Zongwu: Aspiring to be the mastermind behind the scenes

Chapter 378 Arrogance in the human heart makes it difficult to persuade with kind words.
"In that case, Lao Xu, I won't stand on ceremony with you, just pick whatever you like!"

Wu Liangtian rubbed his hands together like a fly, his lewd expression making him look like a rat stealing oil, and then he darted into the secret room.

Master Xu quickly reached out and grabbed him: "Choose whatever you want? You wish! I'll give you one piece at most."

"Old Xu, that's not fair of you. Didn't you say you'd rather waste it than leave any for the tyrannical Qin? What's wrong with me taking a little more?"

Master Xu said irritably, "Even if I'd rather waste it, it's not the way you do it. I'm going to distribute all this strange iron to the old brothers of the Mo family; you can only choose one piece."

"This... alright then..."

In the secret chamber, Wu Liangtian touched and looked around, quickly getting a clear understanding of all the treasured rare iron.

Even if they are all made of innate iron, the weapons that can be made will naturally have different characteristics due to the different properties of various irons.

Some iron species are even completely unsuitable for forging swords.

For example, the Earth Mother Magnet that Master Xu gave to Wu Liangtian before.

Naturally magnetic materials are actually quite brittle and not very suitable for making weapons.

Those who use magnetite to forge weapons are actually using the iron in the magnetite, because magnetite ore usually contains more than 70% iron, which is more than normal iron ore, making it more suitable for iron smelting.

However, pure magnetism won't work. Earth Magnet is a high-purity, naturally magnetic material that cannot be cast; at most, it can only be polished.

It was precisely because of this useless nature that Master Xu gave the Earth Mother Magnet to Wu Liangtian; otherwise, given his personality, how could he allow a piece of innate iron to be wasted?

But this time, he was sincere.

So, if he could only choose one, then Wu Liangtian was truly free to choose.

After careful examination and deliberation, Wu Liangtian selected a piece of feather iron from among the many meteorite iron pieces.

Meteorite iron comes from outer space and possesses various unique properties. Many of them are rare and extraordinary materials that cannot be found anywhere else in China or the world.

Feathered iron is one of them. Its characteristic is that it is light. For the same volume, feathered iron weighs only one-hundredth of ordinary iron, but its strength is comparable to that of ordinary steel.

According to unofficial historical records, Guan Yu, the Martial Saint of the Han Dynasty, was skilled in wielding the Green Dragon Crescent Blade. Its blade was extremely fast, and even strong opponents of the same level would often be killed by him with a single strike before they could even react.

The reason Guan Yu was able to have such a fast sword speed was because his Green Dragon Crescent Blade was actually made of feather iron.

It appears to weigh 72 jin, but its actual weight is only 0.72 jin.

In battle, long weapons are used. Guan Yu's enemies were all carrying weapons weighing tens of kilograms, while Guan Yu's weapon weighed less than a kilogram. Naturally, when he wielded it, his blade speed was terrifying!
The name "Yutetsu" not only refers to the lightness of this type of iron, but also to Guan Yu, who used this type of iron to forge his weapons.

Unofficial histories are unofficial histories precisely because they cannot withstand scrutiny.

Anyone who has practiced martial arts knows that a weapon should not be too heavy, nor too light. If it is too heavy, it is inconvenient to use; if it is too light, it is not comfortable to hold.

Even Sun Wukong knew this principle, let alone Guan Yu.
Therefore, this matter can only be considered unofficial history.

Wu Liangtian was very happy, because the swordsmith Xu Fuzi understood the importance of the weight of a weapon better than any swordsman.

For him, iron was actually a rather useless metal.

When he saw that Wu Liangtian had chosen Feather Iron, he thought that Wu Liangtian had deliberately chosen this useless metal so as not to waste his treasured innate iron, and he was very moved.

Moved by this, he simply gave all the feather iron to Wu Liangtian, which amounted to four or five pieces and weighed more than a pound in total.

The weight of Yutetsu is actually equivalent to more than 100 kilograms of ordinary iron material.

It can probably forge about thirty ordinary longswords.

But Wu Liangtian certainly couldn't use all of this feather iron to forge longswords; he would definitely want to do something fancy with it.

Since we're from the Mohist school, of course we have to play with mechanisms!

Subsequently, Master Xu did indeed summon other swordsmiths and mechanics from the Mohist school and distributed the treasured exotic iron to some of them.

His behavior was so unusual that the other leaders came to his door that very night.

Master Xu, of course, did not hide anything and explained the matter briefly.

The Mohist school had a very flat organizational structure, consisting of only a Grand Master, leaders, and Mohist disciples. At this time, in the Mechanized City, besides the Xu father and son, there were only four leaders.

