"Mr. Li, Mr. Li!"

"What's going on, so alarmed?"

The leader of the guards saw a blacksmith running over in a panic, kneeling to Li Gengyun and shouting loudly, he immediately stopped the blacksmith, and then asked him loudly: "Don't go any further!" ”

"Yes, yes, yes! Master Jun, that's right, we have just built the iron pipe that Mr. Li requested, which is exactly four inches long, and the wall thickness is exactly the same as what Mr. Li requires! ”

As he spoke, the blacksmith took out the iron pipe pinned behind him, handed it to the head of the guard, looked at Li Gengyun with a happy smile on his face and said, "Please take a look at Mr. Li!" ”

The leader of the guards took the iron pipe handed over by the other party, and was also very shocked, this kind of iron pipe was the first time he had seen it, and there was still some burning sensation on the iron pipe, it must have just been tempered, they came in such a hurry, just to hand over the finished work in front of Li Gengyun as soon as possible, and they could also get the reward of five hundred taels.

"Bring it and I'll see it!"

Li Gengyun heard the blacksmith say that he had completed the iron pipe production he requested, and his face also showed a trace of joy, he said to the head of the guard, and at the same time stretched out his hand and asked the other party for the iron pipe that had just been handed over.

"Mr. Li, be careful! It is estimated that it has only been tempered for a long time, and it has not completely cooled down! The leader of the guards cautiously handed the iron pipe to Li Gengyun, and at the same time told the other party in his mouth, which was also a kind of concern for Li Gengyun, after all, he was the most popular person in Xiangzhou, and his status in Xiangzhou would definitely not be lower than that of the military division and the general, so they were very respectful to Li Gengyun and also expressed their desire to stutter.

"Hehe, it's okay, I'm not Tang Seng meat!" Li Gengyun said with a smile, and then took the iron pipe from the head of the guard. There was still residual temperature on the iron pipe, and Li Gengyun also felt a trace of scorching, but fortunately, the iron pipe had completed the final quenching, and it was already a complete product, he patiently observed the situation of the iron pipe, in terms of weight and feel, this iron pipe was much better than the previous iron pipe. Moreover, the thickness of the iron pipe is done according to his standard requirements, the diameter of the iron pipe does not exceed one little finger, and the empty size of the inner pipe is exactly the size of half a little finger.

"Well, yes, it seems that you have mastered the art of making iron pipes!" Li Gengyun handed the finished iron pipe back to the head of the guard, and at the same time said to the blacksmith, "Since you have completed the production, then I will not miss your reward." Five hundred taels of silver per person! ”

"Thank you, Mr. Lee!"

The blacksmith was also very happy to hear that Li Gengyun had recognized their iron pipes, especially when he heard Li Gengyun say that the reward for them would not be less, then each of them would get a reward of five hundred taels, which was a huge income, and each of them could buy real estate in Xiangyang City, and live the rest of their lives in peace.

Two things were completed in one day, this is really a good thing, Li Gengyun said to the head of the guard, let him tell Guo Feng the news, and at the same time, he also deployed these blacksmiths and flower craftsmen to continue to work, according to the current standards to make iron pipes and explosives.

The process of making iron pipes is much more complicated than making explosives, and in terms of today's manpower, it takes three people and one hour to complete the production of one iron pipe, but in the case of making explosives, according to the current ratio, four ceremonial flower craftsmen can complete the production of five explosives in one hour. Therefore, the task assigned to them by Li Gengyun has become quantified, and the production of five iron pipes can be completed in one day, while in terms of explosives, the output requirement for one day is forty.

Originally, the annual salary of these blacksmiths and ceremonial craftsmen was one hundred taels of silver, but Li Gengyun adjusted their salaries in order to encourage them to work better. Each person who completes the crafting of an iron pipe will receive one tael of silver, while in terms of explosives, one person who completes the crafting of five explosives will receive one tael of silver. In this way, it made those craftsmen applaud, and this time they increased their wages by five times, and in a year, in addition to the annual salary of one hundred taels of silver, they were also able to obtain nearly one thousand taels of silver, which is simply a super perfect job, more profitable than being an official!

"You deserve it!"

In Li Gengyun's opinion, these are what they deserve, he calculated the number of iron pipes produced, according to the current progress, four iron pipes can be completed in a day, and iron pipes must be used to make arquebuses in the future. It's just that Li Gengyun has not started the research and development of arquebuses for the time being, so the current work is to make preparations for the mass production of arquebuses in the future. An iron pipe with a similar ratio can be used to make an arquebus. At that time, he will have to increase the production of iron beads or iron arrows.

As for explosives, Li Gengyun also knows that Lizhou is not the production area of saltpeter and sulfur, so the quantity of the two minerals is limited, according to the current situation, at most it is enough to make 500 explosives, that is, the output of less than half a month, and further want to make more explosives, it is necessary to purchase a large amount of saltpeter and sulfur, and the state rich in these two minerals is only Jiangzhou that meets the conditions, so Li Gengyun plans to start purchasing these two minerals from Jiangzhou. Aim to complete the production of 1,000 explosives in a month's time.

"Well, almost, in a month, let the overall political system of Xiangzhou be transitioned, and at the same time, with a thousand explosives troops, it can completely block the siege of 50,000 troops, so that Xiangyang can be guaranteed to be foolproof."

What Li Gengyun thought of was to realize the new political system and complete the transition of the government, which would take about a month, and on the other hand, once the new political regime was built, it would inevitably attract questions from other people or other forces, and it was very likely that several forces would jointly attack Xiangzhou, so Li Gengyun had to prepare and complete the high-level weapons to defend Xiangyang and deter the enemy army within this month, that is, the explosives he now mastered.

Of course, this period of time is also the stage when Li Gengyun is about to start researching arquebuses, according to the current situation, these blacksmiths and ceremonial craftsmen will devote themselves to production, and for the development of arquebuses, I am afraid they may not be able to understand. So Li Gengyun thought of Mu Bai, with Mu Bai's understanding ability and relationship with himself, he believed that this matter should be able to go smoothly if it was handed over to him, not to mention that now Mu Bai was clearly his disciple, and when he came back from Jiangzhou, he would hand over this matter to him to complete.