After many years, Dou Qing finally met his life's number one nemesis again. It was not then. When Yang Ming came to Hedong for the first time, he was not too polite, but now, he is completely humble.
"Prince, you are tired from traveling and traveling. Please come to your residence and rest." Dou Qing trotted over and helped Yang Ming out of the carriage himself.
Yang Ming smiled and said, "Did Mr. Dou keep an eye on Wen Xi's matter?"
"Sure, sure," Dou Qing said with a smile.
The two of them entered the Hedong Prince's Mansion, followed by hundreds of officials.
Now it is no longer Hedong Prince's Mansion, there is no king in Hedong, but the mansion is still Yang Ming's property, and there are always people here.
Yang Ming has not lived here since the palace was built in the eighteenth year of the Emperor's reign.
At this time, looking at the scene in the house, I feel that the years are passing by like a shuttle.
"Okay, let them all go. I have nothing to explain. I will only stay here for one night and will go to Wenxi tomorrow."
After Yang Ming entered the front hall, he asked Dou Qing to send away all the local officials, leaving only Xu Deyan, Xiao Mohe, Song Laosheng and Xiao Shilian. These four people were Yang Ming's.
Song Laosheng is not old at all, that is, he is about forty years old. This person was promoted by Xiao Mohe, and Xiao Mohe intended to let him take over Yang Ming's elite unit in Hedong.
Xiao Mohe is old. He is over 70 years old. He can help Yang Ming practice this elite song. He has fulfilled his merits. At the moment, he only plans to retire as a captain of Hedong County and a general of hussars in the military mansion until he dies. After that, the eldest son Xiao Shilian sent him back to his hometown in Lanling for burial.
Yes, she was also from the Lanling Xiao family, but she was far away from Queen Xiao's Nanliang Xiao family.
"Shi Lian is not an outsider, but I have only just met you now. I feel it is too late to meet you," Yang Ming said with a smile.
Xiao Shilian is in his forties this year and has always lived in Shixing County, Nanhai County, because Xiao Maha and his family moved from Lanling to Shixing very early, which is just north of Guangzhou.
Xiao Shilian hurriedly stood up and said: "The prince has given me and his son the gift of reincarnation. I look forward to my humble position every day. I can see the prince's grace as soon as possible. Seeing him today will satisfy me for the rest of my life."
Xiao Mohe was different from other generals in Nanchen. He led the main force of the Chen army to surrender to the Sui Dynasty, which was considered a meritorious service, so his sons were not taken captive to the capital.
As a result, the second son Xiao Shilue, who stayed in his hometown, rebelled in Jiangnan, was suppressed by Yang Su, and was defeated and died. However, the eldest son Xiao Shilian did not participate from beginning to end and survived by luck.
Yang Ming smiled and said: "Sit down quickly, don't be polite to me."
Then, Yang Ming looked at Song Laosheng with interest and said:
"This time Gu came to Hedong. On the one hand, I wanted to go to Wenxi to see the situation of the refining kiln. On the other hand, I wanted to meet a few of you. You are just a soldier from Hedong and join the army, but you hold Gu's elite private army in your hands. , although the rank is low, the power is not small."
Song Laosheng hurriedly said: "It is a humble honor to serve the prince, but I hope to train the most elite and invincible army in the world for the prince."
"Very good," Yang Ming nodded and said, "I will leave this private army to you and Shi Lian. It may be of great use in the future. Just wait for the opportunity. Once it is revealed, it will be a great success."
Song Laosheng was overjoyed: "He is a rough man in a humble position. He only knows that he only obeys the prince's orders in order to live up to the cultivation of the prince and Mr. Xiao."
"Okay," Yang Ming smiled and raised his glass: "Everyone, please drink this glass to the full."
Everyone in the hall stood up and toasted to Yang Ming.
After Dou Qing finished drinking with a smile, he sat down and said:
"Qiao Zhongkui wrote a letter, hoping to come to Hedong to meet the prince. I wonder if the prince has met?"
"A prefect of a county should not leave his post without permission unless he has important duties. Tell him that he will see you when you have the opportunity in the future," Yang Ming said.
Qiao Zhongkui is also attracted to Yang Ming now. His son Qiao Chun has already served in the East Palace, so he thinks that he is the prince's man. When he heard that Yang Ming was coming to Hedong, he asked Dou Qing to ask to see if he had a chance. Meet the prince.
After all, they are their backstage, and they still need to meet each other from time to time to promote their relationship.
That night, Yang Ming stayed at the Hedong Palace and set off for Wenxi County the next morning.
Wenxi is the Pei family's hometown. Only the person named Pei has the final say in this place, and it's hard for anyone to do it.
When Yang Ming arrived outside Wenxi County, a welcoming team of nearly a thousand people had been waiting outside the city gate for a long time, including Dugu Huaien.
"Tell them that I won't go into the city and let them lead the way and go to the kiln to take a look," Yang Ming told Chen Kui. The latter passed on his meaning, and the Pei family was divided. Hundreds of riders led the way toward the deep mountains to the east of the county seat.
Dugu Huaien, on the other hand, was called into the carriage by Yang Ming.
After being separated for more than half a year, the boy's face is now peeling from the sun, but his expression is very excited, and it seems that he is making good progress.
