Tang Dynasty Little Godfather

Chapter 228 Knowledge is Prestige
With the tooth powder and toothbrushes in hand, Li Longji and his men returned home laden with their spoils.

For Wang Xi and his group, it was definitely not a loss.

Putting everything else aside, the fact that Li Longji and his entourage came here is enough to give Qingyun Temple a prestigious reputation.

This is something that no amount of money can buy.

And that's exactly what happened.

Even the emperor's wives and concubines came to Qingyun Temple to get facial masks, which is enough to prove the effectiveness of the masks and that they could enjoy the same beauty treatments as the empress.

Generally speaking, these ancient palace recipes were kept absolutely secret, and only empresses and concubines could enjoy them.

The emergence of this face mask has indeed broken this boundary.

This is the first time that empresses and concubines have left the palace to recuperate.

After the news spread, almost all the nobles flocked to Qingyun Temple to burn incense, which is no exaggeration at all.

However, just two days later, news came from the palace that tooth powder would be designated as a tribute item, with a certain amount to be paid as tribute each year.

This was not because Li Longji favored Wang Xi, or because he supported Taoist thought.

There's only one reason: once you've used it, you can't give it up.

Compared to previous teeth cleaning methods, this is a game-changer.

However, only the amount of tribute was stipulated, but there was no rule prohibiting the sale to the common people. This was partly due to the emperor's favor towards Wang Xi, and it did not mean that he would directly monopolize the market.

Although tribute items don't require payment, they are immediately recognized as tribute items by the imperial palace upon arrival. Could there be a better advertisement than that?

Within half a day, it sold out completely.

However, there was another person who reaped the benefits without lifting a finger, and that person was Wang Maozhong.

Wang Maozhong was Li Longji's most favored minister, but he did not rise to power through sweet words. Rather, he was originally Li Longji's servant. Moreover, he was very capable. During the coup, he fought for Li Longji and later helped Li Longji raise horses.

Li Longji, who wanted to expand his territory, had a great need for warhorses.

However, raising horses is very costly. Wang Maozhong has been trying his best to find ways to reduce the burden of raising horses. His idea is to raise horses scientifically. He found many herdsmen from the north to help him. Secondly, he sells the dead horses, horse hair and horse bones for money.

Currently, the profits from selling horse hair, bones, and dung alone amount to about 20 million coins a year. With proper management, the savings can be even more substantial.

Last year, Wang Xi handed over the toothbrush to Wang Maozhong, who immediately arranged for its production. Since the horsehair needed for the toothbrush was different from that needed for the brush, it was a way for Wang Maozhong to make use of waste, as was the case with horse bones.

He had enough stock, and although many people couldn't buy tooth powder, they could buy toothbrushes first.

Since tooth powder is expensive, toothbrushes are naturally not cheap either.

Wang Maozhong made a fortune from this.

Not only that, Li Longji also learned about this from Wang Xi, and immediately summoned him to the palace to praise him highly.

That was really well done.

He always kept the horse administration in mind and did not disappoint my expectations.

However, this was not the end of the story; Wang Maozhong's luck continued to improve.

He was then targeted by Wang Xi and his associates, who planned to promote him to the position of Minister of Works.

However, Wang Shuang didn't say that. They had to hide their intentions and never say that they wanted to enjoy life and that they should work harder for a few more years.

They said they hoped Uncle Wang could help promote their Taoist philosophy and apply buoyancy to shipbuilding.

Wang Maozhong was Li Longji's favorite minister and knew very well what Li Longji was currently focusing on.

Upon hearing this good news, they quickly made arrangements, fearing that Wang Xi and his group might go to someone else.

On the Wei River.

"My dear nephews have arrived!"

When Wang Maozhong saw Wang Xi, Huangfu Sengnian, and Li Jieman again, he opened his arms wide and strode over to greet them, his face full of wrinkles with a smile.

In Wang Shuang's memory, his father had never given him such a smile.

