I wield power with my innate talents, and forge the Heavenly Court.

Chapter 135 Rewards and Bestowals

"Good! Very good!"

Looking at the large crater created by the shell, Wang Chao nodded and cheered repeatedly.

Then, Wang Chao looked at Zhou Tie.

"Summon the gunsmiths and cannon makers; I want to meet them."

"Yes!"

Zhou Tie nodded and gave instructions to Xiao Li beside him.

"Xiao Li, go and call Master Wu and Master Zhu here."

Before long, two elderly men in their fifties or sixties, with gray hair and ashen faces, quickly arrived with Xiao Li.

Upon arriving before them, the two immediately knelt before the dynasty, shouting in unison.

"This humble one, Wu Laoliu, greets the leader."

"This humble servant, Zhu Duanliang, greets the leader."

"Get up, kneeling is not customary in our militia."

"Yes!"

"These new rifles and artillery were developed and manufactured by the two of you."

"Yes, yes, it was made by a villain."

"Yes, you did a great job!"
In light of your performance, I have decided to establish two additional departments under the Weapons Manufacturing Division, one of which is the Artillery Manufacturing Bureau, headed by Zhu Duanliang.
One is the Firearms Bureau, headed by Wu Laoliu.
In addition, each of you will be rewarded with five hundred taels of silver.

"Thank you, Chief!"

"Thank you, Chief!"

Upon hearing the reward from the dynasty, the two men immediately broke into uncontrollable smiles of excitement and awkwardly gave a military salute in unison.

After all, the leader had said that the People's Salvation Army did not practice kneeling or bowing.

This is five hundred taels of silver, enough for a family of more than ten people to live on for a lifetime.

Five hundred taels of silver is roughly equivalent to five hundred thousand in later times, or even has a stronger purchasing power. The reward is not much, but it is by no means small either.

This is especially true for artisans in this day and age.

Especially for those military craftsmen who know how to manufacture guns and cannons, it's only right that you do a good job.

There are no bonuses; we're lucky if we get our regular wages.

If you don't do it well, you might get beheaded.

When will artisans receive such respect?

They simply improved the muskets and cannons.

Moreover, it was only created based on the leader's instructions and with the help of those who possessed supernatural powers.

Unexpectedly, the leader generously rewarded them with five hundred taels of silver, a treatment they had never received before.

Although there have been many rewards before, there have never been so many.

Moreover, they respectively became the heads of the artillery manufacturing bureau and the firearms bureau.

They can be considered officials now, right?
Unexpectedly, one day, these craftsmen were able to become officials.

However, the dynasty's rewards were not yet over.

"Well, I'll give each of you another five hundred taels, which you can use to reward the craftsmen who participated in the design and manufacture of the guns and cannons, according to their contributions."
and also
Since you two were able to develop new firearms and artillery on your own, it means that your expertise in this field has reached a pinnacle of the current era.”

"Hehe, it's all thanks to the leader's excellent guidance. We've only achieved some results by following the leader's instructions."

"Hehe, you're too modest. What I've given you is just a general idea. How to actually do it will mainly depend on your hard work and research."

The two men wanted to say something more, but Wang Chao waved his hand, stopping them from speaking.

"alright.
Given that you two have reached the pinnacle of expertise in firearms and artillery, I will bestow upon you the rank of technician.

"Technician? A celestial status?"

Wu Laoliu and his companion were somewhat puzzled, but a thought vaguely surfaced in their minds.

Could this be some kind of supernatural power?

Is this because the leader acknowledges their achievements and is therefore granting them supernatural powers?
Unconsciously, their hearts began to pound violently in their chests. They looked at Wang Chao with excitement and trepidation, a faint hope rising in their hearts.

"hehe."

And the dynasty did not disappoint them.

The dynasty stretched out its hand and gestured upwards, and four streams of national fortune descended, transforming into four celestial positions.

It was the supreme status of the heads of the Firearms Bureau and the Cannon Manufacturing Bureau, as well as the supreme status of the firearms technicians and cannon manufacturing technicians.

After merging with the Heavenly and Earthly Personalities, the two were stunned for a long time before they came to their senses.

"Pfft!"

"Pfft!"

The next instant, the two of them knelt down on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly to the dynasty.

"Thank you, Chief!"

"Thank you, Chief! Thank you, Chief!"

This was a chance to master supernatural powers, and the leader actually bestowed it upon them like this.

From now on, they, like other officers of the Salvation Army, will possess supernatural powers.

They could never be too grateful.

"Well, get up!"

Seeing the two kneeling down again, Wang Chao smiled but did not stop them.

Although the rescue team does not perform the ritual of kneeling, it would be understandable to kneel and express gratitude under the current circumstances.

Moreover, he can handle it!
After another round of thanks, Wu Laoliu and Zhu Duanliang finally stood up shakily, stood beside Wang Chao, and rubbed their hands together, too excited to contain themselves.

Wang Chao smiled gently at the two of them, then looked at Zhou Tie.

"Steward Zhou, steel is the foundation of everything. You and your father have developed the blast furnace for iron and steelmaking, which is a great achievement. Furthermore, you have performed meritorious service in managing the Weapons Manufacturing Department, so I will reward you with one thousand taels of silver, and your father, Zhou Yan, with five hundred taels of silver."

"Thank you, Chief!"

Zhou Tian was overjoyed and expressed his gratitude.

Zhou Tie did not refuse the dynasty's reward.

