> premodern China never really had decentralized steelworking
There was formally a state monopoly on iron that would have made local smithing illegal, but there were not enough state smithies to serve that purpose, so the general assumption is that illegal smithies were common.
> genghis khan probably came from a smithy family btw
I have not heard of this and it is facially implausible; the Mongols were not a metalworking people.
There was formally a state monopoly on iron that would have made local smithing illegal, but there were not enough state smithies to serve that purpose, so the general assumption is that illegal smithies were common.
> genghis khan probably came from a smithy family btw
I have not heard of this and it is facially implausible; the Mongols were not a metalworking people.