Li Huai went crazy, so everyone was going crazy with him, and the Ordnance Division was established the next day.

The Ordnance Division is not in the city, but in Qingshui Township, and people who have been here once are very familiar with it, and it is the place where Qu Meifang was found.

Surrounded by mountain walls on all sides, there is only one way in and out, so it can be said that it is a natural hidden place.

From a distance, the Ordnance Division looked like a cowshed, and when you got closer, it looked like a huge cowshed.

It was built of a few beams, hay, and clay, and was very simple, and there was not even a house.

All of them live in caves on the surrounding mountain walls.

In the middle of the cowshed there are several high towers made of clay, which are blast furnaces for ironmaking, and do not require high temperatures.

Because this step is only pig iron.

At the establishment stage of the Ordnance Division, they discussed what kind of weapons they wanted to refine, and Li Huai's request was, of course, steel.

If it's just wrought iron or older bronze, it's completely uncompetitive and doesn't make sense at all.

Everyone's hearts suddenly tightened, refining '100 steel' is not an easy task, it requires a lot of manpower and material resources.

Will Liangzhou's economy be able to afford it?

The reason why they think so is because in their subconscious, if they want to get steel, they have to temper it a lot.

This is not the case.

There are other ways.

"Frying steel!"

When this concept was proposed, everyone was confused, but it was actually the traditional two-step steelmaking method in later generations.

In the world of Li Huai's previous life, the Han Dynasty had already mastered this technology.

In simple terms.

First, they have mastered the step of smelting iron ore into pig iron. The pig iron is then smelted into a liquid or semi-liquid state.

Stir like stir-frying, add concentrate powder and other raw materials during the process, let the molten iron react, control the carbon content, and then obtain steel.

Compared with the 'hundred steel' obtained under the tens of millions of swings of the hammer, the latter can be mass-produced as long as it masters the mature technology.

That's the key.

Mature technology is not easy to master, and the only way is to try again and again, and use stupid methods to find the degree.

Li Huai asked to complete it a year ago, and everyone thought it was an impossible task, after all, they had never heard of this kind of steelmaking method.

Li Huai didn't say anything about it, scolded everyone on the spot, and demanded that it be completed at all costs.

Under tremendous pressure.

Unexpectedly.

It's done!

Finally, the Ordnance Division used the immature steel frying method to refine the first furnace of steel a year ago!

Li Huai also came to the Ordnance Division because of this.

"Meet the prince!"

Yan Gaoyang led everyone to greet him, and he is now temporarily in charge of the military weapons priest and is in charge of the entire weapons department.

He was shirtless, draped in a leather apron, covered in pitch black, and clutched a steel ruler in his hand.

The steel ruler has not been polished, and it is also black.

Li Huai waved his hand, motioned for them all to get up, and said with a smile: "Captain Yan, how is it?" This king didn't lie to you. ”

"No, no!" Yan Gaoyang smiled, looking very excited.

Li Huai took the steel ruler from his hand and weighed it, the feeling of pressing his hand was very refreshing.

"Have you tested it?"

Yan Gaoyang shook his head and replied, "Not yet, I'm preparing to test." ”

As soon as the steel was smelted, he immediately sent someone to the city to inform Li Huai. This historic moment, of course, must be witnessed by the prince.

Waiting for less than an hour, they have a kind of torment like a year.

"Let's start testing now." Li Huai said.

When Yan Gaoyang and others heard this, they couldn't wait to take the test object, a piece of wrought iron and a piece of pig iron.

Bailian Steel couldn't be found, Yan Gaoyang simply replaced it with his own saber, and his saber happened to be Bailian Steel.

At present, all the blades equipped by the army are forged from these three materials, of which pig iron is the majority.

Because it is too difficult to forge, the output cannot be increased, so it can only meet the needs of officers.

The first to be tested was pig iron.

Placing the pig iron on a shelf, Yan Gaoyang held the steel ruler and slashed it down with a knife.

Bang!

There was a crunch.

Under the collision, pig iron directly shatters, which is the disadvantage of pig iron, although it is hard, it is too brittle.

This result was expected by everyone.

Next is wrought iron.

The same way to test.

Bang!

A golden chime.

Wrought iron is not broken, but the part that has been chopped is bent into a 'concave' shape, and the disadvantage of wrought iron is that it is too soft.

This is also the reason why the army is equipped with pig iron blades, although pig iron is a little brittle, at least it is hard and can break through ordinary armor.

If wrought iron is used as a weapon, there is a high chance that the armor worn by the enemy will jam the blade or the blade will be deformed.

Finally, there is Bailian Steel, which is Yan Gaoyang's saber.

Bang!

A crisp golden chime, accompanied by a vibration echo.

