Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The cool soldier left after speaking, leaving Zhou Shu in a mess.
It was almost impossible to complete forging 500 Horse Slaying Sabers, 1000 Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Sabers, and 3000 Huben Sabers in a month.
Previously, it took three months to forge the Huben Sabers for the Huben Troops.
This was already the result of working tirelessly.
If such a thing happened again, the Forging Apprentices could die from exhaustion at any time.
Not to mention, there were also 500 Horse Slaying Sabers and 1000 Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Sabers!
The difficulty of forging the Horse Slaying Saber and Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Saber was even greater than that of the Huben Saber.
All the workshops after the 36th Workshop are under my control. But thatâs still not possible.?Zhou Shu felt helpless.
Forging weapons was not purely physical work. It was technical work!
To forge the Huben Sabers, Zhou Shu, Zhang Yibei, and the others had to work together for half a month before they could barely cooperate.
This is an important military matter. If I donât complete the mission by the deadline, I will be punished according to military law. If you want to kill me, just say so. Why are you looking for excuses?!
Zhou Shu was indignant. Meng Bai was giving him an enormous problem.
He had already mentioned military law, so Zhou Shu couldnât reject the mission now.
âI have no freedom, no freedomâ¦â Zhou Shu snorted.
There was nothing he could do. As long as he was still a member of the Forging Division, there was no way he could escape this.
The Forging Division was the militaryâs logistics department. Although it was an independent entity in name, Great General Meng was the commander-in-chief of the three military forces of Great Xia. He had the right to ask about any matters involving the military.
The missions he assigned couldnât be rejected by even the grand minister, Yin Wuyou.
In other words, Zhou Shu had to accept this mission. If he could do it, he had to do it. Even if he couldnât, he still had to do it.
Fortunately, Meng Bai gave him an imperial sword and allowed him to use the resources of other workshops.
Otherwise, he could just wait for death.
It was impossible to complete this mission with just the 0th Workshop!
It seems like I can only start work early!
Zhou Shu sighed and called out to the foreman of the Ministry of Works. âIâll add another five hundred taels. The construction must be completed within three days!â
â¦
In the 97th Workshop, Xiao Zongshui was livid.
âSuperintendent Xiao, do you have any other questions?â Zhou Shu said with a formal smile.
âSuperintendent Zhou, handing over a thousand Huben Sabers in a month is impossible!â Xiao Zongshui gritted his teeth. He wanted to curse out loud but ultimately endured it.
Xiao Zongshui couldnât disobey Great General Meng Baiâs orders, so no matter how aggrieved he felt, he had to endure it. Zhou Shu wasnât only the superintendent of the 0th Workshop, but he also represented Great General Meng.
âIs that so?â Zhou Shu restrained his smile. âIf I remember correctly, the 97th Workshop provided three thousand Huben Sabers to the Huben Troops in three months.
âIn that case, a thousand Huben Sabers in a month shouldnât be a problem for the 97th Workshop.â
It would be a miracle if there were no problems!
Arenât you well aware of whether or not the mission can be completed?
Xiao Zongshui cursed in his heart. Back then, he had forced Zhou Shu to lead the forging mission of the Huben Sabers.
Now, Zhou Shu had been promoted, and the other Forging Apprentices who had participated in forging the Huben Sabers had been sent to the other workshops.
If Xiao Zongshui had known that this would happen, he wouldnât have split the people out in the first place.
Now, retribution had arrived!
Xiao Zongshui suppressed the anger in his heart and said in a low voice, âSuperintendent Zhou, itâs not good for you to use your position to get even with me for a private grudge, right?â
Zhou Shu narrowed his eyes and said coldly, âSuperintendent Xiao, you can eat whatever you want, but you canât say whatever you want,â Zhou Shu said. âIf you donât want to do it, you can just say so. Iâll report it truthfully to Great General Meng.
âOur Forging Division has plenty of workshops. Even without the 97th Workshop, we can still operate!â
Xiao Zongshui shivered. The Forging Division could still operate without the 97th Workshop. Then, wouldnât it be even less of a problem if it didnât have him as a superintendent?
If Zhou Shu really reported this to Great General Meng, it was hard to say what other things would happen. But as the workshopâs superintendent, he would probably be done for.
âSuperintendent Zhou, thatâs not what I meant.â Xiao Zongshui felt a chill run down his spine when he thought about his tragic fate after being dismissed. He lowered his head and said, âBut this mission is really difficult.
âSuperintendent Zhou, you were from the 97th Workshop. Other people might not know whatâs going on in the workshop, but how can you not know?
âI canât even hand over a hundred Huben Sabers in a month, much less a thousand.â
Xiao Zongshui had a bitter expression. He knew very well that without those who had participated in forging the Huben Sabers previously, he wouldnât even be able to hand over a single Huben Saber.
âSuperintendent Zhou, can you make an exception?â Xiao Zongshui said humbly.
âSuperintendent Xiao, Iâm not making things difficult for you.â Zhou Shu shook his head. âThe secret forging formula of the Huben Saber is in the hands of the 97th Workshop. The great general asked me to be in charge of the supply of weapons. If I donât look for you, who should I look for?â
Xiao Zongshui opened his mouth. He really couldnât refute these words.
The secret forging formula of the Huben Saber was indeed the 97th Workshopâs, which meant that it was in Xiao Zongshuiâs hands.
