Chapter 834

In the imperial study, palace maids fanned gently, blowing cool breezes towards Xiao Ming and Lin Wentao.

Under Xiao Ming’s explanation, the structure and images of one lathe after another appeared in Lin Wentao’s mind.

“The length measuring machine Your Majesty spoke of is already in testing at Bowen Academy. It uses the measurement units designated by Your Majesty. However, currently, the most precise length measuring machine that can be realized can only reach one thousandth of a millimeter, and before manufacturing the length measuring machine, we must first divide millimeters into equal parts. Only then can we set the one-thousandth scale for the length measuring machine.”

Lin Wentao’s words made Xiao Ming nod. This was precisely what he wanted to say.

Currently, the Great Yu Empire’s measurement precision basically stopped at one hundredth, which was the millimeter level.

However, to manufacture breech-locking mechanisms and other more precise machinery, he had to increase the measurement precision to one thousandth, and even to one ten-thousandth in the future.

“You are right, but this division of millimeters can only rely on manual engraving. I will provide you with microscopes, and you can try to divide millimeters into equal distances,” Xiao Ming said.

Lin Wentao nodded. The issue of precision had always been a headache for him.

In fact, in his view, whoever mastered industrial precision would master machinery manufacturing. After all, lathes were also called “mother machines of industry” in Bowen Academy’s books. As the name suggested, these lathes were the mothers of machines.

“It’s just that if we do this, our measurements will inevitably have some errors,” Lin Wentao said with a hint of regret.

Xiao Ming frowned. In fact, precision was only a relative problem, not an absolute one. Even in contemporary times, rulers produced in the same batch would have errors in their markings.

Therefore, whether it was the precision of the lathe itself, its components, or the precision of the manufactured parts, there would always be errors. Industry only needed to control the errors within a certain range.

Precisely because he understood this, Xiao Ming was not as confused as Lin Wentao.

This confusion was about how the initial scales came about, such as meters, centimeters, millimeters, etc. In contemporary times, people might not think about the issue of ruler markings because everything was readily available.

But here, he had to explain that the most primitive scales were actually drawn by hand, just as he personally drew the Great Yu Empire’s weights and measures, and then promoted them as standards.

Then artisans would use this standard to create measuring units, which in turn allowed lathes to produce components with a certain precision.

Precisely because of this, in fact, the Great Yu Empire’s ability to manufacture parts with precision could only rely on manual grinding. There was no other way. After all, theoretically, only human hands could achieve infinite precision. The evolution of lathe precision in history unfolded in this manner.

In contemporary times, the West set the standards for weights and measures, and other countries could only emulate their unit sizes. Such imitation made it very difficult to achieve one hundred percent accuracy; only close approximations were possible.

Now, what Xiao Ming and Lin Wentao were doing was essentially establishing the Great Yu Empire’s industrial precision, building the Great Yu Empire’s manufacturing tradition. And the foundation of manufacturing tradition lay in the artisans’ meticulousness.

“Errors are inevitable; absolute equidistance is impossible. We can only reduce errors to the minimum. Once we establish a one-thousandth precision standard, we can manufacture vernier calipers with one-thousandth precision. Then, we can manufacture length measuring machines with one ten-thousandth precision,” Xiao Ming said loudly.

The mass production of breech-loading firearm components was a breakthrough point in the Great Yu Empire’s industry. Once this point was surpassed, the Great Yu Empire would embark on the path of precision manufacturing.

And in this process, he also needed to manufacture precision spirit levels, dial gauges, right-angle gauges, straightedges, high-precision spindle mandrels, and dial gauge rods. But before that, he had to have an original scale with one-thousandth precision.

This was also one of the reasons he had Lin Wentao come here this time: he wanted Lin Wentao to manually grind a vernier caliper with one-thousandth precision.

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Lin Wentao nodded heavily. He was under immense pressure.

Upon returning, he decided to mobilize all artisans to engrave this one-thousandth precision vernier caliper, and from them, select a caliper whose errors were indiscernible to the naked eye to serve as the original caliper.

Then, they would mass-produce machines for manufacturing vernier calipers, and after that, use vernier calipers to manually produce other precision tools.

The teaching between the two continued until about three in the afternoon. Through the explanation, Lin Wentao basically understood the issue of precision.

After leaving the imperial palace, Lin Wentao went directly to Bowen Academy. Next, he would lead the students in establishing the Great Yu Empire’s industrial precision standards and formulating a set of parts dimension specifications. However, first, he needed to manufacture an original vernier caliper with one-thousandth precision.

While Lin Wentao was busy, Xiao Ming was not idle. He summoned Prince Li Chuyuan of Chu.

This unfortunate Prince of Chu had been thrown into Qingzhou Province for over two years due to the Prince of Chu’s ambitions, and the road back was still distant.

“Prince Li Chuyuan of Chu greets Your Majesty.”

In the imperial study, Li Chuyuan bowed ninety degrees, his head deeply lowered.

For the past two years, he had lived in Qingzhou Province, feeling increasingly uneasy as Qingzhou Province grew richer and stronger. Especially after the Golden Tent Khanate’s defeat, he hadn’t slept a wink, pondering a question every midnight: ‘What would be the fate of the State of Chu if it opposed Xiao Ming?’

At this time, Xiao Ming sat in a chair in the imperial study, drinking tea. He said to Qian Dafu, “Grant him a seat.”

Qian Dafu responded and had a eunuch bring a chair for Li Chuyuan. Li Chuyuan hesitated for a moment, then sat down.

The two sat facing each other. Xiao Ming was not in a hurry to speak. Instead, he handed Li Chuyuan the confession from Cao Zhengyang, letting him read it first.

Li Chuyuan was initially a bit bewildered, but after reading it, his face grew increasingly grim.

“Delusional! Delusional!” Li Chuyuan’s hands trembled slightly in anger. “Where did the Cao family put my imperial father? Where did they put me? Your Majesty, the State of Chu is my feudal state; it cannot fall into the hands of a bunch of scoundrels like the Cao family.”

Li Chuyuan’s reaction pleased Xiao Ming. As far as he knew, when the Prince of Chu sent Li Chuyuan to Qingzhou Province, Li Chuyuan was already somewhat displeased. Now, seeing his own feudal state about to change hands, how could he not be worried?

“You and the Prince of Chu were probably both kept in the dark by the Cao family. Since the Cao family wants to seize power, how could there be any place for you and your father in the future?” Xiao Ming said.

Li Chuyuan nodded. He knew what was happening in the State of Chu, but he hadn’t expected the Cao family to harbor such malicious intentions. They were waiting to seize all power and then kick them aside.

“Your Majesty, my imperial father has been blinded by greed. Please allow me to send a letter to admonish my imperial father,” Li Chuyuan said anxiously.

Xiao Ming narrowed his eyes. He believed the Prince of Chu would not heed Li Chuyuan’s letter. After all, the Prince of Chu was now somewhat insane to the point of losing his mind, and he also did not want the Prince of Chu to rein himself in.

So he said, “Your imperial father will not listen to you now. I only ask you, do you want to be a homeless dog, or do you want wealth and glory for the rest of your life?”

The novel has already been fully translated up to the final chapter. You can access it on my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/c/caleredhair