Chapter 138: Mastering Both Approaches
Cheng Xu began ranting, stomping his feet, while San Shier beside him felt a prickle of embarrassment. He thought to himself: Cheng Xu is new here, he doesn't yet know that in Gao Family Village, the Heavenly Lord watches over everything. He's cursing left and right, and every word is directed at the Heavenly Lord himself. If not for the Heavenly Lord's usual benevolence, a giant palm would have already smacked him down.
He quickly stepped forward to explain: "Instructor He, calm down. The reason we've arranged our weapons and equipment in Gao Family Village this way is not without cause."
Cheng Xu: "Huh?"
San Shier: "This village enjoys the Heavenly Lord's protection. When it comes to striking down bandits, divine artifacts bestowed by the Heavenly Lord are available. The villagers only need to protect themselves from harm, so we prioritize armor first, then weapons."
Cheng Xu was about to scoff, but then his mind flashed to the multi-colored, rather absurd-looking catapults and giant crossbow vehicles he'd seen at Bai Family Fortress, as well as that inexplicably assembled giant missile launched in the heat of battle. He suddenly understood.
"Those strange weapons... were all gifts from the Heavenly Lord?"
San Shier nodded.
Cheng Xu looked up at the low clouds in the sky, thought for a few seconds, then suddenly clasped his fists and respectfully asked: "Heavenly Lord, if divine objects have been bestowed upon Gao Family Village to ensure the villagers' safety, why do you still wish for me to organize a militia? My insignificant skills, compared to the artifacts of the immortals, are truly not worth mentioning."
The low clouds in the sky parted, and a gigantic piece of paper appeared amidst the clouds, with a large line of text written on it: "Grasp with both hands, be firm with both hands!"
San Shier, however, let out a chuckle: "Instructor He, the Heavenly Lord's meaning is this: you should diligently teach the villagers the mortal ways of warfare, while the Heavenly Lord disseminates the immortal ways of warfare to us. Both methods must be embraced, both must be strong. This is called being thorough and comprehensive."
Cheng Xu, having been immersed in officialdom for so long, immediately fell into his habitual "interpretation of superior's intentions." Half a second later, he had it figured out, and respectfully addressed the sky: "In that case, I will boldly proceed with my own methods to train the militia."
The paper in the sky swiftly changed: "Proceed boldly!"
Cheng Xu's spirits soared. A divine decree from an immortal in the sky, delivered on a gigantic celestial paper—what was there to fear? This was far more potent than any imperial edict. He shouted loudly: "Listen up, all of you! By the Heavenly Lord's divine command, I am to teach you the mortal art of battle formations and combat. You dolts know absolutely nothing, so we'll start from scratch. Today, we begin with drills..."
The forty-six young men began learning to form ranks under Cheng Xu's command. At first, they were truly crooked and chaotic, a sight too painful to behold. Some couldn't even tell their left from their right; when Cheng Xu told them to step out with their left foot, several stepped with their right.
After much effort, they finally straightened up.
Seeing that they had acquired a basic semblance of order, Cheng Xu left them to practice their formations while he called San Shier and hurried towards the Craftsman Well, intending to adjust Gao Family Village's equipment development plan.
The Craftsman Well was now a hive of activity. As the profession "most favored by the Heavenly Lord," the artisans in Gao Family Village received the most living supplies, living joyously, and their enthusiasm for work was the highest. Upon entering, one could hear the clang of hammers striking iron and the "whoosh" of saws cutting wood.
Cheng Xu had expected to see what he would in the government workshops of Chengcheng County: a group of impoverished, ragged craftsmen, pale and listless at their work. Instead, the artisans he saw here were all neatly dressed, full of vigor, and robust.
They were practically a different species from the artisans in Chengcheng's official workshops.
Cheng Xu jumped in surprise: "What's going on?"
San Shier smiled: "The Heavenly Lord favors artisans and heavily rewards those with specialized skills. This is well-known throughout Gao Family Village. Now, many villagers without a specific craft are secretly learning techniques, especially those outsiders living in the Short-term Workers Village. Every one of them wants to come to the Craftsman Well to apprentice."
Cheng Xu was momentarily baffled, but he dismissed it. This wasn't something a military officer should concern himself with; he never paid attention to details. He walked straight to the blacksmith's forge, glanced around, and seeing them all forging armor plates, pointed at several blacksmiths: "You! You, and you—the few of you, stop making armor plates for now. Forge a few dozen proper iron spearheads first! We need to produce a batch of long spears."
Then he pointed at a few others: "You all, also stop making armor plates. Forge a few dozen sabers instead."
The blacksmiths secretly eyed San Shier. San Shier nodded, indicating that the Heavenly Lord approved, and the blacksmiths immediately agreed: "Understood."
As Cheng Xu walked on, he suddenly saw Li Da intensely studying a blueprint. After examining it, he turned to tap and bend a strange thin iron wire, coiling and wrapping it around an iron rod to shape it into a series of loops.
Cheng Xu found himself perplexed: "What weapon are you forging?"
Li Da: "A new type of firearm, taught by the Heavenly Lord."
Cheng Xu: "What do these coiled iron wires have to do with a firearm?"
Li Da: "This humble one doesn't quite understand either, but the firearm blueprint includes this thing, so I'm just forging it according to the instructions."
Cheng Xu glanced at the design blueprint spread out nearby. He saw that the coiled item had a name: "spring."
He mused inwardly: From the name, does this thing 'spring'? Could it be that by pressing it together with both hands and then releasing it, it springs out, and the sharp iron wire pierces the enemy's eyes?
He took the spring from Li Da's hand, pressed it between his palms, and it flattened instantly, showing no spring whatsoever.
Cheng Xu chuckled: "What kind of shoddy contraption is this? I think you've made it wrong, haven't you?"
Li Da replied, quite distressed: "Yes, this humble one has been unable to get it right."
Cheng Xu was about to tell him to make something else more practical when San Shier gently tugged his sleeve and whispered: "This is a blueprint for a divine firearm. The Heavenly Lord specifically assigned Li Da to research this divine firearm and didn't set a time limit, allowing him several years to gradually perfect it."
Upon hearing this, Cheng Xu immediately dismissed his own thoughts: "Alright then, you can take your time researching this thing. Though I don't quite understand it, I want to say that the most important aspect of this item isn't its shape, but its material... Don't use iron. Find something elastic to make it with. Even bamboo would be more elastic than this rigid iron wire."
Outside the diorama box, Li Daoxuan heard these words and couldn't help but be slightly stunned, giving Cheng Xu a thumbs-up: A lucky guess! This fellow, with a casual remark, actually hit the nail on the head.
The essence of a spring isn't just how to coil iron wire, but "materials science."
It was precisely because "materials science" in Europe had advanced to a certain degree, enabling the creation of elastic metal materials, that springs came into being.
"Materials science" belongs to fundamental science, and fundamental science is a weakness in my era.
Without fundamental science as a foundation, all brilliant ideas can only remain in brainstorming sessions and cannot be actualized. It's like how humanity couldn't build good airplanes until aerodynamics was mastered.
Given Li Da's lack of knowledge in "materials science," he would never figure out the spring in his lifetime.
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