Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 10 Liao Yongan's Doubts
Everyone looked in the direction of Lu Jin's finger, and sure enough, there was a black square box surrounded by dense weeds. If they hadn't been standing in a high position, they would not have been able to see it by the lake.

"Wow, this car is quite big."

“This car looks weird.”

“Why four wheels?”

"It doesn't need oxen or horses, and it certainly can't stand on two wheels."

"Yes, but why don't you see the stove and bellows?"

“It should be inside.”

The three young men, Zhao Zhongzhong, Yu Tonghai and Zhang Wen, were all quite excited. They rushed over to study the car out of curiosity. However, it was Liao Yongan, the 30-year-old veteran, who quickly discovered the problem.

Lu Jin had told them that he was driving by the lake when he got stuck in the mud. If he had driven by the lake, why were the reeds around him not crushed? And why were there no tire tracks?
The car was tightly wrapped in reeds, but the surrounding ground was intact. Instead, it looked like it had fallen from the sky and landed on the lake beach!
Liao Yongan had some guesses in his mind, but Lu Jin had been performing very well these past two days and was very popular with everyone. He was also very capable, so based on the principle that less trouble is worse than more, he did not express his thoughts.

Moreover, his idea was so bizarre that even he himself couldn't believe it!
"Brother Lu, what should we do? We have ropes, should we just pull them?" Liao Yongan asked after looking around.

"First, use a sickle to clear the weeds around, and then dig out the mud under the carriage so that the wheels can work. Then I'll see if I can get it out. If not, I may have to cut some wood to pave a path."

"okay."

Liao Yongan agreed and quickly asked everyone to start working. He had a lot of things to do at home and was not here to play.

Lu Jin also studied the situation carefully. Logically, it was just a quagmire and an off-road vehicle should not be stuck, especially the Tank 300. This vehicle was equipped with front and rear differential locks and was best at climbing hills, overcoming obstacles and rolling in mud.

But the crossing was unreasonable. The car was parked fine before, but when it came through, even half of the door was buried. Only the right door could be opened. The chassis was blocked and the wheels could not exert any force at all.

When the four of them had almost finished mowing the grass, Lu Jin took out the key and pressed it. Along with the warning sound and the flashing of the car lights, the rearview mirror stood up. The sudden change scared the four of them.

"Brother Lu, the car is moving!"

"It's okay. I unlocked the car. There are many mechanisms in this car. Don't make a fuss."

After saying that, Lu Jin opened the right door of the car, and a wave of hot air hit him in the face. After being exposed to the sun for three days, the temperature inside the car was too high. He quickly opened all the windows to ventilate and cool down the car.

Seeing Lu Jin opening the car door, the four of them curiously leaned in to look. They couldn't understand what was inside at all, but they felt it was very expensive at first glance. The chairs in the car were actually covered with leather!

Lu Jin opened the back door again, found a shovel and started digging, and soon dug out the left door.

Zhao Zhongzhong still remembered what Lu Jin had said before, and was now looking around the car for a stove.

"Brother Lu, where are the furnace and bellows of your car?"

Lu Jin pointed to the front and said, "See that extra piece in the front? The back is for people to sit and load goods. The mechanisms are all in the front piece, which is covered with iron sheets, but this car doesn't have a furnace."

"No stove? How can we move?" Yu Tonghai was also confused.

Lu Jin simply opened the hood for them to see.

"Look, this is the 'bellows'," he said, pointing to the engine.

"The bellows used to burn fire are square, and the ones used in cars are cylindrical, so they are also called cylinders.

“If we use the hot air from the stove to fill the bellows, the wooden bellows will definitely not be able to hold up, so the car is equipped with four iron cylinders and the stove is simply not needed.

"The furnace burns outside the cylinder, which is called an external combustion engine. This one directly pours kerosene into it and burns it, so it is called an internal combustion engine. Cows and horses need grass to eat, and this car needs to burn oil to move."

"I see."

Several people looked as if they had suddenly realized something, but in fact they did not understand why it was so powerful. But when they thought that Lu Jin was a descendant of the legendary Lu Ban, it all seemed to make sense. Isn't it normal for him to tinker with some powerful mechanisms?

Liao Yongan touched his chin and said, "When you mentioned bellows before, I thought it was really as big as a bellows. It turns out that four bellows together are only that big." He gestured to the size of the engine.

Lu Jin was speechless, "To pull a small cart like this, a bamboo-tube-sized cylinder is enough. If it is really made as big as a bellows for burning fire, only two would be needed, and it would be able to pull a heavy cart of several million shi and travel a thousand miles a day."

There is nothing wrong with this statement. The diameter of the cylinder of a steam locomotive is only about 500 mm. "How much?" Liao Yongan suspected that he had heard it wrong. "Two bellows can pull such a heavy vehicle a thousand miles a day?" Is this a myth?

"Of course we can, but a vehicle that big would have to be made entirely of iron. Millions of pounds of iron would be enough to give each of our eight battalions a set of heavy armor and weapons. We can't build that kind of vehicle now, so forget it."

Now that they had reached the front, Lu Jin knocked on the anti-collision steel beam in front with a shovel, "This is an anti-collision beam, made of fine steel. I mean, use this thing to charge into the formation."

