I only rested for one day, but in fact, I only rested for one night, no, I was more tired to review my homework with Lian'er at night, and I was made by Fu Ji in the morning and didn't even sleep lazy.

From this day until the beginning of July, Hong Tao was basically not idle, today he went to Wujin Xing to see the open hearth, tomorrow he went to Shuihuyi to pay attention to the manufacturing progress of the rocket, and he often had to guide the forging work of the martial father and son.

The thickness of the cold-forged medium carbon steel armor has been increased from 1 mm to 3 mm, so that it can barely resist the direct hit of the steel arrow from 100 meters away and not be penetrated, if it is replaced by the iron arrows commonly used by the forbidden army of the Song Dynasty and the Western Xia army, 1 mm can make do, and 1.5 mm thick is basically safe.

Originally, the thickness of the forbidden army's mountain pattern armor was more than 3 mm, and the use of medium carbon steel armor can reduce the weight by more than 40 percent, and the defense power is basically the same, which is also a big progress.

But Hong Tao was still not satisfied, and he planned to continue to reduce the thickness to 1 millimeter, and the weakened defense power would be compensated by other means.

For example, if you wear another layer of chain mail or leather armor inside the metal armor, the combination of hard and soft will greatly improve the ability to defend against piercing attacks.

When the outer layer of hard armor is attacked, it will first bend inward and deform, unloading part of the force, so that the arrow can not continue to penetrate, even if the surface hard armor is torn, it will be blocked by the inner layer of leather armor or chain mail, so as not to cause major damage to the human body.

But is it possible to do this if the outer armor is harder than medium carbon steel? The answer is that there must be, and it is not too difficult, that is, it is slower and more delicate to process.

The specific method is post-heat treatment, don't forget that Hong Tao's major is metal heat treatment, even if he is a bastard, he has to mix for several years to graduate, and he knows some professional knowledge.

This heat treatment method is called surface carburizing and hardening, which simply means that wrought iron or steel is heated together with a carbonaceous medium, and then quenched by slow cooling.

As long as the temperature and time are well controlled, the surface layer of the steel in contact with the medium will become high-carbon steel or even pig iron, and the hardness will increase a lot. On the other hand, it is still steel, which still maintains its original hardness and toughness.

This is equivalent to making a material with a single hardness into two layers, one side is very hard but lacks toughness, and the other side retains the original hardness and toughness.

But this method was not invented by later generations, nor was it created by Hong Tao. As early as World War I, the British and Germans made the armor of battleships according to this principle, even armor-piercing shells could effectively resist them, and it was of course no problem to resist arrows after reducing the thickness.

However, at present, Hong Tao can't do it, first, there is no qualified holding furnace and a medium with a relatively constant carbon content, and second, there is no time to carry out endless tests.

Twenty years of time are fleeting, and the emperor is still waiting to see the performance of a swarm of bees, the comprehensive defense ability of the armor has been improved, so let's not get a more complicated surface carburizing and hardening treatment for the time being. This time, Hong Tao has a long memory, and he no longer dares to brag with outsiders before he is 100% sure, the tax is too high and he can't pay it.

Another thing that makes him spend time is the boiling of flower paste, the bud cutting work is very simple, the gardeners will learn it once, but the boiling and purifying heat is an empirical work, and it is really impossible not to stare at the point.

Don't think that boiling flower paste is an easy job, this thing tastes very bad at first, it's similar to boiling human urine, and it smokes so much that people can't open their eyes.

And the boiling site can't be placed casually, only the safest in Qionglin Garden. So in the past ten days, the entire Qionglin Garden was filled with a smell of urine, even on Hong Tao's body, and he still couldn't wash it off if he didn't wash it.

Therefore, she threw away her clothes, and she was thrown into the garbage heap by Lian'er one by one, and she was determined not to allow the princess's room to be infected with such a disgusting smell.

In total, less than three acres of land in the first phase of flower seedlings, how much flower paste has been produced? I don't know if I don't do it, I am shocked when I do it, there are more than two kilograms!

No wonder there are still so many people desperately trying to get these things after a thousand years, Tainyima is profitable, there is basically no cost except for labor, as long as you can sell one-tenth of it, it will make more money than most of the trading.

