Chapter 102: Breaking the Ten Thousand Weapons with Clever Force
June 13th, beginning of the dog day
The two ran through the tomb passage together. The water behind them was rising and slowly flooding into the passage. They reached the end of the passage, and the huge stone was still blocking it. This was the blank part of Shen Kuo's plan. When he and Xiao Ping made the plan, they expected that the Maitreya Church would seal the exit, but they had not yet figured out how to open it.
Yong'er was not too flustered. She looked at Shen Kuo with a hint of expectation. To her, the man in front of her had just used some kind of magic to move the heavy stone coffin lid. Now, this upright stone should not be a problem for him, right?
However, Shen Kuo was at a loss here. He did think of a way to open the coffin lid, but he had not figured out how to get out. He stepped forward and pushed the stone hard, but it did not move at all.
Over there, Yong'er saw him pushing the stone with both hands and immediately understood about 70% of it.
"Sir, there is no need to force it. Why don't we sit down and wait?"
"Waiting for what?"
"Just wait to die. Actually, there is no need to be afraid. When the water reaches your head, just close your eyes and you will die. When you open your eyes, you will see the other side."
Yong'er's words were calm and indifferent, even a little yearning, and it didn't sound like a joke at all. She probably really thought so.
"Wait, wait, it's still too early to reach the other side. Let me think of a way." Shen Kuo looked up at the stone that was several feet high. When he came in, he saw clearly how thick it was. It would probably take at least thirty people to push it down.
"Sir, how did you open the coffin lid just now? Did you use magic?"
"Why do you believe in magic? I just borrowed a kind of power from heaven and earth. It's called the power of levitation, and it's also the power Cao Cong used to weigh the elephant."
"Cao Cong? I don't know."
“You just need to know that this power is in the water, and it can be exerted as long as there is water.”
"This place is about to be flooded, can you use this force?"
"But it's not possible here. The master once said that to borrow the power of heaven and earth, one must be clever and flexible. However, the power of levitation can only go upwards and cannot be borrowed to other places. This stone door is vertical here, and it is difficult to use the levitation force to open it."
"So it's impossible to move?"
"Um!"
"Since we are powerless to save the situation, why don't we sit down together? I will sing a song of Pure Land Lotus for you, and wait for the worldly ties to end, so that we can go to paradise together."
Yong'er sat down after saying this, and she seemed quite open-minded. Xiaoping said that she had been a saint for so long that she had become a little stupid, and it seemed that her words were not groundless.
"Don't rush there. Let me think of a solution."
The water had already flooded the passage and was several inches deep. Shen Kuo scratched his head and turned around to see that the chairs on the sedan chair were also submerged in the water.
After hearing Xiao Ping's piano, the new leader was so anxious that he didn't care about his manners and asked Chang Biao to carry her out, leaving the sedan chair and the car here. At this time, there are still a few wheels exposed on the water. You can also see that there are grooves in the middle of the wheels, probably to make it easier to install on the sedan chair? This grooved wheel suddenly triggered Shen Kuo's mind, and he reached out and took out the second volume of "Wood Classic" from his arms.
"I also want to thank you for the Wood Sutra you sent me that day. Maybe there is still a way out?"
"What's a book? If my sister can survive, I have nothing to live for. There is no way out. If I go out, this big world is also a cage. It is peaceful to die here." Yong'er supported her head with both hands and stared blankly at the stone wall in front of her.
"Well, I remember a pulley. Although the method of the pivot wheel does not rely on the power of heaven and earth, it can increase the power of the rope several times."
"If there is such a magical thing, isn't it magic?" Yong'er picked up a small stone from the ground and threw it into the water which was getting closer and closer, without any concern.
Shen Kuo ignored the reckless suicidal girl and flipped through the wood book. He remembered that there was an article in it that wrote about using several pulleys to pull ropes together and then hanging them properly to double the pulling force. In fact, many years ago, when Monk Huai Bing was straightening the pagoda, he used this method. Although Huai Bing dug a deep pit under the pagoda and preset a rotating upward ladder, it was actually the external force that actually straightened the stone pagoda, which was the rope pulled from the outside. When straightening the pagoda, first pull it straight by one inch from the outside, then rotate the ladder from the inside upward by one centimeter, and finally straighten the pagoda with the force of both sides. After that, it has not tilted at all for more than ten years.
He still clearly remembered that the thick hemp ropes used to straighten the Leaning Tower were wrapped around huge wheels. Some of the wheels were fixed on trees, while others were not fixed and hung in the air. He had not figured out the principle. But it seemed that when the laborers pulled the rope one foot, the tower only moved one inch. This method of doubling the pulling force was achieved by using such a long rope. The huge tower weighing tens of millions of pounds was straightened by just a few dozen men.
He quickly turned to that page. Sure enough, in Yu Hao's wood book, there was also a rope pulling technique that matched the grooved pulley, which could indeed use ingenuity to pull a giant object. He took out the short sword that Xu Chong gave him, cut the rope tied to the hanging rod and took down the chair, then picked up a discarded crowbar from the side and removed the eight wheels below in a few strokes. This new leader must also be a person who likes machinery, there are so many wheels under the chair.
"Yong'er, go find some thick ropes. They need to be strong."
Yong'er stood up with a dull look and looked around for a rope. Shen Kuo walked to the tomb entrance and looked around for leverage. This pulley traction technique cannot be applied out of thin air, and it needs to find a place to pull and leverage. He saw a wooden stake above his head. It was probably the frame left behind when the tomb was built, but it was left behind when the temporary project was cancelled.
"Sir, have you thought of a solution?" Yong'er asked as she brought a bundle of ropes.
