The world of film and television starts from the flow of money

Since Yilan was granted the title of Lord of East Garden by Qin Shi Huang, he gladly accepted the order and embarked on a journey of inspecting the whole country, shouldering the important task of supervising the construction of water wheels and farm tools.

At first, the craftsmen and engineering officials were quite dissatisfied with her because she was a woman. They thought, how could such a heavy and important task be handed over to a woman? However, because Yilan was valued by the Qin Emperor and had a special status as Zhao Gao's adopted sister, they reluctantly showed some respect and obedience to her on the surface.

However, Yilan is no ordinary woman. As a highly anthropomorphic intelligent robot, she possesses knowledge that transcends her time.

Yilan took out a brand new design and explained in detail the principles and advantages of each improvement. The craftsmen were skeptical, but under Yilan's insistence, they decided to try to manufacture according to the new design.

During the manufacturing process, they encountered a shortage of materials. With his rich knowledge, Yilan guided the craftsmen to find alternative materials and optimized the manufacturing process, which greatly saved time and cost.

When making the waterwheel, Yilan personally went deep into the workshop and worked with the craftsmen. With knowledge that was ahead of her time, she cleverly designed a more efficient transmission device. In order to ensure the stability of the waterwheel, she repeatedly calculated the center of gravity and stress points of the waterwheel and modified the design plan again and again. During the installation and debugging stage, she worked day and night to not miss any slight deviation.

When the waterwheel was finally completed and put into use, its efficient operation and powerful irrigation capacity amazed everyone. The craftsmen and engineering officials who had originally been prejudiced against Yilan were amazed and began to look at her abilities with new eyes.

In the manufacture of agricultural tools, Yilan scanned the postures and movements of farmers while working and calculated the inconveniences in using agricultural tools. After several experiments, he improved the shape of the hoe to make it fit the land better and optimized the edge of the sickle to make harvesting easier and faster.

In the subsequent supervision of agricultural tools, Yilan invented a new type of plow, which greatly improved the efficiency of farming. By the way, he also improved the sowing tools, making sowing more uniform and saving seeds.

As Yilan cleverly solved one problem after another, the craftsmen and engineering officers who once looked down on her were completely convinced and gradually became convinced of her and were willing to obey her commands.

Yilan's outstanding performance not only enabled the manufacture of water wheels and farm tools to proceed smoothly, but also inadvertently changed people's inherent perception of women's abilities. Her deeds gradually spread across the country. People in the streets and fields were singing her praises, and her deeds had become a legend that everyone talked about with relish.

Incidentally, as Yilan's "brother-in-law", Zhao Gao's reputation among the people was actually getting better and better.

Unfortunately, the trajectory of fate is always full of variables. Qin Shihuang was assassinated, and this sudden incident completely ruined his mood. The plan to grant Yilan the title was shelved. If it weren't for this sudden change, Yilan might have become the first "woman" with a title in the history of the Qin Dynasty.

...............

Jiaodong County.

Jiaodong is located on the coast and has a unique geographical landscape. Backed by rolling mountains, the undulating hills provide a natural barrier for this land. Facing the vast sea, the endless blue sea surface connects with the sky.

There are many rivers crisscrossing the territory. The clear waters rush by, nourishing the land on both sides. The riverbanks are covered with lush aquatic plants and dotted with wild flowers.

Jimo City was first built in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty by Zhu Mao, a senior official of the State of Qi. The city was built as a capital city because it is located in the center of the Jiaodong Peninsula. It is relatively large in scale. It is 10 li long from north to south and 7 li wide from east to west. The size of a general county town is only about 1 li long and wide. In ancient times, there were strict restrictions on the size of capitals, cities, and towns, and they could not be built arbitrarily. This shows that Jimo City is not an ordinary county town, but a metropolis.

During the Warring States Period, Jimo had become a large city with access to all directions and an economic center comparable to the capital Linzi. From the perspective of the ancient city of Linzi in Qi, it consists of two parts: the big city and the small city. The big city is nine li from north to south and seven li from east to west, and is the city where officials, civilians and merchants live; the small city is four li from north to south and three li from east to west, and is the palace where the king lives.

