"Your Majesty!"
"Sister Hu Ling."
Hu Jiu and Shisan greeted Zhang Qi at the entrance of Water Forge.
The two got married a few years ago, and Zhang Qi personally witnessed it. Now the child is almost three years old.
Zhang Qi hummed and smiled.
Hu Ling also nodded.
Hu Jiu led the way sideways and led Zhang Qi and others into the water forging workshop.
This is the periphery of the water forge. The site is flat and used for stacking materials.
The core area has to go further in, by the river.
A mile or two up the river, the river surface has been repaired into dozens of steps. The flood control slopes made of concrete lock the water flow in it, without any spillage. The water flows down the steps one by one and keeps moving forward, closing this section. The area forms a turbulent zone.
Flowing through the area of the water forging workshop, hundreds of forging hammers were built on the concrete floor by the river. The water flow drove the water wheel, and the water wheel drove the connector, pressing down the end of the forging hammer and raising the forging hammer high. As soon as the force exerted by the waterwheel on the connector disappeared, the forging hammer slammed downwards.
boom--
The voice was dull, thinking it was powerful.
The skilled craftsman took out the half-breastplate that had been formed on the anvil, and the apprentices following him continued to trim it with small hammers.
The armor is released very quickly.
Zhang Qi followed Hu Jiu and the others around, nodding in approval from time to time.
When you reach the end of the water forge.
Zhang Qi was surprised to find that they were already trying the simplest stamping.
The two forging hammers at the back are two or three times taller than the ones at the front, and even the waterwheel is oversized.
This is just a different style of forging hammer here.
The striking surface of the forging hammer is not flat and curved, but looks like a breastplate.
The impact point of the forging hammer is no longer an anvil, but also a breastplate mold that is consistent with the striking surface of the forging hammer.
There is also a furnace here, in which the flake iron burns red.
The craftsman smeared grease on the striking surface of the stationary forging hammer and the mold below, and the two of them worked together to pick up the red iron piece and place it on the mold.
Release the buckle of the forging hammer, and with a bang, the forging hammer fell directly, smashing the iron piece into the mold.
Click click click.
The dropped forging hammer was driven by the water wheel and the connector, and rose up little by little. The craftsman standing nearby waited for the forging hammer to reach a certain height and then inserted the buckle in, and then others came forward to check.
From the outside, Hu Jiu explained: "Some craftsmen came forward to check before the buckle was secure, and an accident occurred. Later we set this rule."
Zhang Qi nodded. Various accidents would occur during the production process. It is necessary to discover and correct them in time.
He also stepped forward.
"how?"
The question is whether the breastplate is formed.
He could tell that this was still a testing area, and everyone was moving very slowly.
For one, there is uncertainty so I have to think about it every time. For the other, practice makes perfect.
"director."
The craftsmen all saluted Hu Jiu and Thirteen, but they did not recognize Zhang Qi.
Hu Jiu was startled and quickly introduced.
"This is your Majesty."
"I've seen you, Your Majesty!"
The craftsmen were also startled, and they all knelt down and saluted.
Zhang Qi helped them up with a smile and said: "There is no need for so much red tape on this occasion. Keep everything simple. The focus is on the work at hand. How is the armor? Is it ready?"
After being helped up by Zhang Qi, the craftsmen were still a little shaky.
They are all Han citizens who fled or were rescued in recent years and came here. Although they have known for a long time that the officials here are not like the officials of the Han Dynasty, officials are officials. Zhang Qi's existence here is analogous to the status of an emperor.
When have they ever seen such a big person?
At this time, the master craftsman among these people spoke up, his tone a little cautious.
"Reporting to your Majesty, I still can't use it as armor. Although the shape has been formed, the top of the armor..."
As he spoke, he called two people to lift out the breastplate from the mold.
I saw that the center of the previously square iron piece had been dented to form a breastplate, and only the edges needed to be cut and polished.
"Your Majesty, this armor looks fine, but it is full of large and small cracks. It is still not as good as the hammered breastplates in front of it."
The master said so.
Zhang Qi also looked closer.
The hot air hits my face, and I get closer. The situation is exactly as the master said. There are several obvious cracks on the armor. Although this method is ten times faster than the previous methods of forging armor, the technology is still immature.
Fortunately, Zhang Qi was not disappointed. Instead, he encouraged these craftsmen with a smile: "If the technology is not mature, then experiment more, and you will always be able to figure it out. In addition to looking for problems with the forging hammer, you can also look for problems with the materials."
Zhang Qi said one by one.
It is worthy of recognition that Water Forge has the drive to conduct self-research. Anyway, nothing is wasted. At most, it is just some labor.
These were broken, and the shapeless breastplates were dragged to the smelting blast furnace, where they were melted into molten iron and turned into steel again, so it was not unusable.
After chatting with the craftsmen here for a while, Zhang Qi also left with Hu Jiu and others.
The Water Forge will become his important armor production base in the future, and he still attaches great importance to it. Whether it is breastplates or mass production of armor plates, it can be used here competently.
As for the simplest stamping forging hammer that Zhang Qi saw just now, it is actually very difficult to use it to shape breastplates, because it has to be concave, which greatly tests the extensibility of the metal. On the contrary, if it is used to make When it comes to piercing armor pieces, that kind of forging hammer is more capable.
Although the plate armor technology has not been perfected yet, even if the plate armor is perfected in the future and canned masters can be produced, pierced armor will still become one of Zhang Qi's choices for large-scale use.
Plate armor has the advantages of plate armor. It is flexible and has high defense. As long as it is not attacked by firearms, ballistas, heavy objects, etc., plate armor is invincible. Even if it is hit by a shield, plate armor can withstand many hits. .
However, the advantages of lanyard armor are also obvious. lanyard armor is different from the large parts of plate armor. lanyard armor is made of countless armor pieces. If something is broken, you can just dismantle and replace it. This is incomparable with plate armor.
As far as defense is concerned, the defensive power of pierced armor has been tested for thousands of years and is trustworthy. The pressure on logistics is far less than that of plate armor.
And the most important thing is that the binding properties of plate armor are too high. If the same plate armor is to be used by multiple people, their body shapes must not deviate too much. Otherwise, the fatter one will not be able to wear it, and the thinner one will not be able to wear it. Swing up.
There is no such worry when it comes to nail piercing. If you are fatter, loosen the rope buckle, and if you are thinner, tighten it. It is flexible and versatile.
In addition to plate armor, pierced armor, and cloth-faced armor, Zhang Qi is also considering this. This kind of armor is more flexible than pierced armor, and the armor that hides the armor pieces in a layer of cotton also has its own characteristics.
(End of chapter)
