Imperial Crown

Late autumn and early winter, riverside workshop.

The ground is covered with withered weeds, and the trees around the workshop have long been uprooted, but the north wind still sweeps the fallen leaves from afar, covering the surface of the moat.

Most of the nine workshops are vacant, and only four are in use.

One is used to mix Angel's Tears and make Angel's Embrace, one is used to configure Angel's Kiss, one is used to sew labels, and the other is used to prepare Warcraft leather armor.

Raven came to the workshop and first briefly explained a few words to Poirot.

With the accumulation of experience, Poirot has gradually been able to take charge of the operation of the two workshops as well as the input and output, and can be regarded as the "chief engineer" of the Angel series products.

Long-term regular life has made Poirot thinner, more energetic, and more confident in his speech.

After saying goodbye to Poirot, Raven met Qiao Ya again, the woman who embroidered the first Angel's Tears label.

Now she is also responsible for the operation of the entire workshop.

As her hands gradually became looser, Qiao Ya's face became more rosy than before, her hair was not as dry as before, and she walked straighter and more vigorous.

However, when facing Raven, she still knelt down humbly, her words full of gratitude.

Raven didn't know much about embroidery, he just took a general look at the work process and went to the last workshop.

The door of the workshop was open, and there were a dozen large and small wooden barrels next to the door, with half-demonized pig skins inside, emitting a pungent and fishy smell.

Fortunately, it was winter, if it was summer, it would inevitably be full of flies.

"Baron!" A middle-aged man with a messy brown beard like weeds ran out in small steps and said in panic: "Why did you come to this place in person?"

This man was one of the five leatherworkers hired last time, named Green. Raven saw that he was the oldest, so he made him the manager here.

Hearing Green's words, the cobblers and apprentices who were working came out in a swarm and began to salute in uneven order.

After they finished saluting, Raven said, "I came here today to check the progress, not to urge you. Go to work and don't worry about me."

Although Raven said not to worry about him, these craftsmen couldn't really pretend that he didn't exist. They all tried their best and were very energetic.

They all wanted to perform well in front of the Baron so that they could be favored and arranged an official position.

This scene made Green angry. Usually, they were very lazy and ignored when asked to work, but now they started to perform.

But he couldn't say this because he was much more diligent than these people.

With a smile on his face, he followed Raven closely, and his tongue was like a spring, moving diligently.

"Sir, this is the nitrated hide. Look, it has been soaked in the caustic soda you gave me. It is tough and soft, absolutely impeccable!"

Looking at the nitrated and dried leather in front of him, Raven nodded, reached out to touch it, and frowned unconsciously.

Green's heart skipped a beat: "Sir, do you have any questions?"

Raven said: "Tell me about the process of making leather armor."

"Ah?" Green was stunned for a moment.

"Just tell me when I ask you to!" Volaf frowned and scolded: "Are you afraid that the Baron will be interested in your inferior craftsmanship?"

"Yes, yes..." Green nodded repeatedly.

But he was wondering in his heart, how could a dignified Baron be interested in such a lowly craftsmanship?

"In fact, the steps are very simple, it's just a matter of practice makes perfect." Green rubbed his hands and began to introduce the whole process to Raven.

In this era, the craftsmanship of leather armor is quite mature and very simple.

After nitration, the grease on the inner layer of the leather is scraped off first. Due to the special nature of pig skin, the bristles on the outer layer must be removed.

Then comes the segmentation, which is the part that reflects the craftsmanship of a leatherworker.

Due to the different water content of the leather itself, the shrinkage and extension degree after cutting will also be different. If you want to get the right size of the armor, you need a lot of experience.

Finally, the leather is glued together with leather thread, nails, animal glue and other things to fix the shape and combine into leather armor.

"... Then brush it with tung oil and let it dry, and then it will be a set of finished products!" Green held the leather armor in both hands and handed it over like a treasure.

Raven looked enlightened.

No wonder he always felt that this leather armor was missing something. It turned out that there was a missing process.

He turned his head and whispered to Volaf, who nodded and left, leaving Green alone standing beside Raven, trembling, but not daring to ask questions.

After a while, Volaf came back, and the two warehouse workers following him put a large wooden box on the ground with a thump.

The lid of the box was opened, and it immediately attracted the attention of the leatherworkers.

This is a box of iron filings.

It is really new to see iron filings in a leatherworker's workshop.

He took off his coat and handed it to Volaf, and Raven grabbed a pair of gloves from the side and put them on.

Green asked in confusion: "Sir, what are you doing...?"

"Watch it, I will only do it once." Raven's voice was quite serious.

He took a piece of leather armor that had just been oiled and was about to be dried and spread it on the workbench, then held a handful of iron filings in both hands and sprinkled them on it little by little.

