First-rank palace maid Su Jixiang

Chapter 280: Mangcheng under construction

It is already April. Although spring comes later in Mangcheng than in Dongdu, there is already a spring atmosphere outside.

Although the weather is still a bit chilly, it is much better than winter.

Wei Feng and Wei Jing are the guards today because Wei Zhong has to look after Cui Yushan and his wife, and Wei Dong cannot leave because he has to teach the kids martial arts.

Su Jixiang left Lushui in Mangcheng to help Qu Wanning, and got on the carriage with Guihua.

Wei Ling remodeled and decorated the carriage. He was a nobleman in Dongdu, and he was good at enjoying himself. There were two small heaters near the door of the carriage. The carriage was padded with thick goose feather cushions and sheepskin blankets. There was a rectangular box in the carriage with three drawers, which contained snacks and candied fruits. Su Jixiang felt no different from sitting at home. It was comfortable and cozy.

When Su Jixiang saw the layout of the carriage, an idea came to his mind.

Today Wei Ling did not ride a horse, but took a carriage with Su Jixiang, while Guihua sat in a small carriage at the back.

"Husband, if I customize a few more carriages like the one you modified for me and add shock absorbers to the bottom of the carriages, do you think I can sell them for a high price?" Su Jixiang nestled in Wei Ling's arms, raised her hand and picked up a strand of his long hair that fell on his chest and twirled it around her fingers while saying.

Today, Wei Ling's long hair was simply tied up with a headband at the back of his head, with a few strands of hair naturally falling down on his forehead and cheeks, making him look lazy and charming, completely different from his cold and distant appearance in the past. He leaned on the cushion, naturally holding Su Jixiang in his arms, lowered his head and asked, "What is shock absorption?"

"It means adding a layer of spring or steel plate at the connection between the wheel and the body, and using the elasticity of the spring or steel plate to offset some of the bumps caused by uneven road surface." Su Jixiang said. "This is shock absorption. It can make the carriage more comfortable to sit in. If the shock absorption is done well, you won't feel the pain in your waist when you encounter bumps and ditches, and you won't feel that kind of harsh bumpy feeling."

"Spring?" Wei Ling looked at Su Jixiang again in confusion.

He knew what the steel plate meant. Su Jixiang had already drawn a schematic diagram of how to make steel from iron in the picture he gave him. He had already asked someone to make it. A few days ago, he made the first piece of steel. He tried it and found that it was more flexible than wrought iron! It was a good material for making weapons and other farm tools.

He had been in the mining area for many years, so he naturally learned how to extract iron from ore. He also knew that even wrought iron, in terms of hardness and toughness, could not compare to the steel forged according to the method provided by Su Jixiang!

However, the current steel production is still too low, and we need to find ways to further improve the efficiency of steelmaking.

Su Jixiang had mentioned coal before, and he had sent people to look for it before. At present, a lot of the black stones that Su Jixiang mentioned that could be burned have been collected in the other courtyard. This time, he took Su Jixiang out to the other courtyard to take her to see if those black stones were the coal ore that Su Jixiang mentioned.

If it was really a coal mine, then he would consider building a blast furnace specifically for steelmaking according to the diagram drawn by Su Jixiang.

Su Jixiang pulled his hand over and drew something vaguely on his palm. "A shape like this can bounce back once pressed. But our steelmaking technology is just getting started, so springs are still difficult to make. It's easier to just add two steel plates."

"As long as it's something my lady says, we have to make it no matter how difficult it is!" After seeing the basic shape of the spring drawn by Su Jixiang, Wei Ling intuitively thought that this thing would have a great application in the future!

He laughed.

"The pulley group that madam taught last time is very useful. Now we use the tools that madam drew to build the city wall. It is twice the result with half the effort and a lot of manpower is saved." Mangcheng is now expanding, and the pulley group provided by Su Jixiang before is used everywhere. This thing is really useful. It can save a lot of effort and eliminate many links that require manpower to carry, which greatly increases the speed of construction.

Originally, he was worried about whether the outer wall of Mangcheng could be completed before autumn. After all, the Turks liked to come and take advantage of the situation in late autumn.

But now it seems that the construction period is enough!

This expansion brought the Songchang River, which flows down from the North Mountain, into the city. Even if Mangcheng is besieged in the future, there is no need to worry about the water source. And with the Songchang River running through the new Mangcheng, the stones and wood collected from the mountains can be transported to the city more quickly through the Songchang River.

According to Wei Ling's plan, the current Mangcheng city wall will be converted into an inner city wall, and the newly built outer city wall will be stronger and taller, and can better defend against foreign enemies.

Wei Ling's expansion this time was very large, and the expanded area alone was almost twice the size of the original Mangcheng. When it was truly completed in the fall, the area of Mangcheng would be directly expanded to three times its current size, and by then Mangcheng would truly be the first city in the north.

"Also, the transport vehicle and artillery that Madam drew are already being cast and developed." Wei Ling said with a smile, and he hugged Su Jixiang tighter in his arms. "When there are results, I will take Madam to see them in person."

The Daxie Dynasty already had gunpowder, but it was rarely used. It was basically used in fireworks. Before, Wei Ling had used gunpowder taken out from fireworks to blow up a mine.

Therefore, Wei Ling was well aware of the power of gunpowder.

Now that Su Jixiang provided him with the idea of using gunpowder to make guns and cannons, it was as if a new door had been opened for him.

Now, arrows carrying gunpowder have been tested. They can fly farther than the original arrows and explode after landing. The power has already made those who participated in the test very excited!

However, this thing is currently being carried out in secret. Now that Cui Yushan is here again, it naturally cannot be used under his nose.

Wei Ling temporarily named this arrow with gunpowder as the Fire Rain Arrow. Currently, only the Black Tiger Guards secretly equipped some of them, and they were never used on weekdays. Because this kind of thing is not difficult to imitate, Wei Ling did not intend to let people know about the existence of this arrow too early. It would not be too late to show the Fire Rain Arrow to the public after he had tinkered with the cannon and the fire gun.

Any one of these things learned from Su Jixiang was enough to make the man from Dongdu feel very uneasy.

Wei Ling didn't want to expose himself and Su Jixiang so early, especially Su Jixiang.