My Chinese ancestors

Chapter 542: Living Sacrifice of Weapons, Daxia Dragon Bird
"A pair of white camels from the Western Regions, a jade Buddha, seven hundred large argali sheep from the Western Regions, four pairs of luminous cups and luminous bowls, twenty-six bottles of fine grape wine from the Yelan Kingdom, a pair of male and female long-haired four-horned deers, the rare beasts of the Snow Mountains, and A pair of Habusi's scorching armor, a sword of the Duke of Milia..."

Cicadas chirped one after another in the courtyard. As Zheng He spoke slowly, Su Chen, who was listening with his hands clasped in front of him and his eyes closed, suddenly stopped, turned his head slightly and spoke, interrupting Zheng He's voice reading the list behind him. .

"Duke Zheng, did you just read about the West?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, it says a pair of scorching armor of the Western Habus, and a sword of the Grand Duke of Milia."

"Show me."

Su Chen took the tribute list presented by the envoy from the Western Regions and found the Western armor and weapons that Zheng He had just mentioned on it.

"Send someone to fetch the armor and weapons and send them to my study."

After saying that, Su Chen returned to the imperial study with the list. Dian Wei and Xu Chu stood on both sides of the door. Zheng He followed the emperor straight inside and poured tea for Su Chen thoughtfully.

"Your Majesty, do you want to see Western weapon craftsmanship?"

"Well, there has to be a comparison."

He narrowed his eyes, and his heroic voice fell in the wind.

At this time, the focused craftsman did not notice that outside the workshop, the emperor and several generals walked along the road outside, occasionally glancing at the large and small workshops on both sides.

"Uh... we'll talk about it later." Ma Chao waved his hand nonchalantly, "Generals Guan and Zhang haven't thought about it yet."

The tinkling sounds of forging are endless. The blacksmiths and apprentices, with their upper bodies exposed, are busy fanning the fire and forging. Sweat splashes down on their trembling muscles.

Xiang Yu has been guarding the meteorite since it was transported back to Yanjing. After coming here several times, he knows every plant and tree in the craftsman's workshop very well.

After leaving the study, Zheng He happily went to prepare the carriage. Soon, a group of people quietly left the imperial city and went straight to the craftsman's workshop in the northern suburbs through the less crowded streets.

"Your Majesty is coming to the craftsman's workshop. Why don't you send someone here first so that I can greet you earlier?"

While Zhao Yun was snickering on the side, everyone had arrived at the back of the craftsman's workshop. At this time, the craftsman general also received a notification from his subordinates and rushed to greet them.

When Xiang Yu and others saw Su Chen, they also laughed: "I'm thinking of the same thing as Your Majesty."

"This kind of armor seems to have extremely high defense, but if you look at it carefully, there is no buffering chain armor and overlapping fish scales, so it cannot relieve the force."

From the perspective of later generations, it can be regarded as a handicraft.

The Western long sword I took from the weapon rack is the same as Su Chen's Xia Wang sword. It is a two-handed sword. It is quite heavy in the hand. The sword surface is broad and flat, with a blood groove in the middle. The left and right sides of the mouth are sharp and thin. Long, with a ruby ​​carved like an eye in the middle.

"If that's the case, I won't be able to see what I want to see."

Su Chen walked to the front and stopped in front of an imposing mansion, looking at the towering flagpole inside, with the white dragon flag above fluttering in the wind.

"Speaking of forging, I don't know how the meteorites are doing. How about going and taking a look?"

"What are you..."

"Speaking of loving beauties, when will Meng Qi marry another wife?" Lu Bu looked sideways from the front and asked casually.

"Your Majesty, if all the Western countries have armor and weapons like this, there is nothing to worry about."

"I'm still worried. These things can't be used only for royal ceremonial purposes." Su Chen lost interest after looking at them for a while. Flashy things had no value at all in his eyes.

"It's rare to see the famous Overlord of Western Chu... being so eager to do one thing." Ma Chao walked behind and said in a joking tone, "... As expected, we warriors are all the same. We love weapons as much as we love beauties."

