"Your Majesty, the boy did help his father, but even if there was no boy, there would be others who would make improvements," Mrs. Xu said.
It’s not that the State of Zhao didn’t have blast furnaces, they were just for smelting copper, not iron.
However, in Mrs. Xu's opinion, they are all the same. As long as some simple adjustments are made to improve the sealing and insulation performance, and the blast equipment is modified to make the blast furnace reach a higher temperature, everything will fall into place. Without him, it would be fine.
There is someone else.
Little did they know that Zhao Guo had been trapped for four full years at this stage. Without him... maybe he would have been trapped for another four years.
Some things can be solved quickly in the hands of geniuses, but in the hands of ordinary people... they may not be solved in ten or twenty years...
The reality is so cruel.
"I remember your father had a place at Handan College, right? Why didn't he study at Handan College?" Zhao Kuo asked.
It is now the time for classes at the college, but Mrs. Xu is in the workshop, obviously not going to Handan College to study.
With a talent like Mrs. Xu's, it would be a pity not to enter the academy for systematic study.
"Your Majesty, I am currently studying at Handan College. I just heard that the furnace is open today, so I asked for leave..." Mrs. Xu scratched her head and said with some embarrassment.
"Study hard. You must not only learn the basic knowledge well, but also maintain your own spirituality. Remember?" Zhao Kuo warned.
"I remember, kid." Mrs. Xu nodded solemnly, as obediently as a child.
Well, he is indeed still a child now, but with his rough appearance, he looks a bit funny.
Liu Ping, who disappeared at some point, returned to Zhao Kuo, lowered his head and whispered a few words.
"Command, Mrs. Xu has made great contributions to the improvement of the blast furnace and will be granted the title of lower minister. The rest of the people will receive the same rewards as before." Zhao Kuo announced after hearing the news that Liu Ping had just collected.
According to the workers in the workshop, Mrs. Xu did often come in and out of the workshop and gave constructive suggestions. The success of the blast furnace construction was inseparable from Mrs. Xu's help.
Although Zhao Kuo has heard of Mrs. Xu's name in history, after all, this name is hard to forget after seeing it once... but he still needs to confirm it.
This is also something that must be done to award a reward. It is impossible to award a reward without even confirming it.
"Your Majesty, your Majesty..." Xu Da took a step forward.
"You are still the same." Zhao Kuo waved his hand to interrupt him. The dignified Zhao Kingdom was not short of this reward.
Besides, it’s not a good deal to exchange a false name and some land for the loyalty of father and son.
"I pay my respects to you, Your Majesty." Xu Da was extremely excited.
He originally thought that after telling this incident, his reward would be gone. Unexpectedly, King Zhao not only rewarded his son, but also did not withdraw his reward.
"These are all things you deserve." Zhao Kuo waved his hand and said.
"I have something I want to give to the king." Xu Da pondered for a while, finally made up his mind and said solemnly.
"Oh? I don't know what it is?" Zhao Kuo asked with a smile.
Xu Da did not speak, but looked around, indicating that there were too many people here talking.
"Okay, everyone, let's go and do whatever you need to do." Zhao Kuo waved his hand and said, "In the next period of time, the workshop will mainly focus on building blast furnaces. We will build as many blast furnaces as we can."
"No." After everyone saluted, they dispersed around.
"Let's talk outside." Zhao Kuo turned around and walked outside, with Mrs. Xu following closely behind.
When he arrived outside, Zhao Kuo stopped and signaled to Mrs. Xu that she could speak.
"Your Majesty, what I want to present to Your Majesty is the spirit-injection technology, a technology that can inject spiritual energy into weapons, nourish them, and improve their performance." Mrs. Xu said in a low voice.
"Spirit injection technology? Is there any real thing?" Zhao Kuo's eyes lit up. If what Mrs. Xu said is true, this technology will be more important than the blast furnace.
Due to the existence of spiritual energy in this world, the mountains, rivers and minerals are being subtly changed all the time. The difficulty of metal smelting is higher than in history. Similarly, the quality of the weapons produced is also higher than in history.
But this kind of improvement is not large, and compared with the improvement of living creatures such as humans and beasts, it is completely worth mentioning.
This has led to a phenomenon that weapons, armor and other equipment are far less effective in improving strength than people.
A legion wearing civilian clothes faces a well-equipped legion. Even if it is defeated, it still has a certain ability to withstand.
However, if a group of miscellaneous soldiers encounters not only super elites and military soul legions, but also elites, they will be massacred one-sidedly.
Of course, no country's super elites fight in civilian clothes... A powerful legion will inevitably be equipped with the best equipment.
With the spirit-injection technology, it will be different. The performance of weapons will be greatly improved and they will become as important as people.
What's more important is that in the future, when Zhao State faces the Six Nations, even if its troops are the same, it is very likely that it will achieve a crushing record, or even achieve a sweep!
"Your Majesty, please take a look." Mrs. Xu took off the small hammer from her waist and handed it to Zhao Kuo.
From the outside, there was no difference between the small hammer and an ordinary hammer, but after falling into his hands, Zhao Kuo clearly felt something was different. This hammer had more texture, and the inner energy was transmitted more smoothly inside. Jurisdiction
Zhao Kuo swung the small hammer and hit the bluestone on the side. He heard a "boom" sound, and the bluestone fell into pieces, but the small hammer remained intact.
"However, this technology has certain limitations. It can only be used by craftsmen with inner energy. Ordinary craftsmen cannot infuse equipment with spirit." Mrs. Xu said.
The biggest difference between the spirit-injecting technology and the spirit-sealing technology is that one involves injecting spiritual energy after it is created, and the other involves injecting spiritual energy during the creation process.
The advantage of sealing the spirit is that it is highly popular. After the equipment is built, it can be directly distributed to the soldiers to instill the spiritual energy. The disadvantage is that it takes a long time. It may take a year before the performance of the equipment can be improved to the limit.
The advantage of injecting spirit is that it takes a short time, and it will be the strongest equipment once it is created. The disadvantage is that it has low popularity, and the craftsman must have inner energy, otherwise it will not be completed.
It’s hard to say if all the craftsmen in Zhao State can gather together 500 talented craftsmen, and it’s impossible to recruit them all to build equipment.
"What if a warrior with inner energy is arranged to assist the craftsmen?" Lin Xiangru asked.
He has realized the importance of this technology. Even if the standard equipment has not improved so much, it is still a milestone improvement compared to now.
The State of Zhao does not have that many craftsmen with inner energy, but if they are just warriors, they can still make up quite a few.
"Please tell me, Prime Minister, I haven't tried this before." Mrs. Xu shook her head.
"Try it, no matter whether you succeed or not, I will count it as a great achievement for you." Zhao Kuo said.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Mrs. Xu's face became more and more excited.
"Of course, this skill cannot be ignored. I am going to make you a master of the 13th level of knighthood, the same as your father. Your son is the only person in the history of our country, Zhao, who has been promoted to a knighthood twice in one day.
And being awarded the title of Zuo Shi at only sixteen years old is a good thing. I am waiting for the day when you can be made a marquis or even a duke." Zhao Kuo said to Mrs. Xu.
"Boy, thank you, Your Majesty." Mrs. Xu said excitedly.
As a craftsman, this was something he never dared to think about before, but now it seems that he is really not far from his goal.
Although the titles become more difficult as you go up, he is only sixteen years old and still has a lot of time.