Chapter 59: Forging Swords (Part 1)

  When Gao Yuan woke up, it was already three poles in the sun. The sunlight came through the thin gauze of the window and into the room. Next to Gao Yuan, Ge Yan's feathers were still sleeping soundly after experiencing wind and rain for the first time last night. Her black hair was scattered lazily on the pillow, with tears hidden at the corners of her eyes, but a hint of a satisfied and peaceful smile appeared at the corner of her mouth after the storm had passed.

  Thinking of the lovely and innocent girl under him last night, he couldn't help but feel his heart skip a beat, and he couldn't resist kissing her face again. Then he sat up.

  But this movement had already startled Geng Yan Yu, who opened her eyes as soon as she felt the quilt move. She glanced at Gao Yuan and then bashfully closed her eyes again, a blush spreading across her delicate face, making her look even more captivating.

  Gao Yuan stroked her face and said, "Are you awake? Sleep a little longer."

  Geng Yan Yu opened her eyes again, looked at the highlands and whispered: "Master, I'll help you get dressed." As she spoke, she propped herself up with both hands on the bed frame, trying to sit up, but as soon as she lifted her body, her eyebrows furrowed slightly, and she let out a soft "ah" before her arms went limp again, causing her to fall back.

  Fortunately, it was Gao Yuan who reached out and held Ge Yan in his arms, asking, "Does it still hurt?"

  Geng Yan's jade cheeks were flushed with a burning glow, and her ears and neck were also set aflame. Her beautiful posture, both shy and embarrassed, made people dizzy and took their breath away. Gao Yuan couldn't help but lower his head to kiss her cherry lips, then kissed her eyes and face, followed by her powdered neck and silky chest, leaving Geng Yan's face red and hot, her whole body trembling before he finally let her go.

  Geng Yan Yu closed her eyes and said with a blush: "Master still wants me."

  Gao Yuan put her back on the bed, covered her with a quilt and said: "You just rest well today, wait until you're better to serve me again. And from now on, don't call yourself a slave in front of me."

  Geng Yanyu nodded slightly and said: "I will listen to you, sir. It is my honor to serve you."

  Gao Yuan comforted her a few more sentences before getting up and dressing, then left the room.

  Arriving at the main hall, Geng Zhong was already waiting here. Seeing Gao Yuan, Geng Zhong immediately came up to pay his respects and said: "Sir, the troops have already moved into the mansion, and everything you need has also been prepared." As he spoke, he took over several large packages and handed them to Gao Yuan.

  Gao Yuan nodded and said: "Arrange their accommodation, food and other necessities in a timely manner, cannot delay."

  Geng Zhong nodded and said: "Don't worry, sir. I've already made arrangements for everything." He paused for a moment, then continued: "And there's the matter of Yu Yan, sir..."

  Gaoyuan Dao: "She had already told me everything yesterday, she is the daughter of Ge Dafu, so you don't need to hide it from me anymore. Is all this your arrangement?"

  Geng Zhong was also startled, and hastily knelt down on the ground, saying: "Your Excellency please forgive me, I am not intentionally deceiving you. It's just that Miss is originally a criminal of the imperial court, and it was I who took risks to protect her, so I couldn't be too careful, and didn't report to Your Excellency in time."

  Gao Yuan nodded, although Geng Zhong had concealed himself in this matter, he was indeed very loyal to the original Geng Daifu. In that environment at the time, it was also a great risk to protect Geng Yanfei, which is also commendable. Therefore, Gao Yuan said: "Okay, I won't pursue you this time, but if there are any more hidden things in the future, I will not forgive you lightly, do you understand?"

  Geng Zhong hastily said: "Yes, I will never dare to conceal anything from you again, sir." After a pause, he continued: "Now that the young lady belongs to you, sir, please treat her well in the future."

  "Rest assured, she is now resting in my room, arrange a few people to serve her."

  Geng Zhong responded with a "yes" and turned around to leave.

  At this time, Du Yi led several generals to enter, including Wang Hu and Wang Bao brothers. This time, the troops stationed in Gao Yuan's mansion totaled 800 people, including 600 infantrymen and 200 cavalrymen. Led by Du Yi, they are now leading the main generals to report to Gao Yuan. Wang Hu and Wang Bao brothers are also members of the cavalry, serving as Bo Chang.

  After the crowd paid their respects to Gao Yuan, he also announced that he would be stationed in the government office. All the rules and regulations were the same as those in the military camp, and every day they had to practice martial arts and perform military drills, without any slackness. The crowd promised to comply and then dispersed.

  Gao Yuan also called Wang Hu and Wang Bao brothers, asking them to find a few soldiers to follow him out. After the incident of Xiao Luo Huan being hijacked, Gao Yuan was also not daring to be careless about his own safety. Moreover, this batch of opponents was indeed very strong, and Gao Yuan did not dare to go out alone easily. Wang Hu and Wang Bao selected 16 soldiers to follow Gao Yuan out. In fact, with Gao Yuan's current identity, it is also reasonable to bring a group of guards when going out.

