The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 36 Blacksmithing Techniques in the Ming Dynasty

Hearing him say this, Yue Wenxuan said to Zhang Dashu beside him, "Go find some broken straw sandals, wet mud, limestone, and dolomite. Hurry, hurry."

Zhang Dashu went to the place and soon returned with the items. He hadn't found the dolomite, but the other three items were easy to prepare.

The blacksmith, having obtained the materials, began to improve the furnace himself. He covered his straw sandals with wet mud and pasted them around the furnace mouth. He also added some limestone to the furnace.

It didn't take long to get the new stove installed.

The onlookers were confused, so Yue Wenxuan gave the order, "Explain it to everyone."

As the blacksmith stoked the fire, he spoke cheerfully, "Sealing the furnace with broken straw sandals coated in mud will allow life to enter the furnace, improving the quality of the iron. Adding limestone to the furnace will reduce impurities in the molten iron, further improving the quality of the iron."

It turns out that the technology he was talking about is called "wet ironmaking", which already existed in the Ming Dynasty but had not yet been invented in the Song Dynasty.

This method of improving the furnace alone benefited the apprentices greatly. Many of those who knew a little bit thought to themselves: This blacksmith is better than the previous blacksmith in our village.

"Blower...why is there no blower? Who would want to use a broken bellows?" The blacksmith was talking nonsense.

It turns out that the blacksmiths of the Song Dynasty used the "bellows" technology introduced from Central Asia, but the blacksmiths of the Ming Dynasty used piston blowers. The repeated movement of the piston can generate continuous wind power, which greatly increases the temperature of the metallurgical furnace, makes the oxygen in the furnace more sufficient, and allows the iron ore and fuel to react more fully, providing a strong guarantee for improving the efficiency and quality of ironmaking.

Yue Wenxuan realized that he was outside the sand table, picked up the blower from the "Blacksmith Ornaments Set", and placed it in the sand table.

There was a large group of people watching when they suddenly saw a strange object descending from the sky. Qian Zhuoqun was the first to react and shouted, "Everyone, disperse! The True Lord has summoned a magical instrument from the sky."

The crowd of onlookers dispersed with a bang.

Then I saw the piston blower slowly land on the open space in the yard.

The rebel soldiers weren't all that surprised, but the villagers of Dongmiaozi Village were the first to see something falling from the sky. They screamed in fear, some hid behind the rebel soldiers, some ran away, some crouched with their heads in their hands, and some kowtowed and chanted "Amitabha" and "Infinite Life and Blessings"...

There was a great chaos!
Yue Wenxuan said, "Stop making noise and carry the piston blower to the blacksmith."

The rebel soldiers maintained order, and someone brought a blower to the blacksmith. The blacksmith said happily, "This is right. This is what a real blacksmith uses."

He kicked away the Song Dynasty bellows, replaced it with a Ming Dynasty piston blower, and continued working.

What followed was another series of epoch-making operations and various technological leaps forward, which made the apprentices' eyes shine. One hundred million words are omitted here.

The villagers outside, who had been startled by the "divine object" that had fallen from the sky, were now calming down. They began to whisper to the rebel soldiers around them, "What happened just now? Why did something fall from the sky?"

The rebel soldiers laughed and replied, "That is a divine object summoned from heaven by Master Wenxuan. Even the blacksmith came from heaven."

"Huh?" The villagers were confused. "I've only heard of Taishang Laojun, but never Wenxuan Zhenjun."

Rebel soldier: "Do you know all the gods in heaven? Even if you are the Jade Emperor, you can't recognize them all."

The villagers had no choice but to put on a smile and be looked down upon.

Soldier: "When the True Lord returns to heaven, keep your eyes open and watch carefully. He will fly."

"What is the position of the True Lord in heaven?"

