People in the Qin Dynasty, entertained during the Warring States period

Ten days later.

Cao Ze began living a life of extravagant spending.

In order to create a satisfactory and safe Faraday cage, he directly took out a gold note worth 100 gold coins and exchanged it for 950 taels of gold at the Iron Blood Alliance's bank.

It wasn't that he wanted to build the Faraday cage out of gold, but rather that he needed to pay wages to many blacksmiths.

Because there's a commission involved in exchanging gold coins for gold, businesses, due to low profit margins, generally prefer to accept gold rather than gold coins. This is unless they're specifically catering to the nobility.

To avoid drawing attention, Cao Ze personally carried the gold chest onto the donkey cart, and took the opportunity to continue pondering the matter of the cage.

Cao Ze rode his donkey, pulling nearly a hundred pounds of gold, to the blacksmith's shop.

The thought of having to consume half a liter of fire to exchange for the Iron Blood Alliance makes me grit my teeth.

Of the seven states, Zhao was the most corrupt.

Other countries only get about two percent.

He knew that the Iron Blood Alliance of Zhao was secretly controlled by Zhao Yan.

No wonder Zhao Yan is not short of money.

They were determined to curse someone to die, even without spending any money.

Cao Ze wore a straw hat to avoid being recognized and surrounded by passersby.

His thoughts drifted back to the Yin-Yang School.

Ten days have passed, and yesterday the Black and White Sisters delivered a secret letter.

The Yin-Yang School successfully entered Qin.

However, more than half of his disciples were lost, and his vital energy was greatly depleted. Moreover, Donghuang Taiyi himself was also seriously injured and was currently in seclusion in Xianyang to recuperate.

The Yin-Yang School is now being managed by Yan Fei.

It's a pity he's not here, otherwise Gao Di could have taken advantage of Donghuang Taiyi's seclusion to recruit the Yin Yang School.

Cao Ze arrived at Da Chui's blacksmith shop and called out.

"Wang Dachui!"

"coming!"

Wang Dachui walked over carrying a hammer as tall as a child.

He greeted them very warmly, "Sir, you've arrived!"

Cao Ze said, "Didn't you say ten days would be about right?"

Wang Dachui led Cao Ze inside, and said somewhat ashamedly, "The master's requirements are too high. It requires repeated tempering, so the speed can't be fast. So far, we've only managed to forge a little over three hundred jin."

Cao Ze was not disappointed. The standards he proposed would have been too much for unscrupulous businesses to even bother with in the industrial age.

But in this era, achieving a copper purity of over 99% is practically a challenge.

It can only be refined little by little.

A blacksmith who can forge one pound of high-purity copper a day is considered quite good.

He calculated that over 300 jin of copper would be enough to forge a cage suitable for cultivation.

Cao Ze carried in nearly a hundred pounds of gold in one hand and said, "Nine hundred and fifty taels of gold. This includes the brothers' hard work fee and the cost of materials. The extra is a reward for you."

Wang Dachui's face was practically beaming with joy.

It was worth it for him to turn down almost all the orders; this one order was worth almost half a year's worth of his earnings.

Not to mention that after deducting labor and materials, there would still be at least several dozen taels of gold left over.

This is the God of Wealth!

"Thank you, sir. I'll have someone move these things to your residence right away."

Cao Ze waved his hand, "Don't rush, build these things according to the requirements of the blueprints."

When Wang Dachui saw the blueprints that Cao Ze had taken out, he thought the thick copper bars were fine, but the thin copper wires that were almost like threads were really something else.

"Sir, this..."

Cao Ze frowned and said, "Can't handle it?"

Wang Dachui quickly shook his head, "It's possible to get it done, but if we follow the requirements from above, it will take quite a while, probably another ten days to half a month."

"What's the reason?" Cao Ze suspected that this guy was slacking off. He had already gained a basic understanding of the smelting technology in this world.

It's not as dramatic as blast furnace steelmaking, but wire drawing isn't particularly difficult either.

Wang Dachui said with a wry smile, "Pulling wire, especially such thin wire, is not difficult in the process itself, but in the process of pulling the wire."

"To prevent copper wires from breaking, they sometimes need to undergo appropriate annealing treatment. The copper wire is heated to a certain temperature and then slowly cooled to restore its toughness and prevent it from becoming unusable."

"If you are willing to put in the time and costs, sir, the time can be reduced to within seven days."

Cao Ze understood. "Alright, come back in a few days. Here's a ten-gold note as a deposit."

