Chapter 32 Silent Savings
"Iron is dead, are you dead too? The force must be even, and the strength of the hammer must be controlled by yourself!"
"Forging iron comes first! Without repeated hammering, how can there be high-quality steel?!"
"You don't know how to use the steel clamping method?! You forgot about carburizing again!"
……
After the New Year, the forging room has become the busiest place. Amid the clanging sounds, a group of shirtless men are hammering furiously.
Zhang Ben inspected the forging room.
The old man was very annoyed because the basic skills of this group of new helpers were too weak and they couldn’t even do the simplest blacksmithing.
"Where's Li Yuan?"
Picking up a small teapot and taking a sip, Zhang Ben glanced towards the corner, where the hammering sounds were most frequent and loudest at this time in the past.
"When you came here, Junior Brother Li had just left!"
A blacksmith was quenching the steel, and he looked up and replied.
"Going to private school again?"
Zhang Ben frowned and was about to leave when he suddenly caught a glimpse of something. He was stunned at first and then walked to the corner.
There was a knife placed prominently on the shelf above the stone table.
"Jade knife?"
Reaching out to pick up the long sword that had not yet been hilted, his five fingers gently rubbed the blade. Zhang Ben couldn't help but narrow his eyes and a smile appeared on his face:
"It already has the appearance of being a sharp weapon. The only thing missing is the material. Good boy, you are improving so fast?
It’s not in vain that the old man stepped forward to be the villain and transferred Qin Xiong away…”
……
Not far from the inner courtyard is the private school of the weapon forging shop, which only allows the children of the shop owners and the apprentices of the inner courtyard to enroll.
There was only one old student in the private school, and he could only give some basic enlightenment and teach him how to read and write.
"The dynasty has been established for more than 1,400 years. Great fortune, great fortune..."
Smelling the faint scent of peach blossoms, Li Yuan, who had been working as a blacksmith all day, was resting in a recliner under a tree wearing clean clothes and flipping through a history book.
He seldom came to the private school in the inner courtyard, but he would come every now and then, not to learn the classics, but to read some books.
This was the only time he could relax and unwind besides practicing martial arts and forging iron.
"This is a serious history book, how can it be so imprecise?"
Although he had read it many times, every time Li Yuan saw the chapter about Taizu who founded the country in Dayun, he couldn't help but feel dissatisfied as above.
This record is truly outrageous.
"At the end of the previous dynasty, the world was in chaos, and many heroes rose up and fought for many years. Taizu started his army at the age of 69. It took him ten years to pacify the world, ten years to bring peace to the people, and ten years to usher in a prosperous era..."
Li Yuan had no interest in the flattery that followed, but the decade of pacifying the world made his mouth twitch every time he saw it.
Pang Wenlong, the founder of Dayun, was protected by the sun god. He led 800 cavalrymen out of "Mingpo". Whenever there was a fierce battle, divine fire would fall from the sky.
"In the battle of Tianyou Pass, the hero Gao Fei and Qinghe led 300,000 elite troops to attack Taizu. On that day, divine fire fell from the sky like a waterfall and a tide, and 300,000 elite troops were wiped out in front of Tianyou Pass..."
The person who wrote this history book obviously had infinite admiration for Taizu, and a large part of the first part described the terrifying nature of the tyrant Gao Feiqing.
He is a man of extraordinary talent. Since he started his army, he has won ten battles and won every one of them. He has conquered four of the five major regions of the world. He has many generals and talented people under his command.
It was said to have 300,000 elite soldiers, all of whom were warriors, and was once known as the strongest army in history.
"Three hundred thousand warriors were all destroyed by the Heavenly Fire. This is not as credible as the Great Meteorite Spell. After all, meteorites are more common. How can Heavenly Fire be like a waterfall or a tide?"
After closing the book and returning it to the teacher, Li Yuan returned to the courtyard when it was getting dark.
"Qin Xiong was sent to Fajiu Mountain?"
As soon as he returned to the yard, Li Yuan learned the news from Fatty Sun.
"Yesterday, the head shopkeeper came back to the shop and heard about this. He first went to see my brother-in-law, then called Qin Xiong and I heard he gave him a good scolding.
This is called a transfer to be the head, but in fact it is just exile!"
