Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
How did he think of creating such wonderful things?
Of course, the real answer was that he had seen it before and thus was able to recreate it. However, in the current situation, facing the Hall Master of the Soul Mountain Sect’s Thousand Engineering Hall — the amazing person said to be the best engineer in the world — Yan Liqiang would naturally not say this.
“Since Great Master has been to Gan Province before, you should know that my father is a blacksmith…” Yan Liqiang looked at Zhang Yourong solemnly. “Ever since I was young, I watched my father forge different things in the workshop with great interest in creating new things. Take for example the Yan Blade. Back then, the reason why I thought of forging kukri knives in this manner was because of that one time I was eating a roasted lamb. When I was holding onto the lamb’s leg while clenching the hoof and swinging the leg, a mysterious inertia and power came from it. It felt very smooth and natural. At that moment, I wondered if I could forge a knife that was like the lamb’s leg — when swinging it, I could make use of the knife’s own weight and structure to achieve greater prowess. Thereafter, I designed this knife based on the structure of the lamb’s leg. In the end, it was proven that when the kukri knife was designed this way, it was easier to swing and hack with…”
Yan Liqiang then continued to share the same things he said in his first attempt to dupe the others back in the Weaponsmiths Quarter. At this moment, it seemed as if he was possessed by Newton, Einstein, Edison, Leonardo da Vinci, and Zhang Heng. Yan Liqiang’s eyes glimmered like that of an elementary school student, filled with curiosity and interest to prove deeper. He once again demonstrated all his skills to act pretentiously, “As for that lotus root briquette, it was because I benefited from my observations in my father’s workshop. The furnaces in the smithing workshop would burn stronger only through air blasts. I once did an experiment on this. I got myself a small furnace and put in firewood. Then, when I started to fan air into it, the firewood would become increasingly red. And if I sealed all the gaps in the furnace, thus not allowing any wind to enter, then the firewood would extinguish very quickly even without any water. I realized then that regardless if it was charcoal or firewood, if we wish for them to burn well, they must react to the air we breathe. The more air there is, the better they burn. The thinner the air, the harder it is for them to burn. The coal and charcoal that we use in the workshop are all solid pieces. I thought that if the coal and charcoal were hollow inside with many gaps for air, when the air is blown in, the charcoal would be able to come into contact with more air. Wouldn’t that make it easier for them to burn?!”
“That’s right, that’s right. The theory is right…” The engineer nodded, listening attentively. The other people present also looked at Yan Liqiang without turning away, listening to his pretentious talk.
“But it takes a lot of effort and hard work to make holes on the charcoal and coal. I then wondered how to create coal with gaps. Later, when I was playing with sand and mud with my friends in the village, I thought of it. It was not easy to create holes on the pieces of charcoal or coal, but if they were to be shattered like sand and then water is added, it’d be very easy for us to create holes in them like how we play with mud. I tested this method and discovered that it could be implemented. However, it isn’t easy for the shattered coal to condense and take shape. I then thought of the mud that I played with, and thus added some soil that could be used as glue with the addition of some water. I then discovered that it was then very easy to create holes on the pieces of coal. In the beginning, I only created one hole on a charcoal briquette, and discovered that it was really easier for the charcoal briquette to burn compared to a normal piece of solid charcoal. However, the difference wasn’t big. It wasn’t until later when we had lotus root cooked with pork ribs that an idea struck me. If one hole wasn’t enough, then I should make a few more. I can make as many holes as there are on a lotus root. This thus led to the creation of the lotus root briquette. As for that furnace that Great Master was talking about, it was also something I came up with after creating the lotus root briquette and wondering what kind of furnace would be suitable for it…”
“Genius, genius! You’re really a genius!” Zhang Yourong looked at Yan Liqiang excitedly. “To be able to study the nature of things in the pursuit of knowledge, finding the principles behind things, and then creating things from the principles… It’s hard to find a talent like this amongst one million people…!”
“Great Master, you’re too kind. It’s just that I’m good at observing and imitating the things around me as well as having some wits! Someone like the Great Master is the real genius here!” Yan Liqiang said humbly.
“Our Soul Mountain Sect should have a few more provincial branches. Although places like Gan Province is remote, if we had a provincial branch there, Yan Liqiang would’ve already become one of our Soul Mountain Sect disciples. It’s a pity, a pity…” Zhang Yourong looked at Steward Yao from the Soul Mountain Sect’s Imperial Capital Provincial Branch and spoke with helplessness.
Yan Liqiang now had a governmental position and thus he could not join the Soul Mountain Sect anymore.
“Ahem… Ahem… Hall Master is right, Hall Master is right!” Not knowing what to say, Steward Yao could only nod.