When Zhou Shu was still a Forging Apprentice at the 97th Workshop, Xiao Zongshui didnât take him seriously. At that time, he took the forging formula of the Huben Saber for himself and went to make a deal with Cheng Wanli.
According to the procedures of the Forging Division, the forging formula of the Huben Saber was indeed the 97th Workshopâs. According to the rules of the Forging Division, even if the other workshops wanted to forge Huben Sabers, they had to obtain the authorization of the 97th Workshop and pay a certain fee.
To a certain extent, the various workshops of the Forging Division were independent of each other.
Xiao Zongshui wasnât in a position to make known his suffering. He really couldnât say that he could authorize Zhou Shu.
The Huben Saber was originally developed by Zhou Shu. How could Xiao Zongshui turn the tables and ask Zhou Shu for money?
Under other circumstances, Xiao Zongshui was indeed capable of doing so.
But now, Zhou Shu was borrowing Great General Mengâs power to coordinate all the workshopsâ resources. If Xiao Zongshui really dared to say this, he would be dismissed from the position of the workshopâs superintendent!
âSuperintendent Zhou, canât I return the secret forging formula of the Huben Saber to you?â Xiao Zongshui said almost pleadingly.
âWhat do you mean, Superintendent Xiao? Am I the sort of person who would acquire something by trickery?â Zhou Shu said coldly with a stern face.
âSuperintendent Zhou, I really didnât mean that.â Xiao Zongshui was miserable. How could he have imagined that he would have to humbly explain himself to a mere Forging Apprentice one day?
Xiao Zongshui gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice, âSuperintendent Zhou, you were the one who developed the Huben Saber. The profits from supplying the Huben Troops should be yours. Iâll get someone to deliver it to you later!â
Looking at Xiao Zongshui, Zhou Shu suddenly felt dispirited.
Back then, he had thought that he would teach Xiao Zongshui a lesson after he made a comeback.
But now that Xiao Zongshui was so meek and subservient in front of him, he didnât feel any sense of accomplishment.
To put it bluntly, Xiao Zongshui wasnât a big shot. There was no sense of achievement in bullying him.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
âSince Superintendent Xiao has said so, I will reconsider it.â Even so, Zhou Shu didnât reject Xiao Zongshui returning the profits from forging the Huben Sabers to him. He deserved it, so why not?
âMany thanks, Superintendent Zhou! Many thanks, Superintendent Zhou!â Xiao Zongshui thanked Zhou Shu profusely.
âAlso, Great General Mengâs mission has to be completed quickly. My 0th Workshop needs manpower, âZhou Shu continued. âSuperintendent Xiao, help me urge Zhang Yibei and the others to transfer to the 0th Workshop as soon as possible.â
âIâll do it right away!â Xiao Zongshui had no room to refuse.
Xiao Zongshui couldnât afford to offend Zhou Shu now that he had power in his hands. Otherwise, he wouldnât be able to bear the consequences if Zhou Shu said anything to the great general.
âI also need your full cooperation for this mission, Superintendent Xiao. Since you, Superintendent Li Hongyuan, and the others have a good relationship, Iâll have to ask you guys to help out this time.
âDonât worry. After this matter is done, I will definitely report this to the great general and heavily reward you all.â
What else could Xiao Zongshui say?
Zhou Shu was strutting in borrowed plumes, but he was speaking the truth. The great general had indeed allowed him to mobilize the resources of the Forging Division workshops.
No one could refuse!
Therefore, even though they knew that Zhou Shu was taking revenge, Xiao Zongshui and the others still had to bear with it!
This was a major military matter, so they absolutely didnât dare try and go against Zhou Shu.
âSuperintendent Zhou, we will naturally cooperate fully. But you are an expert and should understand that our workshops donât have the ability to independently forge Huben Sabers, Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Sabers, and Horse Slaying Sabersâ¦â Xiao Zongshui said bitterly.
âThis isnât something you should worry about.â Zhou Shu shook his head. âAll you need to do is listen to my orders.
âListen to my orders. If you canât complete the mission, the responsibility is mine.
âIf you donât listen to me, you will bear the responsibility yourselves if you are unable to complete the mission!
âGo tell Li Hongyuan and the others that from tomorrow morning on, all of you superintendents will come to my 0th Workshop to help out every day!â
Zhou Shu decided to let these superintendents experience the life of a Forging Apprentice!
Canât forge weapons?
Itâs alright. You know how to serve tea and water, right?
If you donât even know this, you know how to sweep the floor, right?
In short, all of you will get to experience it properly this month!
This is what you get for bullying Forging Apprentices!
âIâll definitely relay the message.â Xiao Zongshuiâs attitude was very proper. He only had one thought nowâhe would do whatever Zhou Shu said. He couldnât let Zhou Shu catch his mistake!
âThatâs for the best. Hurry up and send the people over.â Zhou Shu turned around and walked out.
âDonât be late tomorrow morning. I donât have a good temper.
âI have a small suggestion. Superintendent Xiao, itâs up to you whether or not you want to listen to it. Forging Apprentices are also humans. Treat them slightly better. Give them less pressure and more care.â
With his back to Xiao Zongshui, Zhou Shu walked farther and farther away.. His voice came from afar and entered Xiao Zongshuiâs ears.