43. Locking armor, Qing Tang armor, Plank armor

  Regarding whether China's iron and steel industry was ahead of or behind the West before modern times, the Chinese metallurgical history community had diametrically opposed views. However, even the "Ting" faction had to admit that at least in terms of metal wire drawing technology, China was far behind the West. Therefore, Zheng Kecang decided to focus on improving and absorbing this technology as the so-called "second fire".

  "If we go back to the country, I haven't heard of any silk extraction work." The officials and craftsmen in Zheng's Ministry of Works were mostly southerners from Fujian and Zhejiang provinces, so it was understandable that they didn't know about the Ming dynasty's Imperial Household Department's specialized unit for metal wire production. "But as for iron wires, the Ministry of Works still has craftsmen who can make them."

  "Would you be so kind as to arrange for a craftsman to demonstrate it to me, Sir Liu?"

  Zheng Kezang demanded as such, and before long, a manual wire drawing machine consisting of a wooden bench, a perforated iron mold, and pliers was placed in front of him. A sturdy craftsman inserted the tapered iron rod into the hole of the iron mold on the wooden bench and pulled it out with pliers, pulling out a metal strip much thinner than the original iron rod. Then, he replaced it with an even smaller hole to pull out an even thinner iron rod, until he drew out the iron wire of the size required by Zheng Kezang.

  "How many iron wires can a craftsman like you produce in one day?" Zheng Kezang's tone was not questioning, but rather accusatory, clearly dissatisfied with the current production efficiency. "Forget it, forget it, I have a draft here, Lord Liu can try to make one." Zheng Kezang's method used a pulley system to wind and lift, under the same initial conditions, using animal or water power to drive, with constant force to pull multiple iron wires into shape at once. "I'm waiting for the result?"

  The iron wire drawn out by the wire drawing machine is mainly used to make the iron ring of the chain armor. With these wires and rings, an ordinary armorer can produce a complete chain armor that covers the head and neck every two months, even if his weaving skills are still poor. Later, when he becomes more skilled, he can produce two or more sets in one month.

  Due to the weight of the lock armor being borne by the shoulders and head, it can effectively protect against sword slashes and spear thrusts, and at a certain distance, it can also protect against arrow shooting. Therefore, although it cannot be compared with the already eliminated Gothic or super-Gothic full-body knight armor in Europe, its protective power is sufficient for Zheng's army to face the unarmored Green Camp directly, and compared with the double-layered cotton armor of the Eight Banners soldiers, although not as cheap and easy to produce, it is suitable for Taiwan where cotton and cotton products are scarce.

  "The results of the trial are as I expected, Lord Liu and several masters have worked hard." A word from a superior can keep subordinates busy for several months, but it's good to see the desired result. Zheng Kezang was still very satisfied. "Lord Liu, do you know how many kilograms of iron wire such a machine can produce in a month?"

  "If we go back to the country, if the iron supply is not lacking, one wire drawing machine can produce 1,500 catties of iron wire in a month." Seeing Zheng Kezang's eyes flashing, Liu Tong, the Ministry of Works' official, hastily explained. "The iron material used for wire drawing needs to be fired again and cannot be pulled into the required size at once, so..."

  "1,500 catties?" Zheng Kezang calculated for a moment. One suit of chain armor would require about 25 catties of iron wire. With one machine producing iron wire per month, it could guarantee the production of at least sixty suits of chain armor, which should be enough for now. Besides, there wasn't more pig iron available to supply the wire-drawing machines. "Then let's build two more, with one as a spare." Zheng Kezang made his decision. "All the produced iron wire will be supplied to the production of chain armor."

  "Alright!" This time Liu Tong's response was much more powerful than that first time he was asked to try making a silk reeling machine.

  But Suozi armor was only part of Zheng Kezang's improvement on the ironwork factory, what comes next is the real focus.

  "Hey! Tang Lao Si, why aren't you working hard at the porcelain kiln? What are you doing here?" In the Chun Ri workshop, one of the iron foundries under the Ministry of Works, several rough-looking smelting workers looked at the newcomers who were busy constructing something and couldn't help but tease them. "Could it be that your place isn't providing food, so you've come to swindle food from us?"

  "Li Wu, your old man only knows how to spout nonsense," the other side was busy but still had the energy to exchange verbal blows. "Your Tang master isn't idle either, the wronged department has orders for us to help you build a few water-powered hammers, if you want to invite me, I wouldn't come to this broken place anyway?"

  "This water-powered hammer, I've seen it before. However, those with great force are slow, while those that are fast have little power, neither is suitable for forging objects." To say the least, whether it's drawing silk or forging iron, neither is actually the task of the Ironworks Bureau. It's just that Zheng Kezang didn't want to keep interfering with the Ministry of War's arsenal, so he set up a small workshop under the jurisdiction of the Ironworks Bureau's Yu Hengqing Deputy Officer. "Is this grand setup not a bit extravagant?"

  "Extravagant?" Zheng Kezang looked at Liu Tong with a smile. "Does Lord Liu know what Qingtang Sui's armor is?" In fact, Sui's armor did not come from the Qingtang region, but was a product of the Western Xia Dangxiang people, known as the most solid armor of that era. "This armor is forged without heating at all, and is entirely hammered by human force. Does Lord Liu think our craftsmen have so much time and energy to forge such armor?" Zheng Kezang pointed to the water-powered hammer being built. "But they can!"

