Chapter 726: Work Schedule

After Yan Buji returned to the mining area, he handed the explosives to them.

Zhou Wan'an received the explosives and immediately gave them to Ironheart Stone.

Then the three of them examined the results together.

Sure enough, with the explosives added, the mining speed multiplied, and Ironheart Stone said happily, "It's indeed Yang Sui's work; this kind of explosive can shatter ore, but if the amount is measured correctly and combined with manual digging, the speed jumps up instantly!!"

Yan Buji saw the golden steel ore coming out of the mine shaft and nodded.

It seems the mining is proceeding smoothly.

Later, Yan Buji talked with Zhou Wan'an and the others about the mining area's development, urging them to prepare the golden steel ore ingots for delivery to the demon tribe as early as possible.

"This depends on Hall Master Li and his group; once the ore is extracted, they can start work as well," Zhou Wan'an nodded.

"Alright, for now we'll sort out all the various matters of the mining area to avoid trouble later," Yan Buji said with a smile.

Zhou Wan'an, puzzled, asked, "Will there be trouble?"

Not to mention anything else, although Zhou Wan'an and the others don't know much about mining, they can at least hire people to help.

With Ironheart Stone and Yang Sui's explosives, the biggest obstacle to mining has been solved.

"Details determine success or failure; those miners are under your charge, but I don't want any incident to delay the sect's vein development," Yan Buji said pointedly.

Zhou Wan'an's expression changed, and he forced a smile, "Hall Master Yan, rest assured, it won't happen!"

"Hope so,"

Yan Buji had been inquiring nearby these past few days; those miners are slaves bought by Zhou Wan'an and the others. Although the cultivation world of Zhong Tian Zhi Yu values rules, slave trade is not prohibited.

No sect can truly turn all its disciples into servants, and for mining, highly cultivated cultivators have no need to do it, so they must employ lower‑rank cultivators.

But disciples are the foundation of a sect; a place that truly uses disciples as miners cannot exist, and even if it did, it wouldn't last.

Thus Zhou Wan'an doesn't know from which channel he obtained nearly three thousand slave cultivators of one‑to‑two layers of refining Qi to serve as miners; Yan Buji isn't worried about a rebellion, but fears that if many of these refining‑Qi cultivators die, it will jeopardize the sect's plan.

Moreover, the demon tribe demands a thousand golden steel ore ingots each month; according to Li Wan Hua, three suitably sized raw stones are needed to forge one ingot.

Yan Buji calculated carefully that, at the current vein extraction rate, three thousand miners can produce about thirty thousand suitable golden steel ore raw stones per month.

But the smelting side is uncertain; at Li Wan Hua's pace, producing five thousand ingots a month would be good.

Nevertheless, Yan Buji doesn't concern himself with smelting; he lets Li Wan Hua figure it out, and if it fails, it's not Yan Buji's problem.

It seems Li Wan Hua also noticed this; after calculating the output issue, he went straight to Yan Buji to discuss it.

Li Wan Hua smiled and said, "Hall Master Yan, it looks like your side is now officially operating."

"Thanks to Hall Master Li, everything is normal. I wonder what important matter Hall Master Li has summoned me for?" Yan Buji asked.

"It's like this, Hall Master Yan, I didn't expect that you now extract so much golden steel ore each month. The smelting facilities here are insufficient, we need to rebuild some, which requires reallocating manpower and resources. So could you slow down a bit on your side, otherwise the warehouse will be piled with ore, and I …" Li Wan Hua said apologetically.

Yan Buji feigned sudden understanding and smiled, "No problem. At Hall Master Li's pace, adding some facilities won't take long, and you can have people work twelve hours a day from dawn to dusk to boost efficiency."

"Hm?" Li Wan Hua was startled.

"At the smelting side, workers work by day and rest at night. You could hire another batch, split them into day‑night shifts, rotating each month."

"Well…," Li Wan Hua looked at Yan Buji, frowned, "It's not ideal, what if they don't rest properly and get injured?"

"Then train them more, have them sign a safety agreement so they know how to protect themselves, proving we taught them, that should suffice," Yan Buji said with a smile.

"Besides, we're not making them work twelve hours straight to death; with two shifts, each person works at most six hours a day, isn't the remaining six hours enough for rest and meals?"

Li Wan Hua thought for a moment, nodded, "You're right."

Is that so?

Li Wan Hua always felt something was off, but the methods Yan Buji later suggested left him with no real rebuttal.

"Then that's settled. Hall Master Li, any other issues?"

"Nothing."

"Alright, in that case I don't need to halt work on my side; you arrange the smelting of the ore briskly, and we'll move forward together, ready to ship and strike the demon‑tribe market soon!"

"Yes, yes." After Li Wan Hua returned in a daze, he immediately announced the two‑shift system.

The workers had no objections; after all, they are cultivators, and working day or night makes little difference.

Yan Buji's method was learned from Zhou Wan'an; that guy is ruthless.

He compiled the miners' names, dividing them into three rotating shifts—day, night, and middle—each with a thousand workers, with foremen and the like overseeing them, plus daily production targets…

The management scheme Yan Buji discussed with Li Wan Hua was all learned from Zhou Wan'an.

Although Zhou Wan'an's strength isn't remarkable, he's very sharp, especially in personnel management; Yan Buji feels inferior, as Zhou constantly devises efficient ways to use manpower.

"The system is fine at first, but once these workers spend every day opening and closing their eyes just to work, clock out, and sleep, over time it's not unlike a form of cultivation."

Yan Buji laughed; besides having little to do with cultivation, this lifestyle isn't worse than that of the ascetic cultivators.

Yan Buji doesn't care about the workers' thoughts, but to boost their motivation he still advises Zhou Wan'an to treat them a bit better, at least providing what's due.

As for whether Zhou Wan'an listens or wants to do so, Yan Buji won't meddle further.

He only looks at the outcome; if something goes wrong, Yan Buji won't look for anyone else, just hold Zhou Wan'an responsible.