C8 (1/2)
Ma Hei Zi was not even thirty years old, Qu Thirteen was in his early twenties, and the two of them were cousins. They had learned martial arts from an elder of their clan and were extremely skilled. Ma Heizi's face was dark, he was good at fighting, he had even been a rider in the military, but he was chased out after beating up Shangguan. Qu Thirteen was tall, with a relatively white complexion. He was good at water and had once fished for a living. They all had their own strengths, and all of them liked to fight against injustice. Once, when they were out, they crippled several rich and powerful servants along with a rich and powerful younger generation.
A few days ago, because of the King's Mansion, it was difficult for him to live and his grandfather, who was dependent on him for his life, had also left. He had no relatives and could only go to Riverside to look for him alone, but since he was good at handling cases, he couldn't do anything about it. In the beginning, he was too embarrassed to let Zhang Zhou help him, but today, Zhang Zhou had shown his ambition and pushed him along.
Zhang Zhou had a good impression of the three of them, so he told Ma Qu and the other two about his thoughts, and told them to temporarily follow Flying Prince and help him consolidate his power. Leave the young Yang Xiaolang by his side.
In this era, bows and arrows were definitely the best weapons of mass destruction. Zhang Zhou knew that he couldn't make any guns, so he paid more attention to the bow and arrow.
”I heard that the craftsmen of the capital can forge five bows, and those are called powerful!” To be able to wear three layers of armor, just thinking about it makes people excited. ”
Yang Xiaolang was three years younger than Zhang Zhou. Right now, he was only fifteen years old. He wasn't very tall and his face was still young and tender. He was a very shy young man.
”I'll get one for you when I get a chance, okay?”
”Hehe, that's good. However, it's useless for me. I won't be able to pull it off. Even if I pull it off, I estimate that I will only be able to shoot an arrow.”
Pulling a bow required arm strength, just as Yang Xiaoluo had said. Such a strong bow could be pulled even if one used all one's strength, and one wouldn't have the strength to pull it a second time. In a real battlefield, choosing such a bow was absolutely suicidal. Yang Xiaoluo's archery skills were 'fast' and 'accurate', so it was not suitable for him to use a strong bow.
”Let me see your hand!”
Yang Xiaoluo didn't understand what he meant, but he still stretched out his hand. Zhang Zhou looked at the obviously rough and thick calluses on the string and recalled the archery competition that he had seen in his previous life. The contestant inside would wear a kind of wear-resistant fingertip. This could be tried. It should be effective in reducing the damage the bowstring dealt to the fingers, as well as in increasing the number of times the bowstring was released. Yang Xiaolang used an ordinary wooden bow. If there was a chance, he could study the compound bow. However, he only knew about this aspect and did not know how to make it! He could only wait for a chance in the future!
Since he had nothing to do, he brought Yang Xiaoluo to Wang Tieshou's shop.
Zhang Zhou was not a man of culture, but in the matter of his contribution to the development of society, he paid more attention to science and technology. Zhang Zhou was not a man of culture, but in the matter of his contribution to the development of society, he personally valued science and engineering. And so far, he hadn't found any talent in this area. It was as if he had a match but couldn't find enough firewood. How could he dare to strike lightly? Zhang Zhou also liked those classical poems, but he did not like the style of scholars from the bottom of his heart. He could not say the profound concepts, but he felt that if he put too much effort into poetry, it would delay the development of the era.
If it was possible, Zhang Zhou would rather capture all the craftsmen in the world and conduct research together, making use of the advantage of having more people and more ideas. However, with the current conditions, he was not allowed to make such a big scene.
When Zhang Zhou was free, he would come to take a look and talk to Wang Tieshou about some techniques to improve the iron furnace equipment and harden and anneal the furnace. Wang Tieshou, on the other hand, was determined to improve the quality of steel according to Zhang Zhou's method. Zhang Zhou was not afraid that he would fail and would never be stingy in providing raw materials. As a blacksmith, if he could create a unique material, it would be a great honor! In addition to Zhang Zhou's trust and dedication, Wang Tieshou had the idea of a soldier dying for his friend. The shop was no longer open to the public, and he was completely focused on his work, almost like a madman.
