sound, and the pig iron rod was divided into two sections. Zhu Hongsan looked at the incision, the egg-thick pig iron rod had a smooth incision, and then looked at the horizontal knife in his hand, there was no damage at all, and he couldn't help but nodded. Asked, "How long does it take to produce one of these knives?" ”

Tie Niu said: "If the material is guaranteed, a blacksmith can produce one knife embryo a day, but because the steel edge of the knife body is too good, the blade is difficult, two or three knives will have to scrape a whetstone, and a knife embryo will take one person to sharpen it in a day." We blacksmiths don't have enough manpower, and it takes ten days to produce two knives. ”

Zhu Hongsan nodded, thinking that manpower is a big problem, now there are only forty people in the entire Zhuangzi, and there are thirty people for the steelmaking furnace over there, and there are not enough manpower here. Zhu Hongsan said: "Lao Liu's side of the raw materials is gone, let them stop first, just leave four or five people to maintain the equipment, and you will go all out to build horizontal knives, and build five hundred first." As for the whetstone, you can find a stonemason to make the whetstone into a circle, perforate and fix it in the middle, and then install a wooden handle, and one person can turn it to sharpen the knife, which can save a lot of effort. Saying that, Zhu Hongsan drew a figure on the sand on the ground. Tie Niu said that he would find someone to make it after a while.

Zhu Hongsan asked, "How about the chain mail?" ”

Tie Niu said: "It's still a manpower problem, and the production of chain mail is too cumbersome, so I think it's stopped." ”

Zhu Hongsan nodded and asked, "Tie Niu, you are an expert, what kind of armor you said is practical and simple to manufacture." ”

Tie Niu thought for a while and said: "The armor is not simple, if it is fast, I see that there is so much steel now, it can be directly beaten into a palm-sized piece of iron, and then put it in a pocket made of thick cotton, the defense is also good, but it is not good-looking." ”

Zhu Hongsan heard Tie Niu say this, isn't this the prototype of body armor in later generations. Hurriedly said: "Tie Niu, you make one first, don't use any other decorations, just two pieces of cotton cloth on the front chest and back." How long will it take? ”

"It's too ugly, but if that's the case, it's okay for a day." ”

Zhu Hongsan said: "Okay, do it now, I will see the real thing tomorrow." ”

Tie Niu agreed, and led the people to work.

What is the use of decorations, as long as they can save lives. Zhu Hongsan thought about it and looked at the horizontal knife in his hand, the iron bull handiwork is really good, this horizontal knife is made of steel clamping technique, the blade is made of high-carbon steel, and the blade is made of medium-carbon steel, which not only takes into account the sharpness but also ensures the toughness of the knife body, and ensures that the blade will not be broken while fighting.

But that's just for now, it's okay to use it on a small scale. In the future, the army will be slower, and in the future, it will be streamlined for production, and the blade will be cast directly, and then it can be processed with a grinding machine to become a horizontal knife. But that requires a stable base.

Thinking of this, Zhu Hongsan called over and Ma Youfu said, "What do you think of this horizontal knife?" ”

Ma Youfu looked at the knife, then at the severed iron rod and said: "This kind of hundred-for-steel knife can only be sold for forty to fifty taels of silver in the north, and it can be sold for one hundred taels outside the fortress." ”

"Oh? Do you still have a connection with Saiwai? ”

Ma Youfu said: "No, uncle, we will transport the things to SX and sell them to the eight families, and then they will transport them to the outside of the country." ”

Zhu Hongsan knew that it was Fan Yongdou and them. But I don't want to ask, now I can't guarantee that there is air traffic control thousands of miles away. Zhu Hongsan said: "This time I will hand you 5,000 catties of ordinary steel, how about 1,000 catties of 100 steel?" You try to get me back pig iron and coal, if you don't have pig iron ore. ”

Ma Youfu said: "Okay uncle, if there is so much steel, it should be able to exchange for 100,000 catties of pig iron, but the distance is not easy to transport." ”

Zhu Hongsan said: "It's okay, I can afford to wait." ”

Ma Youfu saw that Zhu Hongsan had nothing to say, so he bent down and retreated.

—————————— Dividing Line————————————

At noon the next day, Tie Niu came to him in a hurry and said that the new armor was ready. As he spoke, he brought in a large package.

Zhu Hongsan opened it and saw that it was an earthy yellow gown, which was two pieces of cotton cloth, tied with rope on the side. The cotton cloth is covered with palm-sized pockets. Zhu Hongsan touched it, and it was empty.

Iron Bull took out a palm-sized piece of iron from the package and put it in the pocket on his coat. There are about fifteen pockets in the front and twenty in the back, and they are all full in a while. Zhu Hongsan tried it with his hand, this gown weighed about thirty pounds, and it was okay, one person could bear it. Let the Iron Bull put it on and try it on. Probably from the waist, and from the back from the buttocks. took out a piece of steel and looked at it, this steel sheet weighed about a pound, very thick, about a centimeter thick, and the defense should be about the same.

