Chapter 1148: 1089. Introducing The New Project

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(A/N: Don’t forget to give those power stones to Skyrim everyone!)

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Watching them speak, witnessing the immediate, crackling intellectual chemistry passing between them, Huang Chengyan felt a sudden, profound realization strike his heart. They were a perfect match. A union of the heavens and the earth. The supreme administrator and the master engineer. For a fleeting second, the old philosopher thought he was looking at the most perfect, formidable couple the Hengyuan Dynasty would ever produce.

​But then, almost as instantly as the thought appeared, Huang Chengyan violently shook his head, physically snapping himself out of the romantic reverie.

​’Absolutely not,’ the old man thought to himself, his eyes narrowing as the fiercely protective, entirely irrational instincts of a doting father completely overrode his philosophical wisdom.

Zhuge Liang was his prized pupil, yes. He was a genius whom Huang Chengyan, Sima Hui, and Pang Degong had collectively shaped. He was destined for greatness.

But that did not mean he was simply going to waltz into a dusty construction site and sweep Huang Chengyan’s precious, brilliant little girl off her feet that easily! The boy would have to earn the right to even look at her with such admiration. With a gruff, protective harrumph, Huang Chengyan decided it was time to make his exit before he said something incredibly un philosophical.

​"Well, the introductions are made, and the mantle has been passed," Huang Chengyan announced loudly, interrupting their mechanical debate. "I leave the iron and the dust to the three of you. Do not disappoint the Emperor, and do not forget to eat your rations."

​Without waiting for their goodbyes, the old master turned on his heel and walked away, navigating his way out of the chaotic yard and leaving the three brilliant minds to forge the future.

​The impact of Zhuge Liang’s arrival on the wagonway project was immediate and utterly staggering.

​Just as Liu Ye had desperately hoped, the bureaucratic nightmares that had previously slowed their progress simply evaporated. Utilizing his absolute authority as the Minister of Personnel, Zhuge Liang did not just blindly throw bodies at the problem. He analyzed the specific logistical needs of the railway with surgical precision.

He identified master iron smelters from the southern provinces who had finished their quotas, reassigning them to the Xiapi forges without causing a single disruption to the military’s weapon production lines.

He organized the heavy laborers into highly efficient, rotational shifts, ensuring that the men laying the heavy wooden ties were always fresh, vastly reducing workplace injuries and fatigue.

​Under the combined, terrifyingly competent leadership of Liu Ye’s structural engineering, Yue Ying’s mechanical innovations, and Zhuge Liang’s flawless human resource management, the iron rails began to push eastward toward Xiaopei at a speed that defied human logic.

​Meanwhile, miles away from the smoke and noise of the construction yards, the absolute epicenter of the world’s power was bathed in the quiet, golden light of the late afternoon.

​Within the heavily guarded, opulent confines of his private palace study, Emperor Lie Fan sat behind his massive mahogany desk. The crushing, emotional trauma of the morning’s executions had been forcefully compartmentalized, locked away in the dark vaults of his mind. The Emperor was back to the relentless business of empire building.

​Summoned to the study were two of his most crucial advisors, Chancellor Jia Xu, the master of shadows and state security, and Mi Zhu, the Minister of Revenue, the man whose unparalleled economic genius kept the dynasty’s coffers overflowing.

​When the heavy rosewood doors closed, sealing the three men in absolute privacy, Lie Fan leaned forward, steepling his fingers. He was about to introduce a revolution that would fundamentally alter the daily lives of millions, but he had to construct the perfect, impenetrable lie to protect the true, otherworldly origin of his knowledge.

​"Wenhe. Zizhong," Lie Fan began, his voice calm but thrumming with visionary energy. "I have summoned you both because I am preparing to launch two entirely new, state controlled industries. These will not be weapons of war, nor will they be agricultural tools. They are products of domestic necessity that will revolutionize the health of our people, and simultaneously, flood our treasury with a river of gold."

​Mi Zhu’s eyes instantly lit up. As the Minister of Revenue, the phrase ’river of gold’ was a holy incantation. He leaned forward, rubbing his hands together.

