Chapter 1 A Complete Transformation

Walking and looking around Ye's Workshop, Min Yue clicked his tongue in amazement, "It's only been two years since I was last here, and it's completely changed."

Ye's Workshop occupied a vast area. The surrounding artificial forest isolated the workshop's noise from spreading outwards and also blocked the view of outsiders peeking into Ye's Workshop. At first glance, the entire workshop looked more like a warehouse district. Two rows of tall and spacious buildings occupied most of the area, leaving only a relatively open area in the middle paved with bluestone slabs. Walking closer, one could see a walkway between every two factory buildings, with a water well and a few long benches, presumably for apprentices and workers to rest during breaks. The density of these water wells also maximized fire safety in this era dominated by wooden buildings. These factory buildings already paid great attention to fire prevention. All the factory walls were made of fire-resistant bricks, enclosing the wooden beams and columns within the walls. As for the roof, due to the limited technological level of this time and space, they had to use wood to build the framework. However, the roof framework used here had the solid and stable characteristics of the *dougong* (a unique structural element of interlocking wooden brackets) used in traditional palace buildings, but was relatively lightweight, avoiding the problem of wasting the load-bearing capacity of the wooden structure. Above the height of a person, there were rectangular windows on the walls, ensuring lighting and ventilation. From the princess's perspective, it was not difficult to see that if glass windows were installed in these window openings and the roof was replaced with a steel frame structure, it would be a modern factory.

On the side near the water flow, there was another huge factory building with a sign hanging at the entrance that read "Hydraulic Workshop." A row of large waterwheels were placed in the water flow. Although the Yongming Canal was artificially dug, the water flow was quite considerable, making it no problem to drive some simple hydraulic machinery.

Different signs were hung at the entrances of other factory buildings to indicate their purpose. It seemed that Ye's Workshop had partially implemented assembly line production.

"What are those houses over there used for?" Peng Detian asked, pointing to a much smaller factory building. What was eye-catching about that factory building were two tall chimneys.

"That's the forge. All the tools used in the entire workshop are made there, and the forge is also responsible for their repair and maintenance. The pieces for the army chess made of brass chess pieces are also initially removed from the molds in the forge before the apprentices who minored in metalworking manually repair and polish them," Ye Tao explained.

"What about the parts for the military equipment repair?" Min Yue asked.

"Sir, military equipment repair is carried out in a dedicated factory building. All of them are the most reliable people in Ye's Workshop. After all, Dongping's military equipment has always been something that spies from various countries want to get their hands on, so it's not good to let too many people handle it. Because the workshop is only responsible for repair and does not manufacture, the number of parts repaired is not large, so a small furnace in the military equipment factory building is basically enough," Ye Tao added, "Military equipment repair is not always needed. The military equipment factory building is usually locked, and the people inside usually work in their respective factory buildings. They only gather together when there is work to be done."

Min Yue nodded and praised, "Your Ye's Workshop actually needs such a large place and so many people. The business is better than I expected."

Ye Tao smiled bitterly and said, "What's so good about it? Really making furniture or doing small things like army chess, how can so many people be used? Isn't it just that I'm rushing to build Master Qi's mansion recently? The entire set of things are being made by my Ye's, so the volume is large. It forced me to recall some apprentices who originally failed the apprentice assessment to help out, and that's how I barely kept up with the progress."

The princess didn't say anything and followed the crowd to walk around and take a look, but she saw many things that touched her. Ye's Workshop had not yet fully implemented assembly line operations, not because it couldn't be done, but because Ye's Workshop was originally a place that combined training apprentices and producing various equipment. The clothes worn by the apprentices were different from those worn by the workers. Basically, one worker took two or three apprentices to form a group, working together and learning while working. The factory building was also divided into relatively independent areas according to such needs. Each group could place tools according to their own habits without interfering with each other. This was not as mechanical and rigid as modern factories, nor as casual as traditional workshops. It seemed to be quite suitable for the characteristics of this era.

Seeing such a large group of people coming in, the workers whispered to each other for a while. A middle-aged man came up to greet them, gave a deep bow to Min Yue and Peng Detian, and said, "Lord Min, Lord Peng, I didn't know you were coming. Please forgive me for not welcoming you from afar." This was Ye Tao's eldest brother, Guan Haitian, Ye Laogeng's first apprentice. Although the relationship between a craftsman and his master was not as rigid as that of martial arts sects in the *jianghu* (martial world), it had its own set of rules. Generally speaking, after completing an apprenticeship, one would seek one's own livelihood. Most of the apprentices of many craftsmen, if they were not their own children, would open their own shops to make a living. However, Ye's several fellow apprentices were all employed by Ye's Workshop. Now, Guan Haitian was mainly responsible for the supervision of garden construction. During the final stages of Master Qi's courtyard, he ran between the workshop and the construction site almost every day.

