With the addition of Tian Feng, Old Liu's camp also had a basic prototype. Now, Old Liu no longer cared about the paperwork and other matters. Instead, Tian Feng handled them. The training of spies was also mainly handled by Tian Feng.
Every day, Old Liu would train his personal guards with Yan Liang and the others in the manor outside the city. They would compete in martial arts. With a sparring partner, their martial arts had improved greatly in a short period of time.
After ten days of physical training, the soldiers of the personal guards could easily complete their daily training tasks. Their physical fitness had improved greatly.
Now, Zhen Jiang had basically grasped the pronunciation and meaning of Pinyin. After Tian Feng understood the basic principles of Pinyin, he was also very impressed. He felt that it was indeed the best way to transmit information.
After everyone had basically mastered the usage of Pinyin, Old Liu also proposed how to carry out encryption and deciphering methods, especially the regular change of the encrypted password, which made the confidentiality of the transmitted information even stronger. Without their own password, even if they knew the way to spell Pinyin, they would still not be able to decipher the content of their own intelligence. It seemed that their lord was really a genius. Although they were known to be knowledgeable, they were far inferior to their lord.
After making the bunk bed, Lu Qi led the carpenters to make the training equipment according to Old Liu's drawings and installed them under Old Liu's guidance.
Old Liu arranged for the soldiers to complete the push-ups, frog jumps, and swimming training every day. Then, they would train on the horizontal bar and parallel bars. With the previous foundation, under Old Liu's demonstration, the soldiers could easily do pull-ups on the horizontal bar, body laps, and other movements. On the parallel bars, they did the split legs on the bar, the support on the bar, the forward roll, and other movements. Since there was equipment, everyone rushed to practice. Old Liu had to let Lu Qi and the others do a few sets of single and parallel bars to meet the requirements of the soldiers.
The waterwheel had been made according to Old Liu's drawing. In order to reduce the wear and tear of the waterwheel caused by the impact of the water flow for a long time, Old Liu added a lifting device to the waterwheel. When it was used, the waterwheel would be lowered and the lower part would enter the water. It would rotate under the impact of the water flow. When it was not used, it would rise to the surface of the water. This would greatly extend the life of the waterwheel.
With the hard work of the craftsmen, the fan was also completed. Through a few wooden gears and transmission shafts, the waterwheel and the fan were connected. Due to the structure of the wheel designed by Old Liu, the power of the rotation of the waterwheel could be converted into the pushing and pulling power of the fan. After several experiments, some shortcomings were improved. Now, it could drive the fan to work normally.
Knowing that this was all designed by Old Liu, Tian Feng sighed.
Under Ou Peng's leadership, the blast furnace was completed. Two days ago, several thousand pieces of firebricks customized by Old Liu from the Zhen family's brick kiln were delivered. The craftsmen placed these firebricks in the innermost part of the blast furnace to form the innermost layer of the fire-resistant layer.
Ou Peng had already prepared the crucible to receive the molten iron and the steel frying furnace for frying the steel. The equipment of the other blacksmith shops were also ready. They were just waiting for the iron ore.
On this day, the Zhen family's transportation team finally transported tens of thousands of kilograms of iron ore. Charcoal, lime, and sulfur had already been prepared. According to Ou Peng's instructions, the blacksmiths...
, charcoal, sulfur, and some limestone were added to the blast furnace from the top of the furnace.
Today, Old Liu invited Zhen Yi and the others to the manor, and Zhen Yi announced the ignition.
Following Zhen Yi's order, the craftsman threw the tinder into the furnace. At the same time, the waterwheel sank into the water, and the fan started to work. Soon, the iron-making furnace was lit up with a raging fire.
Old Liu and Ou Peng knew that it would take at least a day and a night to finish refining the iron. So, they sent Zhen Yi and the others back in the afternoon. Meanwhile, Ou Peng and Old Liu stayed by the furnace and observed the burning situation through the observation hole on the furnace.
Ou Peng said to Old Liu," Young Master's fan is really useful. It's much more powerful than the bellows that my father and I used to pull when we were smelting iron. Now, the temperature in this furnace is much higher. It seems that I'm going to fulfill my father's unfulfilled wish."”
The next morning, the two of them calculated that the furnace had been refined for a full day and night. Old Liu did not know if there was enough time, so he let Ou Peng look at it through the observation hole several times. According to his previous experience, Ou Peng said,"Young Master, there should be enough time. I see that the charcoal in the furnace is almost done.”
