Chapter 29: Veteran Craftsman
Huo Tiande is the old craftsman they are looking for, but he is in his early eighties. He has difficulty even making fire, let alone forging iron. But it is said that he has two sons.

The eldest son, Huo Zhengen, was an honest and hardworking man. He opened a blacksmith shop to support him in his old age.

The second son, Huo Zhengyi, was given a job by Huo Tiande because Huo Tiande helped the city’s steel plant improve its formula. He is now the workshop director.

As soon as Yan Xu heard this, he knew that his second son had no chance. As for his eldest son, he didn’t know how his business was going. If it was good, he probably wouldn’t want to work in a small hardware factory.

"Of course I'm willing." Master Jiang said it very confidently, leaving Yan Xu a little confused.

"It's useless to open a blacksmith shop these days. No matter what skills you have, they're useless." Master Jiang said with some sigh, and Yan Xu understood as soon as he heard it.

Nowadays, industrial products have already flooded the market. Besides, sickles, hoes, iron pots and the like are not consumables. They can be used for at least a few years. If they are more sophisticated, they can take half a lifetime to use. In addition, the cheapness of industrial products has left handcraftsmen with no room to survive. After all, no matter how cheap labor is, it can still be cheaper than machines. The efficiency alone is far behind.

In fact, if there hadn't been people who have been touting the so-called spirit of craftsmanship, saying that machines have no soul and so on, handicraftsmen would have been eliminated long ago.

"Also, Huo Zhengen's biggest regret in life is that his father gave the job to the second son, Huo Zhengyi, which led to him marrying a refugee widow when he was almost 30. Also, because of his bad background, his son could only learn blacksmithing from him since he was a child, while the second son lived smoothly thanks to the capital given by his father. That's why he is very upset." Master Jiang patted his chest and said. It was obvious that the half pack of cigarettes he just gave was not in vain, as he got to know a lot of information.

Yan Xu immediately understood, because if it were him, he would not be able to accept the same feeling.

If it were based on his own abilities, the eldest brother probably wouldn't say anything, but the second brother's glamor and splendor was given by his father out of favoritism, and he has to stay in his hometown all his life to take care of his father in his old age. Even if he doesn't say anything, he won't feel balanced in his heart.

They are all my biological children, why should one of them praise me to the sky while the other one tramples me to the ground?

After parking the car, Yan Xu carried his things and went to find the Huo family's blacksmith shop with Master Jiang, who had asked for directions.

The place is really hard to find, because it is located outside the town and in a messy alley. If I couldn't hear the sound of iron working from a long distance away, I would probably have to look for a while.

When I walked into the alley, I saw a house with its door wide open. In front of the door was a stall with sickles, scissors, kitchen knives and other items on it. Against the wall was a row of hoes, shovels, and a few iron pots, some of which were home-made and some were industrial products. It seemed that the business was not very good.

It was deserted at the moment and there were no customers, so when they heard footsteps, a sturdy man came out. He looked honest and simple, and was not good at speaking. When he saw people, he just raised his hand and let them choose for themselves.

"I wonder if Mr. Huo Tiande is at home?" Master Jiang took out a cigarette and handed it to him. The man pushed it away, took it, put it between his ears, and asked with some confusion.

"What do you want to do with my grandfather?"

"We are from the hardware processing factory in the neighboring town. Since we have started a new project, we wanted to seek advice from you, old man. This is our factory manager, his last name is Yan." As soon as Master Jiang finished speaking, the man's eyes lit up. He ignored the stall and politely invited the two men into the house. He said to the old man who was sharpening a kitchen knife.

"Dad, they are from the hardware processing factory in the neighboring town. They are here to learn from Grandpa!" Although this man is not young, he is innocent and everyone can see his excitement. With a bang, the newly made kitchen knife fell to the ground from his big hands full of calluses. Huo Zhengen suddenly recalled the scene of that year. How similar it was, except that one was the city steel factory and the other was the town's hardware factory. But this time he would not miss the opportunity again.

"The old man is old, so just come to me. I know everything my father can do, and I can also do things he can't do." Huo Zhengen was not bragging. Huo Tiande felt that he owed his eldest son, and he had to rely on his eldest son for support in his old age, so he passed all his ancestral skills to him. Huo Zhengen envied his brother's work in the steel mill and seriously studied modern steelmaking technology. He wanted to see if there was a chance to improve the formula and go to work in the steel mill as well.

Although I didn't make it in this lifetime, I improved the family craft. It's no exaggeration to say that the disciple is better than the master.

This attitude was a bit too excited, or perhaps Huo Zhengen and his son had fallen into long-term regrets about their lives. They had already put themselves into the events of the past before they understood the other party's intentions. They were really afraid that the old man would give the opportunity to the second son's family again, so they behaved very passively.

But it was a mistake, Yan Xu really was here to recruit.

"Cold weapons?" After hearing Yan Xu's explanation of his purpose, Huo Zhengen was somewhat stunned. He hadn't heard of anyone wanting to make this thing for many years. However, after hearing the other party say that the factory wanted to produce it specially, he knew that the opportunity had really come.

He didn't know what handicrafts were and what weren't. Even if Yan Xu wanted to make a red cannon, Huo Zhengen would give it his all. As long as he could get his son a new job, he would let him do anything.

"The old man made iron for some friends several decades ago, and I followed him to help. I now know the craft." Huo Zhengen was not lying, he had been a blacksmith all his life, and the craft had long been ingrained in his bones, and he could not forget it even if he wanted to, so he spoke with confidence.

"I wonder what Master Huo is best at?"

Yan Xu nodded first. From the fact that the man was still muscular at his age and had calluses on his hands, he could tell that he was a real craftsman, so he did not doubt it.

But at the same time, he was very curious. Although he knew that the ancestor of the Huo family was a master craftsman of the Imperial Household Department of the Qing Dynasty, the forging of cold weapons is also divided into categories. Some are good at swords, and some are good at armor and bows and crossbows. You can't expect one person to do everything. This is unrealistic, so he asked.

"Knives. My ancestors were knife makers. They could make anything from small blades used by thieves to large long swords used by generals on the battlefield." Speaking of his ancestral craft, Huo Zhengen's face was full of pride, and he continued.

"Apart from the sword, he can use other weapons, including armor, bows, crossbows and firearms." For the sake of his son's future, Huo Zhengen was willing to give it his all.

It's easy to say this, but if he can't do it, he won't just lose face, but also the Huo family's reputation of hundreds of years.

Yan Xu nodded again. There was definitely some truth in the other party's words, but it was not a big problem.

This is not the ancient times. There is no shortage of alloys with extraordinary properties. Even if you want to forge a sword that can cut through iron like mud, it is not impossible. It is just a matter of how much money it costs.

What he wanted was craftsmanship, to make people see that this was a weapon made using ancient methods, so he really didn't need a top-notch craftsman; the Huo family's father and son were enough.

(End of this chapter)