Upon hearing this, Liao Yongan also used his hatchet to knock on it, and it immediately made a clanging sound. He couldn't help but exclaimed, "It's a pity to use such good steel to make this thing."

Lu Jin switched sides and continued digging the mud, saying as he dug, "It's nothing to regret. If you need weapons and armor, wait until we conquer Luzhou City and then we'll find a craftsman to make them ourselves."

Liao Yongan nodded and said worriedly, "There are some craftsmen in Luzhou City, but as you said, we don't have iron. The nearest iron smelter is across the river. Wuhu on the left side of the river does produce iron, I know that, but it will be difficult to conquer it."

Speaking of Wuhu Iron Mine, many people may not know it, but people who often read historical time-travel novels have probably heard of this thing called "Sugang".

The scissors from Taiyuan, the pots from Foshan and the Su steel from Wuhu are the best in the world and were the three top iron smelting bases in ancient China.

During the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, "Su Steel" was almost synonymous with China's best quality steel. However, this thing has nothing to do with Suzhou. It was produced in Wuhu, Anhui.
To be precise, the Wuhu Iron Mine is not in Wuhu, but is sandwiched between Wuhu and Dangtu. In later generations, it also has a famous name, 'Ma'anshan Iron and Steel Nanshan Mining Area'!
Lu Jin remembered that he seemed to have read a novel about traveling back to the Ming Dynasty. The protagonist was a second-generation meritorious official, who "discovered" the Ma'anshan Iron Mine and became rich by smelting iron. However, in fact, the Ma'anshan Iron Mine had been mined for at least hundreds of years before the Ming Dynasty. Was it necessary for you to discover it?
However, during this period at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, there was indeed an undiscovered large iron mine nearby, and it was very close to them!
"Who said we don't have iron? There is a big mine near us. It would take a hundred years of manpower to dig it all!" Lu Jin suddenly said.

Liao Yongan's eyes lit up. "Where is it? It's near us. I grew up in Chaohu. How come I have never heard of it?"

"It's in Lujiang County on the south bank of Chaohu Lake. There's a place called Luohe in Lujiang County. There's an iron mine there with huge reserves and convenient transportation. The iron can be directly loaded onto ships via Chaohu Lake. Whether it's going to Luzhou, Chaoxian, or Wuwei, it can be directly shipped there. We can smelt iron anywhere."

"Really? There is a big mine in Lujiang?" Liao Yongan asked doubtfully. He had never heard of iron smelting there.

"Why would I lie to you? We are brothers who are rebelling together now." Lu Jin said speechlessly.

Liao Yongan still didn't believe it, "But didn't you say you weren't familiar with this area? How did you know? Even a local like me doesn't know."

How did Lu Jin know this? Of course it was because Luohe Iron Mine was a branch base of Ma Steel.

The Nanshan mining area in Dangtu Industrial Zone has been closed down for a long time. Now there is only a huge tiankeng, which has become a tourist attraction.

But Ma Steel cannot do without iron ore supply. Although Ma Steel now mainly uses imported iron ore after the merger of Ma Steel and Baosteel, it also needs domestic iron ore for emergency use. So in Lujiang County, Hefei, which is closest to Ma Steel, the Luohe Iron Mine with a reserve of 4 million tons was found. It has been mined all the way to the Lujin Crossing and is still being excavated.

But Lu Jin certainly couldn't say that.

"Don't forget, this land was conquered by my ancestors 2,000 years ago. Of course, I have to see if there are any good things on the land I conquered. I read in an ancient book passed down in my family that there are many magnets on the south bank of the Fei River.

"The north of the mountain and the south of the water are yin. At that time, Chaohu Lake might not have been very big. The south of Feishui is the present Lujiang County. Magnetite is magnetite!"

"So that's how it is. It would be great if it's true. Don't make any mistakes in your book."

Liao Yongan was still skeptical, but when he thought of the magical aspects of Lu Jin, he became a little excited. What if it was true? Why not just take off?

What does it mean to be able to make your own weapons and armor?
You have to know that in ancient cold weapon combat, armor rate is a very important data. Without armor, you are just a fragile skin with little health, and you will die from scratches or bumps. With armor, you can use your ultimate skill on the spot, and beat ten by yourself, and others still can't break the defense!

Combat effectiveness can be increased tenfold or even ninefold!
"Of course it's true, but now we don't even have a stable territory, so we should wait until we conquer Luzhou before we start iron smelting."

At this moment, three people on the other side of the car suddenly shouted, "Brother Lu, we've dug through the bottom, don't we need to dig the wheel out? Can it be taken out like this?"

"Let me try."

After saying that, Lu Jin sat in the driver's seat and started the engine. With the slight shaking of the car body and the low roar of the engine, the beast was awakened at once, causing several people to exclaim.

It’s okay, it’s only been stopped for three days and the battery still has power.

With the front and rear differential locks turned on and the accelerator lightly pressed, the car crookedly climbed out of the mud pit, pressing on reeds and mud all the way, slowly crawling towards the high ground on the lakeshore.

"Oh! It's out! This iron locomotive can really move on its own! It's amazing!"

Looking at the messy rut just made by Lu Jin, Liao Yongan became even more confused.

'How did the car get stuck before?'

He looked up at the sky around him, which was a deep blue.
(End of this chapter)