"The Main God be my witness! Aside from iron armor, forged iron weapons must also be rushed into production! Iron spearheads are the easiest to forge and can be produced in great quantities, gradually reducing Copper Spear output until it is completely replaced... As for more complex iron weapons, more refined wrought-iron techniques..."
"The Institute of Divine Inspiration will set a special heavy reward for 'wrought iron'! Any breakthrough in technique will receive a reward in goods and wealth. And outstanding technical advances, just like the Western Sea craftsmen before with paper bleaching, lacquer paints, Pozzolanic Cement, and recently Iron Smelting and shipbuilding, will receive the noble title of Master Artisan!... And this time, there will be a full five Master Artisan title slots to encourage the artisans to explore!..."
"Ah! Five new Master Artisans? Five military-merit noble slots?..."
"Praise the Main God! There's actually such a heavy reward?!..."
As Director Talaya of the Institute of Divine Inspiration announced the reward, a burst of delighted discussion immediately rang through the Artisan Camp, every voice filled with irrepressible longing.
The status and treatment of a Master Artisan were equal to the Lake Kingdom's military-merit nobles. The grading was extremely strict, and the slots were very limited. And this time, the Institute of Divine Inspiration had taken out a full five noble titles to reward the research and development of "wrought iron," showing just how seriously the kingdom regarded it!
If this were placed across the sea in Great Ming, it would be the equivalent of taking out five juren degrees, or even slots equivalent to tong jinshi background, to reward artisan households with outstanding skills... That would simply be heaven and earth turned upside down, a sign of dynastic ruin! The entire scholar-official class would condemn it with mouth and brush,