Chapter 27: Strength is Supreme (Seeking Bookmarks)

  Thank you to Lu Ri, Wang Dong, Huang He Zhi Zi 2013, Lost Dagger Thief, Once King, Mo Ru Yin, Mourning Wu Hua Xia, Pig Who Doesn't Want To Die, Ning Han Zhong Xing for the rewards and evaluation votes given to this book.

  There were about a dozen people outside, and the one leading them was none other than Master Zhou.

  "Master Zhou, what a coincidence! I just finished making the things and you arrived." Seeing Master Zhou arrive, Zhang Lei hadn't spoken yet, but Chen Lao Chui had already gone forward to greet him, looking like they were very familiar with each other.

  Zhang Lei called out to the dozen or so people to move everything into the courtyard. These gears were all packed in individual wooden boxes. It was clear that Master Zhou cherished these things, and they were well-packaged.

  "You've worked hard, have a cup of tea first, Master Zhou, you're really fast." Seeing that the first machine could finally be installed before the New Year, Zhang Lei was overjoyed.

  "He pointed to the young men behind him and said, 'These are all my disciples. They are all top-notch in their generation. I just do some meticulous work, but most of the rough work is done by them. I'm old now, and those physically demanding tasks are no longer manageable for me.'"

  He turned and asked Old Chen, "You hammer, now your son has also inherited your mantle, right?"

  "Hmph, you think everyone is as lucky as you are, with both fame and fortune. I'm just a lone person, and even Small Courage's physique can't hold up a hammer, if something goes wrong, I'll have to redo it myself. Sigh, what you said is right, people get older and more useless. Speaking of Chen Dàyǒng, Old Hammer Chen shook his head repeatedly. Although he was also born sturdy, but compared to Master Zhou's apprentices today, he still fell short, probably due to malnutrition."

  Zhang Lei went to make some tea and came back, smiling and saying: "Alright, alright, Uncle Hammer, Master Zhou, you are both skilled craftsmen, so let's not argue anymore. When Zhangshi Technology develops, Uncle Hammer will be my Minister of Industry, and all these things will be under your management. I guarantee that the number of people under you will be more than Master Zhou's, how about it?"

  "Wow, looks like you've got big ambitions, kid! I'd love to see what this 'Industrial Department' of yours is all about." Zhang Lei said with a smile, and Zhou Shifu thought he was just comforting Chen Lao Chui, so he immediately replied.

  After drinking tea and resting for about half an hour, Master Zhou said: "I don't know if Mr. Zhang would mind demonstrating this machine to open my eyes?"

  "Of course not, it's just that assembling this thing is quite complicated, I'm afraid it will take some time." Zhang Lei said.

  "This is naturally not to worry about, Master Zhou pointed at the people behind him and smiled: "Boss Zhang, you don't have to worry about this, my apprentices will follow your instructions, I believe it won't take long either?"

  Zhang Lei just wanted to say that it's inconvenient for outsiders here, but since Master Zhou has said so, Zhang Lei naturally had no reason to refuse. Moreover, Master Zhou already knew the specifications of all the parts, and if Zhang Lei continued to be evasive, he would appear petty.

  "You guys, come help me out. Install all these gears according to this table," Zhang Lei said.

  Everyone worked together, following Zhang Lei's requirements to cover everything one by one. Finally, Zhang Lei and Chen Lao Chui lifted the large box without a lid and turned it over, perfectly hiding all the gear transmission systems. The large gear was installed on the side, which was done to prevent wood shavings from falling into the gear system and jamming the engagement position.

  To maintain balance, on this side there is another bracket, three corners not only provide the machine's balance, but also the deep underground three feet can avoid mechanical movement in intense exercise to produce positional displacement.

  Finally, everyone installed the hundreds of kilograms of steel plate on top, and the soft soil sank into it by more than an inch. When Chen Lao and Chen Dayong sent it over earlier, they used two wheelbarrows side by side to transport it. This steel plate was entirely cast from molten iron, and its weight can be imagined.

  Zhang Lei shook the handle, and the gears emitted a sharp metallic friction sound. The large gear that shone with a knife-like light slowly began to rotate.

  "It's a bit of a hassle... Ah, I remember now, I forgot to put oil in the gear. Zhang Lei said with some embarrassment: "I'll have to trouble you all to help me remove this steel plate and cover, so I can add some oil inside the gear..."

  Everyone was speechless, but there's nothing they could do, so they just moved things out of the way.

  After adding good oil, shaking the handle is indeed much easier.

  "Alright, big nephew," said Old Man Chen, "I'll come over this afternoon to help you drill a hole in it and connect a pipe to the gear. When you need to add oil, just pour some into the pipe and it will flow into the gap between the gears. Just turn it around a bit and it will be evenly distributed."

