Chapter 50: Notebook And Workbench
In the 6th month of the 28th year of the Shu Tian Calendar, news came that the Wu Family Northern Army had won a victory in Donghua Commandery. Families in Lingnan all went out to offer incense and pray to Emperor Xi.
Meanwhile, Yongji Pass was currently in the rainy season. The continuous heavy rain had made the roads wet and soft, making it currently an unfavorable time for sending out troops.
So the homebound Wu Fei was debugging cannons.
In the checkpoint, cannon firing sounds like rumbling thunder echoed in the valley.
And in the valley, Wu Fei was looking at this cannon whose cannon wall was even thicker than the bore with an extremely picky gaze, even though this sturdy cannon had exquisite flame runes on it, which people of this era called a symbol of invincible divine might.
Wu Fei curled his lips: This is way too backward.
This era had an advantage over the Earth era, that was, due to monsters pulling them, it was easy to maneuver. Plus, the cannons used runes to constrain energy, such rune configurations were easy to inherit but hard to deconstruct in principle, so no one tampered with them blindly, which also led to no one considering miniaturization of heavy cannons for hundreds of years.
All these factors made copper cannon technology not follow the path of improving material strength like in the Earth era, which caused the cannon models to fall into “historical endpoint,” remaining unchanged.
For example, the cast copper cannon in front of him was short and thick, able to withstand weak chamber pressure, so it could only keep thickening the cannon wall. Of course, this would cause another problem: chamber pressure was maintained, but heat dissipation was not handled, requiring circles of runes to be drawn to dissipate the heat.
Wu Fei felt the scorching heat coming from the cannon barrel. This heat carried a smell like drying dirty clothes, and looking back at some operations of the gunners, it was clear that the buckets used by the gunners to wipe the cannon barrel had once held their childhood urine. Although now in drills with Wu Fei present, no one dared to take off their pants and directly use urine to cool the big cannon. But that smell lingered, volatilizing as soon as the cannon barrel heated up.
Wu Fei pretended not to smell it. Speaking of smells, Uncle’s military camp also had a stench. No need to make a fuss, better to continue watching the operations. As the cannon began rapid fire, soldiers sweating profusely bare-chested used iron tongs to clamp iron balls and stuff them into the cannon barrel, then activated the runes at the cannon tail to seal the chamber, Yao Calculation power sparked to ignite the charge bag, completing one cannon firing test shot.
Covering his ears and watching the projectile fly out, Wu Fei recalled the slender barrels he could only see in his previous life’s steel cannon era.
But in the end, he could only think about it. Regarding cast steel cannons, Wu Fei with half a bottle of knowledge knew some keywords, such as hot tube sleeved over cold tube for self-tightening, completed through processes like inserting water-cooling rods and then forging.
Oh, Wu Fei could distinguish between fantasy and reality. Building the above factory facilities required a series of large equipment, over a thousand full-time workers, and possibly nearly ten thousand tons of scrap steel in R&D losses.
Historically, Krupp Cannon Industry should have been set up near the Rhine River, relying on canals and railways to transport materials. As for Yongji Pass, forget it, it didn’t have conditions for such large-scale steel industry. But Wu Fei: I really want it!
Xuan Chong began to turtle-wish: “Omnipotent system, how can you let me have a thousand-ton hydraulic press, 100-ton blast furnace converter open-hearth facilities, and a set of combined coal and iron ore mines?”
Facing Xuan Chong’s plea, the system once again stated that as a “liberal arts teacher,” any more unrealistic demands would be judged as violating classroom discipline, deducting academic credit.
…Reviewing Yongji Pass’s current cannon development…
The cannon manufacturing technology Wu Fei had accumulated was relying on fifty artisans captured from Zhu Prefecture to form a copper cannon workshop.
Regarding the processes inside the casting cannon workshop, after visiting the heated discussions on craftsmanship, Wu Fei, holding great awe for the technology, repeatedly demanded himself not to have the arrogance of modern people, restraining his desire to point fingers at casting cannons.
But half a year ago, when Wu Fei saw the red-hot molten metal coming out, and the artisan squatting at the furnace chamber outlet like a volcano crater, reaching out to sense the furnace temperature, Wu Fei still couldn’t hold back. He thought as a modern person he should necessarily change these ancient artisans’ production concepts.
Especially this chief technical artisan standing next to the copper furnace, bringing his hand close to the molten copper to show his high affinity with the furnace, flattering Wu Fei that his craftsmanship was pure and exquisite.