The leatherworkers present were wide-eyed at this scene - isn't this nonsense?

Green's face was burning, and he felt a little embarrassed for Raven.

He knew that the baron was very smart, but different trades are like different mountains. He could make good wine, but he was a layman in leather making. What did he know?

What use was there for iron filings to be sprinkled on it, except to make the leather armor look dirty and heavier?

Raven's work seemed rough, but it was actually very meticulous.

After sprinkling one side, he switched to the other side and did the same treatment, then picked up a bucket of tung oil and brushed it carefully.

"Take it and bake it dry."

Green nodded hurriedly: "Understood, sir! You, don't stand there, go!"

After baking for dozens of minutes, the tung oil on the surface of the leather armor was almost dry, and the whole leather armor looked shiny and even had a metallic luster.

Holding the leather armor in the palm of his hand, Green's heart was bleeding - what a waste of good things!

But he flattered: "Baron, your craftsmanship is really great, this leather armor is really beautiful!"

"Haha." Raven smiled and glanced at him, but did not answer: "Pick another finished one and hang them together."

There were hooks in the workshop, so this process was not difficult. Soon, two pieces of leather armor, one new and one old, were hung in the air.

Just when the craftsmen were confused, Raven grabbed the sword on Volaf's waist, pulled it out with a clang, and slashed at the old leather armor with a sword amid a burst of surprised exclamations.

With a whoosh, the leather armor shook for a while, and then a foot-long scar appeared, completely cutting through the two layers of leather on the chest, and even a scar appeared on the leather on the back.

The craftsmen were stunned by this scene.

The Baron is so strong!

When they tested it themselves, even if they tried their best, they couldn't cut so deep.

Before the sword fell, Raven moved his feet and swung another sword in his backhand, slashing at the newly made leather armor.

_Zeng——

The clear sound of metal clashing was accompanied by a first-class spark.

Raven casually inserted the sword back into Volaf's waist, and the newly made leather armor stopped shaking.

A sound of sucking in a breath of cold air was heard.

The craftsmen saw in disbelief that although the new leather armor was also cut open, the iron filings on the surface well prevented the cutting force of the long sword, and the leather was about to break.

With a snap.

Green suddenly slapped himself hard: "Baron, I'm really damned, I still doubted your skills in my heart!"

Not only him, but other leatherworkers looked at Raven with shock and admiration.

They are all veterans in the leatherwork industry and know what this means.

The reason why leather armor, even Warcraft leather armor, is not as good as chain armor is that although it is not much different in terms of the ability to protect against piercing and blunt damage, it always has a huge disadvantage in dealing with slashing damage.

The technology demonstrated by Raven cannot be said to have filled the gap between leather armor and chain armor, but it has greatly improved the practicality of the former.

Isn't the Baron only good at brewing wine? How come he can do this too?

Only Volaf looked calm, and he looked down on these cobblers in his heart.

A group of guys who are not familiar with the past, the Baron will certainly turn decay into magic!

"You haven't seen the technology, so it's normal not to believe it." Raven stopped Green who wanted to continue slapping him, and glanced at the craftsmen: "Have you remembered the steps I just demonstrated?"

"Remember, sir!" Green nodded repeatedly.

The other craftsmen also nodded one after another, after all, Raven's operation just now was not difficult.

Raven said: "Very good, all leather armors will need to go through this process in the future. I will also ship the finished ones back to you for remaking. If time permits, use this process on both layers of armor on the chest. I won't force you to do this."

"I will give you 20 days at most. After 20 days, I want to see 130 sets of such leather armor. How about it, can you do it?"

"Yes, sir! Don't worry!" Green nodded heavily: "I guarantee you will be satisfied!"

"Then I'll leave it to you." Raven patted his shoulder and looked around the room: "If you can deliver the things with guaranteed quality and quantity at that time, I will definitely reward you generously!"

This sentence immediately ignited the spirit and enthusiasm of the craftsmen, and their eyes showed excitement.

Raven always keeps his word, especially when it comes to rewards. The three workshops of Poirot and Qiao Ya are examples.

"But if I find out that you are cutting corners and doing things half-heartedly." Raven's voice turned cold, his sword-like eyes pierced through the faces of every craftsman, and he pointed at the leather armor before the improvement and said, "Then this will be your fate!"

Rejecting Green's farewell, and taking inventory of the warehouse inventory, Raven left the workshop, rode on the blood-eyed warhorse, and rushed towards the military camp.

Now that the preparation of armor is on the right track, the purchased warhorses, packhorses, and weapons are on the way.

But without the generation gap, equipment has never been the decisive factor in a battle.

The most important thing is people!

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