The demand for crucible steel is fermenting little by little.
Tao Lao'er from Wuqing County is a blacksmith. A few days ago, he got a small steel ingot, half a catty, from a few outsiders. He said it was Li's fine steel and asked Tao Lao'er to try it. He also said that if it is used well,
, you can go to the Li family's shop in the east of Tianjin City to buy more, one to two five cents of silver per pound.
Tao Laoer knocked the steel ingot with a hammer and found that the quality was pretty good. On a whim, he used the steel ingot as a blade and a few kilograms of iron as a back to make a bone-chopping knife.
Not to mention, the quality of the bone-cutting knife produced was good. Tao Laoer asked for a pig leg bone and tried the knife: he only saw the hand lifting the knife and falling, and the pig leg bone was cut into two ends. Look at the bone-cutting bone again.
The edge of the knife is still sharp, not dull.
This Li family's fine steel is indeed very good. One or two and a half yuan of silver per pound is not expensive at all.
Tao Laoer took this bone-cutting knife to the vegetable market and found the butcher Huang.
"Butcher Huang, I'll give you the bone-cutting knife!"
The yellow butcher rolled his eyes and said in a rough voice: "I have a bone-cutting knife! Where can I buy yours?"
Tao Laoer said: "My knife is good, it will save you time!"
Butcher Huang said loudly: "My bone-cutting knife is made by Su Gang. Is your knife steel better than Su Gang?"
Tao Laoer smiled, handed over his bone-cutting knife and said, "You will know after you try it!"
Butcher Huang took the bone-chopping knife, looked around, and took out a pork rib from the meat stall. He cut it down and saw that the pig rib was easily cut into two pieces. Looking at the bone-chopping knife again,
Safe and sound.
Butcher Huang said: "Not bad!"
He took out another pig thigh bone and put it on the chopping board. He raised the bone-cutting knife, took aim, and chopped it down. There was only a bang sound, and the knife cut through the pig thigh bone and cut into the chopping board. Then
The pork thigh bone was cut in half, and the fracture was smooth and sharp.
If it were a knife made of ordinary steel, the cutting edge would curl up with one cut. Even if it was a bone chopping knife made from Su Gang, the cutting edge would be slightly blunted with one cut and would need to be sharpened. But Huang Butcher pulled out the knife.
Looking at the edge of the knife, he saw that there was no sign of curling or blunting on the edge of the knife. It was still sharp. He couldn't help but said in surprise: "Okay, Blacksmith Tao, your knife is good! It's a little stronger than the knife made by Su Gang. What?
Good steel?" After clapping his hands, Butcher Huang said, "How much does your knife cost? It's too expensive, I can't afford it!"
Tao Laoer said with a smile: "If it's not a good knife, how can I come to you? I won't charge you much, just one tael of silver a handful!"
Butcher Huang was stunned when he heard Tao Laoer's words. He didn't negotiate the price. He took out a few pieces of silver from under the stall and handed it to Blacksmith Tao, saying, "Well done, Blacksmith Tao. If you have any good stuff in the future, come back to me!"
Tao Laoer knew that Butcher Huang thought it was cheap, so he paid so happily. After all, this knife is stronger than the knife made by Su Gang, and half a pound of Su Gang costs one, two, two, or three yuan, so the knives made are naturally more expensive.
.Li's fine steel only costs seven cents and five cents for half a catty. Counting a few cents of silver for pig iron, the cost of making a knife is only eight cents. Tao Laoer can earn two cents of silver.
It's not a bad buy. You can earn a tael of silver by doing a few Tao Laoer transactions a month.
If nothing else, the butchers and restaurant cooks in Wuqing County would probably like the knives made of Li's fine steel. Tao Laoer secretly said that he was going to Tianjin to buy a dozen kilograms of Li's fine steel and make knives.
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On November 10th, the weather was already very cold. Ice had frozen in the pond at night and had not melted this morning. There was a little snow falling in the morning before dawn, but it stopped as soon as dawn. Li
Zhi was wearing a coat and was looking through the reports in the store in the third hall of the government hall.
After ten days, the Li family produced more than a thousand kilograms of fine steel. As a product that has just been launched, the sales volume is very good. However, Li Zhi hopes to produce ten thousand kilograms a month and is not satisfied with the current situation. Li Zhi is thinking about how to do it.
When I expanded, I saw Li Xing walking in with a cold breath.
"Brother, you have a heater here, it's really warm!"
Li Zhi asked: "Aren't you going to train soldiers? Why come to me when you have time!"
"The selection team are all veterans. It's enough for the battalion commander to watch our daily training. I don't need to keep an eye on them!"
Sitting on the chair, Li Xing said casually: "Brother, do you know that Uncle Han's wife from Jingbianfang is dead!"
Li Zhi was stunned and asked: "How did you die?"
"I fell ill with cold, kept coughing, and later died of the illness. He was only in his thirties! This Han Jinxin used to be a member of a hundred households in Jinyiwei, but now he has fallen into this."
Li Zhi thought of this Han Jinxin.
This man is a native of Tianjin. I heard that his grandfather was a Jinshi and served as the minister of the Ministry of Rites. However, his father was extravagant and used up all the family's money. This Han Jinxin originally relied on Zu Yin to become the banner of the Jinyiwei. During the Tianqi years, he
He got close to the eunuchs and was promoted to the rank of Jinyiwei Baihu. Who knew that when Emperor Tianqi died, the eunuchs collapsed, and Emperor Chongzhen vigorously liquidated the eunuchs, and Han Jinxin was kicked out.
Han Jinxin was a remnant of the Eunuch Party and had a good reputation. The two governors of Tianjin, He Shishou and Zha Dengbei, were Qingliu and hated the Eunuch Party the most. He and Zha were in charge of Tianjin. Both inside and outside the Tianjin system were extremely repulsive to the remnants of the Eunuch Party and wanted to kill them.
Soon after that, Han Jinxin could not even find a job under the name of the Eunuch Party, so he relied on pawning his previous belongings. At first, he could live an ordinary life with some family wealth, but he did not expect that the imperial court was very hostile to the Eunuch Party.
Year after year, his family's life became worse and worse every day, and it was very miserable.
His wife died of illness, which was unexpected but reasonable news.
In the past, Han Jinxin liked to stand in the square in a daze when he had nothing to do, and he was very kind to children. Li Zhi often played with him when he was a child, and even ate the candies he gave out. Now that he heard about the miserable situation of his family, he couldn't help but sympathize with him.
Li Zhi thought for a while and said to Li Xing: "You ask Han Jinxin to come, and I will find something for him to do!"
Li Xing said: "Brother, he is an eunuch! What will the governor think if you take him in?"
Li Zhi spat: "What happened to the eunuch? Why didn't you say he was an eunuch when you were playing with him when you were a child?"
"I was ignorant when I was young."
"You ask him to come!"
Li Xing had no choice but to take the order and go out. In the afternoon, Li Xing brought Han Jinxin.
Han Jinxin was wearing an old cotton-padded jacket. It could be seen that the outside of the old jacket was made of silk and satin. It was probably made ten years ago. At this time, the jacket was full of holes. Probably because no one helped, the family patched it.
There were no rags to be found. He had a long beard, and his complexion was sallow due to long-term nutrition. A man in his thirties looked the same as he did in his forties or fifties.
Probably because of the loss of his wife, he looked very depressed and his eyes were dull. When he walked, he was hunched over and his eyes were always looking at the ground. He didn't look up at Li Zhi until he reached Li Zhi and knelt down.
