Three Kingdoms

"What's wrong?"

Fei Qian returned to the backyard and saw Huang Yueying squatting with a sad face, her big round eyes wrinkled, as if she had eaten something extremely sour and bitter.

"It's too brittle..." When Huang Yueying saw that it was Fei Qian, she didn't stand up directly. Instead, she frowned and gestured to the object in her hand.

A few dark flakes.

"this is……"

He was far away and Fei Qian couldn't see clearly. It was only when he took a few steps closer that he saw that they were actually several pieces of iron.

"No way, are you chewing this?" Fei Qian was stunned.

Huang Yueying stood up in anger and said angrily: "I'm not a brave man, how could I eat this!"

"Looking at your wrinkled face, I thought..." Fei Qian reached out and took the iron piece in Huang Yueying's hand, and tapped each other a few times, making a tinkling sound.

Huang Yueying picked up a hammer from somewhere and handed it over.

Fei Qian placed the iron piece on the ground, placed a stone on it, and then raised the hammer and smashed it down. The iron piece broke into two sections when sparks flew everywhere.

"Well, it's too brittle..." Fei Qian frowned. The pig iron content in the alloy was too high.

To mass-produce weapons, although traditional forging is relatively mature and stable, the production efficiency is still too low. Fei Qian has always wanted to copy the Qin Dynasty's efficient bronze smelting technology to steel, but he always encounters this or that question.

After all, the efficiency between infusion and forging can be said to be more than ten times different...

Under ancient technical conditions, there were two iron-making methods: one was the block smelting method, which reduced iron oxide into sponge iron at a lower temperature in a bowl furnace or a lower shaft furnace, and then forged it. Beating and extruding slag into wrought iron, which can then be carburized and forged to make steel; the other is the pig iron smelting and casting method, which uses high temperature to reduce iron oxide and carbonize it into liquid pig iron in a tall shaft furnace. Then released from the furnace and cast into ingots or poured into vessels, pig iron can be made into steel or malleable iron through various processing methods.

Feiqian now has hydraulic blowers and technology for refining coal and coke, but the mineral quality is not very good, and desulfurization and decarbonization are relatively difficult, which has also led to the lack of rapid progress in pig iron casting technology.

The first artificial iron products used in China were block iron smelting products, but pig iron smelting technology was invented very early and soon occupied a mainstream position. Great progress has been made in the late Warring States period. The cast iron softening technology of malleable cast iron was invented, the steelmaking technology of annealing and decarburization to obtain cast iron decarburized steel, and iron molds were used to cast ironware in batches.

But if these iron tools are used on farm tools and other equipment that do not require high strength and toughness, there will naturally be no problem, but if they are used on weapons...

On the battlefield, a small mistake will lead to the failure of the entire battle, not to mention the weapons directly used for fighting. Of course, the more sophisticated the better.

At first, Fei Qian's troops were basically cavalry, and the number was not large. They used traditional metallurgical forging, iron-frying and steel-frying methods, and then used the steel-making technology of multiple folding and forging, which was generally sufficient. To supply what the army needs, but now the territory has increased a lot, among other things, some permanent infantry must be recruited. As a result, the gap in the weapons will be invisible and much larger.

In addition, Yuan Shao from Jizhou, Cao Cao from Yanzhou, and even Liu Biao from Jingzhou have placed some orders. How to produce qualified steel faster has become the metallurgical problem that Huang's workshop is currently focusing on.

Fei Qian vaguely remembered that by mixing pig iron and wrought iron, he could directly obtain a more suitable iron alloy similar to steel, and then after quenching and sharpening, it could be directly used as a weapon, so he has been studying this mixture for a period of time. ratio, as well as specific methods.

However, it is obvious that this experiment failed again.

"The method of pouring steel..." Fei Qian looked at the iron piece and muttered, "It is inevitable that the material will be uneven... I have to think of another way..."

The method used now is to first obtain wrought iron, then roll the wrought iron into a ball, then cover it with pig iron and mix it with the mixture, smelt and forge it to get a piece of synthetic steel. However, it is obvious that the proportion of pig iron and the material are fused. If it is not well controlled, sometimes there will be too much pig iron, resulting in brittleness.

"What should we do?"

Although Huang Yueying was much better at engineering than most women in the Han Dynasty, she was still a girl after all. When she saw Fei Qian standing in front of her, she subconsciously chose to turn her original words into words without thinking. The question he had been thinking about was thrown to Fei Qian.

"Try other methods..." Fei Qian pondered, turning the iron piece over and over to look at it, "Wait... let me think about it..."

Pig iron is brittle, while wrought iron is tough. The edge of the knife must be sharp and the whole must be strong.

