Fang Er scratched his head, pulled out a cigar, nodded, and offered one to Old Li.
"Father, this subordinate was thinking that a junior's betrothal is not a major event, so I didn't invite you."
"Rest assured, when Xin'er gets married, you'll definitely get a cup of wedding wine!"
"Cough~ cough~ cough~"
As soon as Li Shimin took a puff of the cigar, he was choked by Fang Er's words, coughing for a long time. After he finally calmed down, he rolled his eyes at Fang Er and said,
"Do I look like someone who needs your cup of wedding wine?"
Fang Er chuckled, "You certainly don't need this cup of wedding wine."
"However, the courtyard of the Xi Yi Yi is now named after Qin Huai Pavilion. Do you want to go there and relax?"
"Oh, and the travel expenses of eight million taels. I'll ask Yue'er if her family is short of money. If not, you can keep it for yourself."
Both men understood without speaking. Old Li's implied meaning was that Fang Er had intercepted his bride, and a cup of wedding wine was definitely not enough.
Fang Er's meaning was that the eight beauties brought back from Daming were all being kept for him at Qin Huai Pavilion.
One for eight, would Old Li agree!
If he agreed, the travel expenses of eight million taels would be waived.
If he disagreed, he should return the money first.
Li Shimin was not stupid. He naturally understood the implied meaning. For eight million taels, he hadn't earned that much money even after investing in Fang Er's business for several years. If he asked the stingy Old Fang, that old man would probably stage another scene of hitting the pillar.
He got up from his chair, clutching his lower back with a solemn expression, and said,
"That's what I mean, I'm tired from flying all the way here. I'll go rest and take good care of your mother-in-law. Don't let her disturb me."
After speaking, he opened the door and walked directly towards the side courtyard.
Watching his receding back, Fang Er almost burst out laughing. It felt great to be owed money by someone!
It felt even better to be owed money by the Emperor and for him to be unable to repay it!
Meanwhile, in the courtyard outside, Empress Zhangsun learned Wu Mei's name from Chai Yue.
She had some reservations in her heart, but upon hearing that this little girl had become Fang Xin's fiancée, she instantly doted on her.
She pulled Wu Mei to her side, staring at the tender little face, and smiled, "Look at this little bride, a true beauty in the making. Our Xin'er will be so blessed!"
"Here, I'll give you this jade hairpin as a meeting gift from your maternal grandmother."
Saying that, Empress Zhangsun removed a jade hairpin from her head and personally pinned it in Wu Mei's hair, then continued with admiration,
"Indeed, with this on, you look even more beautiful."
Wu Mei did not refuse, but cleverly kowtowed and thanked her.
"Mei'er thanks the Empress Grandmother for the gift!"
Her kowtow made Empress Zhangsun even happier. She quickly reached out and helped her up from the ground, "You child, I can't help but like you. Get up quickly, the ground is cold, don't catch a chill in your legs."
The courtyard was filled with a peaceful scene. In the room, Fang Er opened the system panel.
After two months in Daming, it was time to refresh the system store and see what items were available.
Refreshable Count: 6
Redeemable Items: 20
System Sister was as reliable as ever, accumulating the refresh counts.
The system's automatically refreshed items were mobile phones, computers, and printers. After this redemption, Mei Tui 30 could unlock the open mall.
A box of 10 mobile phones cost only 200 points, which was great!
Although there was no network for now, who could say for sure in the future? What if a base station and a satellite were introduced?
Hehehehe!
After redeeming, Fang Er pressed that yellowish-brown button.
With a dazzling golden light, something unlockable appeared.
Upon closer inspection, they were all crops: wheat, peanuts, sweet potatoes, soybeans, cotton, etc., and vegetable seeds.
Among them, sweet potatoes and cotton reached 10 redemption counts and unlocked the open mall.
The second refresh brought tobacco and liquor stores.
Then came hardware stores, convenience stores, and home textile stores.
The last refresh finally allowed Fang Er to examine the items with leisure.
Harvesters, rotary tillers, fruit pickers, threshers, dryers, lawn mowers, and so on.
The 20 types of agricultural machinery made Fang Er want to hug the System Sister and give her a kiss.
With these items as samples, the workshop could mass-produce them. Coupled with the improved breeds developed over the years, filling the stomachs of the people of the Tang Dynasty would no longer be an empty promise.
Contentedly closing the system interface, he got up and walked outside.
After taking two steps, he suddenly remembered something, picked up the walkie-talkie, and issued an order to Su Feng.
"Have Commander Three fly to Chang'an and bring back some of the newly harvested wheat, still with the stalks and not yet threshed."
Although it seemed a bit like making a fuss, he had already thought of its use, and it was a great use!
The next day, the workshop began assessing its artisans.
Fang Er only oversaw the mechanical processing section. Other trades, such as carpentry, weaving, and painting, were determined by self-nomination, with the top three in each trade being awarded the title of Grand Artisan.
A venue was cordoned off outside the workshop for the assessment.
Machine tools, looms, and the like were already set up. Although it was troublesome, the necessary sense of ceremony had to be maintained.
Early in the morning, the assessment site was packed with onlookers.
The artisans' treatment in Shenyang City was well-known, so they were all curious about what these people were capable of to earn at least one string of copper coins a month.
Due to the assessment, the workshop was closed for a day. Artisans who were not eligible to participate also gathered around the inner perimeter to observe, carefully noting the gaps between themselves and others.
The first to be assessed was the most tightly guarded section of the entire workshop: the firearms workshop.
Normally, artisans from other workshops could enter and observe, but the firearms workshop strictly prohibited unauthorized personnel from entering.
On one side of the venue, several tables were arranged. Li Shimin sat in the middle, Fang Er to his left, and Li Tai to his right.
Seeing these artisans come on stage, Li Shimin asked in confusion, "Why are there only a few people?"
Fang Er explained with a smile, "Each workshop has thousands of artisans. If they all came out for assessment, it would take too much time."
"So, I've only allocated fifty spots for each workshop, and they have to nominate internally."
"One can tell how skilled an artisan is without them saying a word. Those who know the trade can tell the difference with just a glance."
The assessment for the firearms workshop artisans today was on gun barrels.
This part, which appeared to be the simplest part of a gun, was also the easiest to test skill.
It wasn't the gun barrels of the Yun Er style or the AK47 that they had made before, but the AWM gun barrels.