Douluo: A Century-old Legend I Am the Second Uncle Chenxin

Chapter 1512 This is our domain
Asking for recommendation votes
……

Xuanhuang Tang Mansion - Council Hall

后日
The heads of various branches and elders gathered in the hall, their gazes fixed intently on the two people standing solemnly below—Xia Ying and Ding Lang.

Xia Ying walked to the central position of the hall, facing the scrutinizing gazes of many people gathered there.

Her face was calm and composed, and her words were clear but not deliberately raised. Her steady voice carried perfectly through the solemn hall: "Elders and leaders of the Tang family, I am Xia Ying. I will now briefly describe the core requirements for the types of civilian products that the Chen family intends to commission your family to produce."

She then began to outline her points, speaking calmly and methodically, with a strong sense of structure and organization: "The main commissioned projects are as follows:"
Basic implements: such as improved components for refined iron farm tools—requiring enhanced blade wear resistance and overall balance; standard cookware inner pots—made of refined wrought iron, requiring uniform wall thickness and no sand holes; bearings of specific specifications—with inner diameter errors strictly controlled within a tolerance of 'positive and negative half a micrometer'…

She clearly pointed out that these were all mass-produced products that the forging workshop saw every day, and their core competitiveness lay in "reliability and durability" and "high standardization".

Structural components: such as civilian passenger/freight carriages, including structurally reinforced longitudinal beams, extended load-bearing chassis beams, and key reinforced suspension joints—requiring overall structural strength and fatigue resistance higher than that of conventional carriages.

Precision components: There are also some higher specification requirements, such as special dynamic balance rotating blades for ground source heat pump systems, which need to meet high strength, resistance to crystal corrosion and stringent micron-level dynamic balance tolerance requirements.

She spoke concisely, without a single superfluous word, then bowed slightly and silently returned to her seat.

After Xia Ying sat down, Ding Lang from the Armed Forces Department calmly stood up.

This lean and powerfully built man swept his gaze across all the Tang family's high-ranking members present with the sharpness of a hawk: "Gentlemen, my name is Ding Lang."

His voice was deep and powerful, containing a metallic quality: "What I am about to do is not to introduce the finished product, but to focus on the fundamental requirements of manufacturing—namely, technical standards."

His eyes were sharp, and he went straight to the point, targeting the key performance indicators related to core processes:
"First and foremost, the precision of crystallization and soul-guiding metal processing. In the cold forging process, the internal crystallization patterns must withstand an impact of up to 3,700 MPa without producing penetrating cracks; this is the tolerance threshold."

"Secondly, certain key structural components must undergo 10,000 cycles of equivalent load testing, and the structure must show no signs of plastic deformation. This is the standard for passing the ultimate fatigue strength test."

"Furthermore, for the composite armor blanks to be forged in layers, the interlayer melt penetration rate must reach more than 98%, and the total thickness tolerance must be strictly limited to the range of 'plus or minus 0.05 mm'. This is an inviolable ironclad rule of process tolerance."

"..."

Ding Lang's words were like hammer blows striking steel, each word resounding and landing squarely on every indicator.

He refused to utter a single detail about what equipment these parts would ultimately be used in or what they would be assembled into.

This deliberate stance of "only talking about the scale, not the purpose" echoes Chen Zhang's previous statement that "military equipment products involve secrets," thus subtly increasing the weight and necessity of the requirements.

In the hall.

The head of the family, Tang Jigen, sat in the second seat to the left of the main seat, his expression solemn and focused. His fingertips unconsciously traced the edge of the rosewood table, as if he were sketching and trying to understand those abstract numerical curves.

Tang Yusheng straightened his back, his eyes following Ding Lang's explanation with rapid analysis. When their eyes met, what he conveyed was not difficulty or hesitation, but a calm confidence deeply rooted in his blood that "this is a familiar territory for us."

The other heads of the various departments and elders either held their breath or nodded slightly. Several master craftsmen with exceptional skills exchanged quick glances, their eyes flashing with understanding.

Whether it's the seemingly ordinary "people's livelihood items" such as farm tool components, cookware liners, and bearing parts listed by Xia Ying, or the stringent and almost "tricky" parameters mentioned by Ding Lang concerning the tolerance threshold of crystallized soul-guiding metal, the fatigue strength of structural parts, and the composite blank lamination tolerance—the technical level and challenges they contain not only do not deviate from the scope of craftsmanship accumulated by the Xuanhuang Tang family over hundreds of years, but also accurately hit many of the core forging techniques that the Fangtou family is proud of but keeps secret.

After Ding Lang finished speaking, the hall fell into a brief silence.

Tang Jigen withdrew his gaze from Ding Lang, slowly scanning the clansmen present, before making extremely brief eye contact with Tang Yusheng across the long table and Tang Jinghe, who sat upright at a higher position.

The three remained calm on the surface, their nodding movements were clear and synchronized.

……

Chen Zhang sat upright in the chief guest seat of the council hall, calmly watching Xia Ying and Ding Lang meticulously perform their explanation duties.

He understood perfectly well that all the standards and requirements presented here had already undergone countless rounds of collision, deduction, and calibration with Tang Yuchen through Lu Xiaoxiao, Xia Ying, Ding Lang, and others before that proposal was submitted.

