Chapter 2329 2066: Major Project

Back when we first occupied Qingzhou, Chen Xi initiated a round of iron smelting. Although Chen Xi didn't know much about iron smelting, he did understand high temperatures and hydraulic casting.

Besides, the Lub Central Iron Mine is one of the few in China with reserves exceeding a billion tons. Even though Chen Xi didn't know the exact location, he just drew an approximate area and asked people to search for it.

In the past, Chen Xi even made a batch of high-quality refined iron weapons to impress Liu Bei, but they ended up being cut down by Liu Bei's standard weapons, dealing quite a blow to him.

However, this didn't shake Chen Xi's enthusiasm. After all, the small steel plant was already built, and abandoning it would be a waste of resources. So, Chen Xi put great effort into researching nurturing techniques.

Eventually, he basically confirmed the essence of nurturing. After that, Chen Xi's small steel plant resumed operations, "mass-producing" all kinds of "high-quality" steel. Of course, this was a joke; whether high-quality or not was determined by the upper limit of nurturing.

Initially, Liu Bei told Chen Xi that whether it was pig iron, cast iron, refined iron, or refined steel, as long as it was iron, the limit of nurturing was the same.

Unless it was like Inner Qi Manifestation with extremely strong inner qi, breaking through certain limits of nurturing, or like Guan Yu, whose will could transcend limits forcibly.

Otherwise, the final result of nurturing these things was no different. But later, Chen Xi repeatedly confirmed that there were indeed differences.

If it was pure iron, there would certainly not be much difference. But things like pig iron, cast iron, refined iron, and refined steel actually contain other elements internally, and the proportions are also different.

This greatly affected the limit of nurturing, and Chen Xi tried adding all sorts of strange things to it. In the end, he produced obviously superior steel with a higher nurturing limit.

Alright, at this point, calling it steel might be somewhat problematic. There were so many random things added that, without nurturing, it might not even qualify as ordinary alloy material. But after nurturing, the material's strength blew past graphene by ten streets.

After years of repeated nurturing and adjusting material ratios, by now, the front-line soldiers under Liu Bei have basically completed the final wave of re-equipping. This means that during this parade, everyone will have armor with plate armor at the chest and lamellar armor for the rest.

Back in the day, only military officers were eligible for such equipment. After years of continuous production, the main forces are finally equipped, although some parts haven't completed nurturing yet. But by now, they're usable since there's still plenty of time for nurturing.

This set of armor, weighing about 20 pounds, used to be worth around 150,000 to 200,000 string of coins. As for now, Chen Xi seems close to crashing the price of weapons and equipment.

After all, just these many weapons and equipment, with armor and great shields, enough to arm 400,000 troops, would convert to about one hundred billion coins, and with the price of warhorses, it's yet another big pile.

Fortunately, the warhorses are home-bred, the mines are on their own territory, the steel plant is their own, and labor costs are negligible. Otherwise, no feudal lords could possibly arm so many troops. Raising an army, plainly put, is just two words—burning money. Once the money's in place, you can talk about other things.

But that's all in the past. Now that the front-line army is fully armed, the Lub Central Steel Plant Chen Xi started, although still in production, is more for stocking up. That's why when Lul Jun's report came through, Lub Su thought it over and agreed.

After all, since the steel plant is always in production and there's sufficient stored steel, Lul Jun wants a part of it for dragon bones and beams. While it seems a bit wasteful, compared to leaving it as stock in the government treasury, using some of it, in Lub Su's view, is also appropriate. Who knows, Lul Jun might even give them a surprise.

Well, Lub Su was completely overthinking it. What Lul Jun is doing now can only shock them, absolutely not delight them.

A model is just a model. Issues like structural mechanics, transmission devices, and torque aren't something a model can easily solve. Although now with materials science already kneeling on the ground able to solve major problems, Lul Jun is completely running further and further down the path of self-destruction!

But thinking about Liu Bei's current regime, including folks like Zixu and Qu Qi, realistically many are running further and further down the path of self-destruction, even reaching new realms and levels. We can only say it's thanks to Chen Xi's strong financial base.

"Zichuan, how much steel do we have in reserve now?" After approving the request, Lub Su placed it on the pending accounting list, then pulled it out again after a while and turned to ask Chen Xi, who was lazily slacking off beside him.

"Huh?" Chen Xi flared up instantly, having just zoned out. "Uh, Zijing, what did you say? Can you repeat that, my ears have been acting up lately."

Lub Su stared dumbfounded. Chen Xi, can you be any more shameless?

Taking a deep breath, and silently repeating not to argue with Chen Xi several times, Lub Su calmed his mind, "Zichuan, how much steel do we currently have in reserve?"

"It seems I just mobilized a batch of steel not long ago, let me think, there are still over 6,000 tons left," Chen Xi recalled after a moment and said.

