Chapter 1,223: Rolling molten iron, waiting for the bow
The water in the Spring River was warm, and a group of catamaran boats set out from the port of Lithospermum City, loaded with pumpkins, sweet potatoes and corn. They quickly went down the river and headed for the lowest reaches of the Tulsas River, four hundred miles away.
The river estuary. When it reaches the small town at the estuary, the fleet will unload the grain, load it with boatloads of crude iron farming implements and tools, and then row and even pull fiber, back to Zicao City.
In many previous trips, they could only load back half a boatload of ironware, but this time, there was an especially large amount of ironware shipped from the Black Rock Mountain Iron Mine fifty miles to the west! And they also encountered another group of ironware.
The navy fleet brought back thousands of mining slaves from the Purple Grass Legion that expedition to the Mixtec coast!
The sea is surging with waves, and the iron yard of Black Rock Mountain is also emitting thick black smoke. In the eyes of the local Nantecos tribe, this already famous thunder and lightning mountain has become more and more like a lair of gods and monsters. This lair swallows
It eats countless mine slaves and charcoal, and spits out countless black, hard iron materials, spurting out the power to change tribes and villages.
A thousand kingdom warriors guard this place, and the mining slaves who work in the mines and the civilians who cut wood and burn charcoal add up to six to seven thousand people. These people all have heavy physical work, and the food supply of the local tribe is limited.
Yue also needs to transport a batch from Zicao City.
And when the thick black smoke faded, in the iron yard at the foot of the sacred mountain, next to a large shaft furnace that was five meters high, a loud, ceremonial shout rang out!
"Blessed by the Lord God! Fire God をん! The iron is out!!"
The fire was so hot that people were sweating all over even though they were six or seven meters away. The blacksmith Kengang Otani was bare-chested and holding a long iron fork in his hand. He was the first to pull out the slag from the bottom of the furnace. Four blacksmith apprentices also
Then they pulled together. Without these impeding slag, the molten iron flowed into the iron storage pool below blazingly and slowly, glowing with a red and hot color, and it looked like magma!
"God bless you! More iron will come out!"
Blacksmith Otani shouted again, and more blacksmith apprentices came over. The temperature of this shaft furnace is still limited, and the temperature of the molten iron is only slightly higher than the melting point. When the rolling molten iron flows out for a while, it quickly solidifies from liquid
into iron pieces. At this time, the apprentices need to push away the red iron pieces to let more molten iron flow down!
"The Lord God bless you! The iron is gone! Worship the furnace!..."
Watching the molten iron in the large shaft furnace drain away, leaving only a pile of slag falling from the top of the furnace. Blacksmith Otani took a deep breath and let out one last cry. Then, he and all his apprentices bowed to him, although they raised their hands to him.
The large shaft furnace was built, but now it has the "iron-making divinity" and communicates with the "main god's flame". I bowed respectfully!
"..."
Seeing such a ceremony, the corners of Watanabe Masumi's lips twitched and he was speechless. He pursed his lips and looked at the large shaft furnace for tapping iron and the amount of tens of thousands or even 100,000 kilograms of iron tapping, and his expression changed vaguely.
. This one spared no effort in manpower and material resources. It was built not long ago and even used a large furnace sealed with volcanic ash. The volume is estimated to be more than ten cubic meters. The amount of iron that can be burned at one time is equivalent to the original ten small furnaces in the Jiaoren Kingdom.
!
And when the furnace successfully produced iron, blacksmith Otani's status instantly jumped up and he became the most important iron smelting master in the iron field! It is said that this position is equivalent to that of the martial arts family in the Jiaoren Kingdom, and it has great influence in the entire huge
Everyone in the iron yard keeps his word, and there are dozens or hundreds of apprentices at his disposal alone! And the civilian materials he can use are more than those of a wealthy family in the countryside...
"God bless you! After worshiping the furnace, the iron has cooled down... They all took the iron materials to the small furnace for forging! The old apprentices went to break the stone with hammers, and the royal flag team who was building the road sent people to urge them twice.
They are all in great demand...The newly recruited apprentices will start by making simple farm tools!...Don’t stop!..."
After paying homage to the iron furnace, blacksmith Ogu shouted and drove a large number of apprentices to a row of small forging furnaces. Soon, the sound of hammering iron echoed throughout the large iron yard.