Dugu Huaien didn't wait for Yang Ming to ask questions, and rubbed his hands excitedly and said:
"The Pei family has been very helpful. They found several good mines that are easy to mine and of good quality. Six smelting kilns have been built now. After all, it is still the early days. Some weapons have been released in advance. They are not good. Let's improve slowly. .”
Yang Ming said: "It can't be slowed down. If it could be slowed down, I wouldn't have to go there myself. Yan Pi asked me for help and asked me to deliver a batch of ordnance and armor to him before the end of the year so that he can deal with His Majesty."
"What do you care about him? This is an errand given to him by His Majesty, not for you. There is no need to help him," Dugu Huaien said:
"The process of smelting and casting is extremely complicated. It doesn't mean that you can do it quickly. Only slow work can produce fine work. It didn't take long for the smelting kiln to be ignited, and many processes are not perfect. Let me make it clear to you in advance. I can't do it fast. Besides, I am It is to produce high-quality products, not to supply military supplies to the imperial court."
Yang Ming smiled and said, "You can tell His Majesty this."
"I don't dare, so I will complain to you," Dugu Huaien curled his lips and said, "If I tell him that, he can reward me with twenty sticks."
After all, this kid was raised by Yang Guang's biological mother Dugu Jialuo for two years. In Yang Guang's heart, he is a very close cousin. With his personality like this, Yang Guang doesn't care about his words. .
Yang Ming smiled and said, "I'll check the situation first before talking."
The mines are basically distributed in the deep mountains in Tangying Township, so the smelting kiln is naturally located in Tangying Township. It is distributed among the six villages in the township. The ore is sourced from the large and small mountains in the Tangwang Mountain area.
Tangwang Mountain was originally called Tiaoshan, but later changed to Jingshan. Historically, Shang Tang sent troops here to fight the Xia army in Mingtiao, destroying Xia and establishing Shang. Therefore, the mountain was renamed Tangwang Mountain, which is still used today.
There are rich iron ore resources in the mountains. Some of the mineral spots are difficult to mine but easy to mine. This time, the Pei family was very interesting and took the initiative to point out them.
So so far, the mining has been going very smoothly. The Pei family has also spent a lot of effort to repair the road, and the ore from the mountains is being continuously sent to Tangying Township.
In the village, smoke was rising all over the place, and the sound of blacksmithing was constant and very harsh.
The smelting technology of the Sui Dynasty was very backward and the environment was also poor. Fortunately, professionals from Taifu Temple were placed here, and sewers were dug early to divert sewage out of the village. Otherwise, there would not even be a place to stay in the village. No.
The village where Yang Ming is located is called Shimen Village. There are eighteen smelting furnaces. Because all the ore comes from one mining kiln, a village can be called a smelting kiln alone.
The ore material from each mine is different and cannot be mixed and matched. Therefore, the smelting kiln in a village uses iron ore from one mine and cannot replace other ores.
There are many barracks here, which are the residences of workers. The population of this originally small village has soared, and business has also prospered. There are people selling everything, including those who sell their bodies.
As an expert, Yun Dingxing accompanied Yang Ming and introduced the entire smelting and forging process to Yang Ming. Among them, Yang Ming met craftsmen from Shandong in a smelting shed, using Qi Wuhuai from the Northern Qi Dynasty. Wen's steel filling technology.
The double-liquid quenching method can only use chestnut charcoal to burn the kiln.
Chestnut charcoal is charcoal made from chestnut trees. If you use this to make a fire, there will be fewer impurities in the fire and it will not easily pollute the iron.
In fact, this mainly involves the avoidance and application of some chemical elements. Yang Ming doesn't understand what they are specifically.
So, accompanied by Dugu Huaien, Yun Dingxing and others, he personally observed a smelting process. Dozens of the best craftsmen were working on it carefully, sweating profusely.
The temperature in the greenhouse rose instantly with the burning iron blowing, and Yang Ming was also sweating profusely.
When the moon sets and the sun rises, the craftsmen open the bottom of the furnace, and then a ball of fiery red iron slag like cotton slowly flows out. This is called a lump of iron smelting.
The smelting furnaces in the Sui Dynasty were not large, only one person tall, so the blast effect was poor and the melting point could not be raised. Therefore, molten iron could not be produced, but only lumps of smelting iron could be produced, which is the cotton-like iron slag now.
The next step is quenching and cooling. It is soft and cannot be picked up. It must be cooled to make it slightly harder. Quenching and cooling can also remove some impurities in the iron slag.
Cooling was very time-consuming. After about an hour, three craftsmen picked it up with iron tongs, placed it on the forging table, and started forging with a clanging sound.
As the saying goes, strike while the iron is hot. Only then can you forge an iron block into the shape you need through continuous forging. This is a hard work and very time-consuming and physical.
After another two and a half hours, a sword blade was completed. At this time, the internal structure of the iron sword had been finalized and could be directly cooled by water. With a hiss, the entire greenhouse was filled with smoke.
The knife handles are all made of wood, with iron rings locked on them to prevent cracking of the wooden handles and to tighten the blade.
As for sharpening, it's simple and not a technical job.
This is how a knife is made. You won't know it until you look at it. Yang Ming feels that this kind of craftsmanship is too backward. No wonder Yan Bi is worried to death. In what year and month can it be assembled with this kind of output? An army of millions?
You must know that just one pair of armor requires dozens of craftsmen working day and night for a month to complete.
Yang Ming felt that his trip to Hedong would probably last a long time.
