The Imperial Manufactories was a department within the imperial household that cared for royal apparel, treasures, meals, parks, medicines, metalworks, craftsmen, and other things. The ‘Master Craftsmith’ title was given to the most outstanding individual within the Imperial Manufactories, while the ‘Heavenly Master Craftsmith’ was the highest recognition and position that the Great Han Empire could give to a craftsman. Being conferred the honorary title as the leader of craftsmen by the royals was an extremely rare occasion, as no one from the Great Han Empire had been conferred this title in the last two centuries.
Master Craftsmiths were quite common, but a Heavenly Master Craftsmith was rare. They were like expert craftsmen bestowed by the heavens who possessed uncanny craftsmanship. People used to think that Zhang Yourong, the best engineer in the Great Han Empire, would be the most fitting candidate to be conferred this title. Little did anyone expect that the title would be conferred on Yan Liqiang in the end.
The Heavenly Master Craftsmith was not an official title, but an honorary title. With this title, one would be excused from any formalities with the officials and be able to enter the palace freely. He could also supervise the other workers in the Imperial Manufactories and inspect any army camp. It was indeed an extremely impressive title.
The previous Heavenly Master Craftsmiths were all granted hereditary noble titles, which was a great blessing to their descendants for the next hundred generations.
The Crown Prince’s Archery Master was an equally eminent position. It was on a whole new level compared to being an archery mentor, which the Emperor was going to previously offer to Yan Liqiang. Being an Archery Master meant he would be the Crown Prince’s master in the Confucian Six Arts, and the Crown Prince would officially be apprenticed to him. This was definitely not a trivial matter because anyone who could serve the Crown Prince as his master in this era would be considered one of his men. As soon as the Crown Prince succeeded the throne, these people would be promoted to serve as the new Emperor’s ministers without exception.
When the crowd in the surrounding heard the titles being conferred on Yan Liqiang, their gazes burned up.
As for the Northwestern Reiver, the title was worth ruminating upon because it wasn’t an existing official title. In fact, it was a non-ranked sinecure that would only appear during special circumstances and could be revoked at any time. As the name suggested, a Reiver was involved in getting rid of bandits, brigands and the like. The northwestern region of the Great Han Empire was a distant and mountainous land, so indeed many bandits and brigands roamed about. However, being given the title of a Reiver was still beyond Yan Liqiang’s expectation.
Yan Liqiang’s thoughts flashed through his mind as he pondered about the intention behind the Emperor’s generous gift. The rest was still alright, but a Reiver would give Yan Liqiang the rights to gather a troop. Did His Majesty want him to gather a troop at a time like this because he felt that Yan Liqiang was wealthy enough to feed a troop, or did the Emperor want him to stir up some commotion in the northwestern region?
Just when all sorts of thoughts were running through Yan Liqiang’s mind, Eunuch Ou had finished reading the imperial edict and closed the scroll before handing it over to Yan Liqiang. “Protectorate General, that is the end of the imperial edict. You may thank His Majesty for his favor!”
“Thank you, Your Majesty!” Yan Liqiang bowed to the imperial edict before receiving it with both hands. This item would be put in his home as a family heirloom.
“In addition to the imperial edict, His Majesty also ordered another item to be delivered to you, Protectorate General. Before I came here, His Majesty even held my hands and told me that I must personally hand this item to you!” Eunuch Ou said, then turned around to cast a glance at his bodyguards. Two of them were already holding a plaque that was about a meter long covered by a gold silk cloth, and carried it forward to Yan Liqiang. The item seemed very heavy as the two guards even trudged a little while carrying it, despite their strong physiques.
“This is a gift from His Majesty, just in time for the occasion today. Please uncover it with your own hands, Protectorate General!” The old eunuch smiled at Yan Liqiang.
Yan Liqiang took a step forward and nodded. He reached out to the clutch yellow silk cloth covering the plaque, then tore it off.
The morning sun was shone directly on the plaque. The moment Yan Liqiang tore the silk cloth off, everyone in the crowd was dazzled by the huge golden inscription that appeared before their eyes —’The Greatest Mill’!
The plaque had black iron as its base and gold as the inscription. It was meticulously polished by the artisan, making it an exceptionally gorgeous and expensive-looking masterpiece. The inscription came with a pure gold seal which belonged to none other than the Emperor of the Great Han Empire.
Gasps were heard from the crowd. In the Great Han Empire, the Emperor was the only person who was qualified to declare this the world’s greatest mill.
Yan Liqiang’s heart raced as he looked at the words on the plaque. Damn, if these words were to be treated as the company’s reputation and an intangible asset, it would worth over several billion and each of these words was probably a mountain of gold…
“The Emperor and his consorts are very fond of those wool blankets and woolen fabrics that were gifted. They are soft and warm, and beyond comparable to silk cloth. The Empress and the consorts used them during their afternoon naps and commented that the wool blankets are light but warm, and are even better than silk blankets. Although the silk blankets provide warmth, they are a little too bulky. The clothes made out of woolen fabrics are also beautiful and very comfortable to wear. When the Emperor found out that you were going to set up a huge workshop called a mill, he even specially wrote a few words and instructed the craftsmen from the Imperial Manufactories to make them into a plaque to be delivered to you, Protectorate General. His Emperor said that making fabrics out of worthless wool is a miracle that will benefit the world and hence, the Protectorate General’s achievements should be immortalized. This workshop is definitely befitting of these words…”
“When Eunuch Ou returns this time, please express my gratitude to the Emperor. My achievements were only made possible because of His Majesty. I’ll continue to redouble my efforts to live up to His Majesty’s expectations!”
“Alright. I will make sure to convey the Protectorate General’s words to His Majesty!” The old eunuch nodded, then pointed to the spot above the main entrance of the woolen mill. “I see that this mill’s plaque hasn’t been uncovered yet. What good timing to hang this plaque today!”
There was already a plaque above woolen mill’s main entrance, but it was still covered by a piece of red silk cloth. The silk cloth had two strings hanging from the bottom. If Eunuch Ou hadn’t made his appearance, Yan Liqiang and Wang Jianbei would have already unveiled the original plaque as the highlight of the woolen mill’s grand opening.
The original plaque had ‘Yan Fortress’ Woolen Mill’ inscribed on it. Since the Emperor had sent a golden plaque with the inscription of ‘The Greatest Mill’, there was no longer a reason to unveil the “Yan Fortress’ Woolen Mill’ plaque.
Under everyone’s gaze, Yan Liqiang accepted the heavy golden plaque gifted by the Emperor with both hands. He lifted his head to look above the main entrance of the woolen mill, then soared a few zhang into midair like a dragon among the clouds. The original plaque covered by red silk cloth was removed, and was almost instantly replaced with the golden plaque gifted by the Emperor before Yan Liqiang landed on the ground again with the unveiled plaque in his hands. Lu Webin quickly hurried to Yan Liqiang’s side and took the unveiled plaque away from him.
‘The Greatest Mill’ looked spectacular under the sun, and the auspicious wordings immediately brought out the grandeur of the mill.
“WOW…!” Countless people in the surroundings immediately cheered loudly in excitement. Many of them looked as though they had seen countless gold and silver flying toward them amidst the dazzling gold light reflected off the wording on the plaque.
The opening ceremony could be said to have ended with success and happiness…
The lively beating of drums and gongs were then heard!
The female workers walked in a single file line through the main entrance and into the mill amidst the beating of gongs and drums. Yan Liqiang then invited Eunuch Ou, Wang Jianbei, and the other guests inside for a tour.
