After handing over the construction of the military camp to Ji Liang, Xu Chuan returned to the town and found the old man who was working in the blacksmith shop.

Inside the blacksmith's shop, when he arrived, the old man was 'teaching' an apprentice in a fiery temper.

"Look at what kind of shit you're fighting, the blade of the knife is cracked, and the back of the knife is also bent, how can you use it for others......."

"Grandpa." Xu Chuan shouted, interrupting the old man's teaching of foaming and his eyebrows fluttering.

The old man turned his head, saw that it was Xu Chuan, and walked over and said, "Why are you here?" Isn't it supposed to be training town guards? ”

Xu Chuan shook his head and said, "I'll hand over the town guards to Uncle Ji Liang for the time being, and I'll discuss things with you." ”

"Oh, what's the matter?" The old man was a little surprised, walked to the side of the Eight Immortals table and sat down, picked up the teacup and poured a sip of tea.

Xu Chuan: "There are two of them. ”

"The first thing is about tobacco...."

Before he finished speaking, the old man interrupted with a puzzled expression: "Tobacco? What is Tobacco? ”

Hearing this, Xu Chuan patted his head and said, "It's Baku, that is, every family in the area of the three of us will plant some Baku." ”

"What's wrong with Baku?" The old man was still confused.

"Didn't everyone buy Bakun to the caravan to earn some silver in the past, let them stop selling it this year, keep it for now, I'll be of great use." Xu Chuan said.

"What are you collecting Bakut for?" The old man was even more puzzled.

Xu Chuan smiled mysteriously and said: "I have a way to make Ba Ku more valuable, if I used to buy ten copper plates a catty, then I can make him a pound of silver!" ”

Hearing this, Old Man Xu was puzzled, but he didn't ask much, this is a trivial matter, and it is easy to solve.

"Okay, this is a trivial matter, I can just say it, anyway, as long as the dry leaves are preserved, they can be stored for a long time, and they can be sold at any time."

"This is one thing, and what else is there?" The old man asked.

"I'm going to restart blast furnace ironmaking and build weapons for the town guards." Xu Chuan said.

Before the words fell, the old man retorted: "No! Blast furnace ironmaking technology can be a disaster that cannot be repeated. ”

Because of the disaster of extermination in Wu Kingdom, the old man was extremely sensitive to this aspect.

Xu Chuan waved his hand and interrupted, "You listen to me first, grandpa." ”

Hearing this, Old Man Xu didn't make any more noises and quieted down, ready to listen to the back.

If it was in the past, he would have given this grandson two slaps to tell him to get out, but now it is different, Xu Chuan led the town guards to defeat the bandits in a battle, and he was uninjured and captured hundreds of people, the old man's opinion of him has changed unconsciously, and he is willing to listen to his reasons.

Xu Chuan continued: "The victory and victory of the town guards does not mean that we will be able to sit back and relax from now on. ”

"As I told you before, the catapult can't protect us all the time, so the town guards need more weapons to deal with the bandits, whether it's swords or crossbows."

"I know that blast furnace ironmaking technology can be a disaster, but we can't keep it alive forever."

"What's more, because of my grandson's previous unfilial piety, the books that record the blast furnace ironmaking technology have been revealed, although I am not sure whether it will be discovered by the bandits of the Black Tiger Village, but this is already a hidden danger."

"If the bandits find the book and forge weapons according to the information recorded above, both our Xu family and Sanzhi Town will face a huge threat."

"That's why I need to restart blast furnace ironmaking now, and build weapons for the town guards to fight and destroy those bandits."

Xu Chuan said, and glanced at Old Man Xu again: "Grandpa, I know what you're worried about, but now it's not the same as before, the town guards are armized, and they have a big victory over the bandits in the first battle, and they already have a certain ability to protect us, and the disasters that happened in the past will never recur as long as we are strong enough." ”

"I designed and built trebuchets to transform the guards into town guards, and I wanted to restart the blast furnace ironmaking, just to have enough self-protection ability, so that those bandits could no longer trample on us."

"If you fall behind, you will be beaten and humiliated, but if we have the ability to strengthen ourselves and bring a better life to everyone, then why not do it?"

On the table of the Eight Immortals, Old Man Xu was silent for a while, and finally glanced at Xu Chuan, with a complicated expression, and said, "Are you sure?" ”

Xu Chuan nodded solemnly and said, "There is no turning back from the bow, and the news of the transformation of the guards into the guards will soon spread to the ears of those bandits." ”

"Maybe they won't pay attention to it at first, but the more we defeat the bandits, the more we will pay attention to it eventually."

"At that time, what we need to face may not be a group of bandits, but a joint attack of multiple bandits."

"Those bandits and robbers will not let go of the chickens that lay golden eggs in Sanzhi Town, people will die for money, birds will die for food, they will not allow us to have the strength to fight them, because once we have the ability to protect ourselves, they will not be able to get food."

"So my initial goal was to eliminate all the bandits and give the town a peaceful life, so I need the support of blast furnace ironmaking technology."

Old Man Xu nodded and sighed: "You have grown up and have your own ideas, this is a good thing, the Xu family will eventually be handed over to you, but you have to remember that this time, it is not only our Xu family that is involved, but also tens of thousands of residents in Sanzhi Town." ”

Xu Chuan nodded and said, "I know, grandpa, I will do my best to build a strong town guard." ”

"In that case, I'll contact the other blacksmiths in the afternoon to rebuild the ironworks."

"Well, this matter will trouble grandpa."

Xu Chuan said, remembered something again, and continued: "By the way, grandpa, regarding blast furnace ironmaking technology, if you want to smelt enough good quality iron, you need to add other ingredients to it, right?" ”

Hearing this, Old Man Xu stared at him sharply and asked, "Have you read that book?" ”

Xu Chuan shook his head and said, "No." ”

"Then how did you know that other ingredients needed to be added to blast furnace ironmaking?" The old man looked at him suspiciously.

Xu Chuan smiled and said, "Not only the ingredients added, but I also know that blast furnace ironmaking needs to use coke." ”

As soon as these words came out, the old man's eyes suddenly widened like copper bells, and he slapped the table and scolded: "Rebel, you still say that you haven't read books!" ”

Xu Chuan couldn't cry or laugh, and said, "Grandpa, that's not what I'm going to say. ”

"Coke is the heart of ironmaking, but I think it's the ingredients that are added that are more important."

"You know better than I know that different additives can change the properties of steel compared to coke, some ingredients can make iron softer, some can make iron harder, and these things are more important to me."

"Even if blast furnace ironmaking is restarted now, it needs to be kept secret for the time being, and the way to keep it secret is these added ingredients and ratios."

"As long as you manage these ingredients and proportions well, even if someone else cracks the blast furnace to make iron, the steel smelted will be far inferior to us, and as long as the steel is not as good as us, then the weapons created will definitely not be as good as ours."

"Think about it, what would happen if the bandits' knives were cut off directly by the guards when the two armies were fighting?"

.......