LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 332.1
The two of them entered a spacious area.
Looking around, they saw the place was filled with various tools—wheels, bows and arrows, timber—everyone was busily engaged in their work, coming and going in a bustling manner.
“Your Majesty, this is where the repeating crossbow carts are made!” Duanmu Yue explained.
“What is a repeating crossbow cart?” Lin Beifan inquired.
“The repeating crossbow cart is a kind of mechanism from our Mohist school! It can simultaneously shoot 60 large crossbow bolts and countless smaller ones, possessing tremendous destructive power on the battlefield! If mounted on city walls, one cart can withstand thousands of soldiers! If we use Piercing Bolts, it can even take the life of an Innate!” Duanmu Yue introduced.
Lin Beifan’s eyes lit up. The repeating crossbow cart was a marvelous invention. Just one cart could threaten thousands of soldiers!
And with the right bolts, it could even threaten the Innate.
“How is the production?” Lin Beifan asked.
“If we go all out, we can produce about 10 carts per month, each equipped with 30 piercing bolts, 300 large bolts, and 3,000 small bolts!”
Lin Beifan was somewhat dissatisfied: “That’s too few. Our Great Xia has 8 million soldiers and thousands of cities. It’s simply not enough. Can you increase the production?”Duanmu Yue smiled bitterly: “Your Majesty, we would like to, but the making of the repeating crossbow cart is very complex and requires high technical skills. Since there are only so many of us Mohists, we can only maintain this production level!”
“How are they made?” Lin Beifan asked.
Duanmu Yue explained that the large and small bolts were outsourced to the Ministry of Works for production.
They were mainly responsible for making the repeating crossbow carts and the piercing bolts.
Since the carts required very stringent material quality and precision, each part had to be crafted by the Mohists themselves and then assembled together.
This naturally limited the production.
“No wonder it’s so slow. Actually, you could adopt assembly line production, which would at least double the speed!”
“What is assembly line production?” Duanmu Yue asked earnestly.
“The so-called assembly line production method is to completely disassemble your repeating crossbow carts and have outsiders make them, with one person or a few people responsible for each part! In the end, you Mohists would assemble everything together! This way, you would only be responsible for the final integration, naturally speeding up the process!”
Duanmu Yue hesitated: “But what about the precision issue…”
“You don’t have to worry about that at all!”
Lin Beifan smiled and said, “You set a standard for them to follow! At first, they might not do well and fail to meet your requirements. But practice makes perfect, and eventually, they will become skilled enough to produce parts that meet your standards!”
“If you’re not sure how to do it, you can visit the nearby shipyard to see. They are now using the assembly line method, and the efficiency is astonishing!”
“Alright, Your Majesty, we will go and take a look in the next few days!” Duanmu Yue said humbly and then continued the tour with Lin Beifan.
In addition to producing repeating crossbow carts, there were also rotary launchers.
These were essentially 360-degree rotating crossbow carts that could fire bolts in a circular pattern, offering more flexibility than the traditional models.
There were also scouting kites that could fly into the sky to scout enemy positions.
All were very practical mechanisms.
“Good, it’s very good!” Lin Beifan was quite satisfied.
The power of these Mohist mechanisms was not to be underestimated. They could play a significant role on the battlefield.
If they were to be enhanced by his Hand of Creation, hehe!
The enemies of his Great Xia would surely be extremely vexed and exhilarated!
All in all, bringing the Mohists into the Great Xia camp was a huge win.
After making the rounds, Lin Beifan finally met with Chu Tianming, who had taken time out of his busy schedule.
Lin Beifan expressed that they should produce at full capacity, with the full support of Great Xia.
……
Upon returning to the imperial palace, he encountered Yaoyao.
At this moment, Yaoyao, though still with the demeanor of a young girl, had a hint of the charm of a young wife, which greatly tempted Lin Beifan.
However, upon seeing Lin Beifan, she couldn’t help but say with a hint of jealousy, “Your Majesty, have you forgotten the old in favor of the new?”
Lin Beifan was genuinely puzzled: “Yaoyao, what makes you say that?”
“Hmph! Don’t play dumb with me, I saw everything!”
Yaoyao huffed, “Just now, weren’t you enjoying a fun conversation with a young Mohist girl? You two seemed so enamored, almost inseparable!”
“Yaoyao, you’ve misunderstood me. How could I be such a person?”
Lin Beifan placed his hands on Yaoyao’s shoulders, comforting her: “I may have new people in my life, but I haven’t forgotten the old ones!”
Lin Beifan spoke with deep affection: “You may doubt my fickleness, but you can’t doubt my sincere efforts! You have no idea how hard I’ve worked to win you over! Wasn’t last night satisfying enough for you? If not, let’s continue right now…”
“Wait, Your Majesty, there’s something I want to discuss with you!” Yaoyao quickly interjected.
“What is it?”
“Your Majesty, I hope you can bring Song Yufei into the palace as an official!”
Lin Beifan’s expression changed: “Yaoyao, why would you think that?”
“Your Majesty, this is what I’m thinking!”
Yaoyao clenched her fists, speaking resentfully, “For years, that woman has been lording over me, and it’s been incredibly frustrating! So, if you could bring her into the palace as one of your consorts, according to the order of entry, I could make her call me ‘older sister,’ how amazing would that be!”
Lin Beifan refused: “That doesn’t seem right. I’m not that kind of person!”
Yaoyao whispered: “I can help you!”
Lin Beifan got a little excited: “This… is it okay?”
Yaoyao got angry: “I knew it! You never change, always thinking about that woman. I’ll strangle you!”
Lin Beifan: “Ow, ow, ow…”
***
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