"Nephew greets Uncle Wang!"

Wang Xi bowed and said, "We are truly grateful for Uncle Wang's help this time, which gave us the opportunity to prove ourselves."

"Why should we, uncle and nephew, talk about these things?"

Wang Maozhong laughed and said, "If you have any needs in the future, just come to Uncle Wang. Uncle Wang will make sure to arrange everything perfectly for you."

"Thank you, Uncle Wang."

Wang Maozhong suddenly grabbed Wang Xi and said, "Que'er, thank you so much for speaking up for your uncle in front of His Majesty a few days ago."

Wang Xi said nonchalantly, "Uncle Wang, whether I say those things or not, His Majesty dotes on you, so it doesn't matter."

"You brat!"

Wang Maozhong grabbed Wang Xi's head and shook it violently a few times, then waved his hand and said, "Come on over, the boat is ready for you."

He led the four of them to the riverbank, where several officials stood to the side. These were Wang Maozhong's most experienced shipbuilding officials. A ship was also moored at the dock, which was the most standard grain transport vessel in the Tang Dynasty at that time, with a carrying capacity of about one thousand shi (a unit of dry measure).

Wang Xi, of course, ignored those officials and the four of them took their tools and went straight onto the boat.

Seeing how arrogant they were, one of the officials said, "General, shipbuilding requires experience. We can't just do it haphazardly. These four of them may never have even been on a boat before, so how could they possibly know how to build one?"

Nowadays, talent is secondary in shipbuilding; the key is experience. Without theory, even if these kids were born and started building ships, they would still be far inferior to them.

Wang Maozhong said, "They have never built a ship, but they understand Taoist thought. Do you understand?"

The official said dejectedly, "What does Taoist thought have to do with shipbuilding?"

“Who says it’s okay?” Wang Maozhong waved his hand and said, “I’ll show you later.”

After all, he doesn't know either.

After saying that, he gently called out to Wang Xi and the others inside the cabin, "Que'er, don't be in a hurry, take your time, Uncle has plenty of time today."

"Father, please don't bother us, okay?" came Wang Shuang's dissatisfied voice from inside. "Alright, alright."

Wang Maozhong's lips twitched a few times. "I'm only giving Que'er face. What are you yelling about? I'll deal with you when we get back."

This stop lasted for more than an hour.

The officials' faces were filled with resentment. Their shipbuilding skills were so good that even on a global scale, there were very few who could match them.

Now they're being made to stand here, waiting for the young men's comments.

Who can bear this.

But seeing Wang Maozhong patiently and expectantly looking into the cabin, he could only dare to be angry but not speak out.

"All right!"

Li Jieman suddenly popped out of the warehouse and said, "Uncle Wang, we've got it all figured out."

Wang Maozhong immediately exclaimed excitedly, "Let's go, let's go take a look!"

He had just taken a step when he instructed the officials, "You must remember what they say later."

"Yes, General."

The officials spoke listlessly.

Wang Maozhong snorted, "You look down on people."

Wang Xi led several officials into the cabin, holding a white cloth. "Based on our theory of buoyancy, we believe this ship can be improved to carry more cargo on the same river, have a more stable center of gravity, be less prone to capsizing, and also be able to travel faster."

"is it?"

Wang Maozhong exclaimed with delight.

A chubby official next to him said sarcastically, "Oh? I'd like to hear more about it."

Wang Xidao said: "Based on our research on buoyancy, the stability of a ship mainly depends on the positional relationship between its center of gravity and its center of buoyancy. The center of gravity refers to the center of gravity of the ship itself, while the center of buoyancy refers to the center of gravity of the water displaced by the ship."

To ensure stability, the center of gravity should be lowered as much as possible, while the center of buoyancy should be raised by increasing the lateral width and waterline width, thus making the center of gravity lower than the center of buoyancy. This ensures the stability of the vessel.

Several officials, including Wang Maozhong, were stunned.

