Chapter 22

Looking at Jia Wenmao, who was coughing incessantly, Yueyang quickly reached out to pat his back for a while before asking with a smile, "What's wrong? Why are you so surprised?"

"Cough, cough, cough..."

After coughing for a while, Jia Wenmao widened his eyes and said in surprise, "Boss, why do you need so many armors and swords? Are you planning a rebellion?"

"Rebellion, my head!" Yueyang immediately gave Jia Wenmao a light tap on the head and scolded, "If I give you a thousand sets of armor, go try to rebel and see if the government won't send tanks and machine guns to mow you down!"

After being hit on the head by Yueyang, Jia Wenmao finally came to his senses. In this modern era, even if you wear a hundred sets of armor and wield a Dragon Slaying Sword or a Heaven Sword, you can't withstand the attack of machine guns and artillery. He scratched his head awkwardly and smiled, "I was just scared by the boss. Boss, why are you making so many armors? And these swords and knives are controlled weapons. If they are found, it could be quite troublesome."

"There's nothing troublesome about it," Yueyang waved his hand dismissively. "At most, it's just a fine. Nowadays, there are plenty of merchants selling swords and knives as art pieces. Why can't we do it if they can? What do you think?"

Jia Wenmao thought about it and agreed. These days, many people are doing this kind of business. If you don't do it, someone else will. Besides, it's not something harmful; it's just for those rich fools who have more money than sense. Why shouldn't we do it?

Thinking this, Jia Wenmao stomped the half-smoked cigarette butt on the ground and said, "We'll take this business. Boss, when do you want to start?"

Yueyang said without hesitation, "Of course, the sooner the better! I ask you, how long will it take to deliver a thousand sets of armor and a thousand swords? Oh, right, remember to include shields, they need to be a set!"

Jia Wenmao thought for a moment and said, "Boss, if you really want to do this, we need to make new molds, which will take about ten to fifteen days. Then, with production, it will take about a month to deliver."

Next came the cost issue Yueyang was most concerned about, "Old Jia, estimate for me, how much will it cost to make a set of Gothic armor, a shield, and a sword? If it's too high, it won't be feasible!"

Mentioning the cost, Jia Wenmao smiled, "Boss, don't worry. This thing is a bulky item with no technical content. It's just steel, electricity, and labor. Once the machine presses it, there's no problem. It won't cost much, less than three to four thousand yuan for a set of armor, shield, and sword."

"What? So cheap?" Yueyang was taken aback and asked in surprise, "Old Jia, we can't make fake goods to deceive people. You must do it with care."

Before coming, Yueyang had done his homework. In the Ming Dynasty, making a set of armor was very labor-intensive. It took more than ten people ten to fifteen days to complete one set, and the cost was even higher, requiring dozens of silver taels. Now, Jia Wenmao told him that even the world's top Gothic plate armor and swords and shields cost only a few thousand yuan. How could he not be surprised?

"Boss, what are you saying?" Yueyang's words made Jia Wenmao a bit unhappy. As a technician, he hated it when people questioned his professionalism, "Boss, how am I deceiving you? Think about it, once we have the molds, the machine presses it, and the armor is formed in seconds. The same goes for the shield. As for the sword, even though the quenching is a bit troublesome, with mechanical processing, it's quick. The cost won't be high. Do you want to use titanium alloy to make the armor?"

Although scolded by his subordinate, Yueyang wasn't angry. At this moment, he remembered that he was in the modern era, which was completely different from the Ming Dynasty. Things considered precious there were nothing special here.

In his excitement, he asked, "By the way, Old Jia, what else can you make? Can you make guns?"

"Guns!"

Jia Wenmao stared at Yueyang with wide eyes for a while before cautiously saying, "Boss, making swords and shields is fine; the government usually turns a blind eye. But making guns is different; it's a matter of life and death!"

"I didn't say to make modern guns!" Seeing Jia Wenmao's face turning pale, Yueyang quickly reassured him, "I just want to make some antique firearms, like muzzle-loading guns. There's a market for these things."

"But muzzle-loading guns are still guns," Jia Wenmao said with a bitter face. He was increasingly puzzled by this new boss. Making armor and shields was one thing, but wanting to make firearms was another. He said weakly, "Making guns isn't difficult. The hardest part is the gun barrel and the rifling. There are four methods to make gun barrels: wire drawing, swaging, electroforming, and precision forging. I don't recommend wire drawing; it's too outdated and has a high defect rate. Electroforming is used for large-caliber gun barrels, and precision forging is the most advanced, but our small factory can't do it. We can only use swaging, which is a mature method. As long as the gun barrel is good, the rest is no problem."

"Is that so! Can we do it now?" Hearing that the technical difficulty wasn't high, Yueyang felt a small excitement.

"No, because we don't have the machine! To make gun barrels, we need to buy a swaging machine," Jia Wenmao shook his head.

"How much?" Yueyang asked again.

"About three million yuan!"

"Hmm, we still need to buy it!" Yueyang thought for a moment but then shook his head. It was still impossible because he had no money. Although he had earned eleven million from selling gold, he had spent eight million on the factory. Now, he had two million left from selling the gold bars and three million left from buying gold, totaling five million. But he needed to buy raw materials, pay workers, and keep some money for the factory's operation. At most, he had about one million yuan available, which was like a drop in the bucket.

"Alas... still too poor!" Yueyang sighed to the sky.

Since Yueyang couldn't stay at the factory for a long time, he had no choice but to appoint Jia Wenmao as the factory manager, responsible for production and operations. Appointing an unfamiliar person as the manager was a big taboo for a businessman, but Yueyang had no better choice. He had no talent at hand, and this was a small factory worth only a few hundred thousand yuan, so there wouldn't be any problems for now. He would hire professional managers when the scale expanded.

After instructing Jia Wenmao, Yueyang drove his truck back to the city. He still needed to purchase some necessities for the military camp.

P.S.: Brothers, where are the recommendation votes?

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