Wu Fei held his breath and didn’t dare refute at all, because he was afraid that if he scolded even slightly, the artisan’s foot would slip and he would fall in, becoming an unlucky sacrifice to the furnace.
After that inspection, Wu Fei was determined: must strictly enforce production safety! Whether production processes progress or not is set aside, don’t let me have work accidents.
Wu Fei stopped all casting cannon production that day, conducting a half-month shutdown for rectification.
He didn’t understand casting cannon technology, but which places were prone to safety risks, Wu Fei as a modern person still understood.
First was that bamboo scaffolding climbing onto the copper furnace; Wu Fei’s first step was to decide to start changing from here, requiring all bamboo frames to be turned into iron parts.
Wu Fei valued military merit development in another way, that was treating military industrial production as “blood labor,” and trying to incorporate it into the system that could be exchanged for “blood reward.”
Wu Fei admitted that he was ignorant of the current technology, but he was absolutely more suitable than people of this era to lead and grasp production.
Great Ming was a negative example; it had excellent military industry technology accumulation, but treated artisans as less than human, and artisans had no “blood reward” in labor production, existing as lowly people, making their production of firearm parts extremely unstable.
Such old stories were also the case in Xuan Chong’s previous life era on the other side of the ocean in the late Mi Empire period: frontline engineers were consumables, facing a glass ceiling. Bottom-level recruitment smoked marijuana leaves while working. Wasn’t that making first-rate technology unstable?
Earlier Wu Fei had realized that in labor incentives, it wasn’t just about giving money, but also status. That is, introducing the military rank system.
In maintaining the military rank system, what was the most expensive? That was handling life and death was the most expensive, i.e., providing upward channels during child birth and rearing, and generous pensions after death. If following Great Ming’s artisan household system, no need to consider these, as artisan households were lowly people, the official family didn’t need to spend money on lowly people’s life and death.
But calculating by the military rank system, it wasn’t cheap.
After all, for any social system, upward channels were always the scarcest.
In Wu Fei’s “blood reward” formula, he specially reserved upward channels for blood laborers. Wu Fei actually didn’t want to open too many channels, so now being stingy about grasping production safety first was to have leverage to haggle down the price when discussing blood reward with military industry producers.
After all, if artisans produced without accidents and only sweated, then stingy Wu Fei would nitpick based on the actual battlefield effects of the weapons, deducting some rank system benefits.
But if artisans died in accidents, and Wu Fei couldn’t take care of their aftermath, then the artisans’ morale wouldn’t suffice to support technological improvements and production increases.
At the same time, Wu Fei believed: as long as blood reward exchange was achieved, even without understanding technology, technology would develop and progress like the natural law of water flowing to low places.
In his previous life, Wu Fei (Xuan Chong) had seen the result of artisan system morale collapse: clearly technology was still an advantage a dozen years ago, but spending ten or dozens of times the money, various military industries produced defective goods, low output, high prices.
…Back to now…
Wu Fei called Gongshu Wang over at the shooting range.
Wu Fei asked: “A Wang, do you think this cannon can be more mobile?”
Gongshu Wang shook his head: “General, all mechanical puppets rely on Yin Yao fusion, cannons are ultimate Yang power, I’m afraid—” (What he said, Wu Fei understood with his own concepts: the parts meshing in artificer techniques relied on a rune power affinity between woods, the cannon’s violent recoil had Yang Yao shockwaves, and this Yang Yao shockwave would seep into the joints of the mechanical puppets, thereby shaking apart these mechanism carriers.)
Actually, Wu Fei had already learned from San Gu: using artificer technique to build the tank in his mind was impossible.
But still had to say it out, because as a leader, he needed to occasionally show his demands. What if it worked?
Now Wu Fei was just short of pointing at that boiling water boiler and telling him to think well if mechanical puppet power could be changed to “water-fire power.”
However, Gongshu Wang said: “Does my lord really want the cannons to move on their own?”
Wu Fei’s eyes lit up: “Yes, you have a way.”
Gongshu Wang: “If my lord can hunt Yang attribute mount beasts, I can use Artificer Technique to mount these cannons on them.”
The expectation in Wu Fei’s eyes dimmed, but following his words he asked: “Yes, this way the artificer technique won’t fall apart?”
Gongshu Wang: “The cannon’s Yang Yao power will be absorbed by fire attribute mount beasts, artificer technique can operate stably.” (Wu Fei understood: recoil absorbed by the livestock, artificer technique stabilized.)
Wu Fei: “Four months later, follow me south to conquer, select appropriate mount beasts.”
