The sound of a diesel engine appeared at the entrance of the Daoist temple.
The two gatekeeping Daoist boys bowed to Fang Er and then hurried inside.
"Grandmaster, His Lordship is here again!"
Fang Er, who had just jumped off the three-wheeled vehicle, felt a cold sweat run down his forehead.
What kind of title was that?
As he walked into the temple, he saw Yuan Tiangang reprimanding the two Daoist boys.
"How can you address His Lordship like that? Huh? If this happens again, I'll have you clean the latrines!"
After speaking, he walked towards Fang Er.
"Hahaha, young friend, are you here for something?"
Fang Er cupped his hands: "I am here to ask Venerable Yuan for some sulfuric acid."
"Just this? How much does His Lordship need? You could have just sent someone to inform me, why did you come in person?"
After speaking, he led Fang Er inside.
It was the same room as before, but now there were many more glazed jars placed inside.
"My Lord, however much you need, this old Daoist will have them loaded onto your cart."
"Three jars first."
Fang Er was not sure how much he needed, and he could always send someone to fetch more if it wasn't enough.
After discussing the sulfuric acid, Fang Er looked at Yuan Tiangang and asked.
"Venerable Yuan, how much smokeless gunpowder has been produced now?"
Mentioning this, Yuan Tiangang became very proud; this was the forte of their Daoist sect.
"Hahaha, young friend, come with this old Daoist."
After speaking, he led Fang Er to another warehouse.
This warehouse was located in the far corner of the Daoist temple, indicating that Yuan Tiangang did have some sense of security.
As the warehouse door was opened, a pile of boxes was neatly stacked inside.
Lao Yuan walked over and opened a box, revealing it was full of white smokeless gunpowder.
"See, this box contains twenty catties, and there are almost five hundred catties in this warehouse now."
"How about it? Are the disciples and grand-disciples of this old Daoist doing a good job?"
Fang Er was startled. Damn it, five hundred catties of smokeless gunpowder were stacked in this single warehouse. If anything went wrong, the entire Daoist temple would be blown to bits.
However, he still smiled at Yuan Tiangang and said: "Venerable Yuan is truly a good teacher. This Lord will thank you here and send people to retrieve it later."
"The reward will be as discussed before, ten taels of silver per catty."
"Hahahaha, no problem, no problem."
Lao Yuan said with a laugh.
Ten taels per catty, so five hundred catties would be five thousand taels of silver, which was also a significant income for the Daoist temple.
After leaving the Daoist temple, Fang Er pulled the sulfuric acid back to the shipyard.
He instructed Li Gang to allocate some personnel and recruit more from the estate to start producing ammunition.
There was gunpowder, the steel was still enough, and there was no shortage of copper; the copper coins in his home warehouse were almost piled up like mountains!
He himself went back into the workshop, looked at the sulfuric acid, and then at the new three-wheeled vehicle in front of him.
He wondered, what could withstand sulfuric acid without being corroded?
He first tested it with a brush, and within a short while, the brush was reduced to just a handle.
"Damn, it's really harsh!"
Looking at the inventory in the system space, he found something.
He took out a can of lollipops, poured all the candy out, leaving an empty can.
This can was made of plastic, so it should be fine, right?
He cut the can open, making it into thin strips of one millimeter, and then tied them tightly with a rope.
He dipped it in sulfuric acid and then brushed it onto the vehicle.
He saw the blue paint quickly bubble up.
"Heh heh, this is much faster than polishing it myself!" However, he needed to be careful not to let the sulfuric acid corrode other parts, and he couldn't dip too much sulfuric acid each time.
With this method, in just half a day, a vehicle was processed.
Then, Li Shun, who was guarding the gate outside, was dumbfounded.
The workshop opened its doors once a day, and each time it opened, Fang Er would drive a vehicle out.
This was more productive than a sow giving birth!
But he didn't dare to ask, as His Lordship's craftsmanship was god-like throughout the Great Tang.
For more than half a month, from two vehicles a day at the beginning, Fang Er seemed to have gotten the hang of it, and could process four vehicles a day.
Sixty vehicles, thirty three-wheeled vehicles and thirty tractor heads, were parked neatly on the open ground outside the shipyard.
Liu Meng, Wu Yong, Zhang Tian, and Qi Sui, the four battalion commanders, squatted there every day, waiting for Fang Er to assign them.
These vehicles, with their dark sheen, were incredibly tempting.
Fang Er put all the machine tools from the workshop back into the system space.
Looking at the unmoved steel ingots in the factory building, he became troubled. What should he do?
All the vehicles had been produced, and if people later saw that the materials hadn't decreased, it would be hard to explain.
Fang Er: "System Grandma, can we discuss something?"
System: "Tsk tsk tsk, I like this address! Speak, grandson (zei)."
This was truly taking advantage of the situation!
Fang Er: "Well, can you help process these steel ingots?"
System: "Items not produced by the system will incur a warehouse rental fee of one hundred points per ton per day."
Huh?
There was such a service? That was great!
Fang Er: "I'll rent it. Quickly put these steel ingots away."
Hiahiahiahiahia.
In the future, when going on expeditions, could he use the system as logistics?
System: "Grandson (zei), don't overthink it. I'm only helping you this time because you called me Grandma."
Huh?
What was the big deal? He could just call her Grandma again next time.
Integrity? What was that?
With a wave of his hand, he let the system store all the steel ingots in the space. He wasn't lacking points.
He closed the workshop door and walked with his hands behind his back to the parking lot, looking at the sixty vehicles with a sense of accomplishment.
After being treated with sulfuric acid, the paint was gone, and even the color of the steel had turned a dark black, making it look even better.
"My Lord, look, can you give my Third Battalion a few of these vehicles?"
Liu Meng sidled up, looking at Fang Er expectantly.
As the Heavenly Fire Army expanded, the original battalions had become regiments.
"My Lord, what about my Fourth Regiment too!"
Wu Yong also chimed in.
Zhang Tian and Qi Sui also came closer to speak, but Fang Er stopped them with a hand gesture.
"Whoever's regiment wins the all-army competition will get all of them!"
"Yes, My Lord!"
The four rejoiced, as if they could already see their troops driving these vehicles across the grasslands.
ps: Second update.