I Became the Crown Prince of a Ruined Country

106 – Iron Blood

Even after the great incident of the joint army was over, the world was buzzing with big and small things.

After the war ended with the defeat of the Qin Dynasty, the Qi Dynasty, which had sided with the Qin Dynasty, was on edge for fear of retaliation.

It was only 40 years ago that I was about to be destroyed by the evil and the coalition army. There were still many people who remembered the nightmare of that day, and those who heard about it from them whispered that they should run away in fear.

If the sense of insecurity itself was the greatest in Qi, the country’s overall upheaval was rather added by the key victor of the war, the Wei Dynasty.

Conflict between Lord Xinling and King Wei.

King Wei had the authority to be called a king, and Lord Xinling had the reputation of being one of the four noblemen in the country.

King Wei had no achievements to speak of, but on the other hand, he did not make any major mistakes that could cause problems.

As the commander-in-chief of the combined forces twice, Xin Leung-gun accomplished the astounding achievement of defeating the Qin Dynasty, the strongest of the nations, twice, but in the process, he committed the crime of murdering Jinbi, a general who had gained the trust of his country.

Although he stood at the pinnacle of the military power of the Wei Dynasty as the current Sangsanggun, the soldiers under the command of Jinbi still harbored animosity towards the Xinling army.

Sinreung-gun, who returned home in gold, and the followers who flock to him.

Wary of it and unite the forces of King Wei and the diners and soldiers under the old Jinbi.

As long as there was a Qin Dynasty, there would be no civil war, but the atmosphere inside the Wei Dynasty was going back and forth.

In the country of Zhao, as if they did not like the state of Wei, who was trying to exclude their country’s savior, Xin Leung-gun, they took the form of trying to pressure the state of Wei, and the state of Cho said that they had to take care of the state of Qi, which interfered with everything.

The Han Dynasty, which had become a small country, had no time to look elsewhere because it had hit the Qin Dynasty firmly in the back. It was best for the Han Dynasty to constantly monitor the movements of the Qin Dynasty and prepare to send a request for help to the nations as soon as they move.

The Qin Dynasty, which the Han Dynasty was so wary of, didn’t seem to have any intention of starting a war for the time being.

Aside from losing a large army of over 100,000 in the Great War caused by the previous king, they were busy with internal problems.

Yes. Previous king.

Yeongjacho, who raised a tremendous army with a burning desire for revenge against the Zhao Dynasty, received the posthumous title of Jangyang and became the former king of Jin, called King Jangyang.

The moment the revenge was stranded by the combined forces, King Jangyang lost the last will to live that he was holding on to the end even though he was suffering from illness.

And the crowning thing.

Youngjeong, a 13-year-old girl.

The young girl king, who ascended the throne at a very young age, gave her mother the authority of convergence and purification, and appointed her monk, Yeobulwi, to the upper chamber to take over state affairs. I knew it wasn’t.

Sensing the crisis, he was accompanied by the Defense Forces of Hamyang and defended the advance from the joint army.

The generals who were there clearly witnessed how a young girl named Yeongjeong was worthy of the throne, and she had that ability.

Yeongjeong, the young girl who gained the support of the Qin military, Yeobulwi, the regent and regent who took control of the court, and Johee, the empress dowager of the Convergence Cheongjeong, who held the most powerful justification for power.

Qin was busy dancing, stepping back and forth to the trio of these three people.

It was an exquisite balance. If it was originally the same, Yeongjeong would be one step behind, and Kwon Shin Yeobulwei and Empress Dowager Johui would have become the real powers in control of the Qin Dynasty, but thanks to the combined army, Yeongjeongdo had established a voice in the court.

‘It’s too late. The tiger started running.’

I pondered over Jung’s words from the second parting.

Gihojise (騎虎之勢).

Jung has already climbed on the back of the tiger. If she can’t stand alone as a king, she will become a scarecrow king stripped of all her powers. And the only means Jung could choose for that was war.

Stop the war by accepting me.

It must have told Jung to give up all her power and ambition and live happily ever after with me.

I could tell how much Jung thought of me just by shaking for a moment, but in the end, Jung passed my hand and told me to get off the tiger’s back.

In that case, I will build it.

I will stop her tiger, take her skin off her, and give it to her.

Instead, she will no longer be able to ride the tiger and run to the other side of her.

The first step was completed in the Yan Dynasty that returned.

“Finally finished, steel.”

I was thrilled and looked at the sword in my hand as if possessed.

My face was illuminated by the smooth and shiny blade, unlike other cheap iron swords.

