Chapter 60: Forging Swords (Part 2)

  Gao Yuan said: "Then how long will it take you to forge another nine-refined iron sword?"

  "Reporting to the master, I am now old and no longer personally cast swords. Among my disciples, none have yet become skilled craftsmen. Moreover, the manufacture of a nine-folding iron sword is extremely difficult, and it's hard to come by. Even if we were to cast one hundred iron swords, it's not certain that we could produce even one nine-folding iron sword. Therefore, I couldn't say for sure when the next nine-folding iron sword will be produced, maybe in a year or two, or perhaps ten or eight years, it's uncertain."

  Gao Yuan finally understood that with the current casting technology, casting a nine-refined iron sword was just a matter of luck. Fortunately, his main purpose for coming to the workshop this time was not to buy a high-quality iron sword, but rather to test the waters. So he asked again: "For ordinary iron swords, how many refinements can you usually achieve? How much time does it take?"

  Li Bo Ping said: "Report back to your lordship, usually it can reach four or five refinements. It only needs two or three months?"

  Gao Yuan nodded, the five-refined iron sword was already quite good and could surpass most bronze swords. After all, on the battlefield, it's impossible for every soldier to use high-quality weapons, most are ordinary ones. He said, "I have a few weapons that need you to make with iron, can start with four or five refinements, I hope to see the first batch of samples within two or three months, what do you think?" As he spoke, he took a long, rectangular cloth bundle from a soldier's hand and opened it, revealing a wooden long knife inside.

  Lei Bo Ping took the wooden knife, looked at it and felt very strange. He had been casting swords all his life, so he had some understanding of swordsmanship, but the model given to him by Gao Yuan was a kind of weapon completely different from a sword. The blade was slightly curved, with only one side having an edge, similar to the Le knife used by civilians, but the whole body was slender, with a handle and a guard, just like a sword. It was indeed the first time he had seen such a thing.

  This is a wooden model made by a carpenter based on the style of Japanese swords after the Heian period. The length reached nearly one meter, and the handle was 20 cm long, which can be held with both hands. However, the blade body is slightly wider than that of ordinary Japanese swords. Moreover, the ratio of the blade edge to the entire sword body is 1:4, whereas for Japanese swords this ratio is 1:2. This is because China's Tang Dynasty swords had a different shape, which was used to break armor, also known as an axe-shaped blade.

  Actually, the ultimate goal of coming to the workshop is to cast a military knife that can be used on the battlefield. Because on the battlefield, actions like chopping and slashing have much greater power than stabbing and cutting, and in this regard, knives are far more effective than swords. Although swords can also perform chopping and slashing actions, due to their straight shape, the force and speed of these actions are much smaller than those of curved knives. Japanese knives, however, combine the common characteristics of knives and swords, having great power when chopping and slashing, while also being able to stab and cut, making them truly a masterpiece of the cold weapons era. Therefore, the Japanese also refer to the technique of using Japanese knives as swordsmanship. After the Three Kingdoms period, with the development of casting technology, knives gradually became widespread on the battlefield, while swords gradually became decorative items, losing their practical use.

  However, after watching for a while, Li Bo Ping also nodded and said: "Don't worry, sir. Such weapons can be cast by me. How many does the sir need?"

  Gao Yuan Dao: "Let's make ten first, four or five refinements are fine. I hope to receive them within two months at most three months. Also, I have some other weapons, let me give them to you to cast together." He handed over the other two weapon samples to Li Bo Ping.

  These are models of weapons made by the Highlanders based on later generations, one is a double-edged axe and the other is a flying knife. Because the Highlanders also considered that if the current craftsmanship cannot cast good knives, then they can use double-edged axes as substitutes.

  Actually, the axe as a weapon has long existed in China, with short handles being axes and long handles being ge (a type of Chinese axe), but basically they are all single-edged and mostly used for decoration or ceremonial purposes. Although the axe's chopping power on the battlefield is quite astonishing and its casting process is not complicated, it was rarely used on the battlefield. Mainly because it is too heavy, only a small number of powerful generals with extraordinary strength can wield it well. Moreover, the materials used are also excessive, as one axe head can be used to forge four or five swords.

  However, the highlands also took this into account, so the main reference was the double-edged axe shape used by the North European Vikings, and the weight of the axe was also reduced, allowing most soldiers to use it. In addition, the handle is as long as four feet (one foot is 23 cm), with a length between an axe and a halberd, which can be used both single-handedly and double-handedly. Although the power is slightly reduced, it can be used in large quantities in the army.

  The flying knife is a hidden weapon specially made by Gao Yuan for himself. In the past, when Gao Yuan was training, he spent a lot of effort learning the flying knife technique to deal with environments where firearms could not be used. Within 20 meters, it can almost achieve a hundred percent hit rate, and within 50 meters, it can also achieve a hit rate of 60-70%. Each time on a mission, Gao Yuan usually carries three flying knives with him. But in this era, three flying knives are far from enough, so a large number of spare ones are needed. Gao Yuan requires the double-bladed axe to be made twenty times and the flying knife to be made one hundred times.

  Although the number of these two weapons is large, the casting process is much simpler than that of knives, and it does not need to be repeatedly forged many times. Moreover, there are models as samples, so Li Bo Ping took a look and immediately agreed to deliver them together with those ten knives.

  Gao Yuan left behind ten taels of gold as a deposit and then took Wang Hu, Wang Bao and others to leave Li Zhuo's workshop.

