Chapter 61: The Sturdy Shield

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"Has the Armory already begun producing Scale Armor?"

Looking at the small pile of armor plates stacked by the mold, Zhao Xu felt a surge of joy in his heart.

Although he had been busy selling Wine and dedicating himself to restoring the people's livelihood during this period, he had never relaxed his focus on the military.

After all, in troubled times, might is the only truth.

"Replying to Your Highness, over five hundred sets have already been sewn." Wang Ying pointed toward a courtyard not far away.

While leading Zhao Xu over, he said, "The women Your Highness sent over are now all being put to use."

The group arrived at the courtyard and indeed saw over two hundred women busy at work.

In front of each of these women stood a wooden frame, upon which hung sleeveless garments.

The women threaded needles and, through the holes in the armor plates, sewed these plates onto the garments with thick cord.

They then used cord to connect the armor plates left, right, up, and down through the holes to form a whole.

Placed to the side were Sleeve Armor and Skirt Armor, which could be tied onto the body for protection when worn.

"With over two hundred people, why are there only five hundred sets after all these days?" Zhao Xu asked.

In his view, simply attaching the armor plates was not very difficult.

A single woman could easily complete three sets of Scale Armor in a day.

"Your Highness, it is not that these women are working slowly; it is that the Armory did not have enough steel in the past few days. We added quite a few Crucibles these past few days, and only then did the quantity of armor plates increase," Wang Ying explained.

Zhao Xu nodded; that explained it.

As he spoke with Wang Ying, the eyes of Xu Lie and the other guards lit up.

To them, Armor was a life-saving item.

Compared to the Scale Armor on their own bodies, the plates of this new Scale Armor appeared very sturdy, and the style was also more attractive than what they were wearing.

"Your Highness, is this Armor for the Prince's Personal Army?" Xu Lie asked, despite already knowing the answer.

Zhao Xu understood the implication and looked at the Armor on Xu Lie's body.

Although this Armor had been brought from the Imperial Guard.

It now appeared worn, with some armor plates even peeling off and the gaps being quite large.

Moreover, these armor plates varied in width and thickness, and their shapes were crude.

Compared to the dense, fish-scale-like, uniform Scale Armor from the Armory, the quality suddenly seemed much lower.

Yet, this type of Scale Armor was still considered top-tier quality in the Great Song.

"If you want some, just say so; why beat around the bush?" Zhao Xu laughed and said to the guards standing by, "Each of you go pick out a set."

"Thank you, Your Highness." The guards immediately became excited, scrambling to pick out the Armor.

Liu Fu was also somewhat curious; Yan Wang had created so many miraculous things.

He believed this Armor must also be extraordinary.

Thus, he said, "Your Highness, I wonder how our Armor compares to that of the Imperial Guard?"

"That is simple; we need only compare them," Zhao Xu laughed.

He also wanted to see how the defense of the Scale Armor made from steel plates performed.

Having said that, he had a guard place the old Armor on a cross-shaped wooden frame and placed a new-style Scale Armor next to it.

After Xu Lie returned having picked out a silver Scale Armor, he said, "Xu Lie, use a Curved Bow and Arrow to test which set of Scale Armor is sturdier."

In war, because the tip of an Arrow concentrates force on a single point, it basically possesses the ability to pierce armor.

Therefore, using a Curved Bow and Arrow to test the quality of the two sets of Armor was most appropriate.

"Yes, Your Highness." Xu Lie stood thirty meters away, drawing his Curved Bow and nocking an Arrow.

The reason he had picked the Armor was because he wanted a new set, not because he looked down on his old Armor.

He even subconsciously believed that the Armor produced by the Armory in Yan Commandery was inferior to that of the Imperial Guard.

"Swish, swish..."

With two consecutive sounds, Xu Lie fired an Arrow at each set of Armor.

The first Arrow nailed itself into the Armor, while the second Arrow bounced off and landed on the ground.

This greatly surprised him, and he trotted over to see what had happened.

Because they were waiting on the side, Wang Ying and Zhao Xu arrived first.

Picking up the Imperial Guard's Armor, Xu Lie's Arrow had already pierced through it, with the arrowhead embedded half a middle finger's length deep.

As for the Armory's Armor, there was only a dent where it had been struck, and it had not been pierced.

"Your Highness, this is truly a difference between heaven and earth," Wang Ying said, grinning from ear to ear. "No wonder Your Highness said this is hard steel."

