Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

"Put some effort in, girls. Imagine there's a strong man behind you about to fuck your asses. Do you still dare to dawdle?"

"You're not even as good as a woman, you're too slow, keep going!"

"Tsk tsk tsk, look at you! Even a dog would be more agile than you. Go faster!"

During obstacle course training, Shen Lang's tireless shouts and curses rang out among the panting recruits, sounding as if he were extremely excited.

After overcoming a round of obstacles and suffering both mental and physical torment, all the recruits lost their former temper and lay on the ground like dead men.

Shen Lang held a pointer in his hand, twirling it back and forth in his palm, and "inadvertently" came to Qu Yi's side.

"Little girl, is that all? I'll give you a chance. Leave now, okay? That way you'll never have to suffer again."

Qu Yi glared angrily at Shen Lang, who was all smiles at him. If conditions allowed, he would not hesitate to pounce on this devilish man and beat him to a pulp.

But the reality is, he simply doesn't have that ability.

"Instructor, I can persevere, I definitely can persevere."

Qu Yi said to Shen Lang through gritted teeth.

Shen Lang glanced around and decided to sit down next to him.

"Why bother? There will be plenty of days like this in the future. It's only been seven days. Even tougher training will follow. Are you planning to continue torturing yourself like this?"

"Instructor, you don't need to mock us. No matter how hard or tiring it is, I will persevere, unless I collapse on the training ground and never get up again!"

Shen Lang laughed and asked curiously, "I'm curious, what's keeping you suffering here?"

Qu Yi made no attempt to hide his feelings, saying, "I want to make a name for myself, I want everyone to rediscover my value."

I will show those who look down on me that even though I have terrible aptitude and have been rejected by all the sects, I can still stand taller than them!

Shen Lang nodded: "Having ideals is good, but reality is cruel."

"To climb above martial arts cultivators with a mortal body isn't something you can do just by shouting a few times."

Qu Yi gritted his teeth: "No matter how cruel it is, I will persevere. I never want to be looked down upon by others again in this lifetime!"

"Great, I hope you keep your word."

Then he turned to look at Lü Meng: "And you, so young, just turned sixteen and went out to join the army, what was your purpose?"

Lu Meng replied, "My parents died early, and I grew up relying on my older sister. She raised me from dawn till dusk."

I joined the army because I heard that the new army provided food and drink, and that I received a monthly salary of six taels of silver. It was for these benefits that I joined the army.

With money, I can stop my sister from suffering. I want to make sure she gets married in style, all thanks to my own hard work.

Shen Lang: "You're quite realistic, but I like your straightforward personality."

But I still have to remind you, although the new army's pay is high, their daily training is very tough.

Lu Meng shook his head: "As long as I can support my family and contribute to my sister's dowry, what do these hardships matter?"

Shen Lang nodded and said nothing more, then looked at Zhang Dingbian.

Before Shen Lang could speak, Zhang Dingbian said directly, "Instructor, don't ask anymore. I've always wanted to be on the front lines since I was a child. How could I miss this opportunity?"

Shen Lang: "You're pretty direct, aren't you? Have you ever killed anyone?"

"No, but I have slaughtered pigs."

"I'm afraid you'll be the first one to wet your pants on the battlefield."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Dingbian immediately became anxious: "Only women wet their pants."

"Aren't you a woman now?"

"I……"

"Alright, be quiet."

Shen Lang interrupted him with a smile, then looked at Meng Gong and asked, "And you, why did you join the army?"

Meng Gong raised his eyes and said, "So that one day we can reclaim the old capital of Chang'an, and so that the people of Great Chu will no longer suffer from foreign invasion!"

Meng Gong's powerful and resolute answer reflects that his intellectual level far surpasses that of the other three.

Even Shen Lang was stunned. He never expected that in this treacherous world that was both feudal and fantastical, there could be someone with such patriotism.

"Do you really like the State of Chu that much?" Shen Lang retorted. "Your current poverty is all caused by the upper echelons of Chu, whether you're a martial artist or not."

