"The sword is three feet long. The blade is as cold as a mirror. The blade is as thin as a cicada's wing. There is a bit of cold light condensed in the middle, as if it is constantly flowing. This sword can fight against the floating clouds and the Jedi. It's such a good sword! It's really a sword. A good sword! But the weight of the sword is more than 40 kilograms! This... how is this possible? No... Lord Hou! This sword is definitely not made of ordinary iron in the world. Could it be a mysterious iron from heaven? ?”
Qiquge Workshop, inside Li Zexuan’s office.
Zhang Hongsheng held Li Zexuan's Wind-Chasing Sword tightly, as if admiring a peerless beauty. He greedily cast his eyes on the smooth and cold sword body like a mirror. The more he looked at it, the more he looked at it. The more excited he became, finally, he looked up at Li Zexuan with a look of disbelief on his face and asked in a trembling voice.
This sword was sharper and more sophisticated than the Crow Nine Sword that his father had devoted his whole life to forging. How could this not shock him?
But the moment he raised his head, the hair scattered in front of him was accidentally thrown on the sword blade. Everyone saw that the hair was easily cut off as soon as it touched the sword blade, and then fell lightly to the ground!
Blown hair and broken hair, so scary!
This is real hair blowout!
Uncle Fu, Wang Ji, Zhang Hongsheng, Song Xiaosi and others could not help but gasp at this moment. This kind of sharp magic weapon that only existed in ancient legends was actually seen by them today!
At this time, Li Zexuan smiled at Zhang Hongsheng and said: "Brother Zhang, you are right, this sword is indeed not made of ordinary iron in the world, it is made of extraterrestrial black iron!"
"Gudong!"
Zhang Hongsheng swallowed hard. At this time, he had completely let go of his arrogance as a child of a sword-making family, because the sword in Li Zexuan's hand was more powerful than any sword he had ever seen. What else did he have? To be proud? So, he handed the Wind Chasing Sword to Li Zexuan with a sincere expression and said:
"How can such a peerless sword be unknown? Please tell me which famous sword this is? Which famous swordsmith made it?"
Li Zexuan replied in a deep voice: "This sword is called Zhui Feng Sword. It was accidentally obtained by my master from a master who traveled all over the world during his lifetime. As for which famous master made it, I don't know!"
"Wind Chasing Sword? What a great name! It's a pity, I don't know which famous master made it!"
Zhang Hongsheng murmured something, then he looked hesitant, paused for a moment, gritted his teeth and said: "Master Hou, Zhang has a merciless request, I hope you will grant it!"
Li Zexuan took a deep look at Zhang Hongsheng, his eyes seemed to be able to see into people's hearts. He smiled slightly and said, "You want to borrow this sword and take it back to your father for a look, right?"
Zhang Hongsheng was stunned for a moment, and then he said with embarrassment: "Yes... yes, Lord Marquis! My father has been pursuing the ultimate sword-making method all his life. This Wind Chasing Sword, both in terms of material and craftsmanship, is the best that Zhang Hongsheng has ever known in his life." This is the best sword I have ever seen. When my father sees it, he will definitely be delighted. He is already very old. As a son, all I can do is to make him more happy and leave less regrets during his lifetime!"
"Senior Zhang's pursuit of the supreme swordsmanship throughout his life is indeed admirable, but this Wind-Chasing Sword was left behind by my master during his lifetime. How can I lend it out so easily?"
Li Zexuan sighed softly, and then changed the topic. Zhang Hongsheng's expression suddenly darkened, and he thought that he was overthinking. Who would be willing to lend this peerless sword easily? What's more, this Wind Chasing Sword is a legacy of Master Li Zexuan during his lifetime, which is of great significance.
But at this time, Li Zexuan said again: "However, out of your filial piety, I can't lend you this sword, but you must agree to help me build a new pair of armor. After agreeing, I will lend the sword to you immediately." You, and allow you three days of loan time!"
Zhang Hongsheng's eyes lit up and he said quickly: "Master Hou! I promise! I promise! Not to mention a set of armors, even if you ask me to make a hundred or a thousand sets of armors, I am willing!"
Li Zexuan said amusedly: "Brother Zhang, I haven't even said what kind of armor I want you to build, and you agreed so simply?"
