"Those who have a country and a family are careful not to worry about scarcity but inequality, but God does not care about this. He likes to joke that the world's products are randomly distributed, but not evenly. In some places, there is a shortage of minerals within a thousand miles, but in some places
, there are several large mines concentrated within tens of miles..."
Heifu looked at Cangshan Mountain in the distance and said, "E County, Hengshan County, is such a place."
On the way out of Hubei and on the way to the destination, Heifu chatted with Li Cang, who was in the same car, about the past.
"In the twenty-fourth year, as a Sima of another department, I and your father crossed the river from Zhu County and captured the city of E. This place is the city of Ejun. As the leading prince of Chu State, the ritual vessel Ding Gui in his mansion is
It’s quite a lot, and it took us three full days to finally finish it.”
Li Cang responded: "Father told me that my uncles settled in Yuzhang, opened fields, and set up sugar mills, relying on the money exchanged for these copper utensils."
It can be said that it was the first pot of gold for the "Anlu Gang". At that time, Heifu didn't know why there were so many bronzes in E Jun's house. Later he realized that it was the first one who got the first one who was near the water...
"In the 29th year, Yuzhang established a county. Together with Yuzhang, Hengshan County was established, and the county governed Zhu County. However, Hengshan County has a small population and a small area, so it can be merged into Nanjun. Do you know why it is a county?"
Li Cang said: "I don't know, nephew."
"Coppergreen Mountain."
Heifu raised his index finger: "This rich mine alone is enough to support the independent county of Hengshan!"
He talked to Li Cang about the advantages of Tonglu Mountain. This mine is very old. It is said that as early as the Yao and Shun era, the Sanmiao tribe had already dug pits for mining and smelting here, and the red copper blocks that were smelted were transported across the Yangtze River.
Continuously shipped to the Central Plains...
During the Yin and Shang Dynasties, merchants were fond of casting huge bronze vessels to please the ghosts, gods and ancestors. In order to plunder copper materials, when Wu Ding was reviving, they launched a large-scale southern expedition, reaching deep into the hinterland of Jingman. The purpose of the southern expedition was to plunder copper.
He also built a city by the river to facilitate mining.
When it came to the Zhou Dynasty, King Zhao of Zhou did not go south until he was full. He also wanted to seize copper materials. Unfortunately, he failed and was defeated by the Chu people. King Zhao of Zhou still drowned in the Han River. Now.
During the Dragon Boat Festival in the northern part of Jianghan, rice is thrown into the water, and the sacrifice is not for Qu Yuan, but for this man. It is said to be a tradition left by the concubines of Hanyang.
During the Spring and Autumn Period, the reason why Chu was strong and powerful, able to conquer the Central Plains, and compete with Jin and Qi for hundreds of years, was largely due to the rich copper and tin deposits in the south. The tomb robbery case that Heifu handled when he was the chief of the pavilion, Ruo Ao
In his tomb, there are bronze burial objects weighing more than ten tons, most of which originated from southern Hubei.
Therefore, after the Qin Dynasty destroyed Chu, they stationed heavy troops in Tonglu Mountain to restart construction. Under the work of thousands of prisoners, the tunnels were dug deeper and deeper, and the ore was continuously poured into the furnace, and the hot copper water was spit out to cool it.
It was later cast into bright red copper ingots, and then fused with tin shipped from the south of the Yangtze River to become the "dollars" that everyone loved.
But after belonging to the Qin Dynasty, what was cast in Tonglu Mountain was no longer bulky but useless ritual vessels, nor spears, swords and halberds during war, but became half a coin with a circle on the outside and a square on the inside...
This is the reason why Hengshan County can establish an independent county. The entire E city, as well as Zhu County on the other side, really reeks of copper everywhere. Every year, Hengshan purchases a large amount of grain from Nan County, which has developed agriculture, so that the convict craftsmen who mine can
Eat a full stomach.
But now, as the south is in a bitter war, it is not only soldiers but also weapons that are consumed. Following an order from the imperial court, Tonglu Mountain has once again turned into an arsenal, with assembly line-like operations running day and night, producing dangerous things...
Heifu and the others did not go directly to Tonglu Mountain, but stopped forty miles north of it.
Looking from a distance, there is also a mountain here. As the trees were cut down by the criminals, the ocher-colored stones underneath were exposed...
"If there is ocher above, there is iron below. The Iron Mountain is here!"
…
Ocher color, this is the color of iron ore, and the vermilion lines seen all over the mountain are ore seedlings. This mine was discovered by the Chu people, but before it could be mined, it was taken over by the Qin people, and Hengshan County was established here
He hired an iron official, and in another two thousand years, Wuhan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. will have to rely on him to make a living...
Most of the iron mountains are shallow mines. After the prisoners dug out the iron ore covered with mud, they used mules, horses, etc. to transport it to the stream in baskets for cleaning, and then sent it downhill to the workshop.
Ten furnaces stand there.
When the iron official heard that the Marquis of Changnan was coming, he was waiting at the intersection early in the morning. When he saw the noble man arriving, he quickly came over to help Heifu lead the horse, nodding and bowing.
Heifu asked him: "I asked someone to draw the graphics. Is the weapon I want you to make ready to be forged?"
The iron official responded: "Okay, okay, it is made by the best craftsmen and the best iron. I was thinking of sending it to the camp immediately to show it to the Marquis of Changnan. Unexpectedly, the Lord came here. It's really
Let there be light in this despicable land."
