My older brother is Gao Huan.

Chapter 549 The most important weapon of the country
Gao Yu has a very solid foundation.

The local militia was the most fundamental base of support. Based on this, they won over the "new-style" scholars, that is, the group of scholars trained by the school system.

This group of people were previously unable to attend school or had no access to education, but now they have also received Gao Yu's kindness.

If I really had to say...

The only group Gao Yu didn't open his mouth to was the merchants.

Merchants are driven by profit; they don't actually need Gao Yu to give them any status. They are already very motivated to make money.

However, this does not mean that Gao Yu does not want to develop business.

In fact, Gao Yu has been promoting commercial development. Once commercial development is achieved, the current mainstream "barter" method of exchanging goods will be broken.

During the Wei, Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties, aristocratic families were typical self-sufficient manor economies, with a large population dependent on them. This group of people who depended on aristocratic families did not participate in the circulation of society at all.

Money was not in circulation and was not very useful during this period.

To break this circle, one must first take back the land and population controlled by the powerful families, thus disrupting the internal cycle within this small circle.

Next, with the development of agriculture, more food could be produced from the land, allowing some people to have enough to eat and then start to have other needs, namely the 'service industry'.

In this way, a new urban class could emerge, just as it did during the Tang and Song dynasties.

Class is something that cannot be physically eliminated.

Because after the dragon-slaying youth slays the dragon, he will eventually become an evil dragon and kill all the members of the noble families, so that no new noble families will emerge?
There is no essential difference.

Classes can only be replaced.

All Gao Yu could do was slightly accelerate the course of history, allowing the aristocratic families to exit the historical stage sooner.

Providing better treatment to artisans and farmers is also intended to motivate them.

Even if only one person is lucky enough to summarize, generalize, or even come up with something that transcends the times and can drive the development of productivity, that would be a great achievement.

Just as Gao Yu was exchanging pleasantries with everyone.

Jia Sixie walked over to a craftsman and whispered something to him. After a brief exchange, they finally finished talking.

Jia Sixie led the man to Gao Yu.

"Prime Minister, this man is the person in charge of the trebuchet and forging technology."

"Greetings, Prime Minister. My name is Qi Wuhuaiwen."

"Qi Wu Huaiwen?"

The name is a bit hard to pronounce and you can't tell from the appearance, but you can tell from the name that the person is either a Xianbei or a Gaoche, or a tribe from the grasslands.

It is likely that his ancestors settled in the heart of the Central Plains at a very early age and grew up in a Han Chinese environment, which is why his appearance was not so distinctive.

After thinking for a moment, Gao Yu suddenly realized, "I remember now, wasn't it you who improved the forging techniques before?"

Qi Wuhuaiwen was very surprised, seemingly not expecting that such an important figure as Gao Yu would remember him.

Jia Sixie quickly spoke up, "Yes... Prime Minister, it was this person who improved the forging method, making the weapons forged by our army sharper and greatly reducing the amount of ore required to forge a weapon."

"I remembered."

Gao Yu even went to the scene to see it.

Qi Wuhuaiwen used the standard "Guan Steel Method" to be precise. In fact, the "Guan Steel Method" was recorded as early as the Eastern Han Dynasty, just like the stirrup. However, it was only recorded and was probably mastered by a very small group of people. The technique was not widely promoted.

Qi Wuhuaiwen did not simply summarize the "Steel Casting Method," but rather greatly improved the weapon manufacturing process based on it.

Especially in the area of ​​'quenching', previously water was used directly, but Qi Wuhuaiwen proposed using animal urine and oil, which achieved great results. "Excellent, excellent, excellent!"

Gao Yu took his hand proactively; this was the epitome of a top-tier STEM guy in this era!
In the area of ​​weapon making alone, after Qi Wuhuaiwen promoted his technology, he was able to save Gao Yu more iron ore every year.

Such talents are the 'national treasures'!
The trebuchet he is currently developing is also a crucial national weapon!

"Come on, demonstrate it for me."

Gao Yu and the others stepped aside, while Qi Wuhuaiwen and the other craftsmen stood in front of a large wooden frame that was about two zhang in size.

The trebuchet was essentially a catapult with added weight. Because of the added weight, it could launch much larger stones than a regular catapult, and was even capable of smashing down the walls of a fortified city like Xiangyang.

Compared to ordinary catapults, trebuchets were larger, but their designs were largely the same.

Below is a fixed base, and then the wooden frame extends upwards with an axle in the middle. The throwing rod passes through the axle, with a counterweight stone at one end and the huge stone to be thrown at the other end.

"Come on! One, two!!"

The craftsmen worked together to press the casting rod down, and then used the hook on the base to fix the casting rod in place.

When in use, it's like a catapult: release the hook holding the casting rod, and the rod, supported by the counterweight, will unleash tremendous energy to throw the stone at the other end of the rod completely.

Gao Yu was filled with anticipation!

Crunch.

Once the boulder was secured to the casting rod, the wooden frame was subjected to tremendous pressure, emitting a series of teeth-grinding sounds.

After seeing that everything was ready, Qi Wuhuaiwen took a deep breath.

With Gao Yu present, this is an excellent opportunity to show off in front of him!

This made him the most powerful person in the Great Wei Dynasty.

To put it bluntly.

Even the current emperor's power is not as great as Gao Yu's. Who doesn't know that the real power of the emperor is in Gao Yu's hands?

Qi Wuhuaiwen held something that looked like a fire poker in his hand. He gripped it tightly with both hands and then swung it around violently.

A crisp 'bang' sound.

After the fire poker struck the hook violently, the hook, which had been fixed in place, suddenly came loose.

The moment it was released, the boulder at the front of the counterweight plummeted downwards, exerting a tremendous force. The simple lever principle then triggered the launching action.

As one end was pressed down, the other end of the casting rod suddenly rose up, with a huge rock tied to it!
Gao Yu was completely absorbed, even clenching his fist secretly!

Success or failure hinges on this moment!
If we succeed, then conquering cities in the future will be much easier!

Everyone held their breath, waiting for the giant rock to be launched and then collapse the 'city wall' in front of them, which would signify the successful creation of the trebuchet!
then……

There was a loud 'boom'!
The huge rock wasn't thrown away; instead, it was thrown away just as it was about to reach its highest launch point.

The casting rod seemed unable to support the weight of the stone and broke.

The boulder also fell from mid-air, crashing heavily to the ground and kicking up clouds of sand and gravel.

Everyone's expression changed.

They all looked at Gao Yu, who had no expression on his face.

P.S.: I've been on a business trip for the past two days and have been writing in an internet cafe, which I'm not used to... so it's a bit short. Don't worry, I'll update more frequently after my trip and speed up the pace of the Battle of Mangshan!
(End of this chapter)