A team of more than 100 people, along the gallop road, to the east of Wu County, hurrying, at the front of the team, Xiang Liang took the lead, beside him, Wu Rui and Xiang Zhuang followed closely, and soon, they came to a very inconspicuous mountain.

The mountain is adjacent to Lou County, and from the outside, they are extremely calm and unremarkable, but if you walk in from a mountain road to the south, you can see that hundreds of artisans of various sizes have already been built in the mountains.

In the mountain pass, there were hidden patrols patrolling back and forth, and when they saw a team coming, they were ready for battle, but when this team drove in, they finally found that it was Xiang Liang and others, they immediately put away their weapons and continued to hibernate, without leaking any sound.

The team marched slowly in the mountain road, although Wu Rui was very surprised, he didn't know where Xiang Liang was going, but after thinking about it carefully, perhaps, the Xiang family's craftsman shop would be in this mountain.

Although the creation of weapons and leather manufacturing are all secrets of a country, it is rare for the Xiang family to do such a secret.

At this time, Wu Rui had to admire the caution of the Xiang family, and after about half an hour, he could finally see that the black smoke and dust were billowing into the sky, which was the black smoke coming out of the kiln, until this time, Wu Rui was completely sure that the Xiang family's arsenal must be located in this mountain.

After walking for a while, there was a fence wall like a military camp in the distance, and a very high gate stood between the mountain roads, cutting off the way, at this time, Xiang Zhuang had accelerated his horse's speed, came to the gate, raised his waist card, and shouted: "Open the door!" ”

The gate slowly opened, and Xiang Liang and the others hurriedly rode in.

The layout of the Xiang family's workshop is neat and tidy, and the division of labor is clear, some craftsmen in gray robes are busy coming and going, and some soldiers in cloth armor are patrolling, or supervising work, or carrying goods, which are also busy.

Wu Rui looked at the Xiang family's craftsman's shop, and couldn't help but admire: "What an arsenal." ”

Xiang Liang also laughed proudly, after laughing, Xiang Liang took Wu Rui to one of the craftsman's shops, the iron furnace in the craftsman's shop was still burning, Wu Rui walked around the craftsman's shop, and put a sword aside, these swords were only models, without deep processing, but when Wu Rui picked up the sword, he was surprised to find that this batch of swords was not an iron sword.

He immediately took a few more swords, these swords were all bronze, and on the side, there were also gos, spearheads and halberd heads, and some arrows were also neatly stacked, all of which were bronze.

Wu Rui was a little depressed, he turned to look at Xiang Liang, and sighed: "Liang Gong, these are all bronze." ”

Xiang Liang nodded, waved his hand and said with a smile: "The ignition point of iron ore is extremely high, and it is not easy to forge, and an iron sword needs to be quenched and polished repeatedly, so the casting of iron swords is extremely limited, and we can only cast bronze swords on a large scale at the moment."

After speaking, Xiang Liang made a gesture to go out, and together with Wu Rui, he walked to the depths of Dazhai, in which, there were about more than ten craftsman shops, and the sound of hammers hitting iron could be faintly heard in the house, Xiang Liang pointed to the craftsman shop and smiled: "Here, there are things that General Wu wants to see." “

Wu Rui was excited, he walked in quickly, but found that the layout of the craftsman shop was the same as that of other craftsmen, and there was nothing special, he was surprised again: "Liang Gong, there is nothing different here, are you mistaken?" ”

Xiang Liang smiled and picked up an arrow from the side, handed it to Wu Rui, and said with a smile: "You might as well take a look at this." ”

Wu Rui took the arrow, looked at it carefully, and couldn't help laughing: "It's an iron arrow." ”

Xiang Liang nodded, brought an iron sword from the side, and said with a smile: "These swords are also iron." ”

Wu Rui took the sword and looked at it, it was some semi-finished products, he couldn't help but be interested, and looked at the iron furnace again, it was no different from what he had just seen in other craftsmen's shops, he looked at the iron sword in his hand again, and then asked: "The method of smelting is the same, but why, can an iron sword be made here?" ”

Seeing Wu Rui asking, Xiang Liang pointed to the bellows on the side and said with a smile: "The reason is on this bellows." ”

Wu Rui then noticed that a guy was constantly pulling the bellows, he was sweating profusely at this time, Wu Rui came to the bellows with curiosity, and looked at the bellows carefully for a while, he finally found that the bellows and the principle of the bellows are roughly the same, but the air volume of the bellows can better heat the charcoal.

Thinking of this, Wu Rui couldn't help laughing and said: "What a bellows, I don't know, which sage invented it?" ”

"It's a shame to say that this is Zhuang'er's invention and applied to iron smelting." Xiang Liang said with great pride, but Wu Rui's recognition of Xiang Zhuang at this time was even deeper, and he looked at the other items in the craftsman's shop, and then walked out of the craftsman shop with Xiang Liang and the others, and walked towards the rest of the craftsmen's shops that made armor.

Wu Rui was extremely interested in these iron-smelting technologies, at this time, he had no intention of watching them anymore, what he was thinking about more was how to get Xiang Liang to agree and pass on this technology to himself, so that he could also cast swords in Poyang and build his own ironclad army?

However, after thinking about it, Poyang and the Jiangdong Chu Army are already inseparable from the alliance relationship, and it is very likely to become a family in the future, so Xiang Liang should not refuse and pass on this technology to himself.

Thinking like this, Wu Rui laughed dryly, he wanted to lead the topic to this, but Xiang Liang and Xiang Zhuang had already walked into another craftsman's shop, and Wu Rui had to follow in.

In the craftsman's shop, more than 100 craftsmen are sewing leather armor, leather armor is made of animal skins and cowhides, Xiang Liang picked up one, looked at it, and handed it to Wu Rui, Wu Rui took it and looked at it, in terms of workmanship, it was better than Poyang's, he couldn't help but give a thumbs up and nodded in approval.

