Jeju Prefecture, main hall.

The winter sun shone in obliquely from the eaves and shone on the ground, showing a large shadow. The yamen runners on both sides were motionless with water and fire sticks, and the shadows were cast on their faces, looking blurry, as if the arhats in the temple were gloomy and terrifying. A thin man knelt under the hall, wearing a worn-out clothes that could not cover the scars on his body. He looked at the official in the head in panic, the newly appointed Longtu Zhi Pavilion, and asked for a doctor to be the chief magistrate of the military affairs of Jeju.

"Is Bai Sheng from Dongguo, Yuncheng County, who is kneeling in the hall?"

"It's a villain, please be kind to the master!" Bai Sheng seemed to be electrocuted and shouted while kowtowing.

"Then what happened to you when you rob property on the Wuhuaying dike on May 8 this year?"

"Report to the master, the villain is indeed involved in this case, but he is just an accomplice. The master is Song Jiang, the former magistrate of Yuncheng County. Moreover, the villain has not suffered any life. I hope the master will be kind to you!"

"Yuncheng County Adjudicator Song Jiang? Where is this person now?"

"Report to the master, in order to silence, Song Jiang killed his concubine Yan Poxi and his mother. He has been sentenced to be accused of manslaughter. He is fed to Shamen Island with his accomplice Red-haired Ghost Liu Tangfa!"

"Okay, it's a lie to say that, someone is here! Take the confession and let Bai Sheng write a secret!"

"Here, lord!" With a response, a Shuzong took out the confession that had been written and brought to Bai Sheng. Bai Sheng trembled with his thumb and index finger on the ink, and pressed it twice on the confession. Shuzong retrieved the confession and submitted it to Han Xiaozhou. Han Xiaozhou looked, took a command arrow and threw it into the hall, shouting: "Send the quick horse to Shamen Island, send the criminals Song Jiang and Liu Tang, and then send the arrest documents to capture the other criminals. As for Bai Sheng--" He looked down at the thin man in the hall casually and said: "Steal official things, get into the death penalty, and ask for the beheading together after Song Jiang and others are arrested!"

Bai Sheng heard the verdict on him and suddenly fell limp. He didn't expect that he would be executed after he confessed to the rest of the people. At this time, a long shout came from the hall.

"Get out of town-"

"It's unfair! The villain is unfair! The master is so kind!" A shrill cry came out of the hall.

Anyang, Sanhujin.

It is already November, and like most northern rivers, the cold weather has frozen the Zhang River. There are no more ferries, and they are replaced by various vehicles and livestock. However, this year, this small town next to Sanhujin is particularly lively. It is not a day to go to the market, but also the smoke is rolling and the crowds are everywhere. The reason is very simple. There is a Chenji blacksmith shop here. The folding knives, scissors, and Pu knives produced are of good quality and cheapness. Even the world-famous knives (the knives produced near Taiyuan are skilled in smelting and have been famous for producing knives and scissors since ancient times).

"Get harder!" Chen Blacksmith stood on the ground and cursed at the guy standing on the stove and stirred the molten iron inside: "What kind of work are you doing? The big cakes and meat just now have been fed into the dog's belly!" After cursing twice, he simply jumped onto the stove himself, snatched the tools in the guy's hand, and stirred it hard.

Next to the iron stir-frying stove, several workers were busy putting the prepared coke into a furnace that had been dug and compacted in advance. The blower driven by the water drain made a rhythmic creaking sound, blowing a large amount of air into the furnace body. The flames rushed out of the feeding port from time to time. The worker's face was roasted into bronze by the heat radiated from the stove. The stove was connected with a pipe made of square bricks coated with alkaline mud and the molten pool containing iron. The combustion of the coke was generated by the combustion of the coke.

Hot air can be passed through this pipe to a molten pool filled with iron and melted it. This original design was made by Zhou Ping, with two benefits: First, the cold air blowing into the furnace body first enters the combustion chamber where the coke is heated and then enters the molten pool. It will not reduce the cold air in the molten pool, and can use less fuel to reach a higher temperature; second, the coke and iron are separated, so that the quality of the steel will not be reduced by impurities such as sulfur elements contained in the coke.

Under the high temperature, the pig iron in the melt pool soon changed from red to white, becoming a viscous object between liquid and solid. The first thing melted was impurities and flowed out from the dregs. Soon after, some granular things appeared in the pool. The workers carefully stirred the particles into a ball, then clamped them out, and forged them vigorously. These were the required steel ingots.

Inspection Office.

"High!"

With a sudden shout, Xue Liangwu took a sword with his hand, and all the more than ten iron nails nailed on the corridor column were cut off, and the broken nails were scattered all over the ground. Everyone surrounded him and saw the steel blade of the long sword as smooth as new.

"Good sword!"

"Sanlang has good wrist strength!"

"The ancient Gan Jiang Moye is just like this!"

Everyone praised her in a verbal way, and Xue Liangwu was so happy that she couldn't stop talking. She gestured in her hands twice, and asked Zhou Ping who was standing aside, "Aping, how much does this sword cost?"

