"Is it done? Really fake! ”

Seeing the bright-eyed girl nodding with a smile, Ma Ling's spirit suddenly shook, and she quickly returned to the Grange with Gao Qianqian.

The area in the depths of the Grange dedicated to the casting of military items is now tightly sealed by a large number of soldiers sent by Duan Xiushi, although it is still the property of the Ma family, it has become a forbidden place for the Anxi Army, except for the craftsmen who work in it, no one is allowed to enter or leave.

Ma Ling took Gao Qianqian to the workshop where the pottery fan was made, and Gao Qianqian respectfully called an old man, who was holding two strangely shaped pottery molds in his hands.

"This Uncle Fang is the best craftsman we have here, he used to serve in the general battalion, and when he got older, he left and settled in Anxi. The short spear and various crossbow arrows are all from his old man's hand. Gao Qianqian looked at the old man and introduced.

Ma Ling smiled and nodded, took the abrasive from the old man's hand and looked at it, and couldn't help but smile on his face.

That's exactly what he wants.

In this era, there were no lathes, and the production of instruments depended on the skillful hands of craftsmen. There are many soldiers in the Anxi army who have a skill, and the soldiers of Changxingfang and the general camp know more about various skills. This old man can make what he wants so finely, and he is indeed a rare talent.

"Uncle Fang, is there a finished product?" Ma Lan asked.

Uncle Fang smiled and nodded: "Yes." If there is no finished product, how dare you say that you are successful, and how dare you let the general come over. In the morning, a furnace of molten steel was smelted, and all of them were used to cast this thing, and there were more than a dozen in total. From an old age's point of view, these dozen or so should be usable. ”

As he spoke, the old man waved his hand, and a little guy wearing a mask walked over, holding a strange thing in his hand, exactly the same shape as Tao Fan.

Ma Lan took it, only to feel that it was quite heavy. It was a wheel-shaped flat disc with half empty in the middle to reduce weight, a small handle on the side, and a two-inch-long bulge on the other. The whole flat disc is round and smooth, looks extremely delicate, and there is no trace of riveting, and at a glance it is known that it is formed with a pottery fan.

Ma Lan nodded, extremely satisfied with this thing. With such irregular items, it is extremely difficult to make pottery fans. If the finished product can do this, it can already be used.

"Uncle Fang, in the future, you will be the senior steward of my Ma family, and the annual money is five hundred yuan yuantongbao! You deserve it, don't shirk it. Ma Lan looked at Uncle Fang and said solemnly.

When Gao Qianqian heard this, she suddenly laughed out loud, and Uncle Fang and the little guy also looked strange.

"What, is there a problem?"

Seeing Ma Lan's puzzled face, Uncle Fang smiled bitterly and said: "General, the money that Miss Qianqian set for the old decay is a thousand yuan a year, and all the items cast by the old decay will be a commission for each piece of decay. Now the general wants to reduce the old money, but somehow. ”

When Ma Lan heard this, his face was hot, and he hurriedly said: "I really don't know about this, uncle, don't be surprised." In this way, the uncle's regular money was still the same, and he went to withdraw another 500 yuan as a reward for building this mold. ”

"Thank you, General." Uncle Fang smiled, "Money is nothing, the old man has earned enough in the past few months." Being able to contribute to the general and not let this ability be buried is something that the old man is extremely happy about. ”

Ma Ling glanced at Gao Qianqian, and the little girl winked at him cutely with a narrow smile on her face.

I am really not as good as this girl, the craftsman has a low status in this era, Gao Qianqian can give a craftsman a thousand yuan for the year, and there is a commission, which is definitely a big deal.

However, if it is placed in the future generations, this is normal, and a craftsman with such skills is too important for the workshop.

"Brother Ma Lan, let's see if we can use it first. However, this is Uncle Fang's craftsmanship, and it shouldn't be bad. Gao Qianqian smiled.

Ma Lan nodded.

Uncle Fang squatted down and personally pressed the flat round plate bulge into the small hole left on the crossbow, and then smashed into the hardwood wedge to fix it, and fixed the leather rope on the flat plate.

Then he gently shook the handle, and the bowstring of the eight-ox crossbow was slowly tightened under the drive of the flat disc, and finally hung on the bracket.

This is actually a winding winch, but it is made of stainless steel, the wheel diameter is large enough, and there is an integrated handle to borrow force, so it is extremely easy to wind. Although the original eight-bull crossbow was also wound on a winch, it could not be completed by a strong man, but now Uncle Fang, a twilight old man, can easily complete the winding work with one hand.

"General, how's that?" Uncle Fang stood up, looking very proud.

Ma Lan nodded and said with a smile: "Not bad! Not bad! ”

Uncle Fang said with a smile: "With this thing, you can save ninety percent of your strength." Cast from stainless steel, it is not easy to damage and can be easily replaced even if it is damaged. The whimsy of adults is really very human. ”

"If it weren't for my uncle's skillful hands, my whimsical ideas would have been utopian." Ma Lan smiled.

