Chapter 53: The Calm Before the Storm (Please Vote)

He suddenly remembered his earlier intention to dedicate the honor of measuring the speed of sound to Su Mai. Caught up in busyness, he had forgotten everything—indeed, people in the 996 era were born to be tireless workhorses, unable to cease their endless competition even after becoming feudal landlords. Fortunately, there was no pressing work today, allowing him a brief respite to spend time with the child.

“Let’s go check the mission rewards and see if we can get some top-tier equipment!” he said.

Wang Fu had no idea what that meant; she only knew that the person helping to look after the child was her own younger brother, someone she could borrow money from. For a long time, she had been interested in the school Li Chang’an had established but had been too busy taking care of Su Shi to visit. Today, finally outside the city, she had the chance to see it for herself.

Chang’an led Su Mai, riding a donkey cart and eating shaved ice all the way back to the city, stopping at the guild hall of Bi Kuoxing. This time, both wore ordinary clothes—lantern pants, half-sleeve shirts, hemp shoes—the “demon clothes” as the Song people called them.

Upon entering, the staff mistook Su Mai for Nezha, the mythical child warrior.

“Are you two guests here on business?”

Chang’an slapped the receipt for the custom instruments on the table; the long list of names densely written showed a deposit of one thousand strings of coins. The staff immediately ran toward the backyard, shouting, “Master, a thousand strings have arrived!”

Soon, Bi Kuo appeared from the backyard. The two sized each other up for a long moment. To Chang’an, Bi seemed to be going through hard times recently, with dark circles under his eyes like soot, a sallow complexion, and dry, rough hair.

Bi also scrutinized them repeatedly, finally matching them to the Taoist priest and his apprentice from before.

“Honestly, I have put all my effort into this, but I could only manage to produce three or five items. That gear tachometer is particularly difficult—stuck on the rotation speed, I just can't get it right. Since you’re here, I have a proposal; may I invite you to the backyard for a talk?”

Just as Chang’an was about to follow, Su Mai tugged him back, winking and refusing to go forward. When he crouched down, the child whispered in his ear, “Uncle, they’re after our money and lives—the backyard is dangerous.”

“Don’t worry, Uncle has magic tools; no demon dares to mess with me.” Having braved many dangers, Chang’an knew that while there were certainly people who dared to provoke him, anyone bold enough to challenge the acting prefect Su Shi of Kaifeng must have lost their wits.

As they moved backward, Chang’an grabbed a staff member and handed over a string of coins. “Buy some fruit, wash it, and bring it here. This is my nephew, Su Zizhan’s only son; he must not be mistreated. Pears are best—buy plenty.”

The staff heard “buy fruit,” but Bi almost twisted his back in shock. Turning back, his respect deepened, and when he looked at the oddly dressed Su Mai, his eyes held a touch of affection.

The guild’s backyard was spacious, with living quarters and workshops for making instruments. The three entered a room used to display finished products. Bi took out a ring of keys from his waist, compared them carefully, and opened a heavy chest.

One by one, he pulled out “leather rulers,” “compasses,” “protractors,” “copper pendants,” “compasses,”... Finally, he solemnly produced a pair of bright yellow rings.

“Sir, we have made exactly what you requested!”

Li Chang’an picked them up, pinching the inner ring with two fingers while flicking the outer ring with the other hand. The two-layered copper shell came alive, buzzing and spinning. Listening closely, there was some faint noise; the rotation wasn’t perfectly smooth.

The bronze bearings had indeed been faithfully reproduced by Bi. With some castor oil or tallow for lubrication, the effect might improve further.

Not to mention, with this device, the efficiency of rotary printing could be significantly enhanced.

Looking at the other products, each was exquisitely crafted, worthy of collection.

“Where’s the timer? Bring it out; let’s see if we can improve it together...”

Bi brought out the timing device Li Chang’an had envisioned. It was a complete mess.

The gears were worse than those cast by a small factory, even inferior to handmade ones from an auto repair shop.

At that moment, despair washed over him, much like four years ago when he tried to popularize financial knowledge.

Without mathematics, technology cannot advance. This was heavier than the Five Finger Mountain.

How were gears designed again? There were odd and even teeth, involving involute curves and some logarithmic laws, if he recalled correctly.

“Master Bi, did you really design this according to my drawings?”

Bi could not tolerate such an insult and immediately presented the original blueprints intact.

Comparing them, while not identical, they fit perfectly.

Embarrassing—a graduate student from Nanjing University had drawn gears like jagged-edged pies; there was no hope.

Fortunately, with compasses and protractors on hand, he could redraw the designs.

Li Chang’an claimed a space, spread out paper, set up the compass, and began elementary drafting.

Since he only needed gears for timing, the tooth profile could be temporarily arbitrary—cylindrical teeth would suffice.

The key was symmetry, ensuring corresponding tooth sequences aligned to maintain uniform rotation speed.

Next was to find a substitute technology to replace the immature mainspring.

Ah, recently during an interview, he thought he had seen a man named Shen Kuo, a born engineering prodigy—how could he have overlooked him?

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While the father and son conducted their research, completely unaware, Wang Pang’s conspiracy was already underway, like a crocodile in murky water quietly closing in.

The young lord first sought out Lü Huiqing, but Lü Jiufu, a man of integrity, refused to conspire with Wang Pang to frame the empire’s promising youth.

Wang Pang cursed him fiercely—calling him heartless, ungrateful, fickle, and disloyal.

But cursing was useless; he needed an accomplice.

So he turned to Wu Chong, the father of his prospective brother-in-law.

Wu Chong was a Hanlin scholar and imperial edict drafter, serving as the emperor’s secretary. He had been in service much longer than Wang Pang and was currently transitioning from a regional official to a central one, acting as a deputy director in the palace office.

Wang Anshi favored Wu Chong because they shared similar backgrounds—both passed the imperial exam and had climbed the ranks from county magistrates through hard work.

More importantly, Wu was experienced and decisive.

Upon meeting Wu, Wang Pang explained the situation, and they immediately united in hostility.

Attacking a current minister risked the court suspecting the emperor’s stance on the reforms.

But targeting a penniless playboy and letting Kaifeng’s constables give him a hard time would be more than enough.

Wang Pang’s face darkened instantly—Kaifeng’s prefecture was no different from his own household.

Wu said that was fine; if Kaifeng’s prefecture failed, they still had connections at the Imperial City Office. Having been there long enough, the eunuch Chen was like his own brother and could get things done when needed.

But the eunuch was no great help; he had even sought the deputy director of the Imperial City Office, to no avail.

Old comrade Cao was scolded at home by the Duke and no longer dared to involve himself in matters concerning Li Chang’an.

No matter what, there was only one option left: use the Censorate.

Arrange someone to spread rumors and petitions, push the case up to the Supreme Court and the throne.

Attacking a minister was tantamount to attacking the new laws, the court, and the sage emperor—it was rebellion, an attempt to overthrow the realm and oppose the people of the nine provinces!

Excellent—pin the blame and kill with a borrowed knife. They would immediately collect his past words and deeds, and once locked in the Ministry of Justice’s prison, they would avenge the father.

The only concern was Sima Guang, whose son had connections with Li Chang’an.

However, it was said they had fallen out; perhaps now he might even want to add insult to injury.

The imperial council meeting was postponed due to the sudden illness of Chancellor Wang Anshi. The emperor urgently ordered the recall of Fu Bi from his family visit and commanded Cao Yi to accompany the king’s carriage.

The great pillars of the Song dynasty, the towering white jade columns and purple-gold beams spanning the seas, now lay covered with silver needles, sighing continuously.