In the living room of Su Mansion in Huaihua Hutong, Su Hao handed a waist knife forged from high manganese steel to Dong Tianzhang's hand. Hao Qing on the side brought a small piece of wood as thick as a bowl and placed it on the ground.
, for Dong Tianzhang to test the knife.
Dong Tianzhang also came from a humble background in his early years, and was no stranger to playing with knives. He took the waist knife, took it out of the scabbard, took a look at the fish scale pattern on the back of the knife, and praised: "A good knife, this knife must be the best."
It was made by a good craftsman, and it is not easy to find such a good craftsman nowadays."
Su Hao smiled slightly and did not answer. He just made a gesture to Dong Tianzhang, indicating that he could try the knife.
Dong Tianzhang held the knife and walked to the piece of wood that Hao Qing had brought. He looked at it and said, "This is a piece of hard wood. If I chop it hard with this knife, I'm afraid it will damage the edge."
Su Hao smiled and said: "Shopkeeper Dong can chop with a knife, but if the edge of the knife is damaged, Su Hao will break the knife on the spot."
"Haha, it turns out that you have such confidence to change it." Dong Tianzhang laughed, picked up the knife, and slashed downwards. There was only a thumping sound, and the blade cut into the wood three or four inches deep. The people standing aside watching
They all cheered in unison. This cheer was not only directed at Dong Tianzhang's knife skills, but also at the quality of the knife. Whether the blade was sharp and tough could be seen from the effect of cutting wood.
"Shopkeeper Dong is indeed worthy of being a veteran. His sword skills are very good." Su Hao praised. After speaking, he changed the topic and asked: "I just don't know why shopkeeper Dong left some strength when he struck the sword."
, is it possible that you still have some distrust in Su’s sword?”
Dong Tianzhang pulled out the knife, looked at the blade, and found that there was no damage at all. Then he held the knife with the knife head down, cupped his fists and said to Su Hao: "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Dong really misread this knife.
I didn't expect it to be so sharp. When he cut the knife, Dong hesitated and didn't dare to use all his strength."
Su Hao invited Dong Tianzhang and Yang Laizhen to the Su Mansion today just to show them his various achievements. Testing this high-manganese steel saber is one of them. Although Dong Tianzhang believes that this sword must be extraordinary, but in the past
From his old experience, he felt that no matter how good the knife was, if he slashed hard wood, it would still be damaged, and everyone's faces would not look good. For this reason, his swing of the knife looked very fierce, but when it fell, it would not look good.
However, he withdrew some of his strength when wielding the sword. After all, Su Hao had also been in the army for some time, so he could naturally see that.
"The same knife as this, in the hands of a military general friend of mine, can cut down such a thick tree with one knife. The material used for this knife is called Gao Meng Steel, which was used when my younger brother was in Jiangxi.
, it took several craftsmen and friends several years to smelt it." Su Hao said.
The word "high-manganese steel" was said by Hao Tong in a rumor when he was trying out a knife. Su Hao thought it was good, so he copied it. Although there is only one homophone between high-manganese steel and high-manganese steel, it is hidden.
Knowing the formula of steel, it can deceive people's eyes and ears. Manganese ore has not been used in China in the Ming Dynasty, but if Su Hao directly stated this concept, I am afraid some thoughtful people will be able to understand the mystery.
"Gao Meng Steel? Uncle Zhao, have you ever heard of this kind of steel?" Dong Tianzhang asked Yang Laizhen.
Yang Laizhen shook his head and said: "I have already said that this is steel that he spent many years smelting. How can ordinary people understand it? I don't know how much it takes to make this kind of steel."
Su Hao said: "The trouble with making this kind of steel is that it requires fifteen kinds of ores to be mixed and smelted. Some ores are relatively easy to find, while others are very rare. It often takes a lot of manpower to find several hundred kilograms. It is not enough for one furnace.
The cost of this kind of steel is still very high. One pound of steel costs seven or eight taels of silver."
The technology of smelting high manganese steel is now relatively mature after repeated trials by Hao Yizong and Hao Qing. The raw materials used in smelting are nothing more than iron ore and manganese ore, as well as limestone and coke. These raw materials
In the middle, the most critical and secret thing was manganese ore. Su Hao didn't want others to know that this formula was so simple. He mentioned fifteen kinds of ores with just one mouth, and immediately blinded both Dong and Yang.
.
Due to the lack of guidance from chemical theory, the ancients often had to put in various ores when smelting metals or firing porcelain or glass. Some of them were purely useless, but no one could find them. Precisely because the formulas were complicated, so
Outsiders can't learn it even if they want to, which is why the technology is kept secret. When Dong and Yang heard Su Hao talk about fifteen kinds of ores, they immediately gave up the idea of stealing skills and only wanted to be Su Hao's agents.
.
"It's so expensive." Yang Laizhen was stunned. The so-called Suzhou steel on the market only costs 3 cents and 6 cents of silver per kilogram. This kind of steel costs seven or eight taels per kilogram, so the price must be as high as
To what extent?