The quality of the iron ore in Black Rock Mountain is not high, and the quality of the pig iron produced from the large shaft furnace is only average. To produce fine iron that is useful and can be used as weapons, it takes a lot of effort, and this group of new apprentices also
Without that skill, it is impossible to master it. Therefore, the task of the apprentices at the moment is to make various farm tools and tools that are not demanding for daily use. They have to practice them for at least a year and a half before they can think about making weapons.
.And if an apprentice in a Japanese blacksmith shop wants to learn the craft of fine iron weapons, he will have to work hard for at least five years!
"God bless you! Watanabe, there's too much iron coming out of the big shaft furnace, and I'm quite busy here! Are you going to help and follow the apprentice to forge iron, or are you going to go behind and do your bow-making work?..."
"God bless you! Well... I'd better go and bake the bamboo! At least the front burnt bamboo must be baked before it can be used as bow material..."
Monk Soldier Watanabe smiled and said a few words. Blacksmith Otani nodded slightly and went to do his own business. He was repeatedly tracing his father's craftsmanship and trying to use the method of infiltrating charcoal to forge a sharp sword. And this one
The purpose of the Tai Sword is naturally to be dedicated to the noble and sacred Lake Daimyo who is rumored to have divine blood, to win his favor!
"Damn it! This guy Otani is just a small iron man from a small village, a low-level warrior who can't even use a long sword! But now he has gained power in the Jiaoren tribe with his blacksmithing skills, and he doesn't even look at me.
!...You have to know that at the beginning, he couldn't even say a word to embarrass people, so he still relied on me to translate!...Patience, patience!..."
Monk Soldier Watanabe gritted his teeth secretly, but still maintained a smile on his face. He stayed in the iron yard originally because of the arrangement of the knowledgeable Mickey, asking him to be Otani's translator so that he could build a real iron-smelting shaft furnace! But now, this
A large furnace capable of producing nearly 100,000 kilograms of iron has been built, and the iron can be produced smoothly. Da Gu has also learned the language of the Jiao tribe... Then the purpose of his translation is actually of little use...
"Hey...O Lord God! O Great Bodhisattva Hachiman!..."
Monk Soldier Watanabe sighed silently, and finally glanced at the blacksmith Otani who was concentrating on making the sword, then turned and left. Otani's thoughts were very clear in his heart. Because he also had the same idea and wanted to offer one.
The amazing Japanese bow is given to the great name in the lake who has many legends and sent a fleet to the west for twenty thousand miles!…
“It’s too slow to bake the bamboo material for making bows! Even if I work day and night, it will take more than half a year to bake the bamboo that can be used to make bows...Including the time for bow making and training...May the Lord God bless you!
Patience, patience!…”
Back in his small courtyard, Monk Bing Watanabe held the sun amulet around his neck and prayed devoutly for a while. Then, he frowned and stared at a row of dozens of bamboo poles, all placed on a small fire pit.
.There were two apprentices from the Nantecos tribe who were taking care of the bamboo materials by the fire pit. When they saw him, they both bowed their heads respectfully.
“Keep busy!…”
Monk Soldier Watanabe waved his hand, pushed open the door of the wooden house, and walked inside. The leaders and priests of the Jiao people did not value their martial arts, nor did they care about their origins. After arriving at the Lake Kingdom, as long as they had skills
, those with skills can receive preferential treatment from the kingdom, obtain important technical positions, and can command their apprentices. However, Monk Watanabe can neither farm, blacksmith, nor build ships and sails.
Apart from martial arts, there is no craftsmanship!
After much thought, he was really desperate, so he signed up for the "bow-making" skill. Under the somewhat suspicious eyes of the Jiaoren priest, he finally got a small courtyard and two bow-making apprentices.
.As a direct descendant of the martial arts family, he has practiced bow skills and knows how to maintain and maintain bows. He has seen bow makers make bows with his own eyes, and has also heard about the methods of making good bows.
But in fact, how are these bamboo and bows made, and what details need to be paid attention to? He has never done it with his own hands, and he is very confused. However, to make a bow, you need to bake the bamboo material first.
It can be as short as half a year or as long as one year. During this period of time, he can slowly recall and slowly try to do it. What's more, he also has a bold idea. Although it is just hearsay among Kyoto temples, but at the moment
But there is some information, which was carefully collected at Jiaoren's Whale Harbor...
Thinking of this, Monk Watanabe slowly raised his head and looked at a piece of gray-black whale baleen hanging on the wall. This whale baleen had been carefully processed by him, oiled and baked carefully, and slowly tamed every day.
It roughly has the shape of a bow body.
"The Lord God protects me! The long baleen of the giant whale in the sea...can also be used as a bow in the hands of the Ezo people!..."
