Chapter 144: Solving the Energy Problem

The foreman, having finished the video, directed over a hundred craftsmen to begin mixing cement and mortar.

The rest of the Northern Frontier Army and civilians did not understand construction, so they provided manual labor!

They took hoes and shovels to dig the roadbed!

Suddenly!

Qin Zhan hurried to the side of the construction site with several soldiers.

"Stop digging, stop digging, get up quickly."

The soldiers and civilians, who were working with great enthusiasm, were confused and looked up in bewilderment.

"What is it, Deputy General Qin? Are we not building the road anymore?"

"Who said we aren't building the road? Shennü Daren has sent over excavators to help us lighten the burden of digging the ground!"

As soon as the words fell, a cheer erupted from the crowd.

They had been working hard under the sun, holding hoes and sweating like rain to dig the foundation.

The land in Beijiang was very hard, and many people had developed blisters on their palms.

Boom, boom, boom!

Two small excavators wobbled their way into the construction site.

These were the small agricultural excavators sent by Bai Wei; the model was two-thirds smaller than a large excavator, but it did not affect the digging.

The foreman knew a little more, and by following the excavator tutorials sent by the Goddess, they learned how to operate the excavators in just half a day.

Boom!

With one scoop of the excavator, it effortlessly dug up a large cartload of dirt.

The surrounding crowd gasped in astonishment.

This single scoop of dirt was a day's worth of work for ten of them!

Now, it had been dug up in the blink of an eye!

The excavators sent by Shennü Daren were so labor-saving!

Xiao Moting stood to the side and introduced them to everyone.

"Shennü Daren says that these excavators can be used in many places: building roads, building houses, digging the ground, digging river channels..."

The crowd let out another exclamation.

Everyone's face was filled with awe and gratitude toward Shennü Daren.

Wu Da also ran over, grinning shamelessly.

"Prince, could you lend the excavators to our farming team for a while?"

"We have already reclaimed one thousand mu of wasteland, and now I have my eye on another piece of land over three hundred mu, intending to reclaim it to plant corn."

The farmers who reclaimed land and farmed formed the farming team, exchanging labor points for supplies.

Wu Da was the captain of the farming team, responsible for leading the farmers in reclaiming land and farming.

"Our Xiuluodui still needs to use them." The craftsmen immediately objected.

Another group of craftsmen also crowded over, "Can you lend the excavators to us for a while, too, to build houses and dig foundations?"

They were the house-building team, responsible for constructing brick houses.

The three groups argued incessantly, all wanting to fight over the use of the excavators.

Just then!

Another excavator appeared out of thin air, transmitted by Bai Wei to the Northern Frontier Camp.

She had transmitted it over with her consciousness; she had only intended to take a peek at the construction site, but ended up seeing this scene.

"Stop arguing, I will send another excavator over."

"Each team gets one; once you are finished using it, pass it to the other teams."

Bai Wei would have liked to send more excavators to Beijiang.

However... this thing consumed a lot of fuel!

Now Beijiang had motorcycles, Minivans, and a whole bunch of fuel-consuming pile drivers, earth-diggers, and seeders...

The daily fuel consumption was staggering.

Modern gasoline was a controlled item, sold only by the authorities, and individuals were not allowed to purchase it in large quantities. If one bought too much gasoline, they would be noticed by the relevant departments, and might even be invited in for "tea."

Therefore, Bai Wei could only send three excavators to Beijiang; more would be useless.

Because there was not enough gasoline.

Supplies and machinery in Beijiang were no longer the problem; the biggest problem now was energy consumption.

She couldn't very well build an oil well in ancient times.

The ancient craftsmen did not have that level of skill; the most skilled craftsmen now had only barely finished the curriculum of the first year of middle school.

A few days later.

The three excavators burned through their gasoline and all stopped working.

Without gasoline, the pile drivers, Minivans... also stalled one after another.

The construction site came to a complete standstill, and the farms currently reclaiming land also began planting by human labor.

Manual reclamation was simply too slow.

Xiao Moting had no choice but to go find Bai Wei.

"Shennü Daren, the gasoline is gone; could you send some gasoline over?"

"Wait a moment, I will find a way."

After Bai Wei finished replying to the message, her brows knitted tightly together.

In ancient times, energy consumption was a major problem.

Over at the car dealership, she had bought too much gasoline, and the owner had received several calls from the relevant departments, making him timid and causing him to say he could no longer provide any.

Bai Wei posted a thread online, offering to buy gasoline at a high price.

Very quickly, several people sent her private messages.

"Boss, how much gasoline are you buying? I have a barrel."

"What is your price?"

"I have some too, let's see how much you're offering."

Bai Wei was not short on money; she would buy as much as there was, and as long as the other party didn't demand an exorbitant price, she would buy all the gasoline.

However, these sellers were all selling gasoline in small, scattered quantities.

Added all together, it was only a little over two thousand liters.

Yet the entire Northern Frontier Camp consumed over five hundred liters of gasoline every day, which was only enough for four days.

Especially the ten minivans that had to deliver supplies—food, drink, and daily necessities—to the troops stationed at the Altai Snow Mountain every few days; otherwise, the five thousand soldiers led by Zhang Zhao would have to endure the cold and hunger.

Just as Bai Wei was feeling anxious, Zhang Shen arrived.

Zhang Shen had a loose tongue, and knowing that her grandmother's family was at odds with her, she ran over to gossip.

"... Xiao Wei, didn't your grandmother's family run to the Farm to cause trouble last time? They even filed a false police report, claiming you were in possession of firearms and Ammunition..."

"They were dragged into the Police Station, and your grandmother was sentenced to a month and a half! I heard she was originally only going to be detained for twenty days, but the old lady threw a tantrum and even scratched a police officer, so she was immediately charged with assaulting an officer."

"And your uncle and aunt, the two of them have to be locked up for twenty days."

"They truly deserve it! Back then they announced they were severing ties with you, and now that they know you can earn so much money, they are regretting it to their guts..."

As Zhang Shen spoke, she laughed heartily.

She despised the faces of Bai Shengyi's family, and seeing this family go to jail made her happy!

Bai Wei smiled as well.

"Zhang Shen, how that family is doing is no longer any of my business."

"What did you buy?"

She tilted her chin, noticing a small truck behind Zhang Shen.

Zhang Shen turned her head, "You mean this? It's a Solar Power generator I bought. For heating water and cooking at home... using solar power can save quite a bit on electricity."

"Solar Power?"

Bai Wei's eyes lit up instantly.

That's it!

Gasoline was a controlled item, and she couldn't buy it.

But she could use electricity!

That whole pile of farming machines, pile drivers, and Shaji... they all currently used gasoline, but these small Agricultural Machinery could also use electricity as an energy source!

The gasoline saved then could be used for the excavators and minivans!

Furthermore, if there was enough electricity, she could even send new energy vehicles to the Northern Frontier!

"Zhang Shen, thank you!" Bai Wei was extremely excited and immediately ran outside.

She was going to buy solar panels right now.

This news made her even happier than her uncle's family going to jail.

Zhang Shen was confused, "This child, why is she so happy..."