Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 259 I'm Iron Crazy
In the morning of the next day, Wen Shutong, the supervisor of the Military Weapons Supervision, came to the Military Weapons Supervision Yamen early, and ordered his confidantes to dispatch fifteen "experienced" craftsmen for Fang Jun.Although Fang Jun said that old and weak women and children are fine, Wen Shutong is also particular about people, so naturally he can't really make a group of old and weak women and children.

Of course, since the people he recruited are "rich in experience", it means that they are actually quite young...

There's no way, the Military Weapons Supervision Yamen has a lot of small affairs, and they never support idlers, and Wen Shutong forced these out.

As for planning a piece of land for a workshop outside the city, this is much easier.

There are so many weapons produced by the Military Weapons Supervision that they cannot be built within the imperial city.Most of the workshops of the Military Weapons Supervision are located on the banks of the Fengshui River in the south of the city. After the military weapons are repaired and manufactured, they can go directly to Chang'an and Xianyang along the river, which is convenient for equipping the army.

The foot of Zhongnan Mountain is full of unowned wasteland. The mountain skin is hard and contains many gravels, which is not conducive to farming. You can allocate a piece of land at random, and you only need to submit a document to Chang'an County afterwards.

Wen Shutong thought very well, as long as Fang Jun doesn't make trouble for him, what can he do with him...

Not long after, Fang Jun came and led a carriage. On the flatbed carriage of the carriage, several pig iron ingots were neatly stacked.

"Master Jianzheng, you have already brought some samples of the iron ingots. Please also appoint an experienced blacksmith from the Armaments Supervision to test them and see if they are of much better quality than the iron ingots you purchased before."

Yesterday in the valet room, calling Uncle Wen seemed very kind and brought closer the relationship, but now Wen Shutong was standing at the door of the valet room, and people came and went, naturally they had to be called official positions.

"Hehe," Wen Shutong smiled, walked over with his hands behind his back, glanced at Fang Jun, and then looked at the iron ingot on the carriage.

"Although I'm not a blacksmith, I'm not as bad as those blacksmiths."

After decades of working in the Military Weapons Supervision, I have been familiar with it. Even a layman is proficient in a lot of techniques, and Wen Shutong is a good person. When it comes to craftsmanship, few people in the Military Weapons Supervision can boast that he can compare with him.

There is no metallographic microscope in this era, and it is impossible to accurately measure the elemental composition in steel materials. We can only rely on the most primitive metallographic method, that is-visual inspection!
Sometimes Fang Jun really admires our ancestors. He doesn’t need any tools. He can see the general performance of an iron ingot just by looking at it with a pair of eyes.

After carefully inspecting the iron ingots, Wen Shutong stared at Fang Jun with bright eyes and asked, "Are you sure they are all of this quality?"

Fang Jun said calmly: "It can only be better, never worse."

"it is good!"

No wonder Wen Shutong was so excited.

Nothing can compare the posture that an ideal Datang soldier should possess than a Mo Dao.

The blade is long and straight, heroic and upright, even if it is slightly curved, it is upright and awe-inspiring, without the feeling of wind cutting like a scimitar.The blade is wide and flat, graceful and magnanimous; the blade is small and square, capable and confident.The point of the knife bends or arcs, without cutting first, naturally there is a sense of deterrence, but it has no intention of killing.The scabbard may be simple or gorgeous, with the hidden edge inside, polite and generous.

The sixteenth volume of "Tang Liudian" contains: "There are four types of swords: one is called Yi Dao, the other is called Barrier Dao, the third is called Heng Dao, and the fourth is called Mo Dao... Mo Dao, also known as Long Dao, is held by infantry, and it is as ancient as it is. Horse-cutting knife, weighing fifteen catties, also known as machete, seven feet long, three feet long blade, four feet long handle, with an iron drill under it. Horses can use water and salty water. Hold it, and use waist strength to spin and chop. For the powder..."

The Modao is the most important weapon for the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty to fight against the Turkic cavalry!
Mo knives form a formation, and the blades are like a forest; if they enter like a wall, people and horses will be broken!
However, although holding this knife can greatly increase the power of infantry against cavalry, it has a fatal flaw-it is too difficult to forge!
The blade of Mo Dao is narrow and long, which puts extremely high demands on the material of the blade. If it is too hard, it will be easily broken; if it is too soft, it will be easy to bend...

Therefore, the iron material for forging Mo Dao must be of excellent quality, even if it is not as good as Baisteel, it is almost the same.

How many catties did Datang make iron every year?It is too difficult to choose the iron material suitable for forging Mo Dao from here!And the cost is too high!Therefore, although the Mo Dao is a sharp weapon against the cavalry, the output is very small. Each Mo Dao will be registered separately. If a person dies, the sword must be taken back!
The court regulations even clearly stipulate that Mo Dao is not allowed to be buried with him!

But now, almost every one of these iron ingots transported by Fang Jun can be used as iron material for forging Mo Dao!
How could Wen Shutong not be excited?Just think about the countless tigers of the Tang Dynasty advancing like forests with mo knives in their hands, and the iron cavalry outside the Great Wall had to avoid their edge and retreat in a hurry.