Su Chen took a sip of tea, looked at the list of tributes in his hand, and thought about his words for a moment: "It should be something extraordinary that can be sent as a tribute by the people from the Western Regions. From the craftsmanship on the opponent's weapons and armor, you can see the Western style. The level of forging on the side can also show the strength of the army. "

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei looked back at him: "What are you doing to my brother?!"

Since the meteorite was brought back to the north and handed over to the craftsman for supervision, it has not been concerned about it. Now some time has passed, and it is not known whether the meteorite has been mined and usable metal has been refined.

"...How is the meteorite?" With that said, Su Chen walked up the stone steps and crossed the threshold.

The hot summer wind whistled through the smoke-filled craftsmanship houses.

"People from the West...should be very good at fighting." Zheng He nodded slightly, his tone a little excited.

Both sides laughed immediately.

Zheng He only glanced at it and then made a final decision: "If you hit it with a hammer, you will not die but will suffer internal injuries. However, Westerners in this world are quite tall."

"... I have made a little gain, only a little bit of meteorite iron. This humble job has used many forging methods to achieve this.

Unexpectedly, when I got here and got off the carriage, I saw Lu Bu, Xiang Yu, Guan Yu, Ma Chao, and Zhao Yun here.

Immediately, Su Chen led Xiang Yu, Lu Bu, Guan Yu and other military generals into the workshop area where craftsmen gathered.

As he walked in, he was talking to Su Chen in front of him, and at the same time explaining to Lu Bu and others, as if he was a master craftsman.

But in the current world, such a sword can only be said to be an embroidered pillow, which is of no use.

Not long after, several guards came in from the outside. The eunuch at the door opened the double door of the study room completely, and then several guards moved in a set of heavy armor. Also brought in was a large sword lying on the shelf.

This is basically where military artifacts are forged, and Su Chen wanted to know where the meteorites were made, which was at the very back of the craftsman's workshop, close to the place where firearms were forged.

"Ah."

"...There are many people here, and meteorites are rare things. Not only is it unsafe to put them here, it will also affect many craftsmen here. If there is something wrong with the body, the army's weapons production will be delayed." Slow down."

This armor is completely different from the style of Daxia. The whole armor is made of pieces of iron. It is polished and shiny, with golden patterns branded on it. The armor coverage rate is extremely high, and the fingers are wrapped in it.

Su Chen nodded in agreement and looked at the armor carefully. He was considered an emperor on horseback, and he still had the ability to distinguish armor.

"The craftsmanship of armor making is very good. It shows that their craftsmanship is not weak, and the army is not far behind. And this sword..."

Su Chen waved his hand and asked the guards to take these two things out, and then invited Zheng He to visit the craftsman's workshop in the northern suburbs of Yanjing.

Your Majesty also knows that we have no experience in forging meteorite iron, and there are too many useless rocks in meteorites. These rocks are extremely hard and have no other uses. "

The general craftsman walked up the stone steps with his feet buried in his step, followed by Su Chen. After entering the large house, the sound of forging iron and cutting stone could be heard faintly.

This place was different from the forging workshops Su Chen had seen before. The front yard looked like the residence of an ordinary person, clean and quiet, but there was a lot more smell of fireworks in the air.

Walking further inside, the wall becomes thicker and taller, and you can see many clerks and government officials coming in and out of craftsmen's workshops.

As I walked past, I saw several stoves being tended with fires still burning. There were patrolling soldiers wearing leather armor and holding spears passing by.

When the two teams of soldiers guarding the gate saw Su Chen and several generals in the army striding forward, they tightened their grip on their long soldiers, straightened their chests and waists, and stared straight ahead like a knife.

"Greetings to Your Majesty!"

"No gift."

Su Chen passed them and entered a stove near the atrium, where he saw a pile of dark iron on a tray.

The craftsman general stepped forward and introduced to Su Chen: "Your Majesty, this is the meteorite iron that has been stripped out. It is only enough to forge a few knives."

"How many meteorites were used?"

The craftsman general stretched out his hand and pointed out five fingers: "Five thousand kilograms of meteorite blocks." "How much meteorite iron is here?"

