three kings

Chapter 116 Master Craftsman Zheng Hun
In terms of military and political affairs, Sun Can also made great efforts. He followed Xun Yu's advice and hired blacksmiths, miners and other talents with high salaries to restore the operation of Tanshan Iron Mine.

At the foot of Tanshan Mountain, the workshop for making weapons was established here, and today is the day to start work.

Dozens of stoves were pasted, dozens of bellows were made, and 130 blacksmiths were employed. The prosperous iron workshop officially started work after the sound of the gun.The sound of forging is clanging, from morning till night.The red fire lit up that area.Bright and dark, flickering, very spectacular and beautiful.

In the several rows of workshops for making weapons, I often see a tall and strong middle-aged man, wearing ordinary work clothes, sometimes in front of this furnace, sometimes in front of that furnace.Sometimes he helped to pull the bellows, and sometimes he swung a hammer to help forge.He worked so hard that sweat was dripping on his forehead and on his vest.His face was reddened by the fireside, his eyes were burned red, and his figure was projected on the ground, stretching out.

He is the head here, named Zheng Hun.

Speaking of Zheng Hun, there is another story to tell.

Zheng Hun, styled Wengong, was born in Kaifeng and is a descendant of Zheng Ma.Zheng Ma was originally a descendant of the Zheng family in Runan County. He was good at making weapons and had always been a blacksmith used by the Han court. However, this person later killed a descendant of a famous local family and was exiled to Gaochang County in Xiliang.

Zheng Ma loves the art of making iron, and accidentally discovered that the weapons of Gaochang County and the weapons of the Han Dynasty are different in texture, each has its advantages and disadvantages.

When he discovered this, he was ecstatic, devoted himself to research, and combined the Western Region forging method with the Central Plains forging method in Gaochang to make up for each other's shortcomings.Practice to create a strange steel.No one knows what craftsmanship and materials he used, only that these weapons are extremely sharp.

In later generations, Cao Cao got some of this strange steel, and cast five precious swords in three years, with dragons, tigers, bears, horses, and sparrows as his acquaintances.

Cao Cao's beloved son Cao Zhi praised the sharpness of these knives and made a "Fu of Precious Knives".In the Fu, the phrase "the land cuts the rhinoceros and the leather, and the water breaks the dragon boat" shows that these five precious swords are better than the spring and autumn swords Juque and Tai'a.

This peculiar steel is called Ma steel because it is made of Zheng Ma.Its hardness is almost close to that of titanium alloy. In the [-]th century, hemp steel was discovered in the tomb of the late Eastern Han Dynasty in Gansu Province. Its hardness has surprised the people of later generations.

According to legend, Fang Tian's painted halberd, the number one magic soldier in the world, accompanied Lu Bu across the battlefield, was made by the unparalleled blacksmith - Zheng Ma.

And Zheng Hun is a descendant of Zheng Ma.He inherited the most advanced metal smelting technology at that time.He is the best blacksmith of this era, and the weapons and armor made by him are the dream of all generals at that time.

Sun Can's acquisition of Zheng Hun is also a great coincidence, and this credit must be attributed to Wang Yue.

Speaking of which, Wang Yue in Chang'an got Sun Can's secret letter and immediately led his disciples to Runan for no other reason.No one except Sun Can thinks highly of him.

Although he made great contributions in the case of Zhang Rang and was recommended as Luoyang North Captain, he was dismissed by Dong Zhuo within a few years.Reluctantly, he had no choice but to become the curator of the martial arts gym again, but within a year, the martial arts hall was burned down by Dong Zhuo again, and he was also driven to Chang'an.

In Chang'an, Wang Yue had nothing, so he could only work again to make a living. Sun Can summoned him, so how could he not come.

Apart from ten disciples who are highly skilled in martial arts and loyal, Wang Yue's biggest advantage is the strange people and righteous men he met when he was wandering around the world.

There are only two kinds of people that swordsmen often deal with, one is fellow swordsmen, and the other is blacksmiths.At that time, the forging technology was extremely poor, as long as the weapon was hit violently, it would be chipped and broken.Often after a battle, the first thing he does is to run to the blacksmith shop and ask for the repair of the weapon.

Once, in Shouchun, he competed with a master swordsman, and his sword was easily cut off by the opponent. He simply defeated the opponent with half of his sword due to his high martial arts skills.It was later learned that the man's sword was just an ordinary weapon bought from a blacksmith's shop.

Later, he went to the blacksmith shop, and the owner of the blacksmith shop was Zheng Hun.

Although it is an ordinary iron sword, the ones that come out of Zheng Hun's hands are much sharper and stronger than ordinary man-made ones. So far, Wang Yue's weapons are all produced by Zheng Hun.

When Wang Yue came to Runan, Sun Can was worrying about the blacksmith, so he recommended Zheng Hun to Sun Can.

Moreover, he demonstrated on the spot, using an iron sword made by Zheng Hun to slash three iron swords made by Sun Canjun in a row.

Knowing the importance of weapons, Liu Hua personally invited Zheng Hun to Runan on behalf of Sun Can.

Like his ancestors, Zheng Hun was also a fan of metallurgical technology, but he suffered from lack of capital and was unable to study the art of hemp steel passed down by his ancestors.I have always regretted it.

Liu Hua seized this point and lured him with profit.

Without saying a word, Zheng Hun immediately prepared his things and followed Liu Hua.At that time, Zheng Hun thought to himself: "There is a big iron mine for my research, and only fools stay here to earn money to buy mines."

A generation of craftsmen was bought by an iron mine in this way.

