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Early in the morning, Fei Qian practiced his spear techniques in a corner of the Huang family's secluded estate, using the spear Zhang Liao had given him. He thrust the spear forward in a single, practiced motion.
This had become a habit for Fei Qian. After all, people in ancient times didn't have phones or computers, so they went to bed early and naturally woke up early. Although he had only learned one move, Fei Qian discovered that this single technique exercised his arms, shoulders, back, waist, and even his legs. So he treated it as a form of physical exercise and stuck with it.
For the past few days, Fei Qian had been staying in a guest room at the Huang family estate, overseeing the arrow production that had already begun.
Fei Qian didn't stand on ceremony with Huang Chengyan, the head of the Huang family. Based on his modern experience, Fei Qian judged Huang Chengyan to be a straightforward and generous person. Although he liked to joke around, he was also decisive. If Fei Qian had pretended to be overly polite or hesitant, it would have only made Huang Chengyan look down on him.
So Fei Qian followed Huang Chengyan's arrangements and stayed, keeping an eye on the progress of the arrow production while also pondering some things.
The Huang family truly lived up to its reputation as a family of craftsmen. They even had a workshop within their estate. Over a dozen Huang family craftsmen, along with military craftsmen from Xiangyang, totaling more than twenty people, began working in the workshop. With the Huang family craftsmen in charge, Fei Qian didn't need to worry much. Everything ran smoothly and efficiently.
Pang Tong stayed for one day, then went back the next day, sending Uncle Fu over instead. Uncle Fu brought Fei Qian's clothes, toiletries, and his spear for practice.
According to Uncle Fu, Pang Tong had gone back and sighed in relief, saying he had finally escaped Fei Qian's constant chatter. He planned to spend the next few days reading and enjoying some peace and quiet. These words nearly made Fei Qian's nose twist in anger.
Of course, it was mostly a joke. After all, Pang Tong had said these things in front of Uncle Fu, either not caring if they reached Fei Qian's ears or deliberately wanting Fei Qian to hear them.
As for Zao Zhi, ever since he got his hands on Fei Qian's agricultural books, he had been running out every few days to consult with experienced farmers and test what he had learned. He had even cleared a small plot of land behind the wooden house and planted various things. According to him, "Spring is the foundation of the year, and everything must be done carefully and in order." So during this time, Zao Zhi was mostly squatting in the fields.
After finishing his practice and resting for a while, Fei Qian prepared to head to the workshop.
While his friends were busy with their own tasks, Fei Qian wasn't idle either. Although the Huang family craftsmen had taken over the management and supervision, Fei Qian had also spent considerable effort understanding the entire arrow-making process.
Today, he planned to discuss an idea with the Huang family craftsmen to see if it could be implemented.
But before that, Fei Qian wanted to vent a little—
Who said there was no assembly line in the Han Dynasty?
Who said there was no blast furnace steelmaking in the Han Dynasty?
First, let's talk about assembly lines. What is an assembly line? Just lining people up doesn't make it an assembly line!
Look at how the Huang family craftsmen arranged things. Without Fei Qian saying much, apprentices handled tasks like transporting materials and rough work. Each process had a set number of people assigned, while skilled craftsmen handled the finer work, and master craftsmen oversaw quality control. This was already the prototype of an assembly line.
After walking around a few times, Fei Qian couldn't find any bottlenecks in the process. Materials were used as soon as they arrived, and Fei Qian didn't need to set rules for manpower or materials. The Huang family craftsmen, relying on their experience, had everything running smoothly.
Next, let's talk about the iron used for arrowheads. Although the materials were provided by Yi Ji, they had to be melted down and recast into small arrowheads in the Huang family workshop. Fei Qian wasn't sure about other places, but the Huang family craftsmen were using the "stir-frying steel" method!
The "stir-frying steel" method involved heating pig iron to a very high temperature, then adding ore and quickly stirring to produce a material close to steel.
If this material was further forged and reheated, even higher-quality steel could be produced, but this required more manpower.
Looking at the Huang family's blast furnace and the water-powered bellows nearby, as well as the busy but orderly apprentices and craftsmen, the advanced ironworking technology of the Han Dynasty was on full display.
In truth, Fei Qian wasn't very knowledgeable about this. After all, he hadn't studied Han Dynasty history much in his previous life. Since the reign of Emperor Wen of Han, ironworking technology had advanced rapidly, completely surpassing the Xiongnu. The fundamental reason was Emperor Wen's decree to "allow the people to smelt iron," which opened up iron production to the public. Anyone with the ability could produce iron!
By the Eastern Han Dynasty, blast furnaces like the Huang family's, standing four to five meters tall, had appeared. According to the Huang family craftsmen, this was actually a small one—there were even larger ones.
The maturity of Han Dynasty steelmaking technology meant that Fei Qian, with no experience in steel or iron production from his modern life, could only be an observer. Drawing on his experience organizing events in his previous life, he made minor adjustments to the workshop layout to streamline the process. But beyond that, he couldn't come up with any significant improvements.
However, in the woodworking workshop where arrow shafts were made, Fei Qian noticed something that could potentially be improved—
The sawing process.
Originally, logs were cut into sections on the ground, following the grain, before being processed further. The reason for this was that whole logs were too heavy and difficult to lift, so cutting them on the ground was easier.
But Fei Qian considered that since he had already provided the pulley system to the Huang family craftsman Huang Dou, lifting whole logs into the air for processing was no longer a major challenge. Moreover, this would allow for the introduction of a simple lathe—
For example, a water-powered saw.
The Han Dynasty already had many water-powered tools, such as water-powered hammers and bellows, but no water-powered saw. The main reason was that lifting heavy objects without the right tools was too difficult, making manual sawing on the ground more convenient.
But now that they had the pulley system, a water-powered saw, which was both convenient and labor-saving, could be introduced.
Besides, with the advanced steelmaking technology of the Han Dynasty, making a large saw was a piece of cake.
In fact, the principles behind water-powered saws and hammers were similar. Both used water power to convert circular motion into reciprocating motion. Since water-powered hammers already existed in the Han Dynasty, a water-powered saw shouldn't be a problem.
As expected, when Fei Qian proposed the idea of a water-powered saw, the Huang family craftsmen were very interested. A few of them gathered to study the idea and, based on the design of the water-powered hammer, quickly modified it into a water-powered saw.
Then they loaded the materials and started it up.
Then they stopped to make adjustments.
And then Fei Qian was completely forgotten. The craftsmen, absorbed in their invention and improvement of the new tool, left Fei Qian to his own devices.
Meanwhile, Huang Chengyan stood in the distance, watching Fei Qian interact calmly with the craftsmen in the workshop, deep in thought.
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A/N: Ironworking in the Han Dynasty was already highly advanced. Iron weapons had completely replaced bronze ones, which was why the Han Dynasty could dominate the Xiongnu.