Aztec Eternals

"Ha ha!"

Shirot laughed and shook his head slightly. In the laughter, it is full of carefree pride; when he shakes his head, he has a broad mind. After a long while, he looked at the master craftsman Chalape approvingly.

"Charapey, this kind of long-body heavy armor is very good! How much work and how long does it take to make a pair of such armor?"

Hearing this, Zarape smiled shyly and looked at his clan brother. Tilippi scratched his head and said estimatedly.

"Your Majesty, the cloth is covered with heavy bronze armor, 13 jin of cotton and 32 jin of bronze. To make cotton armor with cotton, you need to soak the cotton, repeatedly beat it into thin sheets, and then hang it with two layers of cotton cloth after drying. Hiding the weak seam... It takes 2 working days and 5 working days in total, and a total of 10 working days. This step is relatively simple, but it takes a little time to sew, and it can be done by a strong woman.

Next, 240 pieces of armor need to be made of bronze. The production of a piece of armor is quite cumbersome, including casting, forging, and suitable size... It takes 8 working days and 5 days in total, and a total of 40 working days. This step consumes a lot of physical strength, and the craftsmanship is not very demanding. It can be done by a strong craftsman apprentice.

Finally, arrange the nail pieces in order, insert them into the cotton armor, and fix them with copper nails inside and outside. After proper adjustment, the long and heavy armor is completed... This step takes 2 work days and 5 days, totaling 10 work days. At this stage, the integration and molding requires craftsmanship, and it must be done by experienced craftsmen! "

"A pair of cloth heavy armor will take 60 working days..."

Hearing this, Shirot's expression moved slightly and nodded slowly.

In the process of making armor, the mining and smelting of copper mines, the planting and collection of cotton, as well as the consumption of charcoal and material damage during the production process, the human and material resources consumed by a pair of heavy armor are astonishing. repair and maintenance. In fact, cloth heavy armor has been the most easily produced and cheap heavy armor in the evolution of armor for thousands of years. Its damage repair and rust maintenance are very simple. In comparison, the production time and maintenance costs of tie armor and scale armor are several times higher.

In this era, Europe at the end of the 15th century, was entering the fast lane of the rapid development of metal craftsmanship. The iron-making blast furnaces in Italian city-states are as high as 4.5-6 meters, which can provide high-quality wrought iron and even ordinary steel on a large scale. The southern states of Shinra are the center of armor production, and large-scale use of hydraulic forging hammers has fully reduced the manpower consumption in armor making.

Even so, according to the workshop records and armor prices of this era, it still takes 150 man days to forge a full-body knight's plate, and the price often exceeds that of a small manor. Because on the rough embryo of hydraulic forging, a large number of senior craftsmen are still needed to hammer out the curvature of the surface of the plate armor and polish the outer layer. The plate breastplate commonly used in infantry requires 50 working days to manufacture, and the main defense is the overall steel plate at the chest and back, which is also the classic shape of the Spanish conquistadors. The common cloth padded jackets of British ministers and archers are made in 25 working days, filled with linen or wool, and the process is similar to cotton armor.

The above three types, plate armor, plate breastplate, and thick cloth armor, are easy to produce and maintain on a large scale, and are widely popular in the European world. While traditional chain armor and patent leather armor have considerable defensive power, they are extremely cumbersome to make. Under the same defense, their man-day cost far exceeds and maintenance cost is extremely high, which has been gradually ignored by the era of development and change.

Of course, at the end of the 15th century, the European continent was in the ascendant, technological progress was accumulating, and various productive forces had not yet developed. Compared with the Asian countries with huge populations, there was still a significant gap. But until the late 16th and early 17th centuries, European metal craftsmanship was fully mature, large-scale hydraulic machinery spread all over the river, and civilian plate armor with simplified craftsmanship began to popularize. That was the real era of great colonization and expansion.

At that time, the production cost of a set of civilian plate armor was reduced to 50 man-days, and the plate breastplate only required 20 man-days, and the armoring rate of the armies of various countries increased linearly, which has formed a clear advantage for the Asian countries. With cheap heavy armor, heavy arquebuses, and large artillery, hundreds of Western colonists can build strongholds in the Asian countries to resist the siege of several times or even ten times the number of enemy troops.

"After the 17th century, that's a nightmare for non-European travelers, Native American hell... Fortunately, I still have time!"

Shirote thought for a moment, and sighed leisurely. Then, his expression was serious again, and he looked at the master craftsmen in front of him.

"Charape, Tilipi, this kind of heavy armor is good, but it is a little too heavy, and it requires very high physical strength for the warriors. Only true elite warriors can wear heavy armor for a long time to fight. The sample armor I gave you It is lighter, only more than 30 kilograms, do you have imitation finished products?"

"Of course there is! Your Majesty, look!"

Chalape beckoned, and a craftsman stepped forward with a pair of exquisite bronze middle armor. Then, he took up the armor himself and presented it to the king.

This cloth middle armor is shaped like a vest, and the decoration is extremely gorgeous. Its surface is inlaid with gold grains and silver threads, and together with dense copper nails, it outlines an eagle feather-like pattern. In order to dedicate it to the king, its inner armor has been deliberately refined, more similar to scale armor, and does not affect the wearer's flexible movements.

"Your Majesty, this is a fine medium armor specially prepared for you according to the proposal of the holy eagle warrior chief! It covers the half body, using 16 jin of bronze and 9 jin of cotton, totaling 25 jin. The armor is made by our own hands and is sturdy and dense; the outer layer invites a master to draw an eagle with wings... Your Majesty, this kind of armor of the gods is only qualified to wear by the gods, please try it on !"