His wife is just a moderately wealthy woman who has spent a lot of money lately, so there's no need for her to waste money just to save a few days.

He's always been a good family man.

However, we need to raise some money.

It seems that I should give Honey Pot's invitation a try.

People are eager to give you money, so you can't always refuse just to maintain your image.

Cao Ze arrived at a quiet pavilion with a plaque that read "White Tiger Hall".

This is one of the farm family's official strongholds, belonging to the Farm Family's Four Mountains Hall, which specializes in raising money for the farm family and has branches in various countries.

"The Azure Dragon coils on the left, the White Tiger fiercely guards the right, the Vermilion Bird spreads its wings in front, and the Spirit Tortoise circles its head behind."

Cao Ze briefly recalled the branches of the Farmer's Four Mountains Hall.

The Vermilion Bird Hall of Qin, the White Tiger Hall of Zhao, the Qilin Hall of Wei, and the Spirit Turtle Hall of Yan.

The Azure Dragon Hall was located in the State of Chu, while the State of Han, which was originally adjacent to Chu, was called the Hidden Dragon Hall.

Cao Ze smiled faintly. Interesting. It seems that Tian Guang still leans towards the State of Chu, or rather, Lord Changping.

Of course, it could also be a coincidence, or he's just overthinking it.

However, in the world of the Azure Dragon's Seven Mansions, such a division is hard not to make people think. Just like the Yin-Yang School setting up positions based on Qu Yuan's Nine Songs, is it really just a coincidence?

When Situ Wanli saw Cao Ze enter, he greeted him warmly.

"Welcome, Mr. Cao Ze."

Cao Ze looked at the newcomer.

He has an oval face, a goatee, and a mustache; he is around thirty years old.

What caught Cao Ze's attention the most was his hair.

She has straight black hair with a white streak down the middle.

It's hard not to think of some kind of magical creature—the honey badger.

"Master Situ...is he here?"

Cao Ze was somewhat surprised. Shouldn't Situ Wanli be at Qianlong Hall in Xinzheng, Korea at this time?

Situ Wanli was not surprised that Cao Ze could recognize him.

"Ha, it's time to leave after the New Year. Xia Kui asked me to prepare to go to Xinzheng, South Korea to manage Qianlong Hall."

Cao Ze smiled and said, "I see, congratulations."

Situ Wanli's smile never faded. "Thank you for your congratulations, sir. After serving as the deputy head of the White Tiger Hall for two years, I am finally able to take charge of a hall."

Cao Ze smiled faintly and said, "With Brother Situ's talent, it is not impossible for him to become the head of the Four Mountains Hall and take charge of the Four Mountains Hall in the future."

Situ Wanli humbly replied, "I dare not even think about it."

"Sir, are you here to see Miss Tian Mi? She is waiting for you upstairs."

After bidding farewell to Situ Wanli, Cao Ze leisurely went upstairs.

Situ Wanli watched Cao Ze's retreating figure and stroked his goatee.

Did Cao Ze guess what he was thinking?

He is indeed working towards becoming the head of the Four Mountains Hall. Hopefully, his elder brother Zhu will lend him a hand when he runs for the position.

"Wanli, has Mr. Cao Ze gone up?"

Tian Guang came out from inside.

Situ Wanli respectfully replied, "I'm going up."

Tian Guang said slowly, "That's good."

With the year-end approaching, he didn't have much time to linger in Handan and needed to return to his family's farmhouse as soon as possible to preside over the annual ancestral worship ceremony.

He didn't know why Tian Mi was so confident in persuading Cao Ze to come to the farmhouse, but he figured he could give it a try.

Whether it succeeds or not, we must leave Handan and return to Dazeshan tomorrow.

……

Chapter 157 A Clay Figure Has Three Points of Fire

Inside the elegant room, Tian Mi smiled and brewed Cao Ze a cup of fragrant tea.

"Please have some tea, sir."

Cao Ze, holding a teacup, asked Tian Mi, "May I ask what brings you here, young lady?"

Tian Mi knelt down beside Cao Ze and said in a low voice, "Sir, I have invited you three times. You have finally come. How can we start talking about serious matters as soon as we arrive?"

She had promised Tian Guang that she would do her best to bring Cao Ze back to the farm, so how could she really do as she said before and want to exchange academic ideas with Cao Ze?

Cao Ze glanced at Tian Mi and could tell that she had dressed up on purpose.

She was dressed very lightly, with only a pinkish-purple robe casually covering her exquisite figure.