Emperor Sui Yang

After many years, Dou Qing finally saw his number one nemesis in life again. This time was not that time. When Yang Ming first came to Hedong, he was not too polite, but now, he is completely humble.

"The prince is exhausted, please go to the mansion to rest," Dou Qing trotted over, and personally helped Yang Ming get off the carriage.

Yang Ming smiled and said, "Did Mr. Dou help Gu keep an eye on Wenxi's matter?"

"For sure, for sure," Dou Qingpo said with a smile.

The two entered the Hedong Palace with all the officials behind.

Right now, it's not the Prince's Mansion of Hedong anymore, there is no king in Hedong anymore, but the mansion is still Yang Ming's property, and there are always people here.

Since the 18th year of Emperor Kaihuang and the construction of the palace, Yang Ming has never lived here.

At this time, looking at the scene in the mansion, I feel that the time flies, and the time flies by.

"Okay, let them all go, Gu has nothing to explain, I only stay here for one night, and I will go to Wenxi tomorrow,"

After Yang Ming entered the front hall, he asked Dou Qing to dismiss all the magistrates, leaving only Xu Deyan, Xiao Mohe, Song Laosheng, and Xiao Shilian. These four belonged to Yang Ming.

Song Laosheng was not old at all, he looked around forty, this person was single-handedly picked up by Xiao Mohe, and Xiao Mohe intentionally let him take over Yang Ming's elite trilogy in Hedong.

Xiao Mohe is old, he is over 70 years old, he can help Yang Ming practice this elite trilogy, he can be regarded as a complete meritorious deed, and now he only plans to retire in the position of Hedong County Lieutenant and Army Hussar General, until he dies , and then the eldest son Xiao Shilian sent him back to his hometown in Lanling for burial.

That's right, he was also from the Xiao family in Lanling, but he was far away from Empress Xiao's Southern Liang Xiao family.

"Shi Lian is not an outsider, but Gu has not met you until now, and I feel that it is too late to meet you," Yang Ming said with a smile.

Xiao Shilian is also in his 40s this year, and has been living in Shixing County, Nanhai County, because Xiao Mahe and his family migrated from Lanling to Shixing very early, and this place is in the north of Guangzhou.

Xiao Shilian hurriedly got up and said: "The prince has the kindness to reinvent my father and son, and I look forward to being humbled every day. I can see the prince's demeanor as soon as possible. Seeing him today will be a lifetime comfort."

Xiao Mahe was different from other generals of Southern Chen. He led the main force of Chen army to surrender to the Sui Dynasty. He had performed meritorious service, so his sons were not taken captive to the capital.

As a result, the second son Xiao Shilue who stayed in his hometown rebelled in the south of the Yangtze River, was suppressed by Yang Su, and was defeated and killed. The eldest son Xiao Shilian did not participate from the beginning to the end, and survived by luck.

Yang Ming smiled and said, "Sit down quickly, don't be polite to your own people."

Then, Yang Ming looked at Song Laosheng again with great interest, and said:
"This time I come to Hedong alone, on the one hand, I want to go to Wenxi to see the situation of the kiln; , although the grade is low, the power is not small."

Song Laosheng hurriedly said: "It is a humble honor to be able to serve the prince, but I hope to train the most elite and invincible teachers in the world for the prince."

"Very good," Yang Ming nodded and said, "This lonely private army will be handed over to you and Shilian. It may be of great use in the future. Let's wait for the opportunity. Once it becomes clear, it will be a great success."

Song Laosheng was overjoyed: "I'm a rough man in a humble position. I only know that I will obey the prince's order, so as to live up to the cultivation of the prince and Mr. Xiao."

"Okay," Yang Ming raised his glass with a smile, "Everyone, please drink this glass to the brim."

All the people in the hall stood up one after another and toasted Yang Ming.

After drinking with a smile, Dou Qing wiped his mouth and sat down, saying:

"Qiao Zhongkui sent a letter, hoping to come to Hedong to meet the crown prince. I wonder if the crown prince will meet?"

"The prefect of a county should not leave his post without authorization if he has to do important things. Tell him, we will see you later," Yang Ming said.

Qiao Zhongkui is now going to Yang Ming. His son Qiao Chun is already working in the East Palace, so he thinks he is the Prince's man. Hearing that Yang Ming is coming to Hedong, he asks Dou Qing to see if he has a chance. Meet the prince.

After all, it is my backstage, so I still need to meet frequently to promote the relationship.

That night, Yang Ming stayed in the Hedong Prince's Mansion, and set off for Wenxi County in the early morning of the next day.

Wenxi is Pei's hometown, and only the Pei family has the final say in this place, and no one can help.

When Yang Ming arrived outside Wenxi County, the welcoming team of nearly a thousand people had already been waiting outside the city gate for a long time, including Dugu Huai'en.

"Tell them, I won't go into the city, let them lead the way, and go to the kiln to have a look," Yang Ming told Chen Kui, who passed on his meaning, and the Pei family separated. Hundreds of riders led the way, heading for the deep mountains east of the county seat.

Dugu Huai'en was called into the carriage by Yang Ming.

After half a year of separation, this kid's face is peeling from the sun, but his expression is very excited, and it seems that he is making good progress.