“I’ll put up a proposal to the Soul Mountain Sect and the elders when we return to the Soul Mountain Sect. The Soul Mountain Sect should set up a few more provincial branches and we should also be more active in recruiting diverse disciples…” Zhang Yourong said seriously, then looked at Yan Liqiang. He fell silent for a moment before saying, “I’ll show you two things…” Then, before everyone, he carefully brought out two boxes from the pouch he had with him, placing them on the table.
Everyone, Yan Liqiang included, was a little surprised. They had no idea what this engineer was going to show Yan Liqiang.
Zhang Yourong opened up one of the boxes and took out a horse carriage made from metal that was just like a toy. When the other box was opened, there was a strange thing that was the size of one’s palm. That thing had a lot of legs and seemed to be made from wood. It also had a small sail on it.
“Great Master, this is…”
Zhang Yourong first picked up that small metallic horse carriage. He pinched a small handle under the horse carriage and the used great strength to turn it for a few rounds. He then placed the small metallic horse carriage on the ground. When he let go, that small metallic horse carriage started running and only came to a stop next to the wall over ten meters away.
The other peoples’ eyes were agape, finding this extremely novel. Although Yan Liqiang was not as astonished as the others, he also found this to be novel. That small carriage would only be an ordinary toy with a winding mechanism in his previous life. However, it was an extremely novel item that was hard to imagine in this generation.
Putting other people aside, Lu Peien and Steward Yao hadn’t seen this before. This was clear just from looking at their expressions. That Soul Mountain Sect’s disciple called Shi Bingbing appeared to be very calm instead. It was not her first time seeing this.
“Can you guess why that small horse carriage can run?” Zhang Yourong looked at Yan Liqiang with a gaze filled with anticipation.
Yan Liqiang intentionally fell silent for a moment before saying, “I saw that Great Master turned the protruding handle under the small horse carriage earlier on. I think the reason the small carriage can move should have a great connection to the few rounds you were turning it.”
“Not bad, not bad. You have a sharp gaze. But can you guess the reason behind it?”
“For that small horse carriage to move, there must be a forward propelling force. This force couldn’t have appeared out of nowhere. Therefore, you must have given it the force when you turned the handle a few times. I reckon that there must be something that the Great Master has designed inside the small horse carriage. That thing should be able to store the force that you gave it, and then after slowly releasing it, the small horse carriage is able to run!”
“Not bad. Continue. What do you think is the thing inside that small horse carriage?”
“I can’t think of it right away, but I feel that it should have sufficient resilience and flexibility. It should be some kind of metal…” Yan Liqiang pretended that he did not know. He did not wish to appear too abnormal in times like this.
“Great talent… You’re really a great talent…” Zhang Yourong clapped his hands together strongly, appearing very excited. “Many people have seen this thing of mine, but you’re the first one who can understand the principle behind it…”
Shi Bingbing also threw Yan Liqiang a surprised glance, as if not expecting that Yan Liqiang would be able to understand the mystery behind that thing with just one look.
“Take a look at this next…” Zhang Yourong said as he placed the wooden item with many legs on the table. He blew toward the small sail on top of it and it started moving. Then, the wooden legs started moving, walking on top of the table. Lu Peien looked at it with great marvel.
The structure of this wooden item was extremely elaborate and completely out of Yan Liqiang’s expectations. At the very least, it had definitely reached a pinnacle in terms of bionics and mechanical structures. Even in Yan Liqiang’s previous life, not many people could make something like this.
“The Great Master really lives up to your name. This thing is really a marvelous creation…” Yan Liqiang praised sincerely.
However, Zhang Yourong shook his head, appearing dejected. “I’m ashamed, ashamed. I’ve traveled the world over the years trying to think of a way to let these two things work without the need for manual labor. It’s a pity that everyone didn’t believe that such a mechanism could be created in this world. However, I feel that there must be a way, it’s just that I have yet to find it. If this thing really were to work, those carriages and carts would no longer need to be pulled by horses, but would run based on mechanics, capable of traveling great distances without requiring food. Boats would also be able to sail freely in the water without the use of oars. Right now, I can only think of the wind, but there would also be a lot of restrictions to be relying only on the wind. It wouldn’t work very well…” Saying this, Zhang Yourong looked hopefully at Yan Liqiang. “Young man, did you think of any ideas after seeing these two things? Do you know how we can let these two things move without any manual labor…?”
At this moment, Yan Liqiang finally understood why this engineer had appeared at this event today. The latter had heard of his reputation and wanted to come to look for some ‘inspiration’ and to have some ‘brainstorming’.
The loneliness of the best engineer in the world was probably something that only Yan Liqiang could understand. Yan Liqiang really did know of a way to resolve this. It was very simple — a steam engine…
Should he say it…? This question was put right before Yan Liqiang.