Seeing Zhang Zhou come again, Wang Tie hurriedly took out a few new billets and began to talk about their characteristics while beating them together. He even brought out a detailed experimental record, but unfortunately, he was too illiterate, so he could not understand this kind of recording method. However, Zhang Zhou had made it clear that such a detailed record was very important. At the very least, he had to remember it clearly. Naturally, Wang Tieshou did not dare to be careless.
Zhang Zhou encouraged Wang Tieshou with a few words of encouragement and then had him try to forge a few rings and some steel arrowheads. Wang Tieshou readily agreed. Without further ado, he only needed to concentrate on completing the task Zhang Zhou had given him.
In this era, it was not that there were no crossbows, but rather, no crossbows. Nearly a month ago, Zhang Zhou had brought up the idea that Wang Tieshou could make crossbows, but at that time, Wang Tieshou didn't take a large part in it, he had promised to do his best, and now, he might make a big move. Zhang Zhou was naturally anxious about how well this crossbow could be made, not to mention that this was the only clear memory of Zhang Zhou's mechanical principle, and it was also due to the fact that he had taken apart similar toys for his children in his previous life. Zhang Zhou knew that it wasn't easy to nurture an outstanding archer. Yang Xiaolang had suffered many hardships in order to achieve the divine archer technique that had left his people dumbfounded. Zhang Zhou was confident that he wouldn't be able to do it. He preferred to use crossbows with less damage, but with high frequency.
According to the explanation provided by Zhang Zhou, after many times of making and assembling, the hand crossbow was basically shaped, over a foot long, and the main body was still made of wood, which felt very suitable to be used, but still, there was a problem with the connection between the ratchet wheel and the crossbow. It was not that Wang Tieshou was too stupid, it was just a problem with his thinking. His attitude was even more respectful, causing Zhang Zhou to be ashamed and not dare to accept it.
According to Zhang Zhou's idea, he wanted to make two kinds of crossbows: single-handed crossbows and two-handed crossbows. He reminded Wang Tieshou to use the crossbow as the first task to complete. After that, he left some silver for Wang Tieshou before leaving with Yang Xiaolang, strolling leisurely in the direction of the North Market.
As they reached a spacious main street, they heard a burst of loud shouting coming from behind them. The two turned around and saw two knights galloping towards them on horseback, causing many passers-by to flee in all directions. Some of them were dodging, and some even knocked over objects on the roadside.
It was not uncommon to see rich and powerful young masters baring their fangs and brandishing their claws. However, Zhang Zhou's goal was that there were actually two women riding on horses. This era was not that closed, nor were there that many ethical restrictions on women. However, it was the first time that a woman was able to ride a horse with such a beautiful appearance.
In November, it was already winter. Both of them wore a big red cloak and galloped their horses at full speed, looking very beautiful. If one was able to clearly see her appearance, she would definitely be a beautiful young lady. It was unknown just which wealthy family she belonged to. Zhang Zhou was thinking that the ”meeting of heroes and beauties” didn't happen. The two horses had already galloped past, and the woman's interest in him was immediately piqued.
Zhang Zhou could not help but sigh. All worlds are the same.
Just when Zhang Zhou was at a loss, there was another wave of chaos behind him. This time, there were more than ten horses, all of them from the government and yamen patrolling army, one by one, anxiously berating and beating their horses at the crotch. The leader of the soldiers, who looked like a military academy, kept shouting, ”Damn it, hurry up!
Could it be that they were chasing after those two women? The two of them didn't ride a horse. They wanted to watch the show, but there was no way for them to catch up. Although they had the thought of being a hero to save a beauty, they could only imagine the current situation.
The two chatted and speculated as they proceeded. What is the fastest thing in this world? It must be all those random rumors. The two of them had just reached a teahouse in the North Market when they were stopped by a person inside.
”Master Zhang, what are you busy with?”
Zhang Zhou took a look and realized it was a familiar pervert. He must have caught sight of him when he was chatting in the teahouse.
”Oh, it's Xiaolong bro. I have nothing better to do, so I came out for a stroll!” You don't have the habit of coming out at this hour? ”
As he spoke, he had already entered the teahouse. There were already quite a few people gathered in the hall. He wiped the seat with his sleeve and motioned for Zhang Zhou to sit down. He said, ”Look at what you said, Master Zhang. You know this little one's path, but I was born to be a person who cannot rest!”
Seeing that Zhang Zhou did not seem to mind his sitting down, he felt very proud of himself. He raised his voice and called out to the waiter, ”Waiter, give me a pot of the best tea.”