Jimo City has tall walls made of solid bricks and stones, with flags flying on the walls and magnificent gates. People come and go every day, making it very lively. The streets in the city are spacious and clean, with many shops and merchants.

A carriage drove out of the city and stopped in front of the Longhushan Copper Workshop half an hour later.

The entire copper workshop was closely guarded by more than a hundred soldiers, and a high wall was built around it, with strict access control, like a heavily guarded fortress. Ah Da solemnly handed over his badge, and the soldiers carefully checked it before letting him in.

"Go faster!"

A Dong and his men escorted Zhang Liang inside.

The first place they entered was the residential area, which was obviously where the officials, soldiers and many prisoners in the Tongguan lived.

Zhang Liang took a quick look and frowned. The living environment here was extremely bad. Most of the people who were punished to work were prisoners who had committed serious crimes. They looked depressed and lifeless. The simple houses were crowded and dilapidated, exuding a dull atmosphere. Under the whipping of the supervisor, the prisoners reluctantly walked out of the houses slowly, one by one, listlessly, dragging their heavy steps towards the smelting area.

The group walked towards the smelting area. Before they got close, a pungent smell hit them in the face, and at the same time, they could clearly feel a burning heat. From a distance, there were more than a dozen oval smelting furnaces standing in front of them, which were magnificent. Not counting the convex rammed earth platform under the furnace, the furnace body alone was basically ten feet high. Each furnace was five feet apart, leaving enough safety distance.

At this moment, flames were rising from under half of the furnaces, and the raging fire seemed to set the entire sky on fire. Black smoke billowed out from above, covering half of Tongguan, making the area seem to be plunged into chaos.

Zhang Liang saw the woman in the middle of the crowd at a glance. The woman had a slender figure, but she was tough. Her skin was white and delicate, like white jade, which was particularly eye-catching in this dusty environment. Her face was even more heroic, with sword-like eyebrows, star-like eyes, and a slightly upturned mouth corner that seemed to carry a kind of confidence and perseverance, which made people look at her sideways.

Dozens of craftsmen and servants were guarding the furnaces they were in charge of, their busy figures like rotating gears. Some stood on tiptoe on the high platform, holding the basket high, and put the ore into the furnace. Some were shirtless, revealing their bronze skin, pushing a simple air bag, blowing air into the furnace with sweat on their foreheads, and every push seemed to exhaust all their strength. The craftsmen squatted aside, observing the fire nervously, their eyes fixed on the changes in the furnace, and silently calculating the time to open the furnace, as if they were racing against time.

The high temperature raged in the furnace, smelting the copper inside bit by bit. Whenever the red copper blocks came out of the furnace and rolled into the big pit in front of the furnace, someone would quickly take water and pour it on them. In an instant, the water vapor evaporated and turned into a vast white mist. Zhang Liang knew that if these copper blocks were heated again and poured into earthen molds, they could be made into copper ingots...

The old-looking Du Liao (master craftsman) picked up a piece of copper that had just been smelted and nervously brought it to Yi Lan, and said with a guilty look on his face: "Sir, because the copper content of the copper mines in Longhu Mountain here is not high, it often takes a lot of ore to be smelted two or three times to get brass with a higher purity!"

Yilan nodded slightly, his eyes revealing deep thought, as if he was thinking about how to solve this problem. After a while, he nodded: "Take it step by step. First, take me to see the place where ore is screened."

"Does Yi Zhangling have a solution?" Du Liao and a group of craftsmen looked at Yi Lan in surprise, their eyes full of expectation and excitement. They seemed to have seen a ray of light in the darkness, and they were eager for Yi Lan to bring about changes.

"Well, let's go take a look first!" Yilan nodded slightly, her tone steady, her eyes revealing confidence and calmness, as if all problems in front of her can be easily solved. Yilan turned around and bowed to the officer behind her, saying: "Look carefully in a moment, ask if you don't understand, all procedures must be strictly recorded, and there must be no mistakes in the data!"

The voice was crisp, yet full of majesty.

"Yes!" Jing nodded respectfully, his eyes full of awe and seriousness. He knew the importance of this mission, and also understood that Yilan's strict requirements were to ensure the accuracy and effectiveness of the work.

