Chapter 144

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Chapter 144: Changes

“Boss, how much for this piece of roe deer meat?”

“Sixty copper coins.”

“No way, that expensive? The stall next door sells roe deer meat for only thirteen copper coins a catty, and this piece is at most three catties.”

“This is meat from the roe deer’s hind leg, twenty copper coins a catty. It’s the same price throughout the tribe, and this is the last piece. Do you want it or not?”

“Too expensive, let me think about it first…”

“Newly made hoes and copper picks! Only six available today, get yours quickly! Selling out means closing the stall!”

“Freshly caught fish! Come and see, come and see!”

“Newly made pottery jars and bowls, don’t miss out as you pass by…”

Barely half a month after the launch of the commercial system, the entire Mirror Tribe had completely transformed.

The area where everyone originally gathered to make fires and cook was now designated by Luo Ji as a commercial district.

The whole area was filled with constant shouts from vendors, bustling with activity.

Walking through the commercial district on his way to the Armament Department, Luo Ji’s face was filled with pride.

Of course, not everything went smoothly during this period.

For example, the forging process encountered many problems.

There were no issues with batch producing some daily necessities using the mold casting method, but the quality of forged military weapons consistently failed to meet standards.

By the way, the Forging Department was now split into three sections.

One was the Minting Workshop, specifically responsible for casting copper coins, another was the Forging Workshop, specifically for crafting daily tools and utensils, and the last section was integrated into the Armament Department, becoming the Armament Forging Department, specifically responsible for forging military equipment.

Although Luo Ji had given all the correct forging knowledge to the craftsmen in the Armament Forging Department, theoretical knowledge was one thing, and practical operation was another.

In this regard, the tribe’s craftsmen clearly still lacked considerable experience and skill in forging weapons, so they could only slowly experiment and explore on their own.

In addition, over the past few months, as research into forging techniques progressed, Luo Ji discovered another thing, all those cool copper swords in films and TV shows were utter nonsense.

Real swords forged from copper ore were short and wide, much shorter than the longswords everyone imagined.

To be honest, calling them ‘short swords’ would be more accurate.

Due to this length issue, holding one felt quite awkward and couldn’t be associated with the word ‘cool.’

Perhaps the length could increase with future advancements in forging technology, but usually by the time that technology was available, the existence of copper swords themselves would already be largely irrelevant.

The main reason for this situation lay in the material, and copper lacked sufficient toughness.

If the blade were forced to be too long, it would easily break after a few strikes.

At this point, Luo Ji’s initial fantasy about this weapon was completely shattered.

Fortunately, in the upcoming Bronze Age, the main weapons for close-combat units weren’t swords.

Close-combat weapons like halberds and battle axes were far more suitable for the battlefield!

As an important department, Luo Ji was a frequent visitor to the Armament Department, dropping by every now and then to check on the progress of military weapon production.

Thus, the members of the Armament Department were already used to it.

Upon seeing Luo Ji enter, after a simple bow, they continued with their work, which was Luo Ji’s own request.

He couldn’t expect the entire department to line up and welcome him every time he came, could he?

How much would that impact work efficiency?

“Chief, you’ve arrived.”

Liu Shu, now promoted to head of the Armament Department, naturally knew the purpose of Luo Ji’s visit.

He quickly brought over a freshly polished battle axe and presented it to Luo Ji.

“This is a new item just completed by the Forging Department.”

“Mm.”

Luo Ji responded casually, then picked up the battle axe.

The handle remained wooden, this was the final result after considering a couple of issues such as forging difficulty, cost, efficiency, and weight.

Luo Ji weighed the battle axe in his hand.

Its weight was moderate, posing no difficulty for ordinary soldiers to wield.

He nodded in approval and then asked.

“Has this battle axe been sharpened?”

“It was just polished.”

Instantly understanding Luo Ji’s intent, Liu Shu gestured, quickly calling for someone to bring a tree trunk for weapon testing.

Without holding back, Luo Ji swung the axe down directly.

With a dull thud, the tree trunk before him, as thick as a bowl, split into two.

“Not bad!”

Looking at the rough cut on the tree trunk, Luo Ji acknowledged that the forging and research of copper weapons had only just begun, so he shouldn’t expect too much too soon.

For now, this power was sufficient.

Then, glancing at the axe blade, which showed no obvious damage, Luo Ji asked again.

“How’s the quality? How many strikes can this axe blade withstand? Have you conducted any tests?”

“Yesterday, we had the lumberjacks help us conduct chopping tests on trees. After a day, the axe blade showed no significant damage.”

A flicker of clear satisfaction passed through Luo Ji’s eyes upon hearing this.

“Well done. Use this quality as the standard. First, equip all the shield-axemen with these. As for Luo Yong’s axe, I’ll draw a design blueprint for you later, and you can follow that design. Besides that, how is the forging of the halberds progressing?”

“The halberds are a bit problematic…”

Liu Shu’s face showed a bitter smile as he spoke.

Luo Ji was unfazed by this situation.

He calmly inquired.

“What’s wrong?”

“Chief, in the halberd design blueprint you gave us earlier, the transverse blade requires relatively high forging precision. Additionally, its shape is quite small, so it often breaks halfway through the forging process.”

Luo Ji simply nodded, indicating he understood, with no hint of blame.

After all, this was ultimately a material issue.

If it were bronze, the material’s toughness would be stronger, but they currently had no bronze, only brass…

Luo Ji had thoroughly researched the issue of bronze while studying copper casting techniques in the real world.

He discovered that ‘bronze’ was not a single ore but an alloy!

You had to first refine copper ore into pure copper, and then mix in tin or lead to create that alloy, which was called bronze!

This was quite frustrating.

Could he just conjure tin or lead out of thin air?

No! He could only rely on the mining and scouting teams to work hard.

And before that…

“Don’t rush, research it slowly.”

“If the current forging technology cannot achieve that size, take a step back.”

“Making it slightly wider is also acceptable…”