Crowned the New Han Dynasty

Chapter 606 Casting beads and asking questions

Ge Lu put down his face, nodded and said: "That's right, this time the mine was excavated, and there were indeed signs of sulfur mines. After all, this northern land was originally a place densely populated with sulfur veins, but it was not easy to mine. , with the manpower entrusted to me by the prefect now, I still need to teach many skills, and my speed cannot be guaranteed."

"These are trivial matters," Chen Zhi waved his hand, "The main thing is to focus on the future. Didn't I have someone send all those Xianbei people here? There is still the threat of war right now, so these people are still being guarded in the barracks , after the war ends, they will be sent over to work as miners."

Ge Lu asked tentatively: "According to what the prefect said, do you still feel confident about Duan Bu's attack this time, and are you even more confident about winning the battle?"

"It's not bad to say so, but you can't prepare the escape route in case of defeat, right?" Chen Zhi laughed, but his top priority when he came here today is to hand over this prescription to Ge Lu.

Ge Lu also understood the key points, and without saying much at the moment, he swore that he would never reveal it, because it was obvious that Chen Zhi also grasped some key points of their school's inheritance, and they had mutual support.

However, Chen Zhi knew very well that Ge Lu would only understand the weight of the list when he knew the true power of the list in his hand, but he was not worried, because if the things on the list were to really work, they had to rely on There is also much to be done about other parts, as well as the proportions and weight inside.

So after he briefly spoke to Ge Lu, the latter wisely left and said he was going back to prepare. Chen Zhi then called Chen Ju over and asked him to invite Ma Shou and others.

Ma Shou and the others were still three people, namely Ma Shou himself, his son Ma Fu, and his nephew Ma Ji.

The three of them waited in the side room for a while, constantly guessing at Chen Zhizhao's intention for coming. They also recalled several objects they had recently developed and produced, and their minds became increasingly unpredictable.

On the way to the back hall, Ma Ji couldn't help but said: "Uncle, you said that the prefect Chen called us and the Taoist priest who taught us that day. What is the purpose of this? Could it be that we want to cooperate ?”

"That Ge Lu is not the successor of Tianshi Dao. It can be said to be a system of its own. However, he is still the successor of the Five Pecks of Rice method. He himself cannot stand on the stage. We Mohists inherit the teachings of various countries and serve the world. How can we follow the same path as him? I think the prefect also understands this. Since he intends to recruit us, he should be concerned about our thoughts. There is no need to think too much about this."

As they talked, the three of them arrived at the door of the back hall. Na Ma Shou immediately motioned to the other two to keep their voices down, and then stepped forward to let someone report. Soon they saw Chen Zhi in the room.

"Mr. Ma, are you still used to eating and wearing clothes recently?"

"All good, all good."

Chen Zhi and Na Ma Shou exchanged greetings first, and then got down to business after a while.

"I asked you to make something, how much is the finished product?" Facing the Ma family who had just joined the army and were unwilling to do so, Chen Zhike didn't have much courtesy and asked simply.Na Ma Shou heard the elegant meaning of Xian Ge and said in a business-like manner: "Most of the things the prefect asked me to try casting are for iron smelting. Because they have to withstand high temperatures and strong forces, the requirements for the furnace body are very high. We, my father, son, uncle and nephew I have experience in the past, but relying solely on this craftsmanship can only shape the furnace. How much fire temperature it can withstand depends on the quality of the material used for smelting. Fortunately, I have a few key points and drawings explained by the prefect. This thing It can be regarded as barely usable, but over time, it will be damaged, and it is difficult to drain and blow with water. Because of its size, it is difficult to treat, so there will be hidden dangers.”

"You are an expert in this area, so naturally I won't comment." Chen Zhi nodded and suddenly changed the topic, "However, among the many square and round drawings I gave you, there are some ideas about long tapered tubes. Has part of it ever been realized?”

"This pipe is originally used to test the temperature of the fire. After it is red-hot, it can be used directly to test the molten iron. After using your method of frying steel, pressurizing and filling steel, it has an amazing endurance, so first of all It was cast, could this thing... be used for something else?" Ma Meng was an old man, and he noticed the difference from Chen Zhi's words, and asked tentatively.

Chen Zhi didn't say anything clearly, instead he said with a smile: "That's all right, I'll send someone over to pick it up in a few days, you hand over these iron cones to them, and take some small charcoal and coal stoves that I asked you to cast. Come out and let them take you with you."

Saying it like this is tantamount to confirming Ma Shou's conjecture, but he didn't ask, just nodded in agreement, but he couldn't help but muttered in his heart, thinking that those blueprints Chen Zhi gave them were the blast furnaces and melting furnaces. The key point has not been perfected until now. Unexpectedly, at the critical moment, what Chen Zhi needs is actually those seemingly inconspicuous scraps.

"Is it possible that this person is worried about leaking secrets, so the design of those so-called blast furnaces is just to deceive others? Isn't this just buying a coffin for a pearl? It's actually just for the coffin!"

Ma Shou and others were thinking about it, but Chen Zhi saw their concerns.

"You guys don't have to worry," Chen Zhi said bluntly, "Since I'm recruiting a few people, it's natural that I don't use them if I hire them. It is also a last resort, it is to find a new way temporarily, the real key is the good iron and steel in the future, that is the root, so what you have done, there is a long way to go!"

"We will do our best!" Regardless of whether what Chen Zhi said was true or false, Ma Shou acted as if he would go through fire and water for him, and his son and nephew followed suit.

"Thank you for your hard work. When the work is completed, you will be rewarded generously!" Chen Zhi stood up and handed over his hands, politely sent the three of them out, and then sat back in their seats. After a while, Gongshu Hua and Meng Li were the first two people to join him. The ink master also came to the door.

"How many single-shooting cannons and cart-mounted cannons are there for the two things you made?" Looking at the two people, Chen Zhi asked rather cordially, with a lot less caution and probing in his words, because After this period of time, Chen Zhi finally figured out that these two people were sincerely seeking refuge with him. After all, they had received benefits, their salaries had been improved, and their family problems had been solved.

Meng Li quickly said: "Reporting to the prefect, those two objects are not complicated, they just need to be able to withstand the strength, because there are pulling ropes on them, it is often difficult for one person to pull them up, it takes three or four strong men, so repeated tests are required , and finally select the strongest one and rank it as the best, the one that can be used many times without loosening is ranked as the middle class, the one that can be used for several times and objects fall off is the lower class, and the rest are all defective .”

Gongshuhua said: "Currently, there are ten top-grade cannons, nineteen mid-grade cannons, and 37 low-grade cannons for single-shooters. There are seven high-grade cannons, seventeen mid-grade cannons, and 42 low-grade cannons."

(End of this chapter)