I built a manor in the Middle Ages

Chapter 191 Ironmaking
The valley was thriving in June. Every morning, at daybreak, serfs would begin their day's work in the dew.

Ever since a free peasant was whipped and lay wailing in bed for several days, there have been no conflicts in the manor for nearly a month, especially among the newly arrived serfs.

God, although they have little knowledge, at least they know what the lord looks like. Even if the owner of the Knight Castle looks kind, but seeing him training soldiers every now and then, you can tell that he is a guy who advocates force.
Not to mention that they later discovered, to their horror, a string of skulls still hanging from the pickets.
I heard that it was the head of a group of fierce bandits.
Robert, the most senior one, said frankly that Master Luc had at least twenty dead souls in his hands, and he himself had helped kill a damned leader, which was why he had his current status.

The serfs were not surprised by Luc's killing spree; hadn't the knight's head been rolling in his hands? They just scoffed at Robert's boasting.

Ha, come on, man, do you think you are your son?
I think you are the most timid mouse in your family!

However, in addition to secretly despising the flamboyant Robert, they also learned that the master's groom was once the boss of those skulls.

Some serfs who wanted to get close to him subconsciously chose to stay away.
Eugene pushed open the door and walked out of the thatched hut with a sullen face.

We walked straight into the Knight's Castle along the dirt path that had been carefully cleared of grass roots and was formed after a long walk.

As he passed the tall city gate, he couldn't help but look up, a bitter smile on his face.
When he came back from the salt factory, the first thing he noticed was the city wall rising from the ground. If only this guy had built it earlier, it would have been better. He would never have thought of building a fortress.
It was still dark and the other serfs had not yet gotten up. Eugene stepped on an ugly centipede next to the stable and kicked the bursting corpse aside in disgust. Then he picked up the hay he had prepared last night from the corner and refilled the trough with hay.

"Hurry up, Luc will be getting up soon."

Eugene fumbled with a wooden bucket, his work slowed down by the loss of his thumb.

"Those damn flies will be out in a little while."

Eugene is not a germaphobe. In fact, he is very dirty. However, no matter how dirty he is, he cannot stand the swarms of mosquitoes and flies in the stable, because those creatures that seem to have no eyes will drill into his nostrils, which is very uncomfortable.

Thinking of this, Eugene suddenly remembered the jar of pottery that Luc gave him last night, asking him to apply it on the warhorse. He patted his head, cursed himself for having a bad memory, went back to the house to get it out, took the boar-bristle brush, and began to apply it on the horse's back little by little.

He had no idea what it was for, but he just had to follow Luc's orders.

Although everyone avoided him, the clever Eugene knew that he had no other choice but to serve Luc.
"My hands can't even hold a hoe."

Eugene thought sadly.

The water in the trough was changed again. A hint of dawn appeared in the sky and a creaking sound came from the door of the Deer Hall. Eugene turned his head and saw Luc, who was dressed neatly, just stepping out of the castle gate.

"Good day, sir!" Eugene greeted hurriedly.

"Good day."

Luke responded softly, walked over with the whip in hand, and suddenly sniffed and said:

"Have you applied the maple syrup?"

"Oh, yes, it's done."

"Well done."

Luke led the warhorse over. After adding pine oil, the maple sap was not so pungent. Seeing that the warhorse was fine, he turned over and started the daily training.

Looking at the backs of the man and the horse going away, Eugene, who was standing in the stable where flies were gradually waking up, was suddenly surprised to find that those headless flies seemed to be deliberately avoiding him today.
……

"Maple juice really works!"

After a while, in the wild.

Luc, who was riding back to the city, couldn't help but glance at the horse's tail that had always been entangled with flies in the past but was now empty, and couldn't help laughing.

What great news!

He has been in a very good mood recently, not because Du Si has learned a new posture in the past few days, but because the heavy crossbow finally completed the final test the day before yesterday.

Fifty steps away, he still hit the target with one out of five shots. It seemed that his accuracy had not improved, but this was on the premise of hitting the vital part of the target!

The other four arrows only landed about 30 centimeters away.
This is definitely a pretty good accuracy! Not to mention that within thirty steps, he could even hit one out of three.

