From Chief to Ball

The second elder brother shook his head and said, "It's still early, and besides, I don't really want to be one. I just want to learn these weird things from Jixia, and besides, I can't be one, how can it be so easy?"

"Didn't Jixia say that even officials like the Three Provincial Orders, Sheriffs, and the Sixth Ministry can be promoted through the assessment as long as they do well?"

"Hey, my two silly brothers, how can it be so simple? You have to start from a small official, and you have to become a county magistrate for a few years before you can enter the six departments and finally become the three provinces. And so on. Now sister Yuqian'er is only in charge of the household department. In fact, it is still the things that used to be in charge of goods. Now I let you do it. Can you do it well? I spend money and food. I take charcoal all day Counting on ceramic boards, calculations are often wrong, not to mention that there are 7 to [-] people today."

"If you make a wrong calculation on the pottery board, at most you will get a slap in the palm of your hand, or you will be scolded when Jixia is angry. But if you really become an official, you will die if you make a wrong calculation."

"Furthermore, when we were selected by Ji Xia, he told us that it is impossible for us to be officials after we finish our studies. If we want to be officials, we can go to those science classes. We will all be teachers in the future. Those who entered the imperial academy later got a lot of money every year, and they could also wear things that others couldn’t wear. Anyway, there are quite a lot, but I don’t care too much.”

When he said he didn't care much, he half-closed his eyes, recalling the lightning-like flames that he saw in a hut two years ago after being rubbed with glass powder, as well as those weird hydraulic hammers, simple Taixue school halls, etc. The rivet crank structure made of simple wood chips displayed in the exhibition... These things are what he wants to know, so he is not just talking about it.

It's just that he has learned too little now, and Ji Xia doesn't tell them those things, but just makes them do arithmetic day after day.Now, he actually resented the few people who studied with him. If they also passed the assessment, they would be able to learn more difficult things now.

It took him a long time to reflect on his memories, and said with a smile: "After the papermaking workshops are built, I don't care about them. I don't care if they let me take care of them. You don't need to know so much about this stuff. It is the new workshop that uses us to keep an eye on it."

The fourth brother nodded and said: "That's true, just like us. The above said that we should train as we are told. Where to go and who to fight, even if I become the corporal leader, I don't know. If I want to know I'm afraid to become a general, but how many of them can be like Baima and Ji Bo? Is it possible that Lei Huowei will also be like this in future wars? There is no need to seize opportunities and attack at any time like Habayashi Wei... as long as it is the same as training , just walk forward slowly and turn left?"

The second brother laughed and said, "I don't know, but sometimes the stupidest method is the most useful. It's like when Ji Xia took me to build a paper-making workshop, I thought I had to learn it like I went to school. Know it's not."

"It's like soaking wood, wheat straw, etc. in water first, and then boiling them with lime. I asked Ji Xia why? Ji Xia roughly told me, and then told me that the workshop workers don't need to know why , you only need to know how much lime to soak for two months, how much lime to use for a hundred catties, cook for a few days, and pound a few times in a stone mortar.”

"It's just like you are fighting a war. It's written in the rules and you just follow it. People who want to know why will naturally ask, and those who don't want to know will naturally not ask. But if you want to improve the noble rank and find an easier way, just Ask more."

"This is what I want to tell you two. Ask why. Only by asking why can you know how to do better."

Chapter 97 Brothers Chatting

He solemnly showed his elder brother's style, and said: "You have also heard the story of cooking fish mentioned by Jixia, right? If you asked why the fish was cut up at that time, you wouldn't have waited until you could make a bigger fish. When I put them in clay pots, I had to cut up the fish, and it became a must.”

Both younger brothers nodded in agreement, to show that they had remembered.

"Second brother, when will the paper be made?"

"Soon, it's almost there. Jixia will go to Sucheng to meet the leaders of other cities in a while, and he has to bring some gifts. Before that, we have to produce some paper as gifts for the other leaders. They I can’t write, but it’s good for pasting windows.”

The third child smiled and said, "Where do they use paper to paste the windows? They use slaves to grind shells. Anyway, they have a lot of slaves, which can be used for these things. If they can write, they will be happy to give paper as a gift. But if they don't If they can write, they may not be happy to deliver paper.”

"Our smelting department is also preparing gifts for them, but second brother, the gifts we prepared must be better than what you prepared, and they will definitely like them. It's just that these gifts will exhaust us to death."

He stretched out his callused hand, and said helplessly, "The fourth child will go to the farm to harvest wheat in a few days, and we are not much better. These days, we are also learning to forge iron, and the big hammer is much more tiring than the sickle. .You didn’t go to our place to have a look. It’s rattling every day, and it’s hot inside. It’s okay now, and you still don’t know how to live in a few days.”

The two brothers asked in unison: "A gift from blacksmithing? A sword?"

The third child shook his head and said, "That's not true. You have to learn how to blacksmith. Gifts are not made of iron, they are all made of copper."

Speaking of this, he said mysteriously: "Anyway, you will find out in a few days, and Ji Xia didn't say no to telling others."

Stretching out his hand, he measured the distance of about a foot and said, "The gift is about this long, half an arm. It's made of copper and weighs three to five catties. It doesn't look good at all, but it's useful It's amazing."

Both brothers were aroused curiosity and asked, "What is it?"

"arms!"

"Weapon? Bronze? Half an arm? A sword?"

"It's not a sword."

He thought for a while, and finally thought of something that could be described.