  Zheng Kezang said with his mouth, but in his heart, he felt a sense of helplessness. To be honest, the 500-jin (a unit of weight) hammer was already sufficient for making armor, but if he wanted to create a steel cannon with overwhelming range advantage, the hammer would need to be at least 10 tons or 20 tons. However, making a 200,000-jin level precision iron hammer was not a simple task. Not to mention that Dongning only produced 100,000 jin of pig iron per month, and there wasn't enough iron material for him to waste, even if he had that much iron material and made it into a steam hammer, Zheng Kezang didn't have the power to drive it - by then, water-powered machines were completely useless, and how to manufacture a steam engine was something that he couldn't overcome, as he could only search for information online and do some copy-pasting.

  Of course, Zheng Kezang's helplessness was only temporary. Although he could not surpass the current level of technology, the application of cold forging armor and lock armor was already sufficient to deal with all types of bows and arrows currently equipped by the Qing army. Moreover, he also planned to hire Venetian craftsmen to come to Taiwan to teach how to produce Zheng military iron armor (European plate armor) with a hardness of over HV500, toughness over 100J/cm2, and using arc-shaped hard shell structure, in order to defend against the not-so-excellent bird guns in the hands of the Qing army.

  "Your Highness, forgive me for speaking bluntly, but the wooden armor that was popular during the Knights' era has lost its due effect in the face of firearms." Upon hearing Zheng Kechang's request, Steven Stevenson, the new director of Yinggui Li Commercial Hall, made a very Westernized shrugging motion. "Of course, a considerable number of traditional craftsmen in Venice went bankrupt because wooden armor is no longer popular?"

  "Master Shi," Zheng Kezang cut off the other party's words, which still had some lingering meaning, and asked directly. "You only need to tell me if you can invite him or not, if your side can't do it, I will ask for help from Macau, Luzon, or even Japan, they should be happy to see it happen."

  Zheng Kezang's tone made Stevenson narrow his bright blue eyes, but Stevenson understood that the rulers of the East had always been strong, and if they couldn't use even stronger military force to suppress their opponents, they could only follow the other party's meaning. Britain was a latecomer in East Asia, and he couldn't be tough on this point.

  "Since Your Highness insists, we naturally won't miss out on making money, but this will take time, at least a year and a half."

  "Alright, a year and a half is still within the acceptable timeframe." Zheng Kezang ordered someone to bring out a tray of silver ingots. "Here are 200 taels of silver as a deposit, please accept it." Stevenson counted them briefly and didn't even bother to have someone weigh them, then set the silver aside. "This matter is settled," looking at Stevenson's smile, which had returned to its usual merchant-like appearance, Zheng Kezang continued. "I'll have Liu Daren help you sign the contract later, I won't interfere anymore. By the way, when can the black slaves I ordered last time arrive?"

  "Your Highness, it takes three months to get from the Cape to Bombay, and another month from Bombay to East Africa," Stevenson explained. "Although the Muslim states of East Africa have a market for slaves that doesn't require our people to go deep into the continent to capture them, even so, the round trip would take at least eight or nine months, isn't Your Highness being a bit too impatient?"

  "The last ship to depart during the sugar season," Zheng Kezang calculated. "So, it seems we won't be able to discuss this until after the new year?" Stevenson nodded. "Alright then, let's talk about it later." The matter was put on hold for now, but Zheng Kezang didn't make a special trip to Beihuangwei Island just for these two matters. "I also need one hundred sailmakers, can your side help resolve this?"

  "This seems rather difficult," said Stevenson with a forced smile. "Unless we also go to Europe to recruit, I'm afraid that even if we gather all the European sailors living in India along the coast, we may not have as many as 100 people."

  "Perhaps the owner has exaggerated a bit?" Zheng Kecang's gaze had something in it that made Stevenson feel uneasy. "How many European ships are there along the coast from the Ming to Tianzhu? Doesn't each ship have sailmakers and repairmen on board? Can they not gather more than a hundred people here?"

  "Your Highness must be mistaken." Stevenson hastened to explain. "Sewing and sail-making are entirely different things, making European soft sails requires specialized techniques, usually only found in specialized craftsmen in ports on the European mainland, while those who can do it on board can only sew and mend at the edges of broken holes."

  "Is that so? I'd like to go back and ask those barbarian ship instructors." Zheng Kezang didn't entirely believe the British man's words. "Also, our province still needs ten craftsmen who can make striking clocks and ten craftsmen who can make glass. Can your esteemed side help find them one by one?"

  "This?" The self-sounding bell and glass products were the Europeans' opening wedge into the Asian market, how could the British bear to hand over this resource? "It's probably a bit difficult."

  "Since that's the case, then forget it." Zheng Kezang understood that if he couldn't get it from the British, then he definitely wouldn't be able to get it from the Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch who were even more entrenched in East Asia. He gave up on this idea. "Then just help me buy twenty Andalusian stallions instead, don't say you can't even do that."

  "Please rest assured, Your Highness, I will do my utmost."

  "All right, I still need ten carriage makers who can make four-wheeled horse carriages, what else?"