Chapter 426: Strong Foundation
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“One zhang equals ten feet, and one foot equals ten inches. The dinsions are fixed, so take the three inches and round it off to one ter. One ter equals ten deciters, one deciter equals ten centiters, one centiter equals ten milliters, one milliter equals ten decimilliters, and one decimilliter equals one hundred microters. Although the decimilliter and microter seem very small and are not widely applicable, let’s set it down so it can be a reference in the future...”
On the morning of the 16th day in the eleventh lunar month, a newly-fabricated signboard was hung in the courtyard of the Huanglong County manufacturing bureau. The signboard contained three golden characters —”asuring Device Hall”. In one of the rooms inside the asuring Device Hall, Yan Liqiang, Qian Su, and a group of craftsn were carefully placing the brand new standard asuring devices that the manufacturing bureau had made in a display cabinet. From now on, these tools would be used by the manufacturing bureau as their standard asuring tools.
The new asuring tools were made of the most expensive teoric iron, mixed with gold. They were firm, wear-resistant, and unbreakable as long as they weren’t thrown into a furnace.
Yan Liqiang felt strange when he looked at the tallic rulers of various lengths that felt heavy on his hands, including the tallic cubes of different weights and the tallic asuring cylinders. It could be said that he was creating a history in this world to a certain degree right now.
When he was still in the Imperial Capital, Yan Liqiang actually discussed unit asurents with Zhang Yourong. Zhang Yourong agreed with Yan Liqiang that there was indeed a huge flaw with the current asuring standards in this world. The flaw was unfavorable toward the developnt of the path of chanics and the investigation of things. For example, the units of asurent in this world consisted of five types only —’li’, ‘zhang’, foot’, ‘inch’, and ‘fen’. One li was equivalent to 150 zhang, one zhang was equivalent to ten feet, one foot was equivalent to ten inches, and one inch was equivalent to ten fen. The smallest unit of length was ‘fen’ and one ‘fen’ was equivalent to 3.333 milliters. The most precise asurent used by the craftsn when manufacturing items was ‘fen’. The inaccuracy of around three milliters at minimum was still acceptable visually when it ca to manufacturing furniture, weapons, armor, and even buildings. However, when it ca to manufacturing items that required precision, the problem with using ‘fen’ as the smallest unit of asurent would then be made obvious. Hence, the so-called ‘precision’ was no more than a subjective perception which lacked standards.
In view of this, Yan Liqiang spent two days introducing the units of asurent that he was familiar with to the manufacturing bureau. Using the standard of three feet was equivalent to one ter, he worked his way downward. When the unit went down to the milliter, Yan Liqiang invented a new unit of length — the decimilliter. It was the unit in between the milliter and microter so that it’d be easier for the craftsn to accept.
With these standard units of asurent for length, the units for area and volu were also set. The area with one centiter sides would be equal to one square centiter, while a cube with one centiter on each side would have a volu of one cubic centiter. At the sa ti, one cubic centiter was equivalent to the volu of one milliliter and one cubic ter was a thousand liters...
With the introduction of area and volu, the four asurent units that were previously used by the manufacturing bureau —’hu’, ‘dou’, ‘sheng’, and ‘he’ paled in comparison to the new sets of asurent units.
With the asurent of volu and area, Yan Liqiang had set a new tric weight unit — one liter of water at room temperature was set to be equivalent to the weight of one kilogram. One kilogram was equivalent to a thousand grams, and one gram was equivalent to a thousand milligrams.
In the asuring Device Hall, Yan Liqiang held those ticulously manufactured asuring tools and explained the connections between the different asurent units to the chief weaponsmiths in the manufacturing bureau.
After he put down the one kilogram standard weight that was made of tal, Yan Liqiang picked up a round disc and pointed to the marked scales and characters on the disc. He then explained to everyone, “Aside from those asuring tools, let also introduce to all of you the standard way of asuring ti. I am sure everybody is used to using the twelve earthly branches to tell the ti in a day. One ti period is divided into eight quarters of ti, but even if you can split one quarter into two half quarters of ti, this thod of division is too unsophisticated. For an expert, half a quarter of ti is enough to decide the life and death of a battle, and he can even kill hundreds of people within that ti fra. Just a short half quarter of ti is enough to affect nurous lives and affect the outco of winning or losing. We as artisans should not be unsophisticated. In order to perfect sothing that is already outstanding, one should refine ti. As artisans, we must believe that all things in this world are asurable...”
An old craftsman cleared his throat and chid in, “Ahem... Actually, aside from the ti period and one-quarter or half-quarter of ti, we also refer to ti in other ways. The shortest is ‘the space of one breath’, then we have ‘in a flash’, ‘the ti it takes to finish a cup of tea’, and ‘the ti it takes for an incense to burn’. These are asurents for length of ti...”
“Very well. You ntioned that ‘the space of a breath’, ‘in a flash’, ‘the ti it takes to finish a cup of tea’, and ‘the ti it takes for an incense to burn’ are all units of ti. Let ask all of you this: how much ti is ‘the space of a breath’? One inhalation and one exhalation? If so, then how many breaths are there in one-quarter of ti?” Yan Liqiang smiled as he raised the question.
“Well, I’ve never counted before. Perhaps... around two to three hundred?”
