In the Eastern Sea, an old man in green robes stopped outside a small fishing village. The old man had nothing on him other than a flute at his waist and a jar of wine in his hand.
Looking at the somewhat dilapidated village, the elder's gaze was filled with sorrow and nostalgia, as well as reminiscing about the years that had passed.
In the blink of an eye, so many years had passed.
"I'm afraid that in a few years, this village will no longer exist."
The old man stood outside the village for a long time before turning around and walking towards a small forest nearby. However, he had only taken a few steps when he stopped.
"Come out!" The old man said in a deep voice.
As soon as the old man's voice fell, two men wearing coarse clothes walked out from the small forest in front of them. They had the same face, the same height, the same sturdy body, the same bald head, and the simple expression on their faces. Just by looking at their faces, they gave people the impression that they were simple men from the mountains.
However, the long sabers on their shoulders gave them an austere aura.
"Eighth in the world, Lu Pinghai. We two brothers have been waiting for you for a long time." The two of them spoke at the same time, their voices somewhat muffled.
Lu Pinghai looked at the two of them without moving his brows.
Aboriginals rarely appeared in the other nations, but they had specifically come here. It was unknown whose orders they were under.
"His Majesty said that he wants to exchange a Primary Spirit Elixir with you. You can name your conditions," the two continued.
True enough.
Lu Pinghai suddenly realized that it was Qi Zixiao.
"Tell Qi Zixiao that I don't want anything. You can go back." Lu Pinghai shook his head.
"Her Majesty said that if you don't agree, she will look for you personally," the two of them said. The empress actually said that if Ren Baqian didn't agree, she would beat him to death.
But if he said that, Lu Pinghai would probably turn hostile on the spot.
No matter what, he was still ranked eighth in the world. How could he allow others to threaten him like this?
"Then let Qi Zixiao come and find me." Lu Pinghai laughed and walked past the two of them, not even sparing them a glance.
Although Qi Zixiao was ranked fifth in the world and there was also Hong Wu, who was ranked ninth in the world, he was not afraid of them.
As the eighth most powerful expert in the world, he definitely had his own confidence. If they hadn't fought, who knew what would happen?
Qi Zixiao was originally ranked seventh, but didn't he also kill the fifth Hua Sanliu?
How could he not have any trump cards?
"Lu Pinghai, do you really want to offend His Majesty for a Primary Spirit Dan?" Both of them turned around, their hands already on their blades.
"Although Qi Zixiao is powerful, she won't make me hand over my things just because of her words. Today, for Qi Zixiao's sake, I'll let you two leave. Don't act recklessly. " Lu Pinghai coldly snorted and swung his sleeves behind him. Immediately, his sleeves extended several meters like snakes and coiled around the hilts of the two sabers.
Clang! The two of them unsheathed their long sabers and slashed at their sleeves. However, a sudden force came from the sleeves and pushed the sabers away. The two long sabers slashed at their own necks.
"Roar!" The two of them lowered their heads at the same time, their blades crisscrossing as they slashed at each other's sleeves. However, they missed.
The sleeve loosened its grip on the saber hilt as if it was a living thing, then heavily struck the two men's chests. The two men could not help but fall back. They only stopped after retreating seven or eight steps. Blood flowed from the corner of their mouths.
"Eh?" Lu Pinghai was surprised. Even an expert who had just attained the Spirit Wheel level wouldn't be able to withstand such an attack, let alone a direct hit on their chests. Yet, the two of them were still standing there.
The aboriginals really had a lot of experts, and they were already this strong with just two people sent out.
"It's not easy to cultivate. I'll let you two off today." Lu Pinghai left these words and disappeared into the forest.
The two men looked at each other, turned around, and left.
Since the two of them were no match for him, they had to go back and tell the general about Lu Pinghai's rejection.
Lu Pinghai entered the forest, went straight to his residence, and finally sat down in an open space.
His old friend had lived here for decades, but now, he couldn't even find his grave.
However, this was also good since no one would disturb him.
He knew where Ren Baqian lived even with his eyes closed.
"I'm back to see you again …" Lu Pinghai opened the wine gourd, drank a mouthful, and sprinkled a little on the ground.
…
He looked at the silver mirror in his hand and then at the craftsmen and Jiao Zuo in front of him. "How many days did it take for you to make this silver mirror? How stupid are you? Even a dark-faced man is smarter than you! "
A dark-faced man was a nickname for a wild boar.
"Two days!"
Ren Baqian squinted at the craftsman who answered him.
"Even a black-faced man would be able to make these things in two days."
The craftsmen lowered their heads and listened to him quietly. A row of tall and burly men stood there with their heads lowered like a wall.
Ren Baqian nagged for a long time before finally saying, "Each of you will be rewarded with ten taels of silver and your monthly allowance will be increased by one level."
Even though these people were hopelessly stupid, they still managed to do it. They should be scolded and rewarded.
"Thank you, Sir!" Everyone immediately put on a smile.
Ten taels of silver was equivalent to more than two months of their monthly allowance. Furthermore, their monthly allowance would be increased by one level, which was a lot of money.
