I became a prince in a martial arts world.

In the days that followed, besides practicing martial arts every day, Wang Yu would frequently visit the ironworks workshop. His explanation to the household staff was that he wanted to keep an eye on the craftsmen to forge a good sword so that it wouldn't be ruined by any further damage.

Li Yunxiu continued to handle government affairs.

Qianqian continued to wander around the mansion. After she revealed Wang Yu's identity, she resumed her usual behavior as if nothing had happened. She did not rush to ask Wang Yu to find "The Source of All Streams," or rather, she was searching for "The Source of All Streams" on her own.

Zhao Yingjie, on the other hand, followed Wang Yu every day, and the expression on his face gradually changed from doubt to shock.

The Great Vajra Temple did not come to demand an explanation, nor did the successors of Zhaixingzi and Zhuixingzi appear.

The Qishan bandits certainly didn't dare to attack Longshan Prefecture, but they did launch several raids down the mountain and clashed with the Chengyuan Army patrol team that was resting in Fengming Prefecture, resulting in losses on both sides.

In truth, compared to defending against the Qiang army in the northern desert, garrisoning Fengming Prefecture and patrolling to protect the northwest trade routes is a real rest.

Spring passed, and summer arrived.

On the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, under a bright and sunny sky, Wang Yu received good news.

"Steel has been produced! Steel has been produced!"

In the ironworks, the master craftsman rushed to Wang Yu, his eyes wide with astonishment. "Your Highness's blast furnace is truly effective! It produced several thousand kilograms of steel in one go!"

Zhao Yingjie's mouth was slightly open, and his pupils were momentarily unfocused.

Wang Yu, however, was not surprised, and was not even particularly happy. "But the quality of steel produced by blast furnace steelmaking is inconsistent, and it still needs to be forged and processed later."

Blast furnace steelmaking is a mass production process, and in terms of actual quality, it is not as good as the steel that blacksmiths forge by hand. However, the production volume of steel that is forged by hand is too small.

The master craftsman shook his head. "Your Highness is overthinking it. Ordinary soldiers don't need such fine steel. Besides, weapons don't use much steel, so they can be forged again. But this steel is enough to be used directly as armor."

"Several thousand kilograms! Several thousand kilograms!" Zhao Yingjie couldn't help but grab Wang Yu's hand. "This is just one blast furnace! With such a large output, it's enough to put all 50,000 soldiers in armor!"

Even among the soldiers of the Prince of Zhenxi's mansion, only 10% wore full armor. The rest of the soldiers could only wear armor on key areas, making them vulnerable to injury during battle. Once infected, the consequences were unpredictable.

"I see!" Wang Yu said knowingly.

After all, he had only been in this world for a little over three months and didn't know much about it. The original owner of this body had no relevant memories, and he himself didn't know these details about history in his previous life.

Judging from the performance of Zhao Yingjie and the master craftsman alone, this blast furnace should be quite successful.

Wang Yu finally breathed a sigh of relief. After all, he had built this blast furnace from scratch, and he had also brainstormed with the master craftsmen in the workshop to supplement various details, from structure to fuel.

Now that he has succeeded, Wang Yu feels a great sense of accomplishment, no less than when he successfully cultivated the fourth level of "Reflecting Fiery Light".

It's all thanks to their own hard work!

Once the crucial first step is completed, the rest is easy.

"Expand the iron smelting workshops, improve the treatment of craftsmen, and separate the weapons workshops from the civilian workshops. Use the surplus steel to make civilian stoves, iron pots, kitchen knives and the like for sale."

Wang Yu made arrangements in an orderly manner. As the saying goes, even if you haven't eaten pork, you've seen pigs run. He can't compare to those powerful figures who travel through time, but he can still manage this most basic kind of management.

Zhao Yingjie added, "The blast furnace steelmaking method must be kept secret!"

Wang Yu said nonchalantly, "Then let's keep it a secret. We'll keep it a secret for as long as we can."

