『91 BC, Crossing the Sea of Hidaka』[162] Chapter 7: Challenging Iron Sword Making
Written by Tomohiko Adachi
[Main Characters in this Chapter]
Naoto ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙ A young man from Hidaka working on iron making among the Xiongnu before the Common Era
Eregzen ∙∙∙∙ A young Xiongnu man who helps Naoto in his goal of iron making. Menachem's nephew
Menachem ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙ Commander of the garrison protecting the Xiongnu's Left Wise King. He instructed Naoto to make iron
Ishik ∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙∙ A master who leads Ninsha craftsmen from Tuva to smelt iron
Baharush ∙∙∙∙ A Ninsha craftsman specializing in sharpening, brought by Master Ishik
Synopsis of "Chapter 7: Challenging Iron Sword Making"
Having safely reached the pastures at the eastern edge of the Mongolian Plateau, Naoto immediately sets to work smelting iron with Eregzen's help, incorporating his own creative ideas into the methods he had observed.
Something like iron was indeed produced. However, even when he tried to hammer it into steel, it never took the shape of the small Fuyo steel knife he always kept at hand. Moreover, above all, he lacked sufficient tools.
Deciding to consult with Menachem, they agreed to invite a group of Ninsha craftsmen skilled in manufacturing who were in Tuva to join the Xiongnu.
These were people who had traveled all the way from their original home in western Persia to Ninsha on the upper reaches of the Han's Yellow River, but had subsequently fled to the northern lands to escape the tightening rule of the Han Emperor. They were a group of Israelites who called themselves children of Abram, to which Menachem had once belonged.
More than a dozen Ninsha craftsmen arrived after being invited from Tuva. At their respective stations, they smelted iron sand and forged steel using methods passed down among the Turkic peoples, known as Tatar techniques.
In the kiln site where he had originally built the structure with his own hands, Naoto masters the art of iron making while assisting Master Ishik, who leads the Ninsha craftsmen. [End of Chapter 7 Synopsis]
Chapter 7: Challenging Iron Sword Making
Section 1: Smelting Iron Sand
[162] ■ Episode 1 |Starting from Scratch [July, 91 BC]
On horseback crossing the |Gobi Desert after leaving Hamil, Naoto's mind felt completely empty.
--Now, I can start everything from scratch.
However, once he returned to the pasture, his mind was filled with thoughts of iron making. And for the past few days, he had spent his time doing nothing.
--I cannot stay like this forever. Let me start by doing what I can. For now, I will gather the tools and use the materials at hand to smelt iron sand...
He decided to try making iron and steel using the same method he had seen in the two huts in Tuva.
So, first, he went down to the small stream used as a watering hole, pulled out water plants, and collected the black sand from their roots into bamboo tubes.
--When I went to the foot of |Mount Iwaki with Kakeru and the others, I saw black sand attached to the roots of water plants. The old man who guided us said it was iron sand. If so, perhaps the black sand at the roots of the water plants in this stream is also iron sand...
This was something he had been curious about since he visited the |Dingling at Lake Baikal.
The iron sand he collected in bamboo tubes while bending his waist and stepping on the mud of the shore was drying on bamboo leaves spread out beside the ger. He placed several stones on them so they wouldn't be blown away by the wind.
--I don't know how much I need...
Thinking this, he spent two days going down the stream and collected a large amount, resulting in about thirty bamboo tubes, each as long as his forearm.
Next, he tinkered with the bellows he had obtained in Hamil to confirm how to use them. As expected, it was the same mechanism as the one he had made in Hidaka.
The bellows, which he heard at the |bazaar were a product of Tuva, were made of thick boards, reindeer leather, some other thick leather, and |rivets.
The thick boards were cut into two pieces, and thick leather was applied to the cross-sections of the two stacked boards and connected by driving iron rivets all around. A small round groove was cut into the edge of the bottom board, and a hole was also made in the thick leather, into which a small metal tube was |inserted so that air would blow out. To wrap this in thin reindeer leather to make it like a bag, rivets were lined up and driven around the thick boards. Since many rivets were driven around the small tube protruding from the thick leather as if to say 'this should hold,' Naoto couldn't help but laugh.
--They must have struggled with this part tearing in the beginning...
There was a round hole the size of a thumb in the middle of the wide surface of the bottom board, which was |blocked from the inside with leather. Since he couldn't see inside, he removed a few rivets from the bottom board and peeked into the bag, seeing a square piece of thick leather covering the hole and fastened with nails.
When opening and closing the two boards, the thick leather connecting them bends. When the top board is lifted, the square piece of leather inside lifts slightly to let air in; conversely, when closed, the square leather is pressed against the hole to |block the passage of air, and the air is pushed out from the tip of the small tube protruding from the bag.
Inside, he could see several |tendons about the length of a |palm. Eregzen told him they were camel |tendons. Both bent ends were |nailed to the middle of the two boards, and when closed, the sandwiched tendons would spring back and try to stretch, helping to open and close the bellows. To prevent the two boards from opening too wide, a wide piece of leather was wrapped around the handle like a belt.
--It is well made. It is the same mechanism as the one I made with |hemp cloth and bamboo boards, but it is much better than that. The difference is that instead of sandwiching and fastening a cloth bag with bamboo, they drive many |rivets into the sides of thick wooden boards to make the leather into a bag. This shouldn't tear easily. Moreover, this bellows uses camel tendons to do the work of the bent black bamboo that springs back when the two boards are closed. The materials available are completely different in every way...
