Mythical Three Kingdoms

"Gong Youu’s bridge is about to be completed, and a small completion ceremony is being prepared, but are you sure you want to charge?" Lub Su asked hesitantly.

"Wasn’t this agreed upon long ago? People have to pay to cross by boat, and building such a bridge without charging, how will the costs be recovered?" Chen Xi replied bluntly.

"Then do as you wish. You’ll receive news about the bridge in a while, but what exactly did you have Duke Zheng Wen make? He’s already gathered over ten grand craftsmen and still wants more, even though there’s already a shortage of hands." Lub Su saw Chen Xi’s determination and did not argue further, shifting the topic to the next matter.

"I’m sure Wen Ru knows. Back when we were with Wen He, we saw the small water wheel that absorbed Heaven and Earth Essence and operated automatically through spiritual power. So I asked Duke Wen to design a machine based on this, as he excels in such things." Chen Xi explained with a smile.

In reality, Chen Xi had merely explained the principle to Zheng Hun, and while figures like Jia Xu and Li Youu might not understand its significance, Zheng Hun instantly grasped it. This thing was akin to the legendary mechanical human and wooden kite crafted by Luban, representing mechanical power.

Especially after Chen Xi explained steam power to him, Zheng Hun indeed understood its significance more than Li Youu and Jia Xu, though it’s uncertain how far they’ve progressed with it.

Just as Li Youu was preparing to explain, Zheng Hun entered the Political Office with a thin but sharp-looking individual, although Zheng Hun’s face was evidently displeased.

This person Zheng Hun brought, Chen Xi had not met before, though he didn’t pay much attention to remembering people, he still had impressions of the main ones.

"Oh, Duke Wen, we were just talking about you. How’s the work I assigned to you before I left?" Chen Xi didn’t mind the newcomer and asked directly.

"It’s already completed," Zheng Hun replied with a bitter smile. "I led over thirty grand craftsmen, hammering for a year. Without Deheng’s greater talent in mechanical modification, I’m afraid we still couldn’t have made it," Zheng Hun, though displeased, didn’t disparage the man beside him.

"Ma Jun of Fufeng, Ma Deheng pays respects to Marquis Chen, Administrator Lub, and Minister Li," Ma Jun bowed slightly, not considering his identity as a craftsman to be inferior.

"Oh, I remember now. I recall you served as an official under Cao Sikong, but why have you returned to your main profession?" Chen Xi was slightly surprised, as he had once tried to recruit Ma Jun, but at the time, Ma Jun was biding his time with Cao Cao.

"Being of the Han Dynasty, there’s no distinction between Lord Cao and Duke Liu," Ma Jun replied calmly, clearly not an uneducated child, as his words made perfect sense.

In fact, Ma Jun coming to Liu Bei’s side was an accident. Initially a scholar under Cao Cao, he moved to craftmanship as Liu Bei’s side continually developed new things, raising the status of craftsmen. Consequently, Ma Jun followed along and ended up as a craftsman under the Minor Treasurer.

You have to acknowledge Ma Jun’s outstanding mechanical skills. Although everyone is a grand craftsman, specialties vary, and Ma Jun leans toward the early Mohist style of mechanical research and production. Thus, he did quite well under the Minor Treasurer because he indeed could innovate many things.

What Zheng Hun was working on was essentially a hybrid engine combining Heaven and Earth Essence with steam power. Among the grand craftsmen under Liu Bei, Huang Yueying was the most adept with mechanical power.

But this kind of work couldn’t be accomplished by just a few people. The high precision of mechanical parts, creating from scratch, seemed simple but was indeed a leap across industrial levels.

Human beings are miraculous creatures. What a precision machine can create, some can also craft by hand. Given the high accuracy demanded, Zheng Hun had to find people. Among them, some grand craftsmen could handcraft with micron-level precision.

Grand craftsmen have dreams, too. When one lives well, there’s an inherent desire for self-fulfillment. Compared to Li Youu and Jia Xu, the grand craftsmen better understand the significance of such a machine, making it easier for Zheng Hun to rally them.

The issue was, in a future context, grand craftsmen equate to fundamental machinists and turners advancing to engineers through their skills.

Such people are rare even in later times, making it naturally difficult for Zheng Hun to gather as many as he’d like under Liu Bei.

Compounded by many grand craftsmen joining Sunx Qian’s team, water conservancy projects nearly halted for Zheng Hun to gather just over ten craftsmen.

Thus, he had to reach out elsewhere. Despite Zheng Hun being a craftsman, he had the backing of the Zheng Family, renowned later as the Zheng Clan of Xingyang among the Five Surnames and Seven Prominent Clans. Hence, probing Luoyang and Chang’an was easy for the Zheng Family.

Consequently, Ma Jun unexpectedly found his craftsmen dwindling from twenty-two to just over ten, and finally to only a few, before being pulled away by Zheng Hun himself.

People ultimately need dreams. As the pinnacle figure in current mechanics, Ma Jun also had dreams, pursuing his craftsmen all the way to Ye City. Initially prepared for confrontation, he found what Zheng Hun was doing to be of high caliber, prompting him to join despite his displeasure.

They did have initial mishaps, like a crowbar flying and striking, nearly breaking a rib due to not understanding the process fully.

There were also instances of initial air-tightness standards failing due to high pressure, leading to high-temperature steam escaping, almost scalding people.

Later, issues arose like inadequate parts precision, gear strength, mechanical transmission, and sealing—all rendering the work extremely hazardous.

But for them, danger wasn’t the concern. The real value was the profound mysteries they could sense within, offering a chance to become legends like Luban through this endeavor.

Just like senior Yuan and Chen Que, who refused to leave before completing the Yellow River Bridge, seeing their names engraved not beside the bridge on stone tablets, but within the bridge’s foundation itself.

Despite components flying off, inflicting bloody wounds, they powered on, determined to integrate themselves with this achievement.

After working for about a year, this group finally crafted a qualified Heaven and Earth Essence - steam hybrid power engine.

Although recreating it wouldn’t be simple even with complete blueprints. The thirty-plus grand craftsmen, with the aid of two divine craftsmen, took a year to push manual precision to its utmost limit.