My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 157 Military Craftsman
“Old man, I am different from those people.”

You'll find out later!

When Li Xuanba said this, Dugu Luo paused for a moment, then quickly forced a smile and nodded, "Of course, of course."

"However, the old man doesn't look like a craftsman; he seems like someone who has been to school."

"When I was young, I worked as a craftsman in the army and also received some education."

Li Xuanba's eyes lit up.

Talent!
Military craftsmen are different from civilian craftsmen. Military craftsmen can forge all kinds of weapons, armor, and may even forge siege and defense equipment!
Liu Chounu, who had been silent all along, suddenly opened his eyes wide and looked at the old man in front of him, who was about the same age as him, with a hint of friendliness in his eyes. "You are the military craftsman?"

"Exactly."

"Haha, then I might have even used the weapons you forged! I also come from a military background; I was in the Jade Wall Military Command back then. Which military command were you in?"

"I was in Baibao back then."

The smile on Liu Chounu's face vanished instantly.

"Oh."

Li Xuanba exchanged a few more pleasantries with him, then happily told him to go back and rest.

With such an experienced craftsman, we can train more artisans who can forge weapons in the future, and we won't have to worry anymore.

Everything has been prepared. Next, Zhang Du will carry out the first shipment to see if his plan can be realized.

Qu Qiusheng was ordered to come to the farm again.

Zhang Du personally came out to greet him. Qu Qiusheng looked around at the changes and marveled. This place really changed every day. These laborers were really working hard. If the corvée labor was this hard, there would be no need to gather a million people.

Qu Qiusheng was chatting with Zhang Du when they entered the farm and saw a large group of people gathered in the distance.

Most of those people were farmers, and some were warriors under Li Xuanba's command.

Qu Qiusheng found it strange and wondered what they were looking at. Only when they passed by did Qu Qiusheng hear clearly that a young man was sitting among them, discussing the writings and principles of the sages.

Qu Qiusheng became increasingly confused.

What are they doing now?

Zhang Du saw his confusion and explained with a smile, "Your Excellency is doing an educational work, having us explain the principles of the sages to those laborers, so that they may understand morality and distinguish right from wrong."

Qu Qiusheng almost laughed.

This lord is a good person, but he's just a bit too naive.

However, considering his age, Qu Qiusheng could understand.

How could these farmers possibly understand the teachings of the sages?
What's the point of telling them these things? They themselves wouldn't dare to say they're learning the ways of the sages. These things shouldn't be something ordinary people come into contact with.

This lord has taken the stories in the rumors to heart. The rumors say that ancient sages went to various places to educate the people, to purify them, and to promote morality.

But those are just rumors. These laborers, seemingly honest and kind, are actually cunning and treacherous, yet they preach morality?

Qu Qiusheng could only think about it in his heart and could not say it out loud.

He simply thought these were all just games for the lord, and that the lord would naturally stop doing them when he grew up.

Zhang Du led him into the tent, where Li Xuanba was writing something. Upon seeing them arrive, he greeted them with a smile and invited them to sit down.

Zhang Du said with a smile, "Thanks to Old Man Qu, several mines were able to reopen."

"If it weren't for you, sir, we would probably be completely clueless."

Qu Qiusheng quickly shook his head, "How dare I take credit? Zhang Jun did all the work; I was just following along."

"You two deserve credit for making this happen."

Li Xuanba said earnestly, "I hope you can all work together to accomplish what's to come."

"I still have some iron and coal on hand, which I plan to sell. You may come along."

Qu Qiusheng suddenly stood up.

"No! My lord!" Zhang Du hadn't expected such a strong reaction from this fellow, and Li Xuanba also frowned. "Why?"

Qu Qiusheng hurriedly said, "Your Excellency is unaware of the best time to sell either charcoal or iron. For example, coal is generally best shipped at the end of the year when prices are highest, and iron is usually also best sold around this time. Your Excellency might as well wait a little longer."

