My players are all actors

Chapter 235 Ancient Forging Knife! (8600 characters ask for a monthly ticket)

After seeing the new announcement, Li Hongyun immediately returned to the space of the sequencer and found the entrance to the new trial illusion.

The entrance of this trial illusion is consistent with the trial illusion of the cavalry in terms of shape, and has a clear distinction from the original four basic identity trial illusions.

[Trial of Divine Mechanism: Ingenious Workmanship]

Seeing the name of this new trial dungeon, Li Hongyun took a deep breath and prepared himself mentally.

Well, it's definitely not going to be easy.

The name of the previous cavalry trial dungeon was "Exploring the Bag and Retrieving Objects", but after entering it, it was discovered that the task was for the player to play the role of General Qin Kaiyun, and behead the enemy general among thousands of troops.

But this time, since it is called a wonderful workmanship, I am afraid it will take a lot of twists and turns.

However, this also made Li Hongyun even more looking forward to the extra talent skills he would get after obtaining the identity of this divine machine.

Judging from the name, the word Shenji should come from the Shenji Battalion, but it should not simply refer to those soldiers who use firearms. In that case, no matter how the trial is arranged, it should not be too difficult.

Because those soldiers are nothing more than shooting and firing, and this kind of thing itself does not have much technical content.

Li Hongyun felt that, judging from the urine nature of the game "Dark Sand", the trial would never be so simple.

If it is "knowing what it is, you must also know why it is so"...

So in this copy, will there be some challenges that require artisan skills to complete?

This is probably a high probability event.

Li Hongyun thought about it and made some guesses, but finally decided to go ahead and have a look at the dungeon.

If the identity of Shenji can provide him with a talent that is more accurate in marksmanship and more lethal, then the attraction of this subordinate identity to him will completely surpass that of cavalry.

……

After passing through the entrance of the illusion of trials, Li Hongyun found himself in a large open-air workshop.

There are many strong and dark-faced craftsmen around.

At this time, these craftsmen were not working in full swing, but like a group of tool workers, quietly waiting for Li Hongyun's order.

Li Hongyun first briefly checked the surrounding environment.

In this large workshop, common forging equipment such as furnaces and anvils can be seen, but compared with those in the previous fiefdom, the scale is obviously much larger.

In addition, there are a large amount of iron ore, iron sand, charcoal, lime and other raw materials in the site.

In the very center of the workshop, there is also a very large furnace.

Compared with the furnace that Li Hongyun saw in the fief before, this furnace is not of the same scale at all.

It's too big!

Because these two furnaces actually have completely different purposes.

The small furnace seen in the fief is actually used to smelt the formed iron blocks.

Use this small furnace to burn the iron block to white heat, and then continuously forge it into strips or pieces on the anvil next to it. This is the process of "forging iron" that players are familiar with.

The super-large furnace in the center of the workshop is responsible for the more primitive steps: smelting iron ore or iron sand into rough iron blocks.

In the past, although players could also forge some rough weapons on the furnaces and anvils of their own fiefdoms, compared with the real ancient method of ironmaking, the difficulty has actually dropped significantly.

Because what they got from the Fortress of the Sequencer were all iron blocks that had been processed by artisans. These iron blocks themselves had been tempered by the artisans in the city to remove a lot of impurities and carbon, so their purity was already relatively high. High, but also has a good performance.

Players only need to smelt and hammer these iron blocks again, and as long as they are patient, they can shape them into the shape they want.

Moreover, in the game "Dark Sand", the difficulty has been reduced for the players. For example, the physical strength of the players in the process of blacksmithing is unlimited, and some boring time can be accelerated to skip and so on.

In ancient times, physical strength and time were the two thresholds for blacksmithing.

Before the advent of specialized hydraulic forging machines, only the strongest could become blacksmiths, because even ordinary iron farm implements required hundreds of hammerings.People with insufficient physical strength cannot do this job at all.

In the process of iron smelting and forging, a lot of time is needed.

Blacksmiths can't touch fish, and can't do other things in the middle of the process. They must always observe the temperature and heat, otherwise, a single omission may cause the entire furnace of precious iron ore to be scrapped.

Therefore, the players' forging in "Dark Sand" itself is already a simplified ancient method of forging.

It's just that in this trial dungeon, the difficulty has suddenly increased.

