Huang Shan, who left the county government lobby, fell into deep thought.
The current situation is becoming more and more complex. The imperial court, which can obviously send people to support, will most likely not send reinforcements due to various reasons, or will not send reinforcements soon.
He was trapped in the city and completely lost contact with Ruyan.
Now it is necessary to produce repeating crossbows in large quantities to help the soldiers and civilians in the city defend the county against the northern barbarians.
It is easy to find wood for the arms and body of a repeating crossbow, but it is not easy to find high-strength steel wire for the crossbow string.
It was considered lucky to be able to find it at home before.
If you change the bow string of your repeating crossbow from steel wire to an ordinary bow string, the power of the repeating crossbow will be greatly reduced, and it will not be able to cause a dimension-reducing blow to the Northern Barbarians with superb archery skills.
No matter, there are ready-made furnaces and skilled blacksmiths in the city, so you need to find all the necessary materials first.
It would be great if there was an alloy similar to steel wire in the city. If not, I could still guide the blacksmiths to make it.
It's just that it will take more things. What I lack most now is time.
The sooner Lian Nu is built and equipped for the soldiers and strong men guarding the city, the safer everyone in the city will be.
"Brother Huang!"
The master's call to pretend to be close interrupted Huang Shan's thoughts.
"The master asked me to help you equip the materials for making a repeating crossbow. Please also ask Brother Huang to inform me of the materials needed."
"I can help Brother Huang prepare!"
Without any hesitation, Huangshan informed the master of the high-quality wood he needed and the iron materials needed to make crossbows and other components.
The master used a pen and paper to record the materials Huangshan needed and asked for details about the materials.
"Brother Huang, what are the requirements for the iron material to make a crossbow?"
Seeing his master's businesslike appearance, Huang Shan stepped forward to take the master's pen and paper and shred the contents recorded by his master just now.
"Master, now the matter is urgent. There is no need to be rigid as long as the materials are usable."
"Master, why do you need to create a prison for yourself?"
The master was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then he realized what he was saying and raised his hands to Huang Shan.
"Brother Huang woke up the dreamer with a few words. I am too rigid. At present, as long as it is good wood and good iron, we can use it."
"As long as I build the repeating crossbow so that the soldiers defending the city can suppress the northern barbarians, we will be able to stabilize."
Huang Shan returned the favor repeatedly, saying that he had to ask his master to take more care in preparing the materials for making the crossbow.
The master didn't say anything more and asked the night-time government servant to go to the county government warehouse to look for wood and iron materials.
Huang Shan thought about going to the blacksmith shop in the city to look for steel wire or its substitute alloy that could be used as a bow string.
There will be no sleep tonight.
After a whole night of work, the master has successfully moved out a lot of good wood and iron materials from the county government warehouse.
It's just that some of them can no longer be used to make crossbows due to improper storage.
But it is just right to use these wood that cannot be used to make crossbows as tools to defend the city.
After all, if a large piece of wood fell from the sky, even if it didn't kill the northern barbarians, it would still injure them.
Huang Shan searched all the blacksmith shops in the city overnight but could not find steel wire or alloy.
There are even former apprentices of the Huang family among the blacksmiths.
However, after the Huang family apprentice learned what Huang Shan was looking for, he smiled bitterly and shrugged.
"Sir, the hundred-refined steel is a secret of your Huang family."
"I was just a young apprentice with a foreign surname. How could I know the secrets, let alone smelting and forging?"
Huang Shan also smiled helplessly when he heard this.
We can only summon the carpenters and blacksmiths in the city first, instruct the carpenters to make the bow arms, bow bodies and crossbow boxes of the repeating crossbows, and tell the blacksmiths the various crossbow machine parts they need.
Huangshan's plan was to have the blacksmith and carpenter build the main structure of the repeating crossbow first. After the materials for the bow string were available, the repeating crossbow could be completed with only a little processing.
So the blacksmiths and carpenters who had been assigned tasks by Huang Shan also took action.
However, Huang Shan, who had no bow string material, frowned, which naturally attracted the master's attention.
"Brother Huang, are you still missing something?"
Huang Shan nodded, looked at the master in front of him and said, "Do you still remember the bowstring materials I got last night?"
The master nodded repeatedly after recalling it for a moment, and then asked again.
"Brother Huang, what are you going to do now?"
Huang Shan took a deep breath.
"I'll continue to look for it. If it's not available in the city, I can only temporarily smelt it."
"It's just that it takes a lot of time!"
The master then said to Huang Shan: "I'm going to ask Capt. Zhao and the others to see if they have any useful clues. I'll ask the master casually."
Huang Shan watched the master walk towards the Yamen, while he started to make inquiries in the city.
Seeing the great hero who had scared off the northern barbarians twice asking for information on the street, many people spontaneously wanted to provide useful clues.
However, how could ordinary people come into contact with things like steel wires? They could only leave with joy and disappointment.
Ming Yirou, who had been hiding at home for several days, heard movement on the street and cautiously looked out through the crack in the door.
Mrs. Ming on the side saw this and quickly pulled Ming Yirou to her side.
"Xiaorou, it's a mess outside, we have to be more careful."
"Have you forgotten your father's advice?"
Ming Yirou pursed her lips when she heard this, and immediately retorted.
"Mom, the chaos outside is not because of any trouble. It seems that the Huang family brother is inquiring about something."
"The people in the city are going to help!"
"Dad has been staying at the county government office these days. I don't know what they want. I don't know if I can help them."
"Mom, how about I go see daddy!?"
Mrs. Ming immediately said with a stern expression: "No, if you go, you will only cause trouble to your father."
"Now the lives of the whole city are hanging on your father's shoulders, so stop fooling around!"
Ming Yirou, who originally just wanted to help, was scolded by her mother. She suddenly felt aggrieved and her eyes turned red, and she got into her house without looking back.
Upon seeing this, Mrs. Ming realized that her words were a bit harsh, and immediately walked outside the door of her daughter's room to apologize softly.
"Xiaorou, you just said something harsh, but it's not safe in the city right now. You, a girl..."
After coaxing her daughter for a few words, Mrs. Ming was ready to let her servants make a fire and cook.
"Xiaorou, today I will make you your favorite honey custard!"
Ming Yirou, who had changed into coarse linen clothes in the house, heard her mother's footsteps gradually walking away and quietly opened her door.
She glanced at her mother who was preparing to make honey custard in the kitchen, climbed up the wall of her courtyard quietly, and then jumped down from the wall under the shocked gaze of Huang Shan who was passing by.
