Border Soldiers: My granaries are full of grain and meat, and I guard this region.

"Qi Feng, it's been a long time." When Lin Lin's wife, who was working at home, saw Qi Feng coming over, a look of surprise appeared on her face.

"Sister Lin, it's been a long time. I've come here this time to have some things done."

Aunt Lin got up and hurriedly went inside to call out, "Wait here, I don't know anything about this, I'll go and call Old Xu out."

A middle-aged man came out shortly afterward; he was Xu Tie, Lin's in-law.

Xu Tie took the blueprints from Qi Feng, and when he saw the horse-slaying sword on them, a look of surprise appeared on his face.

"Is this a knife?"

Qi Feng nodded: "Not bad, can you forge this knife out?"

Xu Tie smacked his lips, then hesitated for a moment before saying:

"I can, but I've never seen a knife like that before, so it might take some time. How about this, give me three days, and I'll try to make it for him."

Qi Feng shook his head.

"Three days won't do, that's too long. I can only give you two days at most. Here's the deposit."

Qi Feng took out a 10-tael silver coin and placed it on Xu Tie's table.

Xu Tie's eyes widened when he saw the 10-tael silver coin.

"This...this is too much! You wouldn't need this many to make just one knife!"

Qi Feng shook his head.

"Not just one, but 50."

Upon hearing Qi Feng's words, Xu Tie froze on the spot: "50 weapons? This...this is no joke! Unauthorized forgery of so many weapons is a serious crime!"

However, Qi Feng smiled and said, "I am merely a ninth-rank county inspector; how could I be accused of privately forging weapons?"

As he spoke, Qi Feng revealed the waist tag on his body.

Upon seeing the token at Qi Feng's waist, Xu Tie's expression changed instantly, and he was about to kneel down, but Qi Feng stopped him.

"Sister Lin and I have a history. I've been here to practice archery before, so please don't stand on ceremony. This time, I hope to see a sample as soon as possible! The material issues can be addressed later. I want to know if you can make this type of weapon."

Upon hearing this, Xu Tie's expression became noticeably more serious.

"Okay, I understand. I'll type it out as soon as possible in the next couple of days!"

After giving some more instructions, Qi Feng turned and left.

Time flies by.

The fire in Xu's blacksmith shop hasn't stopped burning for the past two days.

Xu Tie looked at the blueprint that Qi Feng had given him over and over again, even while eating and defecating.

This action surprised Xu Tie's family, but since it was a task requested by Qi Feng, an official, no one said anything. They just cooked more lavish meals and went to bed earlier these days, afraid of disturbing Xu Tie.

Xu Tie called several apprentices to help him stoke the furnace and forge iron. Two days later, when Qi Feng came over, he saw Xu Tie squatting by the water trough behind the shop, wiping a gray long knife bit by bit with a cloth soaked in vinegar.

The long sword lay horizontally beside the water tank, its blade about 1.4 meters long, exactly as Qi Feng had requested.

The blade was very thin, the handle was slightly wider, and the tip was slightly upturned, giving it a sharp and cold look.

"Is it done?"

Upon hearing Qi Feng's words, Xu Tie turned around and handed over the long sword.

Looking at Xu Tie's bloodshot eyes, Qi Feng knew that he hadn't rested well these past two days.

"Thanks a lot."

Upon receiving the longsword, Qi Feng immediately felt its weight. This sword was different from ordinary military swords; the blade alone of the horse-slaying sword was 1.2 meters long, and its weight was incomparable to those ordinary military swords.

If he wanted to use the horse-slaying sword, he first had to select a few strong soldiers from among his men.

Qi Feng took a deep breath, gripped the hilt of the knife with one hand, and examined the blade horizontally in front of his eyes.

The patterns forged on the blade are very even and fine, and the transition from the spine to the edge is very smooth and natural, as if it were made by nature itself.

Qi Feng stretched out his finger and gently wiped it across the blade. He immediately felt a sharp pain in his finger, and a drop of blood seeped out.

"A fine knife!"

Qi Feng's eyes lit up upon seeing this, and he couldn't help but praise him.

If all his men were equipped with such a horse-slaying sword, he was confident he could take down not just twenty or thirty riders, but even fifty!

Don't underestimate this number; in the era of cold weapons, infantry losses against cavalry were extremely high.

Taking the garrison troops of Fuxing County as an example, last time the twelve cavalrymen defeated the hundred infantrymen of Duma Village.

On the main battlefield, a cavalry unit of a thousand men can directly penetrate through a force of ten thousand infantry.

好一点的步卒精锐战损比能够做到5：1，差一点的边军甚至能达到10：1乃至15：1。

Qi Feng was confident that he could achieve a 1:1 ratio after acquiring the Zhanma Dao (a type of ancient Chinese sword), which was already quite exaggerated.

Xu Tie couldn't help but smile when he heard Qi Feng's praise.

"This knife of mine was made with three layers of steel, the blade edge with refined iron and the spine with wrought iron. It took two pieces of good material to forge. My apprentice and I have been extremely busy these past two days, and this is just the work of making one. If we have to make fifty..."

Xu Tie didn't say anything more, and did some mental calculations.

"I estimate it will take a month or so, and I'll need to find a few more helpers."

Hearing Xu Tie's words, Qi Feng shook his head.

"No, a month is too long."

After saying that, Qi Feng held the long sword in his hand and weighed it in his hand.

He walked to a wooden stake about the size of a bowl in the blacksmith's yard, took a deep breath, gripped the knife with both hands, twisted his waist, and slashed diagonally.

With a snap, the wooden stake broke cleanly, without even a burr.

Amidst the flying sawdust, the blade of the longsword sank into the ground. When it was pulled out, the blade was perfectly intact, without a single nick or crack.

Xu Tie was stunned by what he saw and it took him a long time to come to his senses.

"Master Qi is so strong!"

Qi Feng sheathed the longsword back into the scabbard Xu Tie had made of hard cowhide, just enough to catch the blade, then turned around and said:

"Play twenty rounds first. Can you deliver them within five days? No matter how many helpers you bring or how much money you charge, I need to see twenty rounds in five days, and their quality must be the same as this one!"

Xu Tie gritted his teeth: "Five days! I'll risk my life to get it done for you."

Upon hearing this, Qi Feng took out ten taels of silver from his pocket and placed them on the table.

"This is the express fee. If you can get it printed, I'll give you an extra ten taels. You can call as many people as you want, but I need to see the finished product in five days."

Xu Tie looked at the ten taels of silver, his Adam's apple bobbed, and he nodded heavily.

By the time Qi Feng returned to the training ground with the horse-slaying sword, it was already close to noon.

Liu Si was leading the fifty men in archery practice. Qi Xiaoliu stood in front of the target, nocked a bow and shot an arrow. He hit the target six out of ten times, showing considerable improvement compared to when he first started.

Qi Feng walked to the middle of the training ground, planted his broadsword in the ground, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Come here, all of you!"

Upon hearing this, the fifty people stopped what they were doing and swarmed around, their eyes all focused on the unfamiliar longsword on the ground.

Liu Si squatted down, reached out and touched the back of the knife, then tapped the blade. He heard a clear buzzing sound and couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.

"Master Qi, I've never seen this knife before. Why is it so long? The hilt is also longer than a regular knife!"

Qi Feng drew his knife and spun it around in front of everyone.

"This is called a horse-slaying sword, specifically designed to deal with cavalry."