Shilot was a little surprised. He took over the delicate middle armor in front of him, checked it for a moment, and put it on with the help of the samurai chief. The inside of the armor is also sewn with a special thin lining, which is all high-quality short-staple cotton, which is quite comfortable to wear.

The cloth middle armor is like a short-sleeved or vest, which can only cover the half of the body. It also reduces the number of nails on the back and weakens the defense of non-vital parts. However, this kind of middle armor is only more than 20 kilograms, which is not cumbersome and can be worn for a long time in battle without affecting the actions of strong warriors.

Shilot moved his hands and feet, feeling the sense of security brought by the bronze armor on his body, and nodded with satisfaction.

"Very good, you have your heart! Bertard, you too!"

Chalape bowed his head respectfully, and his smile grew brighter. The samurai chief just smiled faintly.

"Tilippi, if you remove these decorations, how many hours will it take for ordinary cloth armor?"

Tilippi shook his fingers and thought for a moment.

"Your Majesty, the cloth half body bronze armor weighs about 25 pounds. The defense is only slightly inferior to the heavy armor, but it is still much stronger than the leather armor. The number of bronze armor pieces is about half of the heavy armor, and the man-hours for forging and stapling can also be reduced by half. ...to sum it up, maybe a little more than 30 working days."

Shulott nodded. He looked at the samurai chief.

"Bottard, the defensive ability of this medium armor is about 10% of that of heavy armor?"

The samurai chief thought for a while and answered in detail.

"Samurai who are good at fighting can flexibly use the defenses of different positions of the body. In large-scale samurai battles, the back and lower limbs are difficult to be attacked by the enemy, and lasting physical strength is also very important... In this way, it is about heavy Seventy percent of A!"

"70% of the defense, 50% of the cost..."

Shilot pondered for a moment, then made a decision!

"Charape, Tilipe, obey!"

The two master craftsmen immediately fell to their knees.

"The formation of the Kingdom's pro-army force is imminent. Five hundred heavy armor and two thousand medium armor are needed! It is September now. If the supply of materials is sufficient, can it be completed before the festival in January?"

Chalape calculated a little, and then his face was embarrassed. Beside him, Tilippi had already spoken directly.

"Your Majesty, there is definitely not enough time! The festival is in the middle of January, and it is only April. There are only six or seven hundred people in the bronze workshop. Even if most of the tasks are stopped, they can only make up five hundred workers. And five hundred heavy armor It takes five hundred workers two months, and two thousand middle class armors take five hundred workers four months...at least half a year to complete!"

Shulot's face sank. He has already started to organize the Kingdom's pro-military, as a reliable force directly controlled by him, it will gradually become the main promotion channel for senior officers.

The first batch of pro-military troops was 2,500 people. Among them, five hundred jaguar warriors will wear heavy armor and use two-handed battle sticks, and the remaining two thousand guards will wear medium armor and carry long bows and bronze arrows. Among the 2,000 guards, 500 came from former followers, and 1,000 came from the elites of the Northern Army, mainly the longbow warriors of the royal family.

Another 500 people were selected from the first batch of Tarrasco surrendering troops, and some of the Prepecha elite children who had served were recruited. In the follow-up plan, the number of pro-militaries from Prepecha will gradually increase, and the soldiers and soldiers who have meritorious service will also be included in it. On the one hand, it shows the equal treatment of the king, and on the other hand, like the Mongolian cowardly army, it has the effect of uniting the various ministries of the kingdom and serving as an officer reserve camp.

"After the festival, the legion of the kingdom will be dispatched. Before that, 2,500 pieces of armor must be completed!"

The king issued a clear will. Then, after thinking for a while, he looked at the samurai chief.

"During the Western Expedition, the Legion captured a large number of craftsmen in Ivacio City. There should be a lot of coppersmiths among them?"

"Yes, Your Highness. They are all placed near the headquarters of the Capital Corps and serve the various armies nearby. The number of coppersmiths should be four or five hundred, mainly making all kinds of copper utensils, tools and trade goods. However, in In Ivacio, they are coppersmiths, not bronze craftsmen."

"Well, the copper ware trade in Fengguo can be temporarily slowed down, and copper mines have to be allocated centrally. They all have a certain craft foundation... Charape, I will give you three hundred coppersmiths to forge armor pieces from the capital. Call a tailor to sew cotton armor for you, and I will give you two hundred more apprentices from the relocated Mexica craftsmen in the future! I will give you priority in supplying copper, tin or charcoal!"

Hearing such favorable conditions, the bitterness on Chalape's face became even stronger. He kowtowed deeply to the ground, waiting for the long-anticipated request.

"Before the January festival, build 2,500 pieces of qualified armor in four months! This is a military order! I will send personal guards to monitor. Well, are you confident?"

"Your Majesty ~www.readwn.com~ will follow your will. I will work hard to spur everyone, and I will live up to your trust!"

Only then did Shilott smile with satisfaction. He looked ahead, the shaft furnace for smelting bronze was running. The fire was raging, steaming smoke, and a dark red light gushing out. The firelight reflected in the king's eyes, making his pupils blazing. Bronze, steel, metal is the hope of the future!

After a while, the king took a few steps, and the armor on his body rattled. He came to a batch of brand-new bronze utensils with a serious expression, and reached out to take out a strange yet familiar agricultural implement.

The farm tool is divided into two parts. The front part is a wooden stick with a copper tip and a stepping foot, which is used to poke holes in the ground, called Lei; . The Lei and Si are connected by wooden wedges, and there is a rope pulled by someone at the front. In this way, Lei is the handle of the scorpion, and the scorpion is the crown of the scorpion, which can not only break the clods, but also plough out the trenches.

"Your Majesty as wise as God!"

Chalape got up quickly and quickly followed. At this moment, he was full of sincere admiration and smile.

"This is according to your design, I did it myself, two copper plows!"