Without waiting for Yang Ming to ask questions, Dugu Huaien rubbed his hands excitedly and said:

"The Pei family helped a lot. They found a few good mines, easy to mine, and the quality is good. At present, six refining kilns have been built. After all, it is the initial stage. Some weapons have been released in advance. It's not good, let's improve it slowly. .”

Yang Ming said: "I can't slow it down. If I can slow down, I don't need to go there myself. Yan Pi begged me for help, and asked me to deliver a batch of ordnance and armor to him before the end of the year so that he can deal with His Majesty."

"Why do you care about him? This is an errand given to him by His Majesty, not for you, so there's no need to help him," Dugu Huai'en said:

"The process of smelting and casting is extremely complicated. It doesn't mean that it can be done quickly. Only slow work can produce fine work. It hasn't been long since the kiln was ignited, and many processes are still not perfect. Let me tell you clearly in advance. I can't be fast. Besides, I It is a high-quality product, not a military supply for the imperial court."

Yang Ming smiled and said, "You can tell His Majesty about this."

"I dare not, so I'll complain to you," Dugu Wynn said with a curl of his lips: "If I tell him that, he can reward me with twenty sticks."

After all, this kid was raised by Yang Guang's own mother, Dugu Jialuo, for two years. In Yang Guang's heart, he is a very close cousin. In addition, his personality is like this, so Yang Guang doesn't care about his mouth. .

Yang Ming smiled and said, "I'll see the situation first."

The mines are basically distributed in the deep mountains of Tangying Township, so the refining kilns are naturally located in Tangying Township, distributed among the six villages in the township, and the ores are all made from the large and small mountains around Tangwang Mountain.

Tangwangshan was originally called Tiaoshan, but was later changed to Jingshan. Historically, Shang Tang sent troops here to fight the Xia army in Mingtiao, destroying Xia and establishing Shang, so the mountain was renamed Tangwangshan, which is still in use today.

There are rich iron ore resources in the mountains, some of which are difficult to mine but easy to mine. This time, the Pei family was quite interesting and took the initiative to point them out.

So so far, the mining has been very smooth, the road has also been repaired by the Pei family, and the ore in the mountains has been sent to Tangying Township in a steady stream.

In the village, smoke rose everywhere, and the sound of blacksmithing was endless, very ear-piercing.

The smelting technology of the Sui Dynasty was very backward, and the environment was also poor. Fortunately, professionals from Taifu Temple were placed here, and the sewer was dug early to divert the sewage out of the village. Otherwise, there would be no place to stay in the village. No.

The village where Yang Ming lives is called Shimen Village. There are eighteen furnaces. Because all the ore comes from one mine, a village alone can be called a refinery.

The ore materials from each mine are different, and they cannot be mixed and matched. Therefore, the iron ore from a mine is used in the kiln of a village, and other ores cannot be replaced.

There are barracks all over here, all of which are the residences of workers. The village was originally small, but now the population has soared, and business has also prospered. There are everything for sale, including prostitution.

As an expert, Yun Dingxing accompanied Yang Ming and introduced the entire process of smelting and forging to Yang Ming. Among them, Yang Ming met craftsmen from Shandong in a smelting shed, using Qi Wuhuai from the Northern Qi Dynasty. Wen's pouring steel technology.

The double-liquid quenching method plus can only use chestnut charcoal to burn the kiln.

Chestnut charcoal is the charcoal burned from chestnut trees. If you use this thing to start a fire, there are fewer impurities in the fire and it is not easy to pollute the iron.

In fact, it is mainly about the avoidance and application of some chemical elements. Yang Ming doesn't know what it is.

So, accompanied by Dugu Huai'en, Yun Dingxing and others, he personally observed a smelting process. Dozens of the best craftsmen, hands and feet, sweating profusely, worked carefully.

The temperature in the shed rose instantly after the iron was fired, and Yang Ming was also sweating profusely.

As the moon sets and the sun rises, the craftsmen scrape open the bottom of the furnace, and then a ball of fiery red iron slag like cotton slowly flows out, which is called a piece of iron smelting.

The smelting furnaces in the Sui Dynasty were not very big, as tall as one person, so the blowing effect was poor, and the melting point could not be raised, so they could not burn molten iron, but could only burn a piece of iron, which is the cotton-like iron slag now.

The next step is quenching and cooling. It is soft and you cannot pick it up. You must cool it down to make it a little harder. Quenching and cooling can also remove some impurities in the iron slag.

Cooling is very time-consuming. About an hour later, three craftsmen picked it up with iron tongs, put it on the forging table, and began to forge it clangingly.

As the saying goes, strike while the iron is hot. Only at this time can you forge a block of iron into the shape you need after continuous forging. This is a kind of kung fu work, which consumes a lot of time and energy.

After another two and a half hours, a knife blade was finished. At this time, the internal structure of the iron knife had been finalized, and it could be cooled directly in water. With a chirping sound, the entire shed was filled with smoke.

The handles are all made of wood, with iron rings locked on them, in order to prevent the wooden handle from cracking and fasten the blade.

As for sharpening, it is simple, not a technical job.

This is how a knife is made. If you don't look at it, you don't know it. When you look at it, you are shocked. Yang Ming only feels that this kind of craftsmanship is too backward. A million troops?

You must know that just a pair of armor requires dozens of craftsmen to work day and night for a month to complete.

Yang Ming felt that he might have to stay for a long time during his trip to Hedong this time.