  However, Gao Yuan did not return to his residence directly, but instead came to Li Mu's mansion. Because Gao Yuan had already made an appointment with Zhao Xuan to guide his martial skills, but the incident of Luo Huan being kidnapped occurred, and Zhao Xuan had to escort Li Mu to attend court meetings every morning, so he could only accompany Gao Yuan to practice in the afternoons.

  When Gao Yuan arrived at Li Mu's mansion, Li Mu had just returned from the imperial court and told Gao Yuan that during today's imperial court meeting, King Zhao of Yan had already removed Zhao Qian from his position as Grand Marshal, with Li Mu temporarily taking over as Acting Grand Marshal.

  This was also within Gao Yuan's expectations. Regardless of whether Luo Huan's abduction was related to Zhao Yang, Zhao Yang appeared at the Wu Guan and stopped Li Xinghong from searching the Wu Guan, which made things difficult for him. Therefore, Zhao Cong must take responsibility. Moreover, Lin Wenqing's identity was not that of an ordinary merchant, but had a very close relationship with the military. Although Zhao Wangqian wanted to protect Zhao Cong, he could not withstand the pressure from all sides and removed Zhao Cong from his position. Now, the only one who can replace Zhao Cong in the entire Zhao State is Li Mu. Even Guo Kai has no reason to object.

  Everyone in the Li Mu government was very happy, because taking on the role of Grand Marshal, Li Mu also formally grasped the military power of Zhao, and later deploying troops and generals would be justified. However, Gao Yuan knew that this was not a good thing. When Zhao Cong held the position of Grand Marshal, although he had some disagreements with Li Mu, in major public matters, he did not hinder Li Mu at all. He was after all a high-ranking minister of the Zhao royal family, and at critical moments for the survival of Zhao, he dared not act rashly. Now that Li Mu has replaced Zhao Cong as Grand Marshal, whether or not it was intentional, he has completely fallen out with Zhao Cong. Moreover, now that the military power of Zhao is concentrated in Li Mu's hands, it would be enough to arouse the suspicion of the ruler at any time. What's more, there is still Guo Kai by his side, and he will certainly not let go of this opportunity to stir up trouble. However, this was an unavoidable situation, and Gao Yuan could only take things one step at a time.

  However, Li Mu told Gao Yuan something that completely caught him off guard: the state of Qin had sent a high-ranking official named Yao Jia as an envoy to Zhao, hoping to negotiate a peace treaty. At this point, Yao Jia had already arrived at the border of Zhao. The ruler and ministers of Zhao discussed the matter for a whole day, with some advocating for negotiating with Qin and others advocating for ignoring Qin and sending Yao Jia away, but they were unable to reach a conclusion.

  Gaoyuan Dao: "What is the official position of Dashangzao? Who is this Yao Jia?"

  Ning Que said: "The Da Shang is equivalent to the upper minister of the vassal states, Yao Jia is one of the important ministers of Qin, he is eloquent and has the ability of Zhang Yi and Su Qin. Originally from Wei State, his father was a gatekeeper, when young, due to theft, escaped to Zhao State, but was expelled by Zhao State. After arriving in Qin State, he received courtesy and recognition from King Zheng of Qin, entrusted with important tasks, given a hundred carriages, a thousand catties of gold, dressed in royal attire, danced with the king's sword, sent as an envoy to the eastern states, causing the vassal states to be unable to unite against Qin."

  Gao Yuan nodded, and Shang Qing was a relatively high-ranking official, three levels higher than his own position as Shang Daifu. It seemed that Yao Jia was a diplomatic talent.

  Ning Qi continued: "Later, Han Fei entered Qin and spoke to King Zheng of Qin, criticizing Yao Jia for his humble origins and past as a thief, making him unworthy of the position of Upper Minister. Moreover, he was sent on missions to the six states, using Qin's wealth to curry favor with the rulers of the six states, seeking personal gain, and had no achievements for Qin. However, Yao Jia defended himself, saying that befriending the rulers of the six states was necessary to break their alliance against Qin, and not for personal gain. He also said that heroes are not judged by their origins, citing examples such as Jiang Taigong, who was a discarded minister of the Yin dynasty but helped Zhou Wu Wang become king; Guan Zhong, who was once a prisoner in Lu but became a powerful minister under Qi Huan Gong; and Baili Xi, who was once a slave but was redeemed by Qin Mugong and went on to subdue the western Rong. Therefore, rulers should not mind past stains when using people, but rather whether they can be useful to the state. No matter how good one's reputation is, if they have no achievements for Qin, they should not receive rewards. King Zheng of Qin listened and still trusted Yao Jia more, and later Yao Jia joined forces with Li Si to speak against Han Fei, resulting in Han Fei's death in Qin. This person was extremely skilled in rhetoric and the art of vertical and horizontal alliances, and his mission to Zhao was not a good thing."

  The plateau was also unexpected, Han Fei's big name in history he certainly knew, didn't expect to eat a big loss in Yao Jia's hands, this debate can be said to have ended with Han Fei's complete defeat. It also shows that Yao Jia is indeed eloquent and good at debating.

  Li Muzhong said: "Yao Jia is the envoy of Qin State, he wants to go on a mission to Zhao State, no one can stop him, since he has come, let's accommodate him." Although the court was still debating whether to accept Yao Jia or not, according to convention, envoys from other countries should be received.

  Gao Yuan also nodded and said, "Yes, we can only wait and see what he has to say." He turned his head again to Zhao Xuan and said, "I would like to ask General Zhao for advice on a couple of things."

  Zhao Xuan smiled slightly and said, "Come on."