When the craftsmen heard Kou Ji's question, they quickly took the drawings and handed them to Kou Ji.
"This is a drawing sent by someone from Baozhou. It already shows the problem."
Kou Ji glanced at it and twitched the corner of his mouth: "Who asked them to put armor on the horses? Are they still wearing heavy armor? Is there something wrong with your brain?"
The craftsmen hesitated and said, "It was said by the old soldiers sent by the Li Mansion. They said that they encountered a kind of soldiers on the Xixia battlefield who were both men and horses wearing armor. They were extremely ferocious.
So I just wanted to try it..."
When Kou Ji heard this, he was slightly startled.
The soldiers in the Li Mansion who were wearing armor, both men and horses, were probably Iron Kites, or the predecessors of Iron Kites.
When the Song Dynasty conquered Xixia, they did not show great success, which means that they are still in the process of being established and have not formed a certain scale.
But the veteran of the Li Mansion was able to see how powerful Tie Yaozi was during the process of its creation, which is enough to show that the veteran of the Li Mansion has a good eye.
Kou Ji took the blueprint and said seriously: "It is a heavy armored horse, and the requirements for horses are very good. Unless it is a top-notch horse, it will never reach the level required by a heavy armored horse.
Although the horses I brought back from the Liao Kingdom are all top-notch horses, they are still far from the standards required for heavy armor riding.
Among the five thousand good horses, it is already very good if fifty good horses can meet the standards required for heavy armor riding.
Therefore, it is not advisable to armor horses in large quantities so far.
Moreover, those horses are still reproducing. Before the number of horses reaches a certain standard, letting them hone under heavy armor is killing them.
We are different from Xixia. Thousands of fine horses appear in Xixia every year, and the 5,000 horses in our hands can produce three or four fine horses every year, which is already very good.
.
Therefore, it is not advisable to put armor on horses.
At least not now."
The craftsmen heard Kou Ji's words and nodded thoughtfully.
Kou Ji continued: "We are short of horses, and we are even more short of excellent cavalry. When the horses are not in place, we must first equip the soldiers so that they can become familiar with each other on horseback and become qualified cavalry.
.
As long as we have qualified cavalry, horses are not a problem.
When the time comes, it won’t matter whether it’s through deception or by spending a lot of money to buy it from the vassal.”
The craftsmen stared at Kou Ji blankly.
Kou Ji was also stunned for a moment, then smiled bitterly and said: "Why am I telling you this... I should write a letter to Di Qing to tell these things..."
After saying this with a wry smile, Kou Ji told the craftsmen: "What you have to do now is to equip our soldiers. Help them build armor, boots, and weapons."
"Little people understand."
The craftsmen agreed.
"Help me prepare some molds, clay, iron ingots, silver, and prepare a stove. I have something to do..."
Kou Ji gave an order.
The craftsmen's eyes widened for a moment, "Young master, you want to build something again, can you guys watch from the sidelines?"
Kou Ji shook his head and said: "The things forged this time are of great importance, you can't take a peek."
When the craftsmen heard this, they looked disappointed.
Kou Ji added: "But after I finish forging things, I can teach you how to forge steel!"
"steel?"
The craftsmen became excited again for a moment.
The leader of the craftsmen said excitedly: "Young Master, is the steel you are talking about the same material you forged last time?"
The steel that the head craftsman mentioned was the steel that Kou Ji secretly obtained when he was making musket barrels.
The craftsmen were deeply impressed by that kind of steel.
In order to make a qualified gun barrel, Kou Ji made a large number of iron pillars and asked them to drill holes.
In the end, it was the old craftsman who knew how to make ghost balls, who used a triangular drill bit made from a special ore to help Ko Ji drill out a qualified gun barrel.
Seeing the eager faces of the craftsmen, Kou Ji nodded slowly and said, "It's that kind of material..."
When the craftsmen heard this, they were so excited that they were speechless.
The leader of the craftsmen quickly called a group of apprentices to help Kou Ji prepare the things he wanted to use.
After Kou Ji got the things, he got into the workshop and started making them.
During this period, Kou Jiyou asked someone to bring a lot of paints and ink sticks into the room for him to use.
Kou Ji spent three days in the workshop before producing a version of Jiaozi printing template that he was quite satisfied with.
At the same time, he also formulated a kind of colored ink that others cannot imitate.
Kou Ji took a stack of printed Jiaozi and walked out of the workshop, hoping to find the craftsmen in the workshop to review them.
As soon as he walked out the door, a craftsman in his fifties caught his attention.
The craftsman, dressed in coarse linen clothes, squatted on the ground and stared blankly at the pile of clay thrown out by Koji from the workshop.
