Chapter 34: Can't straighten up at the waist

There was no helping it; any further conversation with these people, already mired in their fervor, would likely provoke hostilities. In the workshop now, there were far too many who thought the world of the boss, Tang Mo.

Many of the workers with children could hardly contain their adoration for Tang Mo. In this era, people's simplistic values made them devotedly loyal to a nobleman who truly had their best interests at heart.

Haven't you seen how, with his benevolent governance in Northern Ridge, Count Fisheo's reputation has soared to tremendous heights? What he's accomplished there is still less than what Tang Mo is doing here.

Tang Mo planned to implement an entire set of modern societal reforms in this place. How could these unsophisticated commoners have ever seen such exaggeratedly terrifying "welfare treatment"?

They could never guess that Tang Mo was indeed cultivating a social environment for himself; instinctively, they saw him as a "benevolent ruler" truly worthy of their loyalty!

After seeing the huge changes in their children over just a few days, not only the fathers and mothers but even the grandparents started to regard Tang Mo as the savior of this miserable world.

Yesterday, there were even workers attempting to return the wages Tang Mo had paid them, feeling they ought to contribute in any small way they could to what Tang Mo was doing.

After Tang Mo insisted on not taking the wages back, the progress of the projects in the workshop substantially sped up to the naked eye.

For Tang Mo, this was probably another unforeseen boon, akin to "Planting willow trees by chance and finding shade" that arose from establishing his school and cultivating his own talent.

Even Tang Mo himself had not expected such a windfall so soon and to such a staggering effect.

At noon, as the sand carrier—who had already been scorned by several workers—queued up for his lunch, he was once again astonished by the scene before him.

The cantina auntie, Cui Xi, whose hands always trembled rhythmically, feverishly, profoundly, and deeply—enough to shake meat right out of a spoon—today miraculously had hands steady as a rock!

The carrier blinked, hardly believing his eyes. After repeatedly verifying the reality before him, he panickedly lifted his head to meet Cui Xi's displeased gaze.

"My goodness, Auntie Cui Xi, how come you're giving me so much today..." he began, gazing incredulously at the sticky pumpkin soup in the wooden tray that actually contained bits of minced meat.

Pointing her soup-drenched ladle at him, Auntie Cui Xi scolded ungraciously, "You idiot, work properly! Don't slouch around lazily! You're delaying our boss's project! Do you know how rare it is these days to find such a good boss? If you don't appreciate it, then scram! Don't cause trouble for others!"

"Hahaha!" A few old women from the leatherworking group behind him burst into raucous laughter, revealing their yellow teeth.

"You dog thing! If you don't work hard this afternoon, your wife will deal with you when you get back!" Since everyone here was from neighboring villages and knew each other quite well, Auntie Cui Xi didn't hold back in her remarks.

The sand carrier quickly nodded and bowed, "I would never, I would never! I'll definitely give it my all this afternoon! I've got plenty of strength! Just watch me! I won't delay the boss's schedule, rest assured, rest assured!"

As he walked away, he eyed the pumpkin soup with its bits of meat in the wooden tray, swallowing his saliva with mixed feelings.

Consequently, even the apprentices from Northern Ridge began learning to operate the machines, and Parker had no objections whatsoever.

He treated all the children equally, imparting the technology to them, enabling them to handle machine production with ease and simultaneously enhancing their own efficiency.

The noise of the machinery made the entire workshop very noisy. Many of the machines originally placed in this workshop had been moved to a temporary shed for the use of the old workers.

What remained here now were the new machine tools driven by steam engines, which were more precise and, being directly linked with the steam engines, very convenient to use.

No joking, he felt he could train hundreds of qualified workers within a month, allowing them to operate the machinery and complete the task of drilling rifle barrels.

Such speed was incomparable to that of old consortia like Shireck; the two were not even on the same starting line.

If he knew the term "dimensional strike," he would have unreservedly applied it to describe the overwhelming pressure Tang Mo's machinery was exerting on Shireck at this moment.

"Get your spirits up! Pay attention to the depth! Don't mess up the order!" he shouted loudly at the apprentices, prompting them to handle the valuable steel materials with even greater care.

"Got it!" the young apprentices immediately responded, each more attentive and serious than the last. This work was ten times simpler than what they had learned before—if they still made mistakes, they might as well not continue in this profession.

The mechanical noise echoed throughout the workshop as the steam engine tirelessly operated, driving around five machine tools constantly in motion.

Countless parts fit together perfectly, coordinating the most scientific structures and ultimately, with a constant speed drill, rotating rapidly, causing the metal friction to emit a sharp, piercing sound.

...

"March!" On the training ground, only recently leveled a few days prior, Luff was educating more than a dozen children according to Tang Mo's teaching plan.

These children were to receive not only cultural education in school but also physical training. The content of the physical education was actually the militarized drill regimen drafted by Tang Mo.

Each child, according to different ages, was divided into several squads, each undergoing strict quasi-military training daily.

The younger ones were taught drill formation by Luff, practicing every day, including basics like pairs and threes, encompassing fundamental disciplinary training.

Marching and drill walking were the most basic. Under Luff's guidance, the children had to run laps to strengthen their physique, and daily engage in climbing and wrestling competitions.

The children formed neat rows, each kick they took had to be at exactly the same height.

Accompanied by Luff's commands, they all simultaneously lifted their left foot and swung their right arm, maintaining the posture until they heard the next command.