…From the drizzly Southern Border turning to the summer Sebei at this time…
Northern Border, after Bo Prefecture fell, Da Yao mobilized fifteen Northern routes, totaling 300,000 troops for counterattack. Suddenly, the Guotai forces that had rushed into Bo Prefecture became precarious.
Pu E transformed into a dragon and entered the clouds, gazing toward Da Yao territory. Of course, she didn’t dare get close; the soaring killing intent made her dragon scales spotty and aging faster if she flew a bit nearer. The reason she did this was because she sensed Yu Li’s forces had been extinguished.
And looking across the killing intent, the North unexpectedly had camps stretching over 300 li, pressing over like mountains and rivers tide.
Among these fifteen route armies, each route army’s camp was about the same as the Wu Family Army’s in Donghua Commandery; its core military generals were about two or three thousand troops, the rest were laborer peasants conscripted by Da Yao bureaucrats at their stationed places.
For Guotai, confronting Da Yao in such a prolonged standoff was almost chronic death.
After each big camp’s Da Yao military generals brought their core family troops to battle and suffered losses, they returned to their stationed camps to regroup battle soldiers.
Total fifteen route stationed places; unless the fifteen route armies attacked together squeezed into one block, it was impossible to defeat such an army that could infinitely regenerate.
Haotian Realm’s Guotai Dragon Army in the initial invasion phase won more than lost, but the highest win rate was only just over 70%. As outsider dragon descendant strong troops, though they could rout one route of Da Yao military generals, that route of Da Yao army would immediately return to its camp under friendly cover to regroup and fight again.
Worth mentioning was that though Da Yao’s 300,000 troops consumed much of the Imperial Court’s grain and funds, Emperor Shu’s governance in these years was still competent; most prefectures and counties in half the realm still had good weather and sufficient treasuries. It could still hold on.
Moreover, Da Yao troops’ combat power was slowly rising now, because previously the military generals had let horses graze on Southern Mountains, unlike some border armies brushing experience daily at the border, so at war start they were somewhat flustered.
But once these Da Yao military generals familiarized with the troops under them, combat power would surge.
Haotian Realm’s dragon descendants also discovered this; if fighting continued without quickly breaking the deadlock, they would be directly crushed by Da Yao increasingly adapting to military strategists’ great contention!
Even though Da Yao had to pay a price, facing these military leaders who had gained momentum in all directions, it needed one or two generations of wise rulers to grind down, but those to die first would definitely be them dragon descendants “outside the original system.”
Pu E: Unless a great disaster appears inside Da Yao, red earth for thousands of li, people in chaos everywhere, leading to sudden collapse. However, on Da Yao’s Imperial Court now, the monarch was still wise; no signs of downfall in the coming decades. If all this really happened—
Pu E raised her head to gaze at the four faintly appearing new moons floating in the sky, quickly shaking her dragon head. Her workstation task was to take root here, not destroy this world.
Pu E looked at the new general card she had recruited, deciding to pin her hopes on him.
…Another transmigrator’s perspective…
Da Yao Imperial Court, based on the previously reported military merits of the Yongji Pass defense battle, sent the seal of Major General.
Wu Fei gazed at this thing he previously thought he didn’t care about. The lustrous white jade seal flickered with flowing Yao Calculation power, and more crucially, after getting this seal, everyone around looked at him differently. Even the personal soldiers left by Wu Hanluan who previously called him Young General one after another, now waited like for thunderous applause, awaiting his speech.
Chime bells rang, music started, Wu Fei donned the official clothes.
Da Yao was a ritual system state; when this system began granting position to a talented person, everyone in the surrounding society would be “courteous” to this talented person!
Previously, in the Battle of Yongji Pass, Wu Fei had gained recognition in the Wu Family, and everyone was willing to serve Xuan Chong loyally, but this loyalty was private without legitimacy; everyone’s loyalty value in their hearts still fluctuated. The monarch-minister status everyone wanted, Wu Fei had no ability to give.
Now Da Yao Northern Border was repeatedly frustrated, all sides questioned Da Yao Imperial Court’s ability to govern under heaven, but no one questioned Da Yao’s legitimacy.
And though Wu Fei’s Southern Border side was thriving, as long as legitimacy wasn’t confirmed one day, establishing a commandery office, he couldn’t refute others’ “crowned monkey.”
(In Three Kingdoms times, Lu Bu mocked Yuan Shao’s subordinates imitating Han Court as crowned monkeys, just so. Yuan Shao’s system wasn’t acknowledged by the court, while Lu Bu’s Marquis of Warm was court-granted.)
