Cao Thief

Chapter 38 One hundred steelmaking knives ([-])

It was a sad day, but fortunately I showed the manuscript to others two days ago, so I saved a little...

Asking for recommendation, asking for collection, rolling sadly.

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The word Tai Chi first appeared in "Yi Zhuan-Xi Ci".

As a work with far-reaching influence on Chinese traditional culture, its content covers almost a hundred schools of thought.

"Tai Chi?"

Zhang Wanzhen nodded again and again, "Wuji and Tai Chi are very suitable for your boxing skills. However, where did you learn your boxing skills?"

"Well..." Cao Peng hesitated for a moment, and explained bravely: "This is a boxing technique taught to me by a wandering alchemist in the early years. In the early years, my family lived in Zhongyang Town, and the wandering alchemist once lived in Zhongyang. Zhen Xiejiao... Oh, Brother Hutou also knows about this."

The same lie can be fooled by Wang Mai and Wang Meng, but I don't know if it can fool Zhang Wanzhen.

"There is such a strange person?"

"That's right, Brother Hutou still regrets that he didn't learn from a teacher back then."

Zhang Wanzhen didn't have any doubts, but there was a look of yearning on her face.

These days, alchemists are sometimes synonymous with 'immortals'.If that alchemist was a great master, it wouldn't be surprising to teach Cao Peng these skills.

"Come on, let's go back and install the bellows."

"Master Cao..."

"Oh, you can just call me Ah Fu, don't be a son, what kind of son am I?"

Zhang Wanzhen smiled brightly, showing her cute little canine teeth.

"Well, I'll call you Ah Fu, and don't call me Miss Miss, just call me Yueying."

"Yueying?"

"Well, Yueying is my nickname. When I was young, I was yellow, so my father called me Ah Chou. But when I grew up, my father thought that Ah Chou was not nice, so he called me Yueying. Wanzhen It's also my name, but it's not commonly used, so it's good to call me Yueying."

At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, single names were more expensive.

In addition to names, there are words.In addition, there are many nicknames, baby names, nicknames...

For example, Cao Cao, whose name is Mengde, nicknamed Jili, is also called Aman.

Cao Peng asked curiously, "What about your name?"

"I singled out the word 'Shuo', but it's not very commonly used."

Zhang Shuo?

It's a pretty boyish name.

Cao Peng felt that Yueying's name seemed familiar.Zhang Yueying... is a rather common name, but it is very common in later generations.

So Cao Peng didn't think too much, talked and laughed with Zhang Wanzhen all the way, and then returned home.

The bellows made by Zhang Wanzhen are placed outside the wooden shed.Very delicate, workmanship is also very good.Cao Ji and Wang Meng were squatting aside, looking at it curiously. When Cao Peng came back, Cao Ji immediately stood up and asked, "Peng'er, how do I use this thing?"

"It's the same as the stove, just remove the stove and replace it with the bellows."

"I see."

Cao Ji suddenly realized, and hurriedly called Wang Meng to come and help.When the stove was installed, it was not fixed to facilitate disassembly.So the two of them quickly unloaded the stove and put the bellows back on.Then standing next to the molten iron furnace, Cao Ji turned his head to look at Cao Peng, "Peng'er, it's ready...is it the same as the method of 橐? How about we try it first?"

"Of course I will try."

Cao Peng nodded and walked over to help Cao Ji open the furnace door.

Zhang Wanzhen stood outside the wooden shed with excitement on her face.

The melting iron furnace gradually heated up, and Cao Ji signaled Wang Meng to pull the bellows lever.Wang Meng bent down, tested the strength of the lever, and said to himself, "This thing is not light."

While talking, he suddenly exerted force, pulled out the lever, and then pushed it in hard.

The impact of the airflow is generated in the bellows, and it is sprayed into the furnace from the mouth, that is, the air valve.The charcoal fire burst into flames, dancing with blue flames.

"It's hot!"

Cao Ji couldn't help shouting.

He can't distinguish water, but his ability to recognize fire is not bad.

He knows exactly what kind of flame, what kind of temperature it produces, and what kind of items are most suitable for making.Just seeing the flames rise, Cao Ji knew that the bellows had worked.So he immediately picked up a scrapped knife blank from the side of the melting iron furnace and threw it into the iron furnace.

Originally, Cao Ji planned to make some farm tools after the iron furnace opened.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he put forward this idea, Wang Meng expressed strong opposition: "Old Cao, can you be a bit promising? Since Ah Fu has solved the problem of quenching for you, why are you sticking to farm tools? Ah Fu However, the Immortal family’s means, you will be punished by heaven if you make farm tools. Why not change to swords, which can hone your skills. Do you want to be a third-rate blacksmith for the rest of your life?”

