The craftsmen of the Jiang Tribe tested the coal from the Lu Tribe overnight. The final result surprised them. The coking coal from the Lu Tribe not only had a bigger flame, but it was also easier to use. Moreover, it was easier to produce slag during smelting. It saved more time for smelting, and the quality of the smelted pig iron was also better.
Knowing that the coal from the Lu Tribe was so useful, the Patriarchs of the Lu Tribe could not sit still. Before, they insisted on taking advantage of the Lu Tribe by exchanging their own pig iron for more coal. But now, they felt that it did not matter if the pig iron was cheaper, as long as they could get enough coal, they would not mind taking less advantage.
The Patriarchs of the Jiang Tribe and Ang Lee had not agreed on the specific price. After all, they were not sure whether the Lu Tribe would cooperate with them or not. But they believed that the Lu Tribe needed their pig iron more, so they would certainly not refuse. In terms of price, they had more bargaining chips. But at this moment, they were willing to make some concessions.
The Jiang Tribe's people were working hard in the ironmaking workshop. The blacksmiths of the Lu Tribe were not idle either. Since Ang Lee gave them guidance, they were very excited. After all, they made iron products with more reliable performance through the heat treatment process, which made them very proud. In order to better verify the heat treatment process, they did not sleep at night. They directly made all kinds of iron products through the heat treatment process taught by Ang Lee. They wanted to see what kind of effect they could achieve in the end.
Although the place where Ang Lee lived was still far from the place where the blacksmiths were forging, the sound of forging iron was very loud. Moreover, the main city of the Lu Tribe was not very big. The whole main city of the Lu Tribe was only so big. Even if the blacksmith shop was at the corner, the sound of forging iron was enough to be heard by all the residents in the city.
"Ding ding dang dang, they are still forging iron."
When Ang Lee was about to go to sleep, he heard the sound of forging iron in the distance.
This kind of clanking sound made Ang Lee somewhat unable to sleep. For the residents here, they had long been used to it. They did not feel uncomfortable with the clanking sound of forging iron.
Since he couldn't sleep, Ang Lee got up and went to the blacksmith's shop to see what they were fighting about.
Li An brought his guards to the blacksmith shop and met the patriarch of the Lu Tribe. The patriarch of the Lu Tribe did not rest either. He attached great importance to the forging of iron products. Therefore, he personally went to the blacksmith shop to check the difference between the iron products made with the new technology and whether they were of the same quality as the ones he bought in Shu. If they were of the same quality, it would be ideal.
"Patriarch, this is a pair of freshly made iron scissors. Take a look. It's quite useful."
A blacksmith handed a pair of newly forged iron scissors to the patriarch.
The scissors were still very hot, but the patriarch didn't care. He wanted to check the quality of the iron products made with the new technology. He wanted to know how good they were and whether they were good enough. This was very important for the Lu Tribe.
"Bring me a branch."
The Patriarch wanted to use the tree branch to test the cutting power of the new scissors.
The tribesmen quickly brought a lot of branches. These branches were different in thickness and hardness. These branches were the most suitable for testing the cutting power of the scissors.
The patriarch of the Lu Tribe first used a relatively thin branch to test the scissors, and then gradually increased the diameter of the branch. Every time he cut a branch, he carefully observed the scissors to see if there were any signs of blunt, so that he could determine the quality of the scissors.
In the end, the patriarch of the Lu Tribe was very satisfied with the result. The quality of the scissors was completely qualified. After cutting a large number of branches of different thickness and hardness, the scissors did not have the slightest damage. Compared with the scissors they made, the quality was several grades higher.
"Patriarch, we just added a little water. I didn't expect the quality of the iron products to be so good. I really admire it!"
A blacksmith who was in the middle of forging said.
The patriarch of the Lu Tribe said with a smile, "That's right! I really admire it! With such a simple process, the quality of the ironware created has increased by several times. This is really … Aiya! "
After a series of sighs, the patriarch of the Lu Tribe felt the importance of technology. They had been unable to make iron products of high quality before because their forging skills were not up to standard. Now, under the guidance of Ang Lee, they could forge iron products of almost the same quality as those in Central Sichuan. This would certainly be of great benefit to improving the living standards of their tribesmen.