He knew that the leader was always generous and that whoever made a contribution would receive a substantial reward.

However, he thought his reward would be about the same as Wu Laoliu's, around 500 taels of silver, or maybe a little more.

Unexpectedly, his reward doubled, reaching one thousand taels of silver.

This represents the leader's approval of him.

He secretly resolved that he must work even harder in the future, research better steel and materials, and manufacture better weapons.

And that steam engine, they must develop it as soon as possible.

As Zhou Tie's mind raced and he secretly made up his mind, Wang Chao continued to speak.

"Furthermore, I think your son seems to have a lot of talent in this area, and you should guide him in that direction more."

"Yes, leader!"

A glint of joy flashed in Zhou Tie's eyes. Wasn't the reason he mentioned his son to the leader earlier just to make an impression on him?

Seeing that the territory of the People's Salvation Army was growing larger and larger, and that it was only a matter of time before they conquered the whole country, he thought that for the sake of his son's future, he could make an impression on the leader, which would surely make his future development smoother.

The most important thing is that the selection of officials by the People's Salvation Army does not care whether you have read the Four Books and Five Classics or not, but whether you have a certain talent.

Otherwise, he certainly wouldn't have mentioned it that way.

After all, the suggestions his son made were all about iron smelting and casting.

If it were a Ming Dynasty emperor, he probably wouldn't have cared about his son's little bit of cleverness at all.

"Well, it's a bit too early to make him a blacksmith's apprentice now."
He is of school age now.
Alright then, I'll bestow upon your son my innate student status, which I have evolved to be the bestowed upon the students of this territory.
Although he is currently unable to enter the spiritual realm to learn supernatural powers and spells.

However, the inherent strength of a student's personality can gradually refine their soul and consciousness, develop their brain, and enhance their learning ability and efficiency.

As he spoke, Wang Chao reached out and a wisp of national fortune descended, twisting and evolving into a card, which slowly fell into Zhou Tie's hand.

"After you return, place it between your son's eyebrows, and it will naturally merge into his consciousness."

"Thank you, Chief! Thank you, Chief!"

Upon hearing Wang Chao's words, Zhou Tie immediately expressed his gratitude repeatedly with excitement.

This is a real surprise.

He only wanted the leader to have an impression of his son, Zhou Jie.

Unexpectedly, the leader bestowed upon him a celestial status suitable for his son.

Although, according to the leader, all students who enroll in the school will be able to obtain this divine status in the future.

However, now only his son owns it, which gives him a head start and puts him far ahead of others.

"Hmm, I remember your second brother Zhou Wen's family also seems to have a child."

After handing the student's heavenly status to Zhou Tie, Wang Chao seemed to have thought of something and suddenly spoke again.

"Yes! My second brother has a daughter."

"Since that's the case, I might as well go all the way and grant her a student's natural status as well."

As the nation's fate declines, the divine status of the people is solidified.
After another inspection, Wang Chao left satisfied.
After watching Wang Chao leave, Zhou Tie smiled and looked at Wu Laoliu and the other man.

"You have caught the leader's eye and received a tremendous reward. You must not let him down in the future."

"Yes! We will definitely work even harder to develop the weapons the leader mentioned."

"Yes, we will certainly not disappoint our leader."

They were extremely envious of the heavenly status that the leader had bestowed upon Zhou Tie's son.

Unfortunately, their grandchildren are already adults, while their great-grandchildren are still just learning to speak.

Otherwise, they would insist on receiving a Heavenly Rank, even if it meant not receiving any reward.

"Haha, yes, with such a generous leader who not only provides us with money and food but also bestows upon us supernatural powers, what reason do we have not to work hard?"

Looking in the direction the dynasty had left, Zhou Tie smiled and sighed.

When they first arrived at the mountain, the family was constantly thinking about escaping.

Later, as the People's Salvation Army grew stronger, the leader valued them even more. He was the head of the Weapons Manufacturing Department, while his father, due to his advanced age, served as the weapons manufacturing advisor. His second brother was the head of the Military Merit Department.
Thus, their desire to leave gradually faded, and eventually they gave up completely.

Later, the leader bestowed upon them a divine status, granting them the power to wield supernatural abilities.

In this way, they were completely devoted to the cause, focusing solely on completing the tasks assigned by their leader: forging weapons, building blast furnaces, and managing the weapons manufacturing department properly.

Subsequently, Zhou Tie summoned all the craftsmen of the Weapons Manufacturing Division.

"As you all should have known by now, the People's Salvation Army and its officers possess supernatural powers."

As Zhou Tie finished speaking, a swordsmith who knew him well couldn't help but smile enviously and say:

"How could we not know that?"

The construction of blast furnaces for iron and steelmaking, and the manufacture of guns and cannons, all involved those staff officers and generals who possessed extraordinary abilities, which greatly increased manufacturing efficiency.
I've been thinking about it, but I don't know if there's any supernatural power suitable for forging swords.
It's a pity.

Hearing the swordsmith's envious words, Zhou Tie couldn't help but smile and say:

"Haha, whether there's a suitable supernatural power for forging swords is something you'll have to find for yourself."

Upon hearing this, the eyes of many craftsmen lit up.

After Zhou Tie summoned them and mentioned the supernatural powers, they already had a vague suspicion.

They just weren't sure until they were certain.

Now, they are basically certain that they may also have the opportunity to master supernatural powers.

For a moment, everyone was filled with excitement, imagining the glorious scene of mastering supernatural powers.

(End of this chapter)