On the white road, there was a winding black belt in the middle, which was the coal cinders that fell from the carts. Along the way, you could see laborers pushing wheelbarrows or driving donkey carts, continuously delivering things to a group of houses in the south. Those carts were loaded with iron ore, iron blocks, wood, coal, and so on.
There was a constant noise of ding-ding-clang-clang coming from the front. Guo Shao sat in the carriage, opened the curtain and admired the snow scene with interest. The white snowflakes on the quaint building had another artistic conception, but the little black smoke and noisy noise coming out of the chimney on the roof completely destroyed the poetic feeling. Perhaps ancient poets would not like such a scene, but Guo Shao felt an inexplicable intimacy.
Inspector Guodu. Inspector Guodu has come to visit. It is a pity that he failed to come to greet him from afar. The officials and craftsmen of Jiafang Office and others came to the door to greet him.
Guo Shao got off the carriage and waved his hand. An official came forward to praise him, and Guo Shao said loudly: From today to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the officials and craftsmen on duty will be paid three times their wages. When you ask for money from the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the future, you can write down my intention.
He deliberately spoke loudly, and the craftsmen who were working all looked at him sideways. Guo Shao walked up to a man who was adding coal and was dressed in black, and said: Although we can't rest during the New Year, we can earn more money to buy new clothes for our families. It will make everyone happy, right
Yes, yes, the officials nodded and bowed.
Suddenly there was a loud noise, startling everyone who was not paying attention. When Guo Shao turned around, he saw a heavy forging hammer just falling down and hitting the target. At the same time, he heard the friction sound of the chain. The upper door-shaped part of the forging hammer hit the V-shaped connecting piece and was pulled up by the chain.
A craftsman hurriedly took out something from the anvil with tongs, and then picked it up with his hands. It was a helmet. Guo Shao also walked over and stretched out his hand to see that a piece of wrought iron sheet was stamped into a helmet in an almost hemispherical shape; but because the iron plate was slightly larger, there was a brim on the hemispherical plane.
It looked different from the helmets worn by the soldiers. This was a wide-brimmed iron helmet. Guo Shao looked around and thought for a while that if the two sides were covered with movable mail as ear protection, the head protection would be quite good.
The official of Jiafang Office said: "What Inspector Guo said is very true. We can pierce holes on both sides of the hat and use leather belts to tie it under the chin to stabilize the helmet. But it is difficult for us to make chain mail because we don't have enough manpower. We have to ask the master craftsman of the Military Equipment Bureau to make it."
Luo Jiye, the chief craftsman, took over the topic: the most skilled armorer would work all day to make a piece of mail mail that was no bigger than a palm. That job was impossible without skills. First, you had to beat out the iron wire, heat it red, beat it into a ring, hammer it flat, then punch holes, and connect the iron rings with rivets to make an iron shirt.
After hearing this, Guo Shao nodded: It would be easier to customize some chain mail ear protectors for the generals and elite soldiers, and use hard leather armor instead for the rest.
He turned around and saw some annealed and hardened helmets on a door panel, so he went up and took one, and handed it to Dong Er who was accompanying him to take away.
They went to another workshop, where the breastplate was made. The forging hammer and anvil were cast and polished into an arc shape to form a mold; just like stamping an iron helmet, one hit would make a piece of plate armor. However, it was more troublesome to process thin iron plates. The forged iron had to be folded and stamped dozens of times. Later, it was carburized to increase the hardness, and then the blacksmith forged the edges and corners by hand. After processing the iron plate of a certain size, it was easy. Put it on the anvil mold and hit it once; if it was not pressed well, press it again.
Guo Shao took one and examined it over and over again. It almost matched his design intention. The appearance was not quite what he had imagined, but as long as it had defensive power, it was fine.
Luo Jiye said: Only the front and sides can be protected, and only the chest and abdomen can be protected. The back is empty, so I have to wear a hard leather shorts. A breastplate has three parts. One side is the front breastplate. After the shape is pressed, the edge is hammered and wrapped with a hammer to protect the side waist; the user can also adjust the size by hammering. The big body can be pulled open a little and the small body can be hammered together. The other two pieces are shoulder straps, connected to the breastplate with rivets, mainly to fix the breastplate. There are three small holes on each side, which are used to pass the chain through the breastplate to make the armor tighter.
Guo Shao smiled and said: It is enough to defend the front. You cannot attack the enemy with your back to the enemy during battle. If you are defeated and flee, it will be useless no matter how thick your clothes are. If they are too heavy, it will affect your escape speed and you will not be able to run fast.
After hearing this, everyone laughed along.
The design of this breastplate is quite simple. It is actually an iron vest, but the back is empty.
The shoulder armor is a little more complicated, because the arms need to move, so several pieces of curved iron armor are inlaid with iron rings to achieve the purpose of movement; even so, there is still resistance when the arms want to be raised, and it is indeed difficult to move as light as a swallow while wearing iron armor.
There are four sets of armor in this batch. The last and simplest one is the arm armor, which is a semi-cylindrical iron plate with a large top and a small bottom, and holes on the edge. When using it, just tap it to fit the size, then tie it to your arm with a hemp rope. There is still a part of the inside that is empty.
