Jinshan Coast.
The place had changed greatly from before.
With the craftsmen brought over, simple wooden houses were everywhere, and many were being rushed to completion.
These wooden houses would all be replaced with reinforced concrete structures in the future; for now, they were just for transitional use.
The mint, cement works, and steel mill were all in place, having become the first industrial zone in America, brimming with vitality.
The supervisors of each workshop were gathered together. Li Shimin looked at the group of people before him and nodded with great satisfaction.
"Tell me, what did you do in Shenyang?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, this humble servant Cheng Yu, is the deputy supervisor of the cement works."
"This humble servant Bai Chu, from the oil refinery."
"Zhang Xiaomi, steel mill."
~~~~
A dozen craftsmen introduced themselves. They were all deputy supervisors from various workshops and were thoroughly familiar with production processes and techniques.
With them here, it was enough to establish their own operations.
"Come, come, Bai Chu, isn't it? Hurry up and take your men to find oil!"
"I want to see the first barrel of fuel produced here within half a month!"
As soon as Li Shimin finished speaking, Li Xiaogong handed a map of North American mineral resources to Bai Chu.
Bai Chu nervously took the map. Getting the oil out in half a month was an extremely difficult task.
But the imperial command had to be obeyed, so he bowed and said,
"This humble servant receives the order."
"Hahahaha, you are all dismissed~" Seeing that the fuel issue could be resolved, Li Shimin couldn't be happier.
As he turned to leave, he looked back at the craftsmen who had not yet departed.
"Who is responsible for the minting?"
Zhang Xiaomi stepped forward, "Reporting to Your Majesty, this humble servant is in charge."
"Let's go, let's go, take me to see what the young man has tinkered with, what the silver coins look like!"
On the way back to Jinshan, he had heard about the silver coins from Cheng Yaojin and the others, which made Li Shimin very interested.
Near the gold mine, the sounds of metal striking echoed from rows of wooden houses, and hundreds of Heavenly Fire Army soldiers guarded them day and night.
Zhang Xiaomi walked ahead, leading Li Shimin and the others to push open one of the wooden houses.
Inside, there was only a stamping machine, and beside it were piled alloy plates as tall as a person.
The craftsman working placed a plate on the stamping machine. As the machine descended, it struck out the rough blanks of silver coins from the plate.
After removing the plate, a few light taps with a hammer, and the silver coins would clatter into a wooden barrel beside it.
Li Shimin reached out to grab one to examine, but Zhang Xiaomi stopped him.
"Your Majesty, be careful. The burrs on these silver coins can easily cut your hands before they are polished."
Old Li waved his hand dismissively, picked up a silver coin from the barrel, and examined it.
Seeing his own clear profile on it, the corners of his mouth almost split to his ears with joy.
"Hahahaha, good! Good! Good!"
After praising it several times, he said to Cheng Yaojin and the others,
"As expected of my son-in-law, you must learn from his discerning eye~"
Cheng Yaojin and the others: ........
That's your son-in-law, but we're not~
Leaving there, they went to another wooden house, which was the polishing area.
As they entered, they happened to catch the craftsman emptying the machine.
It was a huge drum. When it was opened, the silver coins mixed with coarse sand were poured into a sieve.
As the sieve vibrated, the coarse sand was separated, leaving only smooth and neat silver coins on the sieve surface.
"Tsk tsk tsk, look at the workmanship, look at the material!"
"Exquisite!"
"Grand!"
After looking around, he said earnestly to Zhang Xiaomi, "Take good care of it, I have high hopes for you!"
After speaking, he gently patted him on the shoulder.
Then he turned to leave with Cheng Yaojin and the others.
Zhang Xiaomi, who remained in place, seemed as if he had been injected with chicken blood, his face flushed with excitement. He quickly took off his work uniform, carefully folded it, and put it into a box.
"This is the clothes the Emperor touched, hahahaha, I must keep them as heirlooms!"
After chuckling foolishly to himself, he seemed to remember something and turned to run towards the wooden house where the stamping was done.
"Where is the silver coin that His Majesty was looking at just now?"
The craftsman working looked at him vigilantly, "Boss, what do you want to do?"
"Hehehe, give me that silver coin, and I'll help you find a wife here later, alright?" Zhang Xiaomi winked at him, looking extremely lewd.
"No! This is a silver coin imbued with dragon energy!" The craftsman flatly refused.
One silver coin was equivalent to 200 copper coins, so he could afford to replace it out of his own pocket.
Zhang Xiaomi stretched out two fingers casually, "And two more wives~"
The craftsman covered his chest with his right hand, took a few steps back, and looked at him with disdain:
"Pah! Don't think you can exploit me just because you're the boss. His Highness said that exploiting workers is shameful!"
Zhang Xiaomi: .........
"I can only add three, no more than that! See who can offer such a high price later!"
"Tch, I'm not the type of person who can't walk when I see women!" The craftsman shrugged indifferently.
Zhang Xiaomi said with a bad smile, "Still won't give it?"
The craftsman firmly replied, "Still won't give it!"
"Then I'll transfer you to the gold mine tomorrow?" Zhang Xiaomi propped his chin, thought for a moment, and then threw this sentence out before walking towards the door.
"Boss, you can't do this! You're taking revenge for personal grievances!" The craftsman was anxious and yelled at Zhang Xiaomi's retreating back.
"I'm not the type of person who can't walk when I see women, it's just that there aren't enough women!"
"If you find me five wives, I'll give you the silver coin!~"
"Hahaha, deal!" Zhang Xiaomi turned around with a smile, walked up to him, and unceremoniously reached into his embrace.
"Hey, hey~ Don't touch randomly! It tickles!"
"That's not a silver coin, that's~~"
"Ah~ You're taking advantage of me!"
~~~
Three minutes later, the craftsman looked at Zhang Xiaomi's departing figure with a lifeless expression, a tear of shame streaming from the corner of his eye.
It was too bullying!
He had almost rubbed off all the dust on me, what a pervert!