Master Kong Zhongni

Chapter 144 What is an Internationally Famous Swordsmith?

Outside Tuqiu City, Ou Yezi and others boarded Zaiyu's car.

Everyone laughed and laughed along the way.

"Mr. Ou, so your tattoo is hibiscus wood and three-legged bird!"

Zigong looked at the golden rooster marking the dawn tattoo on Ou Yezi's chest, amazed all the way.

Ou Yezi also replied with a smile: "In the land of the Central Plains, Wu Yue has always been known very little, and it is common sense that you don't know.

On the contrary, Zaizi was able to write the "Shan Hai Jing", which clearly pointed out that "there is a hibiscus in Tanggu, and it is bathed in ten days, and it is in the north of Heizhi".

Zaizi has lived in the Central Plains for a long time, but he can know the legends and customs thousands of miles away. His profound knowledge and wisdom really make this old man ashamed! "

When Zaiyu heard that Ou Yezi praised him, he quickly changed the subject.

His understanding of Wu Yue was limited to the materials in the library. If Ou Yezi got entangled in myths and legends, why not let him show his eyes?

Zaiyu said: "I have heard that there is a sequence of learning, and there is a specialization in art. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses.

You are a well-known swordsmith in the world today, you think I have profound knowledge, but why don't I want to ask you about the art of casting? "

Hearing this, Ou Yezi understood Jai Yu's subtext.

He said with a smile: "The method of casting is simple to say, but difficult to do.

The mold for casting swords is flat, the copper and tin are of good quality, the sword casting craftsmen are highly skilled, and the heat and ingredients are just right, all of which are indispensable.

I learned from Li Suo, a great master of the state of Chu. When he taught me, he taught me.

If you want to cast high-quality copperware, you must strictly abide by the ratio of the six modulations.

If you want to cast ritual vessels such as bells and tripods, you need to divide the materials into six parts, of which copper accounts for five and tin accounts for one.

If you want to make an ax for felling trees, divide the materials into five parts, of which copper accounts for four and tin accounts for one.

The halberd used for killing and felling is made of copper three and tin one.

Different modulation ratios can produce different effects.

However, the specific amount of addition needs to be fine-tuned on this ratio, and each craftsman is different. "

When Ou Yezi said this, he suddenly paused.

Jae Yu also understood what the other party meant.

After all, blacksmithing is a skill that people eat, and the proportion of metal added cannot be easily taught to the outside world.

He is not related to others, so Ou Yezi's talk about it is already very interesting.

When Zaiyu heard the words, he brought out the rhetoric he had prepared in his heart.

He pretended to be suddenly enlightened and said.

"When I watched craftsmen casting swords in Qufu, I had to prepare yellow and white metals in advance. It turned out that they were copper and tin!"

After hearing this, Ou Yezi asked with a smile, "Do you like watching people make swords?"

Seeing that Ou Yezi was in the set, Zaiyu quickly put on a serious expression and replied.

"I don't understand it, but I really like it. When I see craftsmen making swords, as you said, they always use copper and tin separately.

With more copper, the cast utensils are full of toughness.The utensils cast with more tin are extremely hard.

So I wondered if it is possible to use the method of separate casting, and use copper water with high copper content when casting the sword spine, so that the sword will have good toughness and will not break easily.

When casting the blade, copper water with high tin content is used to make it harder and make the blade sharper. "

At first Ou Yezi listened with a smile on his face, but as he listened, his expression gradually became strange.

Even Fan Li who was at the side could see that his expression was not right, and hurriedly asked, "Mr. Ou, what's wrong with you?"

Zigong thought it was Zaiyu who offended the other party, so he hurried up to make a relief.

"My son, how can such a child's play method be used in making swords?"

Ou Yezi stared at Jai Yu for a long time, and couldn't help asking, "Do you really just like watching sword casting?"

"Indeed."

"Then your ancestors were born as craftsmen?"

Zai Yu didn't deny it directly, but replied euphemistically: "My surname is Ji."

Hearing this, Ou Yezi also understood what Jai Yu meant.

Zai's family means that Zaiyu's ancestors have held official positions such as tomb slaughter, big slaughter, small slaughter, butcher, inner slaughter, and inner slaughter, but none of them has anything to do with craftsmen.

After learning the news, Ou Yezi suddenly looked up to the sky with complicated emotions.

He forged swords for most of his life, and it was not until his middle age that he realized the craft of compound casting.

However, Zaiyu can think of such a coup just by standing in the workshop and watching others make swords. Where can he reason?

Ou Yezi couldn't hold back and asked, "Do you have any other ideas?"

Seeing that he took the bait, Zaiyu continued to throw out the bait again: "As you said, I also believe that iron is much stronger than copper.

But the reason why most iron utensils are not as good as copper utensils is simply because they contain too many impurities. "

Ou Yezi has a deep understanding of this statement.

He was ordered to forge swords for the King of Yue. At the beginning, he wanted to forge iron swords, but the quality of the iron ore produced by Yue State was really not flattering.

At that time, iron ore with excellent quality like that in Chu State still needed to be selected from the best and worked hard to forge magic weapons like Gongbu and Tai'a.

"Listening to what you said, did you think of some way to remove impurities in iron?"

After hearing this, Zaiyu pretended to be distressed and said, "It's just an idea, and it hasn't been practiced yet.

Originally, I planned to try it in Tuqiu, but in a small place like ours, there are really no craftsmen who know how to forge and smelt!
The reason why I want to go to Qi by boat is to find craftsmen who are willing to come to Tuqiu to make iron! "

When Ou Yezi heard this, he was also skeptical.

Generally speaking, if an ordinary person said such things to him, Ou Yezi would just treat him as nonsense.

But Zaiyu was able to propose the secret compound forging method in the Wuyue area.

What if he really knows how to purify iron?
Ou Yezi hesitated for a while, then suddenly spoke.

"If I hadn't been ordered by the king, I really wanted to stay in Tuqiu and help you try a little bit. But now that I'm ordered to forge swords for the king of Yue, it's not appropriate to stay here with you..."

Jae Yu couldn't help sighing when he heard this.

Also, why is Ou Yezi so easy to invite?
He is an internationally renowned swordsmith, why should he give the little Tuqiu face?
Just when Zaiyu thought that the matter had no turning point, Ou Yezi suddenly spoke again.

"But although I can't personally assist you, I can recommend a suitable candidate to you."

Zai Yu's eyes lit up.

That's fine too!
The person recommended by Ou Yezi will not be too bad.

"May I ask who Mr. Ou is talking about?"

Ou Yezi thought for a while, blushed and coughed, and said with some embarrassment.

"Don't blame me. The person I want to recommend is actually my apprentice and my son-in-law. His name is Gan Jiang."

　A prudent reader is good to himself, but a virtuous reader is good to others.

　　——Excerpt from "Zaiyu's Diary"

　　
　
(End of this chapter)