The head, chest, shoulders and arms are protected by plate armor, which can avoid most of the casualties. Guo Shao himself started as a soldier and fought in the battlefield for many years, so he is very experienced in this. These four parts are particularly vulnerable to injury. The head and chest are fatal injuries, and the chest and abdomen are protected from stabbing; the shoulders are protected from slashing; the arms are also easily attacked when using weapons.
But it is not enough for a general to use plate armor, because for the sake of simplicity and efficiency, the protection is very incomplete; generals and wealthy soldiers who have the conditions should equip themselves with chain mail inside, especially for the active parts, so that the protection is quite high. However, for ordinary soldiers who have few pieces of armor on their bodies, having such protection will definitely give them more courage, because it will be very difficult for them to be killed.
Guo Shao walked around and found that most of the workshop facilities were still under construction, and only two or three yards of forging hammers had been put into use. The noise was quite loud. If all the workshops in this city started to operate in the future, I don't know how noisy it would be. But Guo Shao was too lazy to care, anyway, he didn't live here.
When the group walked out of the workshop, they saw a cart carrying half a pig coming in. Guo Shao was in high spirits and asked, "Chop the pork into two pieces."
He then ordered Dong Er to take off his chain mail, wrap it around a piece of pork and hang it under a dead tree in the yard. He also asked someone to fetch a breastplate, tie it to the inside of the breastplate with a rope, and hang the other two on the tree.
Guo Shao worked hard for a while, then asked someone to fetch two stone bows.
Everyone finally understood what he was trying to do. An official flattered him: "I have heard for a long time that Guo Du's archery skills are as good as gods. Today we are able to open our eyes. It is really a great honor for us!"
Luo Jiye said seriously: "Guo Du Dianjian shot and killed Zhang Yuanhui in the battle formation, and became famous with one arrow. He was not famous for nothing." Someone else said: "Tsk, a two-stone strong bow, ordinary people can't even pull it, let alone shoot arrows."
Guo Shao ignored them, but it sounded pleasant to his ears. Not to mention that everyone knows that compliments are useless, but it just feels good to hear them, and he is no exception.
He then drew his bow and arrow, and within fifty steps he drew the bow to the full extent and shot at the two suits of armor, and of course every arrow hit its mark. Everyone shouted, "Great, great, the inspector of the capital, you are indeed a god of archery."
Guo Shao pulled the bow several times and was indeed exhausted. He dropped the bow and arrow and said calmly: "It's no problem to hit the target from a hundred paces away, but in order to increase the armor-piercing power, we have to be close. It's nothing to hit a big target at such a close distance. Go get that thing and check it."
The officials of the Jiafang Office rushed over to carry the things, and everyone helped to pull out the arrows and take out the pork. Seeing this, Guo Shao said: "As expected, plate armor has better defense.
After all, it is a steel plate that has been repeatedly forged and carburized. When shot at with a two-stone strong bow within fifty steps, it only made a dent, and the top of the arrowhead pierced a little and broke the pig skin. It can be imagined that the eight-bucket bow that is often used in battle has almost no effect on this kind of plate armor and cannot even break the skin.
He looked at another piece of pig skin protected by chain mail. The heavy arrow completely pierced it, and there were still broken wires on the wound. He pulled out the dagger from his waist and looked at the pork carefully. The arrow completely pierced the skin and fat and had penetrated into the lean meat. The chain mail was not bad for its defense against arrows, but Guo Shao was close and his arm strength was strong, so he shot through the armor.
The people around saw this and congratulated him, praising his new armor.
Guo Shaodao: Once the surrounding workshops are built, they will take turns on duty day and night to draw up a list of the money, grain and raw materials needed to make the armor, and submit it to the court. I will send someone to help you approve it.
An official immediately took out a booklet and presented it to him. Guo Shao took it with a smile and put it directly into his sleeve pocket: "The court is in a tight spot right now, and the money must be spent openly. I will check this account carefully, there must be no problem.
The official looked at Guo Shao's expression secretly, but unexpectedly, Guo Shao was staring at him with a smile. The official looked worried, and finally bent down, looked at Guo Shao's sleeve and said: "Guo Du Dianjian, I haven't checked the accounts carefully recently, and the previous one may have omissions. Why don't you return it to me and check it again?"
Guo Shao smiled, but it looked like a sly smile: "The things have been given, it would be bad to take them back. Please prepare a new one, I want both."
this
Guo Shao stepped forward and patted his back, saying kindly: It's okay, you just went to get the pork, look at your hands, they are still stained with oil, right
The official looked at his palm, his forehead was dark, and he nodded: Yes, yes
Guo Shaodao: It's human nature. I can't just chop off your hands when I see oil on them.
General Guo, spare my life. Guan Er immediately fell to his knees.
Guo Shaofu said to him: I have already said that I will not cut off your hands, but it is better to add a pair of gloves. Wang Shuling has made great contributions and hard work. How can I not remember it? He immediately turned around and said, Come on, cut half of the pork and give it to Wang Shuling. What's the point of getting some oil on your hands
Guan Er said thoughtfully: I understand, I understand