Fei Qian suddenly gestured with his hand on the iron piece and said: "If this is the case, take the wrought iron as the body and cast it with pig iron. When it is extremely ripe and the pig iron is about to flow, use pig iron to pour on it and rub it. If you enter it, maybe you can have the beauty of both..."

Huang Yueying tilted her head and listened, her two big eyes sparkling, "That makes sense, I'll try it now..." After saying that, she turned around and started to walk away, but she staggered after taking two steps. If it weren't for Fei Qian's hands and feet, Quickly, they might all fall to the ground.

"What's wrong?" Fei Qian asked quickly.

Huang Yueying was soft, frowned and said: "I don't know... I'm a little dizzy..."

"Come here! Let's ask Doctor Zhang to come!" Fei Qian was startled. After all, in the Han Dynasty, even a minor cold could kill someone.

Zhang Yun arrived quickly. In the Han Dynasty, there was no nonsense rule that female relatives were not allowed to see foreigners. In addition, diagnosis and treatment were required. After Zhang Yun confessed, he diagnosed Huang Yueying's pulse.

Suddenly, Zhang Yun's eyebrows moved and his eyes rolled twice. He seemed a little afraid to confirm and made another diagnosis. Then he smiled happily and handed over to Fei Qian: "Congratulations, Lord! Great joy, great joy!"

…………………………

In the Yanmen Xianbei Royal Court, some people also encountered happy events.

Bu Dugen looked through the piles of gold, silver, jade, and even bacon and silk in front of him with great interest. As the more legitimate king of Xianbei at the moment, Bu Dugen was not as ambitious as Tan Shihuai, but the problem was , Bu Dugen must be ambitious. Compared with Kirby, Bu Dugen is smaller in size, and does not have the legendary Tanshihuai bloodline's strange ability to summon wind and rain to summon wolves and leopards to fight, but the greed and cunning in his eyes are not much less.

Bu Dugen is over 30 years old. He was once young and full of energy, but now he has gradually become more calm as he grows older...

"What a good thing..." Bu Dugen even picked up a piece of bacon, smelled it, and threw it to the drooling guard aside, "Go, cook it first, and share it with everyone..."

Dried bacon is very hard, but also very fragrant.

And wine.

Some are packed in jars, and some are packed in porcelain bottles.

"They are all good things..." Bu Dugen carefully held a porcelain bottle, raised his head slightly, and said as if he was recalling something, "Back then, when I led my people south, I invaded a large Han city... The Han officials ran away and took away a lot of good things, but there were also some things that they didn't have time to take away. Of course, those brats who rushed in first didn't understand what good things were and smashed many of them. What’s even more annoying is that it’s fireproof…”

"Hahahaha..." Several Xianbei ministers sitting cross-legged on the side also laughed.

Fu Luohan patted his legs and said, "Is it that brat? He deserves to be beaten!" Fu Luohan was a few years older than Bu Dugen. Although he had the same father, because he was born from a female slave, he was of the same bloodline as Bu Dugen. Dugen is a little worse.

"So, Your Majesty, what's going on with the alliance this time..." Kirbineng's messenger said.

"Well, I understand..." Bu Dugen waved his hand, "You go down and rest first, and I'll find you later..."

"This..." Kebineng's envoy was a little helpless, but he had no choice but to bow to his chest and retreat, "I only obey the king's wishes..."

Bu Dugen turned back to his head and sat down again.

"What do you think?" Bu Dugen said.

"I think it's okay! It's okay!" A Xianbei minister stared at the pile of gold and silver treasures, unable to pull his eyes out.

Money-grubbing guy...

Bu Dugen glanced past this person and then looked at the next one.

"The name of the king, Kirby can take this guy when he said he wanted it before, but he didn't want it when he said he didn't want it, haha... This time the coalition is not impossible, the main thing is to decide who will be the main one, otherwise it will still be troublesome in the future..." Another one Minister Xianbei said.

Well, is this an old and heavy person...

"Your Majesty, some time ago, people in the north also mentioned going south, but they said they wanted to attack Yinshan..."

"What's so good about Yinshan... there are a lot of poor people... There isn't much wealth in Yinshan, only in Pingyang, where the Han people are! It's too far! Besides, Yinshan is not easy to mess with, it's very thorny, so it's not as good as If you follow Kirby, you can go east..."

"Follow?"

"Ah? With, with... Hey, let me ask you, did you do this on purpose?"

"You said it, and I didn't force you to say it... Why, you can't say it in front of the king?"

"Okay! Shut up!" Bu Dugen shouted in a deep voice, then pointed at Fu Luohan, "Tell me what you want!"