Now his new army in Anxi relies heavily on hard crossbows, and they need the most strength to launch hard crossbows, so the people who operate hard crossbows now are strong men who can use Mo knives on horses. And if this steel winch can be popularized, these strong men can be liberated.

The 5,000 Anxi New Army concentrated all the elite of the Han soldiers in the four towns. After selecting these people, the strength of the garrison of the four towns decreased. Ma Luan's goal was to equip the Han army in the four towns with enough hard crossbows. The stronger the crossbow, the more difficult it is to wind, so this steel winch, which can be easily wound, is extremely important.

"Qianqian, the manufacture of crossbow arrows and short spears has been suspended for the time being, and we will make enough steel winches first. Uncle Fang, you have to work harder, not only the Eight Bull Crossbow, but also the Tao Fan of the winch suitable for other hard crossbows, but also need to be made by your old man. ”

Gao Qianqian nodded, and Uncle Fang also smiled and agreed.

He was extremely proud of his craft, and with this experience, other smaller winches could have taken some time to complete. The remuneration given by the Ma family is enough, and the big people in the capital can't earn so much a year if they are not greedy for ink, what else is there to say, naturally they want to sell this old life to the Ma family.

"Uncle, you must take care of your health, I still have a lot of wonderful ideas, and I need you to help me realize them. Whether our Anxi Army can truly dominate the world depends on you. Before leaving, Ma Lan looked at Uncle Fang and said carefully.

Uncle Fang nodded: "If the general thinks of any idea, tell Miss Qianqian." As long as the Qianqian girl confesses to the old man, the old man will definitely help the general make it. ”

"That's a lot of work."

Leaving the mold workshop, Ma Ling followed Gao Qianqian around the workshops in the grange, and he also liked this smoky place a little more.

Everything that the Anxi army needs is made here. We can only make simple things now, and we will definitely be able to make better ones in the future. Whether the Anxi Army can be strong enough does not need to rely on the support of Chang'an, as long as its own workshop can be developed, the Anxi Iron Army in his mind will eventually be realized.

At present, what is most lacking is a long-range crossbow like the Eight Bull Crossbow, the Anxi Mansion Treasury is empty, with the efficiency of Chang'an as a supervisor, it is extremely time-consuming to build an Eight Bull Crossbow, and there are many border troops who want this kind of sharp weapon, and it is not easy for the Anxi Army to get it. However, after looking at the skills of the craftsmen in the workshop, Ma Lan was confident that he could make a crossbow or even more powerful crossbow arrows.

The Ma family's workshop will be the strongest and greatest support of the Anxi Army in the future.

"Brother Ma Lan, what we lack most now is iron. There are no iron mines near Qiuzi, so we can only smelt steel from scrap iron. If this problem is not solved, it will be difficult for the workshop to scale up. Gao Qianqian said softly.

"Didn't you bring back all the weapons of the Persians this time? It should be able to last for a while after smelting. Ma Lan asked.

Gao Qianqian nodded: "If you don't produce at full strength, you can maintain it for a while, about half a month." However, this is not the way to go, and if you want to maintain production at all times, you must have iron ore. ”

Ma Ling thought for a moment and said, "Qiuzi has always been famous for iron casting, and the iron industry in the city is extremely prosperous. I remember that you have already bought a few iron shops, and it is not a big problem to buy some iron ore from those Hu merchants. We don't have iron ore at home, and even if we do, mining is troublesome. That being the case, simply don't go to the mine and buy the ore directly. This is a supply of military supplies, and the price of ore is a little higher, at most our profits are a little lower, and there is no problem. ”

Gao Qianqian said: "Originally, I thought the same way. There are several large merchants with iron ore mines in the city, and I have already negotiated with them, and the deposit has been handed over to them. This time, our army has come back from Shule, and I will go to them again, and those merchants have already changed. The new Hu merchant also admitted the original contract, but he was unwilling to fulfill it, and would rather pay double the deposit as agreed than sell the ore to our family. ”

When Ma Lan heard this, he immediately became angry: "Which Hu businessman is so arrogant and dares to do this!" ”

Gao Qianqian said: "It's a big food merchant. I've checked it, but I can't find any background, but the wealth is amazing. The purchase of those iron shops and mines is a high price. ”

"Black or white?" Ma Lan said in a deep voice.

Gao Qianqian said: "Black." ”

Ma Ling snorted, pulled Gao Qianqian and walked out.

Datang is gentle with Hu Ren, and he really dares to kick his nose in the face. If it weren't in Anxi but in the river, the black-clothed cannibal would dare to be so arrogant, and he would have killed him together. Although he can't be killed now, Ma Lan also wants to see which black-clothed businessman dares to blatantly oppose the Anxi Army.

Gao Qianqian is also not a big deal, and she is also very excited to see Ma Lu supporting her. The two of them left the Grange and rode straight to Qiuzi City, and soon after they came to Qiuzi City, and went straight to the area where the iron shop was located.