However, with Hong Tao's profiteer nature, there are still a lot of impurities in these two kilograms of flower paste. The process of steaming that was supposed to be five times was reduced to two by him, and as long as the ointment gave off a little aroma, it was even if it was acceptable, even if the color was not black and shiny.

Where did the ancients know what is called high-quality, high-purity flower paste, at the beginning must be gradual, and when they are addicted and have higher demand, they can take out purer products, and then sell them at a higher price. When the time comes, they will have no capital to bargain, and they will have to be slaughtered fiercely.

On the 15th of July, a large number of internal forbidden troops of the Guards Division suddenly appeared near Jinmingchi, blocking all the entrances to the north and south, and even outside the walls on the east and west banks, there was a post at ten paces and a post at five paces. The only one who can put on such a show is the emperor, and there are not only two prime ministers, but also a privy envoy and a privy deputy envoy Wang Shao.

This old man was a blessing in disguise, he was cured of a bad disease by Hong Tao by mistake with coal tar, and was pulled back into the camp by Wang Anshi because of his meritorious promotion of iron-making, and strongly recommended it to the emperor, and suddenly became the vice minister of national defense.

They did not follow the emperor to enjoy the mountains and rivers, let alone hold another dragon boat race, but to come to see military exercises. This word was also recorded by Emperor Shenzong when Hong Tao said that he was going to talk, and he thought it was quite appropriate, so he simply embezzled it.

"Is the Lieutenant sure? There is no joke in front of you, if you are not sure, I will go and plead with Your Majesty for more time with you. ”

Among these people, Wang Shao is the only one who dares to blatantly face the horse, and it is estimated that he also wants to open it, his life is saved by the horse, and he can't hide this matter if he wants to, so he simply does the opposite, even if it will lead to the impeachment of the imperial history, it is better than a bad reputation that does not repay the favor.

"Don't worry, boss, where in this world is 100% sure, I think the official family can also understand, what the specific result is, or do your best to obey the destiny of heaven. But there is one thing that needs to be returned to Your Majesty, and that is those forbidden troops. They are not familiar with the new equipment, and it may be inappropriate to operate it rashly, so it is better for me to demonstrate it for His Majesty in person. ”

There is still a grasp, Hong Tao had already conducted a small exercise the day before, but he was afraid that he would drop the chain at a critical moment. However, the joints of the exercise operators were not counted, and the exercise ground was in the wasteland north of the Water Tiger Wing, but no unrelated personnel were allowed to approach, including several commanders in the Water Tiger Wing.

These days, they have helped themselves to experiment, although there is no high-end operation method in a swarm of bees, but it is still very uneasy for a few soldiers who have been in contact for the first time to demonstrate Hong Tao.

The emperor must have taken into account confidentiality and security issues in doing so, and he must send trusted generals to the field, which Hong Tao can understand. Since it's for secrecy and security, it's okay to be replaced by yourself as the inventor and overseer.

"Confused, this matter must not have been done by His Majesty, the crime lies in the Guards Division and Zhu Banzhi, so go and explain it to Your Majesty!"

Wang Shao immediately understood what Hong Tao was worried about, and then he was angry again, no matter what the occasion, he strode towards the wooden platform temporarily built for the emperor's ceremony, and it was still violent.

“…… Alas, you, the deputy minister, must also be short-lived! Seeing this scene, Hong Tao could only shake his head, some people are not naturally suitable to be officials, even if he is rich and talented. Character determines fate, so Brother Xiong, who doesn't care about it, is not suitable to play politics and lead troops to fight, unless he leads an army alone.

No matter what the emperor thought of Wang Shao, Hong Tao's request was not refused, Pei Zhonggui quickly passed down the dictation, and the drill operator turned into a horse, and it started immediately in half an hour.

"Your Majesty, this armor weighs 27 and a half pounds, with a total of 1,563 armor pages, all forged from 100 steels, and is used as a pawn and horse in the body of cattle and sheep to be circled a hundred paces away, and the minister will launch a swarm of bees here."

At one end of the exercise ground, twenty sheep with armor and half-helmets on their heads were firmly fixed in place by wooden stakes and could not move, they were simulated Western Xia soldiers. In the middle of this group of sheep there are also two old oxen, which are also helmets and armor, which are simulating the military horses of Western Xia.