I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 358 There is an old man in the family

I also tried a few other scimitars.

Apart from a few curved blades with particularly abstract curves, the rest of the blades felt exactly like the ones Zhang Liao had been wielding!
This is the true weapon of the cavalry!
"Wen Yuan, which one do you think is the best?"

"hiss……"

Zhang Liao was in a dilemma.

But after a moment's thought, he still chose one—

"This one!"

The scimitar had a narrow, highly curved blade with prominent indentations, combining toughness and hardness, and possessed an extremely sharp edge. The transition zone from the spine to the blade featured longitudinal grooves, reducing overall weight while maintaining structural strength. The tip curved upwards to one-fifth of the blade's length, creating a surface conducive to dragging and cutting.

Furthermore, it has a weighted ball at the end of the handguard for counterweight, which can balance the inertia of the swing.

In terms of quality, these curved swords are probably all top-notch. If they had been thrown a few hundred years ago, they would have been renowned weapons that shook the world.

However, the weapon that Zhang Liao chose undoubtedly had many ingenious designs, which made it better suited for cavalry to fight, so Zhang Liao decided to give it the crown!

Who forged this?

One person steps forward.

It was the oldest blacksmith who arrived last!
Liu Miao was quite surprised and delighted: "Last time we were just one move behind, this time it should be Grandpa who takes the crown!"

The old blacksmith puffed out his chest and uttered a triumphant sound in his hoarse nasal voice.

Clearly, with the forging of this curved knife, the old blacksmith has officially vindicated his reputation, which had been ruined by a pee!
"My son is a soldier in the imperial guards, and he practices martial arts at home most of the time. So I can tell how a soldier wields a weapon comfortably even with my eyes closed! You think you can compare to me? Hmph!"

Liu Miao was also amused!

No wonder the old blacksmith was able to make things like health bars and counterweights; he must have experience!
"As expected, everything still comes down to practice."

If Zhang Liao hadn't noticed the drawbacks of heavy cavalry during the battle, he certainly wouldn't have taken the initiative to ask Liu Miao to modify the equipment and reinstate the tactics.

If Liu Miao hadn't been riding his warhorse at full gallop, chafing the skin on the inside of his legs raw, he probably would never have remembered to change the saddle to a high-bridged one.

If the old blacksmith's son hadn't been a soldier in the garrison, who frequently practiced martial arts and was familiar with weapons, the old blacksmith obviously wouldn't have been able to overpower everyone and win the thousand gold pieces as soon as he appeared!

"continue!"

Cavalry warfare cannot rely solely on scimitars.

Liu Miao also equipped Zhang Liao with an iron hammer for use in armor-piercing.

As for the cumbersome lance, it was also eliminated and replaced by a shorter halberd.

The halberd has a spearhead at the front and horizontal spikes on the sides, and was used in chariot warfare to tear enemy soldiers off their chariots.

The same applies to modern weapons.

However, horse speed and chariot speed are obviously not the same concept. In order to adapt to the ferocious speed of cavalry horses, the "short halberd" now has its original horizontal blade bent inward, just like changing a ring-pommel sword into a curved sword. Both are to increase the cutting area.

"This gun can be called a sickle-hook gun."

"From then on, when heavy cavalry needed to engage in close combat, they had three weapons: a scimitar, a hammer, and a sickle-hooked spear, to fight against lightly armored infantry, heavy armored infantry, and enemy cavalry."

With the support of bows and arrows, once such equipment is in place, Zhang Liao's battle tactics will undoubtedly become the ultimate weapon on the battlefield!
But the difficulty lies precisely in that last small arrowhead.

No matter how much these craftsmen improved it, they could not meet the requirements.

There is a principle in arrow casting: the arrowhead cannot weigh more than three qian (a unit of weight), and the entire arrow cannot weigh more than ten qian (another unit of weight).

Once the target is exceeded, the arrow will lose its balance during flight, resulting in a reduction in attack range.

But what Liu Miao needs now is armor-piercing arrows.

For armor-piercing arrows, the arrowhead must be heavy! It must have enough force to penetrate the enemy's heavy armor!

Start with the shape.

Two-winged arrowheads, three-winged arrowheads.

Start with the way the arrowhead is connected to the shaft.

Solid round socket type and hollow socket type.

Then they tried to improve the materials of the arrow shaft and fletching, but still couldn't control the weight of the arrow to less than ten coins.

"Wen Yuan's tactics may need to be changed!"

Liu Miao did not continue to make things difficult for these experienced craftsmen.

Limited by materials, it was clearly wishful thinking to create arrowheads that were both armor-piercing and lightweight enough to carry.

Liu Miao was holding an arrow.

The arrowhead is slender and willow-leaf shaped, making it the most terrifyingly powerful long-range armor-piercing arrow, and also the lightest, weighing about seventeen coins.

He asked Zhang Liao, "Using this arrow, at what maximum distance can Wen Yuan lead his soldiers to defeat the target?"

Zhang Liao asked for the arrows, took the horn bow and tried shooting two arrows. Considering the headwinds that cavalry might encounter in combat, he finally came up with an answer—

"Fifty steps."

"enough?"

On a battlefield as dangerous as a cavalry duel, fifty paces is a distance that can vanish in the blink of an eye.

But after thinking for a moment, Zhang Liao nodded emphatically!
"can!"

"But I hope that Your Majesty can give me both of them!" Liu Miao was in high spirits: "Speak! Even if you want Youping and Zilie, I will send them to you!"