Zhang Hongsheng said with confidence: "Master Hou, I am not boasting about Zhang. There are various armors from all dynasties, such as rattan armor, black armor, sleeve armor, two crotch armor, light armor, thin scale armor, mountain wen armor, etc." Zhang can make Mingguang armor and so on, uh... Mr. Hou, you should tell me what the new armor you want to make looks like, right?"
But it was Zhang Hongsheng who was bragging so much that he suddenly remembered the embarrassing incident of almost falling when he took the sword. He felt that he couldn't speak so confidently in front of Li Zexuan, otherwise he would easily fall into trouble. After all, he was a person who had suffered a loss once before!
Everyone couldn't help but laugh when they heard Zhang Hongsheng's incoherent words and his obvious cowardice at the critical moment. Mainly because this guy was too damn real, right?
Li Zexuan didn't smile. He turned around and picked up a pile of drawings on his desk, and then pulled out four drawings. Then he motioned for everyone to come to him. He spread out the drawings and said, "Brother Zhang, the armor I asked you to build. It’s called plate armor. The so-called plate armor is not just an iron plate. It must be light, the joints can move flexibly, and it must cover the whole body! Here, here are the drawings!”
Among the many drawings he drew in the office this morning, some of them were drawing armor!
Everyone looked at the drawings and their eyes widened. Zhang Hongsheng couldn't help but exclaimed:
"This...this plate armor actually covers the whole body? Although this defensive part is indeed more comprehensive than the Mingguang Armor, but if the whole body is covered with armor, how heavy is this set of plate armor? If a soldier wears it How can we still move? Let alone fight!"
Li Zexuan explained from the side: "Haha, how heavy is this set of plate armor? We will talk about it later. I will first explain to you the structure of this plate armor. This set of plate armor is composed of a helmet, armor, breastplate, back It consists of armor, shoulder armor, wrist armor, elbow armor, leg armor, greaves and steel shoes. The joints are stacked with multiple layers of movable steel sheets to ensure that the soldiers' movements are not hindered during war.
No steel sheets are used inside the shoulder armor, and the hollow structure is maintained, allowing the limbs to move more space. The joints connecting the torso and other parts are lined with deerskin or linen, and interlocking locks are used. The armor is protected on the inside, so that the weight of the entire armor is borne by the whole body, and it is comfortable to wear.
The breastplate part of this kind of plate armor is made up of three pieces, with the middle piece being narrower and playing a connecting role. This structure allows the breastplate to have a certain degree of mobility, making the wearer's movements more flexible.
Of course, one of the biggest features of this set of plate armor is the use of neck armor. A simple helmet cannot protect the area below the mouth, but this set of plate armor uses a large neck guard with a jaw guard to completely protect the face. For insurance purposes, this set of plate armor also uses Armpit armor is worn to protect the armpits.
In addition, the surface of the plate armor is designed with ribs to enhance the protective effect and reduce weight. In this way, all parts of the human body are located within the steel armor. On the battlefield, it is completely invulnerable and not afraid of arrows! "
In fact, the plate armor Li Zexuan is going to make is called Gothic plate armor. In his previous life, he was not only an engineering dog, but also a military fan. He had seen many dismantling pictures of armors from various countries in the ancient world on the Internet.
Plate armor is known as the king of armor. It is a symbol of medieval knights and the ultimate defense in the cold weapon era. In the Hundred Years' War between England and France, there is no record of a bow and arrow effectively penetrating a plate armor breastplate! When firearms appeared later, it was so powerful that it could even withstand damage from ordinary matchlock guns!
From the 14th to the 15th century, the progress in the structure and shape of armor was very obvious. The most famous plate armor in world history - Gothic and Milanese plate armor, began to appear at this time: because the former was derived from Milan It became popular, and the latter was greatly influenced by Gothic art style, so these two armor styles are called Milanese and Gothic.
But both Milanese and Gothic armor originated in Italy, but the Germans developed Gothic to its peak, leading many people to mistakenly believe that Gothic originated in Germany.
Among all types of plate armor, these two are the most popular. There are other styles, but they are basically imitations of these two types. The Milanese style is characterized by rounded lines, close-fitting, graceful, and beautiful shapes. Beautiful; while Gothic is simple, full of functional beauty, multi-angular and sporty.
"Ingenious! It is indeed ingenious! With these designs, it is indeed possible to protect the whole body without affecting the movement of the body's joints! But how much does the overall weight of this set of plate armor weigh? Can the soldiers bear it?"
Zhang Hongsheng couldn't help but exclaimed.