"Well, I've got it. I'll string these wheels together first, then wrap a rope around it and secure it there. Then tie one end of the rope to the top of the stone slab, and I can pull it down."
"So complicated?"
"Well, it has to be this way."
"I'm light, I'll climb up and help you tie these wheels."
"Wait a minute." Shen Kuo suddenly remembered something.
"What happened again?"
"According to my method of chaining the wheels, I can only increase the strength fourfold. With just the two of us here, that means I can only increase the strength of eight people. I'm afraid that's not enough."
"How do you know if you don't try?"
"Also, if we pull the stone slab down like this, it will fall inwards and those Maitreya followers will see us and know that we have escaped."
"Master, do you still want the slab to fall outwards?"
"Well, that way, even if someone sees it, they will think it was the water from the mountain that washed away the stone slabs."
As he spoke, the water had already reached his calves.
"We are in a tomb. We can only use this rope to pull it inwards. How can we push it outwards? This rope is a soft object, and it is not like a hard stick."
"Hard object?" Yong'er reminded Shen Kuo.
"When I say hard objects, what do you think of?"
"I have another method that can both increase the force several times and make the boulder fall outwards. All it takes is a hard object."
"Where to find it?"
"Come with me."
Shen Kuo turned around and ran back to the tomb. Yong'er's mind went blank, so she could only follow him. The two returned to the tomb, which had long been flooded by the mountain spring. Shen Kuo was a little timid when he saw the water. Although he could swim a little, he had never dived.
"I need one of the stakes tied to the lid of the sarcophagus. Can you help me?"
"Leave it to me. Xiao Ping and I have practiced several times how to escape from water trials, and we have both learned how to hold our breath and dive. Although she is better than me, she can still dive several feet deeper than me." She took the short sword from Shen Kuo and dived into the water. After waiting for a while, a piece of wood as thick as a bowl floated up, and Yong'er also popped up. Her slightly red face was as moist and beautiful as a lotus flower emerging from the water.
Shen Kuo picked up the wooden stake and left. At this time, the water in the passage was already above his knees, and the water level was rising at an accelerated rate. In a short while, it would be submerged.
He rushed to the end and inserted the wooden stake into the gap under the boulder blocking the exit. Yong'er arrived behind him.
"Just now it was a soft object that could multiply the pulling force. Now what is the name of this hard object?"
"It's like using a shovel to dig up the soil. Only when your arms are long can you have the power to lift it up."
"But what does the Wood Classic say?"
"No, it is said in the Mohist Classic during the Spring and Autumn Period."
"What do you mean?"
"If the weights are not equal, then when they are weighed together, the base is short and the standard is long. If the two are added together and the weights are equal, then the standard must be lower, and the standard is right."
"What's the meaning?"
"That is, use the head of the wood to support the stone. The more space left behind where it touches the stone, the less effort you will have to put in. I calculated that this will increase the force fourfold. If you and I pull, there will be thirty-two people."
"Oh oh!" Yong'er agreed perfunctorily. She didn't understand and didn't care much about her life.
Yong'er climbed onto Shen Kuo's shoulders, and wound the pulleys Shen Kuo had connected in series around the wooden stake, and tied the rope below to the wooden stake. Then the two of them pulled the other end of the rope together. Shen Kuo gave a command, and they pulled the rope deep into the tomb passage together. This simple composite labor-saving machine actually moved, and they walked step by step into the tomb passage. The clanging sound of rocks breaking came from behind.
With a loud bang, the stone fell outwards and floodwaters poured out. The two men lost their balance and were washed out together.
Shen Kuo looked up and around, but didn't see anyone. When he came in, there was a bonfire here, drying the rubbings of the heavenly book, but now it has been emptied. There was no sound of the piano anywhere, so Xiao Ping must have re-entered the sect and left with the group.
"Young Master is good at magic."
"I said this is not a strange power, but a power that can be calculated."
"Sister, is she gone?"
"Well, she became a saint for you."
"Alas... I'm afraid we sisters will never see each other again."
Yong'er's idea was actually the same as Xiaoping's.
"Let's go back to Kaifeng. The Maitreya Sect must have something important to do. We can't delay."
"Kaifeng?" Yong'er showed fear, "Go to Mr. Yan again?"
"No, I was just about to settle this account with Mr. Yan and Mr. Wen. Let's go to Mr. Bao."
"I'm afraid that's not appropriate. I don't know who in this court is involved with Mr. Yan."
"I don't know about the other important officials, but Mr. Bao will definitely not be involved in their scandals. Just believe me. If we hurry up, maybe you can see Sister again."
The two ran out of the valley together. There was a cry of an eagle in the sky, and the eagle with a red ribbon wrapped around its feet flew down again and landed on Yong'er's shoulder. It seemed that the bird couldn't tell the two sisters apart.
They found the horses parked outside and discovered that Xiaoping's bag had been turned over. Apparently, an hour ago, after Xiaoping and Shen Kuo had made a plan, she had returned here, changed her clothes and took the zither away. Yong'er was shivering all over, shivering in the night mountain wind, and was about to change her clothes.
Shen Kuo hid far away, and after a while, she came out wearing the red dress that Xiao Ping liked. Shen Kuo was stunned for a long time when he saw her. Although her expression was as cold as ice, at this moment he really felt that it was Xiao Ping standing in front of him. He wanted to go up and hold her hand, but after taking two steps forward, Yong Er consciously took a step back. Only then did Shen Kuo realize that this was not Xiao Ping.
He turned around and got on the donkey, and Yong'er also jumped on the horse, and the two of them left Beimang Mountain and headed towards the capital.
