"My lord, the direct shooting range of a first-class defensive crossbow can reach more than 300 meters, and the precise aiming error is no more than half a meter. Only in this way can it pose a great threat to the enemy's military equipment in the counterattack. In the pre-empire period, Christen V once put forward standardized regulations on the production of siege crossbows. At that time, every siege crossbow produced was a high-quality product. However, the system was relaxed later, and the siege crossbows produced by the Imperial Ordnance were no longer It’s not going to get there.”
Master Falin was introducing some common sense to Lorist about the crossbows used to defend the city. The surrounding open space was filled with all kinds of crossbows currently owned by the Norton family. Two of the twelve small crossbows obtained are also placed here.
"The really important part of the siege crossbow is the crossbow arm. In fact, we can use any wood to reach a distance of 300 meters. The only disadvantage is that it cannot last. That is to say, the second arrow and the first The arrows are very different. The reason is the difference in the elasticity and recovery ability of the wood. The material for making the crossbow arm must have excellent elasticity and the shortest recovery ability, so that the next arrow fired remains roughly the same as the first arrow level, this alone eliminates most of the wood."
Master Falin brought Lorist and stopped in front of the two small crossbows: "My lord, these two crossbows can be regarded as the most sophisticated crossbows I have seen in the past ten years. They are better than other crossbows. The siege crossbows are half the size, easy to operate and aim, and the direct shooting distance can reach 260 meters. The ordnance procurement of the city defense army fell into the hands of adults because it was rejected due to complicated operations?"
Lorist nodded. He remembered that he had seen the reason written on the academy's arsenal registration form that he was rejected because of the complicated operation.
Master Falin smiled: "It's wrong, my lord, think about it, the general city defense crossbow requires at least five people to operate, but this small crossbow only needs three people, how can it be considered complicated to operate? Really The reason is that it is expensive, and the inability to mass-produce is the biggest weakness of this small crossbow... "
"My lord, do you know what material the arms of these small crossbows are made of?" Master Falin asked, pointing to the arms of the two small crossbows that looked like gold but not gold, wood but not wood.
Lorist shook his head.
"The material of this crossbow arm comes from the unique arrow dragon wood of the ruins islands. It has such good elasticity and resilience after three dips and three soaks. According to records, the arrow dragon wood is the legendary magician made by magicians in the era of magic civilization. A kind of plant specially transplanted from other worlds by Bow and Crossbow, it takes at least a hundred years to grow so big. It must have taken a lot of effort for Dawn College to get so many arrow dragon wood, but people didn't know how to do it later. Know the goods, just throw it away."
Master Falin gently stroked the dark crossbow arm and sighed: "From the perspective of making crossbows, Arrow Dragon Wood is indeed the most suitable crossbow arm for making chariot crossbows, but the materials are scarce and expensive, and the process takes a long time. Like three soaks and three soaks, it takes six different ingredients and potions, and it takes seven years. As an ordnance, the most important thing is that it is cheap, can be mass-produced on a large scale, and the parts can be replaced at any time, and this often brings about the effectiveness of the equipment. It is really difficult to find a way to have the best of both worlds.”
"I have carefully calculated the crossbow designed by your lord. From the design drawings, if it can be completed, it can be regarded as an earth-shaking innovation in the history of crossbows. But I don't know if I can find or make the crossbow that you envisioned. This kind of elastic steel, without this kind of steel piece as the crossbow arm, my lord's idea of using a crossbow to deal with large monsters cannot be realized." Master Falin also knew Lorist's idea, but what he was good at was only using wood to make a crossbow , It is time-consuming and labor-intensive to use wood, and it is impossible to produce large-scale crossbows to equip troops at once.
"How about it, Master Falin, why don't you go to the Blade's Edge Mountains with me tomorrow, where the family built a black iron workshop, let's go and see if Master Shiro can forge suitable steel pieces for us Make a crossbow arm." Lorist said.
…
After leaving the crossbow making workshop, Lorist returned to the office on the second floor of Rock Castle.
As soon as he entered, he found Miss Tresty lying on his desk, out of breath from laughing.
"Honey, what's wrong with you?" Lorist was curious.
"Lock, didn't you ask all the family knights and their officials to think about how to deal with the monsters? Now that these letters have been received, look, haha, the idea in this letter is to open a way directly It leads to the seaside of the Blade's Edge Mountains, and when the wave of monsters comes, it goes directly to the sea along this road... Haha, it's so funny."
Lorist also laughed. During this period of time, the family knights and civil officials under him were forced by him to come up with an idea to deal with the tide of monsters. Many people couldn't come up with it, so their brains were wide open, and all kinds of unreliable wild ideas All handed over.