Zhou Ping did not answer, took Xue Liangwu's long sword, stretched out two fingers to pinch the tip of the sword, held the hilt with one hand, and slapped it hard. The long sword bent over and became a half-arc without breaking. Zhou Ping relaxed gently, and the long sword bounced back to its original state. No one applauded this time, and everyone was shocked.

"Sanlang, this is just made. The annealing technique is not well mastered. You can play with this one first. After a while, I will ask someone to give you a special match according to your wrist strength!" Zhou Ping smiled and threw the long sword to Xue Liangwu.

"Okay, okay!" Xue Liangwu, who was overjoyed, hurriedly took the long sword and started to enjoy it. Zhou Ping saw Zhishan walking in from the outside, and smiled and said, "How is the workshop under Zen Master running?"

"Zhou Tanyue, two new furnaces can produce 1,200 kilograms of steel in a day!" Zhishan pointed to the thick black smoke column and explained with a blushing face: "They are all top-notch military weapons. Merchants everywhere come to buy them. Even if there are people coming to Taiyuan, which produces iron tools, it is really rare!"

"One thousand two hundred kilograms?" Zhou Ping's face was not much surprise.

"This is already a lot!" Zhishan hurriedly explained: "In fact, even if we can't use up so much steel now, we can't finish it. The excess steel ingots are piled behind the yard, and there are not enough pig iron. As far as I see, I can find a few more blacksmiths and ask Master Chen to bring a few more apprentices. When the spring is coming, there will be more merchants coming to buy knives!"

"Then just sell them the steel ingots!" Zhou Ping waved his right hand: "Build an iron-melting furnace at the back, and it can save a lot of coke together. Moreover, the pig iron we make ourselves must be better than the ones we bought. The over-fried iron can be used to burn it into iron, and it will not be wasted." At this point, Zhou Ping sighed and whispered: "It's a pity that we can't make armor due to the laws of the court, which is really a pity!"

"Zhou Tanyue, don't be too impatient, it's time to go long!" Zhou Ping nodded with kindness. At this time, a archer outside ran in and loudly reported: "Report to the inspector, someone outside claims to be your old acquaintance and said he wants to see you!"

"My old acquaintance?" Zhou Ping was stunned and asked, "What is this person's name and what is his birth?"

"He is an old man in his fifties, dressed as a Confucian scholar, with a Tokyo accent, claiming his surname to Wen and his name is Cheng!"

"So it's Duke Wen!" Zhou Ping smiled and said to Zhishan: "Zen Master, this person is an official from the Ministry of Rites. Last time I accompanied Mr. Han to Liao with him to serve in Liao Kingdom. I have been traveling between Song and Liao for many years. I am very knowledgeable. I don't know why I came here today. Why don't you go out with me to greet me?"

"Very good!" Zhishan and Zhou Ping came out together, and saw Wen Cheng standing at the door, looking at the blacksmith shop by the river. He heard the footsteps, turned around, smiled and bowed, "Zhou Baoyi, you didn't want to have such a big situation after not seeing each other for several months. It turns out that capable people can do everything!"

"My Taishan is a business of iron-raised business for generations. This time I went to Liao Kingdom to pay a little reward. The three households and Tianjin are convenient for transportation, so I opened a shop here, which made Wen Gong laugh!" Zhou Ping said this, turned his body and asked Zhishan, who was born behind, to introduce to Wen Cheng: "Duke Wen, this is the Zen Master Zhishan I mentioned to him when I was in Youzhou!"

"Oh!" Wen Cheng looked Zhishan up and down and bowed, "It turns out that this is the Zhishan monk who bravely went to Liaodong to reach the Song and Jin alliance. He didn't want to meet him today. It turns out that the phoenix did not have the same nest as the swallows and birds, and Zhou Baoyi made good friends all the good men!"

"Mr. Wen praised it!" Zhishan said with all his tribute: "I just happened to meet him, nothing!"

Zhou Pingyan led Wen Cheng to the hall, and after he sat down with the guest and brought tea, Zhou Ping asked with a smile: "Mr. Wen, don't you know what happened to visit me today?"

"What I have come today is a matter of official business!" Wen Cheng said this, and took out a letter from his arms and handed it to Zhou Ping. Zhou Ping took the letter with both hands and saw it, but it was a official letter. The signature was from the Jeju Prefect's Office. He couldn't help but be stunned and asked, "This--?"

"Oh, I am no longer in the Ministry of Rites!" Wen Cheng smiled and said, "After returning from Liao Kingdom, Mr. Han saw that I was still diligent in doing things, so he praised me for following him. My children are already married and are a widower again. They have no worries, so they agreed and now they are writing a copy in the prefect's office."

Hearing this, Zhou Ping couldn't help but be surprised and happy, and asked, "So that's it. Now Mr. Han has taken charge of Jeju?"

"Yes, Mr. Han was already in charge of the military affairs of Jejuzhou four months ago!" Wen Cheng nodded after stroking his beard under his chin.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ping quickly stood up and bowed and said, "Congratulations to Mr. Wen, congratulations to Mr. Wen!" He just looked at it and collected it almost 3,000 yuan. Alas, the starting point is so difficult! All kinds of requests!
Chapter completed!