Chapter 53 Crafting Zhuge Crossbow Parts
"Uncle Li, what are you saying?"
Tang San gave a shy smile as he skillfully tied on his coarse cloth apron: "How can we just throw away our family's traditional skills?"
"When my father taught me blacksmithing, he said that if you don't practice for a day, your skills will become rusty."
"Going to school and helping my brother with chores are proper things, but blacksmithing also has its benefits; it can strengthen the body and refine soul power."
Tang San's words were half true and half false.
It's true that he didn't want to abandon his forging skills, but his deeper purpose was to try to create Tang Clan hidden weapons using the blacksmith's furnace and tools.
For example, the Zhuge Divine Crossbow.
"Not bad, kid!"
Uncle Li nodded approvingly and patted Tang San on the shoulder: "Go practice, there's still a furnace burning."
"Thank you, Uncle Li!"
Tang San walked to the furnace, picked up the small hammer next to the anvil, bent down and picked out a piece of wrought iron from the pile of iron, weighed it in his hand and said, "The iron here is of good quality, and the tempering is just right. It's much better than what I could figure out at home."
"I go to school during the day and do blacksmithing for a while in the evening, so it doesn't interfere with either of my studies."
"Hey!"
Uncle Li chuckled when he heard this, and patted him on the shoulder: "You've got a pretty good plan!"
"If you ask me, your father's skills should have been passed down to you!"
He turned around and picked up an iron bucket from the furnace: "There's freshly smelted wrought iron in here. Use it as you like, no charge."
"Your brother has Wang Sheng deliver barbecue every day, how can he possibly charge you extra?"
"that is!"
Master Zhang, who was quenching iron nearby, also chimed in with a smile: "Our blacksmith shop has no shortage of iron, so please feel free to use it."
"If special iron materials are needed..."
He paused, then continued, "For example, I still have a few pieces of black iron here. They're leftovers from when I was forging weapons for someone years ago. If you need them, you can take them all!"
"That kid Wang Sheng brought us some roasted meat, all juicy and fragrant, it really satisfied our cravings. We men can't be ungrateful!"
"this..."
Tang San hesitated.
"Stop with the 'this' and 'that'!"
Uncle Li waved his hand and said, "Hurry up, what do you want to get done? Do you need us old brothers to help you out?"
"Thank you, Uncle Li! Thank you, Master Zhang!"
Tang San felt a warmth in his heart and stopped refusing. He remembered this kindness: "No need, I'll just practice making some small gadgets myself, so I won't trouble you."
As he spoke, Tang San put the wrought iron into the furnace.
Watching the flames lick the iron block, I pulled the bellows, and orange-red flames rose, gradually turning the iron block red-hot.
Wait until the iron block is heated until it is completely red-hot.
Tang San took the iron block out, placed it on the anvil, and started hammering it with a small hammer.
The movements were fluid, and every landing point was perfect.
What he is building are several relatively simple components for the Zhuge Divine Crossbow. Unlike the wide, sweeping motion of striking a sickle, the crossbow strikes with exceptional precision, hitting the edge of the iron block with each strike, slowly creating slots.
"What small part are you making?"
Uncle Li came over for a look, but couldn't figure it out.
"It's nothing, I just wanted to make a small tool so it would be convenient to fix things occasionally."
Tang San brushed it off vaguely, his hands continuing their work.
The rhythm of the hammering grew faster and faster, and sparks flew onto his coarse cloth sleeves, burning small holes in them, but he didn't care; he was used to it.
The mechanism of the Zhuge Divine Crossbow is extremely precise. Even a slight difference in the depth and width of the slot can cause it to jam. It cannot tolerate the slightest carelessness.
On the other side, at the Old Locust Tree Tavern.
Zhao Hu, carrying a wicker basket, had brought several new baskets of iced tea from Notting Academy to the entrance of the Old Locust Tree Tavern in the east of the city.
"Tiger's here!"
"Is the iced tea still cold today?"
The shopkeeper saw him at the door, smiled, and took the wicker basket from him.
"It's cold!"
"Uncle Tieli, don't worry, Notting Academy has an ice cellar where we store plenty of iced tea. We guarantee that every delivery will be ice-cold!"
"This is the amount ordered for today, please take a look."
Zhao Hu lifted the lid of the wicker basket, and the bamboo cup inside was still emitting wisps of cool air.
Boss Tie Li counted the rattan baskets and cups, took out five hundred copper soul coins and handed them over: "Exactly five hundred cups, please count the money."
"Oh, right!"
"Deliver fifty more cups tomorrow. A caravan will be coming from Hanhai City the day after tomorrow, and they'll probably need even more."
"no problem!"
Zhao Hu readily agreed: "I'll write it down and deliver it to you at this time tomorrow!"
As he spoke, Zhao Hu handed the money bag to his underling Ali, and then took out a small notebook and wrote in it: [Tomorrow, Old Locust Tree Tavern +50, the day after tomorrow, even more, tentatively +200].
"Boss, could you add another two hundred cups the day after tomorrow?"
"almost."
"I'll inquire again tomorrow and give you a definite answer when you come tonight!"
Boss Tieli directed his shop assistants to carry the rattan baskets into the backyard of the tavern to exchange for wine, and to return the baskets to Zhao Hu.
After dropping off one family, Zhao Hu took Ali back to Notting Academy.
I retrieved several baskets of iced tea from the Notting Academy cafeteria's ice storage and carried them to the next place where I had already arranged delivery: [Ironblade Tavern].
The delivery and payment went smoothly, and the delivery volume for the next day was confirmed.
After visiting both taverns and carrying an empty basket towards the academy, most of the lanterns on the street had gone out, with only a few shops still lit.
Zhao Hu touched the money bag slung over his shoulder, feeling quite pleased with himself.
With our income increasing these past few days and the iced tea business booming, Brother Tang will definitely be happy when he comes back!
Inside the blacksmith's shop, the fire in the furnace gradually died down.
Tang San put a small, finished part into the water. With a hiss, the white mist dissipated, and the part gleamed coldly; it was a mechanism or latch.
He put the few parts he had finished making that day into his small cloth bag and let out a long sigh of relief.
Looking up at the thick darkness outside the window, and then at the hourglass in the corner of the blacksmith's shop, I knew it was time to go back.
Tidy up the tools and sweep away the iron filings around the stove.
"Uncle Li, Master Zhang, I'm going back now."
Tang San greeted and said goodbye to his masters who were still busy.
"Drive carefully!"
Come early tomorrow!
Uncle Li waved his hand without looking up and continued forging the sickle in his hand.
After leaving the blacksmith shop, Tang San didn't return to the academy, but instead went to his home in the west of the city.
He pushed open the creaking wooden door. The room was dark, with only a few parts for the Zhuge Crossbow that he had made a couple of days ago on the table.
Tang San lit the oil lamp and sat down at the table.
He took the parts out of the cloth bag, placed them on the table, and examined them carefully under the lamp.
"At this rate, we'll need to make about twenty more parts. We haven't even started on the crossbow arm yet, the mechanism is missing two locking tabs, and the arrows need to be sharpened..."
"It will probably take about a month."
Tang San stroked the parts, silently calculating in his mind: "My brother is often out and about. With the Zhuge Crossbow in hand, he will have more protection when he encounters danger in the future."
He carefully put away the parts, blew out the oil lamp, and lay down on the hard bed he hadn't touched in a long time.
He pondered the intricacies of Zhuge's crossbow mechanism: the crossbow arm needed to be shaped into an arc to better store power, and adding snake venom would increase its lethality...
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