Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 247 Pressure 1
In the seventh month of the lunar calendar, Beijiwu returned to Luoyang after ending his summer retreat.

The special royal carriage went directly into the palace, and after returning home, he went about his work and rest as usual.

I didn't bring any local specialties or gifts when I came back from outside.

Since last year, Arctic Martial Arts has been consciously controlling unnecessary waste, as overly rapid progress and excessive care can cause problems.

Arctic Martial Arts has already realized this, which is why it has banned it.

When it comes to how to be an emperor, Beiji Wu doesn't need anyone to teach him.

An emperor doesn't live for others. From the day he forced others to kneel, Beiji Wu never expected to receive their gratitude.

I never thought of going to great lengths to please others.

You can buy whatever you want to eat with your own money.

If you want to be rich and live a good life, work hard.

Working is for survival, it is for meaning.

Survival is survival, and enjoyment is enjoyment.

Work is for making money, and enjoyment is for enjoying life.

Arctic military personnel consciously distinguish the relationship between the two. For example, they provide basic welfare benefits, but they don't manage everything. For instance, they have to buy things like ice cream and fruit with their own money.

If you don't differentiate and always expect the master to provide gifts, then if you return from a trip without bringing gifts for your subordinates, they will feel disappointed and resentful.

If it's not his responsibility, he won't interfere; Beijiwu doesn't believe in the loyalty of the women in his harem.

You get paid according to the amount of work you do; at most, you can provide a channel for shopping, not manage everything.

If you manage it, you'll have to take responsibility, so usually the channels won't be provided, and people can do whatever they want during their holidays.

With so many things to do every day, Beijiwu's approach to dealing with the troublesome matters of the harem was to keep things as simple as possible and not let them interfere with his important duties.

Inside the Divine Martial Palace, Beijiwu listened to the reports from the past two months.

The eunuch Teng He and dozens of ministers stood together to report on the situation, while Bei Ji Wu sat on the throne, drinking tea and listening.

"The first hand-made steam tractor was produced at the Huanghuai Provincial Machinery Factory."

"This tractor is entirely handmade and is steam-powered with an 18-horsepower steam engine."

Upon hearing this, Bei Jiwu calmly said, "Weren't we supposed to be working on internal combustion engines? Why are they still working on steam engines?"

Mao Sha, the head of the Huanghuai Provincial Machinery Factory, immediately knelt down, his face filled with terror.

"Your Majesty! We have been researching internal combustion engines. Steam tractors are traction machines developed by surplus workers based on combine harvesters. Their main purpose is to solve the problem of wheat grain storage and to promptly transport the wheat grains harvested by the combine harvester to the grain hopper pulled by the tractor, thus reducing the storage space required by the internal combustion combine harvester."

Bei Jiwu asked calmly, "The combine harvester isn't finished yet?"

Mao Sha kowtowed, not daring to raise his head, "Your Majesty, we are incompetent. The machinery is not running smoothly. There are still some problems with the wheels, tracks, and internal combustion cylinders. Although it can operate for an hour or two, it always breaks down."

After the pressure was passed down, all three provinces started developing internal combustion engines and combine harvesters.

Even a group of craftsmen can gather together to exchange experiences, summarize mistakes, and find the most reasonable design route.

However, many key issues are still material issues, and solving material issues requires solving forging issues.

The reason for getting involved with tractors was twofold: firstly, to mitigate the punishment, to produce something to appease the criminals and avoid being fined or beaten.

Secondly, we improved the technology. While improving forging technology and processes, we also managed to develop a relatively simple tractor.

A combine harvester not only needs to be able to walk, but also needs to be able to eat wheat and spit out grains.

Arctic Martial frowned; these people had actually managed to develop such sophisticated equipment.

The main problem at present is not that we can't make them, but that the combine harvesters we do make are prone to malfunctions.

Since the goods need to be inspected on-site, these people wouldn't dare to bring out something prone to malfunction and risk getting themselves killed.

Now that trains and electricity have been developed, as well as welding technology, and power plants and light bulbs are being manufactured, the level of technology is actually advancing rapidly.

Beijiwu said unhappily, "Continue the research. We'll consider other things when we've built a combine harvester that can run for five hours without breaking down."

Mao Sha breathed a sigh of relief and said gratefully, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Beijiwu casually said, "You can't expect me to do everything. Now that we have no internal worries and no external enemies, you've become complacent. I've already taught you all kinds of science and technology, but you're acting like children who never grow up, all you do is wait for me to solve your problems."