What excited Luc the most was that he tried to make the target thicker. As a result, the stone crossbow arrows still penetrated the target and were firmly nailed into the soil behind it.

"Perhaps once a triangular arrowhead is attached, it might be able to penetrate leather armor?"

The corners of Luc's mouth curled up. He must try it when the arrows come out. In addition, he also wants little Maiman to make a few light crossbows. After all, the heavy crossbow is too difficult to use, and only Hans can use it all the time.

It’s okay if a light crossbow doesn’t have deer tendons. It doesn’t require strong killing power, just fast attack speed.

Luc was swaying on the horse's back with a smile on his face. There was one most important reason why he was so happy - today was the day to officially start iron smelting!
"Whoo~"

Luke returned the horse to Eugene, ate breakfast with excitement, called Ryan and Jason, took some dry food for lunch, and ordered Old Eck and Miller to supervise and not allow anyone to leave, and drove west.

After crossing two hills, the steep Black Ridge Valley appeared before everyone.

Luke held the whip, stretched his arm towards the black river below, and laughed heartily:
"Look Jason, this is where your blacksmith shop will be from now on!"

Jason, who had changed into new linen, couldn't help but open his eyes wide, staring at the riverbed covered with brown stones. He exclaimed, "Sir, you, you really have an iron mine?!"

"Why, I can't have it?"

"That's not the case." Jason shook his head decisively. He just suddenly thought that there seemed to be no iron ore in Berry.
"I've brought all the necessary tools, including the hammer and the draft. Let's go. The weather's nice these days, let's see if we can forge a piece of iron!"

Ever since he had the blacksmith, Luc had been unable to contain himself. He tied up his horse and rushed to the valley impatiently.

The Black Ridge Valley was still as spacious as ever. The three of them walked down the gentle slope to an exposed brownstone rock. After looking left and right, they finally selected a place that was easy to mine. They shouted to Jason and Ryan, "Start digging!"

"Yes!"

The two men swung their pickaxes with all their might and smashed them against the bare rock!
Suddenly sparks flew.

Luc took a sickle and began to cut the weeds around him.

He is going to start building the earthen stove!
Similar to the principle of a brick kiln, the earthen furnace is also a hollow clay building. However, compared to brick smelting, the temperature of iron smelting is much higher. For this reason, Luke specially asked a mule to carry a sack of charcoal.

Fortunately, there is charcoal, otherwise the high temperature cannot be reached by logs.

However, the earthen oven must also be able to withstand barbecue.

Luke threw bundles of thatch on the ground. Perhaps because it was close to the iron mine, the roots of the thatch here were even more burnt yellow.

After a while, he straightened up and pounded his waist. Seeing that the thatch was almost cut, he turned his head and looked at Ryan and the others. They had also chiseled out some debris.

"Looks like we have to wait a while."

Putting down the sickle, Luc drew out his dagger and took out his shovel, and cut a path. The fine steel cross sword must be well maintained and should not be used if possible.

Walking out of the Black Ridge Valley and coming to a piece of loess that looked suitable at the foot of the mountain, Luc waved his shovel and dug hard.

After living a life of luxury for half a year, he hadn't dug the soil himself for a long time, but his skills were still as good as before. In a short while, he dug out a shield of yellow soil and then set some weeds on fire.

When it comes to iron smelting, just like boiling salt, Luc is almost completely in the dark. Fortunately, although Jason doesn't know how to build a furnace, he knows how to use it. According to him, in addition to high temperature, smelting iron ore also requires something called limestone.

Luc knew what limestone was, but a quick search around the manor revealed nothing useful, perhaps even deeper. Just as he was about to explore further, hoping to further his ironmaking endeavors, Jason suggested that if limestone wasn't available, wood ash would work.
Wood ash, wood ash again.
Luc remained noncommittal, saying that wood ash was indeed useful.

After burning the ash and taking the loess, Luc drew a bucket of water, carried it several times, and returned to the Black Ridge Valley.

While Ryan and the other two were working hard and sweating, Luc slowly set up the iron furnace.

(End of this chapter)