Chapter 1: Military Equipment

  One morning in late autumn, in the Zhongnan Palace of Xianyang, King Ying Zheng was making his final preparations for the conquest of Zhao after annihilating Han. After discussing some details about supplies and logistics again, King Ying Zheng was about to dismiss the court.

  Suddenly, Fu Su spoke up and said: "Your Majesty, I have something to say!" Qin Wang Ying Zheng was taken aback, knowing that his son usually didn't speak much, but whenever he did, it was always something astonishing. So he smiled and said: "Prince, what's your opinion? Speak up!"

  Fu Su said respectfully: "Your Majesty, I am still young and cannot yet command troops or go into battle, but I wish to gain a deeper understanding of the military system and weapons manufacturing methods of our great Qin state, in preparation for the future. Therefore, I request that you issue me a pass that will allow me to freely enter and exit the army and the armories."

  "Oh, I see!" King Ying Zheng of Qin thought that Fu Su was still young and had never held any real position despite being seated at court meetings. He assumed that Fu Su felt depressed and wanted to go out for a stroll to clear his mind, so he agreed: "This is good too! Only by going deep into the military can you understand the greatness of our Qin army's power! After the court meeting, let's go to the South Study with Father Emperor to retrieve the command token!" "Yes!" Seeing King Ying Zheng agree, Fu Su couldn't help but smile with joy!

  The officials saw that Fu Su was so young, yet he knew how to go deep into the grassroots and experience the people's feelings. For a moment, they couldn't help but admire him greatly. However, Zhao Gao and Li Si's faction couldn't help but gradually develop a defensive attitude towards Fu Su, who had performed exceptionally well!

  The next day, the group of horses and carriages slowly left the palace and headed straight to the Qin state's central army barracks in the west of Shanglin Garden. This time, apart from Wu Xin and nine others who followed, there were only Che Fu, Che Qiong and Fu.

  Fu Su's mood at this time was extremely excited, after all, he was about to witness the true face of the world's most powerful military industry! He thought that Qin Guo had defeated the six nations' iron weapons with seemingly backward bronze weapons, and at most, Qin Guo's arsenal had to supply combat weapons for one million Qin troops at the same time. How many astonishing secrets were hidden in Qin Guo's arsenal?!

  When they arrived at the grand Central Arsenal, the massive and endless buildings couldn't help but leave everyone in awe: indeed, this was the Qin state's Central Arsenal, its scale truly astonishing! At this time, the Arsenal's foreman, Ji, had already been waiting at the gate. As Fu Su got off the carriage, Ji hastily came forward, bowing his head and respectfully saying: "Your humble servant, Arsenal Foreman Ji, pays respects to Young Master!"

  Fu Su smiled and said, "No need for formalities. In the next few days, I'll be coming to bother you every day, Master. As long as you don't mind the trouble!" Zou heard this and hastily replied, "How dare I? It's an honor for us, all 5,000 soldiers and craftsmen, that the young master is willing to inspect our work. How could we possibly say it's a bother?" Fu Su was taken aback by his words and asked, "5,000 people? Your workshop is so large?"

  He proudly replied, "Yes, this is the largest arsenal in Qin State, divided into five large workshops with more than 4,000 craftsmen and another 1,000 supervisors! The total number is over 5,000 people!"

  "Oh, I see!" Fu Su couldn't help but feel secretly shocked. After thinking for a moment, Fu Su said to Huo Feng and the other four women: "These military weapons are nothing special, you can just follow me if you want. You girls aren't very interested in this sort of thing, are you? Why don't you stay outside instead, or take my token and go hunting at Shanglin Park?" Huo Feng and the others batted their charming eyelashes and smiled meaningfully: "No need to, young master. Have you forgotten our origins? We're all very interested in Qin's military weapons!" Fu Su patted his forehead: almost forgot that they were disciples of Mo Men, these ingenious devices were Mo Men's specialty.

  The resolute and determined Fu Su made a swift decision, and then said to Gong Shi: "Then we'll have to trouble you, Master Craftsman, to take us on a tour!" "Yes, sir!" And so, the respectful and obedient Master Craftsman Gong led Fu Su and his companions into the vast and heavily guarded Arsenal of Qin.

  The First Chamber: Inside the Golden Stone Room.

  As Fu Su and his entourage entered the vast workshop, they were immediately hit with a wave of scorching heat. Although it was late autumn, sweat instantly appeared on their foreheads, as if they had just stepped into a steamer. Fu Su took a glance around and saw that in the vast workshop, countless Qin men were bare-chested, wearing only shorts that reached their knees, busily working away with sweat dripping from their brows like rain. The four women, including Huo Feng, couldn't help but blush, looking radiant and charming!