In the Yan Dynasty, there was also a power struggle between the King and the Crown Prince externally, but in reality, only the King Yeon was doing shadow boxing, and I was already in control of the backbone of the Yan Dynasty.

King Yan has the Sangfang Janggeo and General Yungbun, but he is not good enough with them.

Since Janggeo spoke only the right words, he was not very respected by King Yeong even though he was a royal guard of King Yeong, and because he rose to the upper ranks thanks to the influence of Zhao Nara, he lacked the authority and respect befitting the upper ranks.

Same goes for Youngbun. There is a shear-blocking dor, but anyway, there is no major for victory.

However, I had a record of participating in the combined army and defeating the Qin Dynasty.

In addition, as the platoon, now in Seoul, supported me, the balance of power was broken.

It was not difficult to secretly bring Song Eok to the world from Changseong, as he held the real power of Yan behind the scenes.

The reason I called Song Eok was because I received a report from Hankyung.

A report on the completion of the steel smelting method.

However, despite the invention of a steel smelting method that will go down in history, Song Eok’s expression was not very good.

Isn’t that not enough, he is bowing down and apologizing to me as if he were a sinner?

“I am sorry to inform you, but the super-strong method that the Crown Prince taught me has not yet been completed.”

“Hmm?”

I did not understand well.

It is said that Song Eok discovered the production method of steel, and he realized mass production of steel. As proof of that, I also came with Hankyung’s report that in addition to the steel sword I’m giving now, numerous iron weaponry and farming tools are sleeping in the Changseong warehouse.

But you couldn’t complete the super strong method?

“You said that the Chogang method is a method of stirring molten cast iron by sprinkling red clay, tidal flat soil, or rusty iron powder. Certainly, as the Crown Prince said, it was possible to produce steel through the Chogang method. However, the method of stirring was always inconsistent. The result was different depending on the type, amount, and cycle of the material sprayed, so the majority of results were of poor quality.”

That’s true, but that’s what super-strong methods are originally.

Even if you produce steel properly only 2 or 3 times out of 10, it will be a great success. Failure of the remaining 7 and 8? Why is that a failure It’s iron too. It may not be usable as a weapon, but there were other places where iron could be used.

You can make farming tools, or at least even a lump of iron will have a use somewhere.

Hana Song Eok and Han Kyung seemed to have different thoughts.

‘This is my negligence. For now, I only thought about recreating the super-strong method, so I couldn’t properly explain it.’

Besides the Super Strong Act, I had a lot to think about. Anyway, if I don’t punish it, it won’t be a problem, so I should praise them for their efforts and let them know that they can just do it.”

“Then, by chance, I found another way.”

“Hmm? Another way?”

“Yes. First of all, it is a method temporarily named the luminal method.”

Gwan (灌) was a Chinese character with the meaning of ‘to pour in’.

Literally translated, it means a method of making steel by pouring.

Considering that the chogangbeop is a method of making steel by roasting it, the gwankangbeop is also a name that describes the production process in one word.

‘By the way, what do you mean by pouring?’

“The molten iron flows into it.”

‘Ah, it’s not the Buddha, it’s the flowing side.’

“Do you remember the kind of iron I told you about?”

“I remember. Cast iron, steel, wrought iron, pure iron.”

“Of these, steel is best, because cast iron is hard but brittle, and pure and soft iron are unbreakable but too soft.”

Song Eok clapped both her hands together.

“How about mixing the two?”

“Mixing? Cast iron and wrought iron?”

“Yes. If you use the waterwheel the Crown Prince made, you can make the fire stronger. Thanks to that, you can melt not only cast iron but also pure iron. So, if you mix and melt cast iron and soft iron together, only the advantages of the two combine. Falling steel is made.”

Cast iron melts first, then soft or pure iron melts and mixes with cast iron.

In this process, carbon moves from cast iron with an excess amount of carbon to pure iron with a lack of carbon, completing steel with an appropriate amount of carbon.

Compared to the super-strong method, it was a simpler manufacturing method. In addition, if the ratio of cast iron and soft iron was well matched, unlike the super-strong method, the probability of making steel was much higher.

Unlike the super steel method, which is a steel manufacturing method that also produces steel, the pipe steel method is truly a manufacturing method that only produces steel!

“My God…”

I can hear it.

A resounding metal sound.

I can feel it.

The collision of steel makes vibration.

It was coming.

A wave of steel that will end the Bronze Age.

A steel barrier that will stop the fierce advance of the Qin Dynasty by blocking the river crossing.

Finally, it was the Iron Age.