Perspective Drawing Method

Inside Old Li's House Blacksmith Shop, a middle-aged man with slightly rough skin was looking at the blueprints in his hand with shining eyes, a smile on his face. From time to time, he would nod, as if discovering something interesting.

After a moment, the middle-aged man asked, "Mingyuan? Did you really design this drawing?"

He looked doubtful, somewhat disbelieving.

In his eyes, Lu Mingyuan was just an ordinary academy student. Perhaps he had some intelligence and could teach children to read, but the other party wasn't a professional craftsman or a Mohist disciple. How could he design such a standard blueprint?

He wasn't surprised by the plow blade described in the blueprint, but rather by the drafting skill displayed in the drawing. It didn't look like something a young man under twenty could draw.

Even though this person was his nephew, whom he had watched grow up, he still didn't believe it.

As far as the middle-aged man knew, even in Changfeng City, there weren't many blacksmiths who could use this kind of perspective drawing method to create structural drawings of workpieces, perhaps only around fifty. Moreover, those who could draw so accurately were even rarer.

Therefore, his expression was full of suspicion.

"Uncle Li, I really drew it. How could I lie to you? You're my uncle."

Lu Mingyuan hadn't expected that his Uncle Li's first reaction to the blueprint would be surprise at the drawing method itself?

What was so strange about this drawing method? Wasn't it very common? Both the Lei Si Jing and Tiangong Kaiwu were drawn this way.

Hey, the important thing is the workpiece above, okay?

Lu Mingyuan felt that his Uncle Li had missed the point.

However, he still had to explain this point. "Uncle Li, to prepare this drawing, I specifically learned the 'Perspective Drawing Method' from Master Li Hongyuan of Qingshan Academy, so..."

"Master Li Hongyuan? Oh, that explains it."

Upon hearing Master Li Hongyuan's name, Uncle Li finally understood. He knew that Li Hongyuan was a Mohist from Qingshan Academy, so it was natural for him to know this drawing method.

However, as far as he knew, this 'Perspective Drawing Method' was not within the scope of teaching in lower-level academies.

If academy students wanted to learn it, they could only sincerely ask for instruction, and they would also need permission from the academy's masters.

But generally, not many students wanted to learn this, and not many masters wanted to teach it. It must be that his nephew, Lu Mingyuan, was a lucky one.

With this thought, Uncle Li, who was Li Fuhong, felt a bit emotional. He recalled that he had used a lot of military merit back then to learn this 'Perspective Drawing Method'. He hadn't expected Lu Mingyuan to be able to use it proficiently at such a young age.

It was a pity that this kid would never come to learn blacksmithing from him. Otherwise, he, Li Fuhong, might have trained a master blacksmith.

Compared to his nephew Lu Mingyuan, his own son was far behind. He had been teaching him for so many years, and he still hadn't learned it?

Sigh!

Li Fuhong glanced at his foolish son standing beside him and inexplicably felt angry. This kid didn't bring him any face, being as stupid as a pig.

If it weren't for the fact that the other party was carved from the same mold as him, Li Fuhong, he would suspect that this fellow wasn't his own offspring.

How could his son, Li Fuhong, be so stupid?

Li Tiezhu, who had been idle nearby, suddenly felt something was wrong. He looked up and saw the angry gaze of his father. He couldn't help but touch the back of his head, feeling utterly bewildered. He didn't know what he had done to anger the old man again?

Why was he suddenly furious?

Lu Mingyuan didn't think much of Uncle Li's surprise. He didn't find it strange that he knew the 'Perspective Drawing Method'.

He remembered that when he was in college in his previous life, there was a course called 'Engineering Drawing', or 'CAD Drawing'. It specifically explained the drawing of engineering blueprints and various drawing methods, such as projection methods, multi-view orthographic projection, projection transformation, intersection lines and curves, development drawings, and so on.

This life's 'Perspective Drawing Method' was just equivalent to a different kind of projection method. As for the differences, it was only in the annotation methods; otherwise, they were pretty much the same.

