Chapter 25: Receiving Too Many Gifts
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Great Xia’s imperial palace…
“Imperial Father, I’ve tested it. This Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Saber can easily penetrate through three layers of armor. Its sharpness is no less than the Huben Saber. Most importantly, it doesn’t break as easily as the Huben Saber after slashing.
“To use the Huben Saber well, you need to have a certain level of skill. Otherwise, it will break easily. But you can slash without skills with this Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Saber.
“I can guarantee that after our Great Xia cavalry is equipped with Hundred Refinement Ring Pommel Sabers, their combat strength will increase by at least ten percent!”
!!
Yin Wuyou’s face was full of excitement, and she was no longer decorous. She raised the Hundred Refinement Ring Pommel Saber toward the emperor of Great Xia.
Great Xia was founded many years ago. The current emperor was already over 60 years old, but he didn’t even appear to be over 40.
Once the emperors of Great Xia ascended to the throne, they would use a secret method to raise their martial arts cultivation to the first rank, which is the Sage realm.
Despite the fact that this Sage realm was insignificant in comparison to true cultivation, those at the second and third ranks might still be unable to defeat them.
The first rank was, after all, the first rank. Being in this rank allowed the emperors of Great Xia to be physically healthy. At the very least, before they died of old age, their bodies would maintain a good state.
The biggest difference between them and authentic first-rank martial artists was their lifespans.
Authentic first-rank martial artists could live for hundreds of years. But the emperors of Great Xia had lifespans of less than a hundred years. Win some, lose some.
The current emperor of Great Xia, t.i.tled Yuan Feng, had been in power for more than 30 years. After ascending to the throne, he had not made any major contributions, but he had also not made any major mistakes.
He could be considered an ordinary emperor.
Emperor Yuan Feng raised the Hundred Refinements Ring Saber and stroked the blade.
When he was young, he had also practiced martial arts. Furthermore, as the master of Great Xia, his horizons were broad.
“It is indeed a superior standard weapon.” Emperor Yuan Feng nodded, a smile appearing on his face. “My child, you have just taken over the Forging Division, and yet you’ve already achieved such results. Tell me. How do you want me to reward you?”
Emperor Yuan Feng looked at Yin Wuyou with a doting gaze, completely lacking the majesty of an emperor, looking just like an ordinary father.
“It’s Wuyou’s duty to share Imperial Father’s worries.” Yin Wuyou smiled sweetly. “However, I do have something I want to request from Imperial Father.”
“Tell me about it.” Emperor Yuan Feng narrowed his eyes.
“Imperial Father, didn’t you leave the Forging Division to me? I plan to open a new workshop in the Forging Division—”
“Aren’t the hundred and eight workshops enough for you?” Emperor Yuan Feng said.
“It’s not that. The hundred and eight workshops in the Forging Division have already existed for so many years. Their manpower and rules have already been set. It’s too difficult to change them.”
“Then, there’s no need to change them,” Emperor Yuan Feng said with a beaming smile. “The Forging Division has always been operating quite well. The reason I asked you to be the grand minister was that I was afraid you would be too bored and not because I wanted to trouble you.”
“That’s not it, Imperial Father. Although Great Xia is strong, in the past few years, the Forging Division has been stagnant. The weapons of the other nations are already charging forward. If we don’t make any changes, we will lose the advantage of our Grand Xia’s weapons,” Yin Wuyou said anxiously.
“Alright,” Emperor Yuan said noncommittally, “You can set it up if you want. You can go and communicate with the Ministry of Works if you need money.”
“A new workshop has to have a new superintendent officially appointed by the Imperial Court,” Yin Wuyou said.
“Superintendents are the ninth rank, right? You can go to the Ministry of Official Personnel for such a trivial matter,” Emperor Yuan said helplessly.
“Instead, I would like to ask you how many Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Sabers can the Forging Division produce in a year? What is the cost?”
“The Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Saber has just been developed. It will take a few more months to ma.s.s produce it. As for the cost, it’s about the same as the Huben Saber,” Yin Wuyou said after some thought.
“In that case…” Emperor Yuan thought for a moment. “I understand. Go play. I still have some matters to attend to.”
“I’m not playing!” Yin Wuyou pouted coquettishly before bowing and taking her leave.
Emperor Yuan Feng pondered for a moment, then slowly opened his mouth and said, “Huben Saber, Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Saber, and a mysterious expert who left behind combat saber intent, is it possible that Great Xia will have a resurgence? Come, go call Meng Bai over.”
…
Zhou Shu naturally had no way of knowing what had happened in the palace.
When Emperor Yuan Feng summoned Meng Bai, the general of the Country Protector Army, Zhou Shu had already received the official appointment decree from the Ministry of Official Personnel.
He exclaimed about Yin Wuyou’s efficiency. The official appointment decree arrived in just a day, as expected of the grand minister of the Forging Division who is also a princess!
With such a coattail to ride on, my position in the Forging Division should be as stable as a mountain, right?
“In the northeast corner of the Forging Division, there is a thirty-acre plot of vacant land. It has already been allocated to the 0th Workshop. In addition, the higher-ups have allocated a thousand taels for construction. Superintendent Zhou, you can come to the Forging Division to collect it when you have time,” the attendant from the Forging Division, who had come to deliver Zhou Shu’s official appointment decree, said politely.
