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Liu Ye pressed down on the lever, and the heavy wooden blocks clamped tightly against the iron wheels. "These are friction brakes. They physically grind against the iron wheels, forcefully arresting the momentum through sheer friction. It is a violent, sparks flying process, but it is the only way to halt a beast of this magnitude."
As Lie Fan stood in the dirt, listening to their brilliant, groundbreaking explanations, he continuously nodded his head in deep, profound satisfaction. He walked around the carriage one more time, his eyes taking in every rivet, every gear, and every lever.
However, beneath his outward mask of awe and imperial pride, a different kind of analytical process was happening. Utilizing the highly advanced, modern automotive knowledge from his past life, memories of transmissions, clutches, and internal combustion engines, Lie Fan internally began to dissect the mechanical reality of what they had just built.
'It is a masterpiece of their era,' Lie Fan thought to himself, his eyes tracing the path from the steam valve to the pistons. 'But they are essentially building a direct drive locomotive for a dirt road.'
From their exhaustive, passionate explanations, Lie Fan instantly spotted a fundamental flaw in their current design. They hadn't clearly thought about the concept of a "clutch" or any form of a modern, decoupled transmission system.
Because they relied on directly injecting the massive steam pressure to start the pistons, and because the pistons were permanently linked to the drive wheels without a way to disengage them, the carriage had no concept of 'idling.'
'To stop, they have to completely cut off the steam pressure and clamp the wheels,' Lie Fan analyzed in his mind. 'Effectively, they are deactivating and killing the engine completely every single time they hit the brakes. Which means, to move again after a complete stop, they would have to completely rebuild the massive steam pressure from scratch, waiting for the boiler to regain its strength.'
Furthermore, the starting sequence was going to be terrifying. Without a clutch to gradually transfer the kinetic energy from the engine to the wheels, pulling that main release valve was going to unleash the full, unbridled fury of the maximum steam pressure directly into stationary iron wheels all at once.
'It's not going to be smooth. It's not going to be efficient just yet,*'Lie Fan realized, rubbing his chin. 'It will suffer from incredibly violent, bone rattling, jerky starts that could easily snap a man's neck if he isn't bracing for it.'
He realized they hadn't invented a way to keep the engine running and pressurized while the wheels were stationary. It was a binary system, either moving with full force, or entirely dead.
However, looking at the exhausted, soot stained, completely elated faces of Liu Ye, Huang Chengyan, Zhuge Liang, and Yue Ying, Lie Fan made a conscious, empathetic decision. He decided to keep this brilliant, modern insight entirely to himself for now.
To point out a mechanical inefficiency now would be to rain on the greatest technological parade in human history. He wanted to see their hard work in action first, the refinement of a clutch could wait until tomorrow. Today was for miracles.
"Your explanations are as flawless as your engineering," Lie Fan declared, stepping back and clasping his hands behind his back. He looked up at Zhuge Liang and Yue Ying, who were still standing on the driver's platform.
"I have heard the theory. I have seen the machine. Now," Lie Fan said, his voice raising to a booming, echoing command that silenced the ambient noise of the workshop, "show me the fire! Let the beast run!"
At the Emperor's eager command, the testing ground exploded into a frenzy of coordinated activity.
The veteran engineers and their apprentices went to work with a terrifying, practiced efficiency. The heavy iron hatch at the rear of the carriage was thrown open. Two brawny apprentices began furiously shoveling massive spades of high grade, black mainland coal directly into the roaring furnace.
Within minutes, the internal water tank began to boil with a ferocious intensity. The entire, massive iron carriage began to physically, violently shudder. The sheer acoustic weight of the machine coming to life was terrifying; it was a deep, rhythmic thrumming that vibrated through the soles of Lie Fan's boots.
Thick, white steam began to hiss and spray aggressively from the brass pressure valves, leaking out in erratic bursts as the boiler fought to contain the expanding energy. Suddenly, a terrifying, high pitched, deafening whistle erupted from the top of the boiler, echoing across the testing grounds and causing the imperial guards to instinctively cover their ears.
"The pressure is at the redline!" Huang Chengyan roared over the shrieking whistle, his face bathed in sweat and soot. "She is ready to burst!"
