Three Kingdoms

In late autumn in the North, we can already experience the power of the coming severe cold, and our breath forms a string of white mist in the air.

On the bank of Xinshui River, a, well, strictly speaking, there were three large-scale camps built along the river bank. The camps were not far from each other, about a hundred steps away. The walls of the camps were the earliest It is made of wood and earth structure, but now it is basically replaced with red bricks, and it will gradually become the shape of a dock.

In the middle of the camp, besides the workshops, there are workshops. The wood on Luliang Mountain was cut down, then dragged down the mountain, bundled together, and made into a raft. By the way, it carried some of the mined ore and followed the water flow down to here. The wood was piled on the river bank waiting to dry in the shade, while the ore basically went into the towering furnace in the camp and was refined into various raw materials.

Thick blast furnaces spit out black smoke day and night, and water and land transportation basically never stops. Most of the original small-scale workshops in Beiqu have been moved here. Ordinary gun heads, arrows, and armor are all produced here. What is left in Beiqu is further fine processing and smelting, such as three The war sword of Shi Lian and the Mo Dao of Fifty Lian were both made by Beiqu.

Coal has become the main fuel. Fortunately, even in later generations, Shanxi still has a lot of open-pit coal seams. For Fei Qian now, with just three camps like this, even if they are fully constructed, they will probably not be used up in three to five years. That layer on the surface.

However, the quality of iron refined from coal is naturally inferior, but it also brings additional interesting additional effects...

Fei Qian held two iron spear heads. After looking at them, he handed them to Xu Shu and said with a smile, "Yuan Zhi, see what is the difference in quality between these two spear heads?"

Xu Shu took the two spear heads, weighed them out of habit, and tested the hardness of the spear heads on the soil, and then said: "Zhonglang, this... I can't see it clearly, there doesn't seem to be much difference..."

Fei Qian smiled and then motioned to the craftsmen on the side to demonstrate.

The craftsman picked up two gun heads, and then led Fei Qian and others to a stove. He clamped the two gun heads with iron tongs and heated them in the raging fire.

After a while, the gun tip was licked red by the flames. The craftsman skillfully picked up the two spear heads, placed them on the anvil, grabbed the hammer on the side and started hammering them quickly.

The tip of the gun was soon gradually flattened, and then the difference appeared. One of the gun heads cracked immediately under the knocking, like a piece of ice falling to the ground, breaking into several pieces of different sizes, while the other gun head cracked under the continuous knocking. It became a round cake-shaped piece of iron without cracking...

"This..." Xu Shu opened his eyes wide.

The iron ore in Luliang Mountain is of average quality. If it is not screened and some lime is not added for desulfurization, then the smelted hot metal will contain high sulfur content after frying the steel. When there is too much sulfur content, the steel will generate heat. Crisp effect.

But not to mention the Han Dynasty, even in later generations, how many people can understand the thermal embrittlement effect of steel? At room temperature, or when it is completely melted into molten iron, this kind of thermal brittleness basically does not show up. It is only particularly obvious when hot processing is performed at about 1000 degrees. At this time, steel with high sulfur content is like It's like paper and will break if you hit it.

To put it simply, ordinary steel that has not been desulfurized is difficult to undergo simple secondary thermal processing...

Fei Qian nodded to the craftsman, and then moved a little away from the extremely hot blast furnace. After a while, Fei Qian was already sweating a little.

"These are the gun heads destined for the east..." Fei Qian whispered to Xu Shu.

Gold in troubled times, antiques in prosperous times. But in troubled times, there are things more valuable than gold. One is of course food and grass, and the other is of course weapons.

Xu Shu suddenly understood, and then showed a tacit smile.

In marching battles, weapons and other things will naturally suffer some wear and tear, but on the battlefield, it is impossible to set up a blast furnace to melt all the materials and then pour them. It can only be maintained through superficial thermal processing, and the gun sent by Fei Qian The head is at this moment...

Moreover, Fei Qian also said that the land in Bingzhou is barren and the quality of the gun heads is poorer. Of course, the price is cheaper. But in the eyes of people like Yuan Shao, soldiers are just consumables. As for items such as gun heads, they are almost nothing. , basically don’t understand, let alone ask too many questions.

As for the craftsmen in Yuan Shaojun's army who encountered this kind of problem, most of them simply discarded the faulty ironware as scrap. Unless someone paid special attention to it, they would naturally not take the initiative to report it. Therefore, the result was that The attrition rate of ordnance is greatly increased.

Basically, the caravans heading east now are transporting spearheads and arrowheads with relatively high sulfur content in exchange for grain, grass, cloth and other materials.

Xu Shu suddenly thought of something, and then said: "So, is there some problem with the relationship between Yuan Cheqi and the Zhen family in Hebei?"

There are also iron mines in Jizhou, but they are basically controlled by the Zhen family. Yuan Cheqi traveled thousands of miles to find Fei Qian to buy these gun heads. Firstly, the price at Feiqian was lower, and secondly, he probably did not want to be restricted by the Zhen family's psychological factors.

The current Han Dynasty is too dependent on the gentry.

There is no one to look for.

If you don’t have money or food, you have to find a noble family.

If you don't have salt, iron, tea, daily necessities, etc., you need to find a family...

In order to take back the salt and iron from the hands of the emperor, for a long time after Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the aristocratic families tried their best to get this piece of fat back.

The Aristocratic Family was a malignant tumor that only clung to the Han Dynasty. After dragging down the Han Dynasty in the future, it itself also fell into a path of decline.

Yuan Shao was in Jizhou. Although he had the governor in charge, the formation of the army and the production of materials for life were inseparable from the Hebei gentry. Therefore, personnel such as Tian Feng and Gao Gan could hold high positions. Among Yuan Shao's ranks, they were the same as Yuzhou People fight in separate courts.

Fei Qian shook his head and said: "There may not be any conflict, I'm afraid it's just that the terms between each other have not been agreed upon." Then Yuan Shao united with the Zhen family through marriage, which was probably a mutually recognized transaction.

But as long as Yuan Shao is not willing to be completely controlled by the local Zhen family, he will inevitably choose Fei Qian for transactions, just like how future merchants always have to prepare a few more.

Fei Qian looked toward the east and said: "What's more, Yuan Cheqi's demand for ordnance has been quite large recently. He has been buying it everywhere. Hebei alone can't supply it for a while... so this kind of business should continue for a while..."

"Is Yuan Cheqi ready to take action according to Zhonglang's wishes?" Xu Shu said, "If you want to go south, you must first secure the north..."

Fei Qian nodded and said: "Recently, the proportion of grain and grass exchanged in the east... Well, the quantity is declining, while the quantity of salt, tea, cloth and other supplies is rising... These people in the east are also hoarding grain and grass... …”

This winter may be the last window of time to stock up on food and grass. With wars happening all over the country, food and grass are even more precious than gold...

I didn’t eat breakfast, I really couldn’t eat it... I felt like throwing up after the first bite... MMP... The ancients said that having talent is like being pregnant, and there is indeed some truth to it...