What are the feasibility considerations? How much room is there for cost reduction? Where can we find a foothold to break down the Tang family's defenses? All of these questions have been etched into the minds of the core members of the Chen family.

The seemingly objective and detailed technical explanations presented in the council hall at this moment are merely a natural public display of the tacit understanding that "the Tang family can do it" and "the Chen family's requirements are within a reasonable range."

……

After Xia Ying and Ding Lang finished their brief explanations, the solemn atmosphere in the hall eased slightly.

The elders and heads of the various branches of the ancestral hall took turns asking questions, their voices rising and falling in the vast hall.

Some people are scrutinizing the specific testing methods for bearing tolerances, some are inquiring about the optimal heat treatment curve for crystallized guide metals, and others are tentatively asking about the potential future production demand for some high-specification blades.

Xia Ying and Ding Lang responded appropriately. The former had a clear mind and explained various manufacturing specifications in detail; the latter was as calm as a rock, not giving an inch on anything beyond the scope of confidentiality, only repeatedly emphasizing the importance of the bottom line of the process. The exchange lasted for nearly half an hour.

Finally, an elder of the Tang family, sitting in the middle with white hair and beard, put down the teacup he had been turning: "May I ask Minister Xia, how large is the scale of your family's order for these consumer goods?"

His voice, though soft, clearly suppressed the other trivial discussions, and the question went straight to the core of the "contract manufacturing" cooperation.

Xia Ying stood in the hall, her gaze calmly meeting that of the elder and all the implicitly assessing eyes behind him, her attitude poised and generous: "The order volume depends on your family itself—how much surplus capacity your workshop can contribute, we can allocate accordingly to meet the demand."

Upon hearing this, many people looked surprised and doubtful, and even Tang Jinghe, who had been resting with his eyes closed, lifted his eyelids.

The elder who had just asked the question frowned, his voice tinged with doubt and a barely perceptible sneer: "What is the meaning of this? Does your esteemed family intend to swallow all the surplus craftsmanship of my Xuanhuang Tang family in one gulp?"

"While your family is undoubtedly wealthy, your foundation lies in the medicinal herb market. How much of the daily, trivial business of farming tools, cooking utensils, and carriage parts can you possibly absorb?"

He leaned forward slightly, with a mixture of pride and skepticism befitting a member of a family of blacksmiths, “My Tang family boasts hundreds of master craftsmen with exceptional skills, and more than a dozen large workshops scattered throughout the county, all operating at full capacity…”

Xia Ying was not moved by the implied doubt; instead, a faint but meaningful smile curved her lips.

She did not argue, but simply raised her chin slightly: "Please do not confuse my family with others."

"Our Chen family targets the entire mainland market, and I'll be frank about that."

"Just a few days ago, my Chen family opened its first 'super market' in the East Market of Chang'an City, which sells everyday items and is bustling with activity."

Her gaze swept across the entire area: "This super market, like the medicinal herb market, will spread across the entire continent."

"This is a crucial step in our nation's development of new retail formats."

……

The timeline goes back to June 18th, in the core area of ​​Chang'an City's eastern district.

A brand-new building with a vast area and a high lintel was officially unveiled under the watchful eyes of countless people.

Above the entrance, the seven gilded characters "Chang'an Supermarket" shone brightly in the morning light.

As soon as the camp opened, it was already teeming with people, bustling with activity.

The sounds of vendors calling out prices in different accents, the rolling of carts, and children playing mingled together, creating a huge and continuous buzzing sound.

On both sides of the surprisingly wide main aisle, shelves, as dense as a forest, were stacked one on top of another, piled high with everything from exquisite kitchen utensils, sturdy farm tools and steel parts, bundles of various fabrics, to baskets of fresh fruits and vegetables, bags of refined rice and flour, and shelves of jars and bottles of seasonings... a wide variety of goods, all-encompassing and in enormous quantities.

The crowd of customers was shoulder to shoulder, pushing specially made, large carts piled high with goods, and the queue at the checkout was almost endless.

On this day, the enormous monster known as the "Super Market" tallied its sales figures at dusk, and the total revenue had already surpassed the threshold of one million gold coins.

This amount is undoubtedly much higher than that of a regular market day, due to its grand opening and the large amount of stock prepared for dumping.

However, based on this momentum and the cost amortization of the expansion, the Finance Department and the Management Department of the Chen Family have already asserted that the total turnover of this single "Chang'an Super Market" will definitely not be less than 5000 million gold coins in the future full-year operating cycle.

Based on this deduction, the family's central authority has decided that by the first half of next year, this type of "super market" will be established one by one in at least ten important hubs and populous cities selected across the mainland, forming a network.

……

"Okay, I'll give you a specific number."

Xia Ying paused slightly, then said with great weight, "A guaranteed minimum purchase amount of ten million gold coins per year."

"Ten...ten million?!"

"hiss--"

"Orders for everyday consumer goods only?!"

"Really?!" Another elder in yellow robes suddenly stood up, his voice hoarse.

Xia Ying smiled and said, "Of course! This is the foundation of long-term order cooperation. Since my Chen family has made this statement, we can specify the amount of this guaranteed amount in black and white in the terms of the draft cooperation memorandum."

(End of this chapter)