lying down

With the arrival of Chutian and Yunniang, Ouyang didn't feel sleepy at all.I simply got up and tidied up, and called Goro to buy the raw materials for blacksmithing equipment. It was the first time I bought it, but Goro and my teacher were very familiar with it for many years. He knew exactly what to buy and what not to buy. As for iron ore, pig iron and wrought iron I bought a lot of them for testing.Ouyang just bought a few large terracotta crucibles as spares.

When the two returned to the restaurant, two large carts were pulled behind them, and it took Goro nearly 20 taels of silver to arrange a bunch of things.

The person waiting to deliver the goods pulled the car to the door but did not enter the restaurant. Ouyang directly arranged to deliver all the things to the purchased shop opposite.As soon as they started to move back here, Chu Tian rushed over from the opposite restaurant in a hurry. Zhongxian took mud, bricks and tiles and began to build furnaces and small kilns. He was very busy.

Ouyang slightly modified the structure of the stove according to the information he had read, and the crowd stopped when it was dark.Chu Tian was summoned three times by his daughter Chu Xiang to eat at a restaurant not a few steps away, so he had to send Li Jinlai to get a handyman to bring the food here, and work at night with his three apprentices.

Ouyang couldn't help but admire the old man's hard work, as soon as he got the theory, he wanted to practice it, and he didn't want to delay for a moment.As the person in charge, of course it is not easy for him to leave, and he wants to see the master craftsman make a move with his own eyes, so he simply stayed and accompanied the three of them.

Chu Tian did it himself, and the three apprentices joined Ouyang. Since Ouyang was making iron and steel for the second time, he could only be responsible for the "honorable and great" work of pulling the bellows and blowing the fire.Tired and sweaty all over, the first pot of steel came out of the furnace, Chu Tian took a look at it after quenching it, and threw it aside, ready to return it to the furnace for remaking later.It's not because of other reasons, but according to Ouyang's theory, the fire temperature can't keep the high temperature. Now they haven't burned out the coke, and they still use coal. They just want to experiment, and don't want the first furnace to end in failure.

The five people stopped doing anything. Chu Tian and the others realized that without coke, it would be impossible to refine the steel that Ouyang mentioned. Coke to go.

Ouyang looked at the bitter looks of the four people, knowing that they were eager, and thought quickly about whether there was any way to raise the temperature, so that they could only see a little progress.The emperor paid off, Ouyang thought for a moment and finally came up with a compromise, which was to replace the one-way bellows in his hand with the "two-way piston bellows" in Ouyang's memory.

This thing is wonderful, very simple.In a rectangular box that acts like a cylinder, the piston is pushed in and out, and feathers or folded sheets of soft paper are wedged around the piston to ensure that it is both airtight and lubricated in its passageway (it is the basis of modern piston rings). ancestor).There is an air valve at each end of the box: when the piston is pulled out, air is drawn in from the distal end; when it is pushed in, air is drawn in from the proximal side.During the two strokes, inward and outward, air is sucked into the cylinder; while in both cases the compressed part (i.e. on the other side of the piston) is pushed into the side chamber, where it passes through the The exhaust port or nozzle is sprayed out.It can not only blow air, but also spray liquid. (Recorded in "Tiangong Kaiwu" of the Ming Dynasty)

As soon as he thought about it, Ouyang was also infected by his "professional spirit". He found ready-made planks and materials, unloaded the original bellows, took the skin on it, and directed it himself. Goro started to make it crackling.Half an hour later, the noise from the surrounding neighborhood gradually subsided, and a few people finally made the new-style bellows and connected it to the air blower.Once again, the "journey of forging iron and steelmaking" that coexists with pain and joy began.

The two-way piston bellows were indeed not covered, and Ouyang was not easy to use at first, but after pulling it dozens of times, he realized that it was a coincidence.Chu Tian couldn't wait to watch from the side, and urged everyone to go into battle shirtless.This time there was some improvement. The cast iron plate that was sandwiched melted extremely fast when it reached a certain temperature. Chu Tian carefully observed the color of the flame at this time and continued to operate.

After a little while, Chu Tian lightened his hand, the pig iron he was holding was almost melted, and even the crucible tongs in his hand showed signs of bursting.Without thinking about it, he threw the pliers aside, sealed the mouth with the mud-grass mixture he had prepared, stepped aside and stared at the molten iron flowing out.

Ouyang La's head was covered with sweat, even in the severe winter, the heat was unbearable.He didn't dare to open the door, otherwise the air blown in by the bellows would be a cold current, which would lower the temperature inside and directly affect the process of decarburization and impurities removal.

The moon is in the middle of the sky, and the candles are flickering.

The five people didn't feel tired at all, and the fire was burning, and the expressions in their eyes were no less than that of the fire.After the molten iron flows out and is stirred, it begins to cool down a little, and then it is quenched and forged.The sound of jingling is endless.

Chu Tian is worthy of being a master craftsman of the former government. Although he is nearly [-] years old, he is not at all timid when he swings a sledgehammer.Ouyang looked at it for a long time before he felt a little knock on the door. He stretched his feet, passed his legs up, strengthened his waist, and stretched his arms.It can be said that the two feet and the waist are the key to exerting strength. This old man swung a big iron hammer weighing nearly [-] kilograms vigorously.