"You know this better than me.”
Ou Peng commanded the blacksmiths to place the crucible under the tapping hole and use a special tool to open the tapping hole. A stream of red hot molten iron flowed into the crucible along the iron runner.
After two hours, the molten iron was finally finished. The blacksmiths used a tool called a clay cannon to seal the iron outlet so that it could be used again.
After the molten iron cooled down and took shape, Ou Peng examined it carefully for a long time and said excitedly to Old Liu,""Young Master, we succeeded. We refined the pure iron that you needed.”
Old Liu was also very excited. With pure iron, he could continue to refine good steel. This way, he would have the raw materials to make good weapons. Of course, he was happy.
Old Liu then asked Ou Peng to calculate how many pounds of pure iron had been refined in this furnace.
After a while, Ou Peng came back and said,"We've weighed it, it's about two thousand jin.”
2000 catties was a ton. It seemed that his efforts were not in vain. The next step was to find a way to find coal. This way, he could use coal chars to make iron and steel of better quality.
The rest of the work was done by Ou Peng and the blacksmiths. The blacksmiths first used a steel frying furnace to heat and melt the pure iron before stirring it. Finally, they got the best steel.
Old Liu had already thought of the weapons for the personal guards and had drawn the blueprints. Now, Ou Peng and the others could slowly build them according to the blueprints.
He had designed a Zhanmadao for each of his personal guards. The handle was one foot and five inches long, the blade was three feet long, and the blade was one inch and three minutes wide and two minutes thick. According to the current length, the entire blade was about 1.2 meters long, and it was equipped with a rosewood scabbard.
In addition, each team member was equipped with five javelins. Old Liu also wanted to equip each of them with a repeating crossbow, but he had not finished designing it yet. When he finished designing it, he would let the craftsmen produce it.
These weapons were all made of the newly produced steel. However, it would take at least half a month to complete all 200 sets of weapons. Fortunately, Old Liu had not taught them how to use weapons yet, so there was still time…
It's too late.
Due to the continuous supply of raw materials, Ou Peng and the others could now produce a ton of pure iron in almost two days. Then, after frying the steel, they could finally produce 800 kilograms of steel.
With weapons, he would also need protective equipment. He asked Ou Peng to make a steel helmet, chain mail, wrist guards, and knee pads for each of his personal guards. Old Liu had the raw materials, money, and craftsmen. However, it would take more time to make these protective equipment. With the current speed of the craftsmen, it would take three months to make all the officers and soldiers. Old Liu calculated that his special training would be completed in three months, so he did not urge the craftsmen.
When the carpenters were free, Old Liu finally put another invention of his into production, which was the chair. At the same time, he also raised the current dining table and the office desk used for meetings so that it could match the chair.
As for the military camp, Old Liu designed a simpler bench and raised the dining table. When the soldiers ate, they felt much more comfortable. They were all grateful to Old Liu from the bottom of their hearts. He thought about them in every way. They sat comfortably and ate more. Their enthusiasm for training increased, and the effect was even more obvious.
There was a desk and a chair in Old Liu's room. Sitting on the chair, Old Liu's feeling was one word: Awesome!
He also specially set up a room as a meeting room. In the middle was a meeting table that was three meters long and one and a half meters wide. There were ten chairs placed around it. This way, when Old Liu and everyone had a meeting, he no longer had to kneel on the ground. After personally experiencing the benefits of this chair, Tian Feng was very surprised and repeatedly exclaimed," My lord is really a god. It's too unbelievable."”
As for Zhen Yi, after receiving the chair from Old Liu, he realized that it was indeed a good thing. After discussing it with Old Liu, he immediately instructed Zhen Yan to recruit more carpenters to specialize in producing new tables and chairs. Then, through the Zhen family's business network, they would sell them to Luoyang and other big cities. Soon, the first batch of goods was sold out, which also made the Zhen family a lot of money. Of course, the current Zhen family's furniture belonged to Old Liu.
As for the steel, Zhen Yi had originally planned to sell it, but Old Liu did not agree. The steel that he produced could only be used to arm his own troops. Now, there were 200 people, but soon, there would be 500, 5,000, and 10,000 people. Therefore, the steel was used to forge weapons.
