My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 318 Forging Weapons

In the Li Family Manor in the southern suburbs of Tianjin, the original owner’s surname was Liu, but it was later bought by a wealthy family named Li, so it was renamed Li Family Manor.

The Li Family Manor covers a large area, surrounded by several villages, and surrounded by a stretch of farmland, which looks very ordinary.

Li Maofang yawned and walked out of the bedroom, immediately two maids stepped forward to help him dress and wash, and served him a hearty breakfast.

After Li Maofang had breakfast, he walked to the back of the manor.

The distance is still far away, only the sound of "ding ding dong dong" coming from the back of the manor, as if opening a blacksmith shop.

In fact, this is a huge blacksmith's shop. Behind the manor, there are shops lined up one after another. In each shop, there are blacksmiths with a naked upper body, beating the iron tools in their hands with hammers.

"Meet Lord Hou, why did you get up so early today, don't take a rest, don't get tired!"

A lean steward ran forward and said with a flattering smile.

"Time is so tight, you haven't finished building it yet, how can I sleep?"

Li Maofang stared, and said with an unhappy face.

"Master Hou, the villain has really tried his best. Who would have thought that the superiors would have to deliver the goods ahead of time. Now the craftsmen are working in three shifts and working day and night. But even so, there may still be a gap in the end."

The thin steward replied helplessly.

"Forget it, the shortcomings are the shortcomings, but don't be fooled by the quality!"

As Li Maofang said, he stepped into one of the shops, picked up a forged long knife, and waved it around twice.

Although Li Maofang was an ignorant dude, his father Li Rang was also a military commander after all, so Li Maofang was taught martial arts since he was a child. Although his knowledge of martial arts is ordinary, he still has eyesight.

"Ding~"

Li Maofang flicked the blade with his fingers, and after listening to the crisp sound of the blade, he nodded in satisfaction and said, "It's not bad, but it's still worse than the military knives."

I saw that the weapon racks of each shop were full of uniform long knives, and some shops were making other weapons. This place was simply a weapon workshop.

"What Hou Ye said is that the knives made in the army are all made by the craftsmen of the military supervisor. The craftsmanship passed down from generation to generation is by no means comparable to the blacksmiths we recruited."

Seeing that Li Maofang was satisfied, the thin steward immediately said happily.

"Okay, try to speed up as much as possible, there is not much time left!"

Li Maofang ordered again that this matter is of great importance, otherwise he would not have made a trip in person.

"Don't worry, Lord Hou, I've already hired some blacksmiths. Once they arrive, the speed will be much faster!"

The thin steward replied again.

Coincidentally, as soon as the thin steward finished speaking, another steward came in with a group of people. Judging by the attire of this group of people, it was obvious that they were recruited blacksmiths.

"Speaking of Cao Cao, Cao Cao is here, Lord Hou, look, we recruited these craftsmen with great difficulty!"

The thin manager first introduced to Li Maofang.

"That's right, if this matter is done, your benefits will be indispensable in the future!"

Looking at the craftsmen in front of him, Li Maofang nodded in satisfaction and praised.

Then I saw Li Maofang took two steps forward, glanced at the craftsmen, and then said: "Listen well, I have worked hard for Lord Ben Hou during this time, as long as you perform well, Lord Ben Hou will be rewarded greatly!"

"Thank you, Lord Hou!"

Seeing the craftsmen in a daze, the thin steward immediately reminded them loudly.

"Thank you, Lord!"

The group of craftsmen finally said timidly, after all, their status was low, and they really didn't expect the young man in front of them to be a Marquis.

Seeing how timid these craftsmen were, Li Maofang also felt bored, so she didn't bother to say anything, and asked the thin steward to arrange these craftsmen to work immediately, after all, he was waiting for these weapons.

It's just that Li Maofang didn't notice that among this group of new craftsmen, there was a middle-aged man who looked simple and honest, but kept looking around.

The name of this middle-aged man was Yang Fu, and he was a spy from the East Factory. He was originally Jinyiwei Xiaoqi, but because of his outstanding performance, he was transferred to the East Factory. This time, he was sent to Tianjin to investigate Li Maofang's movements.

Yang Fu had learned blacksmithing before, so this time he took advantage of the Li Family Manor's opportunity to recruit a blacksmith, so he sneaked into the manor. Because of the order given to him, he asked him to figure out what Li Maofang was doing in the manor.
After Li Maofang left, Yang Fu was assigned to a shop and was responsible for helping the former blacksmith.

And when he saw the rows of forged weapons in the shop, Yang Fu was also taken aback.

Although the Ming Dynasty had very loose control over cold weapons such as swords and swords, it could even be said that there was no control, but such a large-scale production of weapons would still arouse the suspicion of the court.

Especially Marquis Fuyang is still a relative. He secretly forged so many weapons in the manor. Could it be that he wanted to rebel?

Thinking of this, Yang Fu was both shocked and excited. He was shocked that Marquis Fuyang was so bold, but for Yang Fu, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If he reported this matter, it must be a great achievement.

Thinking of being able to solve a case of treason, Yang Fu's heart was filled with enthusiasm. This achievement was enough for him to be promoted to three ranks in a row and become one of the real power figures in Dongchang.

But the excitement turned into excitement, and Yang Fu quickly calmed down, because he knew that opportunities also came with huge risks. Li Maofang secretly hid in this manor to build weapons, and the entire manor must be heavily guarded. If he was accidentally exposed, he would definitely die.

So after Yang Fu calmed down, he didn't show any abnormality, but worked hard like an ordinary blacksmith, collecting some evidence by the way.

Soon Yang Fu discovered that this weapon workshop was divided into several areas, and the weapons made in each area were different. For example, his area was mainly responsible for making war knives, which were the same as the standard war knives in the Ming Army, but the quality was not as good.

In addition, there are simple weapons such as gun heads and spears, and there is even an area for casting arrows. The reason why there are only arrows and no bows is that the technical content of making bows is too high for ordinary craftsmen to make. Moreover, the materials for making bows also need to be prepared in advance, and no usable bows can be made in a short time.

Besides these weapons being forged, Yang Fu also discovered that there was a large warehouse behind the workshop, in which were stored a lot of forged weapons, the quantity was huge enough to arm an army of tens of thousands of people.

Seeing so many weapons, Yang Fu was even more shocked, so that night, under the cover of darkness, he quietly escaped from the Li Family Manor, and then quickly reported what he found.

(End of this chapter)