"Grand Commandant! Something terrible has happened!"

Zhao Gao rushed into the workshop, his face grim.

The wicked man, who was instructing the craftsmen on casting the experimental specimen, looked up upon hearing this and asked, "What's the matter that you're in such a panic?"

"Look at this!" Zhao Gao handed over a report. "It's a memorial from Qi and Yan, saying that there isn't enough manpower to build the official roads and city walls..."

The wicked man took a look, and his brows immediately furrowed. Although the territories of the six states had been incorporated into the Qin territory, a great deal of manpower and resources were indeed needed to improve the infrastructure.

However, relying solely on manual labor to compact the earth would take an unknown amount of time.

"Hmph!" the wicked man sneered. "They've come at the perfect time. It seems it's time to test our new method."

Zhao Gao asked in confusion, "What does the Grand Commandant mean...?"

"Just wait and see!" the wicked man said, pointing to the mountain of new bricks and stones piled on the ground. "With this, city walls and official roads are nothing!"

Just then, Zhang Erhe ran in with news: "Grand Commandant, there's trouble at the Dayao kiln!"

"What's the problem?"

"The craftsmen said the firing temperature was difficult to control, and a whole batch of lime was ruined..."

Without saying a word, the wicked husband immediately rushed to West Mountain.

From afar, one could see thick smoke billowing from the kiln, and a group of craftsmen were frantically trying to control the fire.

"What's going on?" the wicked husband asked.

"Reporting to the Grand Commandant, it's like this..." an old craftsman explained, "We were burning lime according to the recipe, but suddenly the fire flared up and we couldn't control it at all..."

The wicked man carefully examined the kiln's internal structure and quickly found the problem.

"Look," he said, pointing to the ventilation duct, "this design is flawed. The duct is too large, so the fire can't be controlled. It needs to be changed like this..."

As he spoke, he quickly sketched out a new design: "Modify it according to this, and there won't be any problems."

The craftsmen took the blueprints and nodded repeatedly, saying, "Brilliant! This way, the firing temperature can be controlled very precisely."

"Oh, right," the wicked man added, "there's a proper way to arrange the limestone. It can't be piled up haphazardly; it must be stacked neatly in layers so that it heats evenly."

"But so much limestone..." Zhang Erhe frowned, "Just stacking it will take a lot of work."

"Idiot!" the wicked husband smacked him. "They can just build a gantry. With a pulley system and a winch, they can easily hoist the stone up."

As he spoke, he drew another blueprint and handed it to the Mo family craftsmen: "You know how to make this, right?"

"No problem!" The craftsmen glanced at the blueprints. "This is something we're experts at."

Just then, someone else reported: "Grand Commandant, the mines in Beishan are also in trouble!"

"What's wrong now?"

"The mountain road is too treacherous; the horse-drawn carts transporting stones always overturn..."

The wicked man thought for a moment: "Make them stop for a while. Zhang Erhe!"

"exist!"

"Take some men to scout the terrain, select a few key locations, and use our new type of bricks and stones to build a road up the mountain. Remember, the road surface must be flat, the slope must be moderate, and there must be no shortcuts in the areas that need to be excavated!"

"That must have taken a lot of work, right?"

"It's better to put in more effort now than to have accidents every day!" the wicked man said. "Once the road is repaired, transportation efficiency will increase at least threefold."

Just as he was giving the instructions, Zhao Gao arrived again.

"Grand Commandant, another report has arrived..."

"What's wrong now? Can't you just let me have a moment's peace?" the wicked husband said irritably.

"News has come from Wei that they want to build a bridge across the river, which would save a lot of time transporting troops. Do you have any good ideas?"

"A bridge?" The wicked man's eyes lit up. "That's perfect! Come, come, let me show you something..."

He led everyone to the workshop's testing ground. There, they saw a small arch bridge model already erected, entirely constructed of modern bricks and stones.

"See that?" the wicked man said smugly. "This is our new kind of bridge. It's built with these bricks and stones in an arch shape, and then another layer is laid on top of the bridge deck. It's much sturdier than a wooden bridge!"

"This..." Zhao Gao exclaimed in surprise, "Can it really be built across the river?"

"Of course!" the wicked man said confidently. "The biggest advantage of this structure is its even distribution of stress. Once our technology is mature enough, building a bridge ten or eight zhang long won't be a problem!"

The crowd gasped in amazement and gathered around to take a closer look.

"Grand Commandant, in your opinion, how should the bridges in Wei be built?" Zhao Gao asked.

"First, have them survey the riverbed thoroughly, measuring its width and flow," the wicked man said. "Then send Mohist craftsmen over, bringing our new type of bricks and stones. I'll personally draw up a blueprint, and have them construct according to it..."

Just then, a craftsman came running excitedly.

"Grand Commandant! The experiment you instructed us to conduct has been a success!"

"Oh? Let me see it!"

The craftsman presented a brick, and everyone stared at it, speechless with astonishment. The brick was entirely grayish-white, with a remarkably smooth surface, and produced a clear, resonant sound when tapped, far superior to the previous finished products.

"How did you do that?" Zhang Erhe asked curiously.

"It's very simple," the craftsman explained. "We added some special materials inside, as the Grand Commandant instructed..."

"Shut up!" the wicked man interrupted him. "It's best not to talk about such things."

Turning to Zhao Gao, he said, "Go back and report. Tell the officials in various places to remain calm. Once we've made preparations here, we'll naturally send people to teach them the new methods."

After Zhao Gao left, the wicked man said to the crowd, "This experiment was a great success, proving we've found the right direction. However..."

He looked at everyone seriously: "These are all Qin's unique secret techniques; they must never be passed on to outsiders. Understand?"

"Understood!" everyone responded in unison.

"Good!" The wicked man nodded in satisfaction. "Now that the technology is mature, it's time to begin mass production. Zhang Erhe!"

"exist!"

"Have carriages and horses prepared; we need to transport these new bricks and stones to various places. Remember, every step of the process must be strictly controlled; there must be absolutely no mistakes!"

"yes!"

Watching the busy crowd, the wicked man secretly rejoiced: Let them keep busy. Once these new building materials are widely adopted, the entire Qin Kingdom will be completely transformed!

By then, we can build whatever we want – official roads, city walls, bridges – we can even give Emperor Zheng a big surprise!

However, his dream was soon shattered.

"Grand Commandant..." Zhao Gao arrived again.

"What's wrong now?"

"Those memorials..."

"Okay, okay!" the wicked husband waved his hand impatiently. "Help me tidy up first, I'll go look at it now..."

Entering the study and seeing the mountain of bamboo slips, the wicked husband couldn't help but sigh, "Ugh! These government affairs are so tedious. I wonder how they're progressing. My dear Zheng-ge... please come back soon!"