Chapter 868

Li Er and Fang Xuanling now had a rough understanding of why Great Qin wanted to train so many artisans.

Things like donkey-powered fans, Jun porcelain, and Ru porcelain might require many artisans when they first appear.

But these things are just for novelty.

Is it possible to create an industrial era?

At least Li Er and Fang Xuanling didn't quite believe it.

But, disbelief aside, they still liked good things that could make money.

It seemed Great Qin was still hiding quite a few good things.

Li Er and Fang Xuanling exchanged a glance, and with their years of tacit understanding, they both saw the meaning in each other's eyes.

Li Er spoke up.

"Your Majesty of Great Qin, this donkey-powered fan is just a novelty. It's not an item that commoners must have in their homes.

Are there any other good things that could open our eyes?"

Fang Xuanling also chimed in.

"Your Majesty, the daily lives of commoners are just about eating and farming. I'm afraid they don't have the leisure or the wealth to enjoy this.

This donkey-powered fan is not practical."

Seeing the two of them singing in harmony, Qin Mu knew they were deliberately trying to goad him.

Their goal was nothing more than wanting to learn more.

In the past, they had already suffered from a lack of understanding, and this time they had become smarter.

But in the face of Great Qin's absolute strength, playing these little tricks was just self-humiliation!

How could they possibly understand the advantages of industrialization?

"If you are interested, why not come with me to take a look?"

There was something to see?

Li Er and Fang Xuanling were both very pleased, feeling that their reverse psychology had worked.

As long as they could see how Great Qin was preparing for industrialization, they could learn it after they returned.

Deep down, they didn't quite believe it, yet they held Qin Mu in high regard.

This was a very contradictory psychology.

Even if what Qin Mu said was outrageous, they always had to believe half of it.

Past failures told them that if they didn't believe Qin Mu, they were destined to fail!

Qin Mu simply took them to see a small scene in the palace's workshop.

Here, some excellent artisans were manufacturing utensils for the palace.

These things were somewhat complex, and Li Er and Fang Xuanling could only tell that they were cast from pig iron.

What was neatly arranged seemed to be cast parts.

They couldn't even tell what kind of thing this was, let alone understand its purpose.

Li Er picked up a pig iron part and examined it carefully with Fang Xuanling for a long time.

Helplessly, he still asked.

"Your Majesty of Great Qin, your country's casting technology is indeed a bit stronger than Great Tang's. The surfaces of these cast parts are all very smooth.

However, what is the purpose of these iron blocks? Why have I never seen them before?"

Qin Mu shook his head, looking very disappointed.

Instead of answering, he asked back.

"You've been looking for a long time, and that's all you've seen?"

Li Er and Fang Xuanling were blank-eyed.

They weren't artisans by trade; being able to see that the iron blocks were cast smoothly was already quite an achievement.

What else did he want them to see?

"Aren't all cast iron things like this? Is there anything special about them?"

They really couldn't tell.

Qin Mu casually picked up two cylindrical parts and put them mouth-to-mouth.

"Look carefully, are the dimensions of the two parts different?"

Li Er and Fang Xuanling widened their eyes and looked carefully.

The circular openings had identical arcs, and when the two openings were put together, they were also identical, without the slightest bit of height difference.

This was truly magical!

One had to know that when casting iron parts with sand molds, a new sand mold had to be piled up every time, and size deviations were inevitable.

There had never been two identical parts.

But now, what they saw were identical!

"How can you cast iron parts with absolutely no errors? How is it done?"

Li Er and Fang Xuanling still didn't quite believe it.

Perhaps the previous one was just a coincidence.

The two of them took different iron parts and compared them together.

But the result of every comparison was the same.

In other words, all the iron parts here, as long as they were the same part, were of identical dimensions!

This discovery made them feel somewhat terrified.

This didn't seem like something that could be achieved by human labor!

"Your Majesty of Great Qin, how can this be?"

Qin Mu smiled without answering.

How could he possibly tell them such core technical secrets?

Let them guess for themselves!

Who told them to dare to play reverse psychology on him just now?

Now they had stimulated themselves!

Qin Mu took them to see the assembled finished product.

Li Er and Fang Xuanling didn't recognize it at all...

"Your Majesty, this thing is half a person tall, cast from pig iron, and hollow inside. Could it be a new type of cabinet?"

"What cabinet? This is a stove!"

Qin Mu was truly impressed by their imagination; they could actually see this thing as a cabinet?

He then took them to see the lit stove.

Li Er and Fang Xuanling were like two fools.

It was their first time seeing such a portable pig iron stove.

It was indeed very good!

Placed in the middle of the room with a chimney made of iron sheets, it not only had strong heat but also didn't produce coal smoke or cause poisoning.

Compared to the previous method of using copper basins to burn charcoal for warmth, it was infinitely better!

They really had ideas!

Because pig iron was valuable, an ordinary iron sword was worth at least twenty taels of silver.

Therefore, no one had ever thought of building such a luxurious stove.

"Your Majesty, such a luxurious stove, I'm afraid only the palace and wealthy families could afford it, right?"

Qin Mu smiled and shook his head.

"It's not expensive! Within Great Qin, this kind of pig iron stove can be bought for three hundred wen."

"Three hundred wen?"

Li Er and Fang Xuanling were both shocked.