When Wang Fu was called into the room by Zhao Hongrun and heard the latter's inquiry, the chief bureau chief of the Smelting Bureau was really stunned for a moment.
"His Royal Highness King Su has also heard of Lu's mechanism technique?"
"When I was dealing with the Smelting Bureau last year, I heard the craftsmen in the bureau talking about it." Zhao Hongrun explained briefly, and then asked: "Does Mr. Wang Bureau have any understanding of the mechanism technique?"
Wang Fu thought for a while and smiled bitterly and said: "The mechanism technique originated from the Lu State and is a secret that is not passed down from the Lu State. Whether it is the craftsmen of the Wei Dynasty or the lower officials, they have long coveted the mechanism technique of the Lu State.
Unfortunately, Lu will never spread the word."
"What if we use gold, silver, money and silk?" Zhao Hongrun rubbed his thumb and index finger.
Wang Fu looked at Zhao Hongrun with a wry smile, and said helplessly: "Your Highness, behind the State of Lu, those are the State of Qi and King Xi of Qi!"
Zhao Hongrun was stunned when he heard this, and immediately understood.
You know, Qi is said to be the richest country in the world, claiming that its national wealth accounts for 50% of the world's total. What an arrogant and arrogant statement.
One country, Qi, accounts for half of the world's wealth, while the other countries share the other 50%. This seems to be an absurd statement, but in fact, it is said that anyone who has been to Qi will not doubt this.
The state of Qi is extremely rich.
A Qi State with strong economic strength, coupled with a Lu State with a flourishing mechanism, it is no wonder that the Chu State is afraid of the Qilu Alliance. It is also no wonder that the Qi, Lu, and Song Allied Forces almost broke through the Chu State's royal capital Shouying.
As Wang Fu said, King Xi of Qi was behind the Lu State. Therefore, it was simply nonsense to use money to bribe the craftsmen of the Lu State.
As we all know, the State of Lu has been an ally of the State of Qi for more than a hundred years and a vassal state for more than a hundred years. The relationship between the two is as close as lips and teeth. If it were not for the incompatibility between the State of Lu and the State of Song, the relationship between Emperor Wei and Xiong Tuo, the king of Yangcheng, would not have happened.
, it was impossible to conquer the Song Dynasty.
"You can't buy it with money...can you steal it?"
Zhao Hongrun asked in a low voice.
Wang Fu was stunned when he heard this, as if he was surprised that the dignified Prince Su would actually say such shameful words.
But it was obvious that Zhao Hongrun was not ashamed of this at all. In his opinion, any action that could strengthen the Wei Dynasty was allowed. Otherwise, how could it be a lesson to their princes to do whatever it took to do so in a good manner.
"Can it be stolen?" Zhao Hongrun asked again.
Seeing Zhao Hongrun asking again, Wang Fu hesitated for a moment and said in a low voice: "It's difficult... It is said that there is a "Secret Records of Lu Gong" in the State of Lu, which records various mechanism techniques in detail. Once, Chu and Han,
The Wei Dynasty and even the great Wei Dynasty sent people to steal it, but...it is said that no one can get out of the secret room of the Lu State alive where the "Secret Records" is stored."
"..." Zhao Hongrun opened his mouth and said in disbelief: "No one has ever succeeded?"
"No one has ever succeeded!" Wang Fu said seriously: "Nowadays, it is said that there are only two people in the world who can read this "Secret Record". One is the leader of the Lu Kingdom, and the second is King Xi of Qi."
Having said this, Wang Fu added somewhat unacceptable: "It is said that King Xi of Qi threw it back to the leader of Lu after flipping through it a few times, and did not ask the craftsmen of Qi to study the secret records.
The mechanism skills recorded in..."
That’s why the Qilu Alliance is unbreakable.
Zhao Hongrun glanced at Wang Fu who looked regretful, and secretly remembered King Qi Xi in his heart.
In his opinion, he was a very wise King of Qi.