"Little Ye, why didn't you say hello when guests came today? It's so busy here... Look at this mess." Guan Haitian looked at the wood shavings and sawdust all over the ground and felt very rude.

Ye Tao curled his lips and said, "They're all acquaintances, don't worry so much, let them see whatever they want. Eldest brother, if you have time, can you take the two adults to the military equipment workshop?"

Guan Haitian nodded and said, "Okay. I'm waiting for the work in the hands of those two guys, Little Lu and Little Han. Two adults, this way please."

The princess did not want to go in to see the military equipment. She grabbed Ye Tao and said, "Young Master Ye, how about leading us to see the hydraulic workshop?"

Using hydraulic power to drive mechanical machinery was what showed the current technical level of Ye's Workshop. Ye Tao understood and agreed, "Alright, this way please."

The hydraulic workshop was divided into woodworking and pottery sections. The pottery blanks made by hydraulic driving of pottery wheels were certainly eye-catching, but more interesting was a semi-automatic production line.

"Is the material control of this thing accurate?" Looking at the entire hydraulic production line, one end poured water and mud into the hopper, and after several continuous processes, the other end produced flower pots. After a firing process, they could be finished products. Everyone was extremely curious, and the princess asked technical questions in a very experienced manner.

"Actually, this is not accurate. The ratio of mud and water still needs to be adjusted by people, but the flower pots made by this machine are originally for ordinary people to grow some cheap small flowers and plants. Although the inaccurate material will cause some quality problems, and almost every batch of products is different, they are all enough. Everyone is looking for a low price and doesn't care too much. Anyway, this thing is too cheap," Ye Tao said truthfully. This kind of pottery, which was not made with a pottery wheel but pressed with molds, was originally just his experiment in semi-automatic production. Being able to have such a result now was already very good. Without a lot of steel, purely using wood to build machines had exhausted him.

However, a row of hydraulic lathes set up not far away was completely different. Sawing, milling, polishing, and other processes were orderly and efficient. Although it seemed that it could only process wood for the time being, looking at the mature and stable design and segmentation of these machine tools, the replacement would probably be just a matter of raw materials.

"What can these guys do now?" the princess asked.

"Nothing, they can only cut wood now, which is to reduce the tolerance of all crossbow arrow shafts to one-fifth of a *hao* (a unit of length). I really want to make metal machine tools, but the country has a monopoly on salt and iron. It is impossible to get enough steel, and it is impossible for me to have enough ore to do my own experiments," Ye Tao mocked himself, "Ye's has taken over the work of repairing military equipment, which means it has the ability to manufacture military equipment. Now I don't even dare to smuggle some steel. If I get caught with the crime of privately manufacturing military equipment, I really can't afford it."

The princess had to think carefully to understand how much one-fifth of a *hao* of tolerance was. However, Liu Yong was shocked. The one-fifth of a *hao* arrow shaft tolerance was more than twice as accurate as the precision of several military equipment workshops near the capital. Looking at the effortless way these hydraulic lathes processed wood, the production capacity was probably still very potential. After all, Ye's Workshop probably only needed to meet the training and combat readiness needs of Yicheng's city defense, plus processing some for the navy.

"Do experiments? Do you have a method for smelting steel?" the princess asked with a smile, "Otherwise, it's useless for you to have ore. You can't make these things with wrought iron, right?"

The princess was just following Ye Tao's words, but Liu Yong was surprised that the princess could see through the principle of these machine tools at a glance.

Ye Tao smiled faintly and said, "It's really not difficult to produce basically qualified materials."

The princess nodded and said, "Do you dare to make a military pledge? Give you six months, if you can smelt steel of the same quality as the workshops of the Ministry of Industry, or slightly worse but with higher output, I will send you all the ore from an iron mine in Liyang."

"Dare? Why wouldn't I dare?" Ye Tao naturally understood that the princess was creating opportunities for herself. "But, what if I smelt it?"