Therefore, when learning this, Lu Mingyuan picked it up quickly, just like reviewing.

He remembered that when he was learning this drawing method from Master Li Hongyuan, he had to suppress his learning progress to avoid being treated like a monster.

Sigh, it wasn't easy for him, Lu Mingyuan!

Just then, Li Fuhong glanced sideways at his son, Li Tiezhu.

"Your Brother Tiezhu has been learning from me for three years, and now he only knows how to read drawings. As for drawing... Sigh!"

He said, shaking his head, seemingly without any confidence in his son's ability to learn drawing.

Lu Mingyuan found this very surprising. Judging by Uncle Li's demeanor, was this drawing method difficult to learn?

But that wasn't right!

'Engineering Drawing' should be very simple. Lu Mingyuan remembered that he had only read the textbook a few times before he understood it thoroughly. This course was basically not difficult.

How could he not learn it after several years?

Could it be...

Lu Mingyuan looked at Brother Tiezhu, who was still standing there, with suspicion. His Brother Tiezhu's brain should be... normal, right?

At this moment, Li Tiezhu suddenly felt the atmosphere in the room was a bit strange. He felt uncomfortable. He looked at his father for a moment, then at his playmate. Among the three people now, he was the only one who didn't know this drawing method. Did he really have a problem?

Thinking of this, Li Tiezhu also began to doubt his own intelligence.

Suddenly, Li Tiezhu shivered. He quickly dismissed this thought.

He, Li Tiezhu, was perfectly normal. What IQ problem?

He couldn't overthink it.

On the other side, Lu Mingyuan didn't know what his Brother Tiezhu was thinking at the moment. He was still pondering what caused such a difference.

At one moment, inspiration struck, and Lu Mingyuan suddenly understood why he had learned 'Engineering Drawing' so easily.

This must be the solid foundation I laid before studying this course. I have six years of geometry knowledge from middle school and high school, plus the scientific thinking and comprehension abilities cultivated over years of study, which is why I find Engineering Drawing easy.

Without these, I would probably be in the same situation as Brother Tiezhu.

Struggling for years, even decades, attempting to achieve enlightenment in one go. Then, each time, I would return full of hope, only to be disappointed.

While Lu Mingyuan and Li Tiezhu were lost in their thoughts, the owner and master craftsman of the Old Li's House blacksmith shop, Li Fuhong, was carefully examining the blueprints in his hands, analyzing whether he could perfectly forge the workpiece depicted.

His nephew came to him, trusting him, so he couldn't let him down.

A moment later, Boss Li put down the blueprints with a hint of disappointment.

He had initially thought that anything matching this 'Perspective Drawing Method' would at least be a rather precious item. However, after analyzing it thoroughly, it turned out to be just an ordinary plow blade.

Although, it did have some differences from a regular plow blade.

Firstly, the angle on the surface of the plow blade was slightly different from usual. He didn't know why it was designed that way.

Secondly, there were many small holes on the back of the plow blade, designed like pull rings. He didn't know their purpose either.

There were also some other minor differences. For example, the shapes of the various parts of the plow were also slightly different from the norm. The blueprint depicted a pair of plow blades, each facing a different direction...

Li Fuhong couldn't really see the necessity for these modifications. However, Lu Mingyuan had explicitly stated it was for modifying farm tools, so he didn't feel it appropriate to ask further.

This was the rule of the trade, and he didn't want to break it.

Even with their close family relationship, he couldn't ask. Otherwise, it would strain their relationship.

However, he could forge it.

"Mingyuan, Uncle can forge it. Come pick it up the day after tomorrow."

Receiving Uncle Li's affirmative reply, Lu Mingyuan breathed a sigh of relief. He had been worried that the other party would find it troublesome and refuse the job.

In the handicraft era, processing something exactly according to blueprints was a very troublesome task, especially in blacksmithing, requiring constant reheating and redoing. Moreover, even if it was done, one couldn't charge a high price, so very few people would take on such work.