In Wang Meng's view, Cao Peng knew so much, it must be taught him by that alchemist.

Double liquid quenching, unheard of!

That must be a wonderful method of the gods, otherwise how would Cao Peng know?

Cao Ji felt that what Wang Meng said made sense, so he nodded in agreement.

Coincidentally, at the end of the year, Jiyang County was cleaning up the treasury, and many weapons needed to be replaced and repaired.Deng Ji was working in the Yamen, so he begged for the job.The so-called people in the court are good at handling things, and they will definitely not hand over weapons to Cao Ji, but this kind of tinkering happens to be what Cao Ji is best at.Kuai Zheng didn't care about that, anyway, it was all about repairs, who was going to make the repairs, not repairs?

So in the end, the business of repairing weapons in the arsenal was handed over to Deng Ji.

Deng Ji may not look honest, but he is not an idiot either.Immediately changed hands and handed over this matter to Cao Ji.

In the past few days, Cao Ji has also repaired a lot of swords and swords, and gradually regained his familiarity with the craftsmanship that was left behind in the past.

Bang-dang-dang!
The iron tongs took out the fiery red knife embryo, placed it on the chopping board, and continuously forged and knocked it.Every time he struck, Cao Ji exerted all his strength, and saw sparks flying, the knife embryo gradually formed, and the temperature also slowly dropped.When the knife embryo was almost dark red, Cao Ji stopped forging, clamped the knife embryo, and put it in the horse urinal.The pungent and stench made Zhang Wanzhen frown, and she took a few steps back.

"What is in the sink? Why is the smell so pungent?"

Cao Peng smiled, but did not answer.

Zhang Wanzhen didn't ask any more questions, but watched quietly from the sidelines.

Estimating the temperature, Cao Ji took the knife embryo out of the sink, glanced at it, nodded and put it back into the grease tank.

Compared with the most popular single-liquid quenching, the double-liquid quenching method can ensure the hardness of the knife blank, prevent cracking and deformation at the same time, and make it have a certain toughness.Speaking of it, this is really not a big invention.But for this era, it undoubtedly has great significance.

In fact, the so-called invention is just whether you have thought of it or not.

To think what others dare not think is to make progress...

Don't look at these two simple liquids, but also need to consider the skill and experience of the craftsman.There is no equipment for temperature measurement and temperature control, and the operation is performed entirely by feeling.If it is done by an inexperienced person, even if there is a double liquid quenching method, it will be useless.

It is true that Cao Ji had never used a sword in his early years, but he has accumulated enough experience in repairing farm tools for a long time.

Therefore, Cao Peng only opened a crack for him, but he could quickly open the door and walk into the hall.No matter how smart Zhang Wanzhen is, she cannot fully grasp the mystery of this.She just felt that there was a big secret hidden in those two sinks.But this thing involves industry regulations, Cao Peng can let her observe from the sidelines, but it is impossible to tell her the truth.Of course, Zhang Wanzhen can think about it by herself, but she won't ask rashly.She knows the seriousness, and knows better what to ask and what not to open her mouth.

After the knife is repaired, further grinding is required.

It was almost noon, so Zhang Wanzhen bid farewell and left.

However, she made an agreement with Cao Peng that every morning, she would cross the river in a small boat and learn Tai Chi from Cao Peng.

As for Cao Peng, naturally he would not refuse...

After seeing off Zhang Wanzhen, Cao Peng returned to the yard.

"Father, how effective is this bellows?"

Cao Ji was cleaning up the front. Hearing Cao Peng's question, he raised his head.

"Father, why are you unhappy?"

Cao Ji sighed, and said with a wry smile: "The temperature of the iron furnace has been solved... Your bellows is almost equal to two rows of bellows."

A row of pegs contains almost ten furnace pegs.

In other words, this one bellows can produce the effect of twenty furnaces.According to this calculation, the role of the bellows should be very good.But Cao Ji's sad face made Cao Peng feel uneasy, "Father, isn't it good to be like this?"

"Okay, good, but I used one basket of charcoal during this noon today. Usually, I only use one basket of charcoal a day. If I replace it with your bellows, two baskets of charcoal a day may not be enough... Ah Fu, We are repairing weapons, and if we go on like this, the cost will be too high. The things you made are good for use in workshops. But we are a small family, and it’s not worth it.”

When the wind is strong, the burning of charcoal will also be accelerated, and the consumption will naturally increase.

Cao Peng really didn't think about it... The piston-type two-way continuous blower appeared in the Ming Dynasty.The social form at that time was quite different from that of the Three Kingdoms period.The scale of manual workshops is not comparable to today's society.It seems, ahead of its time?
(End of this chapter)