Zhen Yi agreed after knowing Old Liu's intention. After all, his whole family was now a part of Old Liu's camp. Old Liu also promised him that he would invent more things in the future and make more money. Zhen Yi could be his backstage boss at ease.
Old Liu asked Zhen Yan to send people to Yanmen in Bingzhou to find a kind of black stone that was buried underground and easy to burn. Although he didn't know how Old Liu knew that there was such a thing in that place, Zhen Yan still sent people to do it immediately.
Soon, the people who had been sent to Guangping to look for Ju Shou and Wei Jun to look for Shen Pei came back. They said that these two people were not at home. It seemed that they had gone out to be officials. Old Liu sighed. It seemed that he had no fate with them, so he let go of them.
Finally, he drank the Erguotou that he had been longing for. Tian Feng also believed Wen Chou's words. This wine was simply top-grade. However, Old Liu only had one bottle left. He and Wen Chou had…
Half of the people drank it up and asked for more from the lord. Old Liu really did not have it anymore. When Tian Feng drank the wine that he used to think was very delicious, it seemed that there was no smell of alcohol at all.
Seeing the way Tian Feng and Wen Chou looked at him every time they drank, Old Liu had no choice but to bring Tian Feng to the Zhen family's winery in the city. They used sheep intestines, clay pots, and other materials to make a simple set of retorting equipment. Then, they heated and condensed the original white wine, and finally obtained a 40% white wine.
Although the taste was not as good as Erguotou, it was enough to satisfy Tian Feng and Wen Chou. Moreover, there was a lot of this wine now. They could drink as much as they wanted. However, Old Liu still set a rule for the two of them. They could only drink half a catty at a time, and they could only drink at night. If there was a night operation, they could not touch a drop. The two of them naturally followed it.
This white wine immediately became another main product of the Zhen family. Old Liu named it Hebei Erguotou, which made the Zhen family earn a lot of money again.
Now, when riding a horse, the rider could only rely on the reins and legs to control the horse. During a battle, there was no way to control the reins at all. Therefore, Old Liu drew the drawings of the saddle and stirrels from his memory and asked the craftsmen to make them and match them to the horse.
In order to let everyone see the difference between the two items, Old Liu asked Yan Liang and Wen Chou to test it out on the spot. Usually, they were almost equal in sparring. Today, Yan Liang rode on a horse with a saddle and stirruped. After getting used to it for a while, he ran a few rounds around the field. Then, he started to compete with Wen Chou, who was still riding a light horse. It turned out that Yan Liang's moves were better than Wen Chou's, but Wen Chou's strength was greater than Yan Liang's, so they could tie. But today, Yan Liang had the saddle and stirrups, so the strength he used on the horse was naturally much greater than before. Wen Chou was still the same as before. In the end, he was knocked off the horse by Yan Liang after less than fifty rounds.
Wen Chou was not convinced. The two of them competed a few more times, and the result ended with Wen Chou's failure.
Old Liu had the two of them swap horses. Wen Chou also got used to it first before they competed.
This time, the result was different. It was Yan Liang who was passive. Although he lasted longer than Wen Chou, he still lost in the end.
Finally experiencing the benefits of the middle, everyone was extremely excited. With these two things, their martial arts naturally improved. However, Old Liu told everyone to keep it a secret and not let outsiders see it.
Tian Feng was also happy this time. Although he knew how to ride a horse, he was still a scholar. In the past, after riding a light horse for a day, the root of his thigh would be red and swollen, and sometimes the skin would break. Now that he had these two things, riding was much easier. He was really grateful to his lord.
Among the craftsmen he hired later, Old Liu found a young man named Ma Jun. Others might not know, but Old Liu knew that Ma Jun could be said to be a great inventor during the Three Kingdoms period. He once invented a hundred puppet shows, a waterwheel, and so on. But now, his waterwheel had been invented before him, so he let him do something else.
Old Liu drew a sketch of the crossbow and called Ma Jun over. The two of them locked themselves in the room and studied it for a long time.
Some people thought that the repeating crossbow invented by Zhuge Liang was able to fire ten arrows at once, but Old Liu knew that…
According to the research of his era, it should be able to fire ten crossbow bolts in a row, because the Zhuge Repeating Crossbow had an arrow box on it, and its function was the same as the magazine of modern guns.
