Although Feng Yi had been traveling between Ming Prefecture and Quan Prefecture recently, in stark contrast to Li Zong's gaunt appearance, he had actually gained a significant amount of weight, easily two sizes larger.
Even his once pointed chin had begun to round out by this time.
"Since that's the case, let's go take a look together and see how their work has progressed recently!"
"This way, my lord!"
Led by Li Zong, Han Mo once again boarded a carriage and traveled to a privately built courtyard.
While the environment here was somewhat inferior to the conditions Han Mo had chosen for them in Ming Prefecture,
it was conveniently located close to the ironworks, allowing them to source any necessary materials nearby.
"Wow, this place is quite lively..."
As soon as he stepped through the courtyard gate, Han Mo noticed a considerable number of people working there, not just carpenters, but also what appeared to be many blacksmiths.
They were all gathered around a massive wooden frame, busily engaged in some task.
Many didn't even notice Han Mo's arrival.
"My lord, this is the model we've been working on. It can rotate now, but the speed is..."
Li Zong spoke while parting the crowd, completely disregarding Feng Yi as if he were invisible.
Han Mo, however, didn't pay it much mind. After all, throughout history, those involved in technology often seemed a bit oblivious to social niceties, their minds solely focused on their craft.
Wasn't even the renowned Shen Kuo of their dynasty the same?
"Lord Feng, please don't take offense. When these people get absorbed in their work, their minds are entirely on the task, and they tend to overlook formalities. Please don't hold it against them!"
Seeing Feng Yi's slightly displeased expression, Han Mo quickly explained Li Zong's behavior with a smile.
"My lord, you jest. It's a minor matter, I understand!"
Han Mo, as the Commissioner for the Two Zhe and Fujian Circuits, had shown Feng Yi considerable respect with his words. Feng Yi, naturally, knew when to accept grace, smiled, and stepped back half a pace, adopting a stance of an observer.
"There's certainly no problem with what you've made. The only remaining issue should be here!"
Han Mo spoke while pointing to a few visibly loose gears at the meshing points.
Despite the craftsmen's best efforts, having produced so many gears of varying sizes in such a short time was commendable.
However, a machine tool is inherently a precision instrument; a hair's breadth difference can lead to a mile's deviation, and this was no exaggeration.
To produce sufficiently precise components, the machine tool itself required extremely high accuracy. Even a slight difference in each gear would naturally lead to predictable results in the final output.
"My lord means that these parts aren't meshing tightly enough?"
Upon hearing Han Mo's words, Li Zong immediately understood his meaning.
"Precisely. But this isn't your fault. To achieve fine precision with this, relying solely on casting might not suffice. How about this: besides keeping these few essential gears, let's replace the rest with belts?"
"Belts?"
Li Zong was utterly bewildered by this term that Han Mo had just coined.
"I mean using tanned cowhide cut into thin strips, woven together with something like cord, and then tightly bound with fine wire. Connect the ends, and then, for these two shafts, create two concave wheels!"
Although Han Mo wasn't an expert in this field himself, he had seen far more than Li Zong and his team. With an advantage of over a thousand years of accumulated knowledge, problems that seemed insurmountable to Li Zong were easily solvable for Han Mo.
It took Han Mo nearly a quarter of an hour, including sketching and drawing, to simply explain these concepts.
"Shall we try it now?"
Having found a solution, Li Zong immediately became eager to test it.
"By all means, let's try. I see you have a full complement of craftsmen here!"
This rudimentary lathe was essentially complete. The issue of the gears prevented a consistent rotation speed, but Han Mo was confident that with his simple modifications, it would run much smoother than before.
Looking at this "monster" that was gradually taking shape from his imagination into reality, Han Mo felt a spark of anticipation.
With his permission, the nearby craftsmen quickly dispersed to begin their tasks.
There was no shortage of tanned cowhide in the storehouse. As for fine wire, though a bit troublesome, with so many blacksmiths present, producing some wire was not a significant issue.
The most challenging parts, the two wooden wheels, were naturally entrusted to experienced old carpenters.
In less than half an hour, all the components Han Mo required were presented before him.
"I think this should do it!"
After everything was installed, Han Mo turned to Li Zong again.
"Shall we give it a try?"
"Begin!"
At Han Mo's command, a young man, bare-chested, ran quickly up a nearby hill and activated the mechanism on a thick bamboo stalk, as thick as a baby's head.
Soon, a stream of water flowed down, and the massive waterwheel began to turn with a creaking sound.
As the waterwheel rotated, it drove two belt pulleys through the belt, causing them to spin rapidly. Then, as Li Zong engaged the final mechanism, this primitive machine tool, the culmination of their hard work, finally began to turn.
Watching the machine rotate at a steady speed, Li Zong was utterly exhilarated.
Carefully, he took a dark, black cutting tool from a wooden box, secured it on the lathe, and then signaled for someone to bring over a specially made iron blank.
With all preparations complete, he gently pushed a lever by hand. With a grating, screeching sound, the originally dark iron blank began to rotate rapidly, driven by the gears.
As shavings of iron flew off, everyone held their breath!
"This, this is..."