30: Chapter 30: Shock from Mo Lao, the Inheritor of the Ink Technique

Elder Mo spoke, "The Mohist School was indeed destroyed, but its techniques have been passed down."

"Young Master Fusu, this old man cannot guarantee that I can build the four-wheeled carriage you want."

Elder Mo could also see that Zhao Fusu's idea of a four-wheeled carriage was different from his own.

"I see!"

Zhao Fusu said, "Elder Mo, why don't you come with me to the barracks to see my big treasure."

Hearing this, Elder Mo felt something was not quite right, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

He replied, "Alright."

The two headed to the barracks.

On the way, Elder Mo asked, "Young Master Fusu, why do you want to build a four-wheeled carriage?"

"A four-wheeled carriage is more stable than a two-wheeled one, but compared to two wheels, it cannot turn and can only be used on flat roads."

"Furthermore, four wheels compared to two means two more wheels and a higher cost."

"And you want to build it with bronze; how heavy would this carriage be? Can a horse pull it? Even if it could, it wouldn't be fast."

Zhao Fusu didn't explain but said with a smile, "Elder Mo, you'll know once you see my big treasure."

"Fine."

Elder Mo stopped speaking.

Once he and Zhao Fusu arrived at the military camp, Zhao Fusu led Elder Mo to the Steam Engine, which was the size of a room.

"This is?"

As a craftsman who inherited Mo Techniques, Elder Mo had seen many devices, but this was his first time seeing such machinery.

The whole body wasn't made of bronze, but iron?

But calling it iron didn't seem right; it had a peculiar silvery metallic luster that filled Elder Mo with curiosity.

"Young Master Fusu, what kind of device is this!"

Elder Mo touched it here and there; for a master of machinery like him, seeing such a strange thing made him incredibly curious.

"Steam Engine."

Zhao Fusu said, "I intend to use it to pull the four-wheeled bronze carriage."

"This..."

After a moment of silence, Elder Mo asked in confusion, "I wonder how Young Master Fusu intends to use this, Stea..."

"Steam Engine."

Zhao Fusu reminded him.

"Oh, oh, steam-what engine?"

"Steam Engine."

"Oh, oh."

"Steam-what engine?"

"Steam Engine!"

Elder Mo said, "Oh, oh, how can it possibly pull a carriage?"

"Bring some coal."

"And add water to the boiler."

Zhao Fusu began directing the soldiers to get busy.

After the soldiers had prepared everything, Zhao Fusu had them light the furnace.

As the fire burned, the water in the Steam Engine's boiler began to boil.

A large amount of high-pressure steam began to form.

As the steam formed, the Steam Engine's flywheel began to rotate, pushed by the crankshaft and connecting rods.

The coal in the furnace burned brighter and brighter, the steam grew more powerful, and the reciprocating motion of the crankshaft and connecting rods quickened, driving the flywheel to spin faster and faster.

"Pshhh, pshhh, pshhh..."

A large amount of steam began to automatically vent from the pressure relief valve.

"Clatter, clatter, clatter..."

The Steam Engine's crankshaft and connecting rods made continuous noise as they moved back and forth.

"This!"

After witnessing such a magical scene, Elder Mo was completely stunned.

My goodness!

"It's incredible!"

"This is beautiful!"

"Puff, puff, puff..."

The large amount of steam venting from the relief valve sounded like the roar of a terrifying beast to Elder Mo, filling him with a sense of trembling and causing goosebumps to break out all over his body.

He had a premonition that the emergence of this steel beast would usher in a brand-new era!

"How much strength does it have?"

Elder Mo inquired.

Zhao Fusu replied, "64 horsepower."

"Horsepower?"

Elder Mo didn't quite understand the concept.

Zhao Fusu explained, "You can think of it as a 300-kilogram horse having half a horsepower."

"Sixty-four horsepower is the power of one hundred and twenty-eight 300-kilogram horses."

Since the Zhou Dynasty, there have been weight units: jin, liang, qian, and fen.

The kilogram was created in 1949.

Elder Mo didn't know what a kilogram was at first, but after Zhao Fusu's conversion, he understood the concept.

"Ssss!"

Hearing this, Elder Mo sucked in a breath of cold air.

This steel beast was too terrifying.

If used as the power source for a bronze carriage, pulling a four-wheeled one would be effortless!

It could even pull a large amount of cargo behind it!

Elder Mo's breathing quickened.

This thing wouldn't get tired like a horse. As long as coal was continuously added, it could run all day and night!

Good heavens!

Out of excitement, Elder Mo's entire body was shaking as if he had Parkinson's.

He had to find a way to mount this Steam Engine onto a bronze carriage.

"Young Master Fusu."

"This old man has a question: how will it turn?"

"A steering wheel!"

Zhao Fusu said without hesitation.

"What is a steering wheel?"

Elder Mo asked Zhao Fusu, "How does this steering wheel make the four-wheeled carriage turn?"

"This..."

This stumped Zhao Fusu.

Using a steering wheel to turn a car is common knowledge for every modern person.

But if you were to explain specifically how a steering wheel controls a car's turning, unless someone is very interested in cars, most people couldn't answer without searching the internet.

Zhao Fusu roughly knew that a car's steering is actually similar to a bicycle's.

But if he explained it that way to Elder Mo, the elder would likely ask what a bicycle is.

Therefore, answering the question of how a steering wheel controls a car's steering was not so easy.

Zhao Fusu took out the industrial encyclopedia and flipped through it, but didn't find the answer.

"Right!"

He suddenly remembered that he hadn't signed in today.

So he signed in.

"Congratulations to the host for obtaining the book 'Understand Car Principles Through Diagrams in Seconds'."

The system's pleasant voice reached Zhao Fusu's ears.

"Oh!"

Zhao Fusu's face lit up with joy.

The book 'Understand Car Principles Through Diagrams in Seconds' was obtained just in time!

He hurriedly took out the book 'Understand Car Principles Through Diagrams in Seconds'.

He searched through it and soon found the relevant records.

It actually contained design blueprints for various parts of the Steam Locomotive, the predecessor of the automobile.

Zhao Fusu was even more delighted; it seemed the system had provided the blueprints for the Steam Locomotive after knowing he intended to build one.

After looking at it for a while, he gradually came to understand the various mechanical parts of the Steam Locomotive.

He said, "Look, this is the steering structure diagram."

Zhao Fusu pointed at the Steam Locomotive's design blueprints and said, "The Steam Locomotive turns using a steering wheel."

"We can install a steering capstan below the steering wheel."

"This steering capstan uses two iron chains to connect to the left and right front wheels. When we need to turn, we use the steering wheel to twist this capstan, causing the chains to pull the wheels and make the turn."

"So that's how it is!"

Looking at the design blueprints and listening to Zhao Fusu's explanation, Elder Mo understood.

He couldn't help but say to Zhao Fusu, "Young Master Fusu, you are such a genius to come up with such a magnificent design!"