"All of you may leave." Ren Baqian let the craftsmen leave first and then instructed Jiao Zuo on the main tasks.
At this moment, the most important ones were concave and flat mirrors, which were used to make solar furnaces. After these were completed and the Mount Damo iron ore mine was settled, they could then sell it to other countries through caravans to make money.
For the next period of time, Ren Baqian woke up in the morning and went to the glass factory. At noon, he returned to the palace and practiced martial arts in the afternoon.
After the problems with the glass and silver-plating were solved, the next step was much smoother. Even though the production speed of the glass factory wasn't fast, it was much faster than when they first started. The ratio of the materials had also been found, and the number of problems had decreased. After a week, the concave and silver mirrors had already filled two rooms.
Next, Ren Baqian led the craftsmen to the glass factory every day to use wood and rattan to make square shelves. The shelves were also concave.
Then, the mirrors were fixed on the shelves.
A few days later, in the afternoon, a convoy of more than a hundred people majestically left Lan City and headed straight for the glass factory outside the city.
However, they didn't enter the newly built brick building. Instead, they went to an open space beside the glass factory.
At this moment, there was a wooden platform there. On top of the platform, there was a huge shelf that was six meters tall and 12 meters wide. On top of the shelf were concave mirrors. From a distance, it was dazzling and blinding. Many people covered their eyes with their hands to block the white light.
The empress came down from the carriage. Behind her were Shi Qing, Zhe Zhe Hai, Tu Wan, Tong Zhenye, Qin Chuan, and the other high-ranking officials from the six ministries. As long as they were free, they were pulled over by the empress.
Everyone was guessing what the empress wanted to see by calling so many people over.
At this moment, when they saw the distorted scenery reflected in the concave mirrors on the tall shelf, Shi Qing, Zhe Kouhai, Tong Zhenye, and the others immediately knew what it was. It was just that they didn't know if it was like what Deputy Prefect Ren said. If it was, it would be a joyous occasion.
The others looked at the large mirror in front of them with curiosity.
"Is that a mirror?"
"I don't know what it is made of. It doesn't look like a bronze mirror, but it's actually so bright."
"But the reflection doesn't seem to be moving. Look at the stone in the mirror, it's deformed."
"Hey, look at the person reflected in the mirror. His body is so short. I'm dying of laughter."
The empress looked at the large mirror in front of her. After sizing it up for a moment, she said to Ren Baqian, "You can start now."
Ren Baqian looked very relaxed. After such a long time, he had finally made this. Now was the time to showcase it.
He hoped that this bunch of idiots wouldn't mess it up.
Following his greeting, thirty guards who were usually in charge of his arrangements ran to one side and carried out thirty mirrors that were two meters long and one meter tall. Then, they placed them on the ground in front of the shelf.
Following which, someone carried out a four meters long iron pillar that was as thick as the mouth of a bowl and placed it on the ground.
Ren Baqian walked to the front of the thirty mirrors and adjusted the angle of one of them to reflect the sunlight onto the concave mirror on the shelf. Then, after the concave mirror focused the sunlight onto the top of the iron pillar.
After he adjusted the angle, the others followed his movements and began to adjust the mirror. From time to time, Ren Baqian helped everyone adjust the mirror.
At the beginning, many people had their eyes on him. However, as the empress, Shi Qing, and the others stared at the top of the iron pillar, more and more people looked over. They were doubtful about what they could see.
But immediately, they got a huge shock.
The top of the iron pillar suddenly burst into flames for no reason.
One had to know that this was an iron pillar. Everyone wasn't blind. From the footsteps of the person carrying the iron pillar and the way it stood up, it was definitely an iron pillar. But how could an iron pillar catch fire?
Something even more surprising happened. Not only was the top of the iron pillar on fire, but it was also melting. Dark red molten iron flowed down the body of the pillar.
Very quickly, the top of the iron pillar was missing a chunk.
Not only were those who saw it for the first time shocked, even Shi Qing and the others were surprised.
Previously, it was only a round plate that burned a hole in a steel saber.
Now, it melted an iron rod that was as thick as the mouth of a bowl. The difficulty was more than ten times or even a hundred times greater.
Therefore, when they personally saw the effect, they were all shocked.
"I congratulate Your Majesty and Dayao. Deputy Prefect Ren has made a great contribution by making this item. Within a hundred years, Dayao will no longer have to worry about a shortage of iron," Shi Qing said loudly with a face full of joy.
Following his words, everyone reacted and congratulated Her Majesty one after another.
Although they didn't know what happened, they understood one thing. That iron pillar that was as thick as the mouth of a bowl had been melted.
In that case, Mount Damo's iron mine would soon have a steady stream of fine iron ore. They would no longer have to worry about the lack of military equipment. This was indeed a joyous occasion, a joyous occasion.
And Ren Baqian, who had contributed the most to this matter, had a higher status in the hearts of many people.
Previously, when Her Majesty said that she wanted him to set up an academy, everyone didn't take it too seriously. Many people didn't even consider it.
In the future, if Her Majesty asked about it, they would say that even though the disciples in their family were not talented enough, they just needed to focus on practicing martial arts.
However, from the looks of it now, this person really had some capabilities.
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