"Patriarch, why don't you try using the previous iron nail?"
A blacksmith took out the triangular iron nail made with the previous craftsmanship and handed it to the patriarch.
It was obviously not easy to cut the iron nail with the iron scissors. In other words, it was very difficult. It was not even operable. But it was always right to try. If he didn't try it himself, how could he be sure that it could not be cut?
The patriarch hesitated for a moment, then picked up the scissors and cut the iron nail with force. Because the iron nails at this time were relatively thick, naturally, it could not be cut. But the iron nail was cut a little, while the iron scissors were not damaged at all. There was no curl at all. It was still as sharp as ever, which made the tribesmen very satisfied.
"The iron nail has two notches, but the iron scissors are not damaged at all. Now we can be sure that the iron scissors we made are not worse than the ones in Central Sichuan. We don't have to go to Central Sichuan to buy iron scissors in the future."
The patriarch said happily.
Although they did not need to go to Central Sichuan to buy iron scissors, they still needed to buy pig iron. It was undoubtedly a loss to go to Central Sichuan to buy pig iron. The Jiang Tribe in front of them produced pig iron, which was undoubtedly the best source of pig iron. Exchanging their coal for the pig iron of the Jiang Tribe was undoubtedly a very cost-effective and win-win trade.
"It's so late. Are you still busy?"
Ang Lee came from afar and said.
The patriarch of the Lu Tribe immediately realized something and hurriedly said, "Damn it, I forgot that Assistant Minister Li needs to rest. These clanking sounds must have disturbed Assistant Minister Li!"
Ang Lee waved his hand and said, "It's not very noisy. How is it? How many ironwares have you made? How is the performance?"
After saying that, he reached out to take all kinds of ironwares that had just been made. There were many kinds of ironwares, such as iron scissors, iron chisels, iron hammers, shovels, and so on. As long as it was a tool that they needed to work, they had made almost all of them. It could be seen that they were very serious.
"Well, not bad, not bad. These ironwares are very well made. This means that you have learned how to heat treat and how to make high-quality ironwares. So, I am relieved. In addition, I have some drawings here. These are iron materials that will be needed to build roads in the future. You can make some and sell them to the imperial court. Although the price is not high, you will definitely make a profit."
Ang Lee said as he handed the drawings to the patriarch of the Lu Tribe.
These drawings were all about the shape and craftsmanship of some steel bars. They only needed to follow the instructions and they would be able to create usable steel bars. When the time came, they would be able to provide sufficient raw materials for the imperial court to ensure that the roads could be built faster. After the roads were built, their various products would be able to be sold more conveniently outside. In terms of price, they would also be able to have a lot of advantages.
Although the patriarch of the Lu Tribe did not understand what Ang Lee had drawn, from the size and craft of these ironwares, he could see that it was not easy to build roads. The length and thickness of these steel bars were very large. The raw materials needed for a steel bar were not small. The road definitely needed more than one steel bar. Who knew how many would be needed? Therefore, the patriarch of the Lu Tribe did not dare to think about the cost of road building.
What he knew about road building in mountainous areas was nothing more than using an iron chisel to cut the mountain, make a wall-hanging mountain road, or build a plank road. These two methods could be used. As for road building in mountainous areas, he did not know at all. After all, he had never seen other road building methods in mountainous areas. It was normal that he did not understand.
The mountain road that Ang Lee wanted to build was built along the river. This road building method required a lot of steel bars and concrete. The cost of road building was very high. Among them, the cost of building materials was the largest. For wall-hanging mountain road, the cost of manpower was the largest. The cost of materials was almost nothing. That was to say, if the tools were damaged, they needed to be replaced and repaired. In general, the consumption of manpower was the main cost. For the road that Ang Lee wanted to build, the cost of materials was the largest. The cost of manpower was only a small part. After all, the cost of manpower was relatively low in the Tang dynasty.