Perhaps, it was not that King Xi of Qi did not want the "Secret Records of Lu Gong", but that the other party considered that if his Qi craftsmen learned the mechanism skills recorded in "Secret Records of Lu Gong", it would affect both Qi and Lu.
The alliance between the two countries will make the people of Lu feel uneasy: Now that Qi has learned the art of Lu, will it no longer need Lu in the future?
Perhaps considering this, King Xi of Qi sensibly gave up the "Secret Records of Lu Gong". Anyway, the State of Lu was his younger brother of the State of Qi for more than a hundred years, and there was no need to rob his own younger brother's things.
Of course, Zhao Hongrun understands this truth, but if it were him, he could not guarantee that he would be able to make as conceited and rational a decision as King Xi of Qi.
Why is it conceited?
Because King Xi of Qi was confident that the State of Lu would not abandon him, the State of Qi.
Facts also prove that Qi King Xi's judgment, no, the judgment of all previous Qi kings is correct. Lu State, whose own economic strength is not strong, has been Qi State's most reliable ally and younger brother for more than a hundred years.
King Qi Xi...
Zhao Hongrun silently remembered the King of Qi in his heart. At the same time, he couldn't help but think of his sixth brother, Zhao Hongzhao, who was currently in Qi State as a hostage.
Sighing slightly, Zhao Hongrun temporarily forgot about the sixth brother, looked back at Wang Fu and asked: "In other words, you can't secretly learn Lu's mechanism skills no matter what?"
Wang Fu shook his head with regret on his face. Suddenly, he seemed to have thought of something. He stroked the beard on his chin and said thoughtfully: "You can't learn the mechanism technique of Lu State, but you can probably learn the mechanism technique of Mohism."
indefinite……"
"Moji's mechanism technique?"
"Exactly." Wang Fu nodded and said seriously: "The Mohist family also originated from the State of Lu. It was originally established to defend the State of Lu, but later it was said that there was an internal split, and some members of the Mohist family left the State of Lu..."
"Where have you gone?" Zhao Hongrun asked tightly.
"This... even the lower officials don't know." Wang Fu said awkwardly.
So you are not talking nonsense?
"..." Zhao Hongrun looked at Wang Fu speechlessly.
Facing Zhao Hongrun's look, Wang Fu became even more embarrassed. Suddenly, he seemed to have thought of something again, and said in shock: "Wait a minute, I remember that in the warehouse..."
After saying that, Wang Fu ran out of the house in a hurry without saying goodbye to Zhao Hongrun.
Zhao Hongrun felt confused and had to continue thinking about the reform of the Smelting Bureau.
Unexpectedly, about an hour later, Wang Fu ran back in a hurry. Looking at him again, his official uniform was filthy, and his face was covered with dust. The most incredible thing was that this guy's hair was
There were still some cobwebs on his shoulders, so Zhao Hongrun silently avoided them.
However, Wang Fu obviously didn't notice that His Highness Prince Su was far away from him. He enthusiastically placed a large, dirty black wooden box on the table and blew on the wooden box with his mouth.
dust.
"What is this?" Zhao Hongrun asked from a distance.
I saw Wang Fu wiping the wooden box with his sleeve, and said mysteriously: "The crossbow box of the Lu State... The Lu State relied on this thing to defeat the Chu State's army, abandoning their helmets and armor, and almost even losing the royal city."
All lost."
"Catalist?"
Zhao Hongrun walked over with great interest and asked curiously: "Where did it come from?"
Wang Fu wiped the dust on the big wooden box with his sleeves and guessed: "It should be Xiaguan's predecessor who found a way to get it during the great battle between Qi and Lu jointly attacking Chu...Xiaguan
I dug it out when I was cleaning up the warehouse a few years ago."
As he spoke, he pointed to the row of small holes in front of the big wooden box, made gestures and said: "Xiaguan has heard about that battle. It is said that the Lu people placed thousands of these things on the battlefield, waiting for Chu
When the Chinese army charged towards them, they opened the mechanism, and then from here, from these small holes, many iron crossbow arrows were shot out, and then all the Chu soldiers were killed."