"You honor me with this news, Your Majesty. What sort of industries are we discussing? Has the Oriole network discovered a new mining technique in the south? Or perhaps foreign merchants from the far west have brought us a new luxury good?"

​Lie Fan shook his head smoothly, executing his fabricated cover story with the flawless confidence of a seasoned politician.

​"No, Zizhong. I did not buy these concepts from foreign merchants, nor did the Orioles steal them from distant kings," Lie Fan lied effortlessly. "These are creations of my own design. I conceptualized them myself, during the quiet hours of the night."

​He stood up, walking around his desk to stand before the two ministers. "For years, I have observed a lingering, insidious problem within our society. Back when I was merely the Governor of Xu Province, I issued strict edicts mandating that the commoners bathe at least twice a day, and boil their water. It drastically reduced the plagues, yes. It has become the norm across our lands. But I have realized that the fundamental issue of hygiene remains unsolved."

​Lie Fan gestured with his hands, illustrating the daily reality of the era. "When our people bathe, what do they use? Water. And if they are truly filthy, they scrub their skin with coarse pumice stones, or harsh, caustic wood ash that burns their flesh. It removes the top layer of dirt, but the deep grime, the oils, and the invisible ailments remain."

"And what of the nobility? They bathe in water infused with flower petals, and then drown themselves in heavy, burning incense to mask the smell of their own unwashed bodies. But true cleanliness, a product that actively removes dirt, purifies the skin, promotes bodily health, and leaves a natural, pleasant scent, does not exist."

​Jia Xu’s dark eyes narrowed slightly, his brilliant mind instantly grasping the societal implications. "A dirty army breeds lice and fever, Your Majesty. A dirty populace breeds localized epidemics. If you have genuinely conceived of a way to eradicate this..."

​"I have," Lie Fan confirmed, turning back to his desk. He reached down and picked up two tightly bound silk scrolls, the very ones he had transcribed from the Book of Knowledge the night before. He handed one to Mi Zhu, and the other to Jia Xu.

​"I call them ’Soap’ for the body, and ’Shampoo’ for the hair," Lie Fan announced.

​As the two ministers unrolled the scrolls, their eyes scanning the meticulous, complex recipes, Lie Fan continued to weave his masterful fabrication.

​"I spent months consulting the ancient, esoteric texts of Chinese herbalism," Lie Fan lied, blending the truth of the ingredients with the fiction of his research. "I studied the medicinal effects of flora recorded by the great physicians. I realized that by combining specific, highly purified alkalines extracted from hardwood ash with the rendered tallows of animals and pressed plant oils, we could trigger a reaction that creates a purifying paste. It binds to the dirt and the oils on human skin, allowing them to be washed away completely with clean water."

​Mi Zhu was reading the logistical breakdown on the scroll, his lips moving silently. "Your Majesty... the base ingredients you have listed here. Tallow. Lye from ash. Camellia oil. They are incredibly cheap and abundant across the empire."

​"Exactly," Lie Fan smiled, a predatory, economic gleam in his eye. "The base soap can be produced for mere copper coins, allowing every peasant in the empire to afford true cleanliness. The rate of skin infections, lice, and plague will plummet. But look further down the scroll, Zizhong. Look at the secondary recipes."

​Mi Zhu’s eyes widened as he read the second half of the document. "Infusions... jasmine extract. Sandalwood oil. Lotus essence. Ginseng and crushed mint for the liquid variants..."

​"Those are the luxury variants," Lie Fan explained, pacing before them. "I thought of combining the base purifying paste with the oils of rare fruits and the essences of beautiful flowers. Imagine a wealthy noblewoman in the capital. Instead of burning incense that chokes her lungs, she bathes with a bar of jasmine soap that leaves her skin soft, perfectly clean, and smelling like a spring garden for the entire day. What would she pay for such a luxury?"

​Mi Zhu’s jaw physically dropped. His mercantile genius, honed over decades of dominating the continental trade routes, instantly exploded with calculations.