"Before setting off, you need to find out about the situation in different places and inquire about price differences. It's best to confirm the recipient as well."

Selling goods is not a simple matter; there are many intricacies involved.

"I happen to know a few big businessmen."

As Qu Qiusheng was speaking, Li Xuanba interrupted him, "I have my own considerations. I won't interfere with when or where you sell your own goods, but these are my things, so you have to listen to me."

"I'm going to send the goods to Shangdang. You just need to accompany Zhang Tuanzuo."

“Go to the party??”

Qu Qiusheng was completely dumbfounded.

What exactly is this all about? Isn't the point of buying a mine to make money? The timeframe is one thing, we can assume the lord simply doesn't want to wait, but what's with the location of the sale? Who sells iron and coal to Shangdang?

This is just like selling horses to the Turks, selling boats to Wuzhou, and selling timber to Minyue!
Is this even going to sell?

Even if it were sold, the price would be incredibly low!

Qu Qiusheng hurriedly said, "My lord, you don't know this, but the price of iron in Shangdang is very low. If you sell it there, you will definitely lose money. We've already spent a lot of money recruiting people for this mine. If we sell it to Shangdang, we'll really lose everything."

Li Xuanba said softly, "I have my own ideas, just do as you say, sir."

Qu Qiusheng wanted to argue a bit more, but seeing Li Xuanba's resolute stance, he could only sigh helplessly.

When Qu Qiusheng first met Li Xuanba, he knew that the goods produced might have other uses. However, Zhang Du had also told him that at least half of the goods could be sold. Qu Qiusheng was a merchant, and when he heard that Li Xuanba wanted to sell the goods in this way, he couldn't help but want to.

This is a waste of money!
That's not how you do business.

Li Xuanba then gave Zhang Du other instructions. As they were talking, a man burst into the tent. The man was one of Li Xuanba's fellow disciples. Qu Qiusheng recognized him as the one who had been explaining the principles of the sages to people outside.

At this moment, the man looked somewhat angry, and he bowed indignantly to Li Xuanba.

"My lord! I simply cannot continue teaching you!"

"These people don't understand the teachings of the sages at all! Not only that, they even dare to mock and ridicule us!"

"My lord, please retract your order! Stop wasting time like this!"

Li Xuanba looked at him in confusion, "What exactly happened?"

The man then began to explain. When he first gathered the crowd and said he was going to talk about the teachings of the sages, everyone was quite curious and found it novel, so they gathered together to listen. But gradually, the crowd became too small to sit still. Some people secretly slipped away, while those who stayed chatted with their neighbors. No one paid any attention to what he was saying.

He talked for a long time until his throat was dry, and someone even asked him: Can learning this bring rain and ward off evil spirits?
Even if this person was down on his luck, he was still Liu Xuan's disciple, a proper student of a sage. How could he stand this? He immediately came to complain to Li Xuanba with a dark face.

He felt that these ignorant people were beyond education, and that the teachings of the sages had absolutely nothing to do with them and could not be connected at all!

Qu Qiusheng sat to the side, completely unsurprised.

This lord is truly unreliable. The matter of education is over, and the mine is probably doomed too. However, with his vast wealth and power, he may not care about such things.

Li Xuanba asked, "What did you talk about today?"

"He talked about the Spring and Autumn Annals."

Li Xuanba gave a wry smile. "No wonder."

But Li Xuanba soon realized that his fellow disciples did not fully understand his thoughts; they only agreed because of his orders.

He stood up. "I'll go talk to them."

Before anyone could say anything to stop him, Li Xuanba strode out.

When Li Xuanba arrived at the place he had just left, the laborers were still somewhat taken aback. They didn't know why their 'teacher' had suddenly become angry and left, nor did they know what they had done wrong. They were now discussing the matter amongst themselves.

Upon seeing Li Xuanba's arrival, they dared not speak and hurriedly bowed.

Li Xuanba sat down in the seat that the man had just occupied with, all smiles.

(End of this chapter)