Zhuge Liang and Yue Ying bravely took their positions on the driver's bench, bracing their boots against the iron floorboards. Yue Ying gripped the heavy wooden helm, her knuckles turning white as she locked her elbows. Zhuge Liang reached out and firmly grabbed the main iron release lever.
He looked down at Lie Fan, seeking final confirmation. Lie Fan gave him a firm, absolute nod.
With a loud, adrenaline fueled shout, Zhuge Liang gripped the iron handle and forcefully pulled the main lever all the way back.
SSSSSS-BANG!
The result was instantaneous and incredibly violent, perfectly aligning with Lie Fan's internal predictions. With a deafening, explosive hiss of escaping steam that sounded like a dying dragon, the massive iron pistons slammed down with shattering kinetic force.
Because there was no clutch to ease the transition, the massive iron carriage suffered a violent, earth shaking lurch forward. The sheer, sudden torque was unbelievable. The heavy, spiked iron drive wheels forcefully dug deep into the hard packed dirt, furiously spinning and kicking up massive, blinding clouds of yellow dust and gravel behind them.
And then, it moved.
The heavy steam carriage actually moved. It roared to life, chugging down the long dirt track under its own terrifying, mechanical power. It was moving completely independent of horses, oxen, or the wind.
CHUG-CHUG-CHUG-CHUG.
The rhythmic, deafening sound of the pistons firing and the gears grinding filled the air. Lie Fan watched in sheer, unadulterated awe as the iron beast picked up speed. It was not a crawl, it was moving with a steady unstoppable momentum, accelerating down the straightaway of the testing track.
As it approached the first wide curve of the walled off track, the true test of control began.
Yue Ying let out a fierce shout of exertion as she wrestled with the heavy steering wheel. Lie Fan could see the muscles in her arms straining against the immense, fighting weight of the iron axles and the churning dirt. With brilliant, stubborn determination, she forcefully hauled the helm to the left.
The massive iron chains groaned in protest, but they held. The front wheels successfully pivoted, and the hissing, clanking behemoth smoothly guided itself around the wide curve, maintaining its terrifying speed. The heavy chassis leaned slightly into the turn, proving that the center of gravity calculations had been flawlessly executed.
It completed the far turn and began charging back down the track toward the Emperor's position, a roaring, smoking testament to human genius. It proved, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the era of steam had officially arrived in the Hengyuan Dynasty.
As the carriage hurtled toward the end of the track, approaching the designated stopping zone, Zhuge Liang executed the braking sequence.
He frantically pushed the steam release valves completely shut, starving the pistons of their pressure. Simultaneously, he stood up and forcefully stomped down on the heavy iron brake lever with all of his body weight.
The reaction was chaotic and breathtaking. The heavy wooden friction blocks clamped down violently against the rapidly spinning iron wheels. A horrific, ear piercing screech of wood grinding against cast iron tore through the air. Showers of bright orange sparks erupted from the wheels as the immense, unstoppable momentum of the carriage fought against the brakes.
The massive carriage violently shuddered, its iron frame groaning under the kinetic stress. It skidded through the dirt, plowing two deep trenches into the earth, before finally grinding to a heavy, shuddering, absolute halt.
It sat there, dead in the dirt, completely enveloped in a massive, billowing cloud of white steam that hissed out of the release valves, obscuring the drivers from view.
For three long, breathless seconds, the testing ground was plunged into an eerie, ringing silence, save for the soft hissing of the cooling boiler.
Then, the silence was gloriously broken.
It started with Lie Fan. He threw his head back and let out a deafening, booming cheer of absolute triumph.
His cheer was the spark that ignited the powder keg. Both Liu Ye and Huang Chengyan screamed in pure, exhausted joy, embracing each other in bear hugs, completely uncaring of the soot and grease. The hundreds of imperial soldiers guarding the walls broke every protocol they had ever been taught, slamming their spears and halberds against the ground and roaring their lungs out in sheer, awestruck celebration.
The steam cloud slowly parted, revealing Zhuge Liang and Yue Ying sitting on the bench. They were coughing slightly from the smoke, covered in dust, but they were laughing, a bright, beautiful, victorious sound. Zhuge Liang wrapped his arm around Yue Ying's waist, pulling her close, entirely victorious.
Lie Fan walked rapidly through the settling dust, approaching the hissing, ticking iron carriage. He looked up at the two brilliant minds who had just driven a piece of the future across the dirt.