​"By the heavens, Your Majesty," Mi Zhu whispered, his hands trembling slightly as he held the silk scroll. "They would pay whatever you asked. The nobility of the central plains, the wealthy merchant lords of the south... they obsess over status and purity. If we present a product that offers actual, physical purification combined with an exclusive, heavenly scent... it will become a mania. It will completely eclipse the luxury incense trade."

​Mi Zhu looked up, his eyes shining with the fervor of a man staring at a mountain of pure gold. "If we make this a strictly state controlled industry... if we maintain an absolute imperial monopoly on its production, just as we do with salt and iron... the revenue generated will be astronomical. We could fund the entire administration of the new frontier provinces solely on the taxes levied from floral soap! It is an economic miracle!"

​"That is precisely my intent, Zizhong," Lie Fan nodded, deeply satisfied with his Finance Minister’s reaction. "It will replace salt as our primary luxury export, removing the heavy tax burden from the peasantry while simultaneously draining the excess wealth from the aristocracy."

​However, while Mi Zhu saw infinite wealth, Chancellor Jia Xu saw infinite vulnerability.

​The spymaster rolled his silk scroll back up tightly, his expression grim and intensely focused. He looked at the Emperor.

​"Your Majesty, Minister Mi Zhu is absolutely correct regarding the economic potential. But that exact potential makes this the most dangerous piece of silk in the palace," Jia Xu rasped, his voice dropping to a chilling whisper.

"The moment this ’soap’ enters the market and the merchant clans realize the profit margins, every greedy noble, every foreign spy, and every rival trade guild on the continent will dedicate their entire existence to stealing this recipe."

​"I am acutely aware of the danger, Wenhe," Lie Fan replied smoothly. "Which is exactly why you are here."

​Lie Fan placed his hands flat on the mahogany desk, leaning heavily toward his spymaster.

​"I am placing the establishment of these production facilities under the direct, classified oversight of the Imperial Workshop, but the security of the operation belongs entirely to the Orioles," Lie Fan commanded.

"You are to establish a specialized, highly isolated manufacturing compound. The production process must be ruthlessly compartmentalized. The laborers who extract the lye will never see the rendering vats. The artisans who mix the floral essences will never know the base ratios. No single worker will ever possess the complete formula."

​Jia Xu nodded slowly, a dark, approving smile touching his lips. The Emperor’s paranoia matched his own perfectly.

​"I will embed veteran Oriole agents as overseers and laborers within every stage of the production line, Your Majesty," Jia Xu promised, his eyes narrowing with lethal intent. "Any worker who attempts to smuggle out a sample, or any merchant spy caught attempting to bribe our artisans, will simply disappear into the night. We will guard the secret of soap with the exact same ruthless, uncompromising violence that we use to guard the schematics of the Black Dragon Cannons."

​"See that you do," Lie Fan finalized, straightening his posture. "Zizhong, you will coordinate the funding and the acquisition of the raw materials, keeping the ledgers intentionally opaque so no one can deduce the recipe from our supply lines. Wenhe, you will build the cage that protects the secret."

​"We hear and obey, Your Imperial Majesty!" the two ministers chorused, bowing deeply, their minds already racing with the monumental tasks assigned to them.

​Lie Fan watched them leave the study, the heavy rosewood doors clicking shut behind them. A quiet sigh of relief escaped him. The horrific, bloody burdens of the warlord era were finally beginning to fade, replaced by the brilliant, constructive challenges of a true sovereign. He had buried his past, he had deployed his armies to secure his future, and now, he was forging the economic and technological foundations of a golden age that would outlast them all.

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Name: Lie Fan

Title: Founding Emperor Of Hengyuan Dynasty

Age: 36 (203 AD)

Level: 16

Next Level: 462,000

Renown: 2325

Cultivation: Yin Yang Separation (level 11)

SP: 1,121,700

ATTRIBUTE POINTS

STR: 1,010 (+20)

VIT: 659 (+20)

AGI: 653 (+10)

INT: 691

CHR: 98

WIS: 569

WILL: 436

ATR Points: 0