I just wrote a love poem, how did that make me so powerful?

Several young blacksmiths nearby nodded in agreement.

"That's right, Brother Cheng is right."

"Trying to achieve what I just described isn't that easy."

"This request sounds difficult, it won't be easy to do."

They stood in a row with their arms crossed, though they didn't say anything offensive.

But his face seemed to say: What do you, a scholar, know about blacksmithing?

Xiao Mingyuan stood beside Xu Qing, fanning himself, and whispered something in her ear.

"Brother Qing, please bear with us. Our family has always treated craftsmen well, which has made them a little arrogant."

My sixth uncle had mentioned to my father a long time ago that we should put some pressure on them, just like other families, but my father disagreed, fearing that the quality would drop if we put pressure on them. You saw that, right?

If we don't put some pressure on them, they'll start to act like they own the place. They'll give us attitude even if I'm just standing there.

Upon hearing this, Xu Qing remained expressionless and responded in a low voice.

"Hehe, it's alright. Just watch how I make them submit."

He glanced at Cheng the blacksmith, his tone calm.

"Master Cheng, you said that forging a hundred-times-long piece of iron takes at least half a day, right? The cost isn't low."

Cheng the blacksmith snorted, "Of course, good steel isn't cheap."

Xu Qing nodded: "Then let's make a bet."

Cheng the blacksmith raised an eyebrow. "What are we betting on?"

Xu Qing laughed, "If I can reduce the cost of these steel bars to one-tenth of your original method, you'll all sign a pact and swear a solemn oath to never reveal the technique. Of course..."

Xu Qing glanced at the craftsmen again.

"We won't let you sign those dead-end contracts for nothing. Your wages will double. There will also be bonuses during holidays. How about it? Want to take the bet?"

Cheng the blacksmith and several young blacksmiths exchanged glances, their faces showing hesitation.

Finally, Cheng the blacksmith spoke first, his tone carrying a hint of probing.

"What if you can't do it?"

Xu Qing laughed and said, "If I can't do it, I'll take out one hundred taels of silver, and you can split it equally. Is that enough?"

Xiao Mingyuan also closed his fan and tapped his palm.

"Alright, if that's how it is, Mr. Xu, I'll also contribute one hundred taels, making a total of two hundred taels, which you can split equally."

Cheng the blacksmith whispered with a few people for a while, then he raised his head and stretched out his hand.

"Okay, let's do it!"

Xu Qing was not in a hurry to forge steel bars.

He led Cheng the blacksmith and a few others to build a small blast furnace in the open space outside the courtyard. The furnace chamber was larger than that of an ordinary blacksmith's furnace, and the furnace walls were rammed with layers of clay and broken tiles. Two long fire channels and a ventilation channel were also built next to the furnace.

Cheng the blacksmith looked at the two fire channels and muttered to himself.

"What is this thing? Why is it different from the others?"

Xu Qing ignored him and sent someone to buy some more coal.

When the coal was piled up in the yard, Cheng the blacksmith's face looked even uglier than before.

He and several craftsmen pointed at those things and spoke.

"Why did you bring coal? This stuff is poisonous. It's no good for smelting iron or forging. The heat won't be right, and the iron produced will be very brittle."

Xu Qing still didn't explain; he had the coal smashed into slightly smaller pieces.

He then directed them to lay a layer of fine coal powder mixed with broken clay at the bottom of the furnace. Next, they ignited the fire and began repeated smoldering at high temperatures.

The smoke from the coal traveled a long way along the fire channel before being expelled through the vent.

The heat left in the fire channel was stored up. After most of the day, the coal was burned into pieces of gray-black, loose material, which was much lighter than the original coal and had no strange smell.

Cheng the blacksmith leaned over, picked up a piece, rubbed it between his fingers, and then smelled it under his nose. His brows slowly furrowed.

The thing looked somewhat like charcoal, but it was more uniform and lighter.

He muttered to himself, "They really have changed. How come these scholars are like magicians?"

Xu Qing didn't give him much time to sigh. He directly ordered people to load the refined coal into the blast furnace, and then load in low-quality ironware bought from elsewhere.

I don't have any iron ore on hand right now, so I'll have to make do with what I have for now.

The small blast furnace was lit, and the formal iron smelting began.

After the furnace was lit, Xu Qing instructed the craftsmen to start blowing air into it using bellows.

Because an outer fire channel was set up.

The incoming cold air did not blow directly into the blast furnace, but instead heated up fully within the fire channel.

After the small blast furnace was built, the air had changed from ordinary air to hot air at high temperatures.

In this way, the heat from the fire channel surged upwards continuously, and the temperature inside the furnace was much higher than the charcoal fire that Cheng the blacksmith usually used.

What was originally a dark red charcoal fire has turned into a high-temperature fire that is white and bluish, even hotter than the best willow charcoal fire.

This scene left Cheng the blacksmith speechless.

"This...this, how is this possible? Those coals that were originally poisonous and unusable, after being refined, have become even more potent than willow charcoal?"

While Cheng the blacksmith was still in a daze.

The small blast furnace is already churning away...

……

About an hour later, dark red molten iron seeped from the bottom of the furnace.

When Cheng the blacksmith saw the flowing molten iron, he froze, his mouth agape for a long time.

He had been a blacksmith for most of his life, always forging semi-solid iron blocks repeatedly, and had never seen molten iron flow directly from the furnace.

After all, with their current technology, the furnace temperature is not high enough to melt iron into water.

Molten iron is poured into a sand mold, cooled, and then the rough billet is removed, reheated, forged, annealed, and quenched in the furnace.

After several steps, it takes more than twice as long as Cheng the blacksmith usually does to forge a steel bar.

When the last curved thin steel bar was clamped out.

Cheng the blacksmith reached out and touched the surface of the steel bar; it was smooth and even, with just the right amount of elasticity. He bent it with his hand, creating a beautiful arc, and then released it, allowing it to return to its original shape.

He held the steel bar, turning it over and over, for a long time before finally letting out a long sigh.

He looked up, and the way he looked at Xu Qing had completely changed.

"No willow charcoal, no hundred-refinement method, no steel-cladding, it's all done with just this little skill."

Several young blacksmiths nearby gathered around. One of them reached out and touched the steel bar, then touched the short knife hanging on his body, and compared them, but couldn't say a word.

Cheng the blacksmith looked at the steel bar in his hand, his voice becoming low and somber.

"This one rule alone could crush the competition. If word got out, all the blacksmith shops in Hengyang would have to close down."

After he finished speaking, he put down the steel bar.

He then bent his knees and knelt down with a thud.

The young blacksmiths behind him looked at each other and then knelt down as well.

Cheng the blacksmith said, completely convinced, "Mr. Xu, I spoke rudely before. I was ignorant. I will sign a death contract and swear a solemn oath that I will never tell anyone a word about it."

A young blacksmith next to him even raised his hand and slapped himself in the face.

"Mr. Xu, I had a foul mouth, I deserve to be hit."

The others also lowered their heads and kowtowed several times.

Xu Qing walked over and reached out to help Cheng the blacksmith up.

"Master Cheng, there's no need for that. We have no grudge against each other. We can just be more polite to each other when we work together in the future."

Cheng the blacksmith nodded repeatedly. "We wouldn't dare, we wouldn't dare! From now on, we'll do whatever you say. Just tell us what to do..."

At this moment, Xiao Mingyuan reached out and pulled something out...