As the saying goes, there must be a brave man under the reward. Li Yanzhi impressed Li Liang with generous treatment. He also promised to give the craftsmen in the workshop the necessary guidance in the future so that the wrought iron they produce can better meet the standards required for smelting steel. At the same time, under the personal auspices and supervision of Li Liang, the craftsmen began to try to use the steel filling method to smelt steel in two newly built furnaces, and by using different ratios of raw and wrought iron, they tried to find the formula that best met the needs of ordnance production.

The ordnance steel required by Li Yanzhi is the kind of steel that has both hardness, can create a sharp edge, and has a certain degree of flexibility, and will not easily break in the fierce battle on the battlefield as a raw material for ordnance production. However, Li Liang realistically told him that this was unlikely. This poured cold water on the ambitious Li Yanzhi's head. Li Yanzhi also thought of the technique of forging swords with steel and steel that was widely used in the Tang Dynasty. However, he also knows one thing about this technique.

Although he had an insight into the production of ordnance swords that was ahead of his time. However, he also knew in his heart that everything had to be done step by step, step by step. The current reality of Lingju County is that it is necessary to be able to produce a large batch of steel and wrought iron as qualified raw materials. Only after this point can some necessary improvements be made to the production of ordnance.

From the grass creation workshop to the mass production of these armor in the future, the formation of a complete set of applicable systems will undoubtedly take a long time to run-in. Li Yanzhi also has enough foresight and psychological preparation for this. The reason why he is anxious that everything is almost wanted to be done overnight is that he is not forward-looking for the next crisis that may occur in Liangzhou. Since you don't know when it will come, it is important to plan for a rainy day.

For more than ten days, two furnaces of steel per day, but Li Yanzhi still did not get the effect he wanted to achieve. The texture of these raw materials is either insufficient in carbon and soft overall, or there is a high proportion of wrought iron and a high carbon content, which is too brittle despite being hard enough.

These unsuccessful raw materials were also sorted, some had to be re-tempered, and some were sent to make agricultural tools. The slightly softer batches of raw materials were temporarily stacked in the warehouse for armor making.

Although the previous test of the method of steel filling has delayed a lot of manpower and material resources. However, before the autumn sowing, enough agricultural tools were made and distributed to the homeless households in the county. The county government's enclosure movement is going on vigorously, and someone has to cultivate these newly enclosed lands. Fortunately, Guangwu County is the latest county in Liangzhou, and the Xin clan governs this land, which also makes those big families of the scholar clan dare not move lightly.

Li Yanzhi is still satisfied with maintaining the status quo from the bottom of his heart. In any case, this nephew sent by Xin Fujun has been able to act easily so far. And as if he had been instructed by Xin Fujun, he would never hinder anything reported by Li Yanzhi. Therefore, the affairs envisioned by Li Yanzhi can always be carried out smoothly.

For Xin Yan's cooperative attitude, Li Yanzhi also felt very comfortable and satisfied. In return, he also took a lot of the proceeds from the previous horse trafficking and quietly offered it to Xin Yan as a secret reward. After Xin Yan received these goods, he was surprised in his heart, but he also had more respect for Li Yanzhi.

Part of the income from the trafficking of those good horses went into Xin Yan's pockets, and most of it was converted into pig iron and salt and other strategic materials sold by the government. When Li Yanzhi handed over these horses to the county government clerks, he used to price each horse at 1,700 yuan. and told the scribe that if he could sell more than 1,700 yuan per horse, the part of the proceeds from the sale would be handed over to the scribe for his disposal. Li Yanzhi represented the county government and only took the reserve price of 1,700 yuan.

In addition, Li Yanzhi also told the scribes that the income from these horse sales could be converted into salt and iron at the market price standard and delivered to the county government, and as for what the clerks in charge of commerce in the county government did from the price difference and how much more benefits they extracted, Li Yanzhi did not care at all.

Since it involves commercial transactions, it is a good word. If these clerks and caravans could sell for more than 1,700 yuan, it was not unreasonable for them to give them the excess profits. In this way, it can promote their enthusiasm for doing things more without losing the interests of the county government, which can be said to kill multiple birds with one stone. If you want the horse to run, you have to give the horse grazing, Li Yanzhi has always believed in it, and has always implemented it.

Today, in Li Liang's plan, the two furnaces will each produce a furnace of steel, and after absorbing the warnings and lessons of the unsuccessful smelting of the previous days, Li Liang has finally figured out the approximate ratio of pig iron and wrought iron. This also made Li Yanjiong, a layman who knew a little bit about everything, feel excited.

When Li Yanzhi pulled his legs and walked towards the workshop, he saw Cui Yang, who was supposed to be on duty in the county government, running out of the camp in a hurry, and met Li Yanzhi who was walking out of the camp. Seeing Cui Yang's elated appearance, Li Yanzhi stepped forward and asked, "What are you happy to be like this?" ”

Cui Yang gasped and said, "Si ...... Sima. A quantity of pig iron and salt, which the county government used to offset the wealth obtained from the horse traders, has been delivered to the county government......"

When Li Yanzhi heard this, he almost jumped up. He looked at Cui Yang and said, "Have you counted?" Isn't that right? ”

Cui Yang said: "It's been clicked, there is no problem with the quantity......"

Li Yanzhi nodded: "Okay." These things came at a good time. After that, he waved his hand to signal Cui Yang to go back to the county government, and he continued to walk towards the workshop built next to the barracks.

"Sima! Why don't you check it out in person? Cui Yang saw Li Yanzhi walking towards the workshop with an indifferent look, and couldn't help but be anxious, so he asked.

"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. Now that you have checked the points, I will not do any more than that. Li Yanzhi said, and the back of striding away made Cui Yang, who was staying in place, feel a little emotional.

When Li Yanzhi entered the workshop, he heard a jubilation in the workshop and said, "It's done!" It's done! Li Liang, the head craftsman, was even more like a teenager, ignoring the heat wave from the hearth, and walked forward with joy, looking at the billets specially carved out of the furnace, fired from clay, and gradually fused and condensed in the pool containing molten iron......