Fang Er did not know what Old Sun was thinking. After finishing his instructions for Zhang Daxiong and the training of the palace maids, he got up and left.
He arrived at the side of the workshop, where Li Tai was sitting properly in front of the workbench.
The helicopter had already been disassembled into a pile of parts, sorted and packed into a small box.
Li Tai was currently holding a part in his left hand and a ruler in his right, measuring the dimensions of each surface of the part.
Fang Er's footsteps did not have any impact on him.
The boy carefully measured each data point several times, and only after confirming its accuracy did he record it on paper.
After measuring a part completely, he would then use the recorded data and the shape of the part to draw a corresponding diagram.
It was not until he had finished measuring the part in his hands that Fang Er cleared his throat twice.
"Shanzhang!"
Li Tai turned his head upon hearing the sound and saw Fang Er. He quickly stood up.
"No need to get up, sit down."
"How much more is left to complete the drawing?"
Fang Er casually took the booklet in front of Li Tai.
A small toy helicopter had already filled a thick stack of paper before it was even fully measured.
"Reporting to Shanzhang, only three more parts are left before completion."
As Li Tai spoke, he took out the parts he mentioned, which had not yet been measured, from the small box.
Fang Er glanced at them and shook his head: "These three do not need to be drawn anymore."
"What you need to do now is to enlarge these drawings you have made by sixteen times according to the scale. Readshu Le."
"This remote-controlled helicopter is a 1:16 model, so magnifying it by sixteen times will give you the size of the real aircraft."
Li Tai nodded, took the booklet back, took out another booklet, and began to calculate the data.
He also knew that the last three parts were not important, which was why he saved them for last.
This was because those three parts were simply the three rows of seats in the helicopter.
Fang Er stood there watching for a while, until Li Tai had finished changing the data on a sheet of paper to the actual data. He then took that sheet.
"Calculate slowly, don't rush, be sure to ensure the accuracy of the data."
"Then Shanzhang, you?"
Li Tai looked at the drawing Fang Er had taken away with confusion.
"Didn't we say before that once you finish the drawings, Shanzhang will help you build the large aircraft!"
"Keep going, work hard!"
Fang Er said with a smile, patted Li Tai's head, and then turned to inspect the workshop.
Li Tai nodded heavily at his retreating figure. If this aircraft could be built, he would definitely return to Chang'an to surprise his father.
He also wanted to prove to him that even if a prince was not eligible to inherit the throne, what he could do for the Great Tang was no less than the Crown Prince!
Ignoring Li Tai's thoughts, Fang Er was now looking at the various materials that Zhao Gang had collected after arriving here.
He was indeed his capable assistant. In the few months since arriving in Shenyang, he had collected two entire shelves of samples.
Various ores filled the shelves to the brim.
Moreover, each ore had a slip of paper attached, indicating its origin.
Zhao Gang had a mineral atlas drawn by Chai Yue from mineral resource books, so each ore was also labeled with its material type.
Building a helicopter was unlike building a car that runs on the ground. If a steel structure was used, the dead weight would be too enormous, so Fang Er had to find aluminum ore.
Then, refine it and produce aluminum alloy.
After searching both shelves, he finally found a gray-white, brownish, earthy mineral at the very bottom of one shelf.
It was labeled: Bauxite, presented by Liu Huazi of Qingzhou.
Fang Er was astonished. It was Liu Huazi, the fur merchant who had acquired Plot A-1? Kanshu Wu. Xia.
After weighing the real bauxite in his hand a few times, he turned and left the workshop.
He called Su Feng to prepare the carriage and headed straight for Shenyang.
In Shenyang city, the original Ordnance Bureau had its walls dismantled and was used as a temporary market.
Various businesses had set up storefronts here. After negotiating a deal with a customer, they would proceed to the warehouse outside the city for delivery.
Liu Huazi's shop was also here.
After several inquiries, Su Feng finally led Fang Er to Liu Huazi's shop.
It was a three-bay storefront. Inside, a table was placed facing the entrance, and on the table was a whole white tiger skin!
Fang Er curiously leaned in to examine it. There was not a single wound to be seen.
"Greetings, Gongye!"
Liu Huazi, who was eating sunflower seeds in the shop, saw Fang Er enter and quickly stepped forward to pay his respects.
Fang Er nodded and continued to examine the white tiger skin.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, good stuff, truly good stuff! There isn't even a single flaw!"
"Hahaha, Gongye, you don't know, this skin is the treasure of my shop!"
"I bought it from an old forest two hundred li north of the city. This white tiger was shot in the eye with an arrow, so the skin was not damaged at all."
Liu Huazi was very proud of this white tiger skin. There was no better tiger skin in the entire Liaodong.
"It's worthy of being top-grade! How much is this skin?"
Fang Er was indeed very fond of this tiger skin. Its black and white markings, without a trace of impurity, could be bought and made into a robe for Chai Yue.
Liu Huazi's expression instantly became a little stiff.
This tiger skin was his treasure for attracting customers! Otherwise, he wouldn't have placed it in such a prominent position.
Since this tiger skin was displayed, his shop's business had increased by at least thirty percent!
However, considering Fang Er's identity, Liu Huazi gritted his teeth and made a decision. He walked to the table, rolled up the tiger skin directly, and handed it to Su Feng.
Then, he smiled and said to Fang Er, "Since Gongye likes it, let's not talk about selling. This skin is a small token of my shop's respect for Gongye."
Fang Er smiled, seeing the forced smile on his face.
"It seems that businessmen, astute businessmen, none of them are fools."
"This tiger skin will be considered purchased by this Gongye. As for the price."
As he spoke, he pulled over a chair, sat down, and placed the bauxite from his pocket onto the vacant table.
"Take a look at this first. Is this what you brought from Qingzhou?"
Liu Huazi quickly picked up the bauxite from the table upon hearing this.
After examining it for a while, he nodded heavily: "Gongye, this is indeed what my subordinate had someone bring from Qingzhou."
"Before, the craftsmen in your manor said they wanted to collect minerals, and not limited to any specific type."
"So, I thought of this thing from my hometown."
"The blacksmiths in my hometown usually burn this soil and use it for the inner lining of the stove. It is very fire-resistant."
"Therefore, when my subordinate sent someone back with goods, they brought some back and gave it to Craftsman Zhao."