Ye Xinyan wanted to cry but had no tears. What was this all about? Was this really her mother? Could a mother speak this way about her own daughter? When had she ever lost control of herself? Even if Madam Yin was pleased with Jiang Yifan and wanted him as her son-in-law, he was still an outsider, wasn’t he? After all, he could never be closer to her than her own daughter.
"Mother, am I really your own flesh and blood?" Ye Xinyan asked unhappily, her complexion truly turning a bit green.
Hearing the dissatisfaction in Ye Xinyan’s tone, Madam Yin hurriedly comforted her with a smile, "Oh my, my daughter, who else could I have but you?" She was patting her back and smoothing her hair, trying to appease her.
"Aunt, aunt, you have me too, I’ll be filial to Aunt when I grow up." Nanny Huang lifted the curtain and scurried in, bustling about energetically.
Madam Yin quickly extended her hands in welcome, "Right, right, there’s also Aunt’s little sweetheart. Come here, you must be hot, look at all this sweat. Come here, let Aunt wipe your face for our little sweetheart."
Ye Xinyan pursed her lips. It seemed that after she had brought her mother along, her own position in her mother’s heart had plummeted rapidly, getting lower and lower.
And then there was Jiang Yifan! Ye Xinyan regretted it so much she wanted to pull her hair out. By the looks of it, Jiang Yifan had used some method to brainwash Madam Yin, who was now convinced that Ye Xinyan had acted inappropriately towards Jiang Yifan, and that she was willing to remarry Jiang Yifan from the heart, but only refused to admit it because she couldn’t face it.
Although annoyed by many things, with so much work starting simultaneously in Clear Water Village and Peach Grove, Jiang Yifan’s issue wasn’t yet urgent, and she didn’t have time to dwell on these issues.
With the Qi family’s investment in silver in place, the large number of craftsmen gathered from all over had begun their respective projects, and Cheung Wusi, leading his son and Zhao Qiusheng sent by Jinrong, oversaw the construction sites.
In a short while, nearly half of all the craftsmen in Yuyuan Prefecture had gathered in Clear Water Village, this once remote and desolate area, and in the tract of land stretching through wasteland to Peach Grove. Even the workers from Qi Younian’s construction projects in Prefecture City had been pulled out, not taking on any other jobs, and went directly back to Peach Grove, busily attending to their own affairs.
Winter approached again, and the construction project in Peach Grove had halted. As each cowshed was built, dairy cows were brought into the barns, with only the finishing touches left for Peach Grove Mechanical Workshop’s construction, which had ceased work and would complete it next spring when they would relocate the mechanical workshop from Clear Water Village.
The Mechanical Workshop was not affected by the seasons, and even in the peak of winter, work continued hectically. The craftsmen working at the Mechanical Workshop had an enviable year, not to mention the number of celebratory feasts they had, and the reward silver given under the pretext of these banquets.
In mid-November, along with Miss Ye’s letter from Qingyuan County being delivered to Duke An’s Mansion, another parcel and letter were sent to Prince Yu’s Mansion, which, after a detour, were delivered to the emperor in the palace.
His Majesty the Emperor watched as the eunuch used tools to manipulate the threads of the bolts and nuts, smeared with grease and labeled as yin yang screw threads, twisting them back and forth several times, tightening and then loosening the wooden boards on the bolts. The emperor couldn’t help but express his wonder repeatedly.
The Minister of Works and the Vice-Minister were certainly astonished, while the Director of the Imperial Workshops Bureau and an official from the same bureau were even more surprised.
The emperor, rather pleased with himself, glanced at his son and asked Director of Imperial Workshops Cheng Dahui, "Beloved Minister Cheng, what do you think of this threaded connection? Is it as effective as His Highness Prince Yu says?"
Cheng Dahui quickly stood up from the chair he was half sitting on, bowed and replied, "Your Majesty, this bolt and nut is a clever design with great efficacy. If they could be produced in large quantities, of course, it would be very powerful. However, creating this kind of interlocking yin yang threads, one by one, is overly complicated and time-consuming. Even if they are useful, the advantage would be limited."
Cheng Dahui, as he spoke, turned to Jinrong and bowed, asking, "These parts are very skillfully made. Even if it takes time, one would need the right tools to make a set. May I ask where His Highness Prince Yu obtained these parts?"
Jinrong smiled and said, "These were produced by a workshop where I invested silver and manpower. I only brought over ten sets this time, but I was thinking that as the court is discussing rail transportation, these parts might come in handy." His demeanor was casual, as if this was indeed a common item.
However, Cheng Dahui was shocked to hear it. "Just ten sets? All the same?"
The emperor signaled the eunuch to touch a flat box, which was padded with oil-paper inside. The oil-paper neatly contained nine sets of threaded fasteners wrapped in grease.
"Could these be used for railroad construction?" the emperor asked Cheng Dahui.
"If they can be mass-produced, of course, they can be used," responded Cheng Dahui with a trembling voice. Could they truly mass-produce consistent threaded parts? Such an endeavor required a vast number of craftsmen. With so many craftsmen, how were they controlling these standards?
Cheng Dahui naturally wouldn’t ask Jinrong, who appeared to be a layman, technical questions, and could only eagerly gaze at the remaining nine sets of parts in the box.
Seeing his eagerness, the emperor gave him an opening, "Does Beloved Minister Cheng have any questions?"
Cheng Dahui said, "I’d like to know if these yin yang screw threads can be used interchangeably?" If they could, that would be truly astonishing.
"Prince Yu said they could, and if Beloved Minister Cheng is interested, you can try it yourself," replied the emperor, who, upon seeing the box yesterday, though he found it rather ingenious, had not been overly impressed. But seeing Cheng Dahui’s expression now, he knew that his sixth son had found a treasure. It seemed that producing these parts was challenging, which is why it was so shocking to Cheng Dahui from the Imperial Workshops Clans.
Cheng Dahui tried two bolts and, to his surprise, they really could be used interchangeably. He didn’t resist trying each one after the other—all identical. Cheng Dahui’s eyes became eager as he looked at Jinrong.
The emperor was pleased and asked Jinrong, "This was made in your workshop, and since the court’s rail transportation could use it, and you’ve repeatedly said it’s for the Ministry of Works’ railroad project, how do you intend to supply it to the court?"