Chai Shao quietly pushed open the door and saw his daughter's appearance, knowing she was missing her mother again.
"Yue'er, are you missing your mother again?"
"Ah! No, no."
Chai Yue quickly wiped the tears from her eyes.
"It's not just you, your father misses her too! Your mother has been gone for four years!"
Chai Shao couldn't help but sigh.
The days they fought side-by-side on the battlefield were the most fulfilling days of his life!
"Yue'er, what are you looking at?"
Chai Shao saw what looked like a poem on the paper on the table and couldn't help but lean in to take a look.
When he saw the contents, his heart rejoiced.
Chai Yue was a little shy and quickly put the poem away.
"Yue'er, you're fifteen this year, aren't you?"
"Yes, Father."
Chai Yue didn't understand why her father suddenly brought this up.
"If your mother were still here, she would definitely be arranging your marriage. But since she's gone, I can't let you be wronged. Are there any young gentlemen in Chang'an city that you fancy?"
"Father! I won't marry! I'll stay with you my whole life!"
Chai Yue's face turned crimson with shyness.
How could she speak of such matters?
"If you don't say, then Father will speak. I've met a young friend, only a year older than you, accomplished in both literature and martial arts, handsome too. And he's loyal and righteous, even daring to confront a noble family for a maid. What do you say, consider him?"
Chai Shao said with a chuckle.
Chai Yue remained silent.
But her heart was filled with unspoken thoughts.
The customs of the Great Tang were relatively open, and it was common for women to go out.
She had never even heard of the person her father mentioned.
"Right, that poem you just put away, I think it was written by that young friend of mine."
They say daughters are their father's little padded jackets, the most intimate.
From the moment he saw the poem on the table, he guessed that his daughter had a good impression of Fang Er.
In ancient times, seeing the writing was like seeing the person.
The fact that his daughter would place that poem on her table showed that she liked it.
"Father, are you saying you know the person who wrote that poem?"
Upon hearing his words, Chai Yue blurted out the question in her excitement.
After asking, she regretted it, and her face turned even redder.
"My friend is sixteen years old and currently holds a fifth-rank official position, and has also been enfeoffed as a county baron. However, his parents are no longer alive, so in a way, you are both of similar fate."
"Alright, enough said. If you're interested, just tell me. I promise to make it a beautiful occasion for you!"
Chai Shao finished speaking and walked out of the study, hands behind his back.
Heh heh!
Fang Anzhi, you won't escape my grasp!
Meanwhile, Fang Er had already returned to Fang Family Village.
"Young Master, you must be tired. Qing'er will get you some food."
Xiao Qing, seeing him return, quickly darted into the kitchen.
Not knowing when Fang Er would return, she had prepared some mutton, which had been simmering on a low heat in the pot.
Fang Er loved this kind of food.
He ate the mutton with flatbread and chili, sweating profusely.
After filling his stomach, he played with the puppies for a while before heading to the workshop.
Since Li Er had given his word, he could now go all out!
Three thousand spots!
The thought of it was exhilarating!
Upon arriving at the workshop, he gave Zhao Hu only four words: "Recruit soldiers! Three thousand!"
Zhao Hu was immediately excited!
Having followed Fang Er into battle twice, he, like Zhuzi, had fallen in love with the thrilling scenes!
A man!
Should be on the battlefield!
He quickly assured Fang Er, "Young Master, rest assured! In three days, I guarantee the task will be completed!"
After speaking, he set off with Sun Zhou and Ma Chao to act separately.
Relying only on Fang Family Village would have enough young men, but it would inevitably affect the crops in the fields.
Therefore, they directly expanded the recruitment range to the entire Yunmen Township.
Fang Er believed that a source of soldiers was never a problem.
With soldiers, there would be the corresponding weapons.
He called Zhao Gang and gave him the order to produce firearms.
Zhao Gang was also very excited.
Besides their basic monthly wages, these craftsmen received bonuses based on the quantity of goods produced.
Therefore, they were naturally willing to work more.
But when he heard the quantity Fang Er wanted, he was dumbfounded.
"Sir, if you want so many, I'm afraid the materials won't be enough!"
Fang Er calculated silently.
Three thousand Yun Type 1 firearms would require sixty to seventy thousand catties of steel.
Three thousand sets of plate armor would also require sixty to seventy thousand catties of steel.
Combined, that's nearly a hundred and thirty to forty thousand!
What about cast iron?
Holy cow!
Over a million catties!
More than ten thousand shi!
"How many steel ingots do we have right now?" Fang Er asked.
"Not many. We only produce five hundred shi of cast iron per month, which is far from enough!"
Zhao Gang said with a grimace.
"Alright, I'll go find Changsun Chong later."
Fang Er dared not approach Changsun Wuji.
Having obtained the exclusive rights to the iron ore in Goguryeo, he suspected the man held a grudge against him.
If things turned sour, even the five hundred shi might be lost.
"Sir, there's something, I don't know if I should say it."
Zhao Gang said cautiously.
"Speak, what can't be said?"
"The roads in the village are fine for people and horses, but if we frequently transport iron ore, I'm afraid they won't hold up."
His words served as a reminder to Fang Er.
In his previous life, he often saw roads being destroyed by heavy trucks.
But because the carrying capacity of ox carts was small in this era, he had overlooked this.
However, if large-scale transportation were involved, these dirt roads would definitely not suffice.
Cement!
Currently, he lacked the ability and didn't know where to get asphalt. The best solution was cement!
"Go and call all the craftsmen over. I have something to tell them later."
After speaking, Fang Er entered his workshop.
Cement, cement, cement...
Fang Er muttered, rummaging through the materials book for a formula.
Fortunately, he had acquired all the books that could be exchanged that time.
Otherwise, for matters like this, he would be completely clueless!
Finally!
In the book "Inorganic Chemistry," he found the formula for cement.
Limestone and clay are the main raw materials. After crushing, batching, and grinding, raw meal is formed, which is then fed into a cement kiln to calcine into clinker. Finally, the clinker is ground with an appropriate amount of gypsum.
The book did not provide a detailed formula, but merely explained the principles and usage techniques.
But that was enough.
It would just take a few more trials.
He had plenty of manpower!
Fang Er put the book back into the system space.
When he walked out of the workshop, the craftsmen were all waiting outside his door.
After briefly explaining the requirements, the craftsmen began to act.
Since Fang Family Village only had clay and no limestone, Fang Er dispatched another team to search for it.
Two days later, Zhuzi led a team, pulling a cart of limestone back.
They had found it in a mountain about thirty li from Fang Family Village.
Limestone was not a rare commodity.
It was often used in ancient times to make tripartite soil, so they only needed to ask around a bit to find the location.