Duke of Zhenguan

Chapter 95 The Great Hammer

The following day at court, the proposal to confer a title upon Lin Chuan was passed smoothly without any setbacks.

The next day, the Lin family held a grand banquet for their guests.

The official imperial edict had not yet arrived, and Lin Chuan originally did not want to make such a big fuss. However, after Li heard that the Ministry of Personnel had given Lin Chuan the title of Earl of Longmen County, she could not sit still and insisted that Lin Chuan go and invite someone.

This was the first time in more than half a year that Li had made a decision without consulting Lin Chuan, so Lin Chuan had no choice but to obediently go and ask for help.

Besides his two cousins' families, he also invited the Cheng, Qin, Yan, and Yuchi families. Lin Chuan even made a special trip to the Gongshu family.

Although the Gongshu family was renowned, the status of craftsmen was too low. No matter how skilled the Gongshu family members were, they were ultimately not worthy of being recognized. When Gongshu Qi brought his son into the house and saw Cheng Yaojin, Qin Qiong, and others, especially Yan Shigu, his attitude towards Lin Chuan became even more humble.

Originally, Lin Chuan had simply invited Gongshu Qi to his home for a visit, but seeing the unexpected effect, he naturally went along with it and introduced Gongshu Qi to Yan Shigu, Qin Qiong, and others.

Lin Chuan, who had been drinking all night, stumbled out of the banquet to urinate. As he aimlessly walked to the outside of the ancestral hall wall on the east side, he vaguely heard Li kneeling inside the ancestral hall, talking incessantly to her husband's token.

The Lin family's residence is built to the standards of a marquis, and the ancestral hall is a separate small courtyard located on the east side of the central courtyard.

Lin Chuan usurped the original owner's body and felt somewhat guilty when he entered the ancestral hall. So, except for necessary festivals, he rarely came here. Li Shi, on the other hand, cleaned the hall herself every day and never asked anyone else to handle the offerings and incense.

Leaning against the wall, listening to Li Shi's rambling conversation inside, Lin Chuan finally understood what Li Shi was thinking.

More than ten years ago, Li and her husband fled famine from their hometown of Longmen to the capital with Lin Chuan. Her husband had always longed to return home in glory. Although they hadn't gone back, their son had been granted a title and was now the Earl of Longmen County. Li told her husband to be happy even in the afterlife.

"Perhaps we should take Li Shi and Er Ya back to Longmen—"

Lin Chuan, standing a short distance away from the wall, leaned against it, lost in thought.

The Lin family was bustling for two days, but everything gradually returned to normal.

Lin Chuan continued to leisurely travel between the Lin family and the Cheng family every day, and occasionally took Er Ya to the Yan family.

This year's harvest was neither good nor bad; the grain harvest in the Guanzhong region was neither particularly good nor bad.

Moreover, the Grand Canal, which the imperial court had opened up during the last grain price crisis, was now unobstructed, allowing grain from Jiangnan to be transported into Guanzhong in a steady stream. Although the grain harvest was not good, grain prices continued to decline slowly after autumn.

The autumn tax collection by the imperial court proceeded smoothly. With grain in hand, Li Shimin was eager to discuss the feasibility of attacking Liang Shidu with Fang Xuanling and others.

During the years since the founding of the Tang Dynasty, Liang Shidu, who occupied Shuozhou, was constantly harassed by the Turks in places like Lingzhou. Before seeking revenge against the Turks, Li Shimin was determined to remove this disgusting threat.

The grain and salt supplies not only dealt a blow to the powerful clans in Hedong, but also gave Li Shimin the confidence to launch a military campaign.

Lin Chuan wasn't qualified to participate in the discussions about attacking Liang Shidu; he only heard about it from Cheng Yaojin and Qin Qiong.

November arrived quickly, and as the weather grew colder, General Chai Shao of the Left Guard and General Xue Wanjun of the Left Valiant Guard each led more than 10,000 troops and quietly left Chang'an, heading towards Shuozhou.

November 12th is an auspicious day.

The Gewu Research Institute has quietly opened for business.

Under the witness of Zhang Anan, who represented Li Shimin, Cheng Yaojin, Qin Qiong, and Lin Chuan unveiled the red cloth hanging on the lintel, revealing the five large black characters of the Gewu Research Institute.

This was Cheng Yaojin's first time visiting the Institute of Physics. Walking through the gate and looking at the empty courtyard, he frowned and asked, "This is the Institute of Physics?"

"Uncle Cheng, everything is difficult at the beginning!" Lin Chuan didn't mind. At present, apart from himself, the self-appointed dean, and the people from the Gongshu family, the Gewu Research Institute only had a dozen or so craftsmen borrowed from the Cheng family.

The Gewu Research Institute occupies a similar area to the Jiangzuojian (Imperial Workshop), covering more than 60 acres, and its scale is also similar to that of the Jiangzuojian. It is divided into areas such as office area, craftsman's area, warehouse, craftsman's residence, and courtyard.

This vast area is only partially completed, but it still feels quite empty when you put about twenty people in it.

"You're just making a mess of things!" Cheng Yaojin said irritably.

"Say less, it's always good that Xiao Chuan wants to do something!" Qin Qiong said with a smile.

"Uncle Cheng, shall we go and take a look at Mr. Gongshu's First Research Institute first?" Lin Chuan said to Cheng Yaojin with a smile, not minding at all.

"What's so interesting about this?!" Cheng Yaojin remained unconvinced. He was far away in Longyou, and he kept writing memorials to Li Shimin, implying that Li Shimin should arrange a good position for Lin Chuan. He never expected that Lin Chuan would want to set up some kind of research institute for physics.

If it could be like the Imperial Workshop, that would be fine, but now it's just an empty shell. Lin Chuan, the self-appointed dean, doesn't even have a proper official position. How can he be happy?

He was even planning to ask Emperor Taizong of Tang to bestow a marriage upon his daughter!

"Lord Su, my eldest son and I have been working on this for several days and have finally finished making the giant hammer that Young Master Lin wanted. You should go and take a look; you might be interested!" Gongshu Qi said confidently from the side.

"Oh? Then I'll have to go take a look!" Cheng Yaojin nodded with a smile.

The group followed Gongshu Qi to the First Research Institute. When the Institute of Gewu was being built, Lin Chuan specifically requested that fresh water be introduced from the moat outside the city and a small river with a small drop be built inside the institute.

After Gongshu Qi led his people into the Institute of Gewu, he immediately took a liking to the courtyard by the river, and so the site of the First Research Institute was decided to be located there.

In the past few days, the Gongshu family has transformed this place into a casting platform.

Gongshu Qi's eldest son was directing the Gongshu family to use a gantry crane more than ten feet tall and a pulley system to place a huge iron hammer on a thick swing arm.

The other end of the swing arm is mounted on a base made of huge stones, which is equipped with planetary gears and a huge wheel to form a differential similar to that on a bicycle. The other end of the gears is connected to a waterwheel that is being pushed by the water flow to turn slowly.

After the hammer was attached, Gongshu Qi's eldest son used an iron rod to mesh the planetary gear with the gear connecting the waterwheel, and the hammer was lifted by the swing arm and then slammed down heavily.

Directly below the hammer, two sturdy young men worked together to lift a large, red-hot iron block out of the stove and placed it under the hammer during the gap as it was being lifted.

"Bang!"

When the raised hammer fell, it struck the large iron block with a dull thud.

The originally square iron block was smashed into a disc shape.

The two young men quickly used pliers to flip the iron block over, and with the help of the waterwheel, the hammer fell heavily again.

"Bang!"

The iron block was smashed flat again!