“Your Highness, our Ministry of Works started building it according to the blueprints you left,” an official from the Ministry of Works said to Zhou Shu carefully.
“Our Ministry of Works has dispatched our most skilled craftsmen to ensure that your thoughts are realized, Your Highness.”
The rank of this Ministry of Works official wasn’t low.
But facing Great Xia’s new King of the South, he couldn’t put on any airs.
The person in front of him was not only Great Xia’s King of the South but also Great Qin’s side-by-side king.
This had never happened before. Becoming kings of two nations at the same time was something they would never dare to do in their dreams.
Ever since the news that the King of the South was Great Qin’s side-by-side king, the emperor had issued a death order that the Huaxia Pavilion had to be built according to the blueprints that Zhou Shu had taken out back then.
If the construction failed, everyone in the Minister of Works could retire!
Therefore, the most important thing for the Ministry of Works these days was the construction of the Huaxia Pavilion.
The blueprints that Zhou Shu left had actually been randomly scribbled by him. Later, Meng Bai had modified them slightly, but most of them still didn’t meet the requirements for actual implementation.
Still, there was no shortage of talent anywhere.
The capable craftsman of the Ministry of Works planned the building based on Zhou Shu’s idea without changing the general foundation.
Previously, when he went to look for the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Works had rejected his plan. To put it bluntly, his status at the time was still not high enough.
“Build according to this.” Zhou Shu nodded in satisfaction. “How long will it take to finish?”
“The first phase will be finished within six months,” the Ministry of Works official said.
“Very good. You must ensure the quality. Don’t ignore the quality in order to catch up with the schedule,” Zhou Shu said.
“Don’t worry, Your Highness. If anything goes wrong, you can do whatever you want to me,” the Ministry of Works official promised.
Zhou Shu made his rounds before riding back to Chang’an.
After the diplomatic mission returned to Great Qin, Zhou Shu became famous and had an endless stream of visitors.
In the end, he closed his doors and refused all visitors.
As for the diplomatic mission, he didn’t interfere much. After he returned, Shi Songtao and the others naturally went to do the handover.
Apart from getting more visitors, being conferred the title of King of the South didn’t affect Zhou Shu much.
At least he felt that his life hadn’t changed much.
His You Marquis Mansion had changed to the King of the South Mansion.
It had to be said that the standard of his residence was a little high to begin with. Now that it was used as a king’s residence, it wasn’t too shabby.
On the other hand, his mansion’s steward was stunned by the sudden news.
He was promoted from a marquis’s steward to a king’s steward. Other than Zhou Shu, he might be the fastest promoting worker in history.
This change made the steward feel a little uneasy at first. He was worried that he wouldn’t be able to do a good job as a steward.
Later, he realized that his master didn’t seem to have changed much. He didn’t care much about food, clothes, and travel. Other than forging, he only read books every day.
Perhaps it was this kind of strictness that allowed Zhou Shu to have his current achievements.
After returning to the King of the South residence from the construction site of the Huaxia Pavilion, Zhou Shu saw a familiar figure.
“Hey, isn’t this Earl Shi? Why are you so free to come here?” Zhou Shu smiled.
He had once dreamed of being Shi Songtao and knew that this fellow’s personality was just like his image. He was pretentious…
Shi Songtao bowed solemnly. “Greetings, Your Highness.”
After bowing, he straightened his back. “Your Highness, I wonder if what you said before still stands?”
“What did I say?”
“That if I join the Huaxia Pavilion, you will impart your star fixing technique to me!” Shi Songtao said with a serious expression.
Although there were problems with his personality, his pursuit of forging was genuine.
“Of course it still stands.” Zhou Shu smiled.
“Great!” Shi Songtao’s expression was firm as he said in a deep voice, “Then, Your Highness, I’ll join the Huaxia Pavilion!”
“Wait.” Zhou Shu smiled. “Not just anyone can join the Huaxia Pavilion.”
“I’m Great Xia’s number one—” Shi Songtao blurted. He looked at Zhou Shu and swallowed his words. Alright, I’m the former number one forging genius of Great Xia!
“Your Highness, I can already forge black-grade weapons. In the future, forging earth-grade weapons will not be a problem,” Shi Songtao said. “In fact, within five years, I’m certain that I can forge a heaven-grade weapon and become a Grand Craftsman!”
Shi Songtao looked proud.
As a forger, he had his pride.
In terms of forging talent, he might be slightly inferior to Zhou Shu.
But in terms of forging, he was one step ahead of Zhou Shu!
Zhou Shu had yet to forge a black-grade weapon!
It wasn’t that Shi Songtao was bragging, but the first 36 workshops would be overjoyed if he was willing to join any of them!
“So what?” Zhou Shu said casually. “If you want to join the Huaxia Pavilion, you have to follow my rules.”
Shi Songtao took a deep breath before saying, “Alright then. What conditions must be met to join the Huaxia Pavilion?”
“To others, it naturally requires an assessment.”
