When Hao Tong received the words from his uncle, he hurriedly rushed from the military camp of Fengnan Baihu to Hao's workshop, and a high-manganese steel war knife had been built. Hao Yizong quenched the knife, and then opened the blade, and the place where the handle was also wound with silk threads, which looked very beautiful. Hearing the apprentice outside the door report that Hao Tong had arrived, Hao Yizong hurriedly asked Hao Qing to hide the knife, and motioned to Su Hao and the others with his eyes not to say anything.

"Uncle called me, what did he command?"

Hao Tong came to the backyard under the guidance of the apprentice. He first gave a military salute to Su Hao, then turned around and bowed to Hao Yizong, and asked respectfully.

"Tong'er, do you remember that your uncle promised you an iron knife back then?" Hao Yizong asked Hao Tong with a smile.

Hao Tong said: "My nephew remembers. ”

Hao Yizong said: "Uncle has been thinking about this matter all the time. It's a pity that this good iron is very rare, and my uncle has not been able to gather enough materials to make a knife over the years, so I have been indebted to you, you must have been blaming your uncle for breaking his promise, right? ”

Hao Tong hurriedly said: "How dare my nephew." My nephew has been in the army for many years, and I have heard people talk about the value of this iron in the army, and our general soldier Deng has always wanted to build a big gun of iron, but he has never been able to do so. The chief soldier is still like this, how dare his nephew have extravagant hopes. ”

Hao Yizong nodded and said, "Well, it's good that you don't blame your uncle." However, my uncle has recently obtained a good piece of steel, which is only stronger than that iron. Uncle has already made a big knife for you out of this steel, would you like to see it? ”

Hao Tong's eyes lit up and he replied, "My nephew wants to see it." ”

"Qing'er, bring the knife to your brother." Hao Yizong said.

The knife was hidden behind Hao Qing, and when he heard his father's command, Hao Qing held the knife in both hands and handed it to Hao Tong. In this hurry just now, Hao Yizong actually had time to make a simple scabbard and put the knife inside. At this time, Hao Qing handed over the knife with a sheath to Hao Tong.

"Brother Xie." Hao Tong took the knife, holding the scabbard in one hand and the handle of the knife in the other, and pulled it out in half, a cold light flashed, Hao Tong couldn't help but praise: "Good knife!" ”

"Come on. Tong'er, let's play this knife for everyone. Hao Yizong said.

"How?" Hao Tong asked.

Hao Qing bowed to Xiao Wuzi, who turned around and carried a cedar with the thickness of a bowl, stood in the middle of the courtyard, and fixed it with an iron frame. Hao Tong was stunned for a moment, and asked Hao Yizong: "Uncle, you don't want me to use this knife to split this stake, right?" ”

Hao Yizong said: "Is there anything wrong? ”

Hao Tong hesitated: "Such a good knife, if it is used to cut wooden stakes, I am afraid that it will hurt the blade." It's a pity. ”

Hao Yizong reprimanded: "Bastard boy, your uncle and I made a knife." If you cut a stake and hurt the blade, can you still call it a good knife? Didn't I tell you, this knife is better than an iron knife, have you ever seen an iron knife cut a wooden stake will hurt the blade? ”

"My nephew has never seen an iron knife." Hao Tong said sneeringly. In fact, this kind of thing has always been just a legend in the army, and no one can say what the real iron looks like.

Hao Yizong didn't bother to argue with Hao Tong about anything, he pointed to the wooden stake. said: "Tong'er, you once said that you are ten thousand enemies, and now that the sword is in hand, my uncle wants to see if you can cut this wood with one sword." ”

"Nephew, try it." Hao Tong didn't dare to be stubborn, since his uncle was so sure, he could only try. From his heart. I think that no matter how sharp this knife is, I am afraid it will be difficult to cut the wood. Taking a step back, even if he used all his strength to cut the wood with a single sword. It is estimated that this knife should also be rolled or broken, which is a pity for this new knife.

Everyone took a few steps back, clearing the venue for Hao Tong. Hao Tong pulled out the knife completely, handed the scabbard to Hao Qing, held the knife himself, and walked to the stake.

"Hey!"

Hao Tong roared, held the knife in both hands, and slashed towards the stake. Only a click was heard, but the imaginary obstacle did not appear, and the wooden stake was split in two like a piece of tofu in front of the steel knife. The upper half shook slightly, and then fell with a bang.

"Good!"

Everyone cheered together, the knife is a good knife, and Hao Tong's martial arts are even better. In addition to the great amount of force required to cut such a piece of wood, the person holding the knife must have a balanced and coherent movement, and if there is a slight hesitation in the middle, the knife will get stuck.

"This knife is so sharp!" Hao Tong's face was filled with a look of surprise and delight, and he couldn't believe his eyes.

I saw that the remaining half of the wooden stake in front of me had a very flat fracture, and I couldn't see the slightest roughness. And the steel knife that had just cut the wood did not have any curls or damages on the blade, which was completely unimaginable if it were replaced by a broadsword that was commonly used in the army.

