"Good." Lin Xuan Qi nodded his head as he held the handle of the wheelbarrow, lifted it up and gave it a push forward.
The wheelbarrow moved along, bumping up and down as it travelled across the ground.
It would be better if the wheels were rubber instead.
But there wasn’t any rubber in the Da Qian Dynasty, so he would have to make do with the wooden wheel that it had on.
He went on and inspected the other items that Song and the others had created.
Knock.
Lin Xuan Qi knocked on the barrels in front of him, and he was satisfied that they felt sturdy.
He went on and picked up the pail that was beside him and poured the water from the pail into the barrel.
After the water got into the barrel, he waited to see if there was any leakage.
Moments passed, and the water level in the barrel remained the same.
Their skills were good enough.
He glanced over at Song and the others and gave them an approving nod.
"See, I told you to be confident in ourselves."
"Great, now I think we are more than halfway there?"
"I would think so."
Song and the others gave a sigh of relief, relaxed their tightened shoulders and congratulated each other with soft cheers.
Lin Xuan Qi walked over to the last piece of item they’d crafted.
It was a part of the pulley system he had asked them to create.
Song and the others held their breath as they saw him pick up the piece of the pulley system.
They saw him frown and they waited anxiously as he held the pulley in his hands.
He gave out a sigh, and they took a deep breath.
Lin Xuan Qi placed the pulley back on the ground and glanced over at them.
"If it’s not to your liking, we can fix it."
"Yeah. I told Heng not to make it so smooth."
"What? I did it according to the draft."
He frowned when he heard them.
There was nothing wrong with the pulley, and he was only thinking about the amount of coordination that had to be done for the pulley to work.
It still needed counterweights and a platform.
"You’ve misunderstood. The pulley is as what I’ve requested."
"Really?" Song and the others asked.
Lin Xuan Qi nodded and said, "Yes. You’ve passed the test, welcome to the Lin Clan."
"Thank you, Master Lin! We shall serve you to the best of our ability."
Song and the others bowed to him.
He nodded at them and said, "I need five more wheelbarrows, ten more barrels and eight more of the pulleys.
"When you are done, deliver them to the factories in the east and west of the city.
"Report to the east factory tomorrow morning."
"Yes, Master Lin." They bowed and said.
Lin Xuan Qi pointed to the taels of silver on the table next to him and said, "Here, take the remuneration as promised first."
Song and the others glanced at each other with a grin.
They wiped their hands on their clothes before coming forward to him.
After they picked up a tael of silver each, they brought it up against the sun, savoring the glitter it gave out and the bright future they would be having.
Lin Xuan Qi smiled at their happiness.
It gave him a feeling that he, as the Clan Master, was touching other people’s lives.
He was glad to do so, as long as they worked hard for it and were loyal to him.
Freeloaders aren’t welcomed, and traitors would be punished.
Fortunately for him, he didn’t have to take care of such issues yet.
Words appeared in his mind.
[Congratulations to host for recruiting five carpenters to the mansion.]
[Additional 50KG of rice will be delivered to the mansion daily.]
[Keep up the good work and recruit more personnel.]
[System shall be upgraded when it’s done.]
The thoughts of handling freeloaders and traitors reminded him of setting down the rules, and he went to the main hall.
"Ah Di, prepare the ink and brush."
Ah Di nodded his head and got to it.
He unrolled a scroll of paper, laid it flat and held it down with weights, made of jade with carvings of eagles and tigers.
Then, he poured some water into the inkstone, used the ink block, and ground the ink in the water.
As Ah Di did so, Lin Xuan Qi sat down and tried to recall all the rules and regulations he could remember from Earth.
There were rules about basic behaviors that were expected.
Things like no stealing, fighting among each other and unruly behaviors weren’t tolerated.
It would be applicable for everyone, whether in the mansion or the factories.
And most important of all, everyone had to listen to his orders.
Then, he thought about the work hours, rest days and remuneration for everyone.
Seniority for the workers and servants would have to be established.
If not, there wasn’t any motivation for them to work hard, and slacking off would be unavoidable.
The very first thing he would do was to promote Xue Cong, Yue Jie and Yue Xin to senior servant girls in the mansion.
He was going to task them to take care of the new servants after all.
"Master Lin, everything is ready." Ah Di’s voice brought him out of his thoughts.
He nodded and picked up a brush.
Without much hesitation, he began to write down the rules.
Ah Di didn’t know many characters, so he could only watch and marvel at the speed that he was writing.
After an incense time, he was finally done.
Lin Xuan Qi put down the brush and stretched his hands, giving out a yawn.
He stood up and took a step back, marveling at his masterpiece.
"Master Lin, what is this?" Ah Di asked.
"This is something important." He said and patted Ah Di on his head.
Ah Di’s question reminded him that it had been a long time since they had lessons.
"Master Lin, dinner is ready." Xue Cong came into the main hall and said.
"Great timing." Lin Xuan Qi said with a huge smile.
Xue Cong frowned and tilted her head.
She recalled that he wasn’t feeling that great earlier.
But now, he was feeling happy?
Men are just so unpredictable, she thought.
She wanted to turn around and walk to the dining hall before she remembered something.
Her leg froze in midair at the possibility of what would happen when Lin Xuan Qi was happy.
There would be lessons.