Therefore, Lu Mingyuan didn't go to any unfamiliar blacksmith shops but came directly to Uncle Li, a good friend of his late father.

If he was sweet-mouthed enough and called him 'Uncle' a few more times, he could get it done.

If that didn't work, he would have to drag Jing Zhi to coax Auntie.

Fortunately, perhaps out of consideration for friends and relatives, neighbors, or for some other reason, Li Fuhong readily agreed to Lu Mingyuan, giving him no opportunity to resort to other means.

"Uncle Li, how much will it cost?"

Li Fuhong hesitated for a moment. "Ten taels of silver will be fine."

Li Tiezhu, standing nearby, was about to protest when his uncle glared at him, and he swallowed his words.

Seeing this, Lu Mingyuan knew that Uncle Li was giving him a price that was too low.

He had actually inquired about the market price before and knew that ten taels of silver wasn't even enough to cover the cost of forging and labor. Perhaps Uncle Li had waived his own labor costs, and this ten taels of silver was just enough for the apprentice's wages and the cost of the iron ore.

Knowing this, Lu Mingyuan naturally couldn't let Uncle Li suffer a loss.

He was already troubling the other party, so how could he let him lose money? That would go against his principles as a person.

"Uncle Li, please charge me the market price. Otherwise, your nephew would feel too embarrassed to come."

Li Fuhong actually knew that his nephew had been running a small private school these past few years and shouldn't be short of money. But the moment he thought of his good old friend Lu Xin and Cui Ying, his parents, passing away and leaving behind a child for so many years, his heart ached.

After he moved away from Osmanthus Lane, the two families rarely interacted. He always wanted to...

After a brief exchange of refusals, Lu Mingyuan left a bank note worth thirty taels of silver and strode out of the blacksmith shop.

He left the Li family father and son in silent contemplation.

A moment later, Li Fuhong sighed, "Tiezhu, you grew up together since childhood, why is there such a big difference between you two?"

Li Tiezhu didn't say anything and turned to walk towards the backyard.

His old man compared him to others from time to time. He had long been accustomed to being disheartened by this. This time, the only difference was that the comparison was with Lu Mingyuan.

On the other side, after leaving the blacksmith shop, Lu Mingyuan prepared to head to his next destination. Today, he would distribute all the new plow parts he had designed and then assemble and test them together in a few days.

As for the thirty taels given to Uncle Li, it wasn't expensive; it was about the same as the market price.

In this life, one tael of silver was equivalent to one hundred wen. The purchasing power was roughly equivalent to one hundred yuan. That is, one wen was one yuan, and one wen could buy a large meat bun.

Thirty taels would cost around three thousand yuan to forge a pair of new plow blades.

This was actually very cheap.

Hand-forged, and it had to be according to the blueprint. In his previous life, with such requirements, you probably wouldn't even get anyone to pay attention to you without spending eight to ten thousand.

Lu Mingyuan guessed that the reason it was so cheap in this life was that everyone was making things by hand, so the labor costs weren't as high. Unlike his previous life, when there were fewer blacksmiths, hence rarity drove up the price.

In fact, if Lu Mingyuan had bought ordinary plow blades, one would only cost about five taels, roughly five hundred yuan.

If you include the labor cost for hand-forging, it was actually quite cheap.

This time, it was a custom order, so the price was naturally a bit higher.

With the most important plow blades sorted, Lu Mingyuan took the blueprints for the subsequent parts like the plough arrow, plough shaft, plough tail, and plough review to a carpenter shop and got them all done at once.

He hadn't made many changes to these parts, so he didn't need to order them from multiple carpenter shops for secrecy. One shop was enough.

In fact, if it weren't for the need to make others believe he was genuinely conducting research, he wouldn't have bothered with all this trouble. He could have done it directly in his mind. Once he designed the divine abilities, he could modify them later.

After finishing his errands, Lu Mingyuan, who was about to head home, felt a sudden impulse and his feet involuntarily led him towards the Jing Family Restaurant.