"Haha, it's really good steel!" Hao Yizong was also overjoyed, after he made the knife just now, he had already tested it and confirmed that it was indeed a good knife for sharpening iron like clay. Hao Tong's performance confirmed his feelings. Judging from his experience as an old craftsman, the quality of this knife far exceeds that of the so-called iron knife.

There is no unified definition of ferric, which is generally considered to be a material made from a mixture of high-carbon steel and wrought iron. The technology of smelting high-carbon steel in ancient China developed slowly, but the northern peoples and Persia, Tianzhu and other places did better in this regard. Therefore, iron iron in Chinese mainland is often imported from Persia and other places, the price is very high, and it is difficult to obtain.

Compared to ordinary steel, high-carbon steel has higher strength and hardness, so it is regarded as a material for making high-quality weapons. But in the face of high-manganese steel, high-carbon steel is nothing, especially in terms of toughness, and it cannot be compared with high-manganese steel. When Hao Yizong was a craftsman in the Ministry of Industry, he had been exposed to iron, and he knew that the steel developed by Su Hao was far stronger than iron.

"Virtuous nephew and talent, this high manganese steel is really good." Hao Yizong said with a fist to Su Hao.

"What, this steel was refined by Su Baihu?" Hao Tong looked at Su Hao with wide eyes.

Su Hao hurriedly pointed at Hao Qing and said, "This steel is not refined by me, it is refined by your eldest brother, if you want to thank him, you can thank him." ”

Hao Qing said: "How dare the villain be greedy, if it weren't for Su Baihu to teach me this method of steelmaking, how would the villain know that adding this manganese ore to the steel can make such a good steel." ”

Hao Tong asked: "You just said, what is this steel called Gao Menggang?" Well, it really lives up to its name, it's indeed fierce steel! ”

"It's manganese steel......," Su Hao corrected helplessly, "It's the manganese word next to the gold word, and it's the name of a mineral." ”

Hao Yizong said with a smile: "Virtuous nephew, I think it is more appropriate to use this fierce word." ”

"That's right, it's called Menggang, I don't know the manganese word next to the gold word." Hao Tong said excitedly, he put the knife back into the scabbard, hugged it to his chest, walked up to Su Hao, and asked, "Su Baihu, is this method of smelting fierce steel difficult?" ”

Su Hao said: "It's not too difficult to say, the main thing is to find manganese ore. Jiangxi is not rich in manganese ore, and I also discovered a small vein by chance, and the reserves are not much. ”

Su Hao said that there is a basis for saying that China's rich manganese ore is mainly in Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan and other places, and Jiangxi's manganese ore resources are not rich. Fengcheng is only located at the intersection of several regional fault zones, with a variety of metallogenic conditions, so many kinds of mineral deposits are distributed in small amounts. But if it is to be used according to the requirements of industrial exploitation, these ores are of little value.

"How many catties of this fierce steel are enough to smelt the ore in your small vein?" Hao Tong continued to ask.

Su Hao scratched his scalp: "This is not easy to estimate, there should be hundreds of thousands of catties." ”

According to 500,000 catties, that is, 250 tons. The manganese content in high-manganese steel is 13%, so only about 30 tons of manganese are needed. Even if the grade of manganese ore is a little worse, a hundred tons of ore is enough. The small ore vein discovered by Su Hao is no problem to mine more than 100 tons of manganese ore.

"It can smelt hundreds of thousands of catties of this fierce steel!" Hao Tong was overjoyed, "It's really good." Uncle, big brother, please work harder, smelt more fierce steel, I want to ask you to build a fierce steel spear for our general soldier Deng, and then make a big knife like this for Deng Kui, or simply change the weapons of our pro-army team ......"

"Wait, I said Hao Tong, do you think I am an Weapons Bureau?" Su Hao interrupted Hao Tong's fantasy and said, "Do you think this high manganese steel can be refined?" Your eldest brother has worked hard for a day today, that is, he has refined these dozens of catties of steel, how can he afford you to squander it like this?

Mining stone costs money, and buying coke costs money, and that's not to say. How much does it cost to build this crucible alone? This crucible has to be scrapped after a few uses, and you can calculate how much it costs to make a hundred catties of steel. ”

"Well, I see." Hao Tong also began to calm down, "Or, let's recruit more blacksmiths and raise a few more furnaces to refine?" ”

Hao Yizong shook his head and said: "No, this method of smelting high fierce steel must not be quiet." After all, we are small households, in case this method is favored by others and wants to take it by force, we can't bear it. According to the old man's opinion, let's only smelt a few furnaces of steel, make a few weapons for our own use, or give them to a general like Deng Zongbing who has a close relationship with us, and that's it. If other people come here and ask for weapons, let's say that ore is hard to find, and there is nothing we can do to help, which is also a way to avoid disaster. ”

"This ...... What a pity! Hao Tong said with a pout.

Su Hao was also a little gloomy: "Uncle Hao, can we really only do this?" It's obviously a good thing, but it can't be taken out to benefit the people, and the little nephew is really a little unwilling. ”

Hao Yizong patted Su Hao's shoulder and said, "Nephew Su Xian, you are still young and don't know the dangers of this world. In the books you read, can there be a saying that the Chu people are not guilty and are guilty? The old man doesn't read much, this is also what other people in the miscellaneous bureau said, I think, you should know what this means, right? ”