"I think all you guys think about is enjoying yourselves and going out to be comfortable. You can't even do basic things properly. All you do is daydream!"

"You're just staring at the meat in the pot while there's soup in your bowl." Beijiwu was in a bad mood. "There is indeed meat in the pot, but don't you even know if you deserve to sit at the table and eat!"

"The three provincial machinery factories can decide for themselves. The first to develop a combine harvester will be rewarded with 5,000 job opportunities." "The laziest one, since he has no ambition, should be punished. Half of his staff will be laid off. I don't need useless people in my slave households. No matter if it's Huanghuai Province, Shannong Province, or Pingyuan Province, no matter how many households there are, half of them will be laid off, and they will be allowed to become free people."

"I'm not just talking about machine factories."

Bei Jiwu sat down with his hands on the table, and a great terror permeated the dozens of officials kneeling below, making everyone's scalp tingle!
"It includes all public accounts in the province, including those held by officials."

"You can't even complete a small task, and you always force me to clean up your messes and solve your problems. This time, as long as it's my turn to take action, you will have to accept the punishment for your incompetence."

"I've given you too much time. If it's not finished by next fall, all three provinces will be cut."

The three northern provinces practically encompass all the mountain farmers, and now Beijiwu is planning to cut half of them...

Everyone knelt down.

"Your humble servant obeys! I will certainly not fail His Majesty's trust!!"

Resistance is futile; no one can persuade the Arctic militants.

Once Arctic Force makes a decision, it will definitely be able to carry it out.

They couldn't rebel or defy the imperial decree.

The soldiers and household registrations under his command simply do not obey orders.

For many, becoming a free citizen is worse than death, but it's not truly death.

The public servants are indeed Arctic Martial's own people, but the things they do are very simple and not irreplaceable.

Under a hierarchical management system, even if someone wanted to rebel, they couldn't gather enough people to join them.

Moreover, each region had the Embroidered Uniform Guard and Imperial Censors to supervise them, so those who rebelled first would only have their achievements claimed by others.

Arctic Wu is not afraid of his subordinates causing trouble; he simply resolves any disturbances.

It is the master's freedom to dismiss useless and incompetent lackeys.

The fear of being ousted and rebelled is not a problem that Arctic Martial faces.

When Beiji Wu killed people and forced them to become his slaves, he wasn't afraid of being stabbed in the back, let alone now that he's dismissed someone.

After "discussing" the harvester, the governor of East Island Port knelt down to report the situation.

"Your Majesty, the port of Dongdao has been completed, and the first steamship, the Dongyang, has been launched and is heading to the Daming Province in the Americas for a trial voyage, as ordered by Your Majesty."

After hearing this, Beijiwu nodded. "Not bad. What is the tonnage of steamships now?"

Wang Hai replied, "The current tonnage is 3200 tons, the speed is 18 kilometers per hour, and it can carry more than 1,000 tons of cargo. We can build 50 to 100 ships a year."

Arctic Martial Arts is fairly satisfied with the result.

"Okay, build one hundred ships according to the ratio of 7 cargo ships, 2 passenger ships, and 1 warship. Design places to install cannons on the warships, and they will be responsible for ocean patrols to prevent smuggling."

"Yes!" Wang Hai quickly agreed, feeling more confident now that he had a task to complete.

The newly appointed Governor of Pingyuan Province, Lu Fei, immediately reported: "Your Majesty! This year, two railways have been laid in Pingyuan Province, successfully opening up the railway to Dongdao Port."

"The Plain Province Textile Factory has introduced steam spinning machines, each of which can spin 50 meters of yarn and weave 60 meters of cloth per day, which is more than 30 times that of manpower."

Beijiwu asked directly, "How many people work at the Pingyuan Province textile factory?"

Lu Fei sensed trouble was brewing. "There are now a total of 1,000 cotton mills with 15 machines, and they can weave 200 bolts of cloth a day."

Beijiwu didn't ask about that again, but inquired about the rest of the situation.

Grain production is still increasing, technology is advancing, and cement and steel production is booming, but people are becoming numb.

After the meeting, the three provinces began a life-or-death struggle.

Either you die or I die!
Under immense pressure, more and more young people and craftsmen are taking the initiative to learn about the manufacture of harvesters.

This is no longer just a matter involving one or two people.

If the machinery team fails to complete the task, the entire province's public households will suffer.

Arctic Martial Arts has the power to drive away or even kill the useless ones.

Arctic Martial Arts has never cared about public grievances.

What you can give, you can take back.

In this life-or-death race, whoever runs the slowest will be eliminated.

(End of this chapter)