Dong Qi stared in astonishment, her mouth agape.
Then she shook her head and said, "The leader is a woman, and you are a man, how could you possibly be the leader?"
Chen Xi burst into laughter. There are fools, but none this foolish.
Although she was dressed as a man, if you got close and looked carefully, you could still see the clues.
Dong Qi was already very close to her, and when she revealed that she was a leader, he still hadn't realized it.
Chenxi took off her hat, revealing her long, beautiful hair, then wiped her eyebrows and asked again, "Is she a woman?"
Dong Qi then realized what had happened and his face turned red. He had embarrassed himself in front of the leader, failing to even distinguish between men and women.
Chenxi smiled again and said, "You really have talent in carving, but you're still quite inexperienced. How about this, I'll have some top carvers teach you. With your abilities, I believe you'll surpass them."
The steel seal of Shenxi was carved by a skilled engraver.
This steel material was obtained by chance in Chenxi.
Shenxi never expected that in this day and age, with such backward production methods, someone could actually produce high-quality steel.
In other words, the technology for high-quality steel exists, but it cannot be mass-produced.
The material of this fine steel was obtained by Zang Huatian, who presented it to Chenxi as if it were a treasure.
And proudly declared, "There is only one piece of fine steel in the world of this quality that can be made into a seal. It is flawless, the best of the best, an absolute masterpiece. And it is the only one of its kind, a rare find."
Shenxi was immediately astonished. If such high-quality steel could be mass-produced, it would be a major advancement for society.
Not only could the farming tools used by ordinary people undergo tremendous changes, but so could weapons for warfare, such as pistols. Furthermore, exquisite items could be made, such as pocket watches.
But upon asking, Chenxi was immediately defeated.
This piece of top-grade refined steel was forged by the previous patriarch of the Jin family, a family of ingenious craftsmen. Since the death of the previous patriarch, the new patriarch, Jin Shupiao, has spent a lot of iron but has not been able to produce such refined steel again.
In other words, the Jin family may have known the theoretical knowledge of refining, but their technical skills were simply not up to par.
Zang Huatian said that he found it by chance when he went to the city of Zhonggui Prefecture and was looking for something useful in a courtyard where his father used to live.
It was probably a gift from the Jin family. After all, the Zang family is a well-known wealthy family. Although they are not as prestigious as the aristocratic families in terms of social status, their wealth is definitely not inferior to that of the aristocratic families.
The Zang family also cultivated many scholars who began to show their talents in officialdom. No one dared to say that the Zang family would not be the next rising aristocratic family.
But Zang Huatian almost didn't make it back.
Zang Huatian's uncle, Zang Yucheng, was the current head of the Zang family. Upon hearing of Zang Huatian's arrival, he actually sent people to eliminate him.
Zang Yucheng had long heard that Zang Huatian was showing signs of making a comeback, so he wanted to eliminate him completely.
After all, Zang Yucheng had once seized the position of family head from a widow and her orphan.
Although some people within the clan knew that Zang Yucheng was going to deal with Zang Huatian, they did not speak out about it for various reasons.
Zang Huatian managed to escape only thanks to the desperate protection of his guards and followers.
As a result, Zang Huatian's father's side courtyard was exposed and occupied by Zang Yucheng.
Zang Huatian said angrily, "When the day comes that the chief occupies Zhonggui Mansion, I will make Zang Yucheng taste what it's like to be hunted down."
Shenxi smiled and comforted him: "If I really take over Zhonggui Mansion and Zang Yucheng hasn't run away, I will definitely let you deal with him personally."
Zang Huatian finally calmed down.
Shenxi then asked, "Where is the Jin family, the family of ingenious craftsmen, now?"
Zang Huatian shook his head: "Everyone says they've come to the North, but only some people saw them in Jianming Prefecture and Zhonggui Prefecture at the beginning. Then they mysteriously disappeared. Many aristocratic families in the North are inquiring about where they are, but no one has been able to find out."
A family skilled in ingenious arts simply vanished. Perhaps they chose to go into seclusion, or perhaps they were hidden away.
Shenxi felt it was a great pity. If she could make the Jin family work for her, she would definitely be able to make many exquisite things with her modern knowledge and the Jin family's skillful hands.
Although Dong Qi had never seen refined steel before, he was certain that it was something he had never seen before. When he heard from Chen Xi that someone could be sent to teach him systematic carving, he was overjoyed.
He knelt down and kowtowed repeatedly: "Thank you for your guidance, Commander. If you ever need me in the future, I, Dong Qi, will go through fire and water and die without hesitation."
He uses idioms quite fluently, haha. It seems that although Dong Qi doesn't know many characters, his experience as a waiter has broadened his horizons.
Shen Xi immediately had Zheng Ankang help him up and asked, "When Lin Tai tricked you into coming to the county town to cause trouble, didn't you have any suspicions? Didn't you take a good look around the county town and ask around?"
Dong Qi's face turned even redder. They had been exploited to the point of losing their rationality and their most basic judgment.
After experiencing famine, hunger, and the government's misdeeds, they had only a limited number of people they could trust.
Even though the policies in Shenxi were very good, they didn't bring much improvement when they reached their own villages; at most, they were no longer homeless.
Diet remains difficult, and they also have to do heavy labor.
In just over three months, the number of deaths in the village was slightly less than the number of people who died while fleeing the famine, and most of the survivors were young people.
Many of the older people and children did not survive.
Even so, they were still somewhat grateful at first, since they could still get some food after working.
The elderly in the family barely ate anything in order to leave a way for the young people to survive, which is why the vast majority of the young people survived.
His dying father held his hand and said, "As long as there is some thin porridge, do not cause any disturbances or fight."
This is a reminder to Dong Qi not to rebel just because they are starving to death.
After all, young people can endure it and survive.
This is why, once the regulations on raising horses were issued, everyone in the village was happy to do so. They could endure the hardship, but it was hard to bear the lack of money and food.
They could endure hardship as long as they could earn some money or more food after their labor.
Upon seeing Dong Qi's unnatural expression, Shen Xi knew that they had not carefully verified the truth of the matter, nor had they inquired about it.
After all, the trick that Lin Tai, the mayor of Xunwang Township, taught them was to make a big scene, because only by making a big scene could the problem be solved.
“I didn’t ask you in detail in court, but now I’m asking you: Logically speaking, with so many people in Xunwang Township, all of whom were subject to the horse-raising policy, how come only about twenty of you came to the county town and caused chaos?”
Dong Qi sighed: "There are only about twenty of us original residents in our village. The rest are all from elsewhere, so it's difficult for us to integrate and move around together."
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