She Became A Downfall Noble Lady
Chapter 524 - 522

Chapter 524: 522

"Next is the matter of manpower," Jiang Yifan’s expression finally became normal, and he spoke without the previous abnormality, "Who will take charge of the construction in Guanyuan Prefecture? Do we wait for Old Master Cheung to finish and come back? Guanyuan Prefecture is so far away, continuously rushing work like this, wouldn’t it be too exhausting for the old gentleman?"

Ye Xinyan shook her head, "Grandfather Cheung, after all, is of advanced age, and we can’t let the old man travel too far from home. Let him stay to work on the Peach Grove project. Sixth Master has sent over Zhang Chang and Zhao Qiusheng this time, both of whom have worked with Wong Qiao, and they were formerly court officials in charge of construction, so with Zhang Chang, Fan Zhengyuan, and Xie Chun going together, and with cattle farming and workshops not being a novel trade, just take the charts and construction documents from Clear Water Village and recruit from the local Construction Industry."

Zhang Chang and Zhao Qiusheng were the two minor officials sent by Jinrong to the Qi family in the earliest days, where they learned the ropes with Ye Xinyan and Wong Qiao. Later, after returning to the capital, they demonstrated formidable capabilities in the capital’s Railway Carriage project. They became the most celebrated contractors who used the least labor and finished earliest among numerous construction teams, not just one of them.

Jiang Yifan thought for a moment, that this was for the best. With Jinrong not being here, involving people from Prince Yu’s Mansion in the construction and preparations for both industries was the best plan.

"Blood brothers should settle accounts clearly," this saying is never wrong no matter when used. Even if Jinrong doesn’t care about this, surrounded by many people, one shouldn’t let others harbor doubts, overly trusting His Highness Prince Yu for believing he and Ah Yan aren’t really husband and wife, causing rifts within Jinrong’s faction fighting for succession.

Jiang Yifan said, "Right, arrange it like that. This way you can lead the team and concentrate on inventing machinery. The court is now urgently discussing the railway transportation plan, and construction can start as early as next year. The sooner your machinery is ready, the sooner it can be used in the railway project. The court could save a significant amount of manpower and resources. Compared to the business in Guanyuan Prefecture, the Mechanical Workshop is indeed more urgent."

Ye Xinyan, surprised, lowered her voice slightly and asked, "Isn’t the railway transportation supposed to be handed over to Prince Fu? Even with highly efficient machinery, it might not necessarily save the court any silver. Why are you rushing this?"

Jiang Yifan smiled smugly, "This is called opportunity knocking. It’s His Highness Prince Fu’s good fortune. He just happens to have the contract for the railway transport project, and you just happen to have your handy inventions ready. It will allow Prince Fu to make a fortune."

Ye Xinyan blinked. Jiang Yifan seemed eager to help Jinrong dig a deeper pit for Prince Fu to fall into more completely. No wonder since she had returned, Jiang Yifan hadn’t asked a single thing about Guanyuan Prefecture. He probably thought that even Jinrong, far away in the capital, upon hearing about the machinery being developed in Clear Water Village, found plotting against Prince Fu more interesting than building a cattle farm and making cheese.

Therefore, Jinrong quickly transferred craftsmen from the capital, and among these people, many were skilled artisans. The newcomers didn’t even inquire about the cattle farm, probably for fear of impacting the progress of the machinery.

Seeing the expression on Ye Xinyan’s face, Jiang Yifan winked at her and laughed, "Letting Prince Fu use highly effective machinery is beneficial for everyone. The silver squeezed from corruption can always be recovered, and ultimately it will return to the State Treasury. Being able to use convenient tools will save a lot of labor and materials. The more silver Prince Fu collects, the graver and more likely the crimes of him and his officials become. More efficient and effective strategies, that’s really catching on. Otherwise, how much effort would it have taken His Highness to get involved in amassing wealth?"

Although Jiang Yifan was making faces at her, his demeanor and eyes were mostly straightforward, so she didn’t take it too seriously.

In reality, Ye Xinyan felt that even though she had lived two lifetimes, when it came to scheming, she was rather naÏve, probably on the level of a little lamb. Thus, considering that Jiang Yifan had not said anything inappropriate, and his demeanor, though not very composed, was also not flirtatious, she dared not take it too personally.

......

Ye Xinyan deeply felt that her purpose in arriving here was mainly to assist Jinrong with his tasks, fulfilling Jinrong’s grand achievement of ascending the throne.

After the original host and her illegitimate sister plotted against her and she escaped, it was to tumble right into the welcoming arms of Jinrong’s open "pocket." Reflecting on it, she realized that it only took a couple of days of setting up her small stand and selling rice tofu before she was discovered by Jinrong.

Then, quite unwisely, she bluffed her way into convincing Jinrong and Jiang Yifan to start a cattle farm. Who were these two? They were individuals committed to the court, intending to spend their lives intricately engaging with others’ schemes. With a docile little sheep like her barging in, there was no other outcome than being drafted into service, with no second possibility.

The problem was, as a woman who time-traveled to ancient times, you need to possess solid abilities to serve others willingly, and only then would others grant you the opportunity to dedicate your life. Her current situation was still pretty good, at least she was able to earn her keep while serving.

Ah, if only she had traveled to the future instead, where surely there would be no limitation on women’s activities. And with her identity as a person from ancient times, sharing tales of archaeology and ancient linguistics and literature with the youth of the future could make for a carefree life, right?

Next time then, if the time-travel agency arranges another trip for her, she hopes it will let her stroll into the future to witness the technological advancement firsthand. Oh wait, that’s not right. She almost slipped into delusion. She doesn’t need to go anywhere; just living well in this lifetime is enough.

While lamenting her tough fate, she busied herself with the task at hand with great enthusiasm.

As the construction work progressed, Jinrong’s place received an additional dozen craftsmen, all highly skilled in creating ingenious mechanical devices. The team leader said that His Highness Prince Yu had little interest in state affairs but was deeply fascinated by mechanical techniques and thus knew many craftsmen of that sort. Hearing that Miss needed people for her mechanical workshop, he specially summoned the craftsmen His Highness had known, to see if they could be of use here.

The legendary ancient mechanical techniques indeed existed, and the skills these people demonstrated broadened Ye Xinyan’s horizons. She genuinely felt that the devices she spoke of, like the Chain Inversion Devices or bench vises, were child’s play before these pioneers, barely worth mentioning.

With these individuals partaking in the deliberations, work at Wong Qiao picked up significantly.

Take the universal joint they had always neglected, for instance. A craftsman named Shi Yin spoke with Zhou Biyao, inspected the design, and had Zhou Biyao repeat the requirements for the universal joint. Then, in just three days, this person crafted a prototype universal joint that could roll in any direction, leaving both Ye Xinyan and Zhou Biyao nearly agape.

As for the white-bearded Shi Yin, he sat in a chair beside the small table in the workroom, watching Zhou Biyao tirelessly manipulate the universal joint across the table, and said with deep emotion, "How did you three youngsters come together to come up with so many novel ideas? I’m unlucky with timing. If you had been born thirty years earlier, and I had met you in my prime, we could have worked together to create groundbreaking wonders."

Ye Xinyan was filled with admiration for how effortlessly the old man resolved the tricky part of the hand-powered grindstone at Wong Qiao, then casually conjured up the much-anticipated, yet elusive, caster wheels for Zhou Biyao’s swivel chair.

Alright, she was exaggerating a bit; it wasn’t done in a matter of minutes but took three days. However, compared to the many days it would have potentially taken all of them to achieve a similar feat, his three days were not much different from mere minutes.