Chapter 6: Building the Furnace and Refining Steel

  The next day, Lei Meng gathered his troops outside the city of White River and solemnly announced the news of the ceasefire. The entire army erupted in jubilation at this powerful message, with many people crying tears of joy. However, it was a reminder that countless soldiers had not lived to see this day, having fallen on the battlefield.

  "Long live General Lei! Long live General Yang!......" Cheers shook off the flying clouds.

  Lei Meng stood on the high platform, stretched out his hand and pressed down, his voice gradually decreasing in volume until it was completely silent. He cleared his throat and said: "I know that all of you are joyful at this moment, but also miss your loved ones who are far away, and remember the comrades who have fallen. However, this is not the best time for us to meet again, as we may be destroyed at any moment. If anyone wants to leave now, I won't stop them..."

  Soldiers, you look at me, I look at you. No one could have imagined that after the victory, Lei Meng would suddenly say such a thing. After all, those who are still here are brothers who have gone through several life-and-death battles together.

  "Now there's something to consider, we can leave tonight. The city gate will be wide open tonight, whoever wants to leave can leave." Lei Meng felt a bit downhearted, after all, who wouldn't want their brothers by their side? But everyone has their own difficulties, and who has the right to bind others from leaving?

  Some people have a restless mind, their eyes darting back and forth as they calculate in their hearts. Others have resolute eyes, vowing to follow the thunder to the death. But more people are worried between their eyebrows, yet still expressionless, still persisting without leaving.

  Lei Meng gazed at the massive army, though chaotic in appearance, yet not disorderly. In his heart, he secretly nodded in approval - this army was now possessed of a soul. He exclaimed: "Beloved officers and soldiers, in our next plan, General Yang Tianyang will organize and impart martial arts training to the entire army. Within two or three years at most, five or six years at least, you will all become masters!"

  The soldiers heard this and stared at Lei Meng with sparkling eyes, concentrating on listening. Which of the surviving advisors was not a good fighter or a good martial artist?

  "I believe that by then, you should be able to visit your loved ones freely. If there are still difficulties at that time, I, Lei Meng, will definitely provide full assistance!" Lei Meng said with great enthusiasm.

  "Hurray! Hurray!" With a promising future ahead and the ability to learn martial arts, he naturally gained the unanimous support of his generals.

  "Maybe not now, but I believe that in the near future, Shirakawa with many skilled people will be the safest place!" Raimu continued to stir up.

  "Hurray! Hurray!" The soldiers were easily stirred up and shouted loudly.

  "I hereby announce the deployment of city defense: Yang Tian will be in charge of Baihe City, commanding 7,000 troops, with Mr. Wen as military advisor to assist in city defense and governance; Luoyang Tian will be in charge of Hexi City, commanding 2,000 troops, with Mr. Huang as military advisor to assist in city defense and governance; while I will lead 2,000 troops to garrison Baishan Mountain. We set out tomorrow!" Lei Ming's voice was like thunder, stirring the morale of the army, and soon everyone fell silent, listening to his arrangement.

  The next morning, when the roll was called, it was found that only eight hundred and thirty-one men were missing. It seemed that not many had deserted. The army then dispersed according to yesterday's arrangement by General Lei, and after settling down, they followed the previous plan to instruct the soldiers in martial arts...

  Time flies, and it's been half a year. The soldiers' martial arts have improved rapidly under Yang Tian's training and the Elite Camp's teachings. They've basically learned a set of solid skills. With these troops, they could easily annihilate 50,000 people if they were to fight against the former Hua Tian Army again.

  The military strength has increased a lot, and Lei Ming has also brought Luoyang Tian to Baishan to practice martial arts. One day, Lei Ming took Lin Chong, Liao Yun, and Luoyang Tian to the depths of Baishan for training. There were tall pine trees scattered around, with small trees under them.

  Standing in front of the pine tree, looking at the trunk with a diameter of nearly two meters, touching the rough and dark bark, Lei Meng felt a silent sigh, only these unopened places have such big trees...

  His hair had grown a lot longer, and since there was no barber around, he simply tied his short hair back with a hemp rope. It actually looked much neater than before when it was messy. His white skin and sharp eyebrows complemented his starry eyes, making him look very spirited.

