After being forced to step down, the once-annoying nun eloped with me.

"This is a micro-model of the Oak Factory we plan to build in the core area of ​​Gaparia. As you can see, this type of Oak Factory only requires the input of Metal Ingots to quickly produce a large number of metal arrowheads with the help of ancient trees to meet the archers' demand for arrows."

Barring unforeseen circumstances, compared to the various workshops throughout Gaparia, assuming a stable supply of raw materials, a single oak factory could produce the same amount of arrows the entire country combined last year.

“Last year’s national output?! Based on what you’re saying about the Oak Factory?!” Some of the old elves were dumbfounded, but quickly calmed down: “Thinking about it carefully, if they’re just standard [arrows], it does seem possible… but they shouldn’t be [enchanted items], right?”

"Of course not, but they can be enchanted, though it still requires the arrow makers to do it manually—but the spirits rarely use enchanted arrows anyway, so considering the high-intensity war ahead, His Majesty and I have discussed it and decided that this is a small but acceptable sacrifice."

At this point, Arthur turned around, nodded to Yang Hao, and then took a few steps back to indicate that he had finished speaking.

Immediately after Arthur finished speaking, the old elves around him began to discuss the matter.

"I see... So, if the masters want to use [Enchanted Arrows], they still need the help of the arrow maker, and this also frees the arrow makers from repetitive labor..."

"Looking at it this way..."

"Then we don't need to worry about arrow consumption, but rather about the production of minerals..."

Chirp, chirp, chirp.

The elves' discussion made Theresa look up and glance at Yang Hao a few more times.

This man is also striving to grow. In the past, as someone solely responsible for industrial reform, he would never have considered how to compromise with those destined to make sacrifices in the revolution, nor would he have considered how to exchange benefits with them.

He used to just blindly move towards his goal – that's just the kind of person he was, because he used to be a cake maker.

The late emperor, who distributed the cake, could take care of all his worries.

But after the late emperor's death, he had to rely on himself. And after the disastrous defeat of the Roman Empire, this man finally understood that he had to grow through the path of politics.

It turns out he really did work hard.

If he hadn't considered the social status and working interests of the arrow makers, and if he hadn't considered that change was destined to be gradual, he could have already worked with Arthur to build the Oak Factory capable of producing enchanted arrows.

But this would prevent the old elves from having such a harmonious discussion. He would be just like he was in the Roman Empire, all alone and helpless. Even with Fen's guarantee, he was destined to never gain the elves' genuine approval without his growth.

That's really great!

The men in the family have finally figured it out.

Mother Teresa lowered her head contentedly, praying for the smooth progress of the meeting to come.

......

The elves' discussion ended quickly.

Finally, they systematically asked Yang Hao the most crucial questions.

First, how many oak factories should be built? Where should they be built?

Secondly, can the Oak Factory produce other products?

Yang Hao responded to each question, and when faced with the innovative elves' question about why they didn't build the mines around the mines, he expressed his concerns about the structure of the elven mines.

He said he was worried that if important industrial areas were always located near raw material production areas, a single natural or man-made disaster could cause Gaparia to lose both its raw material production areas and its vital industrial areas.

To avoid this potential outcome, he believed that appropriately increasing transportation costs was feasible. Moreover, having the oak factories scattered across various locations meant that most regions could have their own sufficient supply of arrows, rather than being centrally allocated as before, which caused extremely cumbersome logistics.

In general, it's better to have the Oak Factory built in a dispersed manner than to concentrate it in one area as before. This conclusion was unanimously agreed upon by the elves after discussion. Thus, the proposal for the Oak Factory was officially concluded, with everyone agreeing to its construction and acknowledging some of Yang Hao's abilities as regent.

So what's next?

Yang Hao waved again. This time, two longbows appeared on the magic screen.

It was a perfect Skywalker, the kind of sword elves were known to use, requiring a hundred years to craft. It was covered in exquisite decorations, an excessive number of seemingly useless enchantments, incomprehensible paintings and eulogies, and works of art composed solely of gemstones and gold leaf powder used for decoration.

The other was a simple longbow. This longbow was made by Arthur's wife, Via, and it had no decorations whatsoever. If one had to make a comparison, it would be the simplest and most perfect weapon.

The old elves exchanged bewildered glances, while Yang Hao, without hesitation, stated that considering the impending invasion of the parish, the elves, in order to temporarily expand their weapon reserves, had to abandon all aspects of the longbow design that were irrelevant to combat.

For example, the decorations, the gold leaf, the paintings, the reliefs, and even the lyrics his mother used for an hour-long chant—Yang Hao had had enough of this. What on earth was that elven longbow?

These things will not have any impact on the battle at all! But the overly complicated production process will definitely severely affect the production of longbows.

Although the elves may eventually abandon the longbow, it is still a weapon that needs to be equipped in large quantities during the transition period. Yang Hao strongly suggests that, at least for this period, bow makers should abandon focusing too much on useless decorations on longbows and instead prioritize practicality in their production.

......

Because of the impact of the previous Oak Factory incident, the proposal was approved without any doubt.

Even the most stubborn bow maker said that now was not the time to delve into the art of longbows—but then he asked a question.

If the elves only have longbows, they may not be able to stop the enemy from entering the Elven Forest, or rather, they may not be able to suffer huge losses before the enemy invades the forest.

Your Majesty, do you possess any new weapons that could revolutionize the Elven Longbowmen?

The old elves' aggressive gaze made Yang Hao reveal a bright smile full of confidence and sunshine.

He waved again.

This time, what appeared on the magical screen...

It is a strange tubular weapon.

"what is this?"

The elves were greatly puzzled.

Looking at the Elvish text for "Japak 1404 Rifle" on the screen.

