Chapter 1 Young Blacksmith Apprentice
In the year 397 of the Qian calendar, the Daqian Dynasty had its main camp in Nanling and the southern blacksmith camp.
In early July, the sun is blazing.
"Ding Dong! Ding Dong!"
Strong men, shirtless, went into battle, and the sound of hammers and anvils clashed one after another, like the beating of war drums, resounding through the sky.
There are all kinds of weapons including swords, guns, crossbows and arrows.
A strong man with bulging muscles and a strong aura was constantly patrolling the blacksmith, shouting loudly as he walked.
"Two cowards Daliang and Dachen teamed up to invade the border. There was a fierce battle on the border and there was a severe shortage of weapons. The Foundry Department took on the big job of forging 30,000 steel knives, 10,000 spears, and 200,000 feather arrows within 20 days! ”
"Of the four major blacksmith camps in the southeast, northwest, and south, our southern blacksmith camp has the least share of work, only 10%!"
"I have rounded my arms, raised my hammer, and opened my eyes! Although we have a small number of people in the South Blacksmith Camp, we cannot let others look down upon us!"
The blacksmiths kept moving in their hands, making loud clinking sounds.
The blacksmith shop, which was already frighteningly hot, was even more heated now, and even the blood seemed to be boiling.
The strong man wandered from the tempering area to the burning area.
There are basically blacksmith apprentices here, who are responsible for the simplest work of lighting fires.
It is said to be simple, but in fact there are many skills. People who are not sufficiently savvy can only get started after three to five years.
The strong man was too lazy to teach these apprentices one by one. He only shouted: "Burning fire is the best test of eyesight. It will make your eyes widen. Master the size of the fire well. It can't be burned like a girl." Heck, you can’t hit it hard enough to lose even a little bit of skin!”
While he was talking, the strong man slapped the apprentice next to him on the head whose face was covered in black from the charcoal fire.
"What are you doing with so much charcoal, idiot!"
The apprentice was beaten so hard that there were stars in his eyes, but he didn't dare to complain.
The man in front of me is Zhao Yankui, one of the three masters of the South Blacksmith Camp. During this year's regular test, he may be promoted to deputy master craftsman.
Although he is not an official of the ninth or eighteenth rank of Daqian, he is still a serious official.
Even the formal blacksmiths were trained like grandsons by him, and few of them could catch his eye. How dare a young apprentice call out?
At this time, there was a "whoosh" sound from the side. Zhao Yankui turned around and saw a young man whose face was roasted like a sweet potato. He held a piece of pig iron that had been burned until it was red in both hands and pulled it out of the high-temperature stove.
The originally black iron block was now bright red, like a freshly picked ripe cherry.
The young man rushed to the hammering area with two fire tongs and gave the burned pig iron to the two blacksmiths.
The two blacksmiths only glanced at each other and then exclaimed in admiration: "Jiang Lin, you are getting better and better at mastering the heat. You can use the iron you burn to make weapons much better than others!"
The young man named Jiang Lin was full of humility: "It depends on the superb skills honed by the masters. I have only scratched the surface, and I am still far from it."
"You kid..." The two blacksmiths laughed and looked at the young man with admiring eyes.
Jiang Lin didn't have time to stop, so he ran back to the fire area, picked up two pieces of iron, and put them back into the stove.
After staring at the fire for a few seconds, he reached out and picked up a few pieces of black coal from the side and added it to the fire. He stepped on the bellows under his feet, and suddenly the fireworks rose and the temperature soared.
Others can only burn one piece of iron at a time, but he burns two pieces at the same time.
Others stare at the fire, sometimes afraid that the temperature is too high, and sometimes afraid that the temperature is too low.
But the flame in his furnace always maintains a stable high temperature, so the heating speed is naturally much faster.
In the same effort as others to burn a piece of iron, he has already sent it to the tempering area two or three times, and the efficiency is more than five times greater.
He was covered in sweat, but he didn't have time to wipe it off, so beads of sweat as big as soybeans hit the ground.
Jiang Lin's eyes were sharp, staring at the flames and iron blocks, as if all the people and things around him had nothing to do with him. This kind of concentration was difficult for ordinary people to match.
