Chương 146: Assembly Line, Standardization

"The third step is quenching. Remember the water temperature and time carefully; even a fraction of an incense stick's time is not enough."

He pointed to the large water tank next to him and said, "I had someone mark the water level line, and I always add this much water. The standard temperature is when the wood chips put in start to bubble."

"The fourth step is polishing. Polish until the blade is so sharp you can see your reflection in it—I'll teach you how to check that later."

"The fifth step is to attach the handle. The handles are all the same length and thickness, made of jujube wood, four inches long and one inch thick."

"Step six: Inspection. Anything that fails the inspection is sent back for rework!"

After Liu Ce finished speaking, he looked at the craftsmen and asked, "Did you all understand?"

The craftsmen looked at each other, still bewildered.

Old Li scratched his head and said, "My lord, if each person only does one task... won't that be slower? I used to fight from beginning to end. Although it was slower, it was easier, and I also had the spirit of the weapon."

"Don't worry, you'll see how fast it is once you try it!"

Liu Ce immediately appointed his men, "Old Zhang, you're strong, you can handle the cutting!"

Old Zhang, a burly blacksmith in his fifties, stepped forward and said, "I'll obey the Marquis!"

"Xiao Zhang, you're good at forging, you'll be in charge of shaping!"

Xiao Zhang, in his early twenties, was the most skilled among the younger generation, and nodded in agreement.

"Old Zhou, you have experience in quenching, so you're in charge of quenching!"

Old Zhou is a master quencher with thirty years of experience; he knows exactly how to control the heat with his eyes closed.

"The rest of the people will be assigned to polishing, attaching handles, and inspection; each will have their own specific task!"

Liu Ce first demonstrated how to cut the material.

He picked up a piece of iron billet, and using large iron shears, he cut it "snip, snip" against the template.

After cutting, I measured it with a wooden ruler—it was three feet and one inch long, one and two inches wide, and three-tenths of an inch thick, without the slightest error!

"Look, the iron billets cut this way are all the same size. It will save a lot of effort in the forging process later, and we won't have to worry about the dimensions anymore."

Old Zhang tried cutting a piece. He was strong and used to cut materials entirely by feel. Sometimes he cut too big and had to redo it, and sometimes he cut too small and had to make do.

Now, following the template is fast and accurate; a piece of iron billet can be cut in less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea.

"Hey! That's fast!" Old Zhang's eyes lit up.

Xiao Zhang took the cut iron billet, placed it on the anvil, and began forging.

In the past, he had to repeatedly measure the dimensions and consider the thickness when forging.

Now we don't need to—we follow the markings on the wooden ruler, thinning where it should be thin and leaving it thick where it should be thick. The movements are much more efficient, and the basic shape of the blade is formed in the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

Old Zhou was in charge of quenching. He followed Liu Ce's "wooden chip temperature test method" and put the wooden chip into the water tank—when small bubbles started to appear on the surface of the wooden chip, the water temperature was just right.

"Sizzle—" The blade was placed in the water, and white smoke rose up.

The blade has just the right hardness after quenching, and it makes a crisp sound when tapped.

Next comes polishing, attaching the handle, and inspection...

At first, everyone was not used to it and made mistakes from time to time.

Xiao Wang, who was sharpening the blade, had gone too far, leaving only two-tenths of an inch of the blade's thickness. Liu Ce quickly called out, "Stop! Stop! If you sharpen it too thin, it'll chip! Leave three-tenths of an inch of the blade!"

Old Zhao, who was attaching the hilt, hadn't inserted it all the way in; it was wobbling. Liu Ce took it and looked at it, saying, "This won't do. What if the hilt falls off during battle? Insert it all the way in and glue it in place!"

The inspector was a young craftsman, sharp-eyed but inexperienced. Liu Ce instructed him: "To check if the blade is straight, hold it up to the light; to check if the edge is even, scrape it with your fingernail; to check if the handle is secure, bend it forcefully—remember, any that doesn't meet the standards must be rejected!"

They were busy until noon when a miracle happened.

Previously, they could only make a maximum of ten knives a day—and that was after the craftsmen worked from morning till night. Now, with the assembly line running, they've made sixty knives by lunchtime!

Moreover, each knife is almost identical: the blade is three feet and one inch long, the edge is of uniform thickness, and they feel heavy in the hand. When placed together, they look as if they were all carved from the same mold.

Old Zhang, wiping his sweat, grinned from ear to ear and said, "Lord Marquis, your method is amazing! Just by cutting the raw materials, I can cut sixty iron billets a day! That's ten times better than doing it from start to finish before!"

The young craftsman in charge of inspection also said, "Now less than 30% of the knives are substandard, but before, about half of them were defective—the blades were bent, the edges were dull, the handles were loose..."

Liu Ce nodded in satisfaction.

This is exactly the effect he wanted.

Standardization and assembly lines were the prototypes of industrialized production.

"Not just knives," He announced, "Make iron plows, sickles, and hoes the same way! Create templates and measuring tools for every item, and assign specific people to each step! From now on, no matter who makes them, they will all be the same, the same standard!"

He pointed to the pile of new railway tracks beside him: "This way, we can make a hundred or so knives and several hundred farm tools a day! The army's weapons can be replenished quickly, and the farm tools for the refugees farming the land can also be supplied!"

The craftsmen became more and more excited as they listened.

They were originally just craftsmen who made a living by their craft.

Now I suddenly realize that production can be organized in this way, and efficiency can be improved in this way!

"My lord, can long spears also be made in this way?" a craftsman asked.

"Of course!"

"Could you make a few more measuring tools? One for each person?"

"Alright! Have Old Wang the carpenter make dozens more sets!"

Liu Ce laughed and said, "From now on, our workshop will follow this rule. Whoever works the fastest and best will be rewarded with fine salt and good wine!"

The clanging and jingling sounds from the workshop started again.

But this time, the sounds were no longer chaotic.

The "click" of feeding materials, the "bang" of forging, the "sizzle" of quenching, and the "sand" of grinding... all work together in an orderly and methodical manner, like a symphony of assembly line production.

Liu Ce stood in the center of the workshop, listening to the sound, feeling incredibly happy.

The first step of the Industrial Revolution has been taken.

As evening fell, Liu Ce returned to the Liu residence in the afterglow of the setting sun. Cai Yan had already prepared hot water, Zhang Ning handed over clean clothes, and Ren Hongchang... Ren Hongchang was caught red-handed by Liu Ce while secretly drinking.

"You've been sneaking a drink again." Liu Ce poked her forehead.

Ren Hongchang stuck out his tongue: "I'm just craving it... Why are you so late today, husband?"

"I'm busy with important matters." Liu Ce washed his face, changed his clothes, ate dinner in a hurry, and then went straight to his study.

Eight girls peeked in from outside the door.

"What is my husband drawing?" Zhen Tu asked curiously.

"I don't know, I was drawing right after I finished eating," Zhen Dao said.

Cai Yan said softly, "Don't disturb him, my husband is doing important business."

In the study, Liu Ce picked up a calligraphy brush, his eyes shining as if they held a hidden fire.

Having settled the production methods during the day, it's time to design the product at night.

The equipment and agricultural tools of the Eastern Han Dynasty were too backward! He had long been fed up with it.

Cavalrymen cannot stand steadily without stirrups; they rely entirely on their legs to grip the horse's belly during battle, and they can easily fall off.

Not only is the armor cumbersome, it can't stop heavy arrows either; farmers need two oxen and three men to plow the fields, and they can only plow a few acres a day even if they work themselves to death... All of these need to be changed!

"Let's get the military ready first!" Liu Ce sketched on the paper.