"Well, compared to the last time who said that building a city wall from Rock Castle to Fenglin Villa to defend Fengleyuan is much more reliable, at least he also gave the tide of monsters a way out to flee to the raging sea..." Lorist commented.
Last time, whoever came up with the idea of building a city wall to prevent the tide of monsters from entering Fengleyuan, but he didn't think about how much manpower it would take to build a city wall that could defend against the tide of monsters because the distance from Panshi Castle to Fenglin Villa is as long as a hundred miles And material resources, and time. This reminded Lorist of the Great Wall in his previous life, so he was deeply impressed.
Miss Teresty was happy again: "Locke, remember that last time a knight came up with an idea, saying that he would mobilize everyone and dig a big trap on the way the tide of monsters came, so that all the monsters would fall into it and everything would be fine Is it? I wrote a letter specifically to ask him what to do with the earth and rocks dug out of the big trap. He wrote back this time, saying that digging a hole next to it can bury all the earth and rocks, haha... "
Lorist smiled wryly and shook his head. Many family knights are warriors who don't like to use their brains. It is indeed difficult for them to think of ways to deal with the tide of monsters.
He took a few letters from the table and looked at them. The first letter said to clean up all the lichens and moss in Fengleyuan, and the monsters would not come again if they lost their favorite food. Sigh, why don’t you think about how big Fengleyuan is, and let’s talk about lichens and mosses, have you cleaned them up? I just got rid of them and a large piece of them will grow again in a few days. I don’t think so...
The second letter was even more unreliable, asking to make a large-scale poison and spread it on the lichens and mosses of Fengleyuan, and wait for the monsters to come and kill them all. Brother, tell me how to make such a poison that can be stored in the open air for a long time without losing its efficacy. As a first-class pharmacist, Lorist felt that whoever invented such a poison would definitely win the Pharmacist Association's Ford Research Award, and the prize of 200,000 Gold Ford was shining brightly waiting for him to claim it.
The third letter said that there is an isthmus about ten miles away from Fenglin Villa. When these monsters sink into the isthmus, the remaining small herbivorous monsters will be much easier to deal with.
Huh? That's a good idea, Lorist looked at the name of the writer, Tagle. It looks familiar, as if I've heard it somewhere. But is there anyone named Tagle among the family knights? In Lorist's impression, there should be none.
Pulling the calling bell, Reddy came in.
"Reddy, bring this man over here." Lorist said.
Soon there was a knock on the door, but it was Fatty Shi who came in.
"My lord, the Ovekis knight sent someone to report, saying that the second prince has sent us an invitation card, inviting you to attend the Northern Noble Fellowship held in Gildusk City, the capital of the Grand Duke, on May 15th. You Let's see if we go to participate?"
"That bullshit aristocratic fraternity, after all, it's not trying to get money from the nobles of the territory in a different way. Why bother with him? Just refused. We don't have time to play noble games with the second prince." Lorist said impatiently.
"Okay then, I'll send someone to inform Knight Alvekis, and tell the second prince's envoy to leave." Fatty Shi said.
"By the way, Fatty, accompany me to the black iron smelting field on the side of the Blade's Edge Mountains tomorrow. I have something to discuss with Master Sid. By the way, let's see how the weapon production base you planned is doing." Lorist explain.
"Okay, then I'll wait for you tomorrow." Fatty Shi went back.
Reddy didn't find Tagle until the evening and took him to see Lorist.
"It's you?" Lorist smiled, "No wonder I always feel like I've heard your name somewhere before. I'm sorry, there are so many things that I forgot you."
Standing in front of Lorist was none other than Tagle, the head of the labor camp when the northbound convoy captured the city of Gerdos. Lorist accidentally discovered that this tall and thick man had a delicate and thoughtful style of dealing with things that was very different from his appearance, so he became fond of talents for a while. No matter how much Tager himself objected, he forced the convoy to engulf his family and head north. . Then Lorist forgot about it, and ran back to the family territory to inherit the title.
On the way north, the Tagle family did suffer a lot, which can be seen from the fact that Tagle has been silent and looking at Lorist aggrievedly.
"Okay, Tager, I apologize to you again. I let your family go north and forgot to take care of you. Well, no matter what you are doing now, come to me and be a personal follower. That's right Reddy, go to the side and register a house for the Tagle family, first settle down his family, and then give him ten Goldfords as compensation from me." Lorist ordered Reddy.
"Lock, who is he? You value him a lot." Miss Teresty asked after Reddy and Tagle stepped back.
"Hehe, don't look at this guy who looks big and thick, but he has a very delicate mind and can pay attention to details that ordinary people don't pay attention to. He is a material for inquiring and spying. He is more afraid of death and takes care of his family. I admire him very much. Let the convoy coerce his family to go north together, and then I forgot about him and went back to Northland first. If he hadn’t written me a letter to advise me, I really wouldn’t have remembered him. Look at the letters he wrote, it’s rare Ah, there are so many people, and he came up with a more reliable idea." Lorist handed her the letter to read.