"By the way, now that we have a perfume workshop and an ironworks workshop, we shouldn't save all the extra money we earn each year. We should use it to buy land as much as possible," Wang Yu instructed. "Even if the price is slightly higher, we should buy more."

Having money to buy land is a perfectly normal thing to do, so Zhao Yingjie agreed without hesitation.

……

The news of blast furnace steelmaking could not be kept from Li Yunxiu.

"Several thousand kilograms in one batch?" Li Yunxiu nearly dropped her calligraphy brush. "How did you do that?"

Wang Yu gestured, "Just build it like this, construct it like that, then stack it high enough to let the wind blow on it."

Li Yunxiu clenched her teeth, unsure of what to say.

"Should I draw up a design and send it to the emperor?" Wang Yu asked jokingly.

Li Yunxiu, "..."

Li Yunxiu thought for a moment, then shook her head, "No need."

The imperial court was not short of steel, and although Li Yunxiu had never actually been on the battlefield, he was a man of military knowledge. He knew that the imperial court's true elite troops were already armored, and that ordinary soldiers, even if they had armor, could not wear it, as wearing it would only hinder their movement and combat effectiveness.

Although the imperial court has a large army, not every soldier is as physically fit as the 50,000 elite troops of the Prince of Zhenxi's mansion. Otherwise, the imperial court would not have coveted the 50,000 elite troops of the Prince of Zhenxi's mansion.

"The world is unstable now, and many rebel armies are not fully equipped and have few soldiers and armor. If someone with ulterior motives were to discover the method of blast furnace steelmaking, it might actually make up for the rebels' weaknesses."

Li Yunxiu made a decision: "Keep it a secret! It must be kept a secret!"

Wang Yu was a little confused. How come Li Yunxiu and Zhao Yingjie both came to the same conclusion from different starting points?

"There's another matter. With the establishment of the perfume workshop and the iron smelting workshop, the scale of the business may continue to grow. I've also asked Zhao Yingjie to continue purchasing land in the three prefectures."

Wang Yu said, "The workshop will naturally be handled by professionals. I intend to establish a related business department, which will be headed by Zhao Yingjie."

Each workshop involves a small amount of wealth and requires specialized knowledge. They are all managed by the Prince of Zhenxi's Mansion, but foreign trade is a major undertaking that not everyone can handle.

Zhao Yingjie is a senior member of the household and is also tactful in handling affairs. He is indeed the best candidate for this position. At least Li Yunxiu couldn't think of anyone more suitable than Zhao Yingjie after thinking for a long time.

And so it was settled. Zhao Yingjie went from being the steward who greeted and saw off guests at the Prince's Palace to becoming the Minister of Commerce and Trade at the Prince's Palace.

As a result, Li Yunxiu did not object, but Zhao Yingjie shouted and complained that he was unwilling.

"I just want to stay by Yu-ge'er's side. Before, dealing with perfume sales was just a side job, but now it's become our main job?"

Zhao Yingjie grumbled in dissatisfaction, inadvertently revealing his true feelings: "This work is too tiring, I don't want to do it. I haven't even gone to the brothel with Yu-ge'er yet!"

With a gloomy face, Zhao Rong grabbed Zhao Yingjie by the ear and dragged him back to his own courtyard. Immediately afterwards, Zhao Yingjie's wailing screams echoed from Longyue Tower.

"Thank you for your kind words, young master. He will certainly do his job well and live up to your trust!"

After a moment, Zhao Rong, dragging the seemingly unharmed Zhao Yingjie, bowed and said to Wang Yu, "If he doesn't perform well, you may court-martial him!"

Zhao Yingjie's face was filled with despair. "Are you still my father?"

Wang Yu laughed heartily, "Yingjie will still live in the manor from now on, and he will also serve as the steward. I will visit him often."

Zhao Rong slapped Zhao Yingjie across the forehead with a loud thud, "Aren't you going to thank the young master?"

"Brother Yu is still the best to me!" Zhao Yingjie chuckled, completely oblivious to the fact that Yu was the best to him.