Heifu came here not only for the weapons, but mainly to see the production capacity of Iron Mountain and Tonglu Mountain. How long will it take to arm his army? Is there any room for improvement in production?
Although he starts with more than five farmers, mining is still the most basic.
While holding the horse for Heihu, Iron Man pointed at the wooden equipment spinning endlessly by the stream and said:
"Since the water wheel was introduced from Nanjun, the Mohist made some improvements and made it into a water raft. He came here to teach the craftsmen. Now the water is used to drive the raft and blow the air to smelt iron. The quality of the iron is much better."
This is what happened in recent years. Thanks to Heifu's intervention, the Mohists who survived the turmoil of the imperial court banning hundreds of schools and confiscating books began to focus on improving equipment and created a series of hydraulic machinery.
Influenced by the "water vertebra" named by Heifu, all instruments driven by water have the word "water": the water vertebra for pounding rice and paper, the water mill for grinding noodles, and the waterwheel for drawing water from the river for irrigation are all
Water, this chapter is no exception.
The utensil used to blow air is a "gou". Smelting minerals requires extremely high temperatures. If one gong is not enough, several gongs are used and put together in a row, which is called a "rowing gong." The gongs are very large. Originally, the gongs were
It needs to be pulled by manpower or animals. Nowadays, water wheels are installed and pushed by water, which is called "water drainage".
With water drainage, strong and long-lasting wind force can increase the temperature of the iron furnace and produce more and better iron.
Heifu nodded. Every time he saw that productivity improved because of him, he felt a little happy. But he didn't have time to look in detail at the specific process of refining ore into iron, and he didn't have time to listen to the iron officer's flattery, so he asked to go see it directly.
The last process: casting and forging.
Before they even got close, heat waves rolled in, and there were clanging sounds everywhere. Craftsmen wearing only cooked cowhide skirts were forging iron. They were holding hammers, and sweat was flowing on their bronzed skin.
Before unification, the iron soldiers of the Qin State were actually very underdeveloped. The Qin people still preferred to use bronze soldiers that could be quickly equipped with the army after being cast, instead of iron soldiers that were repeatedly hammered. Iron was mostly used for agricultural tools.
But after the unification, the Shaofu directly absorbed the skilled craftsmen from the six countries to make up for the shortcomings of the past. At present, most of the craftsmen in this iron workshop are Chu people, and there are only a few Qin officials and soldiers to supervise it.
The iron smelting industry of the Chu State was very developed. In the Spring and Autumn Period, there were many famous craftsmen smelting cast iron swords, and Wandi was a famous iron smelting center. After Korea captured Nanyang and obtained the technology of the Chu people, the Han army became the world's largest.
One's reputation.
But both the Chu people and the Koreans focused their technology on iron swords.
Upon learning that the Marquis of Changnan had arrived, the Chu blacksmiths immediately stopped what they were doing and knelt in a row on the ground. The oldest blacksmith with a white beard immediately asked someone to bring over the weapons they had been making for many days.
, let Heifu take a look.
But I saw the ten weapons, which had just been produced a few days ago and were polished brightly, lying quietly in the wooden box. They were slightly shorter than the three-foot swords standard in the army, and had a circular handle, but unlike the sword, the blade
The body is wider, with an open front on one side, a thick spine and a thin blade.
In addition, the shapes are also different from each other. Some have larger blades, some have straight spines, and some have a special bend. The overall shape looks like a dog leg...
Heifu picked them up one by one and looked at them. Yes, this is what he wanted.
At this time, Tieguan had already started to brag about the situation.
"I have served as a copper and iron official, and have made countless weapons, but I have never seen such a wonderful thing."
He was quite talented in acting. He pointed at the knife with an exaggerated expression and said: "Two or three sons, please look at it. It looks like a sword from the Yin Shang Dynasty, but it is made of iron. It can be sharpened on one side, which saves a lot of troublesome craftsmanship. It is easier than a sword."
Forged. My subordinates have tried it. It is very heavy, with thick spine and thin blade. It is powerful and heavy. It is difficult for ordinary weapons to withstand it. It can also split thick armor. You are worthy of being a veteran on the battlefield..."
After saying this, he said with emotion: "I have heard that if a worker wants to do his job well, he must first sharpen his weapons, and if an army wants to be invincible, he must first sharpen his soldiers!"
In short, these knives made by Tie Guan are unprecedented and unprecedented. The design is so awesome and the structure is so reasonable. They are only comparable to the general Mo Xie.
"Yes, yes."
The blacksmiths looked at each other and thought, no wonder the iron officer can be an iron officer, while they can only be craftsmen. So that's how it is, and they all nodded in praise.
Heifu just smiled and said nothing, while Tokura couldn't help laughing. At this time, he heard a weak voice in the workshop mutter:
"It sounds so powerful, but it's actually the hatchet I use to chop wood and cane at home!"
For a moment, all the boasting came to an abrupt end. When everyone turned around, they saw a young blacksmith with dark skin. He also realized that his words had attracted everyone's attention. He was so frightened that his face turned pale. He knelt down quickly, nodded, and asked Mr. Hei.
Please forgive me.
Hei Fu didn't feel dissatisfied, but burst out laughing.
"What's the crime? You're right, I asked you to make these knives just to chop vines and trees!"