"Old Zheng!" Sun Can looked at Zheng Hun who was busy up and down, and after he successfully made a sharp sword and rested, he stepped forward to greet him.

"Ah..." Zheng Hun seemed a little surprised by Sun Can's arrival, but he quickly recovered his calm, bowed respectfully and said, "Master Sun."

At this time, the people nearby knew that the person who had been waiting for a long time was actually the world-renowned Sun Can, and they were all very surprised.

Sun Can glanced at everyone, and said kindly: "A good blade can be forged after a thousand hammers. You forged all weapons with real steel and fire. Only excellent weapons can make an excellent army. Excellent people with excellent weapons will be invincible in the world. The world. In the future, if you hear the news of our army’s victories, you can also celebrate. Because you also have a lot of credit for this, so don’t ruin the sharp blades in your hands because of Can’s arrival.”

Everyone who heard it was moved. Because of this sentence, the people in the blacksmith's workshop made their hammers sound more vigorously, and the speed of forging weapons was greatly accelerated.

Zheng Hun led Sun Can out of the blacksmith's workshop full of strange smells, and asked, "Master Sun, why are you looking for Zheng Hun?"

Sun Can said in a deliberative tone: "Can remembered something recently and wanted to ask Elder Zheng for his opinion."

Zheng Hun had a good impression of Sun Can's modesty and reason, and he said straightforwardly: "Your Excellency, you can ask whatever you want. Zheng Hun is a rough man. If there is something useful, just ask."

Sun Can smiled and said: "Chan wants to set up a forging department in the army, and I would like to invite Mr. Zheng to be the forging officer. All iron ore is donated by the army, no capital is required, and monthly salary is also received. The forging officer is paid in The generals are the same, and other personnel are paid according to their abilities with the salaries of school lieutenants and capital officials, what does Mr. Zheng think?"

Zheng Hun thought for a moment, looked at Sun Can's expectant eyes, and sighed in his heart, the art of craftsman has always been considered by the world to be a strange and obscene skill, and it is difficult to be elegant.And the other party went to invite him in person for the sake of being the number two man in the army.This was originally a great honor, and now Sun Can personally negotiated with him to establish a forging department.The identity of the craftsman has been greatly improved, and his own identity can be at the same level as the general. This has never happened before.After thinking about it again and again, unable to resist the temptation, he bowed and said: "This subordinate obeys orders and is willing to serve the Lord."

Sun Can was overjoyed, having Zheng Hun was equivalent to having countless high-quality weapons, and also had advantages that other princes did not have, which greatly improved the combat effectiveness and survivability of the soldiers, and said: "There is no need for Mr. Zheng, you can get Zheng Hun." The old help is the blessing of Chan."

After the craftsmen got what Sun Can said, they all worked harder, and a piece of high-quality weapons was also distributed to the soldiers through the hands of the craftsmen.

In March of the second year of Chuping (AD [-]).

Sun Can recruited civil servants and generals to discuss the future development of the army.

First of all, Liu Hua talked about the world. He said: "Three major events have happened in the world today. First, Yuan Shao captured the entire territory of Jizhou from Han Fu. Gongsun Zan attacked Yuan Shao and was defeated at Baima Bridge. The emperor made a mediation, and they retreated. Second, Sun Jianxing's vengeful army crossed the river to attack Liu Biao. Unfortunately, he was shot and killed by Liu Biao's lieutenant. Third, Dong Zhuo was killed by his adopted son Lu Bu, who also defected to Yuan Shao And go. The princes from all over the country are also preparing for the war. Among them, Cao Cao has the greatest potential. Yu Jin trained and called himself 'Qingzhou Soldier'."

Sun Can had already heard about these things, and Yuan Shao fell out with Gongsun Zan because of the Jizhou incident.Sun Jian was bent on revenge, but he missed Kuai Liang's plan and was killed by an arrow.Dong Zhuo often beat and scolded Li Ru and Li Su because of Lu Bu's two defeats, his trust in him was greatly reduced, and his arm was broken for a while.

Li Su misunderstood Wang Yun's power of separation and instigated Lv Bu and Li Ru to rebel against Dong Zhuo.Lü Bu and Li Ru had long been dissatisfied with Dong Zhuo, and together they killed him.

I thought I could get Dong Zhuo's position smoothly, but unfortunately, Jia Xu and Jia Wenhe came out among them.Jia Xu persuaded Li Jue and Guo Si to return to Chang'an.Li Ru's resourcefulness was far inferior to Jia Xu's, and he was killed and defeated in his plan, so he went to Yuan Shao.

Sun Can said with a smile: "The heroes each have their own actions. We can't sit still and wait for death. Everything in Runan is on the right track. Can can send troops to Yuan Shu as soon as he plans. What do you think?"

Xun Yu looked a little sad. Although Xun You was older than him, he was his nephew, and the relationship between the two was very good.It turned out that he planned to let Xun You join Sun Canjun, but he didn't want to receive a letter from Xun You, which said that he had defected to Cao Cao under the recommendation of Xi Zhicai, and asked him to help him too.

At this moment, his heart has already belonged to Sun Can, so naturally he will not go. He can only hope that the two uncles and nephews will not meet on the battlefield. After he stabilized his mind, he immediately entered the state, and said: "There is no delay in sending troops to Yuan Shu. Recently, the people of Huainan have come to visit you Settling in the south shows that Yuan Shu's people's hearts have been lost, Huainan can be settled in a battle, and now there is only a lack of an excuse to attack."

Liu Hua smiled mysteriously: "An excuse, Yuan Shu will deliver it to your door. I have a method that can achieve miraculous results."

(End of this chapter)