Kong Jing smiled and picked up a piece of armor from a large basket on the side and said, "Before making a piece of armor, you must first understand how forging works."
As he spoke, he turned to Mao Qiu on the side and said: "Mao Duizheng (Mao Qiu's situation is similar to Liu Yu's, he was also given the position of team superintendent), come and talk to Liu Duizheng about the making of this iron tool. "
As he spoke, he said in a deep voice to the other servants who were standing in a circle on one side and looking at Liu Yu and others in awe: "You are all itchy, aren't you? Go to work quickly!" As he said, he kicked When he got close to the guy who was trying to listen with his ears pricked up, he kicked him so hard that he fell six or seven steps away. The people around him had already experienced Kong Jing's tricks, so how could they dare to watch anymore? Dispersed, everyone went back to their posts.
The fur ball on the side said calmly: "It's a long story to talk about blacksmithing. In ancient times, people used bone tools, whittled wood into weapons, and polished stones. Blades made of bones or bones can be used as weapons. As for the armor on the body, just like the leather armor you are looking at now, it is taken from the skins of rhinos, zebras, elephants and other thick-skinned beasts, and soaked in oil. It is dried and then cut.”
"The armor made from male rhinoceros skin can last for a hundred years, while the armor made from female rhinoceros skin can last for two hundred years, and the armor made from mixed male and female rhinoceros skin can last for three hundred years. This has been handed down from the Spring and Autumn Period. It’s clearly written in the armor-making book.”
Liu Yu smiled and said: "In ancient times, the Central Plains was full of rhinoceros and elephants. Now that there are more people and more farmland in the world, these beasts are becoming less and less. How can there be so many rhinoceros leather armors?"
Feng Qian interjected: "Rhinoceros leather armor is no longer available, but buffalo skin, crocodile skin, shark skin are still there. They can also be made into leather armor. Later, pig skin and sheep skin can also be used to make armor. Although these are not as protective as the ancient ones." It’s beast leather armor, but generally it doesn’t have much of an issue with arrow protection, and it can also be equipped in large quantities.”
Maoqiu continued: "Over the past thousands of years, with the advancement of leather armor-making technology, even if it is made from pigskin or cowhide, the leather armor made from it is not inferior to the ancient rhino hide. Of course, the leather armor is mainly used to protect against arrows. There is also protection against the slashing and stabbing of bronze weapons. Once iron weapons appear in large numbers, it will be difficult for these leather armors to achieve a defensive effect."
Liu Yu sighed: "Yeah, iron weapons are extremely sharp. Even iron armor sometimes can't stop the thrust of a spear. It's no wonder that in addition to these leather armors, these armor pieces are added to increase the protection ability."
Maoqiu smiled and said: "That's right, but the making and polishing of these armor pieces is not easy. I just mentioned that in ancient times, bronze weapons were used and leather armors were worn. In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, iron weapons appeared, but At first, people only discovered that this iron could be used to make pig iron, and after being smelted many times, it could also be turned into wrought iron.”
"Pig iron cannot be forged and cannot be shaped into the shape you want. Wrought iron is too soft and not hard enough. People have not known the reason for this for many years. Therefore, early iron is far inferior to the bronze technology that has been mature for thousands of years. At the end of the Warring States Period, they were not used too much. Just like the Qin army, most of their weapons were mature bronze weapons, and there were not many iron weapons."
"It wasn't until the Han Dynasty that people gradually discovered that the key to the difference between iron and wrought iron lies in the different ingredients inside, and the most important ingredient is charcoal powder!"
Liu Yu opened his eyes wide: "Charcoal powder? Is it charcoal?"
Maoqiu smiled slightly: "Exactly, probably when people are making iron, they use charcoal to burn the furnace. Occasionally, some charcoal powder floats up and enters the wrought iron. These charcoal powder that enters unintentionally, but It changed the internal structure of the wrought iron, and no one expected that the charcoal powder from the embers after the wood was burned could actually become a key tool for turning iron into steel and becoming extremely hard."
"Not only that, after the charcoal powder is added to the wrought iron, it will be like pig iron after solidification. It is very hard. However, because it is very soft, it can be forged like wrought iron in the red-hot state. This forging Beating means placing the uncooled steel block on an iron plate and hitting it repeatedly with a sledgehammer until it is smashed into the required shape. Once the shape is completed, it is quickly quenched into cold water , it can change from red hot steel to the final shape in one fell swoop. There is a saying that strikes while the iron is hot, and that’s what it means.”
Liu Yu said thoughtfully: "In this way, it should be said that we should strike while the steel is hot, right?"
Maoqiu laughed: "That's right. Steel is struck while it's hot. Ever since people knew that infiltrating carbon powder can change the composition of steel and turn wrought iron into steel, they began to use it consciously. By the Later Han Dynasty, people He also invented the method of frying steel."
Liu Yuqi said: "Steel frying method? What is this?"
Maoqiu pointed to several melting furnaces on one side and said: "Look, this is how steel is fried. Heat the furnace until the fire is pure green. At this time, the iron ore put in the furnace will melt into molten iron, which is what we The said iron juice."
Feng Qian pointed to the craftsmen who were vigorously stirring and sprinkling various black powders into the large pot of iron juice. powder, and charcoal powder, and then stir it, just like stir-frying, adding charcoal powder into the iron juice that can only be turned into pig iron and then into wrought iron, so that steel can be obtained."
Liu Yu suddenly realized: "That's it." He looked at a stove next to him. More than a dozen men were busy cooking a large pot of this iron juice and pouring the black molten iron into another pottery pot. , said, "Is the steel fried in this way used to make armor plates?"
Maoqiu smiled and shook his head: "No, fried steel that has only been refined once has too many impurities and is not refined enough. After pouring this pot of iron juice into the pottery, it will cool and solidify. Then pour it in again It is re-refined in the furnace and turned into iron juice again, and charcoal powder and iron fine powder are added, and so on, constantly removing the waste and retaining the essence. Generally, after five times of refining in this way, it becomes fine steel, which can be cast into armor. Pieces. If it is refined dozens or hundreds of times until the weight no longer decreases, it is called a hundred-refined steel, and it can be used to forge precious swords and famous swords!"
Liu Yu's eyes lit up: "A hundred refinings of steel? Is that what Liu Kun's famous poem says, why does it mean a hundred refinings of steel? Does it mean a hundred refinings of steel that wrap around the fingers?"
Kong Jing's voice sounded from one side: "Yes, it's this Bailiangang. Liu Yu, you have to know that Bailiangang is the best steel. All the famous swords in the past were made from this. In the Han Dynasty, one A hundred-forged steel knife is enough to provide a family of seven with three years of income. It is very expensive, and it is difficult for even princes and nobles to equip it."
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