Kou Ji stepped forward and asked, "Is there something wrong with the clay seal I made?"
The craftsman raised his head, glanced at it, and saw that it was Kou Ji. He quickly stood up and saluted: "I have seen the young master..."
Kou Ji nodded.
The craftsman hesitated and said: "To tell you what the young master is saying, I just think that your method of making seals with clay is consistent with some of the methods in my mind. So I couldn't help but stop and watch, hoping to get some inspiration from it."
Kou Ji was stunned and asked, "What do you want to do with clay seals?"
The craftsman pondered: "The little man thought about it and wondered if he could use clay to replace the original engraving for printing."
Kou Ji opened his mouth and asked hurriedly: "What's your name?"
The craftsman was stunned for a moment, then bowed and said: "The villain Bi Sheng..."
(Bi Sheng, born around 970 AD, invented movable type printing during the Qingli period (1041~1048)...)
Kou Ji smiled.
The smile is very bright.
Bi Sheng looked suspicious and didn't understand why Kou Ji laughed when he heard his name.
Kou Ji asked with a smile: "Are you from Qishui, Qizhou?"
Bi Sheng nodded strangely, "The villain is from Qishui, Qizhou..."
After a pause, Bi Sheng stared at Kou Ji and asked, "Has the young master investigated the villain?"
Kou Ji shook his head decisively and said with a smile: "No..."
Before Bi Sheng could ask more questions, Kou Ji added: "Kou Zhong saw me running into the workshop many times before, so he told me your identity and background. Your name is very special, so I remember it.
"
Bi Sheng was not suspicious and nodded slowly.
He hesitated for a moment and asked Kou Jida: "Young Master, can I take away these clay seals?"
Kou Ji nodded and smiled: "Of course...but I have to remind you. The clay I used to print is two or three characters per print, and it has not been fired, so it cannot be used for long-term printing.
.”
Bi Sheng froze on the spot, as if he was under a immobilizing spell.
Kou Ji's words were like a thread that penetrated into his mind, connecting many messy thoughts in his mind together to form a complete chain of thoughts.
Kou Ji stared at Bi Sheng, who seemed to be under a restraining spell, and smiled knowingly.
Judging from Bi Sheng's actions just now, Bi Sheng has not yet invented movable type printing. Movable type printing seems to be just a prototype in Bi Sheng's mind. Without his reminder, Bi Sheng would have had to think about it for a long time before he could understand it. The secret of movable type printing.
What he said today may make movable type printing appear in front of the world soon.
He did not disturb Bi Sheng, but bypassed Bi Sheng and went to find other craftsmen.
Kou Ji found other craftsmen and told them not to disturb Bi Sheng who was having an epiphany.
Then hand them the printed handout in your hand.
"Please help me take a look and see how many hidden marks there are to identify authenticity in the Jiaozi I printed. Whoever finds the most will be rewarded heavily."
The craftsmen snatched the Jiaozi from Kou Ji's hand and looked at it separately.
Each of them looked through one page and looked carefully for the hidden mark inside.
As for the rewards mentioned by Koji, they didn't care at all.
They are all the top craftsmen in the world, and there are countless people who ask them to build things, or ask them to become apprentices and teach their skills.
There are even many people who spend a lot of money secretly to buy their skills from them.
They ignored this, which shows that they do not value money.
They value craftsmanship and skills more.
"I found three places..."
"No, no, no, there are six places..."
"What six places, it's clearly twelve places..."
"..."
"No, what you said is wrong. There are twenty-one places! Twenty-one places!"
"The young master is indeed very skilled in craftsmanship. I found a total of twenty-eight hidden marks in it."
"How is that possible?"
"..."
A group of craftsmen approached Kou Ji with handouts, hoping that Kou Ji would give him a final answer.
Kou Ji smiled calmly and said: "There are... thirty-six places in total!"
"impossible!"
The craftsmen spoke one after another, feeling a little excited.
Kou Ji took the jiaozi and explained to them one by one the hidden marks on the jiaozi.
But Kou Ji only talked about thirty chapters, and didn’t talk much about the remaining six chapters.
Those six places were the hidden secrets he left behind to prevent future accidents in Jiaozipu, so that he could use them to control others.
When the craftsmen saw that Kou Ji had reached thirty points and refused to talk any more, they felt itchy and panicked, but no one grabbed Kou Ji and asked him to continue talking.
They all understand the rule of leaving things alone, and they also use it frequently.
So they won't pester Kou Ji to get to the bottom of it, because they know the rules.
The craftsmen were puzzled and began to ask Kou Ji how to forge steel.
Kou Ji took them to the iron forging workshop and explained it to them in detail using some of the tools in the iron forging workshop.