Zhao Rong sighed helplessly, but he was in a good mood. After all, Wang Yu was adding responsibilities to Zhao Yingjie, which was a sign of closeness and trust, and it was also a way to train his son's abilities.

He was happier than if his own son had benefited from it.

The first thing Zhao Yingjie did after taking office was to supervise the ironworks to forge a sword for Wang Yu that could cut through iron like mud!

……

"Whether it's sharp or not, I don't know, but it's definitely valuable."

Wang Yu was speechless as he looked at the longsword that Zhao Yingjie handed to him like a precious treasure.

The sword's hilt is carved with a tiger's head, the guard and scabbard opening are shaped like a coiled dragon, the hilt is wrapped with Shu brocade, and the scabbard, made of sharkskin and brass, is carved with cloud patterns and inlaid with nine gemstones on each side.

Before the sword was even drawn, Wang Yu felt an overwhelming aura of wealth and power.

Is it flamboyant?

Not flashy at all!

Drawing your sword is true arrogance!

"choke--"

Wang Yu drew his longsword, and the bright silver light of the sword almost illuminated the entire courtyard. The beautiful, flowing patterns on the spine of the sword were natural, smooth, intricate, and beautiful. The blade reflected the sunlight, and a sliver of dazzling light flowed from the hilt to the tip, almost blinding people.

"What a fine sword!" Wang Yu exclaimed.

"Of course it's a fine sword!" Zhao Yingjie introduced. "It was forged by master craftsmen in the workshop using the finest steel through countless hammerings. They've never forged such a fine sword in their entire lives."

According to Master Liu, even the legendary swordsmiths Gan Jiang and Mo Xie were no better than this. He could forge such a fine sword; after he dies, he can finally meet the legendary master craftsman Ou Yezi.

Wang Yu was very satisfied. "What's the name of this sword?"

Zhao Yingjie said with a grin, "Please, Brother Yu, bestow a name upon me!"

sensible!

Wang Yu looked at the longsword in his hand, "A dragon coiled and a tiger crouching; the dragon corresponds to the Qian hexagram, and the tiger to the Lü hexagram, so let's call it..."

Zhao Yingjie probed, "The Qianlu Sword?"

Wang Yu shook his head, "The Dragon's Regret is associated with metal, so one should guard against arrogance and impetuosity. The Tiger's Tail is associated with fire, so one should be in danger but not harmed. This is in line with the characteristics of my sword cultivation, which is metal and my internal energy is fire. So why not call it the Tail-Rising Sword?"

Zhao Yingjie blinked, then immediately gave a thumbs up, "Excellent!"

Li Yunxiu and Qianqian, who were standing next to her, both rolled their eyes.

"You've taken seven or eight turns, aren't you tired?" Li Yunxiu complained.

Qianqian felt it was a waste that such a powerful weapon had been given such a strange name. "It would be better to just call it the Dragon Tiger Sword."

"No, let's call it Kangwei Sword." Wang Yu shook his head. "If you can think of a name, just have the workshop forge weapons for you."

Zhao Yingjie chuckled and immediately pulled out two more short swords from his sleeve, presenting them to Li Yunxiu and Qianqian respectively.

Li Yunxiu's short sword scabbard is carved with mountain peaks and clouds, while Qianqian's short sword scabbard is carved with the moon shining on a hundred flowers. Both were specially engraved by master craftsmen according to their names and preferences, and were exquisitely crafted, noble and elegant.

"Distant swords don't require the same level of resilience as long swords. According to Master Liu, these two short swords are even sharper than the Kangwei sword. The two ladies should be very careful when handling them," Zhao Yingjie reminded them.

Wang Yu chuckled and reminded him, "Make a good knife for yourself and Uncle Rong as well."

Zhao Yingjie nodded repeatedly and continued, "They're all finished. Not only for the people in the manor, but I've also made new weapons for the other generals and captains. I've also made a bright silver dragon spear for Brother Long. We're just waiting for him to come over."