Soon after returning to Pyongyang after a two-day safari, Li Yu decided to inspect the ironworks again. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

The ironsmithing workshop advocated that Gensheng had previously said that there were not enough craftsmen in the ironmaking workshop, and it was difficult to complete the construction of weapons and armor at the end of the year according to Li Yu's requirements.

For four months, it was not possible to produce the required amount in each month. Therefore, Li Yu needs to understand the actual situation of the ironworks again.

The book also said that his son Zhang Xiaofan had developed a new crucible steelmaking method, which could be produced in small batches, and the material of the steel produced was better than that smelted by the steel-filling method.

This aroused Li Yu's great interest, and it must be known that the real crucible steelmaking method was in later generations until 1740, when Huntsman invented the crucible steelmaking method in England, which became the first time that human beings obtained liquid molten steel.

The sound of horses' hooves from south to north, the center of the banner shows the white dragon flag with the word swallow, and a thousand well-equipped and high-spirited Xuanjia cavalry galloped towards the cast iron city.

At the foot of the big lonely mountain in the distance, the fiery red furnaces of iron-making blast furnaces erected everywhere are as shocking as if shining on the heavens and the earth. The billowing smoke from the blast furnace filled the air with a strong smell of soot, and Li Yu frowned as he sniffed it.

The iron and steel industry has always been a highly polluting industry, and the development of science and technology in later generations has not yet been able to solve it, only with the level of scientific and technological development in the Tang Dynasty, the environmental pollution generated by the development of steel can only be laissez-faire.

Because the cast iron city was Li Yu's steel and weapons manufacturing center, it was set up as Zhuzhou in the construction of Hufu Prefecture and County in Andong last year.

There are still two miles away from the cast iron city, and Liu Tao led the civil and military generals of Zhuzhou out of the city to greet them.

"Liu Tao, the assassin of Chenzhuzhou, pays a visit to His Royal Highness King Yan."

A group of civil officials and military generals in Zhuzhou dismounted and saluted Li Yu one after another.

Li Yu smiled and waved his hand: "Everyone, please get up!" ”

"Your Highness!"

"I haven't been here for more than half a year, and the cast iron city has changed a lot within a radius of dozens of miles!" Li Yu looked at the front of him and said with emotion.

The billowing smoke and the sound of tinkling iron for several miles made the Dagu Mountain, which was more than 80 zhang bare, and the mountain was full of tired figures of hard-working slave laborers.

On the bank of the Yangliu River, dozens of water wheels creak and rotate under the impetus of the water, and the blower next to the blast furnace is driven by the bearings to blow wind into the blast furnace.

There are a large number of craftsmen, slaves, and overseers working around the Great Lonely Mountain, and the figures of labor are flowing endlessly on the road.

The working crowd stopped and watched curiously as a group of cavalry passed through and entered the Cast Iron City, and they also saw the Cast Iron City Assassin Shi and other officials personally accompany a young and handsome young man.

"Who's coming? There were so many cavalry guards, and the assassin Shi personally went out of the city to greet him. ”

"It must be a big official from the Metropolitan Protectorate, and if it's not a long history, it should be the Metropolitan Protector."

I saw the cast iron city craftsmen and the sergeants guarding Li Yu's entourage talking to each other about the big people who came today.

Entering the Assassin's Mansion in the Cast Iron City, Li Yu sat on the top and smiled at the civil officials and generals of the Cast Iron City and the directors of the ironworks sitting in two columns.

"This king came to the iron city this time, mainly for the ironworks." Li Yu said with a smile: "Master Zhang, you said that the ironsmithing workshop is understaffed, and the current output of weapons and armor cannot be supplied according to the requirements of the task every month, and the task assigned by the Metropolitan Protectorate cannot be completed at the end of the year, so tell me how to do it!" ”

"Whoa!"

