I'm not a lord

Chapter 86 The Leap Forward in Handicraft Industry
When the neighbor to the south sent an envoy to complain to the Duke, Lynn was directing the construction of the blacksmith workshop and the papermaking workshop.

After all, old Albert's abilities were limited. Even if the drawings were clearly drawn, he would still find it difficult to complete these two tasks.

In order to improve efficiency, Lin En had to do it himself.

It was the rainy season in July, and it was cloudy and rainy.

The serfs could only carry out repairs during the rainy periods.

Since Lynn's reward policy is still in effect, every week a five-person team with outstanding performance will be awarded the status of "contract farmer".

Therefore, the work enthusiasm of the three hundred serfs remained very high.

On the last day of early July, they completely repaired the dam.

Rainwater and streams gradually converged, and under the obstruction of the dam, a drop of more than two meters was formed.

The potential energy of the water flow brought about by this drop is enough to drive the waterwheel and the hydraulic forging hammer.

A spillway was also built on the left side of the dam to control the water level and prevent dam collapse.

While the dam was being built, Lynn did not forget to give the task of collecting scraps of burlap.

The village chiefs were required to collect as much worn-out linen clothing as possible and send it to the construction site north of the castle.

Lynn ordered the serfs to build a temporary covered shed to ferment the scraps of cloth in advance.

A week after the dam was completed, the new blacksmith shop and papermaking workshop were also completed.

As the heavy forging hammer weighing hundreds of kilograms continued to rise and fall, the blacksmith Qi He was dumbfounded.

"Master, this thing, this thing."

Qi He and several of his blacksmiths seemed to have seen something created by God, and their brains stopped functioning for a moment.

From relying on manpower to using water power, this is undoubtedly a new starting point for the White Bear Territory's forging industry.

"What are you idiots still standing there for? I've already made the hydraulic forging hammer for you. Do you really want me to teach you how to use it?" Lin En really wanted to kick each of these blacksmiths.

"No, there's no need to trouble you, sir." As the best blacksmith in White Bear Territory, Qi He understood everything just by seeing the forging hammer rise and fall automatically.

With this thing, the White Bear Territory's forging efficiency will definitely increase tenfold or even ninefold!

But the gold coins that Qi He earned could not be increased that much.

The blacksmith workshop was built by the serfs at the order of the lord, but the blacksmiths did not have to pay for it.

In order to repay the master's kindness, they naturally had to hand over more ironware and gold coins.

This is a new policy that Lin En came up with in White Bear Territory.

Even if blacksmiths like Qi He emptied out all their capital, they would not be able to build this most advanced blacksmith workshop.

The lord bears the cost and expenses of construction and rents it to blacksmiths such as Qihe. Is this also a kind of public-private partnership?

But Lynn doesn't care what the policy is called.

It doesn't matter whether the cat is black or white, as long as it can catch mice, it is a good cat.

Lin En's requirements for blacksmiths like Qi He were simple: just meet the civilian ironware needs of the White Bear Territory.

He did not ask Qihe to make iron plates and plate armor.

This kind of "high-tech" stuff is not something that a low-level blacksmith like Qi He can forge.

Lynn's current [Forging] technology has been upgraded to level three, unlocking the knowledge of making plate armor.

The dense production process even gave him a headache.

Compared with chain mail, the defensive performance of plate armor is increased exponentially, which is a true dimensionality reduction attack.

The chain mail that Lin En currently uses can only withstand relatively low-intensity slashing attacks, and its ability to defend against heavy crossbows and longbows is very worrying.

Full plate armor can ignore most ranged weapons and also has extraordinary defensive performance against slashing and piercing attacks. High performance often means high crafting difficulty.

Plate armor cannot be made by simply beating a piece of iron plate.

Forging high-quality iron ingots into an iron plate of uniform thickness is only the first step in making plate armor.

It also includes more than a dozen complex processes such as stacking, carburizing, shaping, quenching, and tempering.

With Lin En's current level three [Forging] skill, he estimated that it would take about five days to make a qualified plate armor top.

In addition to the top, the production of the skirt, leg armor and arm armor also takes a lot of time.

These tasks could only be completed by him alone, and blacksmiths such as Qihe could not help at all.

The craft of forging requires a lot of personal talent and understanding.

A skilled blacksmith can tell whether the iron plate has defects or cracks simply by the echo of the knocking sound.

An unskilled blacksmith would just smash the iron plate into pieces with one hammer.

In this business, a true master will lead you to the door, but the practice depends on the individual.

With Qi He's talent, after another two or three years of practice and with Lin En's guidance, he might be able to take the initial step into the threshold of a senior blacksmith.

But Lynn couldn't waste his precious time in the blacksmith shop.

There is a severe shortage of talent in White Bear Territory, and he has to do many high-tech jobs himself.

Not only did the blacksmith workshop need him, but the papermaking workshop next door also urgently needed his guidance.

"Sir, as you instructed, the scraps of cloth have been fermented, but for the beating step, to what degree should they be beaten to be considered acceptable?"

Lao Liu now also manages the papermaking workshop.

The workers in the workshop are composed of young female serfs, all of whom can weave cloth and are relatively dexterous.

The reed paper screens used for papermaking are made by these female workers.

Although Lao Liu carefully studied the papermaking technique provided by Lin En, he had no experience and was afraid of messing up, so he hoped that his eldest brother could demonstrate it to him.

In order to produce qualified paper as soon as possible, Lin En naturally rolled up his sleeves and demonstrated it himself.

If you rely solely on human power to swing a wooden hammer to beat the linen, it may take three or four days to completely break up the linen fibers.

With the help of the waterwheel, the wooden hammer pounded tirelessly day and night, and the beating work was completed in just one day.

Lynn added a small amount of pine sap to the beaten pulp.

This stuff is a natural adhesive that can effectively enhance the toughness of paper so that you don't end up with a stack of toilet paper.

Then he poured the prepared pulp into a large wooden trough filled with clean water, stirred it evenly, and scooped up the pulp with a paper curtain.

He demonstrated papermaking fifty times in total, stacking the wet papers together, covering them with wooden boards and pressing them with heavy stones to squeeze out most of the moisture.

Finally, he peeled off the half-dry paper and pasted it on the wooden board in the corner of the workshop to dry naturally.

Lin En turned around, looked at Lao Liu and the other female workers who were watching, and asked, "Have you learned everything?"

"I've learned it." Lao Liu's answer was quite firm.

But most of the female workers just shook their heads, their eyes still clear, with a beauty that was not polluted by knowledge.

"Just try more, you'll get it if you try more." Lin En could only comfort him.

These uneducated female serfs were not fit to be workers at all, but he had no choice.

Fortunately, White Bear Territory has taken a firm first step and will eventually reap a rich harvest.

(End of this chapter)