It is no longer a trivial matter like blacksmithing in the fief, but starting from the most basic sponge iron.

Not far from the workshop, there is a "sword testing platform".

There are three different things on the stage, a piece of hard bone supported by a wooden frame, a dead pig suspended, and a piece of stretched leather.

In front of the sword-testing stage, there is a stone tablet, which says the clearance condition for the first stage of the trial illusion of "Skillful Workmanship".

Using the weapons he forged, he slashed at these three things with great force.

The requirement is that the hard bone can be chopped hard without serious blade curling or breaking, the dead pig can be chopped off with one knife, and the stretched leather can be easily cut.

Throughout the forging process, these craftsmen around are absolute tool people, who will help put in raw materials, pull the bellows, beat forging with a certain strength and frequency, and so on.

Anything that needs to be done by craftsmen, these tool people can do it very well.

And Li Hongyun can also fast-forward or directly skip some links that he thinks are not important.The raw materials in the entire workshop are all in unlimited supply.

Immediately afterwards, three talent skill cards appeared in front of Li Hongyun.

[Geng · Observation into the details (golden): Your observation and memory of details have been improved. 】

[Geng·Strength skill (golden): Your power skill has been improved, and you can use your power more smoothly and accurately. 】

[Gen. Calmness (golden): Your emotions are calm, and you can deal with dangers more calmly. 】

Li Hongyun scanned all three talent cards and sighed silently.

"It's this kind of all-golden talent again, and it seems that every one of them is very useful..."

Undoubtedly, this trial of subordinate identity is hell difficulty again.

While scanning the entire workshop, Li Hongyun basically understood the mission goal at this time.

It is to forge a weapon using the ancient method, and then pass the sharpness and toughness test on the sword test stand.

Although he doesn't know much about ancient forging techniques, he still has some basic common sense.

The most difficult part of ancient forging technology lies in the control of details.

For example, how many impurities are contained in the material, what is the specific carbon content of the smelted iron block, and what is the temperature in the furnace at this time...

There are many ways to confirm such details in modern times, but in ancient times, it can only be confirmed by experience, by observing the color of the flame, or by luck.

Even a top ancient craftsman cannot guarantee that a furnace of iron ore will be qualified, let alone when he will be able to forge a magic weapon.

These three talents are obviously useful.

Observing the details allows him to better confirm the heat during the smelting and forging process;
The force technique allows him to forge iron himself and maintain the most appropriate force throughout the process;

Being calm and composed can reduce his tension and anxiety, allowing him to complete the whole forging process calmly.

It's hard to choose.

Just like the cavalry trial, if all three talents can be selected, then the difficulty of the dungeon is considered normal.But you can only choose one, and you need to rely on your own strength to make up for the deficiencies in the other two aspects.

Li Hongyun did not make a choice immediately, but quit the game without hesitation.

"goodbye!
"I'll come back after I make some knowledge reserves first!"

……

An hour later, Li Hongyun returned to this illusion of trial.

In reality, he consulted a lot of information about ancient steelmaking.

No way, it's not because he is stable, but because he knows very well in his heart that the possibility of passing this dungeon by mistake is very slim.

Even if you can pass the level, it will take a long time after countless trials and errors.

Since there are a lot of content about ancient steelmaking in reality, why not preview it first?
Although many details of the ancient method of steelmaking have been lost, but after figuring out the basic principles, it will definitely be of great help to clear the trial illusion.

After some preparations, Li Hongyun decided to start his first attempt.

He chose the talent of [Observing the details].

The reason is simple, "experience" is what he needs most at this time.

Ancient craftsmen needed to use the color of the flame to judge the furnace temperature, and the color of the iron ore to judge whether the temperature reached the standard. Even in the subsequent sorting process, they also needed to use the naked eye to observe whether the quality of the sponge iron block was qualified.

All of these processes depend on experience.

At this time, Li Hongyun's experience was zero.

He is different from Cui Huowang.Cui Huowang is a good exerciser, and he often plays with these things in reality on weekdays, and his starting point is much higher than him; while Li Hongyun has never been in contact with ancient steelmaking methods in his daily life, and knows nothing about these experiences.

Looking up information on the Internet, it is true that you can find necessary information such as temperature and carbon content, but this information cannot be converted into the experience necessary for ancient steelmaking.

