Chapter 55: Development Is the First Priority

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

“Old Zhou, what did you talk about with Old Ma?”

Two hours later, Sun Gongping escorted Zhou Shu out of the Divine Constable Bureau. He nudged Zhou Shu with his shoulder as the two of them walked side by side.

“It’s a secret,” Zhou Shu said.

“That’s not nice of you,” Sun Gongping exclaimed. “I treat you as my brother. What are you hiding from me?”

“It has nothing to do with whether or not you treat me as a brother,” Zhou Shu said. He added in his mind, I’m your uncle, nephew.

What he had told Ma Fengzhang was somewhat taboo. It wouldn’t be good for anyone if too many people knew about it.

“It has nothing to do with you. Besides, if I tell you, it won’t work,” Zhou Shu casually explained.

It would have been better if he hadn’t tried to explain. The more he tried to explain, the more confused Sun Gongping became. He felt as though a hundred claws were scratching in his heart. “Why don’t you tell me in secret, and I’ll pretend I don’t know?”

“Can you keep the secret?” Zhou Shu asked.

“Yes!” Sun Gongping nodded like a chicken pecking at rice.

“Me too!” Zhou Shu said.

On top of a tall building in the Divine Constable Bureau, Ma Fengzhang had his hands behind his back while watching Zhou Shu walk out of the Divine Constable Bureau’s main gate, and the corners of his mouth curved up slightly. What an interesting young man. If not for his clean background, I would really suspect that he’s a spy from some country.

He’s just a forging genius. Which country would be willing to use him as a spy?

Strategic cooperation, interesting…

…

After Zhou Shu returned from the Divine Constable Bureau, his days became as boring as when he was still a mere Forging Apprentice.

Every day, he would start forging from when he woke up in the morning until he went to sleep at night. He didn’t leave the workshop for a single day.

The only change was that he now had another job, which was to test the work efficiency of Zhang Yibei and the others.

In the past, when he was just a Forging Apprentice, Zhou Shu only needed to immerse himself in forging. After becoming a superintendent, Zhou Shu gradually had a better understanding of how the Forging Division’s workshops operated.

Not looking at the first 36 workshops of the Forging Division since they were already at a completely different level of existence…

In the remaining 72 workshops, there were tens of thousands of Forging Apprentices. Some were in charge of forging, some were in charge of refining ores, and some were in charge of repairing and mending. In short, each workshop had its own jobs.

In the past, Zhou Shu thought that since a Forging Apprentice could forge a weapon or two a day, wouldn’t the entire Forging Division be able to supply tens of thousands of weapons a day?

How many soldiers did Great Xia have to have in order to use these weapons?

Later, when he became a superintendent, he learned that among the tens of thousands of apprentices, only a portion of them were in charge of forging standard armaments. Furthermore, standard armaments were not only swords and sabers but also bows and arrows, spears, armor, and so on.

The land area of Great Xia was several times larger than that of China in his previous life. Just the number of soldiers guarding the country numbered in the millions. Even if there was no war, the loss of weapons during training was not a small number.

Not to mention, there was never a lack of wars at Great Xia’s borders.

Zhou Shu and Ma Fengzhang had reached a strategic cooperation. Compared to the superintendents of the Forging Division’s workshops, he had one more source of obtaining information.

The more he knew, the more he understood the difference between a Forging Master and a Forging Apprentice.

If a Forging Apprentice was an assembly line worker of a weapon factory, then a Forging Master was a technological talent who studied missiles.

There was no comparison between the two.

Forging Masters were never born from Forging Apprentices. They had their own inheritance system.

This was also one of the reasons why the Forging Division didn’t place much importance on apprentices.

No wonder the higher-ups didn’t seem to notice when Xiao Zongshui and the other superintendents oppressed the apprentices.

Thinking back to his previous experiences, Zhou Shu cursed in his heart.

It was not that the Great Xia Imperial Court didn’t value talents, but rather, it didn’t value Forging Apprentices as talents…

Even someone like Zhou Shu, who had already shown his talent in forging, was only worth nurturing for the Great Xia Imperial Court. He was still not that important.

Before he became a Forging Master, no matter how talented he was, he was only a Forging Apprentice.

No one could guarantee that they could become a Forging Master.

Even if one was talented as a child, they might not necessarily grow up to become a genius. There was no shortage of such examples everywhere.

Of course, Zhou Shu was not an ordinary Forging Apprentice. The Huben Saber, Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Saber, and Horse Slaying Saber he had developed had extraordinary significance to Great Xia’s military.

Otherwise, Yin Wuyou wouldn’t have directly promoted him to be the superintendent of the 0th Workshop, and Emperor Yuan Feng and Meng Bai wouldn’t have paid much attention to him.

This was equivalent to directly promoting an assembly line worker to a national cadre and even gaining the attention of the country’s chief and Military Commission’s chief.

The path of a forger is fraught with difficulties. The path of a martial artist is not that easy either.

Zhou Shu had also obtained some information regarding martial artists from Ma Fengzhang.

