It could be said that the four-wheeled carriage business was the main business of the Mo's Village. As long as the four-wheeled carriage business did not collapse, the status of the Mo's Village would be as stable as Mount Tai. Meton first showed the second-generation four-wheeled carriage to Li Shimin, and the most important purpose was to prove the strength of the Mo's Village to Li Shimin.
It proved that Mo Jiazi was still developing and did not go downhill. It lived up to the reputation of the No.1 Village in the World.
Li Shimin certainly did not want the title of the No.1 Village in the World to be slapped in the face so soon. Seeing the potential of the Mo's Village, he could not help nodding with satisfaction.
Meton continued, "The second-generation four-wheeled carriage has added glass, but in my opinion, it is not perfect. The glass is still very fragile and will break with a slight touch. In my imagination, if the glass can be as hard as steel, it can be mounted on the carriage, and the glass can be mounted on the door, then it will be more perfect."
Hearing this, Uncle Zhang, who was standing aside, immediately wrote it down and said with a smile, "Don't worry, young master. I will try my best to complete your order as soon as possible."
Li Tai thought about Meton's idea carefully, and then he said in surprise, "Now I finally believe that this carriage is not made by you."
Li Shimin also looked at Meton in surprise, and then he said with a straight face, "Without the credit of Craftsman Zhang, how could he think of this? It's just a little trick!"
Meton was embarrassed at once. Li Zhi and Princess Jinyang, who were standing aside, could not help covering their mouths and snickering.
"What about the pot workshop?" Meton quickly changed the topic. The pot workshop was probably the one that suffered the most losses among all the workshops in the Mo's Village. After all, there were too many blacksmiths in the Tang dynasty, and pots were the easiest to imitate. Once a large number of low-cost iron pots appeared on the market, the sales of pots in the Mo's Village suddenly stagnated, and there was a large backlog.
Uncle Zhang's expression suddenly changed, and he said, "Young master, although the quality of the pots in the Mo's Village is good, they are still not as cheap as those made by other workshops."
Meton could not help sighing. Of course, he knew the plight of the pot workshop, or he would not have asked the pot workshop first.
"However, the pot workshop did the opposite, and made cheaper pots!" Uncle Zhang said, gritting his teeth.
"Cheaper cooking utensils!" Modun frowned and said, "Could it be shoddy? The Village Mo's reputation can't be ruined!"
Old Zhang shook his head and said, "Whether it's good or bad, Old Zhang can't be sure. Young Master will know when he sees it."
Under Old Zhang's lead, everyone came to a warehouse in the east.
"Tieping! Young Master is here! "Old Zhang called out, and a lean man appeared in front of everyone.
Tie Ping was the older brother of Modun's bodyguard, Tie Ping. Although they were both born of the same mother, Tie Ping was the complete opposite of the tall and big Tie Ping. He was small and skinny, and didn't know any martial arts. He made a living by forging iron.
"Tieping! I heard that you made even cheaper pots! "Moton said gravely.
Hearing that, Tieping said proudly, "Young master, don't worry. Although the pots I made were cheap, I did not skimp."
"Since you did not skimp, then why are they so cheap?" Li Shimin asked, confused.
Although Tie Ping did not recognize Li Shimin, from his attire, he could tell that he was wealthy and respectable, not to mention that he had the young master personally accompanying him. To be able to have the young master personally accompany him the last time was Han Tiemian. At once, he did not dare to be negligent and hurriedly replied, "Replying to the noble one's question, that is because this lowly one can use one day to make pots that would normally take ten days to make."
"Really?" Li Shimin exclaimed, looking at the skinny Tieping in disbelief.
Under everyone's doubtful eyes, he took out a round metal plate and placed it on an inverted semicircular mold in a millstone-like machine. Under Tieping's command, three oxen exerted force at the same time and spun the millstone forcefully. Everyone was surprised to find that.
The originally round metal plate spun rapidly and was quickly pressed into the shape of an iron pot by this millstone-like machine.
"That's it?"
Li Shimin exclaimed. No matter how otherworldly he was, he knew that the iron pot was molded and needed to be hammered many times to complete. The iron pot made by Tieping did not have such a process at all.
"That's right! I heard that only forged iron pots have toughness and durability! "Li Tai exclaimed.
Tie Ping explained, "My lord, this round iron plate is made from the Village Mo's high-quality iron. It has been stamped in a steel furnace beforehand and is extremely sturdy. In terms of durability, the iron pot forged by this method is not inferior to a forged iron pot!"
"Really?" Li Shimin was still in disbelief.
Meton nodded solemnly and said, "It is indeed so. Using this method to press the iron pot's thickness is uniform. This is something that forged iron pots do not have. What's even more commendable is that this method is extremely convenient and greatly reduces the manpower required."
Tieping nodded solemnly and said, "Excluding the manpower, livestock, and iron materials, the cost of forging an iron pot is probably only about half of that of a forged iron pot. Moreover, the speed is several times faster."
Li Shimin was puzzled and said, "This is a good thing! The quality of the iron pot is not bad and the price is cheap. The common people will benefit greatly. Why is Master Zhang frowning? "
Old Zhang smiled bitterly and said, "Once this method is used, the cooking skills passed down by our ancestors will gradually be lost."
He still couldn't accept an unforged iron pot. In his opinion, this kind of pressed pot had already lost the ingenuity of a craftsman.
Meton understood Old Zhang very well. An old man who had been practicing traditional craftsmanship all his life suddenly saw that the craftsmanship he had always insisted on was outdated. He couldn't help but comfort him, "Uncle Zhang, have you ever thought about how many common people in this world are still using clay pots to cook? They need this kind of cheap iron pot. The expensive and complicated craftsmanship of the hand-forged iron pot can allow the common people of the world to use good quality items at a reasonable price. The world will benefit. This is the goal of the School of Mohism."
Old Zhang couldn't help but be stunned. After thinking for a long time, he sighed dejectedly and said, "Young Master is right. This Old Man was wrong."
Only then did Meton focus his gaze on Tieping. If Old Zhang represented the pinnacle of traditional craftsmanship, then Tieping represented the budding of the School of Mohism's mechanical craftsmanship. He asked solemnly, "Tieping, have you ever attended night school?"
Tieping hurriedly replied, "I have never missed a class!"
Meton nodded and said, "From now on, you will be in charge of the pot workshop! However, you will not be making pots! "
"Then what will we be making?" Tieping immediately looked at Meton in confusion.
Meton revealed a trace of an inexplicable smile and said, "You will be in charge of producing the machinery to make iron pots! When the news of the School of Mohism's cheap iron pots spreads, I believe that there will definitely be many workshops coming over. The Village of Mohism only needs to sell the pot making machinery. "
Li Shimin's eyes immediately lit up. He couldn't help but look at Meton with admiration. Once the news of this kind of pot making machinery spreads, the common people of the Tang dynasty would definitely be able to use the cheap iron pots in the shortest time possible. With the strength of a village, the whole world would benefit. How could Li Shimin not admire such a subject?
"Then what about the blacksmiths of the pot workshop?" Tieping asked.
Meton waved his hand and said, "Send all of them to make machinery. As long as this method can be used to replace forging, make the corresponding machinery for me."
"Yes! Young Master! "Tieping said seriously.
Meton looked at the simple and crude pot making machinery in front of him and couldn't help but feel a surge of emotions. The Village of Mohism had finally broken through the purely manual craftsmanship. The era of manual craftsmanship had already begun, and Tieping was the future hope of the Village of Mohism.
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