"Sixty-five pounds."

Hearing the answer, Su Chen frowned, not counting the cost of other things.

But it's not bad to think of being able to forge meteorite.

Immediately, Su Chen nodded: "These sixty-five pounds are really valuable."

As he said that, he pointed to the stove not far in front of him, "I want to see you forging meteorite now, so I can use these sixty-five kilograms to make a new sword for me."

"Now?" After hearing the emperor's words, the craftsman general showed a trace of hesitation on his face. It was obvious that it was not easy to get this bit of meteorite.

"What, are you in trouble?"

"His Majesty……"

Seeing that he couldn't hide it, General Craftsman suddenly knelt on the ground, "...I didn't mean to deceive Your Majesty. I'll tell you the truth. It's a bit difficult for this meteorite to make weapons at this moment."

"What's the difficulty?" Guan Yu couldn't help but ask. To be honest, who doesn't want to get a weapon made of stars in the sky?
"I know your difficulties. After all, meteorite is definitely different from ordinary iron. Get up, I don't blame you, but if you have difficulties, you should tell me now."

Su Chen was not the kind of emperor who would accuse others of any disagreement. He openly asked the craftsman general who was kneeling on the ground to stand up and speak. The latter hurriedly walked to the stove.

He took one and held the newly struck knife embryo in his hand like a treasure. Under Dian Wei's gaze, he carefully raised it.

"...Your Majesty, ordinary knives are broken and forged by continuous heating, impurities are removed, charcoal is infiltrated, and finally the blade is formed, and the blade is covered with soil and burnt, and it is basically formed." As he spoke, he suddenly slashed out a knife and banged it. There was a slash on the meteorite over there, and the moment sparks flew everywhere, the blade broke directly into two halves.

"Meteorite is extremely hard, much harder than ordinary swords. Before Your Majesty came here, I and several of the best blacksmiths have tried several times, but they couldn't make it red."

Failure to burn it until it becomes soft means that it cannot be forged into shape.

"Is there no other way?" Su Chen put his hand on the meteorite iron, and when his fingertips touched it, he felt a cold feeling. Such a good thing could not be forged, which made him a little unwilling: "There is really no other way?"

The craftsman general shook his head.

At this time, a blacksmith next to him suddenly spoke in a low voice: "Your Majesty... I have a simple method here, I don't know if it can be used."

Withdrawing his fingers from the meteorite, Su Chen looked at the blacksmith who was speaking with some surprise. He had dark skin and a thick build, especially his arms, which were muscled and full of explosive strength.

Su Chen looked at him and motioned for the other person to continue talking.

The blacksmith looked at the general craftsman over there, and when he saw that the latter had no objection, he took a deep breath.

"This little local method is a bit cruel...it just requires...blood sacrifice."

Blood sacrifice?
Su Chen was stunned for a moment, as were Lu Bu, Xiang Yu, Zhang Fei, Guan Yu and others. The blacksmith quickly said: "There is no other way to forge normally, maybe you can give it a try."

"Then give it a try." Su Chen didn't waste any more nonsense, "The most important thing I need here is death row prisoners. Governor Zheng, could you please make a trip."

When it comes to blood sacrifice, Su Chen immediately thought of Gan Jiang and Moye. Since he wanted to do this, he thought of something that could be recycled.

"...bring the Japanese pirate Toyotomi Hideyoshi here, he will be needed here."

Su Chen's voice was loud and powerful, and he raised his hand casually. Zheng He left immediately and left the place. Soon after, when he came back, he was followed by two police officers from the police station. They were holding a man in their hands. , a short figure that is not a ghost.

It was Toyotomi Hideyoshi, one of the famous Japanese pirates who came to Yanjing, who was thrown into the sky prison after he came here to show off to the public. He was tortured by the prison boss every day. If Zheng He had not told him, he would not be killed. , I am afraid that he will be killed on the first day he enters the prison.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi's eyes were red and swollen, his face was pale, and his lips were trembling as he looked at the people around him. His prison uniform was tattered.

"You brought me here...what are you going to do..."

