In times of chaos and famine, I traded one pound of rice for two royal flushes.

Upon hearing this, the expressions of the surrounding guards all changed.

After all that, they thought they could trade a piece of tattered paper for a priceless tiger skin and bones?

This is nothing short of outright robbery!

Chu Wu clenched his fists instantly, and the murderous aura emanating from his body could no longer be suppressed.

However, Qin Shaolang smiled.

He took the IOU that read "With this IOU, I may withdraw six hundred taels of treasury silver" and was stamped with a bright red official seal, and read it carefully.

Then, he turned to Chu Wu and called out, "Chu Wu."

"exist!"

"Take this receipt," Qin Shaolang handed him the IOU, "go to the town at the foot of the mountain, find Manager Wang at the rice shop, and ask him how many kilograms of grain this piece of paper can be exchanged for. See if it can feed our thirty-odd brothers for three days."

"Pfft!"

One of the soldiers couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Chu Wu, being quick-witted, immediately understood. Holding the IOU, he said with a troubled expression, "Brother Qin, this... I'm afraid this won't do, will it? Manager Wang only accepts copper coins and silver, not paper!"

Qin Shaolang said "Oh," turned to look at Zhang Wenyuan, whose face had turned ashen, and said with an "innocent" expression, "Master, you heard it too. It's not that I don't understand the magistrate, it's just that my thirty-odd brothers don't eat paper, they need to eat."

"You!" Zhang Wenyuan was choked half to death, his goatee standing on end in anger.

Qin Shaolang ignored him and continued, "I do have a solution that satisfies both sides. I can forgo the six hundred taels of silver. Consider this IOU a donation from me, Qin Shaolang, to the people of Lantian County."

Zhang Wenyuan was taken aback, thinking that things had taken a turn for the better.

But Qin Shaolang abruptly changed the subject, pointing to the tiger skin and saying, "But this tiger skin and bones were earned with the lives of our brothers. I plan to sell them to get some money to buy some food and winter clothes for the brothers. If there's a surplus, I'll donate it to the county government, as a way of easing the burden on the county magistrate. What do you think of my plan, sir?"

"You...you're just spouting nonsense! You're in contempt of court!" Zhang Wen-yuan was so angry that he was trembling all over, and his hand pointing at Qin Shaolang was shaking.

This was hardly a discussion; it was a resounding slap across the face of him and Magistrate Li Jian'an!

Just then, a deafening cheer suddenly erupted from the oddly shaped shed that Qin Shaolang had just had built yesterday, constructed of yellow mud and stones!

"It's done! Brother Qin! It's done!"

"Molten iron has been produced! Molten iron has really been produced!"

Several soldiers, covered in black and gray, rushed excitedly out of the shed, each holding a piece of metal that was still slightly reddish in their hands with pliers.

Zhang Wenyuan glanced over instinctively, his brows furrowed.

Qin Shaolang smiled apologetically at him: "I'm sorry to have made you laugh, Master. My men are inexperienced and just tinkering with some gadgets. Here, let me take a look."

One of the soldiers excitedly handed over the metal block that had almost cooled down.

It was a piece of iron about the size of a palm, with a bluish-black color and an unusually smooth surface.

Zhang Wenyuan came from a scholarly family and knew little about metallurgy, but he could tell that this piece of iron was different from any pig iron or wrought iron he had ever seen. It seemed... to be denser and purer.

"It's just a piece of scrap metal, nothing worth anything." Qin Shaolang casually weighed the iron in his hand and was about to hand it back to the soldier.

"Wait!" Zhang Wenyuan shouted as if possessed.

He stared intently at the piece of iron, a strong sense of unease and premonition rising within him.

"May I have a look?"

Qin Shaolang shrugged indifferently and handed over the iron block.

As soon as he got his hands on the iron block, Zhang Wenyuan's heart sank.

Good weight!

This piece of iron, which is the same size, weighs at least 30% more!

He scratched it with his fingernail, leaving only a white mark, while the iron block itself was completely unharmed!

He abruptly raised his head, looked at Qin Shaolang, and his voice changed: "This is... steel?"

"I suppose so," Qin Shaolang said casually.

Zhang Wenyuan gasped!

Steel! This is real steel! Not the kind of steel that's been forged and refined countless times, a small piece only occasionally obtained by a master craftsman! Judging by its appearance, it's clearly ready for mass production!

With trembling hands, he took a decorative dagger from his waist; it was a fine iron dagger that had cost a fortune.

He gritted his teeth, mustered all his strength, and chopped down at the edge of the iron block!

"clang!"

A crisp sound!

Sparks flew everywhere!

Zhang Wenyuan felt a numbness in his hand, and the dagger almost slipped from his grasp. When he looked again, he saw a tiny nick, the size of a grain of rice, on the blade of the fine iron dagger!

The dark blue iron block remained as smooth as ever, without even a scratch!

Zhang Wenyuan was completely stunned.

His mind was blank, with only one thought echoing wildly within him.

A divine weapon! It can cut through iron like mud!

If weapons and armor were made from this steel... what a terrifying army that would be!

When he looked at Qin Shaolang again, his eyes had completely changed.

It was no longer like watching a country bumpkin with some tricks up his sleeve, but like watching a monster who had mastered the nation's most important weapon!

Tiger skin? Tiger bone?

Compared to this unremarkable piece of iron, it's practically a pile of garbage!

The IOU in Zhang Wenyuan's hand now felt incredibly hot, as if it were mocking his ignorance and stupidity.

His lips trembled, and he couldn't utter a single word. He just stared at Qin Shaolang with the look of someone looking at a ghost.

Qin Shaolang gently took the steel ingot back from his hand, then took the IOU and placed them side by side.

He looked at Zhang Wenyuan and spoke slowly. His voice was not loud, but it struck Zhang Wenyuan's heart like a heavy hammer.

"Master, do you still think that the lives of my thirty-odd brothers are only worth this piece of paper?"

Zhang Wenyuan's mind went completely blank.

He felt as if his heart was being gripped tightly by a large, cold hand, almost stopping its beating.

The IOU in his hand, the one stamped with the county government's official seal, which should have represented power and authority, now seemed like a burnt piece of waste paper, light and flimsy, full of irony.

But the dark blue iron block in his other hand was as heavy as Mount Tai!

This weight was not just physical; it was a weight that weighed on his heart and on the entire Lantian County government!

steel!

It really is steel!

Moreover, it is a top-quality product that far surpasses the so-called "fine steel" in the government's armory!

He wasn't a military general, but having served Magistrate Li Jian'an for many years, witnessing countless comings and goings, his experience far surpassed that of ordinary people. He knew very well how strict the Great Wei Dynasty's control over iron and steel was! The salt and iron monopoly was the foundation of the nation!

A fine set of armor and a sharp weapon can be worth more than a soldier's pay for several years.

Those capable of forging hundred-times-refined steel were all national treasures, crafted by top artisans under strict control by the imperial court. Each batch was recorded and reported up the chain of command.

But what is this in front of me?

A simple earthen blast furnace built with yellow mud and stones!

A group of ragged refugees who couldn't even read properly!

In such an environment, they actually managed to create steel!

Judging from the excitement of those soldiers just now, this was clearly not the first time, and it certainly wouldn't be the last!

Mass production!

These two words were like a thunderclap, exploding in Zhang Wenyuan's mind!

He thought of the more than thirty menacing soldiers under Qin Shaolang's command.