Since he understood the mechanism, he reinforced the handles of the two boards with split thick bamboo to make them wider, and changed them so they could be stepped on with his feet. Wanting to make larger ones with the same mechanism, he made two more by combining cedar boards and rivets brought from Hamil, along with sheep leather.
In addition, he lined up |small tools he would likely use immediately, such as |hammers and iron tongs, on the beating cloth spread in the ger, while recalling what he had seen during his travels, thinking, 'I'm sure this is how they were used.'
Having finished the preparations in this way, he told Eregzen his thoughts, and Eregzen immediately replied, 'Then, shall we try it?' It was as if he had been waiting for Naoto to bring it up all along.
The next morning, they met at the |pasture. He put the tools, wrapped in an old beating cloth and tied with leather straps, and the six bamboo tubes into Eregzen's hebe, hung them on the horse's back, and set out for the charcoal kiln in the northern sparse forest that they had built in the early autumn of the previous year.
--I'll carry the rest of the iron sand next time...
The northern sparse forest was the place where they had fired clay vessels in the winter cold. From the summer pasture, it was further away by the distance of crossing the river to the south.
Upon arriving, he immediately counted the clay bricks in the charcoal kiln that had been left over and unused. Since they had burned more than enough charcoal at that time, a considerable amount remained.
Beside it, he and Eregzen took turns digging a deep hole. This would be the bottom of the kiln floor. It went well because Eregzen had found and brought good tools. Recalling the iron kiln he had seen among the Dingling, he tried making it smaller.
--A square kiln only needs to be large enough to fit three pieces of firewood inside. It is smaller than the kiln I saw, but that is better for testing whether iron can really be smelted...
Eregzen recalled the Tuva chieftain saying, 'Deep enough that an adult's head doesn't show when standing,' so he dug it deeper, thinking this should be enough.
This was difficult. When trying to dig deep, the hole naturally became larger. To prevent it from collapsing from the |edge, they drove in long bamboo split in half to retain the earth, and one person went down into the hole to continue digging.
Finally, they placed several large stones at the bottom of the hole and, to prevent moisture, filled it with pebbles and charcoal without hesitation. At the very top of the hole, where it would be just below the kiln floor, they put river sand that had been dried and leveled it.
The bricks for the smoke vent in the charcoal kiln made the previous year had been fired hard. They moved these and laid them on the bottom of the iron kiln. They stacked the rest to make a square box, applied |kneaded clay to the back and front of the box to cover it, and finished it into a small kiln. Two holes were made for blowing air with the bellows, protected by stones and bricks. The air certainly reached the furnace core.
Naoto called that small square kiln with an open top an |iron kiln.
'It's quite small,' Eregzen muttered.
'Yes, it's small. But this is fine for a test firing.'
After taking a breath, he arranged firewood inside the kiln as he had seen in Tuva and placed |charcoal on top. They left the remaining charcoal in the charcoal kiln, lined up the iron sand from the six bamboo tubes they had brought nearby, and looked at each other, saying, 'This should be fine.'
'Let's wait two days for the clay applied to the walls of the iron kiln to dry. Eregzen, there won't be any rain, right?'
Eregzen couldn't help but laugh.
That day, they returned to the ger and made a small bamboo |basket like the one he had seen in Tuva. It would be used to hold charcoal cut to a good size and pour it into the blazing iron kiln while avoiding the heat.
Two days later.
Under a clear sky, they set out with three days' worth of food.
The Tuva chieftain's words, 'It takes three days and three nights to finish firing,' were their guide. After aligning the two holes opened near the bottom of the kiln with the mouth of the bellows and checking how to step on them together, they called out, 'Starting,' and lit the fire from the hole.
The charcoal began to burn with flames. Peering through the hole to check the color of the fire, they continued to blow air with the bellows. It was trial and error. While pouring the short-cut charcoal and the iron sand from the bamboo tubes alternately from the mouth above the furnace, Naoto thought,
--Will the iron sand really melt with this method?
The three-day continuous work took a toll on their bodies. If the air stopped, the fire would immediately weaken, so they couldn't let their guard down. Finally, taking turns to rest, by the time the morning of the fourth day arrived, both were so exhausted they couldn't even speak to each other.
However, the iron sand had melted. Since the iron kiln was small, the black lump was small, but it had certainly been created.
Even so, Naoto felt that it was somehow different from the lump of iron he had been shown in Tuva.
--Is it because I didn't use something like the |net made of thin iron rods...?
To Section 1, Episode 2 [163]
Return to the previous episode [161]
To the Table of Contents and (Full) Synopsis [000]
Table of Contents for Chapter 7 [Links to move to the beginning of each section]
Chapter 7, Section 1: Smelting Iron Sand [162] To the beginning
Chapter 7, Section 2: The Iron Kiln at the |Edge of the Mountain [166]
Chapter 7, Section 3: Menachem's Old Tales [168]
Chapter 7, Section 4: The Ninsha People Who Reached Tuva [171]
Chapter 7, Section 5: Menachem, Back to Tuva [176]
Chapter 7, Section 6: Master Ishik [180]