Zhang Cang personally went to Longxi to preach the decree, this fact is overkill, Liu Heng ordered Dou Guangguo to give a reward, and the government and the opposition have long passed Liu Heng and Li Guang have a friendship with Jinlan. This time, Liu Heng named Li Guang as the governor of Longxi, and the vicarcity of Zhongdu, although he did not punish the original Zhongdu Taishou, but he was idle in disguise. Seeing the wind and rudder, it was the instinct of officials, and after Zhang Cang left, many courtiers showed favor to the Li family in Longxi.

Li Guangling Juncheng and Du Wei, Xu Ping also gained real power, and his status in the Li Mansion was second only to strict art. Xu Ping has always been cautious in doing things, first ordered Kaohsiung to explore all the subway mine salt pools, carefully marked them one by one, indicating the output, ore type, and at the same time the iron-smelting craftsmen in various places were classified and registered according to their directors. Sanmao has nothing to do on weekdays, and he is dedicated to studying Taoism, Li Guang handed over all the subway mines to Sanmao, and let Sanmao try to refine iron and soft steel, and every time he smelts, he must record the heat and dispense.

In Longxi, the most idle person became Li Guang, who was entrusted by Liu Heng. In fact, Li Guang is not really idle, Li Guang is thinking in his heart, how to build a team of skilled craftsmen first. In order to improve the combat effectiveness of the Han army, Li Guang first thought of the improvement of individual combat effectiveness, which required a technical team that could fully complete Li Guang's design.

Forging and pouring were the main methods of iron production at that time, pouring was suitable for mass production, and forging was mainly used in the production of delicate objects, and it was difficult to increase the output. Li Guang is worried about this matter these days, the machine tool of later generations, Li Guang has never seen, but the role of the machine tool, Li Guang is clear. However, iron was the hardest metal at that time, and it was difficult for Li Guang to think of what to replace with a machine tool drill.

Kaohsiung according to Xu Ping's arrangement, it took three months, and finally in early summer, the situation in various places was thoroughly touched, Kaohsiung came back with an older craftsman, named Shen Tu Ye, Shen Tu family for generations of iron forging, can create iron springs, exquisite bronze.

When Shen Tuye came, he brought Li Guang a delicate iron-bone light crossbow. The size of a palm, the crossbow is about two inches long, there are no crossbow wings, the crossbow body is interrupted, check a soft steel machine spring, pull the trigger back, lock the machine spring, let the machine spring accumulate strength, lift the trigger lightly, and the machine spring can eject a small crossbow arrow. The quiver box is set up like a magazine, and the bottom of the soft steel machine spring is installed at the bottom of the crossbow body, and the clamp can be opened and closed by pushing back and forth, and the small crossbow arrows are filled into the crossbow groove in turn.

After Li Guang saw it, this small steel crossbow was completely the originator of firearms in later generations, and he tried to shoot a crossbow arrow, which was full of elasticity, but the accuracy was not satisfactory. Shen Tuye was extremely proud of the small steel crossbow he designed, and he thought that no one could match it, but in Li Guang's eyes, this crossbow still had a lot to improve.

"Shen Tuye, how long will it take you to build this crossbow?"

"Duwei, it took three months for the grass people to build this small steel crossbow."

"If you want to build this thing in large quantities, do you have the confidence?"

"Back to Duwei, this crossbow can only be built by craftsmen who have been immersed for decades. Many parts need to be forged, but the crossbow body can be poured into shape. ”

"If you are asked to teach hundreds of ordinary craftsmen at the same time, each of them to create different parts, under your guidance, how many hours can you be satisfied?"

"March is enough, but this is my Shentu family's family heirloom skills, and I dare not pass it on."

Li Guang was full of confidence to ask Shen Tuye to teach ordinary craftsmen the method of forging, and separate the steel heavy crossbow to be built by the craftsmen separately, but unexpectedly, Shen Tuye could not refuse to pass on the family skills, which stumped Li Guang. Helplessly, Shentu's family relied on this skill to make a living, and it was difficult to convince for a while.

After Shen Tuye was settled in Longxi City by Xu Ping, he was summoned by Li Guang to discuss and persuade Shen Tuye. Since ancient times, exquisite skills have always been passed on from inside to outside, and Xu Ping is also at a loss to let Shen Tuye willingly teach forging skills.