"A very high-ranking official! He might be a high-ranking official in the Heavenly Court. The Heavenly Soldiers and Generals all obey his orders." Yue Wenxuan was wearing a lanshan, a favorite garment for officials during the Song Dynasty. So, to the common people, his attire truly resembled that of a Heavenly Court official. The Song Dynasty controlled the military with civil officials, so it made sense that the Heavenly Soldiers and Generals would obey the orders of civil officials.

Zhang Dashu was the most talkative, boasting to the villagers around him: "I know that the True Lord is the Prime Minister of the Heavenly Court."

Villagers: "Ah? Prime Minister?"

Even the rebels nearby were confused: "Dashu, how did you know?"

Zhang Dashu: "Isn't that nonsense? Look at how General Qi is dressed. He often calls himself the Governor. He must be at least the Grand Commander of the Heavenly Armies. And then there's Second Master Guan and Third Master Zhang. Which one of them isn't a king or a saint? If the True Lord isn't the Prime Minister, how can he control them?"

The rebels all thought it made sense: "I see, Dashu, you're not stupid."

Qian Zhuoqun smiled. "Dashu is right! A great immortal like Zhenjun has come down to earth to help us. This shows that what we do is ordered by heaven! Even the gods cannot stand by the evil deeds of the Jin thieves."

He said the words "received the mandate from heaven" very deliberately. The illiterate people in front of him didn't know where these four words came from, but if an educated person joined the rebel army in the future and heard the soldiers claiming to be "received the mandate from heaven", they would definitely be shocked.

The rebels had no idea that the second-in-command had dug a big hole, and they were all very proud of themselves.

"It turns out that we are appointed by heaven."

"We will definitely defeat the gold thieves."

The villagers were secretly listening nearby, their faces filled with astonishment, not knowing whether to believe it or not.

After a long time, Yue Wenxuan grew tired of watching the blacksmithing. After filming a video of the entire "traditional blacksmithing" process, he walked out of the house and waved to the rebels: "Find a few carpenters to make some replicas of the blowers. Do your best to satisfy the blacksmiths' needs. Don't neglect the weapons."

After saying that, he soared into the sky with a whoosh and disappeared into the clouds.

The righteous soldiers saluted in unison: "Farewell, True Lord."

"He really flew!" The villagers only then realized that Zhenjun was a real immortal. A group of people hurriedly lay down on the ground. Although Yue Wenxuan had disappeared long ago, they still kowtowed at the sky for a while and dared to get up after a long time.

When they got up again, the way they looked at the "Blacksmith in Heaven" had completely changed.

"Son, you must learn the skills from the blacksmith in heaven."

"The technology in heaven must be good. This immortal craftsman must be much better than the blacksmith in the county town."

"If you study hard, even if you can't master the skills of a fairy craftsman, you can become a great craftsman in the world by just learning a little bit, which is better than digging for food in the fields."

Even some of the rebel soldiers were tempted and couldn't help but wonder: Should I leave the Yuanyang Team and learn to be a blacksmith?
Just as they were thinking this, they heard Zhang Wazi whispering to Zhang Dalang, "Brother Dalang, I'm also thinking about learning the blacksmithing skills from the immortals."

Before Zhang Dalang could reply, Zhang Dashu said with a silly grin, "Why learn that? The Mandarin Duck Formation we're learning is also a fairy formation, right? If you make merit on the battlefield and become a general, that's no worse than being a master carpenter, right? Why are you jealous of others?"

Zhang Wazi thought about it carefully and said, "That's true!"

Yue Wenxuan returned to the outside of the sand table, looked down at the table, listened to the conversation between the plastic people, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but ripple slightly: That's right, I only need to put in a Ming Dynasty blacksmith and teach them Ming Dynasty technology, and I can train a large number of blacksmiths. It is more cost-effective than directly investing a large group of plastic blacksmiths. It can save a lot of command power and use it in other aspects.

It seems that my thinking will shift in this direction in the future, until I have more command power, and then I will consider forming an army of plastic people.

(End of this chapter)