Chapter 140 Opportunity

Three days later, Shi Jiulan, a steward of the Shi family of the same generation as the family head, prepared a generous gift and sent it to the Ye residence. At the same time, he also sent an invitation from the Shi family to a gathering of several workshops and owners in Dongping with large-scale military equipment production experience.

"The Shi family has finally found an opportunity to break into this circle." Ye Tao summoned Dai Rong, who was now in Danyang in charge of some of the Dai family's business, and asked him to represent him at the gathering. "This is what they deserve. Over the years, they have learned diligently, persevered, and constantly sought new breakthroughs. Finally, they have successfully transformed. The Ministry of War's final order should be around 150,000 sets of armor. No matter what, it shouldn't be a problem for the Shi family to take 50,000 of them. The main thing is to see how much share the Shi family is willing to give everyone. Ye's Workshop... won't participate this time. All of our production plans are full. However, you can tell the Shi family that in three and a half months, the Ministry of War will be assessing several types of archer armor, selecting one for the archers of the city defense forces, with a quantity of about 50,000 sets. See if they have the capacity."

Dai Rong looked at Ye Tao's cheerful appearance, wondering what Ye Tao's mindset was. "Brother-in-law..." Dai Rong called out hesitantly. Ye Tao never liked people addressing him by his position, especially these relatives near and far. Tan Weiming and Tan Weiran could call Ye Tao "brother-in-law" without restraint. With their status, it didn't matter what they called Ye Tao. They would only call him "Lord Ye" or "Commander Ye" when joking. However, the younger members of the Dai family, such as Dai Rong, were not so relaxed. The young and vigorous Dai Ji now called him "brother-in-law" without hesitation. Dai Ji was already a deputy battalion commander in the Silver Wing Army, deeply valued by Chi Lei. But Dai Rong, who had once been in charge of the Dai family's intelligence system, only started managing the Dai family's business after handing over the intelligence system to Dongping's intelligence bureau, was not so at ease.

His timid address drew a hearty laugh from Ye Tao. "What are you doing? Just call me by my name, why are you so nervous?"

"I find it a little strange that you're so concerned about the Shi family's affairs. It's fine if you don't take a share of their quota. Ye's Workshop's production is indeed too tight, and we can't free up enough capacity. Even if we were to allocate 10,000 or 20,000 sets of armor, the profit would be limited. I understand that. But why remind the Shi family about the archer armor? Are you really preparing to let the Shi family enter the circle of Dongping's military equipment manufacturers?" Dai Rong asked frankly.

"If *Professional Army* hadn't created such a thing, I probably would have forgotten about it. It's not necessarily the Shi family, but we need an example to take Dongping's development in various aspects to another stage. This bidding process started when Xin'er was in charge of the internal affairs, and now it has become a very recognized way of doing large and long-term business. Although there are sometimes inevitable under-the-table deals, it is generally fair and just. *Professional Army* has made this process more detailed and professional. The assessments on it are very professional, basically considering all aspects of use. This time, I reminded the Ministry of War about the rigid performance indicators in the bidding for weapons. That's why the evaluation and bidding for archer armor was postponed for a few months. ...You also know that the great battle of Dongping is imminent. Most of the things we are doing now are actually preparing for future wars. Equipping the national city guard is a top priority, and everyone hopes to complete it quickly, efficiently, and economically. Once the city guard is equipped, the new capital of Danyang will at least come to an end, and this great battle is likely to unfold. How many years do we have to prepare? And to what extent can we prepare? These are all problems. What's wrong with having more military equipment workshops that meet the standards of the country and the requirements of the military? Perhaps, many years later, after the continent is unified, excessive military equipment production capacity will be a problem. After all, a country cannot always be just martial. However, Xin'er and His Majesty are already discussing the issue of gradual national transformation after the war. It's just that in the next few years, the more military equipment workshops like this, the better. After all, we are preparing for a war that may last for ten years or even longer."