At this time, it was already noon, and Xiang Liang said with a smile: "Since General Wu has seen almost everything, let's go back." ”

。。。。。。

On the way back, the speed of travel was not as fast as when he came, Wu Rui sped up the speed of his horse, came to Xiang Liang's side, and said with a dry smile: "If you want the Chu State to recover as soon as possible, it is far from enough for the Liang Gong family to be strong, if the Liang Gong is willing, I Poyang, I am willing to become the second production line of the weapons of the Chu State." ”

Xiang Liang couldn't help sneering in his heart when he heard Wu Rui's words, the purpose of bringing Wu Rui to the craftsman shop today was to make Wu Rui interested in ironware, as long as Wu Rui had the handle to be subject to Huiji, he could control him and prevent him from changing his mind.

At this time, Xiang Liang had already smiled dryly: "General Wu, with all due respect, if you want to build iron tools, you need to have enough iron ore, and just relying on the acquisition of iron ore costs a lot of money, and you can't achieve stable production, so ......"

Before Xiang Liang finished speaking, Wu Rui had already waved his hand and smiled: "Liang Gong underestimated me Poyang too much. ”

Speaking of this, Wu Rui was full of confidence and patted his chest: "Actually, as early as a few years ago, when I sent troops to suppress the rebellion in Yugan County, I knew that there was an iron mine there, at that time, it was only because the iron ore was of little use that I did not develop the iron mine, if Liang Gong was willing to pass on this technology to Poyang, I guarantee that within two months, Poyang will be able to build the first batch of iron swords belonging to Poyang." ”

Seeing Wu Rui say this, Xiang Liang was inconvenient to refuse, so he had to smile and say: "Since General Wu has this intention, I will agree to your conditions, but since Poyang has been put into production, then, it is okay to divide some weapons and armor to supply us, so that we can also arm the army faster?" ”

Wu Rui had already expected that Xiang Liang would make some requests, but he didn't expect that Xiang Liang's requirements would be so low, not to mention providing some weapons and armor, even if Xiang Liang asked Wu Rui to provide 50,000 arrows and 3,000 sets of leather armor, he could take them out.

After all, it is not overnight that he guards Poyang, Poyang has long had its own craftsman shop and arsenal, but the scale is not large, and today, seeing the Xiang family's arsenal, Wu Rui felt ashamed.

What's more, Lushan County is nominally owned by Qin, but in fact, it has long been under its own name, but in order not to attract attention and unnecessary trouble, Wu Rui will hide everything and let the rest of the county still hold high the Qin flag.

At this time, Xiang Liang's eyes were like torches, staring at Wu Rui quietly, Wu Ruilang patted his chest with a smile: "I, Wu Rui, say one thing, this matter is so decided, in addition, I hope that Xiang Zhuangxian's nephew can come forward and help me get that bellows." ”

Xiang Liang smiled and nodded, no problem.

At this time, Xiang Liang turned around and looked at Xiang Zhuang and ordered: "This time I will go back to Yi County, and you will personally be responsible for the transformation of the iron furnace in Poyang, and you must pass on the technology of casting iron to them, so that Yi County and Poyang can complement each other." ”

Xiang Zhuang stepped forward immediately and arched his hand: "Nephew obeys the order." ”

In order to make the relationship between the two families go further, Wu Rui smiled and said: "If you and I can get married to Qin and Jin, I think that in the land of Jiangdong, Liang Gongdang will be more stable, and no one can shake it." ”

Wu Rui's idea was also Xiang Liang's idea, and it was proposed by Wu Rui at this time, Xiang Liang couldn't help laughing: "I also have this intention." ”

Once the topic was opened, the two began to ponder their respective Xiao Jiujiu in their hearts, Wu Rui was more optimistic about Xiang Zhuang, of course he would try his best to lead the topic to Xiang Zhuang, and at this time, Wu Rui thought that Xiang Zhuang was far more promising than his son-in-law Di Bu.

And Xiang Liang, at this time, was thinking in his heart about the descendants of the Xiang family, who is suitable for marrying Wu Rui's daughter?

Suddenly, a thought flashed, Xiang Liang remembered Xiang Zhuang, but soon, he himself vetoed Xiang Zhuang's plan to marry Wu Rui's daughter, after all, Xiang Zhuang At this time, there were already two women Cao Feng and Kong Xiuyun entangled, so it was better to give this opportunity to Xiang You.

Thinking of this, Xiang Liang opened his mouth and said with a smile: "I have a suitable candidate, but I don't know if General Wu can take a fancy to it." ”

Hearing Xiang Liang say this, Wu Rui's eyes were like torches, staring at Xiang Liang quietly, and after a while, Xiang Lianglang smiled and said: "My third brother Xiang Bo, there is a son in the family, named Xiang You, handsome and chic, superb martial arts, and also a rising star of my Xiang family, but I don't know, can General Wu be willing?" ”

The person Xiang Liang thinks about is not what he wants, but Wu Rui did not reject Xiang Liang because of this, after all, many things still need to be trickled, and if you want to accept Xiang Zhuang as your son-in-law, it is even more difficult than ascending to the sky, Wu Rui feels that she needs a little time.

But thinking that his third daughter Wu Ling was still in the boudoir, Wu Rui couldn't help but squint and smile: "Liang Gong Jinkou Yuyan, how can I refuse, since Liang Gong intends to match, I also show sincerity, my youngest daughter Wu Ling, still in the boudoir, beautiful as a flower, might as well ......"

Wu Rui didn't say it anymore, but the two of them had already raised their heads and laughed, both knew that they didn't need to go on in detail, and in this way, a political marriage was finalized in the understatement of the two.