Chapter 151: The Factory Completed

“Tithion…”

Sally was about to say something, but Tithion quickly interrupted to show his determination:

“Sally, you can see for yourself how extraordinary this musket is—it could even be a revolutionary weapon. As a weaponsmith, I have to go to Bianshu Town and meet the blacksmith who made it.”

“Sigh—”

Sally let out a long sigh. She knew Tithion was serious this time; it was best not to try to stop him.

“Fine, you can go. But to make sure you don’t get into trouble, I have to go with you.”

“No problem.” 

Tithion said happily.

“Mur, Art.”

Then Sally turned to the two of them and instructed: 

“You two lead the rest back to Nuwa to submit the mission.”

“Understood, Sally.”

“Got it.”

Art and Mur each responded.

On the other side, Tithion looked at Kerman with anticipation and asked:

“Acting Chief Kerman, could you take us to Bianshu Town? Just pointing us in the right direction is fine.”

The dwarves’ blacksmithing skills were indeed remarkable, and the lord would probably be pleased to see them arrive.

Thinking this, Kerman nodded and agreed:

“Lord Tithion, you can follow the team transporting the second batch of latex to Bianshu Town.”

“Oh! That’s fantastic! Thank you so much, Acting Chief Kerman.”

…

Bianshu Town

Owen had just received a report from Viru: the factory specifically built for producing steam engines was finally completed.

The factory was located in the northeastern part of Bianshu Town, right next to the Wei River—where the wooden building storing the hydraulic milling machines had been.

That wooden building had long been dismantled, replaced by a large, spacious factory. Several more waterwheels were installed above the river.

The surrounding land was fenced off, as Owen intended to use this area as future industrial grounds.

According to the plan, all factories and industrial equipment would be concentrated in the northern part of Bianshu Town, near the Sky or Tianqiong Mountains, forming an industrial park.

Various machine tools were gradually dismantled and moved from the previously cramped workshop into the new factory, where they were reassembled in their designated positions.

These machines had different power sources: some were steam-powered, some water-driven, and some manually operated.

In terms of processing precision, these machines were already at the highest level attainable with current technology.

Moreover, a small clay-brick building was constructed outside the factory as a blacksmith shop, storing various tools for forging, capable of producing some minor parts.

Most steam engine components, however, would be manufactured by the machines inside the factory.

Previously, many steam engine parts had to be manually forged by blacksmiths, hammering each piece by hand.

Now, with skilled technicians operating machine tools, the efficiency of steam engine production would increase dramatically.

Switching from handcrafting to machine manufacturing represented a qualitative leap.

The workers were mainly blacksmith apprentices, with a few new recruits added.

Experienced blacksmiths were assigned to produce the new muskets, which was considered even more important than producing steam engines.

To become proficient in operating the various machines and assembling a steam engine, Jita had invested a great deal of effort in learning the process and even created a detailed flowchart to help apprentices quickly understand and master it.

Perhaps due to his frequent late-night study sessions, Owen noticed that Jita’s hairline was gradually receding, showing signs of a balding pattern similar to Clive’s.

In any case, Owen was deeply impressed by Jita’s dedication and hard work. As a reward, he gave him a raise and reminded him to rest properly so as not to overwork himself.

Having such talent was truly a stroke of luck for Bianshu Town.

On the morning the factory officially began production, Owen held a simple opening ceremony and gave a speech.

During his speech, a few city hall officials yawned and appeared bored—they seemingly had yet to realize the full implications of machines replacing human labor.

In the following days, Owen made it a point to frequently visit the factory to inspect the workers’ progress.

As expected, becoming a skilled technician was no easy task.

Owen often saw Jita scolding apprentices for producing piles of defective parts and, at one point, even reducing an emotionally fragile apprentice to tears.

It wasn’t that Jita was excessively strict; standardized production in a factory demanded such rigor.

If the parts didn’t meet the standards, assembling a complete steam engine would be impossible.

Of course, Owen allowed the blacksmith apprentices time to practice and learn from mistakes.

All defective parts were melted down and recast, then returned for repeated practice on the machine tools.

In time, these apprentices would be able to produce qualified parts, becoming the first generation of skilled technicians in Bianshu Town.

Aside from the steam engine factory, there was also a military factory near the Sky mining area. This had been converted and expanded from a former cement workshop and was responsible for producing the new muskets as well as manufacturing bullets and casings.

…

The first batch of natural latex finally arrived in Bianshu Town. When Owen opened the container and saw it for the first time, it appeared as a thick, milky-white liquid, very similar in appearance to milk.

It was said that when exposed to air, natural latex would undergo a rise in acidity due to oxygen and microorganisms, causing it to coagulate naturally.

To prevent this natural coagulation, a certain amount of alkaline solution needed to be added as a preservative.

Owen decided to honor his promise and transferred a small amount of natural latex to Wenster for research.

Soon, an unexpected discovery was made: the natural latex collected from the Mystic Forest had a very thin magic membrane on its surface.

Thanks to this membrane, even when exposed to air, the freshly collected latex could be preserved for a long time without coagulating naturally.

In other words, there was no need to add alkaline solution as a preservative; it could simply be stored in a container for transport.

With this magic membrane providing protection, the process became much easier.

No wonder, when Owen explained to the lizardmen why an alkaline solution was normally required, Lusha had looked puzzled and commented that the latex didn’t seem to coagulate so quickly.

Upon learning of this discovery, Owen couldn’t help but facepalm, realizing he had trusted Winston’s information a bit too much and had nearly forgotten that, due to the presence of magic here, some substances could behave differently.

Breaking this magic membrane was also simple: physical stirring or adding some acid would cause the latex to coagulate.

Of course, physical stirring would require a significant amount of labor.

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