Although the problem of the army's weapons and equipment has been solved, Wei Shuo is still unhappy, because the military uniforms and armor of the recruits have not yet been settled. In ancient times, productivity was low, and except for a small number of forbidden troops directly under the imperial court, there were few unified military uniforms and armor to distribute troops. Most of them were soldiers with their own armor and weapons.

Wei Shuo also approached Pei Dun for the issue of armor, but Lord Thorn Shi didn't say anything except for the fish scale armor that was allocated to him for more than a dozen officers to wear, and only let him figure out his own way.

Fish scale armor was a very important kind of armor in the Han Dynasty, Wei and Jin dynasties, and was basically the most important armor equipment in the army at that time. The fact that the fish scale armor can be widely used shows that it has withstood the test of actual combat.

The rope that holds the armor piece is hidden under the armor plate, which minimizes the possibility of being cut by a sharp object. Moreover, the armor can be retracted, and the overlapping armor pieces are superimposed again, and the overall protection thickness can be adjusted at will with the bending.

In addition, the steel armor is braided on the leather goods with ropes, and the leather goods are purchased as the last protective barrier, under the blow of the frontal external blunt weapon, it is not a loose individual, but a whole like plate armor, in the point area, to deal with such sharp weapons as bows and arrows and spears, the hard and inclined armor surface can make the tip of the arrow gun pass by, and the overall protection is very high.

Although the fish scale armor has many advantages, and Wei Shuo would also like to equip each soldier with a pair, the reality tells him that it is impossible. With such a low production efficiency in ancient times, it was simply impossible to fulfill his wishes.

But if the soldiers are not equipped with protective equipment, once they encounter the northern Hu cavalry, they are very likely to be killed and injured in a large area by the cavalry and archery skills that the opponent is good at. Wei Shuo thought about it and thought that the armor that was most suitable for ordinary soldiers and could equip the army on a large scale was only paper armor.

Paper armor, as the name suggests, is armor made using paper. Paper armor occupies a very important position in the history of ancient Chinese military equipment. The earliest record of paper armor in history was when the Southern and Northern Qi dynasties were in the Southern Qi Dynasty, and the "Paper Armor" was mentioned in the "Southern History, Qi Jixia, and the Marquis of Dongdu".

However, the large-scale use of paper armor was in the Tang and Song dynasties, especially in the Song Dynasty, because of the low cost of paper armor production, paper armor has become one of the standard equipment of the Song Dynasty army at that time.

Wei Shuo also inadvertently learned about paper armor on the Internet, and at that time he also doubted the protective power of paper armor, but after a careful understanding, he found that the protective performance of paper armor was not weaker than iron armor. In particular, it is very effective in defending long-range shooting weapons, and the slashing defense effect against swords is not inferior to that of iron armor, but the durability is not as good as iron armor.

However, compared with the relatively low production cost of paper armor, although the loss rate of paper armor is high, it is also much more cost-effective than iron armor.

Since Wei Shuo plans to make paper armor by himself, he can't do it without a paper workshop. Some time ago, because of the problem of weapons and equipment, he had dealt with some craftsmen in Xuzhou, but this time the news from the craftsmen was not optimistic.

In fact, don't look at the rulers of all dynasties who are very harsh on craftsmen, and the status of craftsmen is not high, but every dynasty knows the importance of craftsmen, so the management of craftsmen is also the most severe, and craftsmen with names and surnames basically have no personal freedom.

Moreover, when the Hu people entered the Central Plains, although they were often accompanied by killing, they often opened up the net to the craftsmen and mainly plundered. This also illustrates the importance of ancient craftsmen from the side.

From the familiar craftsmen, Wei Shuo learned that the Xuzhou papermaking workshop is basically in the hands of the family, and the craftsmen who know how to make paper are often the servants or subordinates of the family.

Wei Shuo then remembered that paper had just become popular in the Wei and Jin dynasties, and the paper industry was not very developed. In order to monopolize the only educational resources, the family had to strictly control the paper industry. Unlike the Tang and Song dynasties, the paper industry was very developed, and paper workshops were everywhere.

"What should I do?" Wei Shuo's brows furrowed. It was not that he did not think of recruiting craftsmen to build a new paper workshop, but first, there was a lack of skilled craftsmen, and on the other hand, it was too late. The southern invasion of the Hu people was imminent, and there was no time for him to build a new workshop.