Zhang Gensheng's face was slightly nervous, and he squeezed his hands and said, "Your Highness, the manufacturing department under the ironworks needs skilled craftsmen to build weapons and armor. At present, there are only more than 1,000 skilled craftsmen in the manufacturing department who are proficient in the making of weapons and armor, and it takes three days to make a horizontal knife quickly, and the time required for the head of the Mo knife and horse lance often varies from five to ten days, and the time required for the production of Mingguang armor is not much different. This is still calculated at the speed of skilled craftsmen, and the time required is more than double that of those craftsmen who are new to making weapons. ”

"With the current strength of the manufacturing department, it is really difficult to provide 2,000 sets of iron armor armor leaves, 10,000 horizontal knives, 20,000 spear heads and 5,000 lance heads per month."

"Whether it is a coal mine or an iron mine, due to the full operation of the blast furnaces in the ironworks, the demand for ore has increased greatly, and there is a shortage of coal and iron ore supply, and more miners need to be added to mine coal and iron."

Li Yu touched his chin and thought: "Owner Zhang Fang, don't tell me, how many people does the ironmaking workshop need to replenish now?" ”

"Two thousand skilled craftsmen with experience in making weapons are needed, and another ten thousand are needed for mine slaves."

"So much?"

Zhang Shi, who led a thousand Yanyun Iron Cavalry Right Guards to escort him, exclaimed: "At present, except for the generals of the imperial court, where can I find so many craftsmen who are skilled in making weapons?" ”

"In addition to the various craftsmen who will be under the supervision, there are also many blacksmiths who are proficient in making weapons among the blacksmiths scattered in the subway shops. It's just that it takes time and money to find two thousand blacksmiths from various states and counties. What's more, the blacksmiths who can make weapons when they open a blacksmith shop are basically not short of money, and there are not enough benefits, so why should they put down their leisurely life and come all the way to Anton to build weapons for the palace? Xue Da said leisurely.

Everyone nodded affirmatively, there are no poor blacksmiths who are proficient in ironmaking, and those who are poor are not skilled.

What is the most profitable thing to strike iron? Naturally, it is a weapon.

The imperial court couldn't help but have knives and guns among the people, and a blacksmith could often make a lot of money by selling a good knife, and he usually made money by making some unskilled farm tools. Who would give up their leisurely life to do things for the government?

When the imperial court needed a shortage of craftsmen, it often had to forcibly recruit these craftsmen.

You can't just find a blacksmith who can make iron to do it, otherwise how many times can you use the weapon?

The weapons of the Tang Dynasty are known for their sophistication, and they are very particular about the materials and craftsmanship, and what is needed is a very skilled master Fang Cheng who is very skilled in building weapons. It is precisely because of this that the price of weapons such as Tang knives is generally more expensive.

"It's too troublesome to recruit people from all the blacksmith shops in the world. Send someone directly to Tangxi Iron City. Shili Tangxi Shili City, there are tens of thousands of blacksmiths who are proficient in weaponry, so why worry about not being able to recruit people. If no one wants to come, use the money, and if the money is not good, the king will smash the land, and if he smashes them, he will turn them into a daze and drag his family to Anton. If you don't dig up all the craftsmen in Tangxi Iron City, this king will never stop. ”

Li Yu knocked on the case in a domineering manner and said, vowing to dig up all the craftsmen in Tangxi Iron City to serve under his command, and equip the troops under his command with Tangxi treasure knives.

Tangxi Sword is the first of the nine famous swords in China, and was born in the early Spring and Autumn Period.

Thousands of years of sword skills have been inherited, making Tangxi a prosperous place for producing fine swords today, and it is famous all over the world.

Everyone suddenly realized that in addition to the generals of the imperial court, there was also a Tangxi Iron City built with swords and other weapons.

Zhang Gensheng and other ironworks directors were overjoyed, and His Royal Highness recruited a large number of swordsmiths from Tangxi, so the reputation of their ironworking workshop manufacturing department will definitely be prosperous in the future.

Xiao Shu and the others who came with him were stunned by Li Yu's domineering use of land to smash Tangxi swordsmiths, and they couldn't stop slandering in their hearts: Your Highness, do you see that Anton has a lot of land? Whether it is the previous immigration, sending troops to the border wasteland, or now recruiting Tangxi swordsmiths, they will lure people to the land at every turn.