  They can be roughly divided into three categories: The first category of people are furnace workers, who guard the blazing fire in the furnace and control it with a bellows. On top of the furnace is placed a crucible containing various types of ore that gradually melt under high temperatures to produce relatively pure molten metal. The second category of people are responsible for continuously adding ore and transferring the molten metal, known as transfer workers. The third category of people are responsible for purifying, cooling, and forming ingots from the molten metal transferred by the transfer workers, known as casting workers!

  Looking at this bustling scene, Fu Su was deeply shocked: "The tacit understanding and proficiency of this cooperation can be compared to the industriousness of ants, how diligent are the people of this country!" He turned his head and asked loudly: "What kind of ore is being smelted here?" The other person also replied loudly: "Mainly bronze, then tin, iron is used very little!"

  Fu Su nodded and said, "What about the uses of copper, iron, and tin?" Ji Hui replied, "Copper and tin are mainly used to form alloys and forge various weapons. The reason why our Qin state has the most exquisite armor in the world is because we have a secret ratio for mixing copper and tin that has not been passed down!" Fu Su's heart itched with curiosity, so he asked, "Can you tell me?"

  He smiled and said: "Since the young master has the king's token, he naturally has the right to know. Otherwise, even if the general came, he would not be allowed to know. The proportion is like this, we have a few proverbs here:

  Six parts of it are gold and one part is tin, this is called the harmony of bell and cauldron.

  Five parts of gold and one part of tin make an axe head;

  Divide its metal into four parts and give one part to tin, it is called the standard of ge dagger-axe.

  Three parts of it are gold and one part is tin, this is called the standard for a large blade.

  Divide its metal into five parts, with tin occupying two of them; this is called the standard for arrows that can pierce and kill.

  Divide its gold and let tin occupy one part, it is called the standard of Jian's Zhi!

  "It means that if the golden water contains five parts of copper and one part of tin, it can be used to make bells and tripods because its hardness is relatively low. If the golden water contains four parts of copper and one part of tin, it can be used to cast swords because its hardness and toughness are moderate. If the golden water contains three parts of copper and one part of tin, it can be used to make spears, halberds, and other long-handled weapons because its hardness is relatively high. If the golden water contains two parts of copper and one part of tin, it can be used to make heavy armor because its hardness is even higher. And if the golden water contains three parts of copper and two parts of tin, it can only be used to make arrowheads and other small weapons because its hardness is too high to make anything large. And if the golden water contains equal parts of copper and tin, it can only be used to make chisels and awls because its hardness is the highest and cannot be used for anything else! These proportions are the secret of my Great Qin, and with these proportions, the swords and spears I cast are the sharpest in the world!"

  "Ah!" Fu Su couldn't help but nod secretly when he heard this historical secret. He had also learned in his chemistry class that the amount of tin in a copper-tin alloy determined the hardness and strength of bronze products, with more tin making them harder but also more brittle. This precise ratio was later verified by advanced science, but in ancient times when science and technology were underdeveloped, it's unknown how many craftsmen from Qin spent years accumulating this valuable experience. They too had a share in the credit for defeating the six states!

  Suddenly thought of the use of iron and other metals, he asked: "What about iron water? What is it usually used for?" Zou smiled and said: "Iron water is generally mixed with some other minerals to make plows, hoes, and rakes. We in Qin rarely use iron to make weapons because it's too brittle and prone to breaking. It's not suitable for direct forging, let alone making weapons. However, the six nations of Guandong are better at making iron weapons than we are, but their iron weapons can't compare with our bronze ones in terms of sharpness and durability! That's why Qin can dominate the world with its military might!"

  "Oh, I see!" Fu Su thought to himself: It seems that the development of iron tools is still quite immature, and the utilization of iron tools is still at the initial stage of pig iron. It's probably not possible to increase the furnace temperature to this level yet. I estimate that it will take until the Han Wu Emperor era for a more mature iron-making technique to develop, but now it's too early. As for the current Gan Jiang and Mo Ye, those divine irons are not ordinary irons, but rather use meteorites that exist in extremely small quantities in nature, which cannot be mass-produced. According to modern experts' estimates: at a furnace temperature of around 1000 degrees, iron ore is smelted into pig iron, but this iron is too soft and has poor usability, with no practical value; while using a bellows to increase the temperature by another 200 degrees or so results in wrought iron, which can only be used for casting general iron tools, because it's too brittle and prone to breaking, still not meeting the standards for weapons. Only after undergoing processes like annealing, forging, and quenching on top of wrought iron can it be used to manufacture weapons. It seems that the current iron production technology in Qin is still at the stage of wrought iron, while the six nations of Guandong have gone a step further, mastering the initial precision processing techniques for wrought iron!

  Thinking of this, Fu Su nodded with a preliminary understanding of the production of various national weapons: "Then let's go to the next workshop and take a look!" "Yes sir!" Ji Liang hurriedly walked ahead, leading the way for Fu Su and the others.