They are tall and strong men, each wielding a giant iron hammer, a weapon resembling Thor's hammer.

Gao Jianli was a master swordsman and also skilled in playing the zither.

A snow woman with superb dancing skills and expertise in sonic illusions.

There was also Dao Zhi, who was known as the greatest thief of the Seven Kingdoms.

Upon hearing this, all four men's expressions darkened.

Of the four, only Dao Zhi can be considered an old Mohist. The other three actually joined the Mohist school with the current leader, Yan Dan, and were also promoted to leaders of the Mohist school by Yan Dan.

With such backgrounds, the three naturally shared the same ideals as Yan Dan, taking it upon themselves to overthrow the Qin Dynasty.

In daily life, all they talk about is the tyrannical Qin dynasty and anti-Qin sentiments.

Even they would never say that the Mechanized City could withstand the Qin army.

"The Grand Master had already sent word that the Qin army had made some unusual movements, and their target was our Mechanical City, but the exact number of troops was still unknown."

Gao Jianli frowned.

Dao Zhi chuckled and said, "Although Qin has a large army, it has to defend against the Xiongnu in the north and attack the Baiyue in the south. It also needs troops to suppress various places, so it can't mobilize many troops."

Our Mohist Mechanized City was built by our Mohist ancestors over hundreds of years using advanced weaponry; it's riddled with traps and mechanisms. If the Qin army didn't mobilize enough troops, they probably wouldn't even be able to get to the foot of the mountain!

"It's also..."

Gao Jianli's brows gradually relaxed: "However, we must not be wary of Qin's actions. We need to increase patrols and defenses near the Mechanized City recently. We especially need to pay attention to any movements in the sky. If we discover the Gongshu family's mechanical wings, we must destroy them immediately."

"Yes!"

Everyone clasped their hands in a fist salute.

When the Grand Master was not around, everyone basically regarded Gao Jianli as their leader.

One reason is that Gao Jianli was a staunch supporter of Yan Dan.

On the other hand, it is also because Gao Jianli is a rare person among them who is willing and able to use his brain.

Neither can anyone else.

Master Xu was a master blacksmith and swordsmith, but he was really insensitive to matters of this kind.

Dao Zhi was also a cynical and irreverent person who was never serious.

The big iron hammer will work its hardest.

The Snow Maiden is indeed clever, but she also takes Gao Jianli as her leader.

Thus, Gao Jianli gradually became the external brain and opinion leader for others.

At this meeting, they all confirmed the fact that the Mo Family's mechanical city was no match for the Qin army. However, at the same time, they were also relatively optimistic about the situation, believing that the Qin state could not currently send too many troops to deal with the Mo Family's mechanical city.

Given the strategic location of the Mo Family's Mechanized City, the numerous traps within, and the formidable defenses, even a mere thousand or so people within the city would be enough to hold off an army of one hundred thousand!
While the final figure may contain some exaggeration, it is enough to demonstrate their confidence.

The final conclusion was simply to continue with what needed to be done, perhaps paying a little more attention during patrols. At the end of the meeting, Gao Jianli asked, "Is that Wu Liangtian the one who invented the power hammer?"

Master Xu nodded: "The power hammer greatly accelerates the forging speed of steel. Although it is not helpful in forging famous swords, if it is just an ordinary weapon, the efficiency of forging with a power hammer is many times faster."

Gao Jianli's eyes revealed a hint of approval: "This person has such talent in the art of manipulation and can also see through the situation. He is indeed a talent and may be worth cultivating."

Master Xu laughed heartily: "Master Ban and I have been concerned about this matter for a long time."

"That's good."

The next day, Master Xu told Wu Liangtian about this.

Wu Liangtian had no interest in Gao Jianli's so-called appreciation; he only wanted to know the leaders' opinions on Qin's military action.

Upon learning that the others did not take this seriously, he shook his head helplessly.

No wonder this mechanical city was breached.

As the saying goes, the best way to breach a fortified city is to open it from the inside.

Even before the enemy has made a move, this mechanical city is already showing signs of internal decay.

This decay isn't about management, but about people's hearts and minds.

Many Mohist disciples were far too confident, as if the Mohist Mechanized City was absolutely impregnable.

Little did they know that excessive self-confidence would turn into arrogance.

However, who could have imagined that the First Emperor would send out so many troops to destroy the Mechanical City?
Hundreds of thousands of troops, enough to wage a war of annihilation, were used to deal with a mere Mo family mechanical city—a complete waste of resources.

Moreover, this occurred when the Qin state was besieged on both the north and south, and internally needed military force to suppress various enemies.

Anyone would assume that the First Emperor could not possibly have had a large army.

