In front of me was a rocky mountain, bare and completely covered with rock walls, without a single weed growing on it. Not only was the mountain high, it was also huge, and even more terrible was that it had almost no slope, it was completely straight up and down.
Feng Yuheng looked up, his chin stretched to a pain, before he could see a tiny peak of the mountain at the end of the clouds. He couldn't help but sigh, "Towering above the sky, this is what the mountain is about, right?"
Xuan Tianming explained to her: "This mountain is called Xutian. It is the highest mountain in the Pingxu Mountain Range, and also the most dangerous one. This mountain stands vertically, with its peak reaching into the sky. There are rocks on all sides, and there is no possibility of climbing."
She asked curiously: "What about you? Can you flip over with your Qinggong skills?"
Xuan Tianming shook his head. "We are not immortals. Even if we use Qinggong to climb the mountain, we still need to step on it many times. What's more, although the barrier mountain we climbed is high, it is still less than 30% of the Xutian Mountain. A mountain that reaches the clouds is so high that even the most powerful Qinggong master can't climb it even if he dies of exhaustion."
"So that's how it is." Feng Yuheng still looked up, thinking in his heart, "You said, this camp is not far from the capital. Such a high mountain should be visible from the capital. Why have I never noticed it?"
Xuan Tianming pointed ahead and told her: "The capital is on the back of the mountain. There is a big river over there. The air is humid all year round. The water mist rises up and directly connects to the clouds, just covering up the mountain."
Feng Yuheng only felt that it was magical, and now that she was alone at the foot of the mountain, she was also extremely shocked. However, the more shocking thing was yet to come, and she saw Qian Li pointing at the big stone mountain in front of her and told her: "County Lady, Xutian Cave is inside this mountain."
"Huh?" Feng Yuheng was stunned. Inside the mountain? Could it be that... "This mountain is empty?"
Xuan Tianming couldn't help but laugh at her silly look, and said softly: "If you are really curious, you can uproot this mountain, put it in your sleeve, and take it back to study it slowly."
She shook her head repeatedly: "No, no, my sleeves don't have that much space, this is a mountain!"
As she spoke, Qian Li had already walked forward a few steps. There were heavy soldiers guarding the front, and she looked carefully and found that the mountain opposite seemed a little different, but she couldn't tell what was different, so she could only push Xuan Tianming and follow Qian Li forward.
Finally, the mountain was within reach. When the soldiers guarding the mountain saw that they were coming, they quickly knelt down and saluted. Xuan Tianming asked them to stand up and said lightly: "Open the mountain." Dozens of soldiers rushed forward and pushed towards the mountain together.
Feng Yuheng stroked her forehead. She had heard of the fable of Yugong moving the mountain. Now she saw a real-life version of soldiers moving the mountain. She felt a little excited just thinking about it!
At this time, there was a loud "boom" and a crack was actually pushed open on the mountain by these soldiers. Then the soldiers continued to push, and the crack became bigger and bigger, and finally formed a huge stone door.
The gate that opens up against the mountain is so huge that it is quite shocking to see it with your own eyes. In such an era without any mechanical production tools, it is really not easy to open such a mountain gate.
But the hard part was still to come. As soon as the mountain gate opened, the soldiers immediately returned to their positions. Qian Li made a gesture of invitation to everyone, then strode forward and entered the mountain gate first.
Xuan Tianming pinched Feng Yuheng's little hand and said, "Come on, let's go in and show you this legendary Xutian Cave."
With great curiosity, she pushed her wheelchair and followed Qian Li into the mountain gate.
The cool wind blew straight at her, making her shiver. Suddenly, she remembered the natural caves in the southern region of her previous life, which were also built by hollowing out the mountain. She had visited there once with a tour group. It was cold as winter in the middle of summer, but it was as beautiful as a fairyland.
Looking here, the towering Xutian Mountain was hollowed out to the height of a seven-story building in the 21st century, and then various strange buildings were built in this hollow mountain. She noticed that there were spiral stairs around the mountain wall, and patrolling soldiers kept walking on it. There were also guard towers, each five steps high, and the soldiers standing on them should be able to see the whole picture of the Xutian Cave clearly.
This is only the part that can be seen at a glance. There are many passages around, and no one knows where they lead to.
Someone inside had already stepped forward to greet him. After greeting him, he said, "Sixteen blacksmiths and their apprentices are already waiting at the furnace. General, should you go over there to meet them, or ask them to come over?"
Xuan Tianming said: "Let's go to the furnace."
The man nodded and took the initiative to lead the way.
Before Feng Yuheng recovered from her shock, Xuan Tianming had already begun to tell her about the origin of Xutian Cave - "This was built by the founding emperor of Dashun. It took 30% of Dashun's labor force to dig and build this mountain to such an extent. After that, generation after generation of monarchs devoted themselves to the construction of Xutian Cave, paying more attention to it than to building their own mausoleums. It was not until my great-grandfather's generation that Xutian Cave was truly completed and could be put into use."