Fatty Sun did not hide his gloating at all. Before Li Yuan, Qin Xiong was the most talented person in the forging shop in recent years. He was only forty years old, but he had already cultivated his internal strength. He only needed to wait for Leader Zhao to leave next year, and then he would be the leader of the guards of the forging shop.
He had to fawn on him whenever he saw him before. After all, his brother-in-law was more than thirty years older than Qin Xiong...
"Didn't you say that Manager Cao thinks highly of him?"
After a moment's thought, Li Yuan realized that this must be to appease Tang Tong.
After all, Qin Xiong was just showing the way, and his target was just an apprentice like himself. Transferring him to the top of the mountain to mine would be considered a severe punishment in everyone's eyes.
After that day, he also inquired and found out that the ghostwriter Yu Zhen not only looked for him, but also did not reveal any of the people who had dealt with him within a few days after Liu San's death.
"If someone else dared to betray their own people, they would not only be transferred away."
Fatty Sun was in a good mood, which could be seen from the wine and food on the table in the house.
Vermicelli soup, pork with pepper and vinegar, big steamed buns, and two pots of medicinal wine.
"After all, it's internal strength. If the punishment is too severe, I'm afraid Manager Cao won't be willing to do it."
Moreover, he is forty years old, a martial artist with internal strength in his prime. The fact that Cao Yan is willing to punish him severely is enough to shut everyone up.
Li Yuan had no complaints.
He is a man who clearly distinguishes between gratitude and resentment. He never speaks out anything, but he naturally has a little notebook in his heart to record everything.
"Internal energy!"
Fatty Sun also sighed and slumped in his chair, looking depressed: "I'm afraid I won't be able to achieve inner strength in this lifetime..."
You've washed off your sweaty stench!
Li Yuan was secretly complaining in his heart, but he had to be polite to his creditor, not to mention there was a table of wine and food.
"Come on, let's go!"
The two of them kept eating and drinking. They each finished a pot of wine and cleared away all the food on the table. They also ate two big steamed buns before going back to their rooms.
"The power of this medicinal wine is no less than that of the Blood-Nourishing Pill!"
After closing the door, Li Yuan lowered his waist and sat on his hips. He stretched out his hand and the long-handled training hammer was in his hand. He was used to standing with the hammer in his hand.
He closed his eyes slightly and moved the blood and energy.
Blood and Qi come from the human body. For a normal apprentice, if there is no medicinal food to supplement it, he can move it at most three times a day. Any more than that will harm the body.
But with medicated food, medicinal supplements, medicinal baths, and blood-replenishing pills, combined with the first killing move of the Bingdao Fighting Hammer, Li Yuan can refine blood more than thirty times a day.
This is a gap of more than ten times!
"I'm still a long way from minor success in forging. One and a half months is enough... Be content, be content. A normal apprentice needs at least fifteen years to reach this stage."
Squinting his eyes slightly, Li Yuan felt the power of the weapon.
Ordinary people have no way to accurately judge their own progress, but he can.
With the help of the Great Perfection Hammer Technique for comparison, one can naturally make a clear judgment.
"My master gave me the treatment of a blacksmith. For an ordinary sword, I get one penny of silver. If it is a sharp weapon, I can get one tael of silver..."
After moving his blood and energy to the limit for today, Li Yuan lay down with a warm body. He did not get up until dawn and continued to stand in the stance.
Standing and hammering, forging and hammering, taking herbal medicine baths, reading books...
Immersed in learning martial arts and improving himself, Li Yuan did not feel bored at all. Every day was fulfilling, as he traveled back and forth between the front and back yards.
Cloak Hammer Technique, Inner Three Combinations, the killing move of the Bingdao Fighting Hammer, forging technique...
In the boredom of day after day, Li Yuan could feel the changes in himself.
His blood and energy continued to improve with sufficient medical nourishment, and his physical strength was also improving. Under his single piece of clothing, his muscles, which were close to his skeleton, were smooth and strong.
Click!
Spring thunder exploded.
Li Yuan pushed open the window shirtless.
I saw dark clouds rolling and lightning snakes moving. The spring rain, which came later than in previous years, was coming from far away, falling with the smell of grass, trees and soil.
(End of this chapter)