Zhu Hongsan asked, How about you didn't try defense.

Tie Niu said: You don't have to try, this one will definitely not work. Big brother, you see, the gown is cotton, and the iron piece will move in it as soon as it moves, and the pocket will be cut after a long time, and if the cotton cloth is hit by a knife on the battlefield, it will be cut, and the steel piece will fall out and lose its defensive ability.

Zhu Hongsan was disappointed, it seems that the materials are still not good. I forgot that the future generations are all synthetic materials and cut resistant.

"But I have an idea, which is to replace the cotton cloth with leather, and then reduce the steel sheet, and make holes around it, so that it can be installed on the leather." ”

Zhu Hongsan's eyes lit up and said, "Yes, Tie Niu has yours." And this armor butt doesn't have to be that long, just go to the waist, you can see how heavy it can be. ”

Tie Niu calculated and said, "No matter how you say it, it will cost twenty catties." ”

Zhu Hongsan said, okay, let's take a look first.

Seeing that Tie Niu was leaving, he hurriedly stopped him and said, "I forgot to ask you yesterday, how is the powder keg doing?" ”

Tie Niu said: "I made a few, you wait, I'll go and bring it to you to see." ”

After a while, Tie Niu came back and took a few jars, Zhu Hongsan took one and looked at it, yes, it was half lighter than before, and the shell was also added with a prefabricated slot, which was beaten little by little with Zhaozi. Zhu Hongsan weighed it with his hand, about one and a half catties, plus one pound of gunpowder and three catties of wooden handles, which was already very heavy. I don't know how far I can throw it.

Tie Niu said: "This pipe is made of mild steel as you said, which is much thinner than before, and no matter how thin it is, it can't guarantee a seal." ”

Zhu Hongsan nodded and said, "You are doing a good job, you go and get busy with yours." ”

Zhu Hongsan did not hand over the gunpowder matter to Tie Niu, and now steel and gunpowder are his two magic weapons, and they must not be in the hands of one person. So gunpowder has always been reused by myself, but fortunately it is not manufactured on a large scale now, and I can still cope with it.

I made some of the gunpowder myself, but at home, it seemed that I had to go home. I thought about going out and riding a horse, calling Zhao Goudan, and going home to get gunpowder. Since the brothel incident, Zhu Hongsan has figured out that his own safety is important. Let Zhao Goudan follow him twenty-four hours a day.

Zhao Goudan was armed to the teeth this time, wearing chain mail inside, and carrying two freshly made horizontal knives in his waist, this equipment is no problem to deal with thirty or forty. Zhao Goudan saw that Zhu Hongsan was leaving, so he also rode his horse and followed Zhu Hongsan.

Zhu Hongsan looked at the horse under Zhao Goudan and really felt sad for it, this horse was a purebred Mongolian horse that Zhu Hongsan sold for fifty taels of silver, although it was not a good horse, but it was not bad. But under the weight of more than 200 catties of Zhao Goudan and the weight of 100 catties of equipment all over his body, this horse will not live for a few years. But it's okay, it's not to lead the troops to fight, it's just a means of transportation, and it will be changed in a few years.

Zhu Hongsan chatted with Zhao Goudan while walking, and asked about his father's condition by the way.

My uncle hasn't been doing well since he got sick last winter. It's May, and I'm still bedridden. Zhu Hongsan knew that his uncle had an intrapulmonary infection. This disease is fatal in the days when there were no antibiotics. It's good that my uncle can survive until now. Zhu Hongsan couldn't say anything, and said some comforting words about Jiren's own natural appearance. Zhao Goudan was also silent.

After a while, they came to the gate of the city, and because Henan was more and more destroyed by the peasant army, more and more people took refuge across the river in recent years. Seeing the shed at the gate of the city, Zhu Hongsan remembered the last time he went to the city and wanted to buy a few orphans to start military training. Zhu Hongsan scolded secretly: It's all the fat man's fault, how much trouble has he done to delay my brother. This time I will go back to the city and I must get this done.

Passing through the city gate, the two defenders at the gate who collected the city fee didn't seem to see these two young men in fresh clothes and angry horses. Zhao Goudan didn't say anything, one could beat them forty. Even this Zhu Hongsan can't be provoked, not to mention the identity of his clan, who doesn't know the nine dead people in the county two days ago.

Although the government issued a notice saying that Zhu Hongsan was not guilty of self-defense and murder, who was not blind, and when he was carried into the county office, he was all a living person, and he died in one night? The next day, several people's relatives went to make a fuss, and after a few days, they also died down. I heard that someone had passed a message to them, and since they killed nine, they didn't care about killing nine.

These two gatekeepers have families and businesses, and they can't afford to have anything to do with Zhu Hongsan. The people who were waiting in line at the door to enter the city shouted why the two of them didn't line up, and the two gatekeepers whipped the screaming people with whips, and said while smoking, "That's the clan, the blood of the heavenly family, you can also be compared." "Everyone scolded in their hearts, and all the clans must not die well.