Qin’er looked delicate and weak, but her strength far exceeded Jin Feng’s by an unknown amount.
Clang!
With a loud crash, the wooden stand holding the armour was smashed apart by Qin’er’s single slash.
The various parts of the plate armour scattered across the floor.
Qin’er reached down to pick up the breastplate and found only a shallow knife mark on it. It had not been cut through.
“This is too sturdy!” Qin’er stood up and said, “Your Highness, this set of armour is extremely tough. It can be said to be impervious to blades and spears!”
“So does that mean if you wear this armour, you do not need to worry about being killed? You can just focus on slaying enemies?”
Excitement shone in the Ninth Princess’s eyes.
“Yes,” Qin’er nodded. “Moreover, this entire set is forged from hundred-refined steel. It is not very heavy, so wearing it should not be particularly strenuous.”
“Forged from hundred-refined steel?”
Even the ever-composed Ninth Princess could not help showing surprise.
The so-called hundred-refined steel involved taking a softened iron ingot and repeatedly folding and hammering it until no more impurities could be beaten out and its weight no longer decreased.
During the hammering, the iron would harden as it cooled, requiring reheating to soften it again before continuing.
This process might need to be repeated nearly a hundred times.
Steel produced this way was called hundred-refined steel.
Hundred-refined steel was hard in texture and light in weight, but it was labour-intensive and time-consuming, so it was generally used only for making swords and blades.
The Ninth Princess had never seen anyone lavish enough to use it for armour, as Jin Feng had done.
“Gentleman, are the remaining sets of armour also made from hundred-refined steel?”
The Ninth Princess suppressed her inner excitement and asked probingly.
“Yes, all the remaining three hundred-plus sets are the same!”
Jin Feng nodded slightly.
For ordinary craftsmen in Great Kang, hundred-refined steel might be time-consuming and laborious.
But for Jin Feng, it was really nothing.
First, he had improved the steel-making furnace, so the steel produced already had far fewer impurities.
Moreover, he had built a simple forging machine.
Other blacksmiths swung heavy hammers, exhausting themselves. Managing twenty strikes per minute was already impressive.
And much of that time involved light tapping, not full-force blows every time.
Jin Feng’s forging machine was powered by a windmill when there was wind, or by oxen and horses when there was none. It could forge nearly a hundred times per minute, with each strike heavier than a blacksmith swinging a hammer.
The female apprentices under Mancang only needed to hold the ingot with tongs and keep turning it.
Work efficiency was many times higher than that of other blacksmiths.
“Over three hundred sets of armour forged from hundred-refined steel…”
The Ninth Princess’s mind raced, thinking how to maximise the effectiveness of this batch of armour.
Jin Feng did not interrupt. He took Da Liu and several personal guards to move the remaining armour from the storehouse, along with the longer-range heavy crossbows and trebuchets, loading them all onto flat carts.
They kept busy until mid-afternoon before finishing.
Jin Feng locked the storehouse again. When he came out, he found Zhang Liang already waiting on the open ground outside.
“Gentleman, everything has been arranged.”
Zhang Liang said, “This time we are taking six hundred male soldiers and four hundred female soldiers. As you required, of the six hundred males, four hundred are veterans and two hundred are new recruits.”
“Is there enough manpower left to guard home?” Jin Feng asked.
“It is sufficient, though with so many male soldiers leaving, those staying behind will mostly be female soldiers.”
Zhang Liang said, “I have already notified Tiechui and Zhou Hai to bring their people back from the capital and Jiangnan as soon as possible to help Old Zheng.”
“That works,” Jin Feng nodded.
He could not abandon the home base just for the bit of business in the capital and Jiangnan.
“Has Old Zheng arrived?” Jin Feng asked again.
“He arrived this morning and has already taken over defence duties.”
Zhang Liang said, “However, the new recruits from Maomao Mountain will probably take another hour to arrive.”
“Have the new recruits guard the outer defences. The inner circle must still use veterans and female soldiers from the village.”
Xihe Bay now had three lines of defence.
The first was the fortresses along the various mountain paths on the periphery. Once sealed, the area for dozens of li around Xihe Bay would become an iron barrel.
The second was around the village itself. All roads into the village had fortresses built, patrolled day and night by male and female escort masters.
The final one was Jin Feng’s courtyard house, along with the adjacent textile factory and smelting workshop.
From the start of construction, Jin Feng had considered defence needs, setting up defensive points in multiple places around the courtyard and the two factories.
If someone really broke into Xihe Bay, the villagers could gather in the textile factory and resist from the fortifications.
If Xihe Bay were compared to Bianjing City, the first line would be the outer city, the second the inner city, and the third the imperial city.
Each line was vitally important.
Recently, with large-scale recruitment of veterans, screening standards had been relaxed somewhat. Jin Feng could not guarantee there were no ill-intentioned people among them.
The second line was the village’s life-or-death boundary. Jin Feng had to entrust it to people he trusted.
Even if those people were female soldiers with relatively weaker combat strength.
“Do not worry, gentleman. I have already explained all this to Old Zheng,” Zhang Liang said.
“Have the Changxin Army and Qingyuan Army been arranged properly?”
Previously, Zhang Liang had been leading these two units in bandit suppression. Now Zhang Liang had been called back by him, and Qing Mulian had been following the Ninth Princess all along, so these two units had been left without leaders.
“On the day I returned, they also received orders from the prefect and have each marched back to their camps.”
“That is fine,” Jin Feng patted Zhang Liang on the shoulder. “This trip to Xichuan, I do not know when we will return, or if we will make it back in time for Sister Fang’s delivery. Since you have arranged everything, Cool Brother, go back and spend time with Sister Yunfang.”
Lin Yunfang had been pregnant for several months already. In another month or two, she would give birth. Yet Zhang Liang was going to Xichuan with him.
This made Jin Feng feel somewhat guilty.
But he could not do without Zhang Liang.
Among his escort masters, only Zhang Liang had shown outstanding command ability in combat, and he had high prestige among the veterans, able to keep order.
If it were anyone else, Jin Feng would really lack confidence.
“What is there to accompany a woman for?”
Zhang Liang waved his hand very domineeringly. “The Tubo people chopped off one of my arms. I will make them repay it a hundredfold!”
“The Tubo people are not here yet. Go back.” Jin Feng pushed Zhang Liang. “This is an order!”
“Well… alright then.” Seeing Jin Feng put it that way, Zhang Liang nodded. “If anything comes up, gentleman, just send someone to call me.”
Though he spoke domineeringly, in his heart he cared deeply for Lin Yunfang.
He was also very grateful that Lin Yunfang had not despised the two disabled people in their family back then.
Many men in the village had taken concubines. Even Mancang had married another wife. But Zhang Liang had never taken a concubine.
Before marrying Tang Xiaobei, Lin Yunfang and Guan Xiaorou would often whisper together about how to prove she was not a jealous woman.
Later, they whispered together again about how to get pregnant.
Thinking of Guan Xiaorou, Jin Feng saw that the camp was fine and headed back.
As soon as he entered the house, he was pulled into the inner room by Guan Xiaorou…