  "Hammer Uncle's good idea." Zhang Lei was overjoyed, this old man is also so clever, he didn't even think of the oil pipe aspect himself, but Chen Lao Chui just mentioned it slightly and thought of it, which made him feel ashamed.

  Master Zhou couldn't wait to see the effect of this amazing thing, so he urged: "Alright, alright, Director Zhang, those are problems that can be improved later. For now, let's just take a look at its power."

  "Alright, Da Yong, go find a piece of wood, preferably a thicker one." Zhang Lei instructed.

  "Oh, okay." Chen Dayong responded with a grunt, and after a while, he carried in from outside a piece of wood about one foot thick and a bit over one foot long, resembling a stump.

  "This is borrowed from Mr. Li's home."

  Zhang Lei nodded, placed the wood next to the saw blade, and then shook the handle. As the speed increased, the big gear spun rapidly, even producing a whooshing sound.

  Chen Dayong pushed the log against the saw blade, and as soon as they came into contact, a screeching sound was emitted, wood chips flying everywhere. In just an instant, the log had been split in two.

  If done manually, it would take at least a minute of effort, and that's in the most extreme cases. But unexpectedly, on this machine, the operation was completed in the blink of an eye, with efficiency that is simply incomparable.

  "Good, wonderful, indeed it's incredibly wonderful! Boss Zhang, I must say I'm impressed by you now. Who would have thought of such an ingenious idea?" Master Zhou exclaimed while clapping his hands in praise.

  Zhang Lei was also not modest this time, and the cutting machine bed far exceeded his expectations, he was also very excited.

  After staying for a while, everyone went back, and Zhang Baosheng, who was working on the dock, came back. Seeing the things in the yard, he asked Zhang Lei: "Has this lathe been tested successfully?"

  "It's a success, it's a success! The effect is even better than I expected." Zhang Lei was still on cloud nine. If this technology could be further developed and improved, what would happen then?

  Contrary to expectations, Zhang Baosheng did not get excited like Zhang Lei. He walked in front of the treasure that could make his work dozens of times easier, circled around it twice, looked at it from all sides, and then said calmly: "Okay, now let's disassemble it."

  "What? Demolished? Why?" Zhang Lei asked in surprise.

  Zhang Baosheng said: "Before you have the ability to face pressure from all sides and resolve various crises, it's best not to show off your cleverness easily. Otherwise, people with ulterior motives will find it easy to take advantage of you. Why did Master Zhou agree to help you do so many things for free? There is no such thing as a free lunch in the world. He and you are not familiar with each other, how could he have agreed so readily?"

  "Maybe he thinks I'm something that can bring him a challenge and spark his interest?"

  "Alright, would you work for free to help others just because it's in your interest? He just saw the huge potential of this thing and wanted to take it for himself." Zhang Baosheng sneered.

  Zhang Lei still didn't give up, took out the contract and said: "We have signed a contract, anything with this pattern is Zhangshi Technology's stuff, this can't be fake, right?"

  "Bringing this up, Zhang Baosheng became even more disdainful and said: 'You think you can restrain him with just this? You're too naive! Nowadays, who among those with some ability doesn't have a backstage supporter? Who hasn't established connections with the officials inside the government? When you signed the contract, who witnessed it? At that time, if he denies it, without power or influence, how will you contend with them?"

  Zhang Lei only then suddenly woke up, realizing that since he had traveled through time and space, everything had been smooth sailing for him. He had never encountered any setbacks, so in terms of his actions, he was still lacking in consideration. Even in later generations where there were contract laws and various legal constraints, those with power and influence could do as they pleased. This was still the case in an era that claimed to be a society ruled by law, let alone now.

  It's a person's rule era, after all, it's just four words: strength is supreme. If you have no power and no influence, then you have nothing.

  "Dad is right, after your guidance, it's really like a sudden enlightenment, I understand now. Let's dismantle this for the time being and take it out again when the timing is ripe. Believe me, there will be that day."

  Zhang Lei and Zhang Baosheng took down all the parts with their hands, then dug a big pit in the corner of the yard and buried them. Zhang Baosheng said: "Alright, don't think about these things anymore. If you really can't stay idle, wait until you have money and power to talk."

  After this conversation, Zhang Lei suddenly realized that he was in an ancient dynasty where the feudal monarchy had reached its peak, and as a ordinary farmer, he couldn't show off too much.

  "It seems that I still need to plan my future development carefully. Waiting passively is not my style, but I also can't do these things. Sigh, it seems that for now, I can only rely on Bai Yang and Yu Boss, those two big trees. And then there's Zhang Chen, after he passes the Tongsheng exam, I'll make a good move, it might be a good way out." Zhang Lei thought to himself.