You are seeing only the last step.
Before this, steel had to be smelted, and molds made.
This forging bed and hammer alone used over ten thousand catties of refined steel.
Fang Er pointed at the forging machine.
Hiss!
Li Er gasped.
Ten thousand catties of refined steel.
What a grand gesture!
Fang Er wasn't bragging.
The forging bed alone, at the bottom, had used eight thousand catties, four tons of steel.
But there was one thing he didn't mention.
The molds on the forging bed were interchangeable.
They could be replaced at will.
It was just the base below that was rather material-intensive.
An Zhi, you've opened my eyes today!
Alright, I'll be going back first. I'll take this set of plate armor with me.
Li Er, carrying the plate armor, swaggered back to Chang'an.
Fang Er watched his retreating figure, rolling his eyes.
Damn it!
He eats and then takes things too!
Fine!
You're the Emperor, you call the shots!
Seeing that the sky was still bright,
Fang Er dived into his workshop.
He retrieved the electrical engineering technology and found the section on transformers.
This was something urgently needed at the moment.
There were many types of transformers.
Fang Er's eyes glazed over as he looked.
Fang Er chose a very primitive, small transformer.
This type of transformer was composed of an iron core and coils.
Fang Er found Zhao Gang and Ma Shan.
He explained the requirements for the iron core to them.
The two men readily agreed it was no problem.
The iron core didn't have much technical content.
It was nothing more than small E-shaped iron sheets.
According to the required output power, a certain number of iron sheets would be stacked together.
In just one hour,
The two returned carrying a basket.
It contained iron sheets of identical size and specification.
Fang Er, following the book's instructions, calculated the size of the iron core and the requirements for the coils based on the 380v power output.
It took an entire afternoon.
He assembled the transformer.
He directed Zhu Zi and the others to install the transformer next to the generator.
One end was connected to the generator.
The other end was connected to the electric motor.
As the generator started running again,
The generated current flowed through the transformer and then back to the electric motor.
It's turning!
Look quickly! It's starting up! It didn't smoke this time!
Several guard members exclaimed as they watched.
A triumphant smile spread across Fang Er's face.
Electrical energy was being used!
Fang Er immediately reassembled the multi-tool lathe.
He reinstalled all the disassembled tools and parts.
A long wire was run from the transformer directly into the workshop.
It was connected to the lathe.
As the lathe's switch was pressed,
The tools on it hummed and began to spin!
Hahahaha!
Hah!
Fang Er jumped around the workshop excitedly!
With this, there was so much more he could do!
What about building a tank?
Heh heh heh heh!
As 99 appeared! kan shuwu. xià
Uh.
No fuel.
Eh?
Steam engines could be built! And they were quite feasible!
Compared to rocket engines,
This kind of thing was no difficulty for Fang Er at all!
Hmm!
Fang Er turned off the lathe and walked out of the workshop.
He instructed Zhao Hu not to let anyone in or out.
Back at the Fang Manor, he had Xiao Qing bring him paper and carbon rods and began sketching blueprints.
The early winter sky grew dark earlier each day.
After dinner, Fang Er lay down on his bed and had just drifted off to sleep.
He was having some indescribable dreams when
He heard someone banging loudly on the door outside.
He was in the inner courtyard, at least a hundred meters from the manor gate.
He could still hear it, which showed how much force the person outside was using.
He quickly put on his clothes and got up.
Just as he finished dressing, he heard Zhu Zi speaking outside the door.
Young Master, someone from the palace has arrived. His Majesty requests you to enter the palace immediately.
Fang Er was a bit bewildered.
Hadn't that fellow just visited today?
Why was he being summoned to the palace in the middle of the night?
Didn't they know disturbing someone's dreams was immoral?
Reluctantly, Fang Er got into the carriage.
Li Er had sent a guard, who rode ahead to lead the way.
It was pitch black outside,
And they still had to hold torches!
Annoying!
In the Eastern Palace, Li Er sat frowning on his dragon throne.
Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, and Li Jing were also present.
Your Majesty! Officer Fang has arrived!
Eunuch Deng saw Fang Er outside the door and whispered to Li Er.
Let him in.
Announce Officer Zhi Guo, Fang Anzhi, into the hall!
As Eunuch Deng's voice echoed,
Fang Er straightened his robes, stepped over the two-foot-high threshold, and entered the Eastern Palace hall.
Your Majesty~.
Before Fang Er could finish his pleasantries, Li Er interrupted him.
Take a look at this first.
Li Er instructed Eunuch Deng to bring over a memorial.
Fang Er took it.
The memorial was written by Chai Shao.
It turned out that after eliminating Liang Shidu, Li Er received news that Luo Yi had rebelled and occupied Youzhou, declaring independence.
So, he notified Chai Shao to change course, suppress the rebellion first, and then attack Goguryeo.
Youzhou was adjacent to Khitan and Goguryeo.
As soon as the two sides engaged, Luo Yi was terrified by the power of the cannons.
He led his troops, fighting and fleeing.
In this manner, fighting and running, he escaped to Yan Commandery.
It was unclear how Luo Yi had colluded with Goguryeo.
Here, Chai Shao surrounded the Yan Commandery city with his troops.
Unexpectedly, the Goguryeo forces had maneuvered behind his back.
Upon receiving news from Goguryeo, Luo Yi coordinated with the Goguryeo army and launched a pincer attack on Chai Shao!
Not only did they suffer casualties of two to three thousand elite soldiers, but the most serious problem was that
Eight cannons were seized by Goguryeo!
Along with them, dozens of shi of gunpowder and cannonballs were also taken!
This was really troublesome!
Chai Shao, seeing the situation was unfavorable, quickly led his troops to retreat.
He retreated all the way to Beiping Commandery.
Occupying the city and defending it.
He placed the remaining twelve cannons on the city walls. From their vantage point, with the added height, they could outrange Goguryeo's cannons by several dozen paces.
This gave them the opportunity to request reinforcements from Chang'an.
The cannons were created by Fang Er.
Now, the Tang army had only learned how to use them, but not how to defend against them.
Therefore, after deliberation with his ministers yielded no results, Li Er summoned Fang Er.
The cannons were captured?!
Fang Er looked incredulous.
Chai Shao, Cheng Yaojin, and Zhang Gongjin were all seasoned veterans.
How could they have allowed someone to get behind them, attack their rear, and lose such crucial equipment!
Damn it!
Thinking about the territory Goguryeo currently occupied,
Your Majesty, this matter might be serious!
Fang Er felt a cold sweat break out. The cold wind from outside the hall blew in, and he shivered.
Serious? What do you mean? Are you hungry and want to eat deep-fried dough sticks?
Li Er looked at him, not understanding.
Uh, not deep-fried dough sticks, Your Majesty. What I mean is, this matter might be troublesome!
I've heard, Your Majesty, that Goguryeo has iron ore! And it's shallow ore, you can dig out iron ore by simply digging! Once they learn the method of making cannons, the consequences...
Fang Er did not finish his sentence.
Although he didn't know where Yan Commandery was, he knew that in the early Tang Dynasty, Goguryeo occupied a large part of the "chicken head" of China! This included Tieling, Benxi, and Anshan!
What's there?
Iron ore! Unexploitable iron ore!