At this time, a towel was placed around his neck, and a bottle of water was put to his mouth.
Jiang Lin turned around and saw Zhao Yankui squatting next to him giving him water. He quickly stood up: "Master..."
"Business with you." Zhao Yankui spoke to him in a tone that was not as vicious as the others. Seeing that Jiang Lin had difficulty with his hands, Zhao Yankui even unplugged the kettle and fed him water.
Gulu, Gulu——
Jiang Lin was also very thirsty. He drank most of the bottle in one gulp before shaking his head slightly to indicate that he was done.
Zhao Yankui moved the kettle away from his mouth, glanced at the flames in the stove, and then reached out and patted the young man's shoulder several times.
“Well done.”
Just four words, but it aroused the envy, jealousy and hatred of a large number of apprentices around him.
Zhao Yankui's evaluation of them has always been two-character words, such as idiot, waste, blind, etc.
For them, it is a great thing not to be scolded by the master. How about praise?
It’s harder than climbing to the sky!
There are only a handful of people in the South Blacksmith Camp who can praise Zhao Yankui, and there is only one apprentice among them, and that is Jiang Lin.
From the chores of transporting charcoal to adding charcoal to starting a fire alone, it doesn't sound difficult. Other apprentices have to practice for at least two years to cross these three steps.
Jiang Lin, it’s been less than a month since I came to Nan Blacksmith Camp.
Damn it, what a monster!
"Would you like to try tempering?" Zhao Yankui suddenly asked.
Jiang Lin was startled, then asked happily: "Is it okay?"
"Your fire-making skills are ready to be mastered. There is nothing wrong with trying to refine them in advance. Come to me after these two pieces of iron are burned." Zhao Yankui stood up and left.
The apprentice closest to him was full of jealousy: "Jiang Lin, are you still going to let others live? You have only been here for a month and you are about to start learning how to temper!"
"Yes, if you do this, no wonder we always get scolded by the master, it's too much!" Others also agreed.
In the eyes of these people, they were scolded not because of their dishonesty, but because Jiang Lin was so expressive.
Jiang Lin didn't even look at these people, still staring at his stove: "I'll go to the tempering area to talk to the master later, don't scold you because I delivered it too quickly."
The others' faces turned pale when they heard this, you really want us to die!
They cursed secretly in their hearts, but did not dare to say anything more. Just such an interruption caused the iron in their hands to burn even worse.
Jiang Lin didn't care what these people thought, because he knew very well that the two sides were not on the same page.
If nothing else, after he became an official blacksmith, these people would still be struggling in the burning area.
Another point is that Jiang Lin is not a native of the Daqian Dynasty. To be precise, he is not a native of this world at all.
After a car accident on Blue Star, he traveled to the Daqian Dynasty and became a blacksmith apprentice.
After a few days of hesitation and confusion, I began to try to adapt and integrate into this new world. From just watching and doing odd jobs, he is now responsible for lighting the fire and is recognized by the master master and other blacksmiths.
He already has a place in the South Blacksmith Camp.
But as an apprentice, you have to wait for the master blacksmiths to finish eating, and any leftovers belong to the apprentices.
You can't even sit on a chair, you have to carry a bowl to the side and squat down to eat.
Even when sleeping, one can only spread some straw under the eaves of an official blacksmith's house, pick up a piece of brick as a pillow, and be exposed to the wind, sun and rain.
We have had enough of this kind of life for a long time.
Jiang Lin wants to have a house of his own, and wants to be able to sit on a chair and eat in a dignified manner!
No one hopes to become an official blacksmith sooner than he does.
His heart was agitated, but Jiang Lin still stared at the stove intently. No matter what the result of trying to temper in advance, the job in hand must be done well first.
Not long after, the two iron embryos were burning red, and Jiang Lin sent them to the tempering area.
Check out the 16-9 book bar and see the correct version!
Zhao Yankui saw it from a distance and shouted: "Hong Xiuping, let Jiang Lin try that embryo."
As the master of the Southern Blacksmith Camp, Zhao Yankui's shout immediately attracted the attention of almost everyone.
They are all familiar with Jiang Lin. From being just novices at the beginning, in less than a month, their fire-making skills have become almost perfect.