A superintendent was already an official. A ninth-rank official was also an official. Don’t underestimate others!
To this attendant, Zhou Shu had reached heaven in a single bound, and he was naturally extremely envious.
“If there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave,” the attendant said and then left.
After sending the attendant out the door, Zhou Shu returned to his work shed. While looking at the official appointment decree stamped with the seal of the Ministry of Official Personnel, he felt slightly excited.
I became an official just like that?
I wasn’t even a civil servant in my past life, but at least I managed to become an official in this life.
How powerful is a ninth-rank official in my previous life? Is it equivalent to a village head? Or a mayor?
County heads are only seventh rank. Ninth rank is indeed not that powerful.
Zhou Shu curled his lips.
It doesn’t matter if I am a high-ranking official or a low-ranking one. Anyway, my main path isn’t to become an official but to become a Forging Master. One day, when I become a Grand Craftsman, my status will be equivalent to that of academicians of the two academies1. It won’t be any worse than being an official.
If I become a Divine Craftsman, even the emperor will have to respect me!
What matters the most about being the superintendent of a workshop is that I finally have my own territory!
Thirty acres of land is indeed a little small. Other workshops, even those ranked near the bottom like the 97th Workshop, have at least a hundred acres.
In comparison, the territory of the 0th Workshop is nothing.
But there is only me in the 0th Workshop, so thirty acres is enough.
Moreover, Yin Wuyou promised that I would be the one to decide how to build this workshop.
After coming to Great Xia for a few months, I finally don’t have to sleep in the slum-like work shed anymore. I have to build myself a luxurious residence, the kind that has an independent shower!
I wonder if the thousand taels is enough.
Zhou Shu had been thinking about how this workshop should be built since last night. He had already formed a blueprint in his heart.
One thousand taels of silver was roughly equivalent to two million yuan in his previous life. It was not considered a small amount and should be more than enough to build a factory.
I have to draw the blueprint first, then find out where to find a construction team.
Now that he was the superintendent of the 0th Workshop, he naturally wasn’t bound by the forging tasks of the 97th Workshop anymore. He had a lot of time to build his 0th Workshop.
Unfortunately, he had no subordinates and had to do everything by himself.
But Zhou Shu wasn’t worried at all. He treated the 0th Workshop as his first home ever since he arrived in Great Xia. Personally designing it and then turning it into reality was a very happy thing in and of itself.
Just as Zhou Shu was busy planning the blueprint, he heard a knock on the door.
“Cheng Yong of the Huben Troop greets Superintendent Zhou.”
He really came? Zhou Shu was stunned. Yesterday, when Sun Gongping left, he said that Lieutenant Cheng would definitely come to apologize to him. But Zhou Shu hadn’t expected him to really come.
Yesterday, Zhou Shu had been held hostage by Qi Shan, but Cheng Yong had disregarded Zhou Shu’s life and attacked Qi Shan. If Zhou Shu was just a Forging Apprentice, his death wouldn’t have mattered, and Cheng Yong wouldn’t feel any guilt at all.
However, things were different now. Zhou Shu was already the superintendent of a Forging Division workshop, and he held the secret forging formula of the Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Saber.
Although the Huben Troops wouldn’t be asking for Zhou Shu’s help for the time being, they were soldiers and would have to negotiate with the Forging Division in the future.
If they really offended the Forging Division, their weapons would be in serious trouble in the future.
After Cheng Yong went back to report to Cheng Wanli, he had prepared a generous gift last night.
“Lieutenant Cheng, you are too polite. Take care.” You shouldn’t slap a person in the face when he was smiling at you. In yesterday’s situation, Zhou Shu really shouldn’t have demanded too much of the Huben Troops.
Zhou Shu pretended to decline and finally accepted Lieutenant Cheng’s gift.
The Huben Troops are really rich. Zhou Shu kept the banknote worth 500 taels of silver with his other a.s.sets and sighed in his heart.
Zhou Shu didn’t believe that Cheng Yong had taken out the 500 taels himself. Although Cheng Yong was a lieutenant, his annual salary might not even be that much.
This money was definitely from the Huben Troops.
Since the Huben Troops were the emperor’s Imperial Guards, they definitely had ample funds.
Back when they had bought the Huben Sabers from Xiao Zongshui, they had already proved their wealth. Merely 500 taels was nothing.
After sending Cheng Yong off, a few more generals that Zhou Shu had never seen before came looking for him.
They didn’t have anything important to say. They only congratulated Zhou Shu on his promotion and gave him a generous gift each.
Zhou Shu wanted to refuse, but these people didn’t give him a chance to do so. They put the things down and left.
For the entire day, Zhou Shu met countless people. The gifts he had received were already piled up in the small work shed. He couldn’t even count how many banknotes he had.
In total, he had at least a thousand taels.
It was no wonder that everyone liked to be an official. Zhou Shu had just become a superintendent and hadn’t done anything yet, but the things he had received were equivalent to those that Forging Apprentices had to work hard for decades to attain.
Even though he knew that these gifts weren’t for nothing, it didn’t affect his good mood.
Having money was naturally a good thing. With money, he could build the 0th Workshop better!
“Brother Zhou, I’m here to see you. Guess what I brought you?” Zhou Shu was checking the gifts when a voice suddenly sounded from outside the door. From the voice, it was Sun Gongping!