Sharpen your weapon first

Author: Gongsun Wujiu

Sharpen your weapon first

Although Zhang Yue was not worried about his own safety, he was worried about his wife and children in Chang'an.

After Guo Kai and others left, he called Yang You.

Although he intended to strengthen the defense of the Marquis of Chang'an, due to the current situation, Zhang Yue could not actually do much.

In the end, Yang You was asked to add more than 20 guards to the Chang'an Marquis Mansion.

In addition, Tiqisi was ordered to always pay attention to the actions of the powerful people in Kanto.

After making arrangements for the Marquis' Mansion in Chang'an, his sights naturally turned back to Luntai.

After such a long period of construction, the outer city wall of Xin Luntai City has been basically completed.

After Zhang Yue made his usual inspection, he went to the general camp.

The area of ​​​​the general camp has been five times that of the past, and the number of craftsmen and servants in it has reached 3,000.

The most important of these are naturally iron smelting and weapons manufacturing.

Now there are four iron mines in Yanqi, Shanguo, Qiemo, Nuoqiang.

Coupled with the iron-making technology of the Song Dynasty provided by Zhang Yue, Luntai has basically got rid of the iron shortage.

When Zhang Yue walked into the general camp, Pang Yizheng and a group of craftsmen gathered around for a lively discussion.

Zhang Yue's arrival did not attract their attention.

Out of curiosity, Zhang Yue also gathered around. At this time, a craftsman noticed Zhang Yue's arrival. Zhang Yue stopped him in time.

"I think it's best to make it this way..."

A craftsman was holding a knife and talking.

"No, I think that although this method is good, it is too time-consuming and labor-intensive. It would be better to do this..."

Another craftsman immediately retorted.

"I thought it would be better to do this..."

Another craftsman also expressed a different opinion.

Pang Yi just listened to the arguments of several people and did not express his position.

As he listened, Zhang Yue discovered that these craftsmen had come up with several famous knife forging methods of later generations.

Some people have proposed three methods: steel-wrapping, steel-laying and steel-filling.

Especially the steel-clad method, this is an incredible progress. Even the best knives two thousand years later are made using the steel-clad method.

However, in Zhang Yue's view, although the steel-cladding method is good, it has the disadvantage of being time-consuming and labor-intensive.

At this time, Zhang Yue suddenly thought of the steel clamping method.

"Why don't you guys try the steel clamping method?"

Zhang Yue couldn't help but speak.

Only then did everyone notice that Zhang Yue had arrived beside them at some unknown time.

"Greetings to the Lord!"

The craftsmen stood up in panic to pay their respects.

Zhang Yue waved his hand and asked everyone to sit down and talk.

Everyone sat down, but Pang Yi was the first to ask, "Junhou, what is the steel clamping method?"

Zhang Yue said, "The steel clamping method is actually no different from the steel wrapping method you mentioned just now, but..."

The steel clamping method and the steel wrapping method are similar in that they both use the "inlay" process.

The specific difference is steel-wrapping. As the name suggests, a piece of steel is "wrapped" in the middle with a whole piece of steel. The wrapped steel is exposed on one side, that is, the steel with higher hardness is exposed on the blade, and the back and sides of the knife are completely covered.

It is a steel material with low hardness and good toughness.

Clamping steel is easier to understand, just like a hamburger, with low hardness and good toughness steel on both sides, and a piece of high hardness steel sandwiched in the middle, with its entire periphery exposed.

When making double-edged knives in later generations, the method of clamping steel was generally used; when making large knives, the method of wrapping steel was generally used.

Many good knives (including kitchen knives, splitting knives, etc.) are mostly made of steel.

The purpose of this is to take the toughness of iron and the hardness of steel and eliminate the softness of iron and the brittleness of steel.

"Good steel should be used on the blade" is the truth.

This kind of knife is very sharp and not easy to break when used. In addition, the knife is easier to sharpen - because there is only a line of steel in the middle and iron on both sides, it is much easier to sharpen the knife.

Knives made by the steel clamping method are actually inferior to those made by the steel wrapping method.

But it also has its advantages, that is, the cost is lower than that of the steel-clad method, and it is convenient for large-scale manufacturing.

For a group like the military, large-scale manufacturing and cost are the first considerations.

After Zhang Yue proposed the steel clamping method, all the craftsmen looked at each other, not knowing what to do.

Zhang Yue knew that this was due to his status.

He didn't take it seriously and just suggested that several methods could be used to forge knives.

Finally, comprehensively weigh the costs and effects and choose the best method.

"good!"

Hearing this, Pang Yi loudly agreed, and immediately arranged for several craftsmen to forge a ring-headed sword using different methods.

After the several ordered craftsmen left, Zhang Yue did not leave, but continued to discuss the issue of knives with Pang Yi and others.

"Pang Gong, do you think it's okay to..."

As Zhang Yue talked, he drew the appearance of several famous knives from later generations.

Every time Zhang Yue drew a knife shape, Pang Yi's eyes lit up.

Unknowingly, Zhang Yue stayed at the camp until it was time for complementary feeding.

"What do you think, Mr. Pang?"

Finally, Zhang Yue asked Pang Yi what kind of knives were better equipped by the Han army in Luntai.

"Your Majesty, please allow me to think carefully..."

Pang Yi did not give an answer immediately.

Zhang Yue smiled and stood up and said, "That's fine, Mr. Pang will come back to look for me after I think about it..."

After Zhang Yue left, Pang Yi took several knives drawn by Zhang Yue and fell into deep thought.

In the end, he hired more than ten craftsmen to build different knives according to the graphics mentioned by Zhang Yue.

…

On this day, Zhang Yue was patrolling the market. Seeing the lively scene in front of him, Zhang Yue was filled with joy.

Under Mani's management, the market has become more and more prosperous, bringing huge profits to Luntai every day.

He was about to go to a wine shop when he saw Pang Yi running over with several people and large and small bags of things.

"Greetings to the Lord!"

…

Now that Pang Yi was here, Zhang Yue simply took his people back to the general camp with Pang Yi.

"Did Mr. Pang get the result?"

Zhang Yue asked.

Pang Yi put several types of knives on several cases.

"Look, sir, this is a weapon made according to different methods..."

As Zhang Yue expected, the weapons with the best quality were indeed made using the steel-clad method, followed by the steel-clamping method.

"Pang Gong meant to use the steel-clad method?" Zhang Yue asked

Pang Yi shook his head and said, "No, I think Jia Gang is better... Although Jia Gang's soldiers are not as good as Bao Gang, they only take half the time..."

"Good...you should use the method of clamping steel..."

After some discussion, the two finally chose to use the steel clamping method to mass-produce Han army equipment.

However, the steel-clad method was not abandoned, and the weapons used by officers continued to be produced in small quantities using the steel-clad method.

In addition, some improvements have been made to the shape of the tool.

Combining the various knives drawn by Zhang Yue and the needs of actual combat, Pang Yi also made some improvements to the Huanshou Dao.

The new Huanshou sword is closer to the Tang Hengdao of later generations, but it still uses the Huanshou sword, and because it is mainly used by cavalry, its length has increased a lot.

The new ring head knife has been increased to about 127 cm.

Zhang Yue tried the new Huanshou Sword and couldn't help but said with great joy, "Good... great good..."
Chapter completed!