Zhao Hao handed over all the interrogation work to Qingniao, while he was still directing the overall construction of the smelting workshop.
Two months later, the first batch of fifteen blast furnaces were finally completed and passed the strict acceptance process.
Then, Zhao Hao officially began the smelting work.
At this time, three thousand blacksmiths drawn from all over the country also arrived at the mining area.
Zhao Hao personally arranged the screening of personnel.
Every blacksmith has undergone extremely strict screening before entering the mining area.
Anyone who shows any suspiciousness will be excluded.
At first, only dozens of people were screened out. As these blacksmiths discovered that their unknown identities could lead to screening out, they began to deliberately report wrong names in an attempt to fail to be selected and be able to return home.
Regarding this situation, not only Wang Mengyu and Zheng Zhiqian were very angry, but Qingniao was also extremely annoyed.
However, Zhao Hao did not say anything, nor did he set up any obstacles.
He let go all the blacksmiths who were unwilling to stay, and only kept those who really wanted to stay.
After the final count, only two thousand people were left.
In the morning, Zhao Hao gathered all the blacksmiths and gave them a speech.
"Everyone, you come from all over the country, from all the states, and you are all the most outstanding in your respective towns."
"I have to tell you all that the reason you are here is because of me!"
"It was I who requested His Majesty to summon you to this remote place!"
"You can scold me, but only in your heart. If I hear you, I will deduct your wages!"
Hearing what he said, all the blacksmiths laughed.
They were all selected by Zhao Hao, so they are already quite familiar with Zhao Hao.
Knowing Zhao Hao's identity.
After they finished laughing, Zhao Hao continued, "When we came here, there were three thousand of us, but now there are only two thousand of you left!"
"There are a thousand people who don't want to stay and suffer here."
"I know all of this."
"But I didn't stop them. I let them all go back and gave each of them three strings of cash for travel expenses."
"But what I want to tell you now is that those of you who choose to stay are the smart ones!"
"Because you will see the real steel that has never appeared in this world."
"You will create one magical weapon after another with your own hands!"
"Every one of your names will appear in my credit book in the future!"
After the lecture, Zhao Hao had the blacksmiths assigned to the forging area.
Next, the formal smelting work was arranged.
Half a month later, all materials were prepared, the blast furnace was officially ignited, and smelting work began.
Zhao Hao started to work so hard again that he didn't even have time to sleep every day.
There is no other way, only he knows how to do it.
Without him, the smelting work would be impossible.
Moreover, there must not be any mistakes in every step of the smelting process. If he does not personally monitor it, the consequences will be disastrous.
At the same time, in the territory of Wu State, there was Xiluo City bordering Dagan.
In a quiet manor.
A middle-aged woman with a well-proportioned figure and ordinary face was tending to the flowers and plants in the garden.
Next to her, there were two young maids in green skirts.
Just then, a woman in tight clothes walked in quickly.
Arriving at the middle-aged woman's place, the young woman in tight clothes hurriedly said, "Your Excellency the Prime Minister, Zhao Hao has already started smelting pig iron."
Upon hearing this, the middle-aged woman stopped what she was doing.
Her deep eyes seemed to travel thousands of miles and see the mining area in Qinzhou.
"The steel he refined personally must be extraordinary."
"I just don't know how extraordinary it will be."
Just then, a young man dressed in a brocade robe and with a dignified demeanor walked over.
The young man was about 27 or 28 years old, holding a folding fan made of white jade.
As the young man walked, he spoke softly, "Prime Minister, Zhao Hao is indeed a great talent."
"Mr. Prime Minister, why don't you try to bring it to our Wu Kingdom?"
"In this way, we can weaken Da Gan and strengthen the strength of our Wu State. Isn't it the best of both worlds?"
The middle-aged woman was none other than Xie Daoxun, the female prime minister of the State of Wu.
She turned her head to look at the young man and asked softly, "When did the Second Prince come to Xiluo City?"
The young man hurriedly said, "Your Excellency the Prime Minister, I just arrived."
Xie Daoxun asked, "What's the matter?"
The young man took two steps forward and nodded, "It's still about Nanchu. We promised them before that we would marry our Thirteenth Sister to them and hand over Leiyang Prefecture to them."
"Originally, the agreement was to officially hold the wedding two years later and hand over Leiyang Prefecture."
"But the envoy from Nanchu is here again."
"The envoy said that the handover of Leiyang can be carried out according to the previous agreement."
"But the marriage must be completed immediately."
"The Second Prince of Nanchu can't wait any longer."
"My mother asked me to come and see the Prime Minister to see how to deal with the situation."
"After all, my father's health is deteriorating, and my thirteenth sister is his best daughter."
"At this time, Thirteenth Sister must not marry into Nanchu."
Xie Daoxun nodded slightly, and there was no change on her ordinary face.
"Second Prince, please report to the Queen Mother. Regarding the envoys from Southern Chu, please talk about the marriage. I will give them a final decision after I return to the Imperial Capital."
These words came out of her mouth as if she was arranging something as ordinary as eating and drinking.
You know, this is a royal marriage, although it is a marriage with a foreign country.
It's a state affair.
But it's too much.
From this, we can see how much the entire Wu court and outside the court relied on her.
The second prince nodded: "It's good to have the Prime Minister say this."
After a pause, the second prince continued, "But, I wonder how the Prime Minister plans to deal with this?"
"The envoys from Southern Chu came here with an extremely tough attitude."
"Looking at the situation, if Wu State doesn't agree, I'm afraid it won't work."
Xie Daoxun shook his head slightly: "Your Highness, don't worry. I have my own way to deal with it."
Having said that, she turned around and continued to tend to the flowers and plants in front of her.
…
In the blink of an eye, another month has passed.
After repeated smelting, the first batch of one thousand kilograms of steel was finally produced by Zhao Hao.
Zhao Hao divided the two thousand blacksmiths into groups of three and began to teach them the forging methods.
Today, qualified steel is available, but forging it into a powerful weapon is still a long and arduous project.
Moreover, the craftsmanship is also extremely demanding.
Zhao Hao started to operate it himself, and then asked the blacksmiths to watch carefully from the side.
However, the steel was unusually hard, much stronger than the one he had forged repeatedly in a small furnace.
For two or three days in a row, even the most basic body shaping was not completed.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