"It's just a piece of bamboo made of molten copper. It's hollow inside, and there are dead bamboo joints in the back. Only the front is empty, and it goes all the way to the back. There is a small hole in the back, which can be inserted into a match, Jixia. It is said that the small hole is called the fire door, and this thing is called the fire door gun."

"gun?"

"Well, I don't know why it's called that. Jixia's random name is definitely Gun. I can still recognize the Qieyin characters, and I can't make a mistake."

"A matchstick? With gunpowder?"

"Yeah, yes, it uses gunpowder. Fill it with gunpowder, and then put a ball made of lead into it. After lighting the gunpowder with a matchlock, the lead ball will fly out with a bang!"

He danced and said: "You didn't see it at the time. A piece of wood fifteen steps away shattered with a snap. If it hit someone, wouldn't it kill him instantly? Later, Jixia If you catch a few pigs and hit them within thirty paces, the pigs will be half dead."

The fourth younger brother followed the elder brother very excitedly, but the second elder brother was keenly aware of the problem in the sentence, and asked: "If you hit the body, you will die? Does that mean there are still times when you can't hit? Thirty steps... I use a bow and arrow Maybe you can't hit the target, but you can still hit a pig, right?"

The third child chuckled and said, "That's right. Anyway, it would be difficult to shoot at any distance, and with one hand holding it, the other hand had to light the match... Later, a quick-burning fuse was added to the fire door." , after igniting it, it can be aimed at the right point, but it is slower to shoot once.”

"How slow?"

"Uh... At least enough to shoot six or seven arrows anyway. Very slow, very slow. But arrows can't go through some boards or armor, but this thing can."

The second elder brother shook his head and said: "Other cities or Dongyi people also have some leather armor, and the leather armor is very ordinary. What do we need to shoot something that can penetrate armor? If this thing can only shoot thirty or forty steps away , It’s really useless if we ask for it. Besides...it’s very troublesome to make one? And it’s still made of copper? Can’t you use iron?”

The third child spread his hands and said: "You can't use iron ones, because iron ones are easy to explode, so they are no longer guns, but iron mines in your hands. It is indeed troublesome to make, but it is different from a bow when held, it is very small , you can hold it with one hand, when you hit it, there is white smoke and sparks, and it shatters when you hit it on your arm, and it can scare people..."

The second son of the Li family shook his head and said, "No, I have to talk to Jixia, it's useless if we want it. It's okay as a gift, but it's not okay if we use this thing. With these coppers and these skills, we can exchange for food Get more soldiers, just hit them. Besides, we have bows, what do we need them for?"

The third younger brother hastily persuaded: "No need, Jixia said to make these and give them out as gifts, we don't need these things either."

The second son breathed a sigh of relief, nodded and said: "If it's just a gift, then it's easy to talk about. Gifts for other cities, as long as they look good and scary. I said, this thing is so expensive, we also Might not be useful."

"Yeah, gifts are expensive, and they're pretty good. The most troublesome thing is to give gifts to the leader of Suyue. That's troublesome. But it's really good to make, I never thought it would be like this .It’s just that if each of our Xia soldiers has one soldier, I’m afraid we will have to save for decades.”

"what gift?"

"Armor! Bronze armor! Bronze armor that can block feathered arrows. If that thing is considered armor, the leather armor is simply a pile of rags. It can't be pierced by arrows a few times. If the black clothes guards have one , rushing into the enemy's formation, you don't have to be afraid of being pierced by a bronze sword, and you don't have to be afraid of a feathered arrow."

After speaking, I fantasized for a while, and finally shook my head.

"It's too troublesome to make. I reckon that this thing is just sold out for food, cattle and sheep. It is unlikely that we will wear it for the time being. Jixia said that if a catty of copper is turned into this thing, it can be exchanged for dozens of catties of copper." Things that can only be exchanged, and now other cities are starting to look for copper mines, and I am afraid that copper may not be able to exchange as many things as before."

"You have to beat a small piece of copper into a piece of copper first. When it is half soft after burning, pass through a large iron plate with a few holes and smash out a small piece."

"Then draw the cart with a horse, sit on the cart, clamp the copper wire's head with iron tongs, and slowly pull back and forth. At the beginning, pull the thick one, and then stuff it into a thinner one after the thick one is pulled. Continue to pull it out of the hole until it is thin enough."

"After pulling the copper wire, you need to hit the iron plate. After heating the wrought iron, use a sledgehammer to beat it little by little, and break the iron block into small pieces... I used the sledgehammer a few days ago. My arms are all swollen. I can’t play much in a day, so it’s troublesome.”

He pulled out a piece of soft grass from the side and wrapped it around his fingers, as if covering his fingers with a layer of clothes.

"After the iron plate is finished, wind the copper wires around an iron rod in the same way as I wind the grass, and when the iron rod is pulled out, the copper wires will be in a circle. Then cut them with iron scissors, and they will all become Just like weaving a fishing net, weave these copper wires round and round and use them to drape over your shoulders."

"The chest area is made of very thin iron plates, connected together with copper wires, and hung on the shoulders at the end. Those copper wires can block feather arrows, and will not affect the movement of the shoulders; the iron plate below is more Much stronger than copper wire."

"After so long, so many people smashed out one, and it's very heavy. But compared to being shot by a feather arrow, if I were me, I would rather wear this thing."

"Look at it, this copper armor alone must amaze the leaders of those cities, maybe they all want one..."

"I guess so. Otherwise, why did Ji Xia let so many people practice smashing iron with a sledgehammer?"

Chapter 98 Jedi Tiantong