Feng Yuheng could imagine the perseverance of the ancients as they devoted generation after generation to a great building, but she couldn't understand why they hollowed out such a mountain.
Xuan Tianming knew what she was thinking, so he took the initiative to say, "In fact, when Dashun was first established, this place was built to avoid disasters. At that time, Dashun's territory was not so vast. After long-term wars, the whole country was in ruins. In addition, the four surrounding countries were eyeing it covetously. If they were not careful, they would suffer a disaster of national destruction. Therefore, the king had to choose a place in the suburbs of Kyoto that was easy to defend and difficult to attack as a place to save their lives at critical moments. The idea of digging Xutian Cave was proposed at that time. The previous kings of Dashun did not live long. After three generations, the national crisis was not completely resolved, so this Xutian Cave was also dug. Until the fourth king succeeded to the throne, the country was firmly established, but building here became a habit and a belief."
Feng Yuheng understood, "Xutian Cave has become a symbol. As long as this place is fine, the king can feel at ease, and it also means that Dashun is prosperous. Now, Dashun is already the most powerful country in the Middle Earth, and there are heavy troops on all four sides of the border. Even if there is a war, it must be fought on the battlefield with real swords and guns. Naturally, the king will no longer think of hiding in Xutian Cave. So this place is cheap for you, right?"
Xuan Tianming corrected her: "It's a bargain for us. I chose this place to make steel. I'm afraid that in the future, this will be the place where you spend the most time every day."
Feng Yuheng smiled, "Not bad, I like it here."
As they were talking, they had already reached the place the soldiers called the melting pot. That place was an independent space, connected to the main cave outside by a small path. The small path led in and led to this small cave.
It was called a small cave, but that was only compared to the big cave outside. In fact, this cave was not small at all. According to Feng Yuheng's calculations, it was at least 200 square meters. There were countless caves dug out around the mountain, and someone had already set up an iron smelting furnace there.
Qian Li clapped his hands at the people in the furnace and shouted, "Everyone come over here and meet our general and Princess Ji'an!"
Everyone knew that the general of the Northwest Army was the Ninth Prince, the most beloved by the current emperor. Everyone also knew that Princess Ji'an was the Ninth Prince's future wife, and the miracle doctor who was said to be even better than her grandfather Yao Xian. Everyone also knew that Princess Ji'an was the only person in Dashun who could make steel.
As soon as they heard that they were coming, the sixteen blacksmiths and their apprentices rushed up, kneeling and bowing, chanting, "Long live your Highness, the county lady!"
It was the first time that Feng Yuheng heard someone bring her along when they were shouting "Thousand Years Old". She felt a little uncomfortable for a moment. Xuan Tianming was naturally used to this scene. He raised his hand and said, "Everyone, get up!"
People stood up tremblingly. Feng Yuheng looked at these blacksmiths. Most of them were old, and the youngest looked to be over 45 years old. However, the apprentices they brought were very young, most of them were only in their teens.
Looking around, there were many tools placed next to the furnace, including a large bellows, charcoal and iron charcoal. After all, they were blacksmiths, so all the preparations were based on blacksmithing, but the tools were very complete and professional.
She took the initiative to ask those people: "Do you know why we brought you here?"
All the blacksmiths nodded and answered, "Yes, it is to refine something called steel."
A braver one asked, "I heard that the thing called steel is very hard and can break iron like mud. Is that true?"
He asked, and everyone opened their eyes expectantly, waiting for Feng Yuheng's answer.
She deliberately did not answer immediately, but took this opportunity to observe the eyes of these people. After looking at all sixteen of them, she could not help but nod with satisfaction. They were indeed the best blacksmiths. Although she did not see their craftsmanship, the pure enthusiasm they showed in the face of new and good things could not be faked. Only those who are absolutely passionate about their profession will show such an attitude when they hear that they can further improve their realm. These blacksmiths are all such people.
She was slightly relieved. The most feared thing about steelmaking is that one only has the skills but not the enthusiasm. In this era, no one has ever touched real steel. The first time they refine steel, it is very likely that ten, twenty, or even hundreds of furnaces will fail. Or without a firm belief and persistence, they simply cannot endure this kind of temper and cannot bear such torture. Such people are needed. Even if the skills are not so good, she can teach them little by little. As long as the enthusiasm is still there, everything is possible.
She told everyone: "It's an exaggeration to say that it can break iron like mud, but there is indeed a big difference between the toughness of steel and iron. Steel is a metal that is harder than iron. Theoretically, steel is an alloy, while iron is a single substance. The main difference between the two is the carbon content. To put it bluntly, steel is an iron-based alloy with a carbon content greater than or less than a fixed value. Maybe you don't understand what I'm saying -" She handed her steel knife to Bai Ze as she spoke, "Bai Ze, go and give it a try so that everyone can understand the difference between steel and iron."
Bai Ze happily took the knife and was about to try it out, but he heard an old man among the blacksmiths suddenly shout, "Wait a minute!"
...
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