Local officials and gentry, even the landlords, have all treated you poorly. Is such ambition worth having for a country like this?

Meng Gong replied, "Instructor, I'm surprised you could say those things, but I'm sorry, I don't agree with that reasoning."

Indeed, those powerful and wealthy families are rife with corruption, prey on the common people, and even collude with local cultivators and martial artists to oppress us.

However, the State of Chu was not only composed of the upper class; it was mostly ordinary people like us who sustained this country.

I joined the army so that ordinary people would be less vulnerable to foreign attacks, and so that His Majesty could understand the hardships faced by the people, not for the sake of those powerful families.

After listening to Meng Gong's description, Shen Lang fell silent, which was uncharacteristic of him.

Seeing this, Zhang Dingbian thought Shen Lang was about to lash out again, so he frantically winked at Meng Gong, urging him to say a few nice words.

But Meng Gong remained expressionless, staring directly at Shen Lang.

"Hehe, very good, that's an idea."

Shen Lang patted Meng Gong on the shoulder, then stood up and took out a communication stone: "The second round of obstacle course, let's begin now!"

Soon, amidst a chorus of sighs, the new recruits began their second round of intensive training.

Just then, Li Hanyun reported: "Commander Shen, the factory building is completed, and the first boiler has started preheating as planned. Deng Hongyu hopes you can go back and take a look."

"Okay, I'll be there soon."

Shen Lang unfastened a token from his waist and tossed it to Meng Gong: "You four, keep an eye on things for me. We can only wash up and eat after we've completed the three obstacle courses."

I'll continue standing guard for another hour this afternoon, following yesterday's procedure. I'll be back tomorrow morning.

After saying that, without waiting for Meng Gong's reply, Shen Lang and Li Hanyun had already left Shanglin Garden in a hurry.

……

When the first factory building was completed and the tall chimney on the roof emitted white smoke as the high-temperature boilers began to operate, Shen Lang finally breathed a sigh of relief.

This high-temperature steelmaking furnace uses the open-hearth steelmaking method. In fact, Shen Lang planned to use a converter for steelmaking because the converter is more efficient, at least nine times more efficient than the open-hearth furnace.

However, current technology cannot overcome this limitation, and open-hearth steelmaking is destined to remain the mainstream industrial processing source for the Chu Kingdom for a long time to come.

Even so, the advent of the open-hearth steelmaking method has already achieved a dimensional reduction in steel production compared to all known dynasties on this continent.

In addition, the commissioning of the steam boiler also means that the factory has finally entered the trial operation stage.

Once the steel production reaches the expected targets, the nearly completed firearms production line and textile production line can officially begin operation, ushering in a new era of transformation in the defense economy.

"Commander Shen, may I ask what other instructions are there?"

"The coal used in boilers must be anthracite or low-smoke coal, and inferior coal must be washed to remove impurities."

"Yes, I will keep a close eye on it."

"Furthermore, the gunpowder workshop must be absolutely safe. If I find out even a tiny spark gets in, you'll all be out of a job."

"Please rest assured, Lord Shen, you have said it no less than a hundred times."

In order to gain his freedom, Deng Hongyu was extremely humble towards the young man before him.

Shen Lang thought for a moment, then took out another blueprint of a firearm he had designed:

"By the way, I need to see 5,000 of these firearms within a month."

Is it possible to equip each firearm with no fewer than 500 rounds of ammunition?

Deng Hongyu took the blueprints and frowned upon looking at them.

"Isn't this just a hot iron rod? Why call it a firearm?"

"And what does the Mauser 98k mean?"

"Wow, these parts have extremely high requirements for iron smelting technology, no wonder... this is a challenge!"

Seeing Deng Hongyu's unsophisticated appearance, Shen Lang found it utterly laughable.

Of course, this was within his expectations, since how could people in a fantasy world understand the role of World War II rifles?

If it weren't for the need to improve the manufacturing process, Shen Langzhen would have planned to directly produce Garand rifles or Leefield semi-automatic rifles to replace bolt-action rifles.

These counterfeit Mauser 98Ks are only temporary substitutes.