On one side of the lord's house, the bald man Valeri was leading a few people to build a stove against the outer wall of the house. The stove stands tall, about three meters high, like a large water bottle. And several leaders such as Ulyanov and Rusev were standing aside, pointing and talking, with excitement on their faces. Leo walked over, looked at the strange-looking thing in front of him, and asked, "What is this?" "This is an iron smelting furnace. Have you ever seen it?" Uliyang introduced it with a proud look on his face and took the opportunity to teach the younger generation. "This is a good thing. When he was young, Valeri was an apprentice blacksmith for five years, so he is more or less a half-blacksmith. If this furnace can be repaired and used, we can smelt the iron ore sent by the kobolds into iron ingots ourselves!" Leo also became excited. In Isenpol, the price of qualified pig iron ingots is more than five times that of the same weight of iron ore. This means that once the furnace is repaired, the kobolds' iron ore can be resold for three times its original value. But the prerequisite is that it can be used. Leo really has no hope for an iron smelting furnace repaired by a blacksmith apprentice.
His disdain was immediately revealed: "After five years of study, you're still an apprentice to a blacksmith?" Uliyan and several leaders sneered and ignored the naive Leo. It is not easy to be a blacksmith. In the North, blacksmithing is a high-end profession. The technology and formula of iron smelting are secrets. For a country boy like him, if the master is unwilling to teach, he may work as a blacksmith for his whole life and still be an apprentice. When Valery was young, he operated a blower in a blacksmith shop for three years. He chopped wood, burned charcoal, washed clothes and cooked every day. It took him three years to get the chance to swing a sledgehammer. Five years later, I was able to cast iron ingots independently, but my master didn't teach me anything about forging skills, I had to rely on myself to observe and explore. There are five or six apprentices like him in a blacksmith shop. Those who stay there long enough will learn some skills and be able to make farm tools, nails and rivets on their own. However, if they want to inherit the blacksmith's craft, they have to be unable to have a son. Then in the sixth year, his master, the old blacksmith, accepted the lord's call to forge weapons and armor for the lord's army. He was considered to be very successful, but he was not taken with him. Valery is also a capable man. He didn't learn to be a blacksmith, so he learned carpentry and stonemasonry. Now, he knows a little bit of everything and is considered the best craftsman in the village. A group of old villagers who made a living from the land dared to build a mansion of several hundred square meters for the lords, all because of him. Leo, who was very interested, watched this primitive iron-smelting vertical furnace with everyone else, but in the end he failed to come up with any constructive suggestions. When it comes to the types and history of iron smelting technology, Leo can blow the villagers away, but when it comes to the specific details, he really can't explain it clearly at the moment. As they watched, Leo suddenly said, "Don't the kobolds have blacksmiths? Why not get one here and exchange experiences, learn from each other, and maybe we won't have to buy farm tools anymore and can just make them ourselves." Wu Liyang clapped his hands, "That's right! Why don't you go now!" "Why should I go?" Leo was unhappy. "If you don't go, who will? You are the only one among the Kobolds who are familiar with you and obey you the most. Even my words are useless." "Didn't you say that last time? If you wait outside the toilet three times in a row, you can invite the dog-headed military advisor? Why can't the dog-headed blacksmith do the same?" Leo looked puzzled. When did I say that? Under the urging of Ulian and several leaders, Leo set off reluctantly.
When they reached the oak forest, Freya, who was still digging a canal, also stopped working and clamored to go out and play. The Gnoll Valley is not far away. After continuous trampling of the Gnoll mining teams, a clear mountain road appeared on the hillside, leading directly to the River Bay Camp. The gnolls spotted Leo and Freya from afar, and barked in panic. Some turned back to the valley to report the news, while others raised their weapons and tried to drive away the outsiders. But when Leo and Freya approached, the ogres guarding the nest hid their weapons behind their backs and cowered like a group of elementary school students who had made a mistake. In the valley, the old and weak dog-headed people looked at the giant marmot in horror, and some even ran away with their heads in their hands. This giant beast is finally coming to eat the kobolds! Freya also found it interesting, so she stood up and waved her arms and legs deliberately to intimidate the gnolls around her. Leo was very satisfied with this situation. Appropriate use of force could better guarantee peace and dispel the other party's unreasonable expectations. However, he also keenly discovered that many of the gnolls' equipment had been updated. After several battles with the Riverbend Camp, the number of warriors in the Gnoll Tribe was greatly reduced, and the current main force consists of thinner adult Gnolls. Those adult dog-headed men held a small shield made of bark or wood in one hand and a short spear or iron pick in the other. They also had a bag tied around their waists filled with egg-sized stones. A small number of kobold warriors even carried three or four short spears on their backs. Almost all the kobolds have a sling in their hands! It's simply the beggar's version of the Hewan Leader Militia. Although they were frightened by Freya and did not dare to surround her, they stood far away and subconsciously gathered together to form a shield formation for defense. Although the previous ogres were numerous and powerful, they were in chaos and had no discipline at all. Even a layman like Leo could see that they would be defeated at one blow. Wow, this Husky named Fraser looks stupid, but she has been running the Gnoll tribe in an efficient manner in just a short time since she took office. This has maxed out all the internal affairs. By the time Leo and Freya entered the valley, Fesha had already heard the news and rushed over. Frasa, who often went in and out of the Riverbend Camp, was very familiar with Leo and Freya, and she was calm and composed when she approached them. She didn't seem nervous at all. This was unusual in the eyes of her tribesmen, who simply thought that their new leader was brave and fearless, and was too powerful. After Leo explained his purpose, Feisa nodded readily and said, "You guys, come." After that, she led Leo and Freya into the depths of the valley and went straight to the iron smelting furnace in the nest. The iron smelting furnaces of the dog-headed people are very different from those of humans. Their appearance looks like small mounds of earth less than one meter high. Half of the dozen or so small mounds of earth were still smoking. A group of dog-headed men were guarding the stoves, blowing air into them with blowpipes. One of the cooled mounds of earth was dug up, and two little dog-headed men, whose heads were dyed black by charcoal ash, were lying inside, looking for smelted iron. Those are small iron beads like sand. These iron beads are put into a pottery jar. When the number is sufficient, they are heated for a second time to form blocks of sponge iron. On one side of the iron smelting furnace, four sturdy dog-headed men surrounded two anvils, hammering them clangingly, and beating the red-hot sponge iron into the required shape.
There was even an old dog-headed man wearing a headband woven from grass roots and a cloak woven from feathers and leaves, singing and dancing and praying for the blacksmith shop. Being in it, Leo felt as if he had returned to primitive society. Feisa said, "You can take one of our blacksmiths." Unlike other kobolds who regarded this primitive iron smelting technology as a mysterious spell, in Fraser's view, these were all very simple things and did not require much technical content, so there was no need to hide them.