“Well then, let’s assu that in one quarter of ti, you can breathe two hundred tis. So you are implying that one quarter of ti is equivalent to the space of two hundred breaths? Do you think everyone else will agree with what you just said? When you said ‘the space of ten breaths’, do you think the duration of ten breaths is the sa for everybody?”
“Well...” The old craftsman was instantly rendered speechless.
“The answer is of course it is different. For different people, the ti taken for one inhalation and one exhalation is different. Children and people with weak physical health may have shorter breaths, but their breathing is more rapid. People with stronger physical builds have longer breaths, especially martial practitioners. Their duration of one breath is equivalent to ten breaths for normal people. Just take this room for instance — my one breath is different from everyone else’s breath. Basically, the majority of you have to breathe six tis or more while I breathe just once. So your ten breaths and my ten breaths are different. You said that one quarter of ti is equal to the space of about two hundred breaths, but to , one quarter of ti is rely the space of several tens of breaths. The sa goes for the ti it takes to drink a cup of tea. So people take a longer ti to drink while so take a shorter ti to drink. Therefore, the ‘ti it takes to drink a cup of tea’ is also different for every individual. Likewise, it is the sa for ‘the ti it takes for an incense to burn’ as different types of incense take a different amount of ti to burn. So for ti, a standard asurent should be in place...”
“From now onward, the twelve ti period will still be used in the manufacturing bureau, but every ti period will now be divided into two hours. For example, the ‘hour of the rat’ will be classified as ‘the upper hour of the rat’ and ‘the lower hour of the rat’, with an hour each. At the sa ti, one hour is equivalent to sixty minutes, which is the sa as four quarters. Every quarter is fifteen minutes and every minute is equivalent to sixty seconds. So then, how long is one second? That is about the length of ti we use to pronounce one, two, three, four at a slightly fast speed. Everyone can try with : one, two, three, four, and that’s about one second each. In order to be more precise, one second is the length of ti for an egg to reach the ground when it falls from a five-ter tall tree. Currently, we do not have any tools to accurately asure one second, but not having it now does not imply that it will be unavailable in the future. Whoever can invent a asuring device to asure ti in seconds will be rewarded with ten thousand taels of silver...”
‘Ten thousand taels of silver?’ Yan Liqiang’s words stirred a commotion among the group of craftsn. Many craftsn’s eyes sparkled imdiately...
“From now on, everyone in the manufacturing bureau should establish the habit of using the asuring tools that are on display in the asuring Device Hall to determine all asurents. Any items that are to be manufactured must use these sets of new asurent standards to accurately determine the length, weight, and size. The ti required for each process should be accurate to the minutes. For example, the interval between applying the first and second coat of paint should be defined by the minutes to determine the exact amount of ti to achieve the best result instead of solely relying on experience. The size for a lot of sophisticated tools and devices needs to be accurate to the milliter or even a decimilliter. Tools and devices made from processed tals should be accurate to the grams. Have a discussion amongst yourselves to set the error of uncertainty for the different asurents!”
“So of you may not understand why am I emphasizing this in the manufacturing bureau. But let tell you that just within these few days, we have already received orders for over thirty four-wheeled carriages. 170 to 180 thousand taels of silver are already in our accounts since we collect paynt before we deliver the product. Half of those paynts are yours. These are just the orders from Pingxi Prefecture alone and there will be more orders in the future. Many others will be envious of us and they will start replicating the carriage. If you are thinking of having a good life in the future and thinking of getting a big annual bonus, then we need to have better workmanship than the others. We need to be better than them and in order to do this, we must have the mindset of constantly striving to improve ourselves. By using these asuring tools...” Yan Liqiang turned around and pointed to the asuring devices and tools displayed in the room.
“Rest assured, Protectorate General. We know what to do!” The chief weaponsmiths spoke one after another.
Yan Liqiang finally felt relieved to see approving nods from the craftsn. He turned his head to look at Qian Su, “Uncle Qian, I think the manufacturing bureau can take out fifty thousand taels of silver to distribute to everyone first as a reward for everyone’s hard work and an incentive. Let them experience the concept of bonus distribution. In the future, the more money the manufacturing bureau earns, the greater the bonus that will be distributed to everyone. The rules that I set in the bureau must be strictly adhered to. Every statent is real, as are the rewards and punishnt...”
“Alright, I can arrange for that and distribute it by today so that everyone can be happy!” Qian Su nodded because he understood Yan Liqiang’s intentions.
The bonus distribution session started in the afternoon. Everyone in the manufacturing bureau, from the craftsn to the chief weaponsmiths, soldiers, and servants, they were all excited. As per the calculations, the servants were the lowest-ranking mbers in the bureau and they had one share each. Even so, they still received fourteen taels and six maces of silver. The chief weaponsmiths and stewards held thirty shares each and everyone received about four hundred taels of silver. The most ordinary craftsn and soldiers had three shares and they received forty taels of silver each. Many people were shedding tears of joy with the sparkling silver in their hands.
Ever since Yan Liqiang had co to the manufacturing bureau, he had made trendous and effective changes to the manufacturing bureau within a short period of ti. The distribution of the fifty thousand taels of silver was indeed effective. The morale of the entire manufacturing bureau was boiling like a volcano. This established Yan Liqiang’s esteed reputation inside the hearts of those working in the manufacturing bureau...
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