Aztec Eternals

A group of people strode fast, passed through the tall bluestone wall on the inner layer, passed the guard warriors who bowed their heads and saluted, and came to an extremely wide open-air workshop, a bronze production center.

Sherlot looked around, his eyes flashing. This was his first time seeing a large-scale metal smelting and casting site.

The large workshop is as wide as a square, with an open-air workplace in the middle, surrounded by a solid storage stone house. Huge piles of red copper materials, white tin materials, and blue-black charcoal piled up like mountains in the corners. Rows of copper utensils, copper agricultural implements, and bronze weapons were laid out in a row, glowing red, yellow, and even blue. And on the outermost layer of the copper utensils, a bronze cannon with a height of over one meter was lying quietly on the ground, shimmering with a dark blue-gold light.

In the workshop against the wall, there is a row of more than ten clay shaft furnaces responsible for smelting copper, and there are twice as many small furnaces of blue bricks. The dark red flame was burning in the furnace, and the billowing heat was rising from the side of the shaft furnace. The air was filled with the copper stench of verdigris powder, the burnt smell of wood, and the peculiar smell of sweat.

Shiloh sniffed lightly, his eyelids twitched, and his brows wrinkled slightly. Then, his eyes stopped on the copper cannon for a while, and he walked towards the center of the workshop with a blank expression.

In the center, dozens of warriors stood with spears and solemn faces. Hundreds of coppersmiths, shirtless, knelt on the ground in unison, and the muddy ground was wet with sweat. In front of the craftsmen, there are two craftsmen leaders in short coats kneeling, with copper-inlaid leather caps on their heads.

The two artisan leaders held their breaths on the ground, watching a pair of deerskin boots getting closer and closer in front of them. Although the boots were simple in style, they walked steadily step by step in the center surrounded by everyone. It was not until the boots stopped in front of the two of them that the craftsmen leaders saluted respectfully together, raised their heads slightly, and raised their greetings.

"Qin Congcan's master craftsman, the head of the bronze workshop, the master smelting master and the casting master, Chara Petiyam Thiripitiyam, greetings to your esteemed majesty!"

Shuluo nodded, his expression calm. Many distant memories flashed in his mind, as well as the recent remarks of the knowledgeable elder.

In the Prepecha language, "Tiam" means metal. The Thiam family is the family that has been responsible for metal things for generations. From the mouth of the new chief Jatiri, Shulot has an in-depth understanding of the ins and outs of this family.

At the beginning of the Tarasco Kingdom, the "Tiam" metal family was still at the third level of the three-level system. However, with the expansion of the bronze ware trade in the past 100 years and the invention of bronze technology at the beginning of this century, the importance of the metal family has gradually increased, and finally, during the reign of the third emperor, he was promoted to the second rank of court nobles, directly under the For the royal family, it just does not have a fief.

Yes, different from the stereotype of many later generations. It was not until this era that Shulot was surprised to discover that the Mesoamerican civilization in the 15th century was already in the early Bronze Age and had a very prosperous copper trade. "Chalape" means red, and Chalapetiyam is red metal, copper in Prepecha language. And this special name was also passed down by the leader of the metal family, serving as the kingdom's bronze officer for generations.

Red copper is a purple-red pure copper. Throughout the world, the Copper Age has lasted for hundreds of years. In the frescoes of the Fourth Era, there is a scene of the copper trade in the kingdom of Urixiu. The Patzcuaro Lake District of the Prepecha people and the Oaxaca Mountains of the Zapotec people are the two most important copper production centers in the world. The Lake Kingdom is not only rich in copper mines, but also has the most mature copper casting technology, and was the first to set up a special copper workshop.

Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin, sometimes doped with a certain proportion of lead, to overcome the brittle weakness of bronze. The world's tin mines are mainly located in the south controlled by the Mexica Union, the land of Jontar on both sides of the Tulsa River, Teisca Trapan. There is not far from the land in the lake.

Bronze technology first appeared in the Kingdom of Tarasco and has been used in weapon forging. A large number of bronze axes and spearheads have been unearthed in the Qin Congcan site of later generations. As the war progresses, bronze technology is gradually spreading to surrounding countries, and the recent Mexica Union has been able to cast bronze weapons. But the optimal copper-tin mixing ratio is still regarded as a secret, firmly in the hands of the Condor Royal Family.

In the local language, "Tilipi" means gold, and Tilipidyam is golden metal, which here refers to bronze. This heritage name means Bronze Blacksmith. Its appearance is only a few decades, and it also represents the official maturity of bronze technology in the kingdom of Tarasco. And Tilippi in front of him is the third person with this name.