Everyone knew that Jiang Lin would definitely become one of the official blacksmiths in the future, but they didn't expect that he would try to forge it so soon.
Hong Xiuping handed the sledgehammer in front of Jiang Lin and said with a smile: "Then you come and try, I will hold the embryo for you."
The blacksmiths and apprentices continued to do their own things, but they couldn't help but glance over.
They wanted to know what kind of performance this young man with a demonic talent in fire-burning skills would have in tempering skills.
Will it be as amazing as burning a fire?
Jiang Lin held the handle of the hammer and lifted it up. In front of everyone's attention, he stared at the iron embryo in front of him and smashed it down hard.
Bang——
After the sound, the blacksmith shop quickly burst into laughter.
Jiang Lin's hammer hit the edge of the iron embryo and bounced back, almost hitting Hong Xiuping's face. The blacksmith was so frightened that he even threw the tongs and stepped back.
It's normal to not be able to find the right point when holding a hammer for the first time, but Jiang Lin has been too popular in the past.
Especially the apprentices, when they saw him making a fool of himself, their hearts dropped immediately.
No matter how good he is at making fire, he doesn't have much outstanding talent in tempering skills, so he thought he was that good.
Hong Xiuping came over and took the sledgehammer from Jiang Lin's hand, and said with fear on his face: "You'd better practice more, this hammer can't be used by just anyone. It doesn't matter if you break the iron embryo, but it will be troublesome if you break the person."
Zhao Yankui glanced at it from a distance. It was normal for the first hammer to hit it crookedly. It can only be said that the result was not surprising.
As for Jiang Lin himself, after apologizing to Hong Xiuping, he returned to the fire area.
Several apprentices nearby immediately laughed and said: "How about it, Blacksmith Jiang, is the hammer easy to use?"
"I don't know if it's useful or not. What's important is that you have enough momentum. Look at that hammer just now, Master Hong's face turned pale with fright."
"Some people's talents are just that, nothing special."
They laughed loudly, but Jiang Lin seemed not to hear them, minding his own business.
Several apprentices looked at each other with joy in their hearts. Nothing would make them happier than Jiang Lin being embarrassed, even if they would not benefit from it.
Perhaps schadenfreude is the only fun they can find in their boring apprenticeships.
It wasn’t until long after sunset that the tinkling of the blacksmith’s shop stopped.
The blacksmith and apprentices simply packed up their things and then went back to work and rest. Only Jiang Lin was still squatting in front of the stove and carefully cleaning the charcoal ashes.
Take out all the unburned charcoal and sweep out the charcoal ash from the furnace body to ensure that the furnace can heat up quickly when it is restarted tomorrow, and then close the furnace door.
Then I walked around the blacksmith shop to check that there would be no flames left overnight to prevent water leakage.
This is not his job, but if he wants to live well in a new environment, it is always right to do more.
After all this work, Jiang Lin, who was exhausted, stopped in front of one of the anvils as he passed through the tempering area.
Glancing at the sledgehammer leaning next to him, he stretched out his hand and held it on the handle of the hammer.
The ridicule of the apprentices and Hong Xiuping's words asking him to practice more echoed in his ears again.
That's what talent is, right?
Jiang Lin's eyes suddenly sharpened. After taking a deep breath, he raised the sledgehammer high and hit the anvil in front of him hard.
Bang——
There was a loud noise, like thunder on the ground.
Another example is a boulder falling into the middle of a lake. A few lines of text appear in the ripples.
【Name: Jiang Lin】
[Level: Blacksmith Apprentice]
[Skill 1: Fire Level 5 (Proficiency 1758/2000)]
[Skill 2: Tempering Lv1 (Proficiency 2/100)]
[Skill 1: Level 5 is extremely skilled and can perfectly control the temperature of the furnace fire within a thousand degrees]
[Skill 2: Level 1 Lifting Weight is a Wind, increasing the accuracy of hammer drop by 20%]
[Skill 3: Level 1 discernment (opened at tempering level 2), which can mark defects in items. After forging to eliminate defects, the quality of the items will be improved. 】
Jiang Lin's eyes were as bright as a torch, staring at the words in front of him.
talent?
Not worth mentioning!
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(End of chapter)