On the fourth day of May, João IV stood in the workshop of the Fanjiazhuang State Bicycle Factory, his eyes wide.

"It's... That's impossible! “

Surprise is no longer enough to describe João IV's mood, if there is one word to describe the mood of the King of Portugal, it is horror.

Proper horror.

In Europe, industrial production at this time was still at the stage of artisanal workshops. Whether it is the production of consumer goods such as glass mirrors, or the production of military products such as arquebuses and flintlock pistols, it is all burned out by craftsmen in their small workshops, hammer after hammer.

In Europe, machines are still very simple, and machine tools are only used in a very small number of industries. For example, the watchmakers in Switzerland and the cannon boring machine in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. But on the whole, the machine is still in a very primitive state, and the most complex machines do not exceed a dozen parts.

This level of craftsmanship has made Europeans very proud. With the support of this craft, the Europeans went on a rampage across four oceans and six continents, enslaving all the natives they came across, claiming to be the masters of the world.

So when Joao IV saw Li Zhi's bicycle factory, his whole worldview was suddenly shattered.

If the various things seen along the way in front of him were the visual impact of the Portuguese king, then standing in the bicycle factory at this time, Joao IV really understood the core power of Tianjin Town.

However, when confronted with this power in person, the Portuguese realized that this power was so powerful and so terrifying.

The entire factory was built in a huge factory building with a huge steam engine in the center. The steam engine was two people tall, and the flames in its belly were blazing. The power of the flame is constantly ejected from the steam engine, driving an assembly line in the factory.

The main body of the assembly line is a rotating and moving rail, one person high. Driven by a steam engine, the rails move inside a frame made up of steel frames, bringing the semi-finished products hanging from the rails to the workers standing on either side of the rails.

Behind the assembly line workers are the parts that have been made, and the workers don't need to turn their bodies when installing the parts for the bicycle rack, but only stretch their hands back to grab a part out.

Each worker is only responsible for his own part of the process, and he is extremely skilled in operation. Screw a wheel on the bike rack, and none of these workers need twenty seconds. The movements of his hands were done in one go, and Joao IV's eyes widened as he watched.

A worker attaches a chain to the axle and pries and pulls the tools in his hand, and it only takes a few seconds to assemble a chain.

When the bike was hoisted out of the east side, it was just a bare frame. By the time he had taken a spin around the factory, he had become a complete bicycle.

It would take a few hours for such a bike to be assembled from end to end by a skilled craftsman. No matter how skilled a craftsman is, he has a limited number of operations on a single program, and his efficiency is also very limited. The assembly line system assigns a single process to a single craftsman, and each of these craftsmen operates a single process tens of thousands of times.

After so many repetitions of a single action, the level of proficiency of these craftsmen in a single process has reached an astonishing level.

At this time, there were no factories in Europe, but Fanjiazhuang not only had factories, but the assembly line of the factories had directly entered the level of the early twentieth century.

This is a productivity that Europeans never thought of.

João IV opened his mouth wide as he watched as one bicycle after another was produced and placed in the finished product area in the westernmost part of the factory. The entire factory assembly line is like a huge machine, constantly spitting out industrial products.

Cai Huaishui said with a smile: "Your Royal Highness, this is completely possible, this is the most ordinary Fanjiazhuang factory." “

Portuguese Foreign Minister Alves was also shocked, he didn't dare to imagine how many weapons could be produced in a year if such an assembly line was used to produce military products.

Raphael didn't know what was in mind, and his face turned pale.

It took a long time for João IV to recover from his shock.

"Your Excellency, is all the products of one town and nine provinces, including military products, produced in this way?"

Cai Huaishui nodded and said, "That's right, Your Highness." The reason why we were able to ship a standard rifle to Portugal in one boat, and one to every Portuguese man in just one year, was because our factories were all on an assembly line to produce weapons. Our production capacity is extremely high. “

When João IV heard this, he took a breath, then sighed again.

He shook his head, speechless. The impact of this assembly line, which is 300 years ahead of the times, is too strong.

Cai Huaishui smiled and said, "Let's go and see the machine tool in the back." “

João IV followed Cai Huaishui into the second large workshop. As far as the eye can see, this large workshop is full of huge machine tools.

Those machine tools include lathes, grinding machines, boring machines, punching machines, and broaching machines.

Of course, this is Li Zhi's classification, which Joao IV completely does not understand. All he saw was a two-man tall complex machine in the workshop, with steel ingots and plates sticking into the machine. Then a rumbling sound or a sharp grinding sound is heard, and the flames are scattered, and all kinds of molded steel parts are made.

Some figure-8 iron bars are put into the grinding machine by the lathe to grind, and the grinding disc on the grinding machine rotates at high speed, and the iron bar splashes out like sparks like fireworks as soon as it is put on. Then, after only one or two breaths, the burr on the iron bar was eliminated and thrown into the Chen bin next to it.

In a small punch press, workers put the polished figure-8 round iron bars in the card slot of the punch and arrange them one by one. Then step on the press pedal, and the punch will click and press down, pressing the chain chain together.

João IV stood aside and watched for a moment, and realized that the intricately looking bicycle chain did not take much time from beginning to end.

No more than five minutes.

A larger punch press is dedicated to the production of the casing of the chain. A one-meter-long iron plate is put in, and with a click, it becomes a pipa-shaped iron shell and comes out.

Raphael stared at the huge machine tools with wide eyes, as if he had seen a devil, and his eyes were full of disbelief.

Incredible!

Incomprehensible!

You must know that this was in the 17th century, and European craftsmen were still using hand drills to polish the barrel a little.

João IV's face was similarly pale.

He stood next to a boring machine and watched for a long time, watching the rough iron pipe be boring to be extremely smooth and turned into a qualified bicycle frame.

The King of Portugal couldn't help but draw a cross on his chest and exclaimed, "Lord, is this the power of the machine?" It's even more powerful than the devil. “

He finally came back to his senses and asked Cai Huaishui: "Your Excellency, Portugal also wants to improve its handicraft level, are you willing to sell these machines to us?" “

Cai Huaishui laughed when he heard this.

Shaking his head, Cai Huaishui said: "Your Royal Highness, we sell bicycles, but we don't sell these machine tools." “

João IV sighed when he heard this, and he touched the shell of the boring machine, very reluctantly.