"You have done it," Lie Fan yelled over the cheering crowds, his eyes shining with tears of profound, visionary pride. He slapped the hot iron side of the carriage, feeling the residual vibration of the engine. "You have changed the world yet again! History will remember this day! The Hengyuan Dynasty will no longer walk and ride upon the earth, we will conquer it on wheels of iron and fire!"
The deafening, joyous cheers echoed into the sky, drowning out the ambient noise of the capital. They were witnessing a miracle of human ingenuity, a mechanical beast that would forever change the logistics of war, the speed of commerce, and the very boundaries of the Hengyuan Empire.
The massive, billowing cloud of white steam slowly began to dissipate into the afternoon air, carried away by a gentle breeze. The deafening, unbridled cheers of the imperial soldiers and the ecstatic shouts of the workshop apprentices gradually settled into a low, reverent murmur. They all recognized that the very fabric of the world had just shifted beneath their feet.
Lie Fan stood beside the massive, ticking iron carriage. The intense heat radiating from the boiler warmed his face, a physical testament to the raw, mechanical power they had just harnessed. He looked at the four brilliant minds gathered before him: Liu Ye and Huang Chengyan, covered in layers of thick soot and grease, and Zhuge Liang and Huang Yue Ying, climbing down from the driver's bench with trembling, adrenaline filled legs.
"You four," Lie Fan began, his voice dropping to a deeply resonant, intimate tone that cut through the lingering hiss of the valves, "have managed to do the impossible."
The inventors instantly dropped to their knees in the dirt, pressing their foreheads to the ground in a gesture of profound respect, but Lie Fan immediately stepped forward and gestured for them to rise.
"Stand up. There is no need to kneel in the dirt of your own triumph," Lie Fan ordered warmly. He looked over the heavy iron chassis, his eyes specifically tracing the violent, deep trenches the friction brakes had carved into the earth.
"I watched the beast start, and I watched it halt," Lie Fan continued, his tone shifting into a gentle, analytical cadence. "I can see that the birth of this engine is a violent one. The lurch of the start is sudden enough to break a man's balance, and the screech of the halt is a brutal clash of momentum against iron. I can see that there are elements of the transfer of power, the way the breath of the steam meets the wheels, that still need to be refined, smoothed, and tamed."
Liu Ye bowed his head slightly, his engineering pride mingling with deep respect. "Your Majesty's eyes see through the iron. We felt the violence of the torque. The transition of pressure is… absolute. It lacks grace."
"But do not be discouraged for a single, fleeting second," Lie Fan quickly countered, his eyes blazing with absolute validation. He placed a heavy, reassuring hand on Liu Ye's soot stained shoulder. "A newborn dragon does not fly with perfect grace on its first day, it thrashes, it breaks things, it struggles. But it still breathes fire. What you have done today is something that the greatest scholars, the most arrogant kings, and the oldest texts thought to be the realm of mythology. You have ripped the power of motion from the hands of nature and forged it in iron."
Lie Fan turned his gaze to Huang Yue Ying, whose face was smeared with black grease, her eyes wide and shining with unshed tears of overwhelming pride.
"And you, Lady Yue Ying," Lie Fan said, his voice echoing with the weight of imperial decree. "Many would have laughed at a woman sketching theoretical engines in a garden. But look at what you have birthed. You can proudly say that you have changed the trajectory of the human race. History will not just remember the four of you, it will carve your names into the very foundation of the new era. Your achievement will be studied a thousand years from now."
The profound, validating weight of the Emperor's words struck the inventors deeply. Huang Chengyan wiped his eyes with a dirty sleeve, deeply moved by the recognition of his daughter's genius. Zhuge Liang, Liu Ye, and Yue Ying cupped their hands together, bowing deeply, their voices thick with emotion as they thanked their Emperor for his endless support, his boundless funding, and his visionary belief in their work.
Seeing the heavy, emotional atmosphere, Lie Fan decided it was the perfect moment to lighten the mood. The tension of the empire needed a release.
A mischievous, highly amused glint appeared in Lie Fan's eyes. He crossed his arms and looked pointedly between Zhuge Liang and Huang Yue Ying.