It looks like a tie.

Actually, the steel ruler lost!

The 100-for-100 steel knife is thin, only half the thickness of the steel ruler, and it is still the position of the hit.

It's just a missing blade.

The steel ruler jumped into a hole, and if you look closely, it seems that there are still cracks, but they are not very clear.

"How so?" Yan Gaoyang held the steel ruler in his hand, a little confused, he imagined that it should not be this result.

The two should be about the same.

"Lord Wang, there must be a problem with the steelmaking process, and we will study it again to ensure that the real steel will be smelted before the year." Yan Gaoyang said without giving up.

Li Huai seemed to have expected it a long time ago, and comforted with a smile: "Don't try again, the steel you refine is fine." It is not unreasonable to be tempered into steel. ”

Moreover, the toughness of 100 steels is definitely better than that of steel rulers, which can be known without testing.

It doesn't matter.

"Our steel is not as good as 100 steel, but think about it, how much steel can you produce in your hand in the time it takes to build a 100 steel knife?"

Yan Gaoyang thought about it, and suddenly realized that all steel knives have to be tempered thousands of times, which is very time-consuming, and it may not be successful every time.

It is difficult to forge a few knives out in a month.

Their steel can be furnace after furnace, and it will be produced continuously, and in a short time it can equip an army.

Although it is a little less than above, it is much higher than below.

"Lord Wang, I understand!" Yan Gaoyang smiled again.

"Just like that, give me some samples, remember to polish it, and you have to look good." Li Huai commanded.

"Yes!"

Yan Gaoyang hugged his fists, and suddenly felt a little uncomfortable in his heart, such a good steel, how good it would be if he could keep it for himself.

However, the army does not have any, and it is useless to keep it.

"The money you earn now is the military expenses in the future, Captain Yandu, don't always think about the present, look forward to tomorrow."

After Li Huai finished speaking, he left, without irritation, this guy is afraid that it will be difficult to ensure the output, and even deliberately reduce the production.

It's like a hungry person who always wants to hide his food.

"Yes!"

Yan Gaoyang immediately had passion, turned around, and yelled at everyone: "Everyone has heard what the prince said, if anyone dares to be lazy, military law will deal with it!" ”

Everyone was in full swing and threw themselves into this great cause.

As soon as Li Huai returned to the Taishou Mansion, Shangguan Keke came to complain.

Steelmaking is a hard work and it is physically demanding.

Therefore, Li Huai left the few stored grains to the Ordnance Department, and let them eat three meals a day, all of which were dry rice, and they also had to ensure that they had at least one meal of meat every day.

The Ordnance Division is like fighting on the front lines, and everyone has to share the logistics for them.

Occupies almost all of the material resources.

In this way, Shangguan Coco can't do anything else if he wants to, which is equivalent to putting all his eggs in one basket.

She felt too adventurous and eccentric.

"I promise you, when you get through this battle, you can do whatever you want, now, please support me." Li Huai had already explained to her many times.

Eggs can't be put in one basket, he knows that, the problem is that they just have one egg!

There are a lot of baskets, what's the use?

"I've calculated, even if the weapons business can be done, this cycle will take at least three months, which is too long." Shangguan Keke said worriedly.

Li Huai took her over with one hand, put her on his lap, and said with a smile: "I'll give you another guarantee, it won't take three months, at most...... Half a month. ”

Shangguan Keke did not resist his frivolous behavior, after all, he was his concubine, but he had serious doubts about what he said.

"How is that possible?"

If enough steel is smelted, I am afraid it will take more than half a month, and then it will be sold, and it will take half a month to transport it on the road.

He actually thought about getting through the difficulties in half a month, which was simply a fool's dream.

"Let's make a bet." Li Huai said with a smile.

"Bet on what?"

Li Huai pinched her face and raised it, "Bet you smile at me, after you arrive in Liangzhou, you have a cold face all day long, which is easy to make me lose interest in you, do you know how serious the consequences are?" ”

“……”

Shangguan Keke, in addition to being a little speechless, was still expressionless, and said, "Then if you lose, you have to give me a gift." ”

"What kind of gift?" Li Huai asked.

Shangguan Keke thought for a while and said, "A very attentive gift." ”

They were all trying to get closer to each other, and although they knew that there was a high probability that it would not work, they were still willing to try.

It's not so much a bet, it's more like two strong people, torturing each other to see who breaks the defense first.

"Okay!"

Li Huai agreed.

"Half a month, fifteen days, right?" Shangguan Keke asked.

Obviously, it can also be fifteen and a half days.

Li Huai didn't want to fight with her, "Fifteen days." ”

The two pulled the hook against each other's thumbs and made an agreement!