Chapter 290: Everyone is Equal Here

In the blink of an eye, half a month passed.

The grain seeds in the Beijiang Camp warehouse had already been distributed, but villagers who heard the news still arrived in dribs and drabs to collect seeds.

Bai Wei went to the city again to restock a batch of grain seeds and fertilizer, then sent them to Xiao Moting.

She received a note from Xiao Moting.

"Bai, the iron factory has been built, and the road has been cleared. I have dispatched trucks to haul coal, and we will be able to smelt the first pot of molten iron today."

"Really?" Bai Wei was pleasantly surprised, and a wave of excitement surged within her.

The ancient Beijiang had finally built its first "modernized" iron smelting factory.

Although the equipment for the iron smelting factory was all transported by her from the modern era exactly as it was, it had been built nonetheless!

With an iron smelting factory in the Beijiang, productivity would increase several times over compared to before.

Bai Wei immediately drove the car back to the Farm, then pricked her finger and dripped blood onto the Jade Pendant.

A wave of dizziness hit her head, and she lost consciousness.

When she woke up again, Bai Wei's consciousness had already arrived in Daliang.

As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw the glowing red charcoal burning in the furnace, the scorching flames almost licking her face.

It was the High Furnace!

Xiao Moting was standing in front of the High Furnace of the iron factory, staring intently at the crucible.

Over a dozen craftsmen, bare-chested, were continuously shoveling coal slag into the furnace chamber.

Other craftsmen were adding iron ore and limestone into the furnace.

Everyone was performing their own duties, all busy at work.

Standing to the side was Han Fang, who served as the technical advisor, along with several masters, and behind them was a group of soldiers.

Today was the first time the High Furnace was smelting iron, and everyone was very nervous.

They were terrified that they wouldn't be able to smelt iron.

"Open—the furnace... —"

Following a loud roar from the master, the glowing red molten iron flowed into the crucible!

Qin Zhan broke into a cold sweat and immediately roared with excitement.

"It's smelted!"

A cheer erupted all around.

The soldiers were incredibly excited, shouting and clamoring.

"Success, we've smelted molten iron."

"This is truly great, thank you, Bai!"

"From now on, we won't lack iron! With iron, we can forge armor and build weapons!"

The glowing red molten iron reflected in Xiao Moting's dark eyes, tinged with a smile.

He was also very happy!

In Daliang Kingdom, iron was forged in blacksmith shops.

But the efficiency was very low; it took over ten days just to forge one iron weapon. Forging iron was not easy, and smelting iron was equally difficult.

The Beijiang had 180,000 soldiers, plus tens of thousands of farmers and craftsmen; the amount of iron needed was massive.

Relying on Bai Wei to teleport iron couldn't last a lifetime.

Now that they could smelt iron themselves, it would make things easier for Bai Wei, so she wouldn't have to constantly expend Mental Power to transmit ironware to them.

In the past, the Heavy Armored Infantry of Daye relied on being covered in iron armor from head to toe, including their horses, to be invincible everywhere.

Now that the Beijiang had an iron smelting High Furnace and no longer lacked iron, they could easily build a Heavy Armored Cavalry.

"This molten iron is truly excellent," Han Fang said, his eyes brimming with tears of excitement. "It is much purer than the molten iron smelted in blacksmith shops! The weapons forged from it will surely be indestructible."

Xiao Dabao had a sudden inspiration and blurted out.

"Since this iron smelting factory was built by Bai, why don't we call it the Bai-brand Iron Smelting Factory, how about that?"

His words drew a chorus of agreement.

Everyone agreed one after another.

Xiao Moting did not object either; after all, the Beijiang Army was also raised by Bai Wei, and he did not care about the name of an iron smelting factory.

Bai Wei, who was listening on the side, was speechless.

Her original intention was to help the Beijiang Army escape their predicament so they wouldn't starve to death in the bitter cold.

As it turned out, the Beijiang Army had become her own army, and everyone revered her.