"Well, Locke, are you going to the Blade's Edge Mountains tomorrow?"
"Yeah, I may have to stay a little longer this time. I will inspect the construction of Fengleyuan districts after the work is over there. You can discuss the matter here with Knight Shredder. If you can't solve it, send me a messenger. Deliver the letter. It's getting late, let's go eat first."
…
Blade's Edge Mountains.
It was discovered that the valley below the black iron mine had become a bustling smelting workshop.
"My lord, we have set up a total of seven refining furnaces, with a daily output of about 3,000 jin of iron ingots..." Master Sid, who is in charge, is setting up a refining site for the coming masters Lorist, Fatty Shi and Falin engineering introduction.
Lorist discovered that as a refinery for black iron ore, the so-called refining furnace was still very primitive. Different from the blast furnace in the previous life, the people here built the refining room underground, only exposing a tall chimney. They put the black iron ore into the underground furnace room, piled charcoal next to it, ignited it and blasted it in continuously. Finally, the temperature increased and the ore turned into molten iron, which flowed into the mold, and a black iron ingot was completed.
"I seem to have read in some book that there is a different refining method, and what comes out are refined steel ingots." Lorist drew a picture of a blast furnace from his previous life on the paper, and handed it to Master Sid: "I remember well It seems that what is used for burning is a kind of black stone, and the temperature is very high.”
Master Sid looked at the animal skin paper with the appearance of a blast furnace in his hand, and his expression was a little embarrassed: "Your Excellency, it is really admirable. It's just that we can't make a blast furnace like this..."
"Why?" Fatty Shi asked.
"Because this kind of blast furnace needs to make a kind of very durable fire-burning brick, which can withstand high temperature, so that this kind of blast furnace will not burst. We will not make this kind of brick..." Master Sid explain.
An expert, Lorist nodded, and Master Sid saw the key to making a blast furnace at a glance. It's just that Lorist doesn't know the formula for making refractory bricks, so he can only experiment slowly in the future.
"As for the black flammable stone that the adults mentioned, I have seen it, it is called black flint. When that kind of stone burns, it will emit a very pungent smell, and it is produced by refining iron ore with black flint. The quality of the iron ingot is not very good, it will be very brittle..." Master Sid answered the question about the burning black flint again.
It turns out that coal in this world is called black flint, but I can’t remember what is going on with coking. It seems that coal has to go through coking to become coke before it can be used as raw material for steel production. Otherwise, it will be messed with by sulfur-rich coal. It will be brittle when produced.
"Then how do you make steel?" Lorist asked.
"It's like this, my lord, look, the largest refining furnace over there is used to produce steel. We put black iron ingots in it, and put in ingredients according to the type of steel to be made. After burning, stir, and then melt the molten steel Pour it into the mold, take it out and go through continuous forging to remove impurities, and finally you can get a satisfactory steel." Master Sid explained.
"So that's it. Then I have a blueprint here, and I need to use a kind of steel. Master, can you see if you can refine it?" Lorist opened the blueprint of the crossbow he designed, and Master Falin stepped forward to Master Sid. Introduces the characteristics and specifications of steel sheets used as crossbow arms.
After reading the drawings, Master Sid frowned and thought for a long time, and finally ordered someone to find an old man.
"My lord, this is Master Julien. He has worked in the imperial capital for most of his life. If he can't make the steel you want, then no one can make it." Master Sid introduced.
Don't look at Mr. Julien's unastonishing appearance, he has a simple and honest look. But after listening to Master Falin's instructions and requirements, he nodded: "It can be made. The reeds under the carriage of His Majesty the late Emperor Kristen VII were more demanding than your requirements. I remember the formula. Just need It requires a lot of manpower to continuously forge and return to the furnace, and at the end it needs to be quenched with oil. If the quantity is small, it can still be produced. If the quantity is large, it is difficult to have so many experienced blacksmiths to forge. If the force is light, it is useless Yes, it will damage the refined steel instead."
Lorist laughed: "That's no problem. I can design a hydraulic forging machine for you. Look at the waterfall hanging from the mountain wall of this valley. It's too wasteful to just flow in vain. It's just a good time to use it. Forging, I will draw for you to see... "
Soon a sketch of a hydraulic forging machine appeared in front of everyone. This is a very simple hydraulic forging machine, which uses hydraulic impact paddle wheel to drive the gear, so that the hammer hits the iron chisel up and down. The composition is self-explanatory.
Master Julien was overjoyed: "My lord, you are a genius. With this, I can make as much steel as you want..."
…