The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 262 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Yue Wenxuan listened quietly, but in his mind he was thinking: It seems that the technology tree has developed to a new stage.

That's how technology develops!

The rapid development of one thing can drive the development of others.

Just like the textile industry boom in history, a large amount of cloth was produced at an alarming rate, and the dyeing and printing industry could not keep up. In order to make the dyeing and printing speed keep up with the cloth production speed, the chemical industry began to advance by leaps and bounds.

The problem the rebels are facing now is very similar to this!

The advent of the blasting method made mining easier, and the influx of refugees into the mining industry led to a surge in ore production. This forced the "processing" industry to develop as well, otherwise the excess ore could not be consumed.

Accelerating the training of skilled craftsmen is one solution, but training skilled craftsmen takes a long time and cannot solve the immediate problem.

"Using machines to make machines" is the best way to solve the shortage of craftsmen.

That's a machine tool!

However, the rebels' technological capabilities are currently very backward. Their level at the end of the Ming Dynasty, plus Kasper Korna, is about the same as that of Europe around 1500. If they were to directly advance into machine tools, it would be too much of a leap, and they would be missing some transitional technologies in between. Most of the machine tools they produce would be unusable in terms of precision.

Around 1500, what methods did Europe have for "machine making machines"?
The first person that flashed through Yue Wenxuan's mind when he thought of this was Leonardo da Vinci.

Leonardo da Vinci is seen by most people as just a painter, but he was actually a very talented multi-talented individual with high levels of expertise in various fields such as astronomy, medicine, and engineering. He once drew a large number of engineering machines, including "prototypes of machine tools" used to process gears, guns, and other things.

These machine tool prototypes cannot be considered true machine tools yet. Many of them require power from foot pedals, hand pulls, water power, or animal power, but they can already help craftsmen save a lot of manpower.

Most importantly, all the technologies that Leonardo da Vinci mastered were technologies that had already been developed around 1500.

In other words, the rebels can use it immediately once they get their hands on it, without needing to invest in any prerequisite technologies.

Yue Wenxuan picked up his phone and made a call to Cai Xinzi: "Boss, I want to customize a Da Vinci."

"Da Vinci?" Cai Xinzi laughed: "This doesn't need to be customized. I have it in stock and will send a deliveryman to bring it to you right away."

Yue Wenxuan: "Huh? You actually have ready-made goods? You're awesome."

Cai Xinzi: "Hehehe, I guarantee it will be delivered in half an hour."

Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye...

It's arrived!
Yue Wenxuan opened the small box delivered by the courier, and upon closer inspection, he was stunned to find that it contained a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.

Yue Wenxuan: "Damn, I wanted a Leonardo da Vinci figurine."

Cai Xinzi: "That's right, this is a Leonardo da Vinci figure. The one wielding dual swords is Leonardo da Vinci. I didn't send the wrong item."

Yue Wenxuan: "What I want is a scientist like Leonardo da Vinci."

Cai Xinzi: "That's right, all four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are scientists."

Yue Wenxuan: “…”

Cai Xinzi: “…”

Yue Wenxuan covered his face. Okay, it's his own fault. He should have been suspicious when he said "there are ready-made ones". How could a legitimate figurine store have Da Vinci in stock?
"I want a figurine of a historical scientist, Leonardo da Vinci." Yue Wenxuan roared into the phone. The idiot on the other end finally understood: "Okay, okay, then you can return the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles figurine. I'll customize a new Leonardo da Vinci for you."

"No need to return it, I'll take this one too." Yue Wenxuan placed the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in his display case and casually said into his phone, "I want the other three Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and their Rat Master too, send me the whole set. Also, hurry up with the Da Vinci custom figurine."

Cai Xinzi was overjoyed: "I love customers like you who are straightforward." "By the way!" Yue Wenxuan: "To avoid having to come to you again next time, I'll ask for another John Wilkinson and another Watt in advance."

This time, Cai Xinzi learned her lesson: "Are these two scientists too?"

Yue Wenxuan: "Yes, scientists! John Wilkinson, the father of the boring machine, and Watt, who improved the steam engine. Damn, you're an idiot. I can forgive you for not knowing Wilkinson, but you don't even know Watt? How did you live to be so old?"

Cai Xinzi was stunned: "Why did you suddenly start commissioning strange scientists like this?"

Yue Wenxuan: "Why is the word 'strange' added before 'scientist'? Apologize to all scientists!"

Cai Xinzi: "Ahem, sorry, I'm uncultured. Children say the darndest things, let it go with the wind."

Yue Wenxuan: "Just tell me whether you'll take this order or not."

Cai Xinzi: "Yes, of course I'll accept! Although I'm uneducated, I'm obedient! Whatever you need, I'll do it. I guarantee I'll complete the task."

The phone hangs up...

Cai Xinzi quickly looked up information to make it easier.

There's no need to investigate Watt; he was just pretending to be stupid to make his old customer laugh, but he still knows who Watt is.

But he had never heard of Wilkinson before. He was shocked when he looked it up.

John Wilkinson, the father of the boring machine.

In 1774, he invented the world's first industrial boring machine, which could bore a solid block of iron into a cannon. This made it easy to manufacture cannons that would have taken craftsmen a month or even several months to make.

Furthermore, cannons made with boring machines have a more uniform inner diameter, making them more accurate and reducing the possibility of explosion.

Interestingly, the boring machine he invented was a precursor to the steam engine.

As is well known, Watt improved the steam engine, which led to the Industrial Revolution.

What is not widely known is that Watt lacked the means to precisely bore cylinders, so he was forced to use forged iron. Cylinders made of this iron were not round, which caused leaks at the piston. Such steam engines could only remain in the laboratory and could not be commercialized.

It wasn't until later, when Watt used a new type of boring machine made by Wilkinson to machine the inner cylinder of the steam engine, that the problem was finally solved and the first commercial steam engine was produced.

The Industrial Revolution could not have happened without the steam engine, but the steam engine also could not have happened without John Wilkinson.

Technology must progress in a spiral. For example, there's a novel called "The Ming Dynasty in a Box" where there aren't even boring machines, yet the workers somehow manage to create a steam engine by hand. That's completely illogical. It's because the author is uncultured, lacks common sense, and is an idiot that he could write such a plot. Yes, that's how it is.
-
In a few days...

Figurines of several scientists have arrived.

Watt and Wilkinson were still a long way off, so Yue Wenxuan picked up the Leonardo da Vinci figurine first. Taking advantage of the late hour when no one was around, he secretly placed it in the sand table and then casually put it in the small courtyard where his lifelike figurines rested.

The figurine came to life as soon as it was placed on the sand table.

Yue Wenxuan immediately possessed the body...

After taking over the body of this legendary figure, he instantly discovered that the world he saw was different.

Composition, composition everywhere!
Ah, the moon seen from the eaves is so beautiful, I suddenly feel like drawing it.

(End of this chapter)