Thinking of this, the king gathered his thoughts a little and looked at the two people in front of him carefully.

The smelting and casting of bronze is a labor with both physical strength and technology. The two artisan leaders were brothers, both in their prime forties. The older brother Charape on the left has a smile on his face and is slightly older. He is good at smelting and is a senior bronze official. He often deals with the royal family and nobles, and is regarded as a technocrat. At this moment, Chalape's expression was respectful and natural, his face was slightly rounded, and he also had a smooth smile on his face.

"Charape, the knowledgeable elder mentioned you to me. I heard that after your conversion, you prayed day and night, devoutly believed in the Lord God, and would you dedicate the rest of your life to the Lord God?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. The Lord of the Sun has infinite power and dominates light and flames! Since I devoutly believed in the Lord God, I am full of power even when smelting bronze."

"Very good! The Lord God blesses us. His light falls on everyone regardless of ethnicity!"

Hearing this, Shulot smiled and nodded lightly. After serving as chief, Jatiri gave full play to his influence and recommended many names to him, and Chalape was one of them. They were among the Prepechas, the first elites who took the initiative to move closer to the alliance and joined the feudal rule.

"Tilippi, the king of Suangwa has a bronze armor, which is extremely strong and hard for arrows to penetrate. I heard that it was forged by you?"

Tilippi on the right pursed his lips, a little younger. He is a pure master craftsman, possessing the most outstanding bronze casting craftsmanship in the kingdom, but lacking experience in dealing with nobles. At this moment, in the face of the king's inquiry, his expression was much more restrained, and his face also showed obvious tension.

"Your Majesty, the bronze armor was cast by me a few years ago when my skills were immature. The parts of the armor were not well connected, nor were they considered extremely strong. Most importantly, it was too heavy."

"Your Majesty's forgiveness! Tilippi was ignorant for a while, and served for the false king Su Angua. Now he has devoutly converted to the Lord God, and is willing to dedicate his life to the great you!"

Chalape raised his head, looked at the face of the king, and carefully inserted a sentence. At the same time, he stretched out his hand and quietly pulled the short robe of the younger brother of the La clan.

Shirot glanced at Chalape lightly, and the other party immediately bowed his head in awe. He looked at Tilippi again, the master craftsman was closing his mouth and looking at the king with a stiff expression. The workshop was silent for a while, and everyone was sweating on their foreheads.

"Haha! Yes, pious faith will lead to a bright future."

The king laughed out loud, and the atmosphere in the field suddenly became much more relaxed.

"Charape, you are a good at smelting bronze, tell me about the smelting of bronze!"

Charappe nodded again and again. He stood up and led Shilot to the copper smelting shaft inside.

"Your Majesty, this is the shaft furnace for smelting bronze! It is built with the clay of the Earth Mother Goddess, and has the power given by the Lord of the Sun to strengthen the red copper. The whole shaft furnace can be roughly divided into three parts, the bottom one. The furnace foundation, the furnace hearth for charging ore and the outer furnace shaft”

Shilot stretched out his arm and measured the specific size of the shaft furnace. The entire shaft is about one person tall and half a person wide, and it looks like a huge clay pot buried in the earth. From the bottom of the hearth to the top of the furnace is a little more than 12 meters, the material column is just over 1 meter, and the thickness of the furnace wall is 3040 cm. After a brief estimate, he knew that the volume of the hearth was about one-third of a cube, which was also the maximum volume of bronze that could be smelted at one time.

"Your Majesty, the furnace base is under the hearth. It has an air ditch that connects the power of Fengshen. There is also a long and narrow air outlet on the hearth. At the lower part of the front wall of the furnace, there are golden gates for discharging materials and holes for **** discharging."

Xiulott looked at the air ditch and the tuyere, and knew that this was a channel for oxygen to flow in, but he did not find any special blowing equipment.

"Your Majesty, every time you finish building the furnace, you can fill it with three or four thousand catties of copper material and hundreds of thousands of catties of tin material. Both the copper material and the tin material must be melted first, and then go through the small furnace and remove the scum inside."

Saying that, Chalape pointed to the other side, where the long-term furnace built with blue bricks was only half the size of the shaft furnace. Then, he pointed to the furnace in front of him.