Zhao Xu nodded.

In ancient times, armor plates were basically made of wrought iron.

Pig iron is hard but too brittle; it shatters easily under force. The saying "smashing pots and selling iron" refers to how pig iron pots can be smashed directly.

Wrought iron has sufficient toughness but is soft in quality.

Therefore, steel is particularly precious.

However, among steel, there is also a distinction between hard steel and soft steel.

Steel with high carbon content is called hard steel, and that with less carbon is soft steel.

The Crucible mixture ratio Zhao Xu gave Wang Ying was precisely for producing hard steel.

This type of steel is suitable for making Weapons and Armor, while also possessing good toughness, so it will not shatter like pig iron no matter how it is hammered.

"This... how is this possible?" Xu Lie had arrived by then; seeing the massive difference, he was so surprised his mouth hung open.

The guards had the same expression as Xu Lie, but after their surprise, they all looked at the Scale Armor in their hands as if looking at a treasure, holding it tightly.

"I never imagined this set of Armor would be so formidable; it is simply a treasure."

"That goes without saying; from now on, we won't have to fear their bows and arrows in battle."

"If even bows and arrows can't pierce it, there's no need to even mention swords and blades."

"..."

The guards gathered together, feeling inexplicably excited.

Hearing the guards' conversation, Zhao Xu suddenly remembered something.

Ignoring Xu Lie, who was still in shock, he called over two guards, "Put them on right now and have a real fight with real blades and swords."

Then he turned his head and said to Wang Ying, "Are there no Helmets?"

"There are." Wang Ying immediately had someone go fetch them.

Before long, two Helmets arrived.

These two Helmets were also made according to Zhao Xu's requirements.

They were different from Helmet designs that exposed the entire face.

His Helmet protected the nose and face, with only the eyes and mouth exposed.

During the manufacturing process, they were cast and shaped from molten steel, then hammered by blacksmiths to make the details more perfect.

At this time, the two guards put on the tunics, arm guards, and Skirt Armor.

Except for the inner sides of the arms, which had no Armor, the outer areas were basically covered with a layer of Scale Armor.

Once they put on the Helmets, a repressive, ferocious feeling emanated from the two of them.

This was the natural pressure brought about by being fully armed.

Xu Lie had by now turned his surprise into delight, watching the two fight with great enthusiasm.

"Your Highness, are we really going to hack at each other?" The two soldiers stood facing each other, looking completely bewildered.

"Don't be afraid. Didn't you just witness it? You can start by hacking lightly, then increase the force," Zhao Xu instructed.

The two guards nodded, and one guard raised his blade and hacked toward the other guard's shoulder.

He did not dare use too much strength, using only half of what he would in a daily life-or-death struggle.

"Clang..." A screeching sound of metal clashing rang out.

He only felt a jolt in his palm, as if he had hacked into a stone.

Looking again, his companion's expression remained unchanged, and he was even grinning.

Now he was reassured, and he fiercely slashed over again.

The other soldier moved as well, and the two blades danced in the air, occasionally hacking onto each other's bodies.

"Clang, clang..." The sound of metal clashing rang out incessantly.

A quarter of an hour later, the two stopped, panting for breath.

Neither had injured the other, but the blades in their hands had become notched.

Zhao Xu and the others watched the whole process; this bout was enough to show how this Armor would perform on the battlefield in the future.

He said to Wang Ying, "If you need Silver, take Silver; if you need men, take men. Produce them at full capacity; the Prince's Personal Army must all be equipped within a month."

"What about the Plate Armor?" Wang Ying asked hesitantly. Although the success of the Scale Armor delighted him, he still wanted to make the other set of Armor.

"That does not conflict. Once your Water-Powered Trip Hammer is built, you can produce Plate Armor and then replace them. Before that, my army cannot keep wearing inferior Armor, not to mention that my army may not just be these twenty thousand men in the future," Zhao Xu said calmly.

Hearing this, Liu Fu revealed an intrigued smile.

According to the laws of the Great Song, an Imperial Prince's fief could be at most one province in size.

But since the founding of the Great Song, basically no Imperial Prince had ever possessed a fief of an entire province.

The highest record was no more than five commanderies.

And as the fief grows, the quota for the Prince's Personal Army can be expanded.

Now that Yan Wang suddenly said this, was he confident that he could perform meritorious service and be granted more fiefs?

In the past, he would not have thought so, but now...

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