On October 30th of the ninth year of the Xuanli reign, there was a heavy snowfall at Yanshan Pass.
On the morning of this day, the wedding procession broke camp and set out from Yanshan Pass. They walked out of the majestic pass and into the endless snowfield, and arrived in a foreign country.
The grassland has long been covered with heavy snow, and the vast snowfield is deserted.
Based on this reasoning, Peng Chengwu, the general of the northern frontier army, proposed to Tuoba Qiu, the envoy to welcome the bride, to send an additional thousand people. The reason was that the journey to Shangdu in the deserted country was long, and Princess Dayu was in delicate health and was afraid that she would not be able to get used to the food on the way.
These thousand men were not the main force of the northern frontier army, but menial workers responsible for logistics, so Tuoba Qiu finally agreed to let Peng Chengwu send a hundred men to specifically take charge of Her Royal Highness the Princess's diet.
Bai Yulian mixed in among these one hundred servants and dressed up as a servant.
Fu Xiaoguan did not go to the Desolate Country because he changed his original plan. The wedding procession would not even reach the newly built palace in the Desolate Country and would return.
The fighting power of the Divine Sword Army exceeded his expectations. Now they were in the territory of the barbarians. They had plundered several barbarians' ranches and had enough war horses, and they all changed into the barbarians' attire.
When the wedding procession enters the territory of the Wilderness Country, the magic sword will be unsheathed again, robbing the team, killing Tuoba Qiu and Tuoba Yuan, and then taking back Her Royal Highness the Third Princess.
As for responsibility, the Yu Dynasty must of course hold the Huang Kingdom accountable!
As for the consequences, Fu Xiaoguan is not worried about the possible conflict between the two countries.
At this moment, Fu Xiaoguan also left Xincheng. He returned to Pingling County and came to Zhouji Blacksmith Shop.
After these days of research, Zhou the blacksmith has a deeper understanding of this new steelmaking method.
"Master, you see, this steel is already a step ahead of iron in terms of strength, but I believe there's still room for improvement. I've been wondering what the problem is these days. Now it seems that the temperature of my wok is not high enough, resulting in the molten iron still containing too many impurities."
"Of course, it's this material. After using your Hundred Refining Method..." Blacksmith Zhou took out a piece of iron and handed it to Fu Xiaoguan. "This piece is the finished product after I forged it yesterday using the Hundred Refining Method. Its hardness and toughness have surpassed my pig iron pouring technology."
These days, Zhou the blacksmith has been completely obsessed with this new steelmaking method. Fu Xiaoguan gave him a full 1,000 taels of silver notes, which he used to buy a lot of materials and, of course, also hired the best doctor for his son.
He refined a whole piece of steel using the steel-making method taught to him by Fu Xiaoguan. This was already epoch-making - that is, this method could now be used to mass-produce steel.
But he still felt that this steel was not perfect enough. If it could be further improved in toughness and strength, it would be considered a technological breakthrough.
Fu Xiaoguan thought about it and it seemed that this thing had to be used in conjunction with a blast furnace. The temperature of the blast furnace could reach about 1200 degrees Celsius, but Zhou the blacksmith could not leave this place. What should he do?
He took the piece of tempered steel, looked at it carefully, knocked it, shook it, and found it was very good!
With this thing, the improvements of both the flintlock rifle and the red cannon will be taken to a higher level, and the weapons and equipment of the Excalibur Army can also be updated.
Of course, the application of steel has a broader market, but if it can be mass-produced, it will definitely be used in weapons and equipment first.
"If we want to go into Pingling Mountain to check out the mineral vein, when is the best time?"
"Master, the best time is between spring and summer."
"Hmm..." Fu Xiaoguan nodded. It would take another half a year to transport the iron from Xishan to this place, which would be a bit of a pain in the ass.
"Take this piece of tempered steel and forge it into a... Tang sword, like this."
Fu Xiaoguan squatted on the ground with a charcoal pencil and started drawing. Zhou the blacksmith also squatted there and watched carefully. He no longer found the young master's strange behavior and strange ideas strange.
The young master is not an ordinary person!
He didn't know how famous the name Fu Xiaoguan was in the world. The method of steel-making proposed by the young master was enough to make him admire him.
"The sword is ten feet long, straight, with a ridged back and a curved tip. The handle is wrapped in leather..."
Fu Xiaoguan spoke at length in an eloquent manner, leaving Zhou the blacksmith stunned.
He had been a blacksmith for half his life and had made many swords, but he had never seen a weapon of this style.
You say it is a knife, but it is not as wide as a knife and does not have the curve of a knife. You say it is a sword, but it is not double-edged. So the thing called Tang Dao that the young master mentioned made Zhou the blacksmith's eyes light up again.
"I'll try it now."
"No hurry..." Fu Xiaoguan dropped the charcoal pencil, stood up, and asked, "Is your son okay?"
"Thank you very much, young master. My son is finally better."
"Are you planning to let him inherit your craft?"
Blacksmith Zhou thought for a moment and said, "I only have this one son. The Zhou family's blacksmithing skills cannot be lost."
"I have an idea you'd like to hear."
"Master, please speak!"
"I plan to set up a weapons bureau here to forge weapons, including the Tang sword I just told you about, and of course many other things. This isn't a small workshop like yours. It needs to be larger in scale, and it needs to include steelmaking and refining."
"This requires many blacksmiths. I can send you some, but you still have to find the majority yourself."
"I'll leave this weapons bureau in your charge. You can teach them the techniques of steelmaking and the Hundred Refining Method. Hoarding something you own will only hinder technological advancement. In fact, this steel isn't the best. There's also a type called an alloy, which is made by smelting and fusing different materials."
"I don't have time to explain this to you in detail. You need to lead them to research it yourself. Of course, this kind of research doesn't require many people, but experience is needed. The main focus here is on making weapons."
"After I leave, you plan it yourself and come up with a plan, then find Zhang Ce, the person in charge of the cement workshop. He is one of my stewards. All the expenses and materials you need here will be handled directly by you and him, but the accounts must be clear. Are you qualified?"
Blacksmith Zhou was suddenly shocked. This was the young master's trust in him!
The young master taught me the methods of steel frying and refining, so of course I have to forge the best weapon in the world for him!
As a blacksmith, what could be more exciting than smelting the best materials and forging the strongest weapons?
He bowed and said, "I will definitely live up to your trust, young master!"
"Well, I'll have Butler Zhang build a brand new workshop at the foot of the mountain. It should be ready for use after the Chinese New Year. You can recruit people to prepare for it in the coming days."
Fu Xiaoguan came up with this idea on the spur of the moment. The progress in materials science did not happen overnight, but now with this fried steel, the weapon of the magic sword could surpass all opponents.
Since Zhou the Blacksmith cannot go to Xishan, he will set up another weapons bureau here and recruit a group of reserve members of the Divine Sword.
In Fu Xiaoguan's plan, the Excalibur Special Forces will have 10,000 qualified soldiers. When this 10,000-strong army is formed, they will use the Desolate Country as a sacrifice!
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