Bai Wei had a strange feeling, as if she had become a female emperor, leading Xiao Moting and his army to conquer the world.

However, since the Beijiang had successfully smelted molten iron, it had to be celebrated.

Bai Wei's consciousness quietly returned.

As soon as she opened her eyes, she immediately jumped off the bed, picked up her phone, and called Zhang Shen.

"Aunt, you have soda in your convenience store, right? Send it all to me, I want every variety, as much as you have, send it all."

"What else do you have to eat there? Send me some."

Zhang Shen thought for a moment, "I have plenty of drinks, as for food... my relative is just sending over a truckload of mangoes, all large Noble Concubine Mangoes, thin-skinned and sweet. I was just about to send them to a restaurant in the city. If you want them, I'll send them to you."

"I'll take them!" Bai Wei nodded immediately.

Mangoes were Tribute Fruit in Daliang Kingdom, and the emperor even specifically sent the Imperial Guard to escort them from the Western Regions.

She would make a grand gesture and send a batch of Tribute Fruit for the Beijiang Army to taste.

Before long, Zhang Shen arrived driving a small truck, bringing three workers to help unload the cargo.

Two small trucks, one loaded with drinks and one loaded with mangoes.

"Bai Wei, I'll unload the goods for you right now," Zhang Shen said with a happy laugh.

Her small shop had originally been on the verge of closing, but later, thanks to Bai Wei, she had been able to expand her business.

Now she had turned the small shop into a wholesale store, not only wholesaling snacks and general merchandise but also fruit; she had even bought two small trucks to deliver goods to grocery stores in the surrounding villages, and her business had even reached the town, where she had secured exclusive rights to several types of beverages.

The goods sold at Zhang Shen's wholesale store were cheap and affordable, and the villagers in the surrounding areas were all willing to buy from her.

While directing the workers to unload the goods, Zhang Shen said excitedly.

"Bai Wei, here are Cola, Fanta, Sprite..."

She had already grown accustomed to Bai Wei's large-scale purchases and was too lazy to even ask questions.

Anyway, her shop had developed thanks to Bai Wei, and since the other party never defaulted on payments, why should she ask so much?

"Okay," Bai Wei nodded with a smile, "calculate how much it is, and I will transfer the money to you."

"No rush," Zhang Shen also smiled, "I'll keep a record for you first and we can calculate it later."

Hundreds of boxes of beverages were placed on the ground of the Farm.

Boxes of mangoes were also neatly arranged.

As soon as Zhang Shen left, Bai Wei immediately sent the beverages and mangoes to Xiao Moting.

"Xiao Moting, the molten iron has been smelted, right? Let's open some drinks and eat fruit to celebrate."

Alcohol is prohibited in the Beijiang Army, so let's drink beverages and eat Tribute Fruit instead!

A large pile of mangoes and hundreds of boxes of beverages were stacked in the open space at the entrance of the Iron Factory.

The soldiers were originally very happy, but as soon as they saw the mangoes, they were all stunned.

"Tribute Fruit, am I seeing this right?!"

"Bai actually sent us Tribute Fruit; these are precious fruits."

"These Tribute Fruits are even larger and smell even more fragrant than the batch sent to the palace last time."

The sweet fragrance of the mangoes was pungent, and everyone was drooling with desire, yet no one dared to take any.

Because this was Tribute Fruit, something only the Emperor could eat; no one else was qualified.

Last time, Commandant Zhao of the Imperial Guard almost slaughtered several villages over a few carts of Tribute Fruit, which shows how precious this fruit is.

Xiao Moting walked forward and used his Long Sword to slice open a cardboard box.

He bent down, took out two mangoes, and tossed them to Qin Zhan and Xiao Dabao.

"This is fruit that Bai sent for us to eat, called mangoes; it's for us to celebrate the establishment of the Iron Factory, not some Tribute Fruit."

"Who decreed that only people in the palace can eat mangoes?"

"Where I am, there is no distinction between rich and poor, noble and lowly; everyone is equal!"

This philosophy was something he had learned from Bai Wei.