On this day, Wei Shuo once again came to a papermaking workshop in the west of Xuzhou, although the paper produced by the workshop is not very beautiful, but it is superior to the large output and good flexibility, which is very suitable for making paper nails. He had inspected so many workshops, but this one was the one that best suited him.

It's a pity that the owner behind the workshop turned out to be the dignified Thorn History Mansion, and with his friendship with Pei Dun, it is unlikely that Pei Thorn Shi will transfer this workshop to him.

"Huh? Isn't this Wei Langjun? How did you end up here? ”

Just as Wei Shuo was about to leave disappointed, he suddenly heard a familiar voice from behind him. He turned around and saw that it was Pei Ying'er, who had had several faces, and saw her standing in front of a carriage with a few servants, greeting him.

Wei Shuo stepped forward and arched his hand: "I didn't expect to meet Little Lady Pei here, we are really fateful." ”

Pei Ying'er's face turned red when she heard this, she didn't know what to think, her face was full of shame, and she felt that Wei Shuo's words were too easy to make people ambiguous. But I didn't know that Wei Shuo was a modern person, and when he was in school and in the company, he greeted beautiful women like this.

"Wei Langjun came to my family's workshop today, I don't know what you are doing?"

"Alas, it's not for the equipment of the recruits, your father, the Lord Thorn Shi, has only allocated a dozen pairs of fish scale armor under me, which is not enough for the officers under me, let alone those ordinary soldiers."

"But what does this have to do with my papermaking workshop?" Pei Ying'er's face was full of puzzlement, and after a while, she suddenly realized: "You can't be fighting those craftsmen's ideas, right?" But the craftsmen here can only make paper, if Wei Langjun wants them to help you make armor, I'm afraid it won't work, right? My dad agreed that you should bring your own armor? ”

"Of course I know that, and I haven't thought about changing the craftsman here. I came here to see how much the workshop was producing, and I was going to equip the soldiers with a new type of paper armor, which required a large supply of paper. ”

"Paper armor? Can paper be used as armor? Pei Ying'er felt that Wei Shuo was crazy, and even thought of using paper to make armor. However, thinking that she would have to rely on Wei Shuo in the future, she kindly suggested: "Wei Langjun, why don't I beg my father again and ask him to give you more fish scale armor, don't you also think that fish scale armor is very good?" ”

Wei Shuo smiled and didn't agree, he knew that everyone who heard about paper armor for the first time would feel unreliable, in fact, don't talk about other people, even he himself didn't doubt it. But Wei Shuo knew very well that the paper armor was not as weak as people thought, but had a strong protective effect.

Seeing that Wei Shuo insisted on using paper armor, Pei Yinger had to change her attitude. She sighed and lightly opened her lips and said, "Since Wei Langjun has a plan, the little woman will not say more. Since Wei Langjun has taken a fancy to my family's papermaking workshop, he might as well take it. ”

Well?! Wei Shuo was shocked when he heard this, he didn't expect Pei Xiaoniang to be so generous, and a good workshop said that it would be given away.

Looking at Wei Shuo's shocked appearance, Pei Ying'er smiled bitterly and explained: "I did this to help Wei Langjun after all, is it not for our Pei family?" Now that the Hu people are about to invade the south, my mother has planned to move south to Jiangdong in the near future, and some properties are already in the plan to be sold. ”

This paper workshop is also in the plan to sell and demolish, but for the sake of Wei Langjun's great cause, my mother has no choice but to cut her love. Anyway, Wei Langjun wants this workshop to strengthen the strength of Xuzhou, and in the final analysis, it is also for the good of his father. I just hope that Wei Langjun will take more care of his father on the battlefield in the future. ”

No wonder the mother and daughter of the Pei family have invested so much money on him, and now it seems that they are all for Pei Dun. Wei Shuo understands Mrs. Pei's mother and daughter very well, in the ancient world where men are respected, if there is no man in a family, it is not far from defeat and decline.

If the mother and daughter of the Pei family don't want to be at the mercy of others in Jiangdong in the future, they must do everything possible to ensure Pei Dun's safety, after all, Pei Dun is their real reliance. Now that he understood the other party's true intentions, Wei Shuo readily accepted this workshop, and at the same time assured Pei Xiaoniang that he would do his best to protect Pei Dun's safety.