Chapter 42 Revisiting the Iron and Steel Bureau

Author: Soy Sauce Xuanzhu

Chapter 42 Revisiting the Iron and Steel Bureau

She was only repairing farm tools, not hoarding weapons and armor, so it shouldn't be a taboo.

Of course, she dared to be so presumptuous because Cui Fuyin supported her unconditionally.

With Cui Fuyin covering up, no one would report it.

As soon as he said it was done, Li Yewu began to look for a suitable site for building an ironworks and recruit troops.

However...the dream is beautiful, but the reality is very skinny.

Because the imperial court controlled the iron smelting industry, the people who knew how to smelt iron were in the hands of the officials and not among the people.

Although she had a battalion of people on standby as the tool support department, when she asked carefully, she found that all of them only knew how to do carpentry, and not one of them knew how to blacksmith.

Li Yewu's idea of ​​setting up his own iron smelting plant was defeated by the cold reality...

Even though there are all kinds of ups and downs in her heart, sometimes there is really nothing she can do.

For example, in a blacksmith shop, if she starts building the factory, training employees, and developing new products step by step, how long will it take... However, there are still 100,000 people on the hillside waiting to use tools.

Moreover, even if everyone can afford to wait, her wallet can’t afford to wait...

In an instant, Li Yewu's mood hit rock bottom.

Seeing the young lady struggling with the pile of scrap metal, Zi Cui silently came over and said, "Madam, maybe you can ask Si Ge for help."

"Who?" Li Yewu was confused.

Zicui looked like she had forgotten Si Ge: "Si Ge is also one of ours. He works in the Iron Smelting Bureau and deals with iron every day. You might be able to solve the problem by talking to him."

"!" Li Yewu was extremely shocked: "It turns out that our palace still has such talents!"

She thought the house was full of fools who had nothing but loyalty.

"What are you talking about, Princess? We have all kinds of talents in our house." Zicui looked dissatisfied.

"...Everything you said is right, take me to him quickly."

Li Yewu picked up the hem of her skirt and walked outside, muttering as she walked: "By the way, why didn't you tell me that there were some of our people inside when we went to the Iron and Steel Bureau last time?"

"Si Ge is just a blacksmith in the Iron and Steel Bureau. He never comes to the shop, and even if he comes out, he probably won't be able to talk, so... hehe."

"Understood."

Li Yewu nodded understandingly, feeling that there was also contempt in Ms. Zicui's eyes.

Unfortunately, this mysterious Si Ge is just downstream of Zi Cui's contempt chain.

Speaking of this, I said before that Xiao Jiuxi brought 100 people from the capital to Taihe Prefecture. The names of these 100 people are very interesting.

They were in a group of ten, and they were named in order. The first word was the order of the group, and the last word was the same poem: - Singing to the wind under the fan of peach blossoms is the dream.

The ten people Piru Xiao Jiuxi brought to the capital were numbered 1-10.

The names are respectively Yi Ge, Yi Jin, Yi Peach, Yi Hua...

Si Ge means that he is the boss of the four groups, and the remaining members are called Si Jin, Si Tao, Si Hua...

Although there was nothing wrong in essence, Li Yewu couldn't help but complain about Xiao Jiuxi. He was really lazy and perfunctory. These were loyal servants who were willing to give their lives, so they were treated like this.

Not even a decent name!

If she were to be in charge, she would definitely think of a name for them, and it would have to be somewhat related to "wealth" and "power" to be dignified.

…

In this way, Li Yewu hurriedly returned to the main city.

The two of them passed through the West Market and went straight to the Nanmen Iron and Steel Bureau.

When Li Yewu first arrived, no one knew her.

Ever since she single-handedly scared off the refugees who besieged Prince Chang's Mansion and led 200,000 men to open up wasteland, this princess became completely famous in Taihe City.

So Li Yewu appeared at the Iron and Steel Bureau again. Needless to say, the manager of the Iron and Steel Bureau greeted him respectfully.

"The princess is here, but I am a bit disappointed in welcoming you from afar. Please forgive me, princess."

Originally, the manager wanted to apologize to the princess. Last time, he was blind and mistook the princess for someone's maid. It was really rude and derelict in his duty.

Unexpectedly, Li Yewu didn't give him time to greet him.

"He who doesn't know is not guilty. Well, I want to find someone in your backyard. It's inconvenient if I don't know."

"Well... of course it's convenient. Who do you want to see, Princess?"

"Song."

The manager of the Metallurgical Bureau raised his eyebrows, which was a little unexpected but also expected. After all, Si Ge and all his younger brothers were also followers of the palace, so it was normal for the princess to seek them out.

"You can just go in."

Li Yewu nodded and entered the backyard with Zicui.

The backyard is completely different from the front pavilion. As soon as you enter, you can hear the sound of clanking and banging. The temperature is much higher than outside. Even the trees in the courtyard have long been dried by the sweltering heat and have not sprouted even in spring.

Li Yewu curiously continued walking to the work shed. After a while, she saw seven or eight big men raising their hands to strike iron. They had bare chests and backs, and their arms and chests were full of bulging muscles.

Seeing this, Zi Cui covered her eyes shyly.

Li Yewu didn't care much and asked directly: "Who is Si Ge?"

All the blacksmiths were stunned for a moment. When they saw who it was, they stopped what they were doing and bowed to Li Yewu.

"Young man, I've met Madam."

Li Yewu was a little surprised. Although she knew that Si Ge came to work in the Iron and Steel Bureau, according to Zicui, she was at best a marginal figure. However, after seeing the scene with her own eyes, it seemed that... the people from their palace were the main force...

Just when Li Yewu was surprised, Si Ge had already packed his clothes and came out.

He is tall, with a full beard, and his skin is burnt black and red by the charcoal fire. Speaking of which, Xiao Jiuxi's followers are all good-looking, but these four groups...are all burly and solid men.

...If they are mixed into the bandit group, it will not be against the law at all.

"Little madam, I wonder why you are here looking for me?"

Although Si Ge looks tough in appearance, he still retains a gentle manner in his speech. This roughness with a scholarly flavor is inexplicably inconsistent.

But Li Yewu was here to do business after all, so she tried her best to ignore Si Ge's disobedience and talk about business.

"I would like to discuss with you how to improve the method of making iron."

"???"

Si Ge was a little unbelievable: "Princess... no, what does Madam want to improve?"

There are a lot of rumors about Li Yewu outside, even in the iron smelting bureau, but everyone calls her Princess, so much so that Brother Si blurted out the name Princess without realizing it.

He lowered his head in embarrassment, not daring to look at Li Yewu.

Li Yewu didn't care if people called her princess or madam. It was just a title anyway. Calling her more princess or less madam wouldn't make her immortal, so it didn't matter.

She jumped right into the topic.

"This kind of white iron..." Li Yewu pointed to the forged iron tools in the corner, his eyes full of disgust: "It's too brittle! It's not suitable for digging rocks. I want to discuss with you how to turn the white iron on

It’s gray iron.”

"Wha...what?"

What does white iron or gray iron mean? Si Ge doesn’t understand, but according to the princess’s wishes, she wants to change the hardness of the tools?
Chapter completed!