Considering that Ang Lee needed to rest, the patriarch of the Lu Tribe asked the craftsmen to stop their work and continue to forge the iron tomorrow morning. Since the advanced technology had been mastered, there was no need to rush. Anyway, there was still time.
Naturally, Li An did not stop the patriarch. It was already very late. If he continued to forge, he really could not sleep. Moreover, there was really no need for that. The heat treatment process had already been handed over to them. It would not disappear when they woke up the next day just because they went to bed early. The technology would never disappear. As long as they learned it and remembered it in their minds, it would never disappear.
The patriarch of the Lu Tribe was a little embarrassed to disturb Ang Lee's rest. Therefore, he personally sent Ang Lee back. Along the way, he discussed the forging technology with Ang Lee, as well as the road building in the mountain roads of the Tang Empire. When he learned that it would cost a lot of money to build a road from Central Sichuan to Dongnu Province, the patriarch of the Lu Tribe was so scared that he could not speak. The cost was so high that it was seriously beyond his imagination.
The area where the Lu Tribe lived was so remote that they lacked the necessary understanding of the outside world. Even if they had been conferred titles by the Tang Empire, they still had relatively little knowledge of the Tang Empire. Especially in recent years, they did not understand the speed of the development of the Tang Empire at all. That was why they were so surprised.
The territory of the Lu Tribe was really too small. Living in such a small area, people's knowledge and vision would be greatly limited. The mountains were never a place with a broad view. The patriarch of the Lu Tribe had lived in a narrow mountain area for a long time, so he still lacked the necessary understanding of the outside world. Even if he had been conferred the position of Provincial Governor by the imperial court, it could not change the fact that he was ignorant.
After a night's rest, Ang Lee was sent off by the patriarch of the Lu Tribe. He left the main city of the Lu Tribe and returned to the territory of the Jiang Tribe. He was going to tell the patriarchs of the Jiang Tribe the good news that the Lu Tribe was willing to cooperate with them. He wanted them to make all kinds of preparations for the cooperation as soon as possible. This was very important for the prosperity of the western border area. Only when the tribes here were united could it be beneficial to the prosperity of this area.
Generally speaking, for the tribes in the border area, since ancient times, the imperial court had hoped that they could fight with each other. In this way, the imperial court could take advantage of the conflicts between the tribes and prevent one tribe from dominating. However, the strength of the tribes in the border area was too small. They posed no threat to the imperial court at all. It was not so important to use the conflicts between the tribes to check and balance them. At present, cooperation and prosperity was the true path that the Tang Dynasty should take. Nothing else mattered. Therefore, Ang Lee helped them to reconcile. If these tribes were powerful and hostile to the imperial court, Ang Lee would never help them reconcile. Not only that, but Ang Lee would also not tell them the heat treatment process of forging, so as not to bring a great threat to the imperial court.
Ang Lee would not do anything that would threaten the imperial court of the Tang Dynasty. Everything Ang Lee did was for the good of the imperial court of the Tang Dynasty and for the development of the empire. Ang Lee would never do anything that would harm the imperial court of the Tang Dynasty.
"Chen Long, how's the situation? It's been a night. Hasn't Duan Jianhan and the others taken any action? "
On the way back, Ang Lee looked at Chen Long and asked.
Chen Long shook his head and said, "Action? No action at all! Could they have really fallen off the cliff or been eaten by wild beasts? It's been so many days, but there's really no news at all. "
Ang Lee shook his head and said, "If there were only one or two people, it's possible that they were eaten by wild beasts. But there are more than ten of them. How could they all be eaten by wild beasts at once? Moreover, our soldiers have fought with them. These people are very good at martial arts. The strongest wild beast in the mountain is the wolf. How could it be a match for these masters? They must still be in the mountain, but we don't know where they are hiding. Maybe they want to wait until we are far away before taking action."
Chen Long heard this and said, "That's easy! Then we'll do as he wishes and continue to move forward. Let them relax their vigilance. At that time, the fox tail will definitely reveal itself. "
The Summit
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