Vientiane Throne of Civilization

Chapter 1871 Cost-Effectiveness

"A typical semi-automatic pistol, similar in design to our Great Zhou pistols, with rough workmanship and questionable material durability..."

Dwarves are obsessed with quality and durability when making things; they like things that are long-lasting, sturdy, and reliable.

This also made them exceptionally perceptive in related fields, allowing them to immediately spot the possibility that these goblin pistols had been made with substandard materials.

At first, Sorin thought it might just be a quality control issue on the production line.

But after he had disassembled all the remaining goblin pistols and discovered that they all had these problems, Thorin's eyebrows furrowed into a deep frown, and the word 'disgust' was practically written all over his face.

"Aren't they afraid this thing will malfunction on the battlefield?!"

Thorin felt that those goblins must be crazy. Using such unreliable weapons on the battlefield was practically suicide.
Compared to Thorin, who was already somewhat angry, Qin Fen, who was listening to the other party's words, was much calmer.

Clearly, Qin Fen is not the kind of person who simply pursues quality.

In Qin Fen's view, everything has a cost-effectiveness factor.

To give a simple and straightforward example...

It's the same gun. If you make it perfect in every aspect, from performance to quality, creating a flawless weapon, the manufacturing cost is only one thousand dollars.

Under this premise, if you appropriately sacrifice some performance and quality, lowering the requirements to 90 points, the manufacturing cost is 500 yuan.

If you lower your requirements further, to 80 points, the manufacturing cost will only be 100 yuan.

Something may not be that expensive to begin with, but if you want to pursue the ultimate and perfect, then every improvement you make will come at a huge cost.

Given this premise, on the battlefield, do you think one 100-point gun is better, or ten 80-point guns?

Similarly, the guns made by the goblins might only be worth 60 points, but what if their cost was only 10?

The money to make one perfect gun could make a hundred, enough to arm a hundred-man squad. If you were the commander, would you be willing to do that?

Ultimately, damage and malfunction are probabilistic issues. Basically, anything that can be manufactured has the potential for damage and malfunction.

Under this premise, to put it bluntly, on the battlefield, many ordinary soldiers are cannon fodder. The vast majority die before they even empty their magazines, and they may not even survive until their weapons malfunction.

Of course, Qin Fen only thought about this in his heart.

Some things may be true, but saying them out loud will only provoke hatred, so there's no need for that.

Having basically confirmed that it would be difficult to gain anything from the wreckage of the two Ripper mechs, Qin Fen quickly shifted his attention to Zhuang Mengdie, who was circling around a machine, looking at it from left to right but unable to understand it.

"This is an old-fashioned generator..."

As soon as he said it, Qin Fen realized that he had made a mistake.

From my own perspective, it was indeed an old-fashioned generator, but considering the historical context, it was clearly the latest model!

"Simply put, this machine can convert kinetic energy into a type of energy called 'electricity'."

As he spoke, Qin Fen turned his head and pointed to another piece of equipment next to him.

"This radio is powered by electricity. Essentially, this machine is like a miniature communication cube of our Great Zhou. Although it is not as convenient as our miniature communication cube, it is easier to produce and popularize after mastering the technology."

While introducing electricity and some advanced equipment to everyone, including Zhuang Mengdie, the technological development level of the goblins gradually materialized in Qin Fen's mind.

As it turns out, the technological development of the opposing goblins is indeed superior to that of the Great Zhou at this stage. Of course, this does not mean that the Great Zhou is inferior to the opposing side.

Their Great Zhou was a complex civilization, also incorporating a great deal of magical development; it wasn't just about technological advancement.

At the same time, in terms of technological development, the technologies that the goblins currently possess are not beyond the capabilities of the Great Zhou to research and develop.

However, they face a huge problem: they lack time.

Limited annual funding is certainly one of the reasons, but unlike labor projects where labor can be quickly mobilized as long as funding is available, R&D projects focus on talent.

At present, Qin Fen is the chief person in charge of many of Da Zhou's technology-related projects.

His unique advantage as a chosen one meant that even if a qualified local talent emerged later, it would be difficult for him to match him.

Over the years, Qin Fen has taken on apprentices, but those apprentices are only capable of managing existing projects. The development of new projects still depends on Qin Fen.

But Qin Fen was all alone, yet he had a mountain of things to do.

At the same time, you can't make Qin Fen work 365 days a year without a break.

If we keep doing this, Qin Fen's health will definitely collapse, so we need to arrange sufficient rest time for him.

The Great Zhou has expanded too rapidly in recent years, and there are too many things to develop. Qin Fen is overwhelmed and has to take things one step at a time.

Based on the current level of technological development of the goblins, Qin Fen estimated that if they were given another ten years, the overall development of the Great Zhou Dynasty could reach this level.

Of course, the spoils successfully seized this time will greatly speed up this process.

After all, in the past, he was responsible for overseeing and operating all the projects.

Now that the finished product is right in front of them, the talents of their Great Zhou can certainly research something that is already in existence.

Unconsciously, this also made Qin Fen secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

Before he transmigrated, Qin Fen had some ambitions and wanted to become a pillar of the nation. Now that he has actually become a pillar of the nation, he realizes how tiring it is, and even more so, how much pressure it puts on him!
He clearly felt much more relaxed at that moment.

During this time, Qin Fen introduced the situation while walking up to a transport truck.

Clearly, this was also one of the spoils they obtained from the goblin camp.

Unlike the goblin mechs, which were basically reduced to ruins, this transport truck remained intact.

From the outside, the size of this transport truck is basically the same as the transport trucks Qin Fen remembered; surprisingly, it's not a miniature model.

But then I thought about it and it made sense. Although goblins are small, their transport capacity is always better the higher it is, so the transport trucks couldn't be made small.

But don't think they can just take these transport trucks and use them.

The overall size of the transport truck was indeed basically the same as the human trucks Qin Fen had seen, but the entire cab was made according to the size of goblins, and to humans it looked like a child's toy.

Even dwarves had a hard time squeezing in.

But thinking about it, it makes sense. The trucks that the goblins produce and use themselves naturally have cabs made to their dimensions.

(End of this chapter)