Chapter 60: Chapter 60, Technology Tree Planning
Today, one thing that delighted Gu Hang in his exchange with Wu Jiarong was the attitude of this female technician.
Although she didn’t answer his previous question about “whether she believed or not,” she expressed her stance through her subsequent explanation.
And in the end, the meaning became even clearer:
“If Mr. Gu trusts me, I can work in the secret factory. That will be your research and development center, where all your future technological outputs will have a plausible explanation.”
Wu Jiarong’s attitude was modest.
Gu Hang looked at her, full of smiles.
“Very good, I am very satisfied with your suggestion. I hope you can fulfill all that you have promised, and I, in turn, assure you to get what you desire.”
Wu Jiarong felt a jolt in her heart but soon calmed down again.
She was confident that Mr. Gu had understood the implication of her words.
Working in Mr. Gu’s secret factory would indeed allow her, in the future, to attribute all exceptional outputs to herself. On top of the regular secrecy mechanisms, by creating an illusion of a talented technical master working for Mr. Gu, it would be a good rationale for the outputs of the secret factory—or rather the future Wu Jiarong Research Institute.
Thus, if outsiders wanted to uncover this secret, they would first have to break through the confidentiality measures and methods, and then they would see her. Only after dealing with her would they be able to discover the secrets of the black box.
The level of security was greatly increased.
But at the same time, she could gain even more.
She would become Mr. Gu’s most important technical advisor. Even if more outstanding technical experts were to arrive in the future, she wouldn’t have to worry about being replaced; even if she did nothing, a continuous stream of technical knowledge would be attributed to her, and various technological achievements would be credited to her mind, especially as Mr. Gu’s territory developed and more and better new technologies emerged. She might truly become a Sage while lying down and doing nothing.
Moreover, being able to closely study the black box technology from the Golden Age was something the past her could not even imagine. With her former status, she could never have had access to such top-level research materials.
She knew she wasn’t capable of dismantling the black box and comprehending what was inside. The Sect of Mechanics, with so many top Sages, hadn’t figured it out, so she, a mere technical staffer, was even less likely to understand it.
But what if she could gain even a little bit of insight or inspiration?
Just a tiny bit of the essence might be equivalent to the results of her long period of technical study in the past.
She was determined!
…
The arrangements were made swiftly. After Gu Hang left, Wu Jiarong immediately took her team, under the escort of Mr. Gu’s loyal mechanical soldiers, to settle in the secret factory.
The place was renamed a research institute, although, unfortunately, it did not carry the name ‘Wu Jiarong Research Institute’ as she had hoped, but was nameless.
But she didn’t mind.
She already saw a bright future, and this directly maxed out her motivation to work.
She quickly came up with the application scheme for Mr. Gu’s demanded ‘Whetstone’ Engine.
It was not the rushed, rough-hewn creation made to appease Mr. Gu that day, but a proper, earnestly crafted one.
Still not advanced—something too advanced was beyond her capability. But Mr. Gu’s requirement was not for advancement but for sufficient reliability and relatively low mass production difficulty.
In these aspects, she had already achieved the ultimate.
“`
She believed that, among her peers at the technician level, no one could do better than her.
After all, she had almost been promoted to a mechanic, had her promotion not been thwarted due to a failed struggle. She had always felt that her true skills had already reached the level of a mechanic.
What she presented was not merely a set of design plans, but also included two prototypes.
One was a three-wheeled cart with a cargo bed capable of carrying three people, including space on the side of the small bed to mount a machine gun.
A military tricycle had just emerged.
The larger engine was used to build a truck tractor. It was also compatible with multiple types, such as cargo beds and flatbeds, that could be hitched to the back of the tractor. It could be used for transporting goods or as a troop carrier truck.
Having seen the final products and even personally test-driving them, Mr. Gu was very satisfied with Wu Jiarong’s work!
He designated model names for the two vehicles.
The tricycle was named ‘Scout-XL100’.
The truck tractor was called ‘Iron Bull-RN100’.
These two types of vehicles would definitely undergo further iterations in the future.
Wu Jiarong had already completed the plans for mass production of these vehicles, and subsequent related work would be handed over to the Abandoned Cave Society.
The alloy and plastic steel processing plant would undertake the production of some parts and components; a new vehicle factory would be built, with the production line set up under the guidance of Wu Jiarong’s processes, to start trial mass production.
The engine plant was in no hurry, as the mother machine’s black box could directly construct production lines for two different specifications of Grindstone engines. There was no need to rush now, as they were not immediately needed. If the engines were produced too quickly and there were not enough vehicles to equip, the excess engines would just gather dust.
Afterward, Wu Jiarong continued to ramble on to Mr. Gu about many other things she planned to do.
Refining the black box, improving technological proficiency without disassembly, perfecting theory, researching the various products of the black box… these were her own “cultivation” and not worth going into detail about.
Additionally, she would also make the ‘research institute’ worthy of its name.
Going forward, she planned to work on developing propellants and projectiles.
This should be easy to manage, as the G9 Gun Family production line obviously included cartridge manufacturing processes, and propellant was a key component among them. However, the production line created by the black box was purely for the G9 Gun Family and not quite suitable for artillery. But since the production process was already there, it was only appropriate for Wu Jiarong, with her capabilities, to appropriate the propellant production segment for dedicated production.
Combined with the production of warheads and explosive charges, they would soon be able to produce their own artillery shells, so Mr. Gu needn’t worry about running out of mortar shells in the future, turning his mortars into empty racks.
And it wasn’t just mortar shells, manufacturing rocket shells was also possible.
With the capability to produce shells, artillery had to be scheduled next. Unlike mortars, according to Wu Jiarong’s design, she planned to create real, large-caliber artillery pieces.
Artillery is the god of war!
She envisioned a 155 mm howitzer, with a process still tailored to local conditions, focusing on ruggedness, durability, high reliability, and simple manufacturing. Of course, this might affect precision, but that was a minor issue.
This was in line with the Sage’s philosophy of ‘solving for existence first, then for quality’.
In addition, man-portable rocket launchers and rapid-fire rocket nests would also be scheduled.
In time, paired with the ‘Iron Bull’ truck, perhaps with some improved models, there would be rocket nest launch vehicles, towed artillery, and even self-propelled artillery among such heavy armaments.