Before he could even notice Zhou Tai's murderous glare, Zhang Liao quickly shook his head and said, "It was General Han Dang and General Huang Gai."

"Ok?"

Liu Miao was surprised that Zhang Liao actually wanted the two men.

"Wen Yuan, have you thought this through? Those two are quite dissatisfied with your ranking as one of the twelfth most important generals. In addition, they are senior and experienced. Be careful that they don't disobey you."

Zhang Liao, however, didn't care about any of that.

"General Han Dang, hailing from Youzhou, is skilled in archery and horsemanship. General Huang Gai is brave and fearless, loyal and righteous. Both of them are outstanding generals of our time! If we were to ask who could command cavalry, it would probably be none other than these two."

Upon hearing this, Liu Miao shrugged helplessly: "Since Wen Yuan has made his decision, then I have nothing more to say! There's only one thing: if any mutiny occurs, I will be the first to execute you."

Liu Miao spoke in a calm tone, but those who knew him well knew that he meant it!

If Zhang Liao were merely using the pretext of training troops to target Han Dang and Huang Gai, thus instigating a mutiny, then regardless of Zhang Liao's achievements or abilities, Liu Miao would execute him!

"Here!"

Instead of being afraid, Zhang Liao bowed deeply to Liu Miao and made an agreement!
"Humph!"

Liu Miao, who had just been saying he wanted to kill Zhang Liao, suddenly smiled and stepped forward to put his arm around Zhang Liao's neck: "Now that we've finished our business, Wen Yuan, would you like to go for a stroll somewhere else?"

"Isn't this... bad?"

Zhang Liao wanted to offer some advice.

Although he didn't know where Liu Miao was taking him, Zhang Liao felt that the place was not a place for a respectable person like himself.

Now that we've at least rebuilt the Han Dynasty, we'll all be figures who will be remembered in history! But if we go to a place like that…

Before Zhang Liao could react, Liu Miao had already waved to the group of craftsmen behind him: "Let's go! Today it's my treat! Our target is the brothel!"

"Oh!!!!"

Things that are popular with everyone are naturally good things!

Besides, it's an invitation from the emperor; how could one refuse?

Zhou Tai, that old fox, had already booked the place in advance.

It's still the same bathhouse where you can soak.

Just like Xu Sheng's personal guards before.

These blacksmiths, who had spent half their lives forging iron and whose wealth and status had never been particularly high, seemed to have arrived in a heavenly palace. They looked around but were hesitant and timid, not even daring to touch the warm stones in the bath, let alone the scantily clad maids and dancers.

Liu Miao, however, was quite familiar with the place. He casually went to a bathhouse and soaked in it, then invited the old blacksmith who had forged the curved sword to soak in the pool next to him.

"Why isn't Grandpa staying in Yecheng anymore?"

The old blacksmith was terrified, thinking that Liu Miao was going to blame him. He wanted to get up, but also wanted to lie down, putting himself in a dilemma.

"I brought you here instead of to the palace because I didn't want to bother with all those formalities. Just say what you have to say, Grandfather! I will absolutely not blame you!"

With Liu Miao's assurance, the old blacksmith tried his best to put on a simple and honest smile: "Although life in Yecheng is good, it's not as comfortable as working outside! Sometimes when there's an emergency, I don't have to go through all sorts of trouble to ask for leave; I can just stop for two days."

"and……"

The old blacksmith stole a glance at Liu Miao.

"If you have good skills, you can actually earn more outside than you can working as a blacksmith for the government in Yecheng."

"Especially now that the soldiers need to provide their own weapons, they often spend a lot of money to buy weapons, so there is profit to be made."

Liu Miao nodded in agreement: "With a skill, you'll never go hungry, that's for sure!"

"I know about the products from Yecheng. They are plentiful and plentiful, but when it comes to quality, they are only so-so!"

Liu Miao looked at the old blacksmith's two pectoral muscles that were protruding from the bathwater.

"But in the end, I am somewhat reluctant to part with it."

“You are all talented! Putting aside everything else, just look at the forging techniques you used today, if no one were to teach you, I don’t know how long it would take for the new craftsmen in Yecheng to figure them out.”

The old blacksmith's heart skipped a beat: "Does His Majesty want us to return to Yecheng?"

Liu Miao raised his arm, creating a large splash of water, and waved to the other party.

"No need! Iron smelting is hard work! You've toiled your whole lives, you deserve a good rest. The elderly should be cared for, that's something I said myself back then, and I can't go back on my word."

Liu Miao soaked in the water, tapping the bricks and stones around the bath.

"I wish to emulate the Wendu Academy and establish a school in Jinling specifically for teaching iron smelting and other crafts. Therefore, I'm thinking of having you all become teachers!"

Ok?
The old blacksmith was utterly bewildered.

He never imagined that he, a rough and humble craftsman, could be associated with such a noble status as a "teacher"!
In his panic, the old blacksmith quickly shook his head: "How can this be allowed?"

"How can this not be allowed?"

Liu Miao retorted, "Shamans, doctors, musicians, and artisans all have their own teachers. How can someone who imparts scriptures be a teacher, but someone who imparts skills cannot be a teacher?"

"In matters of iron smelting, you can all be my teachers. Can't you also be teachers to others?"

　I have a bit of gout today and I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning... so the chapter at noon might be a little late. Please forgive me, dear readers!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)