  Lei Meng turned his head, looking at the three people of Luoyang Tian standing in a straight line, slightly raised his head and said: "The environment here is not bad, you three can practice martial arts here." After finishing speaking, he sat down cross-legged on the ground, closed his eyes and meditated.

  Luoyang Tian was in awe of the increasingly majestic thunder, and with a slight bow, he went to find an empty space to practice his martial arts.

  The sun gradually shifted westward, and Lei Meng felt that his internal strength training had become even more refined. However, as time passed, he didn't know how the other three were doing, so he opened his eyes and stood up. He saw that the red glow was everywhere, with distant and nearby pine trees all having a reddish tint around them. The clouds in the sky were also beautifully colored, occasionally with birds flying across the horizon, passing through the red sun, leaving behind an empty, clear echo. The world between heaven and earth was one of elegant beauty.

  Lei Meng Zhang looked around for a moment, but didn't see the three people, nor did he hear any sound. He then let out a long sigh and said: "Return!"

  The mountains echoed with a lingering sound, "Return! ~ Return! ~"

  A voice echoed from the nearby valley: "Coming!"

  Then, three figures were seen rushing from the mountain valley towards Leiyun, and in the blink of an eye, Liao Yun appeared in front with a black object that reflected light.

  Liao Yun's face was flushed with excitement as he panted: "Master! We found this thing! I don't know what it's used for?"

  Lei Meng stared straight at Liao Yun's hand and asked: "Where did you find this?!"

  "In the valley!" Liao Yun pointed to the road they had come from.

  "Lead the way!"

  Luoyang Tian and the three of them had not yet caught their breath, when they turned around and ran towards the mountain valley again. Lei Meng followed lightly behind the three of them, watching as they desperately ran, he hummed a sentence: "The three of you are not skilled in lightness kung fu! You still need to practice more!" The three of them were greatly embarrassed, desperate running was still criticized!

  Before long, they arrived at the valley and saw a collapse of about 10 meters square in the valley. There were some dark things exposed there.

  Lei Meng looked delighted in his heart, a smile spread across his face, and he laughed out loud, saying: "Haha, I didn't expect to find an open-pit coal mine here!"

  Luoyang Tian and three others looked at each other in dismay, it turned out that this was a coal mine, but what's the use of this? I don't know.

  "Master, what's the use of this... coal mine?" Liao Yun asked weakly.

  "This can burn fire and its temperature is much higher than that of firewood." Leiming was overjoyed, "With this, we can develop industry now."

  "Industry?" Liao Yun's mind was filled with countless question marks, "What is industry?"

  "Never mind all that, just knowing it's enough!" Lei Meng knew it would be hard to explain for the time being. "Each of you take two pieces and follow me down the mountain."

  Back in the White Mountain City, the sky had already turned completely dark. The city was dotted with lanterns that illuminated the dark land, and there were also calls to eat dinner that warmed people's hearts. Lei Meng Si returned to the city lord's mansion, where soldiers had already served up food.

  Looking at the delicious food on the table, smelling the tempting aroma, the four people's stomachs couldn't help but rumble. Leiming sat down with a loud thud, picked up his bowl and started eating, only to suddenly realize that three people hadn't arrived, staring blankly at the coal pieces in his hand.

  Lei Meng's mouth was chewing on a piece of fat meat, and he said with a snort: "What are you standing there stupidly for? Put down the coal, wash your hands and eat!"

  The three of them heard this and were overjoyed, quickly putting the coal blocks at the foot of the wall. They rushed out to wash off the black coal stains on their hands, then rushed back in and sat down, wolfing down their food.

  After dinner, Lei Ming called the soldiers to bring a torch and then put the coal in the middle of the yard. He crushed one piece with his foot and piled them together, igniting them with the torch. In the darkness, the coal emitted a red flame, followed by a faint pungent smell that irritated the nose.

  "Hehe, indeed it's on fire." Lei Meng looked at the burning coal with great joy. However, the three from Luoyang couldn't see any use for it, it was just burning firewood, which could be found everywhere, was it worth being so excited about?

  Lei Meng turned around and faced the three puzzled people, saying: "Tomorrow, have a thousand soldiers carry poles to dig coal, dig it back and burn it!"

  Then he muttered to himself, wondering where the iron ore was. Such a big white mountain, would it have some? Thinking of this question, he called Luo Yangtian again and ordered him to send two thousand soldiers to dig around on White Mountain to see if there were any mineral deposits.