"I want it! How many do you have, I want them all!"

Wen Shutong's eyes were red, and he became cruel!Even if all the iron factories of Changsun Wuji's family were resigned, all the iron materials had to be taken down, and it would not hesitate to offend Changsun Wuji to death!

He's gone crazy over these irons!

only……

Fang Jun smiled awkwardly: "Then what...Master Jianzheng, you can't..."

Wen Shutong stared at him immediately: "What's the matter? You are a dignified supervisor of military weapons. Even if you stop the contracts of other iron factories, you will take all the iron materials from your family! Go ask His Majesty for instructions!"

"Your Majesty won't want it...the iron factory in a certain family can produce [-] jin of this kind of iron every day, and it's just given to you for free. How can you find so many craftsmen to forge it for you? You can't let it rust... ..."

"Two... twenty thousand catties?"

Wen Shutong's eyeballs almost popped out, and he said to himself, boy, you can just brag, if you don't brag, you will die?Return [-] catties, the whole Guanzhong is your iron factory?
Wen Shutong looked contemptuous, as if I had seen through you a long time ago: "Even if your family can produce [-] catties a day, who do you sell it to? The Military Supervisory Bureau can be said to be the place that consumes the most iron in the entire Tang Dynasty. , only consumes [-] catties of iron every month! I don’t believe it, which yamen can consume more iron than the Military Weapons Supervision?”

Fang Jun said helplessly: "The lower official didn't say which yamen it was sold to..."

"That's even more ridiculous! Which firm in Datang can compare with Yamen's iron consumption?"

"It doesn't necessarily have to be sold to the Yamen, right? It is true that the Military Weapons Supervision or other Yamen are much larger than the private sector, and the demand is also greater, but you have to know that the profit is small! The lower officials can forge iron pots , kitchen knives, hoes... and other agricultural tools, the profit can be doubled compared to selling them to the military supervisor!"

Fang Jun had no choice but to explain his business experience to Mr. Jianzheng. The quality of Fang’s iron materials is not much worse than the so-called “steel” in the general public. This kind of wrought iron with carbon content is second only to steel. The quality of agricultural tools is absolutely second to none in the current period of all iron factories in Datang, and with the help of low prices, it is not a problem to monopolize Datang's iron market!
Wen Shutong was completely dumbfounded, his eyes were obviously a little dull, and he said in a stuttering voice, "You...you mean...to use this refined iron to...forge a kitchen knife?"

Fang Jun nodded affirmatively: "There is also a hoe..."

Before the words were finished, Wen Shutong let out an "Aww" voice, and rushed forward like crazy, grabbing Fang Fangjun's neck, his eyes seemed to eat people: "Violence! Violence... bastard, how could you be so cruel?" Using this kind of top-quality refined iron to forge a kitchen knife and hoe, you... have committed a crime!"

Fang Jun was taken aback by his actions, he was caught by the collar like this, and he didn't dodge...

I really didn't realize that Mr. Jianzheng, who was as thin as a thin sheet of paper, could move so nimbly?

However, according to Fang Jun's back, the supervisor can be kicked away with one kick...

Of course you can’t do this, so Fang Jun had no choice but to let him go, just smiled wryly: "Master Jianzheng... Uncle Wen... Don’t get excited, you think it’s a pity to forge kitchen knives and hoes with these iron materials, but have you ever thought about it, sir It’s also helpless, can you stop the iron factory by yourself?”

Wen Shutong just saw such a good iron being ruined by Fang Jun, and was just short of breath. When Fang Jun said this, he also knew that he was too excited.People work so hard to refine iron, so naturally how to make money and how to sell it...

It's just that the iron material is so good that it was forged into a kitchen knife...

Wen Shutong was so entangled in his heart that he could only grit his teeth and said, "One hundred thousand catties of iron per month... [-] yuan, I will deliver it to the workshop in the south of the city on time, and the price will be half of the current market price. Bar?"

"As long as it's cash, it's totally fine!" Fang Jun didn't care. His improved ironmaking method greatly improved both output and quality, and the cost was naturally reduced to an unbelievable level. Even if he sold it at half price, he still made a lot of money.

Wen Shutong ordered the documents to come, and wrote a contract with Fang Jun, agreeing that they would not go back on their word. Empty words have no evidence, and words are evidence!
Then he waved his hand in extreme annoyance: "The person you want has already been transferred by me. Go and discuss with the clerk to see which piece of land is suitable, and just ask him to go to Chang'an County to make a report."

Fang Jun was overjoyed: "Let me pick whatever you want?"

Wen Shutong nodded, disapprovingly: "Ah! Anyway, our workshop is next to Zhongnan Mountain, where there is only hillside wasteland, and we don't grow food. As long as you don't go too far, you can do whatever you want!"

Fang Jun couldn't help but his eyes widened when he saw the fifteen craftsmen Wen Shutong selected for him...

(End of this chapter)