Suddenly everyone at Yongji Pass became courteous to Wu Fei, meaning now they too could raise their heads outward! Because from now on Wu Fei establishing office and recruiting advisors was publicly recognized by all forces in Da Yao territory.
Just as Wu Fei (Xuan Chong) was sighing with emotion, the system gave him another question.
System: Please evaluate the current ability level of Da Yao monarch.
Butt-decides-head Xuan Chong immediately wrote on the answer sheet his latest definition of dynasty monarch as “wise ruler”: “In prime of life, clear-headed, knows good from bad, clear on reward and punishment, holds power tight, understands priorities, can exert positive effects of ‘rule by man,’ maintaining the overall situation.”
For example, Wu Family Army’s current bandit suppression in Yunmeng Marsh; according to local noble families, Wu Hanluan overstepped, should be heavily punished and demoted to warn the world and deter others.
If it were a senile muddled ruler in power, biased and listening to one side, he would really strictly punish Wu Family Army per Da Yao edicts, forcing Wu Family Army to yield interests; that would be muddled, but clearly Da Yao monarch wasn’t muddled in this aspect.
……
Before twenty in previous life, Xuan Chong was a loyal Legalist adherent, believing rule of law could solve all problems.
But after twenty-five, he had new views: in times of rapid era development, “rule by man” was necessary.
This was because after twenty-five, Xuan Chong saw many “overworkers'” interests weren’t protected by law, because law couldn’t keep up with the era. Still no need for people to calibrate governance?
Looking at history, reasons for some dynasties’ gradual decline were their own interest allocation systems gradually unfit for era development.
And mid-to-late dynasty contradictions were old era vested interests’ non-laborers and minimal-laborers defending interests under “rule of law” (ancestral laws) banner.
“Law” needed calibration as eras passed. Especially in high-speed changing eras, old laws became shields for masses of non-laborers and light-laborers.
Every dynasty at founding had “edicts” that were just and strict, but later became backers for “rule exploiters”; these “relying on mountains to eat mountains” groups became increasingly immoral.
Xuan Chong summarized: If able to timely calibrate “law,” abandon sheltering non-labor groups, shelter over-labor groups. This was a correct reform recordable in history books. The leader was undoubtedly an active mid-reviving lord, Emperor Xuan of Han was representative.
If monarch though unable to reform, yet under old law system, through rule by man sheltered key people under ruling system from harm by old law-sheltered non-laborers! Then, couldn’t call him muddled. Ming Shizong Jiajing fit.
System: “Good, hand in paper.”
Xuan Chong: “Hmm, how many points?”
System: “You just filled written test answer; whether written test answer is correct, see next assessment.”
Xuan Chong nodded honestly: “Oh.”
…Wu Fei solemnly received facing the Imperial Court’s appointment…
After getting the seal, Wu Fei’s evaluation of Da Yao shifted again.
Da Yao noble families’ grasp of classics had usurped “edict governance” interpretation rights; Wu Fei thought Da Yao’s top level was in cahoots with them.
But now, Emperor Shu acted, showing strong emperor wrist, pressing down these “selfish, disregarding overall situation scripture-debating groups,” showing Da Yao’s destiny not exhausted.
It wasn’t that Wu Fei was bought by Emperor Shu’s one seal and suddenly brainwashed into “loyal minister.” Wu Fei: Just like playing Three Kingdoms Kill, loyal or rebel depends on what faction card drawn.
Rather, “rebelling” wasn’t his personal matter, but his entire group’s internal matter; if his group still recognized Da Yao legitimacy, him jumping out to rebel would be like Yuan Shu claiming emperor.
Moreover, if he really wanted to rebel, first deal with surrounding “vassal lords.” Not directly kill to Divine Capital, doing East Jin princes’ flash-in-pan.
Wu Fei spread out Da Yao southern map, tracing trade routes to name passages one by one: Now Emperor Shu gave him legitimacy, so now he could compete with those vassal lords first.
For example, Ji Prefecture 500 li east of Yunmeng Marsh; local Prefect secretly let soldiers act as bandits, plundering merchants, amassing massive wealth.
Southern Merchants’ several large shipments were plundered by this person. Previously Wu Fei had many means unusable; now one by one per Emperor Shu’s intent he could fight them.
But currently Wu Fei’s most important task was, immediately after rainy season end, exit closed-door cultivation southward.
His treasury was empty, various merchants’ debts also due soon.
Wu Fei quietly calculated in heart: Though they wouldn’t demand from him, he couldn’t not repay, otherwise they’d think no profit in pooling resources to invest, and the military economy wave around Wu Family Army below him wouldn’t run.