Ye Tao paused and said, "In fact, more importantly, we need to set an example. The Shi family has been diligent and persistent for several years. They have carefully learned from other people's experiences and worked hard to adapt to the rules of a completely unfamiliar field, both technically and ideologically. And finally, they succeeded. This is a typical example. ...And we will adopt more bidding systems in military equipment and other procurements to accelerate the storage of various materials, ensure performance and quality, and expand the types of stored materials. This will give many businesses opportunities. And from this perspective, the Shi family can be another typical example. This is an opportunity they have earned themselves. Although... Ye's Workshop's products may lose some orders and earn less money because of the adoption of these methods, I can't only look at these issues from the perspective of the Ye family after all."

Dai Rong nodded and said, "It's good that you've explained it clearly. I have a better understanding, so I can better grasp the scale of what I say. It seems that in addition to telling them some news, I will have to give them a warning as well."

In terms of dealing with people and employing both kindness and strictness, Ye Tao was no match for Dai Rong, who had grown up in a large family that had been in charge of a state since childhood and had always been cultivated as a family backbone. He smiled and said lightly, "Then I'll have to trouble you. I have to go back to Ganduo tomorrow. Fortunately, you and Feng Zi are here in Danyang, so I can rest assured."

Ye Tao's expression was gentle, and it didn't seem like there was anything urgent in Yunzhou. Dai Rong asked with a smile, "Yunzhou should be a little busier without Feng Zi, right?"

Ye Tao shrugged and said briskly, "Not really. The affairs of the document office are still the affairs of the document office. After this period, Liu Qing has also recommended a few people who can take over Feng Zi's work. I'm going back because my son sent a telegram urging me. I haven't taught them for a long time." Ye Tao's expression was so gentle, obviously, he was very proud of his children. Whether it was Ye Wenxuan or Ye Wenji and Ye Wenjun, they were all good children.

During Ye Tao's stay in Danyang, the woodworking class was naturally unable to continue. But in Ganduo, Dai Yun, while preparing the combat plan against Northern Liao, also prepared a feast for the children. In Yunzhou, where the military atmosphere was so strong, almost every household's children played marching chess. Although the entire Yunzhou currently only had the Yizhan Tower in Ganduo and Ningyuan, almost every town had chess friends who spontaneously formed societies. In Dongping, young people felt that marching chess was a bit childish after participating in professional or amateur military training, and those activity locations were increasingly gathering young boys and girls, and even younger children. Dai Yun took out a lot of money and held a children's marching chess competition. Due to convenient communication, the preliminary and semi-finals had already ended, and the eight teams that had entered the finals had already traveled to Ganduo by airship. And in Ganduo, they would experience a completely different "marching chess."

Inside Ganduo City, there was a huge central green space, most of which was a park made up of transplanted trees, which was already a lush forest. The largest beasts inside were probably hedgehogs, raccoons, and things like stray cats and dogs. The birds and beasts inhabiting the park had also become part of the park. But this was not the biggest feature of the park. The terrain of the entire park was modeled after the terrain of Yunzhou and several surrounding states. In the center of the park, there was also a house that resembled the shape of Ganduo, and even the rockery on the side of the house had some patterns. The entire park could be seen as a sand table model magnified many times. And the finals would be held here. All eight teams would be split up and turned into individuals, and then joined the children from Yunzhou's kindergartens, nurseries, and elementary schools, mixed into two teams, playing the Yunzhou army and the Northern Liao army respectively, simulating a "war." In the end, scores would be added up based on each individual's performance, calculated according to the original teams, and the team with the highest score would receive a very generous reward.

Dai Yun just wanted to find something for the children of Ganduo to do, which was why he spared no expense to make the matter so big. What he didn't expect was that when the event started, when the children from Yunzhou's kindergartens and elementary schools were excitedly making various preparations, Dai Yun suddenly realized that it was actually a bit interesting to put on such a show. These "children of high-ranking officials" were different from those who just played marching chess. The bookshelves in many people's homes were filled with Yunzhou's various materials. Not to mention others, Ye Wenxuan and Ye Wenji could completely understand maps at a young age, and even Ye Wenjun could roughly tell where the high mountains and rivers were by looking at the map. Among the older children, many had even played in the army with their parents. When Lu Dan's daughter asked seriously why Xiling wasn't added, why the Dongping local army wasn't added, when Ye Wenji brought out a detailed manual from his father's study and compared the data of various types of military equipment set in the game one by one, Dai Yun began to have a headache. These children were really easy to take things seriously. Did Ye Tao's saying that every enemy should be taken seriously need to start from such a young age?