Therefore, Li Hongyun could only use his talent to enhance his observation and memory, and through constant attempts, he could memorize all the details.

"The first step is to refine sponge iron.

"The ancient method of refining the Yi knife that I found is to spread the dried iron sand and charcoal in the furnace layer by layer, and then ignite the fire and blow the wind continuously;
"There is also a saying that the ore powder of iron ore can be mixed with limestone as a combustion aid, that is, limestone, at a ratio of roughly 2:1 to form raw material powder, which can then be smelted in a furnace.

"The raw materials given to me in the workshop are ready-made iron sand and limestone powder. As for the shape of the entire furnace, it looks somewhat different from the jade steel furnace of Yidao, more like a fusion of multiple furnaces... …

"Since this is the case, then I will try adding limestone powder first. Anyway, it is absolutely impossible to succeed the first time. You have to constantly adjust the amount and heat of various raw materials to get a relatively good result.

"Speaking of which, this game is pretty friendly, at least give me an unlimited supply of iron sand and other raw materials..."

Li Hongyun directed these tool artisans to mix iron sand and limestone powder, and fill them into the furnace layer by layer with charcoal.After it is filled, the fire is started and the craftsmen start to blow the wind non-stop.

In the process, Li Hongyun discovered that these craftsmen are really pure tool people.

Whatever he arranged for these craftsmen to do, they would continue to carry it out without compromise; but for things that Li Hongyun didn't say, they would rather stand by than do it.

For example, during the smelting process, a large amount of impurities will flow out from the bottom of the furnace.

These impurities are slag from smelting, and they need to be cleaned regularly after they flow out, otherwise they will be blocked.

It took Li Hongyun a lot of twists and turns to arrange all the craftsmen clearly, while he himself carefully accelerated the flow of time or paused to confirm the status of iron ore smelting.

There is an unlimited supply of high-quality iron sand and charcoal in the game, which is already very friendly.

Because in reality, although iron ore exists in large quantities, their iron content varies.

The main task of ironmaking is to extract iron from iron oxides and other impurities, so the ore with higher iron content is easier to smelt high-quality iron.

Ordinary iron ore cannot be smelted directly. It must be crushed, ground into very fine particles, and screened many times, so as to finally ensure the efficiency of smelting and the quality of the finished product.

Since the ancients did not have large machinery, it was quite troublesome to crush a large amount of iron ore.These craftsmen are more willing to look for grit with a relatively high iron content for smelting.

As for charcoal, it was not easy to obtain in ancient times.

Not only do kilns need to be built for firing, but the charcoal fired by different types of trees will also be different. If you want to ensure the conditions such as burning time and burning temperature, you need to carefully select the wood.

Moreover, in the process of burning charcoal, there are also high requirements for the construction of charcoal kilns.

The best charcoal is also provided in unlimited quantities in the game, which also saves a lot of time for players.

Li Hongyun carefully observed the state of the furnace, including the color of the flame, the approximate temperature, the color of the slag flowing from the bottom, and so on.

The role of the accelerant is obvious.

Ashstone powder works with charcoal to reduce iron oxides to iron and form separable calcium salts with impurities.

Since the melting point of impurities in the entire furnace is lower than that of iron, a large amount of impurities will be discharged in a molten state during the smelting process, while iron will not melt at this temperature because of its higher melting point, but will be softened into lumps , stay in the middle and lower part of the furnace.

The whole process was very long. At the beginning, Li Hongyun was quite conservative and didn't dare to fast-forward for too long, so he stopped to take a look every time he fast-forwarded a section.

But gradually, he lost his patience and began to fast forward.

Sunrise and sunset, the entire smelting process lasted for three days and three nights.

These artisans are on hand 24 hours a day, taking turns to look after them.Every once in a while, it is necessary to add an appropriate amount of iron sand, charcoal or other things, and to continuously discharge the residue from below.

Of course, how much to add is also decided by Li Hongyun.

It is said that craftsmen with many years of smelting experience can judge the combustion situation in the furnace only by listening to the sound of the fire with their ears, and increase or decrease the input of raw materials according to the situation.You can also check whether the iron sand has turned into a spongy rough iron lump by the color change of the flame at the bottom of the furnace.