  In just a few days, the coal mines brought back by the soldiers piled up like mountains, and the black piles were placed outside the city, attracting soldiers and residents to watch and discuss. Luoyang Tian gradually became worried, will this thing be burned away like this? Is it useful to waste the soldiers' energy to chop firewood? Seeing that Lei Ming didn't urge carefully, he ordered the soldiers to reduce the amount of digging.

  Hard work pays off for those who are diligent. After a month had passed, a soldier finally brought back a black stone with a metallic luster. Lei Meng took the heavy ore and examined the dense granular crystals on its surface, which seemed very hard. He tapped it gently with his Tang knife and found that it could slightly attract the blade.

  "Good! I've really found it!" Lei Ming was so excited that he let out a loud whoop, startling Lin Chong, who took a step back.

  "How is it? Is it useful?" Lin Chong asked cautiously.

  "Hmm, not bad, should be iron ore. Go find a blacksmith's house and we'll smelt it." Lei Ming was eager to test it out, but suddenly remembered that they didn't know how much of the ore there was. If they only had this one piece in their hands, what would be the point of smelting it? He raised his head and asked: "Uh... how much did you bring back?"

  "Only the one in your hand." Lin Chong was embarrassed.

  "Hurry up and get two loads back!" Leiming urged, but upon testing, he found that the ore was too little, and his heart felt really uncomfortable.

  Lin Chong personally went to the front lines, spending half a day selecting and bringing back four loads of ore. Meanwhile, Lei Ming also requisitioned a small ironwork shop in the city and added bellows to the refining furnace.

  In his excitement, Lei Meng added a large amount of coal to the furnace, poured in two loads of ore, ignited the coal, and had Lin Chong blow air into it with a bellows until sunset, when four large metal ingots were produced.

  "Lei Meng Ha Ha burst out laughing: 'This industry has finally found its footing!'"

  Watching the thunderous laughter, Luoyang Tian, Lin Chong and Liao Yun looked at each other in dismay. Didn't they just refine a few pieces of metal? Any blacksmith can do that, is it worth being so excited about?

  After dinner, Lin Chong looked at Lei Ming who was still beaming with joy and couldn't help but ask: "Master, this iron refining is a skill of blacksmiths, I don't know what you're so happy about?"

  Lei Ming stopped smiling and said, "What do you think of this Tang sword?" Lin Chong had long been eyeing Lei Ming's Tang sword, thinking that Lei Ming had found the ore and was going to give it to him. He drooled and said, "This is a divine weapon, I've been looking forward to it for a long time!"

  Luoyang Tianhe and Liao Yun looked at Lin Chong's move with envy, wishing they were the ones speaking, while secretly resenting that they weren't the ones who found the mine.

  "Ah, yes! This Tang sword is a divine weapon! But it's not for you. Hurry up and wipe the saliva from your mouth!"

  "Haha!" Luoyang Tian and Liao Yun burst out laughing, seeming to balance their emotions with the laughter. Lin Chong awkwardly wiped his mouth corner.

  Lei Meng continued: "With iron ore and coal, we can smelt our own iron, even steel. If we really smelt good iron, then forging such a precious sword will be easy."

  The three people from Luoyang listened intently, their hearts burning with eagerness as they gazed at Lei Ming, waiting for him to continue.

  "In the south of the city, by the river, build a large furnace and gather some blacksmiths to forge weapons. Soldiers who are willing to learn can also participate, anyway they're idle now." Lei Meng was delighted in his heart and casually circled out an area for iron refining.

  Time flies, and two months have passed in the blink of an eye. Leiming personally took charge, directing soldiers and civilians to build a simple small blast furnace. Although many processes cannot be completed, it is no problem to only make large-scale iron smelting.

  Many iron tools in the city were bought out and used to build furnaces, which caused great inconvenience to residents, with complaints filling the air. However, after five or six days, when the first furnace of iron was smelted, the supply of iron in the city became extremely abundant, making residents feel that the sky seemed bluer and the air fresher.

  Yang Tian and Mr. Wen, who rushed over upon hearing the news, were also delighted beyond words. Now, they didn't have to worry about the problem of weapons anymore, and they could even make money from it.