Tutu tutu? This is not...
Zhao Hongrun glanced at Wang Fu with a strange expression, and then carefully inspected the wooden box in Wang Fu's hand. He was surprised to find that there was not a single nail in the whole body of the wooden box. It was all made of a special structure.
The three diamond-shaped structures on the corners are firmly interlocked with several other wooden boards.
However, Zhao Hongrun was not surprised by this. After all, the Wei Dynasty also knew this kind of craftsmanship.
Wait a minute!
As if thinking of something, Zhao Hongrun asked Wang Fu: "Wang Jucheng, I, the great Wei Dynasty, didn't learn the art of nail-free stitching from this, right?"
Unexpectedly, Wang Fu didn't seem to hear this sentence. After checking it, he neatly opened the wooden box.
Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun nodded secretly: It is indeed so!
But when the wooden box was opened, Zhao Hongrun felt a little disappointed because the box was empty.
Seeing this, Zhao Hongrun glanced at Wang Fu speechlessly.
Wang Fu seemed to have read through Zhao Hongrun's thoughts, and said with a wry smile: "Your Highness, this is probably the only thing about Lu Guo's mechanism skills in our bureau."
But just an empty box and the beautiful name of the crossbow box are of no use?
Zhao Hongrun shook his head in disappointment and was about to walk away when suddenly his heart moved and he suddenly turned around again, staring intently at the inside of a wooden board in the wooden box. He saw there was a circular concave surface with a concave surface in the center.
A shallow round hole.
Couldn't this be...a gear?
Zhao Hongrun touched the inner concave surface and frowned.
After carefully inspecting the inside of the wooden box, Zhao Hongrun found several traces of gear installation, as well as an obvious trace of being penetrated by an arrow.
It turns out that this crossbow box malfunctioned on the battlefield, so the Lu people abandoned it, but the internal parts were taken away and destroyed by the Lu people in advance... No wonder the previous Chief of the Smelting Bureau left it at will.
Stacked in the warehouse.
Zhao Hongrun nodded in relief.
In his opinion, it was very likely that the previous Chief of the Smelting Bureau, after getting the so-called crossbow box, opened it and found that there was nothing inside. He was full of disappointment but couldn't bear to throw it away, so he threw it away.
Stacked in the warehouse.
After all, people without certain knowledge would not be able to judge from the internal traces of the wooden box how this thing actually works. Even Zhao Hongrun could only see a little bit.
Lu Guo’s organ skills...
Zhao Hongrun's face was really ugly.
Once upon a time, he thought that the craftsmanship of the Wei State was already top-notch, but he did not expect that the craftsmanship of the Lu State far surpassed that of the Wei State in this regard.
"Take it out." Zhao Hongrun waved his hand and asked Wang Fu to take the big wooden box away.
He did not consider whether to restore the crossbow box. After all, it was just a matter of picking up people's wisdom. The craftsmanship that was restored with so much painstaking efforts was just leftover from the Lu country's play more than ten or twenty years ago. What's the point of it?
It seems that I, Da Wei, must step up our research and development of technology...
It is undeniable that the crossbow box Wang Fu found not only did not teach Zhao Hongrun anything, but instead doubled his pressure.
The bronze craftsmanship is not as good as that of the Chu State, and the wood craftsmanship is not as good as that of the Lu State. The only advantage of the Wei Dynasty is probably that it still maintains a relative lead in iron smelting technology.
steel!
What Zhao Hongrun hopes for most right now.
But the problem is that Wei's current iron-smelting technology cannot smelt steel in one step.
Since we can't get it right in one step, then...smelt pig iron first and then forge it into steel!
Zhao Hongrun clasped his fists together and let out a breath of relief. But immediately, he was stunned.
Because he suddenly discovered that their current iron smelting routine in the Wei Dynasty seemed to be like this.
It’s just that the scale is smaller. (To be continued.)