Great Xia had an extremely strong martial arts culture, and almost everyone practiced martial arts. But it would already be considered good if even one out of hundreds of them managed to become a ranked martial artist.

This was equivalent to a lot of people going to school. There were not many who could actually get into the first-class universities.

Furthermore, although becoming a ranked martial artist would allow one’s status to be above others, this status didn’t come without conditions.

In Great Xia, all ranked martial artists had to either join the Demon Executing Army, Fiend Eradication Army, or the Divine Constable Bureau. At the very least, they had to become consecrated by the Divine Constable Bureau.

Want to be a free man?

Sorry, but ranked martial artists, with the exception of wanted criminals, had to be taken in by the country. They were all either under management or cleaned up. There was no third option.

It was impossible to use force to become a tyrannical tycoon in Great Xia.

And although there were many benefits in accepting the country’s recruitment, there were also many obligations.

All the ranked martial artists in the Demon Executing and Fiend Eradication armies had missions they had to complete.

The Divine Constable Bureau was the same.

To put it simply, ranked martial artists had higher statuses and better treatment. But at the same time, they also had to face dangers that ordinary people didn’t have to encounter.

Unless one’s martial prowess surpassed that of a country, there was no such thing as a martial artist who could look down on the Imperial Court.

So what if one was a first-rank martial artist?

The emperor of Great Xia was a first-rank martial artist, and there were also many first-rank martial artists in the Imperial Court. If anyone dared to rebel, they would still die.

It’s a good thing that I was cautious enough not to reveal my Martial Dao cultivation. Otherwise, I’d have to carry out dangerous missions frequently.

Zhou Shu rejoiced. He had originally thought that if he displayed his talent, Great Xia might nurture him.

From the looks of it now, although he might be nurtured, the risks were not small either.

Once he showed his Martial Dao cultivation, even if the Imperial Court took care of him for his talent in forging, he would still have to carry out certain tasks.

It’s safer to be a forger. There’s no need to fight and kill. Zhou Shu was very satisfied with his current choice.

One day, when my cultivation level surpasses the first rank, I will reveal my cultivation.

My Dragon Elephant Prajna Technique has already reached the eighth level. The saber intent of the Heavenly Saber Art has also achieved lesser mastery. Only this Golden Bell Shield is at the first level.

Zhou Shu calculated his current capital. At the first level of the Golden Bell Shield, its only use was to reduce the pain when he was beaten.

To Zhou Shu, this was completely useless.

To him, only by cultivating to the twelfth level of the Golden Bell Shield and attaining an invincible body would he not die even if others punched and kicked him, slashed him with swords, burned him, drowned him, didn’t allow him to eat and sleep, and even poisoned him. Only then would he be truly safe.

1

I wonder what benefit the Horse Slaying Saber will bring me from this execution.

Counting the days, it was almost time for the execution Mi Ziwen mentioned.

Mi Ziwen had promised Zhou Shu that he would let the executioners use Horse Slaying Sabers for the execution. This way, he would definitely be able to reap some benefits.

He just didn’t know what level his Golden Bell Shield could reach with this execution.

And about Great Xia’s military parade that Ma Fengzhang mentioned—

Zhou Shu thought of another thing that Ma Fengzhang had told him.

The emperor of Great Xia had already given him special permission to participate in Great Xia’s military parade. The news would be announced very soon, and at that time, it would probably cause him a lot of trouble.

In the history of Great Xia’s military parade, there had never been a Forging Apprentice who participated in the parade.

The bird that sticks out gets shot. Even in the peaceful world of his previous life, he still had to face cyber violence when he became famous, let alone here.

I have to think carefully about how to show enough strength not to let others look down on me while keeping a low profile…

Before this, he didn’t show much of his abilities and was already on the assassination list of Great Wei. If Great Xia hadn’t handled it well, there might have already been people coming to assassinate him.

Zhou Shu now had a very clear understanding of himself. Although he had some strength, it was absolutely not to the point where he could act as he pleased.

It was never wrong to keep a low profile.

After I finish Great General Meng’s mission, I have to go talk to the grand minister.

The 0th Workshop must make its own mark. I don’t want it to become a sweatshop like the 97th Workshop…

After obtaining so much information from the Divine Constable Bureau, Zhou Shu began to consider even more things.

He wanted stability and development now.

In this world where experts were everywhere, blindly seeking stability was not a good choice. When it was time to do something, one had to do it. Only by truly becoming stronger could one truly be at ease. Otherwise, everything would be like a rootless tree without water.

The 0th Workshop was his foundation. He wanted to achieve some things here so that he could have a stable footing.

If the grand minister agrees with me, that would be great.

How can I make her agree? I wonder if I can reason with a woman?

If I can’t reason with her, at most, I’ll use my beauty boy trap—

Zhou Shu gritted his teeth. No matter what, I have to get Yin Wuyou to agree with my idea.. Otherwise, I won’t be able to carry out my subsequent plans.

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