The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 301 Thread Lathe
A semi-automatic machine tool was placed in the blacksmith shop. Li Tiezhu said to all the blacksmiths with a smile, "Craftsmen of Tiebao City, I know that your skills are very good. You are all master craftsmen and can be ranked among the top in the entire Song Dynasty, but... your skills are outdated!"

The blacksmith was indignant; he couldn't tolerate the word "backward"!
But the new official seemed to be of high rank, reportedly a sixth-rank official. Even the lowly blacksmiths didn't dare to confront a sixth-rank official, so they had no choice but to back down, though their faces were full of resentment.

Li Tiezhu knew they were unconvinced: "I'll demonstrate to you now a new technology: using machines to make machines."

Li Tiezhu said this, but instead of immediately operating the machine tool, he took out a rifled gun.

The blacksmiths in Iron Treasure City had all seen this thing and knew how powerful it was. It could shoot out iron bullets when the gunpowder exploded, so they all admired it greatly, and many of them were thinking about learning how to make it themselves.

When Li Tiezhu took it out to show them, the craftsmen quickly came over to watch, eager to learn as soon as they saw it.

Several of the most skilled veteran craftsmen examined the rifled gun repeatedly for a while, and then they had their own ideas: "The most difficult part of this thing is probably making this tube... First, the iron block must be forged into a tube, and the tube wall must be thick and uniform, otherwise it will be easily damaged when the gunpowder explodes. After the tube is made, it must be tapped... and threads must be carved inside..."

The old craftsman grasped the biggest challenge in an instant: "Tapping is probably the hardest step! You have to carve out spiral patterns inside the tube, and these spiral patterns have to be even. It's too difficult! Your hand has to be very steady, without shaking at all! If I were to do this, it would take at least half a month. If I accidentally shake my hand and have to start over, it would take a month."

Li Tiezhu chuckled: "You guys need half a month to make this, right?"

The veteran craftsmen nodded: "At the fastest, it will take half a month, after they have become proficient."

Li Tiezhu: "Now, I'll show you the speed of new technology."

He turned to the machine tool his men had just brought over and said, "This thing is called a thread lathe. It's specifically used for tapping threads on the barrels of muskets."

The veteran craftsmen: "???"

"Now I'll show you what it means to 'make a machine with a machine'."

Li Tiezhu sat down in front of the lathe, fixed a tube to the lathe's support, and then inserted the crossbar with the cutting head attached into the tube.

Next, he stepped on the pedal, and the line attached to the pedal caused the horizontal bar to rotate.

The blade at the top of the crossbar began to rotate on the inner wall of the iron pipe.

The moment the lathe started running, the old craftsmen's expressions changed.

Because they only need to take one look to understand what it is doing!

It is "tapping".

Tap with an extremely stable, trembling, and perfectly balanced motion.

Even without thinking, it's obvious that the threads tapped this way are absolutely perfect, with each thread perfectly parallel. Furthermore, it uses a foot pedal instead of the hand, and the foot has much more strength than the hand, making tapping extremely effortless.

That's what you call "fast and good"!
The old craftsmen exclaimed, "Ah! My goodness! I never knew tapping could be done like this!"

"This...this...this machine, what kind of god made it?"

Li Tiezhu said smugly, "You're right, this is what the gods taught us."

The veteran craftsmen: "!!!"

They were completely convinced.
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When Yue Wenxuan switched his perspective to Tiebao City, the miners and blacksmiths, led by Pangolin and Li Tiezhu, had already begun learning new techniques. A large group of veteran craftsmen sat obediently in rows, listening to the lesson like primary school students. Yue Wenxuan was very satisfied with this scene, nodded, and walked past the large group of craftsmen to the open space outside the city.

The soldiers were undergoing their daily drills under the supervision of Gong Erniangzi. Yue Wenxuan spotted Sui Yi at a glance, who was leading his Yan'an soldiers and training with Gong Erniangzi's troops.

These Yan'an soldiers included many fierce warriors, but while they were brave, their battle formation coordination was lacking. They had to learn from scratch to keep up with the battle formation coordination of the Northern Song army.

Yue Wenxuan had high hopes for them and hoped that they could join the regular army after they had trained well.

As the territory expanded, the number of regular soldiers in the Northern Song army became noticeably strained.

The newly conquered territories all require troops to be stationed there, and the major generals are now separated in different regions, resulting in a severe shortage of manpower.

Every new general is very important!
Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly realized that Li Bao was not there.

"Huh? Where's Li Bao?" Yue Wenxuan asked as he walked up to Gong Erniangzi. "Sui Yi is here practicing, where are Li Bao and his men?"

Gong Er Niangzi also exclaimed "Eh?": "Li Bao said he went to train the troops as you instructed, how come you didn't know?"

Yue Wenxuan was greatly surprised: "My orders? When did I give him any orders?"

Gong Erniangzi's face darkened: "This guy... is he forging the Emperor's decree? If I catch him, I'll chop off his head."

Yue Wenxuan: "Don't rush, let's figure this out first. I'll go find him."

With Gong Erniangzi here, her field of vision is right here, so finding someone isn't difficult. Yue Wenxuan only needs to switch his consciousness outside the sand table and look down from above. The mountains and rivers within several miles of Tiebao City are all clearly visible on the sand table. He immediately found Li Bao and the two hundred soldiers he brought. This group of people were actually winter swimming in a river a few miles west of Tiebao City.

Yue Wenxuan: "This is interesting!"

He returned to the sand table, possessed his lifelike figurine, and smiled at Gong Erniangzi: "Li Bao is in the river outside the city. Let's go, get on our horses, and go ask him what he's doing."

Gong Erniangzi had her subordinates watch over the training ground in her place, then mounted her horse.

The two rode side by side westward. Gong Erniangzi was dressed in military attire, and the breeze lifted her long hair, which fluttered behind her head. Iron horses and golden spears paired with a beautiful woman, this scene was truly beautiful. Yue Wenxuan couldn't help but stare at her a few more times, thinking: If Mu Guiying were alive, she would probably look like this.

Gong Er Niangzi: "True Lord? Is there something on my face?"

Yue Wenxuan smiled and said, "No! I just thought you were pretty, so I took a second look."

Gong Er Niangzi smiled slightly. Zhenjun praised her for being beautiful, and she was very happy. But there was no need to be shy about such things. Heroic women would not blush for half a day just because of a man's praise. Be proud, straighten your chest, and you will have an even more heroic air.

In the blink of an eye, the river came into view.

This river is called the Yi River, and it is the mother river of the people of Yizhou.

As the two ran over, they saw Li Bao climb onto a large rock on the shore, leap into the water with a splash, and then frantically paddle with his hands and feet.

Being a northerner, he wasn't a very good swimmer; he swam clumsily, like a weight.

(End of this chapter)