They are all skilled craftsmen, and they can draw inferences about many things without Kou Ji explaining them in detail.
Kou Ji explained the process once and they had already written it all down.
There was no need for Kou Ji to cover up, the craftsmen were already preparing to give it a try.
Before the craftsmen dispersed, Kou Ji found the head craftsman and told him to take care of Bi Sheng. At the same time, he asked the head craftsman to prepare some things for Bi Sheng that would be used to study movable type printing.
As for the separate workshop, Kou Jidao did not give any instructions.
Bi Sheng was not only good at printing crafts, he also mastered many crafts. He was also a great craftsman in the Kou family. He had his own separate workshop and did not need special arrangements.
After giving instructions to the leader of the craftsmen, Kou Ji left the craftsman's workshop.
After returning to Sijun Garden, he saw Xiang Yan floating past him like a gust of wind.
He deliberately dragged Xiang Yan to talk for a while, but when he saw Xiang Yan walking out in a hurry, he didn't stop her.
Kou Ji was not the only one who was busy these three days.
Xiang Yan is even busier.
After seeing the bottomless treasury of Kou Mansion, Xiang Yan was completely confused.
In order to count the mountains of money inside, she worked day and night in the treasury.
Xiang Yan led Kou Zhong, the accountant of the Kou Mansion, and hundreds of accounting clerks to count the money of the Kou Mansion. It took three days, and the money counted was less than one-tenth of what was in the warehouse.
There are still nine tenths that have not been counted.
After Kou Ji returned to the room, he stretched his tired muscles, washed himself, and lay down to sleep.
It wasn't until midnight that I slowly woke up.
Kou Ji drowsily touched his side and found nothing. When he opened his eyes, he saw Xiang Yan'er lying on the table in the room, lighting a candle, holding a pen, and calculating accounts.
Kou Ji stood up slowly, feeling a little cold, so he put on another coat.
He picked up a cloak, walked to Xiang Yan, put it on her, then hugged him from behind and whispered: "It's so late, are you still busy?"
Xiang Yan put down her pen, rubbed her sour wrist, snuggled into Kou Ji's arms, and laughed softly: "The family has too much money. If I don't work a little, I can't even calculate it."
Kou Ji said calmly: "Just leave it to Kou Zhong to take care of it?"
Xiang Yan raised her head and said unhappily: "How can that be done? I don't doubt Kou Zhong's loyalty. But it's hard to say about the other people below. If they take the opportunity to be greedy when moving money, who can Know.
If things continue like this, will the Kou Mansion still be emptied by them?
My purpose is to count the property in the house as soon as possible, and then reconcile the accounts with the accounting office to see if there are any discrepancies between the accounts in the accounting room and the money in the treasury.
Then we’ll check again to see if anyone is embezzling money from the government.”
Kou Ji shook his head in confusion.
Seeing this, Xiang Yan said dissatisfiedly: "Why are you shaking your head? What I'm telling you is serious business."
Kou Ji smiled and said, "It's nothing...I'll listen to whatever you say."
Xiang Yan snuggled into Kou Ji's arms again and said, "When I was taking inventory of the treasury, I found that a lot of money in the treasury was moldy and had a layer of green hair growing on it.
Those silver bumps are almost rusting into stone bumps.
We have to find a way to spend this money...
It’s best to use them to buy shops, floors...
Some of the calligraphy and paintings stored in the house also have signs of moisture and need to be taken care of...
Among the copper coins in the house, many of them are of different sizes and weights, so their values are naturally different...
I am thinking..."
Xiang Yan kept talking and said a lot of words, and she suddenly told Kou Ji that she fell asleep.
In the end, Kou Ji faintly woke up amidst Xiang Yan's dissatisfied calls.
I saw Xiang Yan pouting with a look of complaint on her face.
Kou Ji hurriedly said: "I will do as you say..."
Xiang Yan immediately grinned.
"You go to bed first, I will be busy for a while..."
Kou Ji nodded helplessly and walked to the bed.
Xiang Yan felt a little sorry when she saw Kou Ji crawling into bed alone.
She hesitated for a while and whispered: "If you feel that the bed is not warm enough, I will ask Chun'er to come in and help you warm yourself."
Kou Ji shrank into the bed and said calmly: "No need..."
"Are you shy?"
"No……"
"Then why don't you let Chun'er help you warm up..."
"Not used to it..."
"Chun'er is my dowry girl and the one who lives in your room. She will definitely warm your bed in the future..."
"..."
Kou Ji covered himself with the quilt, said "I'm asleep", and stopped talking to Xiang Yan.
He was afraid that if he continued to talk to Xiang Yan, Xiang Yan would force Chun'er into his bed.