For some reason, their hearts were pounding violently, as if someone were grabbing them.

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Gun Revolution, the Perfect Meeting, and the Arrival of War

The Japa 1404 rifle, a bolt-action design, was created by Arthur with the assistance of Yang Hao, taking into account factors such as the physical attributes of the elves. It is a replica of the new rifle of Ysgard.

Without a doubt, this was destined to be a revolutionary weapon. Not only Yang Hao thought so, but even the old elf and Finn thought so.

What is shown on the magical screen is an elf wielding a Japa 1404 rifle and a traditional elven archer conducting a comparative shooting test against a target 900 meters away.

"The two sides are a young man with 100 years of longbow training experience in elven society and an elven young man who has trained for a full day using a Japa 1404 rifle."

Yang Hao introduced the elves to the silent conference room.

"The young men we selected who use longbows are all outstanding in elven society. I believe all of you masters can see this directly—especially the young man who uses a longbow, whose achievements are exceptional among his elven peers."

The old elves nodded in agreement, and one of the archery masters, carrying a longbow, even declared that the child was already qualified to go to the battlefield and could be considered a powerful warrior.

His words elicited soft chuckles from everyone, and after a few laughs, Yang Hao said:

"The young man who uses the Japa 1404 rifle can only be considered 'average' among his peers. I think this way, everyone can more intuitively see the difference between the two weapons... Okay, please watch the actual demonstration below."

He gave a signal to the elven mages behind him, who, understanding, raised their hands and whispered to themselves, signaling the start of the test to the testers at the testing site. Thus began a test comparing elven longbows with rifles.

On the magical screen, as the longbowman drew his bow to its fullest extent, the elf wielding the rifle simply maintained his standing firing stance, holding the gun horizontally. The old elves in the conference room watched everything on the screen in astonishment, their curiosity about firearms prompting them to simultaneously ask the same question:

"What exactly is he doing? Is this a weapon that doesn't require drawing a bow?"

"The trigger mechanism below looks a lot like a crossbow... but where's the bow arm? Could this be a magical weapon?"

"I couldn't find an opening to insert the arrow; the iron pipe looked almost completely sealed... Could I insert it from the front? But how would I fire it then?"

These old fogies, having never seen the world, imposed their knowledge of bows and arrows onto firearms.

Yang Hao simply smiled and shook his head, muttering to himself:

"shooting."

-

"boom!"

The piercing sound of gunfire came from the magical screen, completely overshadowing the sound of archers shooting arrows nearby and drawing everyone's attention.

Under the astonished gaze of the old elves, two new sections on the magical screen displayed comparative data on firearms and bows and arrows.

When a bullet from a firearm hits the bullseye of a 900-meter target and pierces through the entire wooden target, the archer's arrow is still flying in mid-air.

As the rifleman fired his second shot and hit the target again, the arrow from the archer next to him appeared on another target—while the young man with the longbow hadn't even had time to nock and aim.

The elves' longbows possess a range that seems extremely long to humans, but this range comes at the cost of the bow's strength.

The farther a bow can shoot, the more strength is required to draw the bowstring. From the perspective of an ordinary elf, if a young man can draw the bow arm within two minutes and accurately aim at a target 900 meters away and hit the target, he can be considered an excellent archer.

And what about the Japa 1404 rifle?

Not only could a young man who had only trained for a whole day easily hit a target 900 meters away with this strange tubular weapon, but the thing he launched even had more power than an arrow?!

Not only that, he was even able to fire a second shot in a short period of time—

"boom--"

"boom--"

"boom--"

Amidst the stunned expressions of the old elves, the elf wielding the gun seemed to have found his rhythm, firing three shots in quick succession, each hitting the target.

The archer beside him was still frantically drawing his bow—he had only drawn it halfway, let alone fired a second shot.

The difference between the two weapons is obvious, and it is even a one-sided massacre and crushing defeat - it is too cruel. Even Yang Hao felt a little unbearable, because the appearance of firearms meant the death of the bow and arrow, and the elves happened to be the race that valued the bow and arrow the most.

The skills that the elves had honed over hundreds of years were now completely surpassed by a single spear.

This would be painful for anyone. But it was a necessary ordeal—Yang Hao had to help the elves escape the perfect Stone Age, even if this necessary process brought excruciating pain.

He was prepared to face the elves' attacks, just as he had faced countless misunderstandings and criticisms during his efforts to industrialize and save the nation in the Roman Empire. He believed he had to go through this ordeal again.

For the elves, the appearance of this new weapon was like a direct assault on their brains, without any warning.

What is going on here?

Why does this weapon not only have the firing rate of a short bow, but also the range and accuracy of a long bow, and even the projectiles it fires have a flight speed that is invisible to the naked eye, and can also produce an astonishingly loud noise when fired?

What is going on here?

Is this a weapon that humans could actually create?

How long have we been out of touch with the outside world? To the point that we can't even begin to imagine how to operate this kind of weapon?

At this moment, even the most cynical old man realized the gravity of the situation. They stared at the gun on the magical screen, seemingly being loaded, their gaping mouths moving up and down, finally culminating in a near-manic exclamation:

"That...that must be the ammunition!" A master arrow maker pointed tremblingly at the archer loading ammunition on the screen: "That thing is less than two fingers wide?! Even the smallest arrowhead is three fingers wide! It's so small, yet its power and range are so great?!"

"It looks very light... No, how was it launched? Wait... Is there something strange inside that long cylindrical structure at the bottom of the [ammunition]?"

"Damn it, cross-eyed! Isn't it obvious?! The flash and deafening sound when it was fired... there's definitely something explosive inside! Like a volcanic eruption, once it erupts, it will push things out—but how does this tube withstand the impact? Is it enchanted?"