  According to the address obtained in Lucheng last time, Gao Yuan brought Wang Hu and others to a place northeast of Handan City. This is the concentrated area of Handan City's smelting and manufacturing workshops, with nearly twenty smelting and manufacturing workshops, and the number of craftsmen has reached over 2,000. It is also an official workshop of Zhao Guo, and more than 60% of the weapons, armor, utensils and other equipment of Zhao Guo are made here.

  Although there were also specialized casting camps in the military camp, whether it was the working environment, conditions, and craftsmanship of the craftsmen, compared to formal casting workshops, there were great differences. Only simple ordinary weapons could be cast, while exquisite and excellent weapons could only be cast in such formal casting workshops.

  Of course, while making weapons for the country, each smelting workshop will also cast some weapons for sale, and the official will also turn a blind eye to this. Because the weapons made by the official workshops are very fine, they are far superior to the products of other private workshops, so the market price is very high, and it is also a considerable extra income for craftsmen and officials managing official workshops.

  Gao led the crowd directly to a smelting workshop called Li Zhu Fang, which was the largest casting workshop in this area. The main products were iron swords and bronze swords. After entering the workshop, they saw dozens of furnaces working in a large courtyard, with the sound of metal clashing and ringing continuously. Occasionally, there were also "sizzling" sounds, accompanied by bursts of white smoke. At each furnace, there were tens of half-finished swords placed beside it.

  With a large group of people coming out, although it's not very convenient, there are also many benefits. For the vast majority of things, you don't need to show up in person, and someone has already gone ahead to inform the workshop owner.

  Before long, a man in his fifties came out with several attendants and bowed to Gao Yuan, saying: "I am Li Bohping; I pay my respects to the master."

  Gao Yuan nodded and said, "Li Gong Chang, no need for excessive courtesy."

  Originally, Li Bo Ping was a native of Yue State, and his family had been making swords for generations. In the late Spring and Autumn period, Yue State rose to prominence, and its king, Gou Jian, became one of the Five Hegemons after the Spring and Autumn period. However, Yue State's foundation was too shallow, and it was also far away from the center of China, with a backward economy and culture. As a result, its prosperity was short-lived, and it soon declined. Now, Yue State has become a vassal state of Chu State. Although Yue State's economy and culture are very backward, its sword-making craftsmanship is the best in China during this era, and it is also one of the earliest to cast iron swords. Moreover, it can already cast early multi-layer folded forging iron swords. Therefore, the swordsmiths of Yue State are welcomed by all countries.

  Li Bo Ping was a child when he moved to Zhao Guo with his family. Because of his family's exquisite casting skills, they quickly became the best sword-making workshop in Zhao Guo.

  After the courtesy, Li Bo Ping said: "This is not a place for conversation, please follow me to the house."

  Gao Yuan and his entourage followed Li Bo Ping into the workshop room. After they were seated, Li Bo Ping asked, "Sir, you've come to my humble workshop, may I ask what brings you here?"

  Gao Yuan smiled and said, "I heard that Mr. Li is the best swordsmith in Zhao State, so this time I came to Li's forge, hoping to buy a high-quality iron sword, at least one that surpasses the best bronze sword." As he spoke, he handed his own bronze sword to Li Bo Ping.

  Lei Bo Ping took over the bronze sword, carefully observed it for a moment, and then said: "Your bronze sword is indeed an excellent work. Although bronze swords are more brittle than iron swords and tend to break easily, this is generally speaking. To surpass your bronze sword, one would need at least an eight- or nine-forged iron sword."

  He nodded, knowing that the so-called nine refinements referred to the ancient multi-layer folding and forging technique. In fact, the so-called iron sword actually used early steel as its material. As early as the Spring and Autumn period, China had already developed early steel-making techniques, using steel as a raw material and then repeatedly folding and forging it, with each time being called one refinement, making the steel's structure dense, composition uniform, impurities reduced, and thus improving the quality of the steel. The so-called hundred-refined steel refers to the fact that after repeated folding and forging one hundred times, the quality of the sword made is quite high. Later, Tang knives and Japanese knives also used this casting technique. However, the current multi-layer folding and forging technique is still relatively backward, and the quality of the refined steel is not high either, with nine refinements being almost the limit.

  Gao Yuan Dao: "Do you have a nine-refined iron sword in your workshop now?"

  Li Bo Ping shook his head and said, "Reporting to the master, my family has been casting swords for five generations. We are also skilled in casting iron swords. I started casting swords alone at the age of 20, and now it's been over 30 years. At the age of 28, I cast my first nine-folding iron sword. Until now, I have only cast a total of about ten nine-folding iron swords, and about twenty eight-folding iron swords. Every time I cast one, it was immediately bought by someone at a high price. Therefore, there is not even one eight-folding iron sword left here, let alone a nine-folding iron sword. The few remaining seven-folding iron swords are no different from the master's bronze sword in terms of quality."