This spongy rough smelted iron block is called jade steel in the forging process of Yi Dao.

This is not surprising, after all, the principles of ancient ironmaking are roughly similar, and the forging technology of Yidao is also passed down from China, with localized development.

It's just that later, due to the different cultures of the two sides, the casting process has developed differently.

Because the Qi and Sheng dynasties had a large number of troops, it was doomed that it was impossible to spend too much resources on one weapon, and they pursued standard weapons that could be equipped in large quantities. Moreover, due to the popularity of heavy armor, the role played by ordinary swords It is also negligible, and it is far inferior to weapons such as axes and spears;

As for the Yidao, due to the low rate of armoring in the area and the small scale of the battle, they continued to study the technology of forging knives, and finally surpassed it in the prosperous dynasty. The standard weapon of the army.

"It's almost there, let's see!"

Li Hongyun saw that the iron lumps and charcoal ash were accumulating more and more, and the smelting process of the entire furnace was basically over. He immediately directed the craftsmen to quickly break the furnace, scraped away the unmelted slag and charcoal ash, and took it out, which was still very hot. spongy rough smelting iron nuggets.

This process is very painful, because the temperature of the furnace is very high. During the process of opening the furnace, the high temperature generated by the flame will burn the craftsman's skin, which is unbearably painful.

But these craftsmen can't wait for it to cool down before doing it, because the iron material may solidify with many impurities after it is completely cooled.

"Such a large piece of crude steel..."

Li Hongyun was a little stunned when he saw the things the craftsmen picked up.

Because these crude steels are too big, it is a bit beyond his expectation.

For the first iron smelting, Li Hongyun didn't have any estimate on how much iron sand to add and how much crude steel to smelt. He just mastered the essence of making dough. The ratio is configured to fill the entire furnace.

"So what do I do next...

"Well, sorting."

Li Hongyun looked at the several large pieces of crude steel in front of him, and roughly determined his next goal.

From the state of crude steel, it seems to be fine.

In fact, there are many details in the smelting process. If there is a problem with the ratio of various materials, or the temperature is not enough due to the entry of moisture, the entire furnace may be scrapped.

And Li Hongyun may have triggered his Ouhuang talent, and the refined steel looks pretty good.

But this is only the first step of forging.

The next important task is sorting.

In the process of forging knives in the ancient method, after the crude steel comes out, it can be cut, and then taken to the blacksmith's shop for repeated forging.

However, in the forging process of the Yi knife, there is another important process after such crude steel comes out, which is selection.

Because there are many impurities and unqualified iron materials such as pig iron in these crude steels, only a small part of them are suitable for making weapons.

This special material that is most suitable for making weapons is called jade steel in Yi Dao, and it is actually a kind of carbon steel.

Its properties are between pig iron and wrought iron, and the carbon content in it must be about 1% to 1.7%. The specific carbon content depends on the carbon monoxide content in the furnace and the heating time.

The so-called pig iron refers to iron with a carbon content of more than 2%, which is brittle and easy to break; wrought iron refers to iron with a carbon content of less than 0.05%, which is too soft to be suitable for combat.

When iron smelting technology was underdeveloped in ancient times, some foreign soldiers would bend their long swords after stabbing the enemy, and they had to step on the ground before they could continue to use them. This was because the carbon content of wrought iron was too low and too soft.

Only iron with a carbon content in this range can be called steel, and its hardness and flexibility have reached an optimal balance.

Li Hongyun directed the craftsmen to beat the original crude steel into small pieces while they were hot, then soak them in water to cool them, and then disassemble them for observation.

I have to say, these sponge steels are still pretty good looking.

At first glance, it looks a bit like a black stone, but if you look closely, you will find that there is a dense honeycomb structure on it, much like a sponge.And you can also see that the granular raised parts seem to be shining with a metallic luster.

"It is best to use a heavy steel block with a bright silver color. If the edges are rough and have gray-black debris, it is a substandard product and cannot be used...

"Um……

"Why don't you feel like you're not qualified...

"This one seems to work.

"This one...should be okay, right?"

After some inspection, Li Hongyun managed to pick out a few pieces that looked good.

Of course, he wasn't sure if he had chosen the right one, because this kind of selection itself was completely dependent on pure experience and required a lot of failures to pile up.

"Okay, anyway, let's try with these few pieces first."