A sword gradually took shape under Chutian and three disciples beating it in turn. The four of them forged it for more than an hour, and the total amounted to no less than two or three thousand strokes.Ouyang couldn't help admiring their physical strength, as the saying goes, "Thousands of tempering" can make a weapon, these four people hammered nearly [-] times, it is difficult to get rid of the impurities in it.

"Okay!" Chu Tian snorted, turned around and grabbed the clay pot of cold water behind him, and drank it.Ouyang and the other four people also felt thirsty when they saw it, and the sound of drinking water rang together.

"Ah——" Goro wiped his mouth in satisfaction, ignoring the cold water that drenched his chest and soaked his clothes, and walked to the beaten sword for a closer look.

Ouyang was not an expert, so he followed and shook heads with Goro.I saw the sword's blue light was cold and faint, the sword body was straight, and there were faint cloud patterns floating out.Wu Lang's eyes lit up, "Oh!" he exclaimed in surprise, "Master, come and see, it's really different!"

Ouyang couldn't understand it. From the outside, it was just a little more blue in color with some moire patterns. Is it so exaggerated?

Chu Tian chuckled when he heard the words, and scolded: "Nonsense, are you in a hurry to stop as a teacher?"

Goro rubbed his head, laughed awkwardly, pointed and discussed with the two senior brothers who turned around to watch.

After listening to it for a while, Ouyang realized why the words were so different.First of all, the color of the sword body is pure, and it is no longer like Ouyang spots like splashed ink on the previous one. Secondly, moiré patterns are widespread and clear. More than a double was removed, and the "carburizer" effect of the pig iron clearly worked.There are other points that Ouyang couldn't identify carefully for a while, but he couldn't help nodding while listening.

Chu Tian looked at the four of them muttering together with a smile, put down the clay pot in his hand, rubbed his shoulders and waist, and relaxed.

After another moment, Chu Tian pressed his fingers to the slightest surface of the gap, confirmed that it was cold, twisted his three fingers and threw the sword into the air.Everyone's eyes are chasing after him.

With a sound of "ding", the tip of the sword actually dug a small hole less than an inch in the big bluestone on the ground without opening the front.After a few shakes, he didn't fall to the ground, but stood there.

"Sure enough!" Chu Tian's eyes flashed with brilliance, he stretched out his hand to hold the tail of the sword, lifted it flat and then waved it a few times, which made Ouyang not quite understand.

While dancing, he began to explain: "Holding the sword flat, it feels heavy; holding the tail of the sword and dancing a few times, but it is as light as nothing. This is one of the characteristics of a good sword.

Because the swordmaker has to adjust the balance, power point, center of gravity, feel and length of the sword while making the sword, which is enough to make the user feel comfortable in the hand, and will not cause wrist muscle injuries due to long-term practice.Let me teach you another trick, and look at the body of the sword, although it is not densely covered with pores, there are some, this is the characteristic of a treasured sword! "

As soon as Chu Tian finished speaking, Fu Sheng and the other three apprentices all bowed to each other with excitement on their faces.Respectfully said: "Thank you Master for teaching! We will definitely keep it in mind!"

Ouyang was stunned for a moment, and after thinking for a while, he realized that this was something Chu Tian hadn't taught before, but he said it today.He was about to express his gratitude, but Chu Tian stretched out his hand to stop him: "Balang, you don't have to do that, they are my disciples, so it's right to talk like this. There are some things I wanted to train them a little bit before telling them, I don’t want to encounter you telling me this method, so I’ll just teach them a little bit. If you understand it, you can learn it. Don’t thank me. If you hadn’t told me this method, I would never have done this today. Carefree, speaking of it, they are still in your favor!"

Ouyang grinned, thinking that there is still such a thing, these three apprentices have followed Chu Tianda for more than ten years, and Chu Tian still has a unique skill that he has not taught.Thinking of a sentence I heard before, "Teaching apprentices, masters starve to death", is it the same for Chutian?After thinking about it, he completely denied it. The old man must have felt that their xinxing had not met his requirements, and he didn't care if they were [-] years old. He was afraid that teaching them early would be bad for them.

This old man is eager to love his apprentice!

Suddenly thought of a question, Ouyang raised his head and asked, "Uncle, from what you said, are you a master of swordsmanship?"

Chu Tian smiled, showing pride on his face: "I can't talk about being a master, as long as you have a sword in your hand, ordinary people who know martial arts will never get close."

"Then I see how big brother can't use swords?"

"Balang, you asked them how many times you asked them, openly or secretly. The old man has been studying this way for more than 30 years. If you remind me today, I still can't enter the real way. If I teach them swordsmanship again, then they With distraction, is it possible to achieve that the blue is better than the blue? The world is so big and its ways are infinite, don't underestimate any one, it may not be enough for a lifetime!" Chu Tian said with earnestness, and Chun Chun began to teach.

Ouyang felt ashamed in his heart when he heard the words, and bowed solemnly: "Uncle, the boy is taught!"

"Ha ha ha ha--"......

The five people spent most of the night, and continued to do it twice for four hours, and their backs were already sore.The progress is no longer obvious in the future, it should be because coke is not used, or it may be that the new method is not familiar with the process and key points, in short, it is not so easy.There is hope, there is no rush.

Ouyang didn't even wash his hands and face, and went back to the restaurant and fell asleep in bed.This time I slept soundly, without dreams or thoughts, snoring loudly, and I didn't wake up until the sun was up.