"Bless the Lord! Thousands of kilograms of copper and tin are calcined in a large furnace, and they can be cast into bronze. It takes a day to prepare the copper and tin, and it takes about a day to build the furnace. The furnace must be heated until the copper and tin melt, and it will last for a day. It will take another day to fully mix. It will take another day to cool down and turn off the flame, push the stove down, and take out the bronze.”

Having said that, Chalape looked at the king with pride on his face.

"Blessed by the Lord God! Your Majesty, in general, in about five days, each stove can produce an astonishing 4,000 catties of bronze!"

Shirot didn't look at all, and nodded slowly. He was a little disappointed in his heart. The daily output of each furnace was less than a thousand catties, and it would take two days to build the furnace and knock it down. Thinking of this, the king frowned.

"Charape, your clay stove is a one-time use?"

"Exactly, Your Majesty!"

Charape nodded affirmatively.

"Only if the furnace is airtight enough, the firepower can go up. After this is done, to take out the bronze, the furnace must be dismantled. If there is enough manpower, it is not difficult to build a furnace. In fact, in this workshop, , what is really not enough is the supply of copper!"

"The fire power is not enough, the temperature is low, and the oxygen is ventilated"

Shilot was lost in thought. He tried hard to recall the wooden boxes in the rural villages of later generations, but his memory was already a little vague. He thought about the rationale for a moment, and stretched out his hand. The samurai chief was prepared, and handed over the pen and paper at the right time. The young king was right in front of Chalape and drew a simplified blower box by himself.

"Charapé, to increase the firepower, you need a blast. You make a batch of large clay pots, fasten the pots with a half-folded buckskin, and open an air intake valve in the buckskin. Leave one on the side of the pot. The hole is then connected to a clay air pipe, the connection is sealed with mud, and then it leads to the stove. When you pull up the deerskin, the folded valve will open to inhale. When you press the deerskin, the The valve will close, and the air in the pot will be pressed into the stove, and the whole process will be like a drum.

Looking at His Majesty's paintings and narrations, Charape looked surprised. Just as he had constructed a general situation in his mind, a low exclamation came from beside him, followed by the voice of his clan brother Tilipi.

"Open the air intake, close the compressed air, eh, Your Majesty, you are so smart!"

Hearing this, Chalape's face turned black. He looked carefully at the king, but saw that the king didn't care, and even smiled.

"Charape, the charcoal kilns and clay brick kilns outside the city are under construction. In addition to the blower, there will be a batch of high-quality charcoal every month, which will be given priority to you. You need to build a batch of green charcoal that can be used repeatedly. Brick shaft furnace, get ready for the big smelting of bronze!"

"As for the source of copper and tin, I will solve it myself!"

"Follow your will, Your Majesty!"

Hearing Shulot's will, Zarape quickly pulled his clan brother ~www.readwn.com~ to salute the king together. Then, he stood up and continued to guide the king to a row of bronze weapons. Bertard looked solemn and patted the black wolf on the shoulder. The two generals took two steps forward, holding the weapon with their right hand, and tightly guarding His Highness.

"Blessed by the Lord God, according to the kingdom's decades of experience, the best copper-tin ratio is"

Charape paused and looked carefully at the king in front of him.

"Your Majesty, this is the kingdom's secret. The guard behind you"

"Charape, but it doesn't matter! They are all my personal guards, and there is no need to avoid them. And I will send some of them to you and participate in the production of bronze."

Shulot shook his head, the scale of bronze smelting and casting in front of him was still too small, and production needed to be rapidly expanded. And once production is expanded, more people must be involved. The Spaniards were less than a decade away from arriving in the Americas, and these so-called secrets made no sense.

"Ah, Your Majesty obeys your will"

In the vigilant eyes of the samurai chief, Charapei reached out and touched the bronze weapon in front of him and said respectfully.

"To cast a durable bronze, it should be five parts copper, one part tin for a broad-bladed bronze axe, four parts copper, one part tin for a sharp bronze spearhead, three parts copper, and one part tin in general, adding The more tin there is, the harder the bronze weapon will be, but it will also become brittle and breakable.”

"Okay! Chalape, you summed it up well!"

Hearing this, Xiuluo nodded in admiration. A familiar line of words appeared in his mind.

"Five parts of its gold and tin occupy one, it is said that the axe is equal to four parts of gold and tin is one, that the halberd is equal to three parts of gold and tin is one, that the big blade is equal to bronze axe, bronze spears, and bronze swords"

Thinking of this, the king looked solemn and looked at another master next to him.

"Tilippi, what about the bronze sword I made you forge?"