Starting with choosing a wife, creating the most powerful Xia

Chu Xuan slowly exhaled a breath of stale air and nodded slightly.

Chen Xuening's idea coincided with his.

As early as when Zuo Feng appeared, he had vaguely anticipated this. The reason why he did not kneel to receive the decree was firstly because he was not a person of this world and had a natural aversion to kneeling, and secondly because he wanted to use this opportunity to test Emperor Xia.

If the Xia Emperor intended to show goodwill, he wouldn't be too demanding of him. Besides, considering his own arrogance and pride when he became famous as the "Poet Immortal," it was understandable.

Zuo Feng's lack of blame already revealed Emperor Xia's intentions, and the subsequent imperial edict further clarified his purpose.

Chu Xuan felt somewhat helpless; the literary gathering in Linyang City had indeed made quite a splash.

This brought him into the spotlight, which may not be a good thing for Chu Xuan now.

Neither the Chu family nor Emperor Xia are opponents he can face now. Moreover, Emperor Xia's move has almost forcefully placed him opposite the Chu family, making him cannon fodder in their conflict.

This feeling of being schemed against made Chu Xuan quite uncomfortable.

Unfortunately, he didn't have enough power to resist.

In this world, weakness is the original sin.

Chu Xuan clenched his fists slightly, his eyes growing increasingly fierce.

"I am still too weak. If I were the ruler of a region now, with great power, how could the Xia Emperor and the Chu family dare to treat me like this?"

"They simply think I have a weak foundation and limited strength, which is why they can so easily manipulate me."

"Strength, in the end, is still strength. I need to maximize the power I have in the shortest amount of time. Only in this way can I be qualified to sit on the same chessboard as them. Otherwise, I will just be a pawn that is manipulated by others!"

A resolute fighting spirit filled Chu Xuan's eyes.

Having lived two lives, carrying memories of my past life, how can I remain subservient to others for long! Emperor Xia, the Chu family, you wait and see, I, Chu Xuan, am not someone you can control as you please!

With this thought in mind, Chu Xuan waved his hand, signaling the others to leave first.

Emperor Xia's visit this time is merely a gesture of goodwill; it's unlikely that he will be allowed to have direct contact with the Chu family in the short term, and he still has time to develop.

There's no need to be too nervous for now.

The only thing he needs to do now is to develop Wuming Mountain quickly.

Judging by the time, An Youzhong's people should be arriving soon, and it's about time to put the Yantian matter on the agenda.

Seeing his calm expression, the women didn't say anything more and left to attend to their own business.

Chu Xuan returned to his study and began drawing blueprints for tools used to purify salt ore.

After spending half a day drawing it, he found A Leng and asked her to go to Lucheng and invite the black market craftsman from before.

Chu Xuan really went all out this time, having A Leng tell the craftsman that if he was willing to come, he would even give him thirty taels of silver a month.

With a monthly salary of thirty taels, let alone a black market craftsman, even a less skilled assassin might not be able to find one.

Moreover, Chu Xuan provided him with a safe haven, and he was protected from then on, no longer having to worry about the cutthroat competition and treachery in the black market.

The craftsman named Li Chu naturally had no choice but to agree. Without much hesitation, he followed A Leng back to the nameless mountain and knelt down before Chu Xuan.

“Master, from now on, Li Chu will do his best for you.”

Chu Xuan helped him up and said with a faint smile, "Master Li, you've gone too far. You provide the skills, and I'll provide the money and the venue. We each get what we need. There's no need for that."

Then I handed the drawings to him.

Li Chu took a look, and his eyes suddenly lit up with a gleam of admiration.

"Did the owner draw this himself?"

Chu Xuan saw that he couldn't change the way he addressed him, so he simply let it go. In reality, Li Chu was just a servant he kept, so there was nothing wrong with addressing him that way. He nodded slightly and said.

"Is Master Li capable of forging?"

"Rest assured, Master! I will certainly do my best."

Li Chu said in a deep voice, but his eyes were completely unable to leave the blueprints.

When he first received the blueprints for the pistol parts, he was deeply impressed by the vision and design of the artist.

In his view, the lines and structure were completely beyond what this era could offer. As an excellent craftsman, Li Chu's greatest need, besides survival, was to challenge himself.

Chu Xuan, on the other hand, clearly satisfies him completely in this regard.

Both the pistol and the purification device in front of him made Li Chu's hands itch with desire.

His mind was completely absorbed by it, and he had no intention of talking to Chu Xuan. He didn't even care about resting and wanted to try smelting.

Chu Xuan was both amused and exasperated, and could only personally take him to an open space near the salt fields.

Li Chu's eating utensils were also placed here.

Upon arriving at the destination, Li Chu paid no attention to Chu Xuan and began studying the blueprints on his own.

The detailed content on the drawings astonished him more and more. It was hard to imagine that Chu Xuan, a young master from a prominent family, was not only talented in literature, but also had such attainments in design. In Li Chu's opinion, he could be called the number one person in the Great Xia.

After three days of tireless research, they finally managed to replicate the object from the blueprints.

Upon receiving the notification, Chu Xuan was overjoyed and rushed to the factory to check.

Upon opening the door, a huge and bizarre machine came into view.

The top resembled a giant funnel, with a combustion device below connected to several holes, and a sieve on the side.

The drawings he provided were almost identical.

Chu Xuan was overjoyed and immediately had some salt ore brought over, poured it into the mixture, added firewood and water, and set it ablaze.

Smoke escaped through the holes, and as the steam boiled, the salt minerals, boiled into liquid, passed through several filters and slowly flowed to the side.

Chu Xuan took out the purified solution he had prepared according to his memory, poured it into the solution, and let it settle.

Only then are the liquids allowed to flow into the final process of burning and evaporating.

The whole process sounds complicated, but in reality, it only took a little over half an hour. Under the blazing fire, pure white salt particles scattered onto the final tray.

The firelight reflected on the fine salt surface, like a sunrise over a snow-capped mountain—a beautiful sight.

"It's done!"

Chu Xuan tried his best to suppress his excitement, but he still couldn't help but bulge the veins on the back of his hand.

He reached out his slightly trembling hand, picked up a pinch of snow salt, which contained almost no impurities and fluttered like snowflakes. He put it in his mouth, and the salty taste was rich and mellow, with a hint of freshness.

Snow salt far surpasses that of this era!

Li Chu walked up to him and chuckled, "My lord, how is it?"

Having worked almost non-stop for three days, Li Chu naturally hoped to prove his worth to Chu Xuan.

Chu Xuan excitedly grabbed his shoulders and laughed loudly.

"You are truly my right-hand man!"

"If the plan succeeds, you will be credited with the greatest achievement!"