"...You will soon know that you should make the best use of everything. You have eaten a lot of food in Daxia in prison, so you should give something." Su Chen glanced at Toyotomi Hideyoshi, without much desire. After talking to him, his eyes fell on the blacksmith opposite. The latter nodded in understanding and quickly recruited two apprentices. While moving the meteorite away, a servant came forward and dragged Toyotomi Hideyoshi from the ground.

"Your Majesty, why not follow the younger one!"

"Let's go over and see how people make iron!" Lu Bu and others saw this method of forging iron for the first time, so they followed Su Chen to the backyard.

There is a larger forging furnace here, which looks like it was used to peel off meteoric iron.

At this time, the fire in the furnace was burning vigorously. The apprentice who came first had already put the meteorite into the furnace. Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who was being escorted by the government officials, seemed to have had a premonition of something and kept struggling and roaring.

"Let me go...I am a daimyo...a person with status...Emperor Xia, you can't kill me like this!"

Toyotomi Hideyoshi shouted with all his strength. After all, his strength was much greater than that of ordinary people in this world. After squeezing the two government servants away, he rushed towards Su Chen who was striding forward, staring straight at the opponent. Then...with a bang, he fell to his knees.

"Emperor Xia Guo, Toyotomi Hideyoshi is willing to surrender and work hard for you!"

"There's no need to be a cow or a horse, just make a weapon for me!" Su Chen couldn't wait to see the blood sacrifice method of forging a knife, but didn't even bother to take a look at the Japanese pirate kneeling in front of him.

He beckoned the craftsman to drag the man to the stove. After a while, the flames of this huge stove began to dance wildly. Waves of heat made everyone seven or eight steps away feel their skin and flesh being burned by the fire waves. .

Over there, the meteorite was placed on the stone slab and pushed in. The two apprentices kept pushing the bellows, and various combustion-supporting things were also added in.

The next second, in the voice of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's pleading, he was picked up by the yamen. When Su Chen nodded in agreement, the two yamen were cruel and threw the Japanese pirates directly towards the open opening of the stove. Go in.

"Ahhh!"

Heartbreaking screams instantly came from the furnace. Toyotomi Hideyoshi was thrown into the furnace. As soon as the prison uniform came into contact with the red coals, a fire instantly ignited. He rolled crazily inside, and the hair, hair, skin and flesh on his face were all burned. It was visibly burning.

The oozing grease made a sizzling sound.

Streams of blood also spattered out from the exploded belly and sprinkled on the meteorite. The originally black iron gradually turned fiery red at this moment.

"Faster the bellows!" The blacksmith's face flushed, and he turned a deaf ear to the screams coming from the furnace. He just excitedly urged the two apprentices to speed up their actions.

"It's just a little bit close...just a little bit close...we must succeed!"

His lips were trembling with excitement, and his words became a little incoherent. Finally, after seeing that the meteorite was completely red, regardless of the fire wave, the blacksmith used pliers to pull out the stone slab, clamped the meteorite on the anvil, and fixed it on the anvil. While meteorite picked up the hammer and beat it wildly, the two apprentices also seized the time and rushed to help.

blah blah-

The three of them went back and forth hundreds of times, hammering the original lump of meteorite iron into a long strip, and then put it into the furnace for burning again. After going back and forth several times, they finally took the shape of a sword embryo.

And Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the furnace curled up and became a corpse burned to coke.

"Your Majesty... do you want to engrave it?" After the two methods of charcoal infiltration and soil covering, it still needs to be forged, but now the sword has begun to take shape, and the meteorite iron is extremely hard, so now is the best time to engrave it.

……

The sky is setting in the west.

Su Chen looked at the sword blank surrounded by fireworks, and slowly stretched out his hand to take the carving knife handed over by the blacksmith. A cool breeze blew over. He looked at the sword blade in silence for a while, and then the carving knife was pressed against the sword body, and the sharp metal sounded. The sound of friction sounded one after another.

"The Great Xia Dragon Bird, the weapon of the emperor, is like the wind and grass, commanding the nine states."

The sixteen seal characters are vigorous and powerful, and every stroke is as sharp as a sword.

(End of this chapter)