Li Hongyun reheated several pieces of sponge steel carefully selected by himself with iron tongs, then put them on the anvil, and began to beat them repeatedly.

His original thought was that the entire beating process was done by himself.

After all, in this dungeon, the player's physical strength is inherently unlimited, so the hammer will not be tired no matter how long it takes.

And if you beat yourself, you will definitely have a clearer grasp of the strength.

But after beating for a while, Li Hongyun gave up and chose to leave it to other craftsmen to complete.

Because this process is really boring!
The so-called hard work is definitely not an exaggeration.

This sponge iron first undergoes repeated forging to form a rough block.In this process, it is necessary to repeatedly burn it in the furnace until it is white hot, and then beat it while it is hot, repeating it many times.

With the continuous beating, the red sponge iron first became regular and turned into a square iron block, and then became flat again under the constant beating.

But after flattening, you can't stop, you have to erect it again, or fold it up to become a thick piece, and then forge it repeatedly.

During this process, the inside and outside of the iron block will be fully exposed to the air, and the impurities in the iron block that cannot be softened will solidify on the surface along with the oxides of the iron block during each beating, and will continue to peeling off.

Impurities such as carbon that can be oxidized to gas also dissipate at high temperatures.

This repeated beating is the so-called "hundreds of steelmaking" in ancient methods. This is a necessary process and must not be skipped.

Because only through such a tedious process can we ensure that there are not too many impurities in the final product, and the blade is not easy to be damaged, broken or rusted.

At the same time, since the carbon content in the sponge iron itself is uneven, such repeated folding and forging can make the carbon content in different positions uniform, so that the quality of the entire knife becomes stable.

During this beating process, iron will also be consumed.

Because the impurities fall off, there is also an oxide layer on the surface of the iron block, so the more forged, the less iron.The craftsman must strictly determine the amount required for forging from the very beginning, otherwise the final iron produced will not be enough to make a sword or a knife, and it will be embarrassing.

Either the final product is a little shorter, and the whole shape has changed a lot; or it is forced to use other irons to make up.

But if it is supplemented, it will inevitably lead to the incomplete structure of the whole structure and it will be easier to break.

……

Finally, after the craftsmen continued to forge day and night, this piece of steel seemed to have no impurities at all.

It's just that its size has shrunk so much during repeated forging that Li Hongyun doubts whether it can make a knife of sufficient length.

This is a normal phenomenon. The weight of the final product will be at least half that of the raw material. In ancient China, when crude iron was used to make refined steel, ten times the amount of crude iron was often consumed.

Li Hongyun wondered, if it really doesn't work, can he pass the level by making a dagger?

I'm afraid it's enough.

After all, there was still a dead pig on the sword-testing platform, and it was only considered to pass the level by chopping off the dead pig with a single knife. Obviously, the dagger didn't have such a length.

Anyway, give it a try.

Li Hongyun didn't want to wait any longer, he was eager to see what the first knife he forged looked like.

So, he took the piece of iron from the toolmaker and started hammering again.

Hardly hammer it into the shape of a knife.

This process is also very difficult and requires many times of beating.But the more times the better, once hammered too much, the entire blade becomes too narrow and long, it has to be folded and re-forged.

In that case, a lot of iron has to be wasted.

In the worst case, it would be embarrassing to find that the blade is getting shorter and shorter.

Moreover, the more times the steel block is folded and forged, the better, because too many times will cause the carbon content in it to be too low, which will turn the steel into soft wrought iron.In modern technology, carbon can be added to wrought iron to save it, but in ancient times, this kind of mistake was basically irreversible.

"Okay, quenching!
"No matter what you make, let's make it first and see."

Li Hongyun pondered, how could this thing be regarded as a "Fifty Refined" sword.

The so-called "hundred refining" actually refers to the number of times the refining fire is heated.Hundreds of refining swords means heating and forging a piece of iron hundreds of times. The consumption is astonishing, and the production efficiency is also very low, but the quality of the swords produced will also be excellent.

In fact, if you want to keep improving, you need to use a process similar to "three pieces together" at this stage.

To put it simply, it is to wrap steel materials with different carbon contents together to make sharp blades and blades respectively.Different wrapping methods and structures produce different blade characteristics.But overall, it's a more high-end craft.