They led the way in front. Ah Da saw that Xiao Lan was busy, so he didn't dare to disturb her and pushed Zhang Liang to follow. The footsteps of several people seemed a little faint in this environment full of sounds of labor.

After walking a hundred steps further, he was greeted by flying powder, like a misty drizzle. Zhang Liang subconsciously closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he found that he had entered the ore storage yard.

Hundreds of prisoners dug out the muddy copper ore from the mountain, and then used cattle and horses to carry it in baskets to the stream flowing through the foot of the mountain for cleaning. The clear water washed the ore, and the cleaned ore was sent downhill to the storage yard, where the yellow or green copper ore piled up like a mountain.

The barefoot and unkempt prisoners in red clothes worked here. Most of them had their hair and beards shaved off, and they looked particularly miserable. Some of the death row prisoners still wore wooden clamps around their necks, with their heads drooped and their backs hunched, as if they were suffocating under the burden of life. However, this did not stop them from working hard under the whip of the supervisors. They swung tools such as hammers and stone rammers, and each strike was accompanied by a dull sound, as if it was their cry of fighting against fate. Under their vigorous blows, the whole piece of ore gradually turned into broken ore that could be put into the furnace.

In one corner of the ore storage area, there are rows of treadmills. Many dusty, skinny prisoners are swinging their stone hammers up and down, making rhythmic sounds. They are pounding the already broken ore into smaller pieces, preparing for the subsequent smelting process.

"Well, the ore is still too coarse. It must be crushed and ground to make the ore particles smaller and more uniform, increasing the contact area with the fuel and air to improve the reaction efficiency."

Grabbing a handful of mineral sand from the frame, Yilan turned to look at the skinny prisoners and shook his head slightly: "It's useless to rely on manpower alone, even if you work yourself to death... Bring me some silk cloth and a brush!"

"promise!"

Jing, who was standing by, hurriedly took out the prepared silk cloth and brush from his bag and opened a box of ink. His movements were skillful and quick, and it was obvious that he was already used to Yilan's instructions.

Yilan nodded slightly, picked up the brush, dipped the tip of the brush lightly in the ink, and then began to write and draw on the silk cloth.

“Is this… a waterwheel?”

When Yilan finished half of the painting, Duliao, who had seen the rough outline, frowned, his eyes full of doubts. He stared closely at the pattern on the silk cloth, trying to find the answer from it.

Yilan nodded calmly: "Yes, as long as this thing is built, it will be able to operate automatically without human intervention in the future, saving ten times the manpower!"

"Is this...is this possible...?"

After hearing this, everyone looked surprised and suspicious. They looked at each other, somewhat speechless.

If they hadn't been convinced by Yilan's extraordinary talent, they would have thought she was crazy. No manpower required, and the workload could be ten times the current workload? This sounded like a fantasy. However, they had to admit that Yilan's previous performance was indeed impressive. Maybe she really had some magical method. They were full of expectations and a little uneasy. They didn't know whether this so-called "waterwheel" could bring such a huge change as Yilan said.

While instructing the craftsmen to make the waterwheel, Yilan took Ada and others into a room.

The interior of the house is simply decorated, and the sunlight shines through the windows onto the ground, forming patches of light.

Yilan turned his head slightly and looked at Ah Da: "How is my brother now?"

Ah Da bowed and replied, "Your Excellency, Lord Zhao has already arrested the assassin and is accompanying Your Majesty to Langya. He will arrive soon."

"Langya... Jiaodong."

Yilan murmured the two place names softly, nodded thoughtfully, and then turned his gaze to Zhang Liang, with a hint of curiosity in his eyes: "Are you Zhang Liang?"

"Exactly!"

Even with his hands tied, Zhang Liang still maintained a calm demeanor, as if nothing in the world could affect his state of mind. However, when he met Yilan's gaze, his heart suddenly jumped, as if the woman in front of him could instantly see through his heart.

Zhang Liang frowned slightly, trying to stay calm, but a sense of uneasiness arose in his heart.

"You go out first!"

Yilan raised his hand slightly and waved at Ah Da. His tone was decisive and unquestionable, and his eyes revealed an irresistible majesty.

"promise!"

Ah Da immediately bowed respectfully and slowly left the room. As the door closed gently, the room suddenly fell into silence.

(End of this chapter)