The Mingguang Armor of the Tang Dynasty can be regarded as the armor with the highest technological content and the highest defensive power in the Tang Dynasty. However, compared with the full-body plate armor designed by Li Zexuan, it is completely insignificant. But the only thing that makes Zhang Hongsheng doubtful is this. The weight of a full-body plate armor!
The rest of the people also cast doubtful eyes on Li Zexuan. Apparently everyone agreed that the defensive power of plate armor far exceeded that of light armor. The only remaining doubt was the weight!
Li Zexuan smiled slightly and said: "Haha! You don't have to worry about the weight at all. This kind of plate armor is made to the extreme. The weight of a set will never exceed forty kilograms, and the weight of a set of Mingguang Armor must be under five. About ten pounds, right? At the same defense level, plate armor is definitely lighter than Mingguang armor!"
Li Zexuan is not bragging. In modern times, when people talk about plate armor, their first reaction is that it is bulky and inflexible. In fact, these are people’s misunderstandings about plate armor. In fact, plate armor is not only flexible, but also lightweight. , the weight of a set of Gothic plate armor will not exceed 25 kilograms (one kilogram in the Tang Dynasty is equal to more than 600 grams in modern times, so twenty-five kilograms converted to about forty kilograms in the Tang Dynasty), The weight of a set of Mingguang Armor is about thirty kilograms!
A soldier wearing Gothic plate armor can even perform various difficult movements, a very flexible one! Moreover, the plate armor made by a highly skilled armor-casting master cannot even insert a piece of paper into the gaps between the armor pieces, so the defense is simply not very good!
It’s like a beggar version of Iron Man!
And Li Zexuan wants to make five thousand such Iron Man!
"This...how is this possible? This set of armor definitely weighs more than forty pounds!"
Zhang Hongsheng shook his head violently, with a look of disbelief.
Li Zexuan said with a smile: "I'm afraid Brother Zhang may have misunderstood. I don't plan to use the casting method for this plate armor. I want to use the forging method to polish the plate armor to about this thickness!"
As he spoke, Li Zexuan drew a thickness of about five millimeters with his hand.
Forged armor is not only thinner, but also stronger than cast armor. This is an indisputable fact!
"Forging? Such a thin thickness? Do you need to ensure uniform thickness?"
Zhang Hongsheng was a little confused: "Master Hou, according to your request, it is not impossible to do it, but it is extremely time-consuming and laborious to do. If you make one or two pieces, Zhang can still do it, but once the number is too large, Zhang It’s really powerless!”
At this time, Zhang Hongsheng felt extremely lucky that he had stopped in time when he was urging Niubi, otherwise he would have been embarrassed again! At the same time, he secretly said that he must never brag in front of Li Zexuan in the future, because Li Zexuan is poisonous, and if he brags in front of him, he will be slapped in the face instantly!
Li Zexuan smiled again and said: "Brother Zhang, you have misunderstood again. The forging I am talking about is not forging by manually swinging a sledgehammer as you imagined, but forging by a stamping machine tool with constant force and constant speed. It can ensure that the surface of the forged object is smooth and the thickness is uniform!"
"Pressing machine tool? Is there such an artifact in the world? Why doesn't Zhang know about it?"
Zhang Hongsheng said with excitement.
If according to Li Zexuan's statement, the stamping machine tool can be regarded as an artifact in the eyes of blacksmiths! After all, with this thing, you no longer have to hit the iron with hammer after hammer~!
Li Zexuan said: "This stamping machine tool is driven by water power, so it can also be called a hydraulic stamping machine tool. However, the production of this machine tool has not yet started. When it is completed, it will definitely have this effect! Xiaosi, go and get Mr. Mo Please come over with Miss Mo and tell them that I have something to ask them!"
"Yes! Master!"
Song Xiaosi took the order and left.
Uncle Fu asked at this time: "Master, did you invite Mr. Mo and the others to come over to make the kind of hydraulic stamping machine tool you just mentioned?"
Li Ze To provide power, we just need to connect some transmission mechanisms to it! However, in addition to the hydraulic stamping machine tool, I also plan to make some other things, let’s talk about it when they come!”
The reason why Europe in the Middle Ages was able to manufacture full-body plate armor relied on advanced hydraulic stamping equipment! Li Zexuan wanted to build this thing last year, but at that time he didn't have a dam, so he couldn't build a hydraulic stamping machine tool. Now that the dams and hydropower stations have been built, he can finally flex his muscles!
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