Old Liu had designed an arrow box that could hold 12 bolts. Using the principle of the connecting rod, the bowstring could be easily pulled back. At the same time, the force of the arrow box was used to press down on the firing pin, causing it to naturally re-load and push out the bowstring to achieve the purpose of firing. This was similar to the Type 38 rifle. After pulling the bolt, it would fire once. When the magazine was empty, it could be replaced with another one to continue firing.
Seeing Old Liu's sketch and listening to Old Liu's explanation, Ma Jun was stunned. This kind of weapon was too advanced in that era. Seeing the exquisite structure, Ma Jun was immediately attracted.
After understanding what was going on, Ma Jun asked Old Liu about the principle of the connecting rod. Old Liu told him everything he knew. However, Old Liu hoped that the repeating crossbow he made must be small. The size of the bolt should be five inches, and the length of the whole repeating crossbow should be less than one foot. This way, it would be convenient to carry. In addition, it would be best if the arrow box could be replaced. This way, the efficiency of firing would be greatly improved.
After understanding Old Liu's intentions, coupled with Old Liu's sketch and the cooperation of many blacksmiths and carpenters, Ma Jun brought the first sample to Old Liu three days later.
He looked at the crossbow carefully. The crossbow arm was made of the best rosewood, and the main bow arm was made of the best steel that Ou Peng had refined. Its elasticity and toughness were far better than the bamboo or wooden bow arm at that time, and its strength was stronger. According to Ma Jun, such a bow was equivalent to an ordinary three-stone bow at that time, which meant that the pulling force was 300 jin. Not many people could pull it open.
The bowstring was made of the best beef tendon. The arrow box was a bit closer to the front of the middle of the crossbow arm, which was a disassembled structure. The crossbow was behind the arrow box, which was made into one with the arrow box. According to Old Liu's request, the entire length of the crossbow was less than one foot.
Because of the crossbow machine, Ma Jun explained that the pull of the bow was only about 20 pounds. However, since the actual pull was 300 pounds, the killing range of the crossbow was within 200 steps, which was about 150 meters.
He brought Tian Feng, Yan Liang, and the others to the field. He first stood fifty steps away from the target. Old Liu raised the crossbow with one hand and aimed at the red heart of the target. Taking into account the influence of gravity, he raised it slightly and pulled the trigger. The sound was not loud. The five-inch-long arrow shot out and hit the red heart.
After the first arrow was fired, Old Liu pulled the connecting rod with his left hand and aimed again. He pulled the trigger and the first arrow hit the target. The second arrow was fired as well. This time, Old Liu was aiming at the bullseye. He pulled the connecting rod and pulled the trigger. Old Liu kept firing. In the blink of an eye, all twelve arrows were fired, almost all of them hitting the bullseye.
After changing to another arrow box, Old Liu went to a place a hundred steps away from the target and fired all twelve arrows again. This time, Old Liu aimed at the red heart again, but there was a slight deviation and all the arrows hit the lower edge of the red heart.
When he reached the 200th step, Old Liu repeated the same action again. This time, he deviated from the red heart by about two inches.
All thirty-six arrows hit the target, and the distance…
The bull's eye was so close that Tian Feng and the others were stunned.
The archery skills of Yan Liang and the others were not bad, but if they were two hundred steps away from the target, they could hit five or six out of ten arrows. It was even more difficult to hit the bullseye. Moreover, if they had to shoot thirty-six arrows in a row, they might not even be able to draw the bow in the end.
His lord's martial arts were indeed much higher than theirs, but his archery skills had always been far inferior to theirs. However, with that weapon called the repeating crossbow, his archery skills were much higher than theirs.
Old Liu let everyone try again and knew how to use it. Even Tian Feng could hit the bullseye at fifty steps, let alone the others.
He ordered the steward to reward Ma Jun with a hundred taels of gold and appointed him as the steward of the craftsmen. Then, Old Liu asked Ma Jun to make a repeating crossbow as soon as possible so that each of his personal guards could have one as soon as possible. In addition, he would give each of them five arrow boxes.
Suddenly, he remembered something and said to Ma Jun,""Steward Ma, there's one more thing you must do. Our repeating crossbows will be obtained by the enemy on the battlefield in the future. You can set a mechanism in the crossbow machine. If someone wants to disassemble the repeating crossbows, the crossbow machine will be destroyed by itself so that others can't copy it. In this way, even if the enemy gets some repeating crossbows, they won't know the structure of the repeating crossbows. Therefore, they can't mass produce them.”
Ma Jun agreed and turned around to make arrangements.
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