Fu Luohan looked at Bu Dugen's face and said: "Kirby Neng has always been dissatisfied with the king... It's rare to bow his head this time, I think, I can give it a try, so that Kirby Neng can see Our strength is not bad. If we can really invade Han Dynasty, we can also obtain some supplies and population so that Kirby Neng will not monopolize it. Secondly, we can also find an opportunity to reduce Kirby Neng's men..."

Bu Dugen nodded.

Is this true?...

"Okay, it's settled!" Bu Dugen said in agreement, "Then you will lead the troops... I will add another three thousand to you, gather Kirby Neng, and go south together!"

…………………………

God always seems to be balanced. Some people are happy and others are sad.

The overnight riot in Luoyang City was no less than a heavy blow to the Han Dynasty just as it was about to get up.

Later generations of scientists, well, maybe they are not necessarily scientists, but various idle guys who have done various monkey experiments, some of which are true, some of which are false, and some of which are simply simulated by marketers themselves. , such as the most famous wet monkey experiment.

But one thing is certain: when people try to stand up and are knocked down again and again, some people will get used to lying down, while others will become more courageous with each defeat.

As for what kind of person he would be, Liu Xie didn't know, but he knew that he was hurt this time.

In the palace city, Liu Xie walked up to the lookout and looked quietly at Luoyang City outside the palace wall.

Although most of the black smoke in the city has dispersed, there are still soldiers coming and going in the streets. The atmosphere of killing makes Luoyang City, which has not fully recovered, look even more desolate.

Liu Xie let out a long breath. I don't know if it was because of the strong wind on the observation deck, but Liu Xie's body was trembling slightly...

After a while, the queen came, brought a big cloak to Liu Xie, and gently put it on Liu Xie.

"His Majesty……"

Liu Xie lowered his head and looked at the queen's trembling hands.

Queen Fushou tied the belt of Liu Xie's cloak. After a moment of silence, she said: "Your Majesty... we... will be okay? My father... they... will be okay?"

Liu Xie didn't answer, and he didn't know either.

After that night of panic, the palace was sealed off and all information was cut off.

"..." Fu Shou also fell silent, gently tugging on Liu Xie's robe, lowering his head and saying nothing.

"I... cough cough..." Liu Xie's voice was a little dry, and he continued to speak slowly after coughing twice, "In the second year of Xingping, Yanqing locusts covered the sky and the sun... In the first year of Yanping, Xu Yang was Earthquake, Haihe River poured in... In the second year of Yan Ping, thunder set in winter, and the sun and moon changed colors... I was so unworthy that I made God angry..."

"Your Majesty..." Fu Shou shook his head, but didn't know what to say. Are you saying it's not Liu Xie's fault but all the minister's fault? But the minister also included her father...

Wasn't it decided by Fu and Liu Shang to sideline Lu Bu this time? Whose fault should it be that led to the current situation?

Natural disasters and man-made disasters, man-made disasters are worse than natural disasters...

Liu Xie smiled softly: "I once thought... there are always few thieves and many loyal ministers... It's ridiculous for me to entrust others with the affairs of the country... I have been raising scholars for three to four hundred years, and now I have raised them Something happened..."

"Your Majesty!" Fu Shou was a little anxious and pulled Liu Xie's sleeve tightly.

Liu Xie gently patted Fu Shou's hand and said: "Fu Gong... is a loyal minister... However, not all ministers can be like Fu Shou... These people may not be good at governing the country, but they are all fighting for power and profit. Not bad! He uses power to manipulate people's hearts better than anyone else, haha... Everyone pretends to be loyal ministers and good generals in front of me! Intrigues! Shifting and weighing! Fighting for power and gain!"

Fu Shou felt relieved just now, but he lifted it up again and said quickly: "Your Majesty, be careful that the walls have ears..."

"Well..." Liu Xie nodded and smiled slightly, but there was inevitably a hint of sadness in his smile, "I am the Emperor of the Han Dynasty...but I have to be careful that walls have ears...hehe, hehe..."

"..." Fu Shou was silent for a while, then slowly said, "Your Majesty... what should we do now?"

"...I...I don't know..." Liu Xie said slowly, "But I know one thing..."

Liu Xie slowly placed his hand on the railing of the observation deck and grasped it so hard that his finger joints turned white.

"No one can be entrusted to... no one!" Liu Xie looked into the distance with a hint of determination in his tone, "This great country... these great people... my country... my people... can no longer be compromised. These people wantonly destroy..."

The railings of the observation deck were cold, and the coolness penetrated into his hands. Liu Xie's body trembled slightly. He didn't know whether it was because of the cold, or because of the hot blood in his body...

Fu Shou didn't say anything, he just rested his head gently on Liu Xie's shoulder.

This year, this day.

Liu Xie is sixteen and Fu Shou is seventeen. The two weak and small people depend on each other...