By the time Lu Fei left the house, it was already afternoon. The county magistrate insisted on having a drink or two with him. Unable to refuse, he could only stay at his house to eat and drink. However, thinking about the two gold bars, this was nothing.
Lu Zhong said, "Young master, you didn't see it. The old man's eyes lit up when he saw the gold. Tsk tsk, it's really 'money makes the devil turn millstones'."
Lu Fei let out a long breath and said, "It's really troublesome. Let Xinbo come over in the future. You learn more from your father. You are my most trusted people. In the future, you will carry the Lu family's backbone."
Lu Zhong listened in a daze, but his heart was extremely grateful. To be able to get the master's appreciation and trust was more pleasing than giving him two gold bricks. He immediately agreed with a serious face. Lu Fei then said, "But if you don't learn well, even if I try to promote you, others won't be convinced. After all, you can only do some small things. How much ability you have, how much work you can do, understand? "
"I understand." Lu Zhong's education level was not high. Hearing Lu Fei's words, he suddenly felt that it was very reasonable.
When the two of them returned to the residence, there was a huge crowd at the back door. It turned out that they were all people who wanted to work in the Lu residence. Lu Fei shook his head and said, "Xiaozhong, do you have any friends?"
Lu Fei asked about the sale of the store again. Lu Xin replied, "It's almost ready. Now three stores have been sold, and the rest have been settled. It won't be long before all of them are sold out. We have enough money, but Lu Qing didn't pay attention to the blacksmith's business these years. Now the blacksmith's shop doesn't have much profit."
Lu Fei thought for a moment and said, "Let's go to the shop and have a look."
The two went to a blacksmith's shop not far from the Lu family. They saw that the blacksmith's shop was big enough. The Lu's signboard above was dark and couldn't be seen clearly. The two walked into the shop. There were all kinds of kitchen knives and hoes hanging on the wall. The waiter was dozing off. Now Lu Fei took a few kitchen knives and slipped away. The waiter couldn't find it.
Lu Fei frowned and said, "Find another servant tomorrow."
The two of them passed through the passageway and arrived at the courtyard at the back. The courtyard had been turned into a tent, and a group of people were listlessly forging iron. Their faces were expressionless. Lu Fei sighed inwardly. It would be strange if business was good like this.
"Steward?" A blacksmith saw Lu Fei and asked, "Who is this?" Lu Xin coughed twice and said, "This is the Young Master."
That person immediately panicked and hurriedly bowed, "Young Master, Young Master, how are you?" The others also came over to inquire and salute. Only one person remained unmoved, still hammering away. Lu Xin explained, "That's Han Shizhen. He used to be a blacksmith with your father. His skills are very good."
Lu Fei nodded and said, "You are all busy." He walked over to Han Shizhen's side. He saw that Han Shizhen was focusing all his energy on the red-hot iron. He didn't notice Lu Fei's arrival at all. Lu Fei didn't disturb him. He glanced around the tent. The strong men were continuously waving their sledgehammers at the red-hot iron. He thought to himself, "Today's steel is tempered a hundred times. That is to say, a piece of iron is continuously forged, smelted, and removed impurities until the weight of the iron doesn't decrease."
Lu Fei picked up an axe and looked at it. The workmanship of the axe was very good, and it was also very sharp. However, the time needed to make such an axe was too long. Moreover, because the blacksmith shop's business wasn't good and its reputation was ruined by Lan Xiaohua, there were no returning customers at all. Even some of the old customers were gone.
Lu Fei saw a young man working hard to sharpen a knife. He asked, "How long does it take to sharpen a knife?" The young man looked up and said, "Half a day."
Lu Fei asked again, "How long does it take to forge a piece of tempered steel?"
A big man said, "Four days is enough. If it takes only three days for seventy-two refinements, then it takes half a day to forge a piece of tempered steel. Nowadays, there are few people who forge tempered steel. It's already very good to use tempered steel for a kitchen knife."
At this time, Han Shizhen put the piece of iron back into the furnace. Then he looked back at Lu Fei and nodded. "You really look like your father."
Lu Fei laughed and said, "It's a big deal if we don't look like each other." Both of them laughed. Lu Fei said, "Uncle Han, can you help me forge a knife?"
Han Shizhen said, "What size?"
Lu Fei said, "I want a thick-backed broadsword. The size is up to you. The blade is made of tempered steel."
Han Shizhen nodded and said, "Okay."
Lu Fei asked again, "Uncle Han's craftsmanship is so good. Your craftsmanship should be famous in the city, right?"
Han Shizhen shook his head and said, "It's useless to have good craftsmanship. Many customers have been driven away by that evil woman. Now only the people who had a good relationship with your father are willing to take care of the business."
Lu Fei said, "I'll find a way. Uncle Han, let's go outside. I have something to tell you."
The two of them walked out of the tent. Lu Fei said, "I'll take care of the shop's business. Now I have a process to improve the forging process."
Han Shizhen immediately pricked up his ears to listen. Lu Fei walked into a study room and used a brush to draw a simple drawing on a piece of paper. He said, "Put the grindstone in this place. When someone steps on this side, the grindstone will rotate. This way, the sharpening speed will be greatly increased."
Han Shizhen was moved and said, "If this machine really works, then our speed will increase many times."
Lu Fei said, "For the time being, we'll improve the sharpening process. I'm still studying the forging machine. I'll tell you when I have the results. However, this machine must be kept secret. If outsiders know about this method, I'm afraid we will lose our advantage."
Han Shizhen nodded and said, "I know."
Lu Fei drew out the specific production parts and told Han Shizhen the size and so on, and let him start the smelting. After returning home, Lu Fei went to his room to study the forging machine. There was a forging machine in the twenty-first world, but it needed electricity. Now, Lu Fei could only think hard and develop a forging machine that could save manpower. If he succeeded, then with his forging output, Hundred-forged steel would be mass-produced. At that time, he would become the largest supplier of ironware.
However, this was obviously not an easy thing. After all, he didn't know much about machinery. Fortunately, the sharpening tool was relatively simple. It could be completed with pulleys, belts, and other things.
After studying for a whole day, Lu Fei seemed to have some clues. At night, he continued to sit cross-legged and practice. Although he had cultivated some True Qi, it was too weak.
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