"Young master, Shen Tu Ye refuses to teach forging skills, all because of Shen Tu's family, all based on this skill to build a business, if there is no great benefit, I am afraid it will be difficult to move his heart."

"Xu Ping, do you know why many exquisite skills have been lost since ancient times? It is because many skilled craftsmen refuse to pass on the stunt of pressing the bottom of the box, and many exquisite skills are difficult to use widely. The benefits of Tianda, for people like Shen Tuye, the benefits of Tianda are nothing more than having a respected status and a stable source of income. I don't believe it, Xu is heavy on fame and fortune, and Shen Tuye still refuses to accept apprentices to pass on his art. ”

"What does the young master mean?"

"You go and draw up a memo, explain a meaning to the emperor, each county and county set up a department, raise skilled craftsmen to appoint, contribute according to skills, and lead the court to lu, so as to encourage famous craftsmen to teach skills."

"Wonderful, the idea of the young master just solves the worries of such craftsmen."

This is not a method that Li Guang came up with out of thin air, Xu Ping mentioned the benefits of Tianda, which in later generations, the technical elites from all walks of life were all set up as industry models, and gained fame and fortune. The mentorship was passed on to the apprentice, which was quite popular in later generations.

Li Guang's proposal, Liu Heng replied quickly, moved faster, and the post of Sikong was established in all counties and counties. With this official position, when Li Guang asked Shen Tuye, Shen Tuye agreed and changed from a folk craftsman to an official of the imperial court. It only took three months to create a team of skilled craftsmen for Li Guang.

Li Guang ordered Shen Tuye to carve a spiral yang pattern on the body of the arrow, and carved out a spiral yin pattern on the crossbow groove, Shen Tuye did not understand why Li Guang designed it this way, which completely violated the common sense of smooth forging where the arrow body and the crossbow groove fit. But Li Guang demanded this, and Shen Tuye, as Li Guang's subordinate official, could only obey.

Three days later, Shen Tuye came to see Li Guang with a rebuilt steel heavy crossbow.

"Du Wei, the humble post has ordered the craftsman to rebuild it according to Du Wei's wishes."

This steel heavy crossbow is no longer a delicate gadget, it is completely used to make the requirements of war, the three-foot-long elm crossbow body, the one-foot-long steel heavy crossbow is carved with a beautiful spiral pattern, and the crossbow groove is also beautifully carved. Li Guang pulled the trigger, the soft steel spring was elastic, took a stainless steel heavy crossbow and placed it in the crossbow groove, pulled the trigger and the steel heavy crossbow shot out, and steadily shot the bullseye 100 steps away, Li Guang tried to shoot an arrow again, avoiding the bull's-eye, and the stainless steel heavy crossbow shot straight out 300 steps away before it landed.

After Shen Tuye saw it, he was very surprised, thinking that Li Guang asked for the pattern on the crossbow groove of the arrow body to be beautiful and beautiful, but the stainless steel heavy crossbow was so slightly changed, not only shooting farther than before, but also more accurate.

"Du Wei, why does the power of the stainless steel heavy crossbow increase instead of decreasing after the pattern is engraved on the body of the heavy crossbow? It's hard to fathom a lowly position. ”

"When the crossbow is fired from the crossbow groove, the matching spiral pattern causes the crossbow to spin rapidly, which not only makes the crossbow more stable, but also more powerful. The shape of the pattern, you can speculate and experiment to find the most suitable texture direction. ”

At this time, Shen Tuye was no longer proud of his exquisite skills, and was completely impressed by Li Guang's skills from later generations.

Shen Tuye's experiment took three months, the buds in the ground had just grown and full, and Shen Tuye's first mature stainless steel heavy crossbow was made, at this time, the steel heavy crossbow could shoot a distance of 400 steps, the crossbow body was shorter, and the crossbow groove was half a foot longer than the original.

Li Guang held the steel heavy crossbow in his hand, and after firing a few arrows, he was very satisfied. He ordered Yan Er to send this crossbow to Chang'an and named it "Sniper". With such sharp weapons, the army of the Han Dynasty will be like a tiger with wings, the former heavy crossbow battalion, the yellow bow battalion, will become history from now on, "sniper battalion", this is the new army that Li Guang wants to build for Liu Heng!