But that's exactly what he did!

Judging the First Emperor using normal thinking is itself a mistake.

"Old Xu, Qin's methods are probably not that simple. We should take precautions as soon as possible."

"Don't worry, we have more than doubled the number of patrols around the city."

“Um… okay…” Wu Liangtian hesitated before speaking.

Well, good advice is useless against a damned devil.

He invented the power hammer, which greatly improved the productivity of the Mohist school.

At this point, all the necessary reminders had been given, which could be considered a decent response to the previous teachings of the Mohists.

But if they don't listen, Wu Liangtian won't try to persuade them again.

He simply ignored it and continued to study his mechanical arts.

Since inventing the power hammer, he has earned the praise of Master Xu and Master Ban, and most of the Mohist mechanisms have been revealed to him.

But what remains unexplored is the true core of Mohist mechanical arts.

Compared to the Gongshu School, which emphasized offensive tactics and particularly enjoyed researching various weapons of war, the Mohists advocated peace more. Therefore, most of the mechanisms they created were for the convenience of the people and for production.

This resulted in the Mohist school of mechanical engineering not producing many particularly famous inventions or creations.

The four most famous mechanical creations of the Mohist school are the Four Divine Beasts of Mechanical Engineering.

But in Wu Liangtian's opinion, there are probably two more things to add.

One is the Mo Family Mechanical City.

The other one is the Mohist supreme weapon, 'Non-Aggression'!
The so-called Four Sacred Beasts of Mechanical Machines are mechanical beasts named after the four sacred beasts: Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise.

Among them, the mechanical White Tiger uses the simplest technology and is also one of the very few war mechanisms of the Mohist school. Specifically, it is a huge mechanical tiger that is controlled by a person.

However, the technology is simple, and it has been around for many years, so it is outdated and cannot be compared with the latest mechanical weapons of the Gongshu family.

Then comes the Vermilion Bird Mechanism.

Its primary function is flight!
The Gongshu family was also able to create flying mechanisms, namely mechanical wings, but the main function of mechanical wings was actually gliding, and certain conditions were required for them to take off.

The mechanical Vermilion Bird, however, is almost like a real bird; it can fly whenever it wants.

Wu Liangtian had already figured out the two mechanisms mentioned above, but the next few were still outside his knowledge.

The Mechanical City is a complete and massive mechanical city, containing countless mechanisms that coexist in perfect harmony. Its overall design concept can be described as excellent.

Some of its most core institutions have not yet been opened to Wu Liangtian.

All the mechanisms in the entire mechanical city are powered by water.

How can these water conservancy projects be coordinated with the movement of government agencies in the city?
The Mohists invented the Xuanwu, a mechanism that sinks deep underwater and can control water power!
This mechanism directly controls the water flow throughout the entire mechanical city. Its rise and fall generate power, thereby driving the entire mechanical city to operate.

The power hammer that Wu Liangtian invented earlier was actually based on this water conservancy system.

This is absolutely a top secret of the Mohist school.

Wu Liangtian has never even met him.

Then there's the most powerful mechanical weapon of the Mohist school, the Mechanical Azure Dragon!

This is the most secret of the Mohist school; within the entire Mohist school, only the Grand Master is qualified to research and control the Azure Dragon mechanism.

This mechanical beast is not only extremely large, but it also possesses the ability to fly, and its power is incredibly terrifying.

In the original story, they only appeared briefly.

In his only appearance, he destroyed the entire mechanical city, broke through the encirclement of hundreds of thousands of troops, and helped the Mo family members successfully escape the encirclement.

Its terrifying power is evident.

Wu Liangtian had been with the Mo family for a year, and had only heard of the name of the Mechanical Azure Dragon, but had never seen even a trace of it, nor did he know where the Mechanical Azure Dragon was.

That Xuanwu mechanism, at least it knew to hide in the water!
Finally, there is 'non-aggression'!
The supreme weapon of the Mohist school was personally crafted by Mozi. Subsequent leaders of the Mohist school all added their own modifications to this weapon, incorporating all the mechanical knowledge they had acquired throughout their lives.

This thing is only the size of a palm, but it has the ability to transform in countless ways.

Although it is called a weapon, it is actually the essence of the Mo family's hundreds of years of mechanical arts heritage.

Mastering this thing is equivalent to learning all the mechanical arts of the Mohist school.

However, this item was hidden very well; apart from the leader of the Mohist school, no one knew where it was.

For Zhou Ming, this small "non-aggression" was the only thing he absolutely needed to obtain in the entire Mo Family Mechanized City.

Besides that, he could even give up the mechanical Xuanwu and the mechanical Qinglong.

Of course, the best outcome would be to have them all!

(End of this chapter)