What language are you speaking? We can't understand you!

"It's okay if you don't understand, I can explain it to you."

Wang Xi arrived at the first secret compartment below. "I don't know if you've noticed, but this secret compartment isn't very stable when it's fully loaded. However, the ship is quite stable when it's empty or not fully loaded."

The official looked at Wang Xi with slight surprise.

Upon seeing this, Wang Maozhong was overjoyed, as it proved that Wang Xi was right.

Wang Xi said, "It's very simple. It's because the design of this compartment is not very reasonable. The curvature at the front is too high. Therefore, when the ship is fully loaded, the center of gravity will move forward, making the center of gravity higher than the center of buoyancy, so it is unstable. However, when it is not fully loaded, especially when the compartment is empty, the center of gravity is just in the middle, so it is relatively stable."

It would be best to redesign these compartments to ensure the ship's stability under various conditions, including fully loaded, partially loaded, and empty compartments.

The technology of sealed compartments began to take shape in the Tang Dynasty. Although it does have considerable flaws at present, it is still quite remarkable.

Huangfu Sengnian added, "According to our buoyancy theory, the magnitude of buoyancy depends on the size of the object submerged in water. Simply put, if we can increase the size of the ship submerged in water, we can obtain greater buoyancy, thereby increasing the load capacity."

As he spoke, he stomped his foot, “This section under my feet can be widened a bit, about 1.5 feet, and at the same time, we can remove this small compartment on the side that doesn’t do much good. This will not only increase stability, but also allow for more load-bearing capacity.”

Wang Shuang said, "But the resistance of a ship also depends on its size. If you want the ship to travel faster, the bow should be designed to be more pointed."

Li Jieman said, "According to our theory, buoyancy is actually equal to the weight of the water displaced by the ship. Based on this, we can calculate the ship's accurate load capacity."

We can use this ship as a standard to conduct experiments in the dock, calculate its displacement weight, and mark a standard line on the hull based on its maximum displacement. Crossing this line would constitute overweight and could potentially cause capsizing, thus preventing more accidents.

Wang Xi added, "Of course, according to our calculations, the buoyancy of seawater and river water is different, so seagoing vessels and river vessels need to be calculated separately."

The four of them chimed in, one after another, leaving the others speechless.

Do not understand!

I don't understand at all!

This was exactly the effect Li Jieman and his team wanted; they had never imagined they could leave officials speechless.

One word!

Cool!
Wang Xi slapped the white cloth in his hand onto the chest of the plump official, saying, "This is the result of our inspection. Inside are new design drawings and dock designs for testing displacement."

The chubby official suddenly woke up, covered the white cloth with both hands, slowly picked it up, looked at the patterns and calculation formulas on it, and felt that they made a lot of sense. He immediately gasped.

They have extensive shipbuilding experience; they understand that a wider bottom area allows for more cargo to be carried, and they also understand the design of a ship's center of gravity.

These are all purely experiential, without any theoretical support; for them, they are simply common sense.

"You...you just look at it for an hour, and...you think you can figure out how to design this ship?"

The official said this with great resentment.

I've been building ships for decades, and I'm still not as good as a few greenhorns like you.

"of course."

Wang Xi shrugged and said, "That's the magic of Taoist thought."

Actually it is not.

They had planned ahead beforehand. Although Wang Xi understood the theory, he had never built a ship before. Therefore, they first invited some skilled craftsmen to explain the design concept of the ship and some of the problems.

Then, apply the principles of buoyancy to it.

Actually!
These craftsmen are remarkable; they can achieve a high degree of accuracy based on experience alone. However, experience is essential; without theory, they cannot achieve precision.

Wang Xi provided the theory, so it's possible to achieve ten, because it can be calculated precisely.

They talked a lot, but the scope of the changes was actually only a few feet. In other words, the problem with the ship wasn't that big; it was just lacking in various aspects. But if all of them were improved, the effect would be extraordinary.

(End of this chapter)