Chapter 36

By the seaside, the waves still crashed as they had during the last transaction, at the very place Li Xian had chosen as the port. Wei Zhe once again represented the sea clan and arrived.

"Has it only been two months, and you've already completed all the weapons?" Wei Zhe was surprised. He hadn't expected Li Xian to contact him so soon. Wei Zhe had been preparing for the New Year, but Li Xian had dragged him out halfway through.

Li Xian was straightforward, "Senior Wei, please inspect."

Beside him, someone had already lifted the rough hemp cloth, revealing the one million pounds of weapons custom-made for the sea clan, neatly arranged on the beach. The most eye-catching were the five tridents.

But Wei Zhe couldn't open his eyes at first—it was too... blinding!

Indeed, Li Xian had put a lot of effort into these weapons. After Liu Bin polished them, Li Xian had Liu Bin polish them again with a mixture of hemp cloth and shell powder. With the machine tools, it was quite simple.

Using bone powder to polish weapons was something Li Xian had seen with Japanese samurai swords, making the blades brighter than mirrors. Now, Li Xian had adapted this method, using shell powder since they were near the sea.

The result of this polishing was—dazzling!

Stainless steel was already bright, and after another polish, it achieved a mirror-like finish. All the weapons sparkled and shone in the sunlight, competing for attention like precious gems.

As for whether such smooth weapons could be held, Li Xian's attitude was—whatever! The sea clan's design didn't specify, so they had "tried their best," just making them a bit "too good." This was called being responsible.

Actually, Li Xian wasn't just being mischievous; he also wanted to demonstrate the capabilities of his trading company.

Apart from the three large tridents, the handles of the other swords and knives were all engraved with rough patterns for a better grip.

Wei Zhe, of course, wasn't a fool. Although the quality of the weapons looked good, he pointed out the problem with the tridents, "They're too smooth to hold."

Li Xian was honest, "Senior Wei, we are familiar with swords and knives and know how to use them, but we don't know how to use tridents, so we didn't know where to engrave the patterns."

"Uh..." Wei Zhe was taken aback, thought for a moment, and finally smiled helplessly, "You did a great job. Just throw these things into the sea."

Wei Zhe realized that the sea clan would need to consult the night patrol demons about how to use the tridents. But still, these mirror-like weapons looked really beautiful.

Throwing them into the sea was simple. Wei Zhe cast an ice spell, and a thin layer of ice appeared on the ground. Li Xian had his subordinates push the weapons into the sea.

Then Li Xian pointed to a row of carriages:

"Senior Wei, these are the goods we have prepared. They include ten newly developed crystal chandeliers specifically for the royal palace, a thousand mirrors of various styles, a thousand pieces of various glassware, and five hundred ordinary colored lights. Additionally, there are a thousand pure glass balls, one meter in size, in various colors: colorless, green, blue, red, yellow, black, white, purple, and more. Also, there are 300 bolts of the finest silk."

"So many?" Wei Zhe looked at each item, unable to put them down. Take the mirrors, for example; Li Xian had put a lot of effort into them. There were heart-shaped, gourd-shaped, round, flat, gold-edged, silver-edged, Daxia-style, foreign-style, and even Earth-style mirrors from Li Xian's memory. A thousand mirrors, and not a single one was the same.

The crystal chandeliers were hard to see because they were all wrapped in hemp cloth and placed in boxes, but each chandelier required four large boxes, which was quite impressive.

The thousand pieces of glassware were "display items" for mass production next year, naturally beautiful and exquisite. While natural jade and crystal were nice, they were ultimately monochromatic and couldn't compare to the colorful and vivid glass that could be freely mixed.

The items were all excellent, and the quantity was substantial, but Wei Zhe was in a dilemma—there wasn't enough money prepared.

Li Xian laughed heartily, "The mirrors, chandeliers, and glassware are gifts for Princess Ao Qingsnow for the New Year."

"In that case, I will accept them on behalf of the princess." Wei Zhe immediately became more enthusiastic, immediately arranging for the shrimp soldiers and crab soldiers to start moving the items.

"Senior Wei, next year we will exchange for more spiritual silk threads, so please prepare in advance. Also, please convey Li Xian's regards to Princess Ao Qingsnow."

"Sure."

Watching the sea clan leave and the sea return to calm, Li Xian smiled smugly and turned to leave. Why was he smug? Of course, because the relationship with the sea clan was basically established—at least a friendly cooperative relationship. The next step, next year, would be steel ships sailing on the sea, la la la.

After returning, Li Xian tidied up a bit and went to see his elder brother Li Liang. Li Liang couldn't leave and had to stay in Anyang. But in less than half an hour, Li Xian ran out in a panic—his sister-in-law was recommending her sister again. As Li Xian's performance improved, his sister-in-law's enthusiasm also increased.

In the afternoon, Li Xian officially set off for the capital. This time, he brought 300 carriages of goods, including 12 crystal chandeliers, aimed at the top market, specifically targeting the ultra-rich and the nobility.

There were also the latest colored lights and cartoon lamps, initial display glassware, a few stainless steel weapons that could reflect like mirrors, and 6,000 bolts of cloth—produced by He Lin working overtime and some regular inventory.

Additionally, Li Xian brought a special item—50 engines! These engines were rushed in the past few days, small and rough, one foot high, two feet long, with two chambers and one horsepower, with the arrays made from leftover sea soul silk.

These engines had a short lifespan, only three to five months, but Li Xian was confident they would create a sensation in the capital.

Of course, the shrewd Li Xian wouldn't simply sell the engines but would pair them with a rudimentary textile machine.

"Are you really going to sell the engines?!" Xu Ren was anxious, "This is the heart of industry, and I still can't understand the reason. I still don't agree with selling them."

It turned out that when Li Xian decided to sell the engines, Xu Ren had opposed it. But this time, Li Xian didn't listen to Xu Ren's advice and was determined to sell them.

Faced with Xu Ren's opposition, Li Xian said, "In terms of strategy, I am inferior to you, but in industry and related business, you are inferior to me. Please guess what Li Xian's purpose is."

In the matter of selling the engines, Li Xian was obstinate—apparently so, as everyone opposed it.

Even now, as the team was about to set off, Xu Ren still firmly opposed Li Xian selling the engines.

"Sir, why can't you understand? To gain, one must first give. Even fishing requires bait."

"This is completely different." Xu Ren was a hundred percent unconvinced.

"Alright, please listen to me explain."