"It's worth the price." Dong Tianzhang had a different point of view. He had just tried the knife with his own hands and inspected the blade after cutting the wood. He knew that the steel used to make the knife was extraordinary. In his opinion, a kilogram of steel was used.
Steel costs seven or eight taels of silver to match the price of such good steel. If Su Hao said it was cheaper, Dong Tianzhang would not be happy.
"You two shopkeepers, do you think there is a market for such knives and steel in the capital?" Su Hao asked.
"There is such a market!" Dong Tianzhang said, "If this sword is put on the market, the ancestral swords of those noble families will be eclipsed. In order to buy a sword, these families spend thousands of taels of silver.
Yes, think about it instead, what price can this knife be sold for?"
"A thousand taels..." Su Hao was sweating. In his heart, he felt that if such a knife sold for 100 taels of silver, it would be considered very good. Although high manganese steel is expensive, the real cost is only a few taels of silver.
The main reason is the depreciation cost of the crucible used for steelmaking. Manganese ore is actually very cheap. The entire cost of making such a knife, even if the craftsman's wages are included, is only a dozen taels of silver. If it is sold for thousands.
Two, isn’t that a hundredfold profit?
"In other words, how many knives like this have you made in total?" Dong Tianzhang asked again.
Su Hao said: "So far, I have only made a dozen in total. Mainly because waist knives are also weapons and cannot be made privately by civilians. Under the banner of my Baihusuo, I asked Jiangxi again
With Du Si's permission, only a dozen of them were made."
"You mean, if you have permission, you can make more knives at any time?" Dong Tianzhang caught the flaw in Su Hao's words and asked.
Su Hao nodded and said: "Making the knife itself is not difficult, just hire a few more blacksmiths. The main difficulty is smelting steel. I have mastered the method of smelting steel. Although the required ore is difficult to find, I have prepared it."
Some. If there is a license and a market, it is still possible to make hundreds of them."
"Okay!" Dong Tianzhang said, "Bo Zhaobo and I can get you a license and find a buyer. Instead, we can just let the craftsmen make the knife. The price of this knife does not have to be set too high. After all, in the future
We want to sell more, and it’s not appropriate to set a price that’s too high. If I look at a knife, I’ll set it at 500 taels, how about that?”
"What price does this 500 taels refer to?" Su Hao asked, thinking to himself, wouldn't this be the purchase price Dong Tianzhang paid when purchasing from him?
Dong Tianzhang smiled and said: "Of course it's the selling price. Listening to what I mean, the cost of a knife is only a few dozen taels. I'll just put it together, let's call it 100 taels. I'll sell it for 500 taels."
Go, deduct the cost of 100 taels, and the remaining 400 taels, you and I will each get half, how about changing it?"
"Just follow the wishes of shopkeeper Dong." Su Hao agreed immediately.
In fact, as early as when Su Hao was still in Jiangxi, he knew that this kind of high manganese steel could bring huge profits when used to make sabers. After all, this kind of steel was a product that transcended an era, and its hardness and wear resistance were far beyond the
Exceeding other steel materials of the same period. For some high-ranking military officials, sabers are both weapons and decorations. The show-off effect of a good knife is comparable to a famous watch or a luxury car in later generations. Think about how many officials there will be in later generations.
If you are willing to take extraordinary risks and appear on camera wearing a famous watch, you can imagine the enthusiasm with which high-ranking officials in the Ming Dynasty would buy a good knife.
Although he has seen the market opportunities, Su Hao has not dared to make knives for sale. He only asked the Hao family to make a few knives as gifts for Deng Zilong, Zhang Hong and other military backers. After all,
The reason is that Su Hao's power is still too weak. If the powerful people knew that he had such a technology, they would probably eat him up.
The emergence of Dong Tianzhang and Yang Laizhen just made up for Su Hao's shortcomings. Both Dong and Yang had backers, so it was absolutely safe for them to operate such a hugely profitable product. Su Hao relied on his technical advantages to take away
With half of the profits, Dong and Yang took away the other half of the profits based on their background and connections. This is definitely a strong alliance and a win-win situation.
"This kind of high-strength steel can also be used to make chainmail, helmets, and scissors used by women. However, they can only be used in high-end applications," Su Hao said.
Dong Tianzhang smiled and said: "The most indispensable thing in this capital is rich people. In other words, anything that can be made, Dong will be able to help you sell it. I'm not afraid of high prices for things, what I'm afraid of is that you can't make them."
Offer something worth a lot of money.”
"Haha, Su Hao is relieved after what Shopkeeper Dong said. As for the expensive things, what I just saw was just the first one. How about we continue?" Su Hao said.
"Continue, continue, we really want to see what kind of treasure Gai Zhi has in his hands." Dong Tianzhang and Yang Laizhen responded together.
"Brother Hao, bring up the dressing mirror and ask the two shopkeepers to take a look at it." Su Hao ordered Hao Qing. (To be continued. Please search Piao Tian Literature, the novel will be better and updated faster!)