"Now that you have successfully birthed an iron beast together," Lie Fan said, a slow, teasing smirk spreading across his face, "I must ask a question of far greater logistical importance. When exactly are the Sleeping Dragon and the Master Inventor going to formally combine their households? You have my blessing, you have the realm's peace, and you certainly have the shared intellect. So, when is the wedding?"
The reaction was instantaneous and incredibly amusing.
Zhuge Liang, the man whose unparalleled intellect could flawlessly calculate the movements of entire armies and outmaneuver the greatest tactical minds on the continent, suddenly became as flustered as a schoolboy. He stiffened, letting out a series of very awkward, polite coughs into his fist, desperately trying to regain his serene composure while failing miserably.
Beside him, Huang Yue Ying let out a soft, startled gasp. The deep, beautiful red blush that instantly rushed to her face was so vibrant it was clearly visible even underneath the thick layers of black engine soot and grease. She ducked her head, suddenly finding the dirt beneath her boots absolutely fascinating.
Huang Chengyan let out a booming, roaring laugh, slapping his knee in sheer delight at the Emperor's teasing, while Liu Ye chuckled warmly, shaking his head.
"I... we... Your Majesty, the stars charts are still being consulted," Zhuge Liang stammered eloquently, a faint blush creeping up his own neck.
Lie Fan let out a rich, booming chuckle that echoed across the testing ground. "Consult the stars all you wish, Kongming, but do not make the heavens wait too long. And when you finally do set the date, do not forget to invite me. I expect a seat of honor at the banquet."
"It would be the greatest honor of our lives, Your Majesty," Yue Ying murmured softly, her voice barely audible over her embarrassment, though she was smiling brightly.
"I will wait for the invitation," Lie Fan said, turning to leave. He looked back at the four of them one last time, his imperial mantle fluttering in the wind. "Refine the beast. Tame its start. I will wait for more news of your progress. The empire relies on you."
With a final, deeply respectful bow from the inventors, Lie Fan turned and strode back toward his carriage, leaving the workshop to the hissing steam and the brilliant minds that would tame it.
The transition from the deafening, scorching heat of the Imperial Workshop back to the quiet, civilized confines of the Imperial Palace in Xiapi was stark. The air here smelled of blooming plum blossoms and ancient paper, a world away from burning coal and sulfur.
Deep within his sunlit imperial study, the grand celebration of the morning faded into the grueling, endless reality of ruling a continent spanning empire.
Lie Fan sat behind his massive mahogany desk, engaged in the relentless war of bureaucracy. Mountains of heavy bamboo scrolls, fine silk reports, and thick paper ledgers demanded his absolute attention. To be the Emperor of Hengyuan was to be the central pillar holding up the sky, every minor tremor in the provinces required his steady hand.
Currently, his sharp eyes were scanning a highly detailed, comprehensive intelligence report compiled by the northern border magistrates and the embedded Oriole Agents operating beyond the Great Wall.
The report detailed the political progress and the societal assimilation of the sprawling, nomadic tribes of the northern steppes. The shattered remnants of the Xiongnu, the Wuhuan, and the Xianbei, that Lie Fan turned to become The Confederacy of the Northern Tribes.
As Lie Fan read the intricate political maneuvers of the tribal chieftains, a cold, calculating chuckle escaped his lips, echoing in the quiet study.
The Oriole Agents reported that the Confederacy was currently preparing for a massive, highly anticipated gathering to elect a new paramount leader, a Grand Chieftain to represent the unified tribes.
However, instead of using this unified front to secretly plot a massive rebellion against the Hengyuan Dynasty, the exact opposite was happening. The leadership of the Confederacy was entirely fractured. Dozens of powerful chieftains, ambitious warlords, and tribal elders were currently locked in a bitter, cutthroat political war against one another. And brilliantly, they had all independently come to the exact same conclusion, the only way to secure the title of Grand Chieftain and crush their rivals was to gain the favor and the official endorsement of Lie Fan.
______________________________
Name: Lie Fan
Title: Founding Emperor Of Hengyuan Dynasty
Age: 37 (204 AD)
Level: 16
Next Level: 462,000
Renown: 2325
Cultivation: Yin Yang Separation (level 11)
SP: 1,121,700
ATTRIBUTE POINTS
STR: 1,010 (+20)
VIT: 659 (+20)
AGI: 653 (+10)
INT: 691
CHR: 98
WIS: 569
WILL: 436
ATR Points: 0