For Li Hongyun, he didn't even understand the most basic things, so he naturally didn't deserve to try this kind of high-end operation.

After heating the knife blank roughly shaped like a knife again, put it directly into cold water to cool it suddenly.

Flames and smoke came out, accompanied by the sound of "呲呲呲", and the quenching was completed once.

The function of quenching is to make the steel knife tough and elastic.

The quenching process looks easy, but it is also difficult to operate.

The degree of heating, the degree of cooling, the quality of water, etc., will have a lot to do with it.If quenching is not enough, the edge of the blade will not be hard and is easy to curl; if it is too quenched, the edge will become brittle and easy to chip or break.

Moreover, according to ancient craftsmen, the quality of quenching water is also very particular.Some water is "sharp", and some water is "dull". The latter cannot be used for quenching, otherwise it will destroy the knife.

If these contents are carefully studied, it obviously involves the knowledge of chemistry and materials science. Li Hongyun didn't bother, he knew that he was not worthy.

The good news is that he doesn't need to determine the water quality of rivers everywhere, but only needs to use the water provided in the game.

"That's it, start grinding!"

Li Hongyun directed the tool artisans to repeatedly polish and sharpen the quenched knife blank, and finally put it on the handle.

In ancient times, the job of a knifesmith was only to make the blade, and after quenching, at most it would be roughly ground.In the subsequent process, other craftsmen are required to finely grind, make the handle, make the scabbard, carve various decorative parts, inlay or paint on the scabbard, and so on.

Fortunately, these relatively insignificant steps can all be thrown to other craftsmen.

Li Hongyun fast-forwards the whole process.

After another toss, this knife, which can be said to be designed and forged by himself, finally appeared in front of him.

Thinking about the many processes he spent, Li Hongyun almost wanted to vomit blood.

too difficult!
In the first stage of this trial alone, in Li Hongyun's opinion, the difficulty has already exploded.

Really curious what Phase [-] will look like.

Of course, in all fairness, the difficulty of this trial may not exceed that of the cavalry trial.

The cavalry trial requires talent. If there is no talent, no matter how hard you try, you will still be unable to pass the level; but the divine machine trial does not require all talent, there are also factors such as experience, memory and patience.

Li Hongyun took the knife in his hand and weighed it slightly.

"Hmm... It can't be said to be perfect, it can only be said to be quite passable."

As soon as he got started, Li Hongyun immediately felt the shortcomings of this knife.

Before that, he did not lack the standard weapons of the Qi Army and the Sheng Army in the illusion of the trial, and he also captured some high-quality barbarian knives.

Therefore, whether these knives are good or not, you can feel it as soon as you get started.

A good knife should be comfortable to hold, have a suitable center of gravity, and have a beautiful arc... and these are obviously not what Li Hongyun can expect at present.

He only has one expectation now, and that is this knife, as long as it won't break.

Feeling anxious, Li Hongyun came to the sword testing platform.

First come to the front of the hard bone.

Li Hongyun took a deep breath, shouted loudly, then swung his long knife and slashed at the hard bone!

Just listen to the crisp sound of "Keng"!
At first, Li Hongyun thought that he was so lucky to forge a precious sword that cuts iron like mud, and hit the sword sound, but in the next second, he saw some unknown object that seemed to fly away from his eyes.

Taking a closer look, there was a shallow wound on the bone, but the knife in his hand had been broken in two.

"Depend on!"

Li Hongyun couldn't complain.

This is really forging a knife for several months, and breaking the knife in an instant.

Although many steps in the game can be accelerated or skipped, Li Hongyun's actual playing time is only a few hours, but seeing the results of several hours so easily reset to zero before his eyes, he is still a little bit broken.

"Forget it, come again!

"On the first try, I have already created a rough shape, which is enough to show my talent."

After learning from the pain, Li Hongyun decided to start from scratch.

It seems that the knife this time is either too brittle due to its high carbon content, or there are wounds or flaws in the blade, or the temperature of the blade body is too high or the water temperature is too low during quenching, so it is hard to chop. Broken during the process.

Li Hongyun tried his best to recall the process of forging this knife. Thanks to his golden talent, he could clearly recall those details.

"Which step went wrong..."

Li Hongyun started a new attempt while summing up the previous failure experience.

(End of this chapter)