"How come there's so much?" Lub Su was taken aback, "Why do we have so much steel, and what are we producing all this steel for?"

"Is it a lot? Actually, it's just about right. With the rearming of 400,000 troops, just swapping lamellar armour and chest plate armor, and equipping each with a weapon like a sword, requires this much. We haven't even counted the specialized great shields, specific wide-backed swords for breaking formation, or even spare weapons," Chen Xi said after looking up at the sky for a while.

"Uh, you've rearmed the entire 400,000 troops?" Lub Su looked at Chen Xi in disbelief, "What about the leather armor that was previously retired?"

"Oh, they were handed over to the local militias. A village of 3,000 people needs about 30 to 50 militiamen. According to this proportion, the retired leather and cloth armor is still not enough," Chen Xi explained rather willfully, and Lub Su found it difficult to respond to such words.

"Alright, I won't calculate the leather armor handed to the militia, but what are those thousands of tons of steel for? Even for making spare weapons and equipment, that wouldn't require so much, right?" Lub Su looked at Chen Xi speechlessly.

"We can't just focus on ourselves, right? In the future, Yongliang, Yizhou, Jing-Xiang, Yangzhou, and Jiaozhou are also ours, and those soldiers will need rearming too. These steels are meant to solve that problem," Chen Xi said naturally, indicating the aim to conquer the Central Plains, implying they wouldn't be the only ones making efforts, after all, they are all their own people.

In Lub Su's mind, there arose an image of hundreds of thousands of Han troops fully equipped with armor, holding great shields. Although it seemed thrilling to think about, it was also terrifying. From ancient times to now, soldiers wearing armor were referred to as armored soldiers, and anyone referred to as a soldier wasn't someone ordinary. So Chen Xi was actually planning to create tens of thousands of armored soldiers?

"Mobilizing a portion shouldn't make much of an impact, right?" Lub Su considered and said.

"No impact at all. A few years ago, there might have been an impact, but now it's completely fine. Although this is a relatively special type of steel, as long as the steel plant keeps running, a few tons can be produced every day," Chen Xi said casually, "If it runs out, I'll just produce another batch."

"A few tons can be produced in a day?" Lub Su's eyes widened.

"Yes, about five to six thousand pounds or so," Chen Xi stroked his chin, now the measurements have been standardized, extremely close to the modern international standards.

"So, according to the standard of armored soldiers, you can arm half a garrison in a day?" Lub Su said in disbelief.

"Yes, wasn't this mentioned a long time ago?" Chen Xi said naturally, "I've always been in charge of logistics. If push comes to shove, we'll brute-force our way through. As long as it's within my striking range, if I throw a million armored soldiers at it, I refuse to believe it can't be resolved."

Li Youu, Jia Xu, Guo Jia, Fa Zheng, and Lub Su all supported their foreheads and then silently covered their eyes, revealing a kind of inexplicable feeling, finding it really hard to face Chen Xi. This method was truly straightforward and in line with Chen Xi's usual style.

"Uh, what's wrong with you all, I said from the beginning that my favorite is brute-forcing. Using strength to bully the weak is the essence of Military Strategy. I'm just turning it into reality. However, I estimate it will still take a few more years to produce this stuff. With an annual production of less than 2,000 tons, accounting for reserves of weapons and backup support weapons as well as other consumption, it probably needs another five years of production," Chen Xi stroked his chin, speaking with a certain pondering tone.

Li Youu, Jia Xu, and the others remained silent. Chen Xi really planned to arm one million armored soldiers, and it seemed likely from the current pace, making it highly feasible to complete this plan. Unintentionally, this era could become the era with the strongest military power in history.

"14,000 tons is basically enough to arm a million armored soldiers," Li Youu said after a while, "You mean to still retain 6,000 tons as a reserve?"

"Hmm, that's roughly the situation. Who knows what the battle will look like then, better to plan early. The problem with armor and weapons is solved, but the problem with Shu Brocade remains unresolved," Chen Xi said with some perplexity.

"Shu Brocade, what are you trying to do?" Lub Su asked curiously.

"Top quality and tightly woven Shu Brocade, used as a liner, can defend against arrows well," said Li Youu, experienced in countless battles, understanding such things clearly.

"You mean you still want Shu Brocade as a liner inside?" Guo Jia silently calculated the costs. At this pace, won't it cost around twenty thousand coins per piece of equipment, given that a private slave now costs around forty thousand coins alone?

"Yes, yes, this way the lamellar armour allows flexibility in movement, providing good defense to the limbs without affecting the attack. The chest plate offers excellent protection against lethal attacks, while the tightly woven Shu Brocade inside, in case the plate armor is pierced, can effectively prevent penetrating attacks. Moreover, if struck by arrows, this material is also handy for extracting arrowheads," Chen Xi explained, indicating that it was a design aimed to cater to performance in defense, weight, and flexibility for an excellent battle armor.