"It's simple. Min Yue must have introduced me. You also know that I'm quite rich, right? I will invest in Liyang and 22 other iron mines and 7 coal mines to start a large workshop with you, how about it?" the princess said with a smile, "It's not a loss, right?"

This proposal made Ye Tao very tempted. "I'm willing to try," Ye Tao said implicitly.

"Uncle Liu, do it according to this after we go back," the princess said to Liu Yong. Liu Yong bowed slightly to indicate that he knew.

Originally, the princess didn't wake up very early in the morning, and she spent a lot of time listening to Ye Tao's story in Xunfeng Pavilion. After walking around the workshop, it was already noon. As the bell rang for lunch in the workshop, the workers put down their work, rubbed their hands, and went to eat.

When Liu Yong reminded the princess to have lunch, Ye Tao quickly said, "Miss Xin'er, why don't we stop here? The workshop is so messy, there's nothing to see. How about we go to Linjiang Tower for lunch together?"

The princess glared at Ye Tao and said, "I haven't seen anything fun yet. You want to send me away? No way. What does your cafeteria serve for lunch? Just get me something light."

Ye Tao said with a bitter face, "I don't know either, then follow me. You'll know after you see it."

Before even reaching the entrance of the cafeteria, a strange and familiar aroma came over. The princess quickened her pace and followed the crowd into the cafeteria.

The construction of the cafeteria was the same as those factory buildings, except that at the end there was an extremely huge kitchen, and most of the space was filled with tables and chairs. Whether it was apprentices, workers, or Ye Tao's fellow apprentices wearing casual clothes rather than work clothes, they were all holding basins and honestly queuing up to move forward step by step. Some people took plates and walked out of the cafeteria to eat back in the workshop or sat in the walkways between the workshops, but most people ate lunch in the cafeteria while chatting. Workshops and military camps were places where *yang* (masculine energy) was extremely prosperous and *yin* (feminine energy) was declining. Hundreds of big men sitting together to eat without paying attention to etiquette, the sound of slurping could crush one's nerves.

Looking at the contents of a worker's plate, the princess smiled happily, as if it was something delicious. Rushing to the food distribution window, the princess saw a scene she hadn't seen for many years: a burly man held down a wooden pot lid with one hand and constantly rotated the edge of a huge flat-bottomed frying pan with iron tongs in the other. Then he opened the pot lid, poured some water on it, closed it, and after a while, opened it again, evenly sprinkling a handful of sesame seeds and a handful of chopped green onions, then closing the pot lid and slowly rotating it. When he finally opened the pot lid and shouted loudly, "Ready!", the whole room was filled with fragrance.

This was something the princess hadn't touched for 14 years—pan-fried buns!

The princess's expression of stretching her neck and eagerly anticipating was really cute. An old chef with slightly gray hair found it interesting, took out a plate from the cabinet behind him, filled it with pan-fried buns, handed it to the princess, and said kindly, "Girl, are you hungry? Eat first, don't wait with a bunch of big men."

What was even more surprising was that the princess actually took the plate with both hands, smiled and said, "Thank you, grandpa." She looked a little embarrassed at the group of workers queuing up and waiting on the side. Although they knew that this young lady was of noble status, they didn't care much in the cafeteria and echoed the commotion. The princess smiled and held the plate, found an empty table and sat down, took out chopsticks from the chopstick bucket on the table, picked up a pan-fried bun and gently bit it, waiting until she had completely sucked the rich and hot soup into her mouth, she began to continue to bite and eat it in small bites. The movements were elegant and skillful, and it could be seen that she was an old-fashioned gourmet.

Liu Yong was not surprised by the princess's occasional childish expressions and actions, but he couldn't understand why the princess seemed to have known how to eat these pan-fried buns a long time ago. Sisi and Qiao'er were completely stunned. After the princess finished eating a pan-fried bun, they suddenly snatched the chopsticks from the princess's hand, which they didn't know if they were clean enough, took out chopsticks, small bowls, and exquisite food plates from their personal packages. The princess happily let them do as they pleased.

She looked at Ye Tao and said very generously, "It seems that your ideas for making things to eat are good, it's really delicious. ...Well, how about we just start a shop with you to specialize in this? I've already thought of the name, let's call it Fengyu Pan-Fried Buns."

Ye Tao rolled his eyes: "I'll do as you command...". He couldn't help but slander in his heart: It's true that I copied IKEA, but how did you bring Fengyu Pan-Fried Buns here too?

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... Still so many words for three chapters, I'm very kind today.