Qi County Government.

At this time, the county magistrate Su Jing was in a turmoil. He had just received a document from Governor Li Xianfeng that he wanted to send some rural soldiers to the conscript to enrich the army and follow him to take charge of Dengzhou.

Logically speaking, since the governor wanted the village soldiers, he could just send Li Yan's men out. However, Yang Shoujie's strength and character were really not very good. He would not dare to give his safety no matter what. No, it should be that the safety of the county town was handed over to Yang Shoujie.

Yang Shoubei didn't even go to rescue his own farm, and he didn't go to rescue him when he knew there were only four or five hundred thieves. Can Sujing still expect Yang Shoubei to protect the county town at a critical moment?

Even now, after he knew that the bandits were heading west, Yang Shoujie did not dare to send troops to pursue them. He fought with Li Yan in the west of the city and defeated the bandits in one fell swoop.

This disappointed Su Jing. Although Li Yan was able to fight, Li Yan only had more than 200 people now, which seemed to be less than a few for guarding a county town. So he hesitated, who would let go and who would let him stay? Although Su Jing was a literati, he also knew that leaving two armies that were not large and did not belong to each other would greatly weaken the combat effectiveness of the army, so he would not do such a foolish thing as asking Yang Shoujie and Li Yan to draw some people to take on the conquest.

"Report" a yamen runner came in and reported with his fists: "Report to the county master, Li Yan, the township general, sent someone to report the victory, saying that they had repelled the invading thieves, beheaded the thieves at level 21, and captured 16 people alive."

"Where is the person? I will ask questions myself," Su Jing said happily immediately.

The yamen runner replied: "It's still outside the west gate. Yang Shoubei said that the bandits had not yet gone far, and there was a danger of the bandits storm entering the city, so they were not allowed to open the city gate. Only after the bandits left completely could they open the city gate."

Su Jing thought for a while and felt that Yang Shoujiu said something was reasonable. So he asked, "What about Yang Shoujiu? Can you send someone out of the city to investigate?"

The yamen runner shook his head and said, "The villain has never heard of it."

Su Jing suddenly got angry. Even if he put a hanging basket and asked a few soldiers to see it, they were all locked in the city. When would they know the true movements of the bandits? So at this time, the balance in his heart had already turned to Li Yan. At least Li Yan could fight and dared to fight, and General Yang Shoujie would be stronger.

"Go and pass a message to Yang Shoubei and let him find out the movements of the thief as soon as possible, and don't speculate in the city!" Su Jing ordered.

At this time, Li Yan didn't know that Su Jing had considered keeping his people and guarding the safety of the county. His victory this time was a routine matter. The results of this battle were nothing compared to the last beheading of more than 200, but it was this small victory that made Su Jing finally make such an important decision.

Li Yan was discussing with Zhou Blacksmith in the Blacksmith House.

"The plate armor you mentioned." Zhou Blacksmith said: "It can be made by making a mold, just like making an iron pot. But without forging, the strength will not be too high. I don't know if it can block the arrows of a strong bow. If it is forged into steel, that set of armor will consume a lot and the output will be very low."

Li Yan thought for a while and asked, "Where is the chain mail?"

"The chain mail is not easy," Zhou Blacksmith explained: "It is very troublesome to get that small iron ring. If the iron ring is made large, it will have almost no defense ability against arrows. Young master, it's better to get a piece of armor, that's simple. Even cotton armor is good, it's not only good, it can keep warm but also have protective power, which is very cost-effective."

Li Yan now wants to determine a suitable armor for his troops. If the helmet is not as strong as the overall cast, it is simple to make and has good protection. The armor is somewhat different. The protective ability of the armor is really not very good; although the chain mail is light, it is difficult to manufacture, not to mention the plate armor; cotton armor is better, but how to wear it in summer? Will the soldiers dehydrate? If this happens, how much combat power will the troops still have?

In fact, it is better to have a chain mail, lightweight and defensive ability. In addition to being unable to defend against stabbing, it has good protection against chopping and arrows. The key is that there is no metal wire drawing yet, so you can only create small iron rings one by one, and the workload can be imagined.

Li Yan thought for a while and said, "Then you make a drawing mold, which is large on the top and small on the bottom, like a funnel. The small mouth should be smaller than one minute (about three millimeters per minute), and it should be sealed. Add a cover that can be pressed down on the top, and the wire should be tightly sealed and not leaked. Pour the refined iron into it and press the cover down to get the wire out of the funnel. Then use the wire as a ring, and it will be easier."

"This is not easy to do." Zhou Blacksmith said in embarrassment: "How can it be done so tightly? Besides, if there is no air leakage, can the lid be pressed down? Also, after the remaining iron is cold, the mouth is sealed. You can't just use the mold once, right?"

Li Yan said: "The mold is made in two halves, and the two sides are concave and convex. If you buckle them together, you can't leak out. As for the lid, you can wrap leather or cloth around it. Make the mold higher so that the lid does not need to contact the molten iron directly, and the same is true for compressed air."

"Air? What is that?" Zhou Blacksmith asked in confusion.

Li Yan thought for a while, and didn't know how to explain it, and he didn't know how to say this word, but he could understand the meaning of the word. He found the right words and said, "The air is the air around us. Although we can't see it, it is right next to us."

Blacksmith Zhou reached out and grabbed it twice, spread out his hands, and said, "No, what?"

And his apprentices looked around nervously and said in a trembling voice: "Can't they be ghosts, are they?"

Li Yan frowned and scolded, "What are you talking about?! You just work hard. When you have time, I will explain to you what air is."

The craftsmen still looked around in panic, not taking Li Yan's words seriously.

When Blacksmith Zhou saw that it was not a big deal, if they kept thinking so much, they would be unable to do anything. So he scolded: "If anyone talks about anything ghostly, he will not give it to him! He starves to death!"

At this time, the craftsmen all calmed down and began to do what they were doing. No matter what they were thinking in their hearts, they did not dare to talk about gods and ghosts anymore. There was nothing more terrible than starving to death.

Blacksmith Zhou smiled and said, "These guys are very stupid, which makes the young master laugh." Then he asked in a low voice: "You are not really talking about ghosts, right?"
Chapter completed!