Kays Translations

Chapter 6: Taking Over the Workshop

Li Xian made an impressive debut, and by the second day, a store named “Brilliant Stars” appeared, with décor that was unlike any other! It featured floor-to-ceiling glass windows, dazzling colored lights for illumination, and a spacious, bright, and grand design. However, there were only about a dozen products in the store, making it feel somewhat empty.

But despite having only a dozen items, they sparked a frenzy. The prices were not high, with the cheapest items costing only a few taels of silver and the most expensive ones not exceeding one hundred taels. The demand was simply overwhelming. For many nobles, such decorative items were, of course, highly desirable.

In no time, this newly established Brilliant Stars Trading Company became as crowded as a marketplace.

The person in charge of managing the store was Li Youwei, while Li Xian had fully taken over the workshop. When it came to business, Li Xian only needed to offer a few suggestions, and Li Youwei would perform exceptionally well—an ability that even Li Xian had to admire. It was no wonder he had previously managed the Li family workshop, though his cultivation aptitude wasn’t very strong.

Li Xian now focused on two tasks. The first was to continue developing the Jade Lamp Workshop, which had officially been renamed the Colored Lamp Workshop.

The second task was to reorganize the entire Li family workshop. The success of the Colored Lamp Workshop had made the other workshops envious.

Song Gang from the Forging Workshop, Liu Bin from the Woodworking Workshop, Tang Rong, a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Magic Tool Workshop, and Aunt He Lin from the Weaving Workshop all gathered at Li Xian’s door. Sun Ming, feeling proud, welcomed his former “colleagues.”

Li Xian calmly received everyone, and seeing their anxious expressions, he became even more composed. “Everyone, please don’t worry. Since I’ve taken over this workshop, I will certainly take your needs into consideration. However, my abilities are limited, and many things need to be done step by step.

For now, I’d like to learn more about the fields in which each of you excels.”

Song Gang was the first to lose patience. “What’s the point of asking about strengths? My expertise is in blacksmithing. In the entire Wuyang City, I dare say I’m in the top three, and even the royal craftsmen aren’t necessarily better than me.”

“That’s right, Little Xian. Everyone here is practically the best in Wuyang City; you don’t need to doubt our abilities,” Aunt He Lin said with some dissatisfaction.

“Yes, yes,” Tang Rong and Liu Bin both agreed.

Li Xian thought to himself, ‘What a solid foundation and what a huge opportunity.’ However, it seemed that these people were also quite difficult to manage. Despite being involved in what were considered “humble trades,” each one of them carried a sense of pride. ‘Hmm, if I want to win them over, I’ll have to show some skill!’

With that thought, Li Xian turned first to Song Gang. “Senior Song, I have the audacity to ask a few questions.

How many factors determine the quality of ironware?”

“Hmph, a simple question. Iron purity, quenching temperature, the number of times the metal is forged, and the evenness of the forging process—those are the four main factors.”

“Excellent. Do you have any works you’re particularly proud of, Senior?”

“I do! They’re hanging on the walls of the Forging Workshop; there are quite a few!”

Li Xian suddenly smiled. “Senior, I’ve reviewed the materials and processes you use for steelmaking. I have two methods here that you might want to try.

The first method is to stir the molten iron after smelting, continuing until no more bubbles emerge and brown steam appears.

The second method involves adding a small amount of quicklime.”

“Adding quicklime?” Song Gang laughed aloud. “Are you trying to bleach the metal or something? Haha…”

“Why not give it a try, Senior?” Li Xian replied.

“Alright, I’ll give it a go,” Song Gang said. True to his word, he quickly left to experiment.

Li Xian then turned to the others. “Aunt He, how many bolts of fabric can the weaving workshop produce in a day?”

“If we don’t count the quality, we can weave a maximum of 120 bolts of hemp fabric per day.”

“And is there any way Aunt He can produce 12,000 bolts of fabric in a single day?”

“That’s impossible. Unless you use immortal techniques, but immortals would never use their powers for such lowly trades.” He Lin was already a bit annoyed.

Li Xian smiled and shifted his focus to Liu Bin, the carpenter. “Senior Liu, the looms are made by your workshop, right?”

“Yes. Why, is there something you’d like to instruct us on, young master?” Liu Bin’s tone had a hint of sarcasm. Clearly, Li Xian’s comments and interference were starting to irk these “experts.”

“I do have something to teach!” Li Xian stood up confidently. “I’ve seen the looms you’ve made, and they are all operated individually. Why not scale them up, assigning specific tasks like silk reeling and spinning to specialists? Separate the heavy foot-pedaling work and have strong men handle it.”

“You make it sound easy, young master, but building such a loom would be extremely expensive and prone to issues. And please don’t suggest using magic to solve this, as only royal orders or high-status ceremonial fabrics are produced with magic, and the output is incredibly low.”

Li Xian smiled confidently. “Let’s wait for Senior Song Gang to return, and then we’ll continue this discussion.”

Li Xian leaned back, closing his eyes to rest, though his mind was racing. In a world with magic and cultivation, so many tasks were simplified. Cutting jade, crafting basic tools, and even forging were made easier with the aid of spells and techniques.

Sure enough, after just one hour, Song Gang burst through the door, holding some unfinished blades and sword blanks, still unpolished. Seeing Li Xian sitting with his eyes closed, Song Gang gave a few embarrassed chuckles before setting the iron pieces on the table. Sheepishly, he said, “Young master, your method is truly effective. Far better than last time, even when I had help from Tang Rong’s artifact workshop. That was for crafting weapons for our Qi Refining guards.”

The crowd, seeing the proud Song Gang submit, began to view Li Xian in a new light.

Li Xian opened his eyes, looking around at the assembled craftsmen. “Seniors, I may not know much, but I have seen quite a bit. The future of the workshop depends on your hard work. All I can offer are some ideas.”

He continued, “Now, I declare that we will be selecting the elite from each workshop to form a research center, specifically focused on improving tools, increasing production efficiency, and enhancing product quality.

Furthermore, all workshops will be reorganized in accordance with the model of the Lantern Workshop. A profit-sharing system will be established.

But let me be clear, anyone who dares to slack off will face severe consequences. I, Li Xian, am not unfamiliar with killing!”

Indeed, this world’s Li Xian had killed before, making his words all the more chilling.

Everyone nodded in agreement, including Tang Rong, who was in the Foundation Establishment stage. Though a cultivator of that level was considered a small expert, compared to the Li family, they were still far outclassed.

Li Xian turned to Tang Rong. “Senior Tang, I would like to systematically study formations and the art of crafting magical tools under your guidance. Although I’m only in the Qi Refining stage, I believe this doesn’t prevent me from learning formations, or even more advanced techniques like talismans.”

“With great pleasure!” Tang Rong replied with a broad smile. He was delighted—many would envy the opportunity to be the young master’s teacher before Li Xian fully matured. It was a golden opportunity.

Under Li Xian’s leadership, the Li family’s workshop was officially renamed the “Radiant Star Workshop.” Li Xian was in charge of production, while Li Youwei managed sales. After a few days of restructuring, the workshop underwent significant changes. Li Xian introduced simple Earth-based numerical and calculation methods, providing great convenience for the study of formations.

At the same time, Li Xian began studying formations with Tang Rong and learning jade carving techniques from Sun Ming.

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