A Powerful Tool to Change the Nation's Fate

We arrived at the spinning mill.

Li Mo got off the carriage first and helped Anna down.

He then reached out and helped Helen, who was following closely behind.

Li Mo was preoccupied with something at the moment and forgot to let go, holding the two girls' hands on either side.

Anna, of course, acted completely naturally.

Helen wanted to pull away but didn't dare, afraid of upsetting Li Mo, so she had no choice but to let him lead her...

Wayne, Matthew, and Estelle, among others, also arrived and got off the bus one after another.

Matthew saw Li Mo holding Helen's hand and immediately looked away.

Look up at the sky at a 45-degree angle, that way the tears won't fall...

I arrived at the factory gate and looked inside.

The spinning mill looked deserted, much deserted than before.

When Li Mo walked in, he didn't find it noisy at all; it turned out that only one or two machines were still running.

Matthew felt heartbroken after his breakup and went to Estelle to try and get her attention:

"Miss Estelle, you see, wasn't I right? The entire factory is almost at a standstill, and they're still talking about technological innovation."

Estelle ignored him.

Walking further in, Li Mo met his father, Li En.

My father was dressed smartly today, and he was showing the factory grounds to two elegant ladies.

One was Mrs. Turner, the wife of the West End tax collector, and the other was Mrs. Crawford, the wife of the credit manager of the Mondel Joint Venture Bank.

The father was chatting and laughing with his two wives about something amusing.

The two ladies, holding lace folding fans, covered their mouths and laughed incessantly.

Li Mo sighed inwardly: No wonder he's his father; even at his age, he's still so charming, surrounded by beautiful women.

The father also noticed the newcomers. He stopped talking and immediately saw the four girls standing next to Li Mo.

The father silently thought to himself, "No wonder he's my son; he's surrounded by so many beautiful girls."

But the next second, Li En noticed the wound on his son's face.

He disregarded the two ladies beside him and hurriedly stepped forward to ask:

"What happened? Are you alright?"

"It's nothing. I had a minor accident while doing experiments at the observatory this afternoon. It was just a scrape; it looked scary, but the bleeding has stopped."

What kind of experiment could cause your face to bleed? Have you seen a doctor?

"It's alright, Anna has already cleaned it up for me."

Hearing this, Li En finally breathed a sigh of relief.

His gaze passed over Li Mo and landed on Matthew, who was looking around with his hands in his pockets.

Li En's expression immediately darkened!

He and Matthew's father are mortal enemies, and Wayne had previously said that Matthew was leading the attack on Li Mo at the Puxiu Academy.

With both old and new grudges combined, Li En showed no kindness towards this man, and immediately said with a stern face:

"Matthew, what are you doing here? Did you do the wound on Li Mo's face?!"

Matthew wasn't afraid of being scolded by his elders.

He bowed to Li En and then said:

"Good afternoon, Mr. Li En. Please don't misunderstand, the wound on Li Mo's face has nothing to do with me. I'm here today specifically to accompany Miss Estelle and the distinguished envoy on this visit."

special envoy?

Upon hearing this, Li En felt a chill run down his spine.

Mrs. Turner and Mrs. Crawford, who followed behind, also closed their folding fans at the same time.

All three of them turned to look at the red-haired girl.

With her signature royal red hair and the silver double-moon badge pinned to her lapel, her identity was beyond doubt...

Li En and the two ladies immediately straightened their clothes and bowed respectfully in greeting:

"Good day, Your Excellency."

Caroline nodded slightly. "No need for formalities. I ran into Mr. Li Mo outside the Puxiu Academy today and heard that your factory has improved its textile machinery, so I came with him to take a look."

"It is a great honor that Your Excellency has come."

In this way, everyone present could be considered to have formally greeted each other.

Li Mo then asked, "Dad, where's my sister Sarah?"

"Sarah's in the foundry," Li En beckoned to a young apprentice and said, "Go to the backyard and call Sarah. Tell her the young master has brought guests over, and ask her to put down her work and come over quickly."

"Yes, sir," the apprentice replied, and quickly ran towards the backyard.

Taking advantage of this moment, Matthew walked forward with a smile, gave a slight bow to the two noble ladies beside Li En, and said:

"Mrs. Turner, Mrs. Crawford, good afternoon. I didn't expect to meet you both here today."

The two noblewomen certainly knew who he was.

With the northern shipping routes now blocked, all the cotton textile workers in Mondel Town are worried about raw materials, except for the Oliver Family, who hold the town's cotton inventory and are making a fortune every day.

The Matthew are now the most prominent figures in the entire Mondel Town.

Upon seeing Matthew take the initiative to greet them, the two ladies immediately beamed with smiles and treated him with utmost politeness.

"Oh, Mr. Matthew, my Old Crawford mentioned your family when he came home for dinner the other day. He said Mr. Oliver has a keen eye; this month's income is equivalent to three years' income for others. And look at this boy, so handsome and so polite."

Mrs. Turner leaned closer with a smile, "Indeed, I attended a tea party last week and heard Mrs. Oliver praise Matthew's excellent grades at the Puxiu Academy. Matthew, when you have time, bring your mother to our house for a visit. I just brought back two cans of fine Ceylon tea from the capital; you can try some then."

"Of course, I will definitely pay a visit to the two ladies another day," Matthew replied politely, secretly delighted.

Li En's complexion was even worse.

I made a point of dressing up this afternoon, spent two pots of black tea with these two women, and said nice things for half the afternoon. My throat is practically parched.

Then, turning around, the two women started praising their enemy's brat.

Damn it, none of those women are any good!

Li Mo didn't seem to care at all. He said:

"Everyone, before Sarah arrives, how about I show you our improved spinning machine?"

Estelle said, "Let's go."

Li Mo nodded. "Your Excellency, everyone, please follow me."

We approached the machine.

To make it clearer for everyone, Li Mo prepared a control group.

He said, "The one on the left is the standard steam spinning machine currently used by all cotton mills in Mondel Town; the one on the right is a new model that I just finished modifying a few days ago."

Matthew crossed his arms, snorted, and said, "Li Mo, stop with the nonsense. I grew up in a spinning mill. The exact number of yards of 30-count yarn that can be spun from one pound of raw cotton is fixed. Don't be ridiculous."

Li Mo ignored him and said:

"Let's begin. Place two ounces of the same batch of roving on both sides simultaneously and run for five minutes."

"Yes, young master."

The two workers began their work.

Mrs. Mrs. Turner and Mrs. Crawford had already seen a demonstration led by Li En before they came in, so they acted as if it were nothing out of the ordinary, standing a little distance away and gently fanning themselves.

Anna and Helen were a little curious.

Estelle and Caroline watched the most attentively.

soon,

On the left, the old, unmodified machine snapped three cotton threads in just two minutes, forcing the workers to repeatedly reach out and reconnect them.

Now look at the improved machine on the right.

Li Mo recalculated and replaced the gear ratio of the three-stage roller.

A row of brass tension compensation plates was added to the yarn guide.

In five minutes, not a single thread broke across the entire row of thirty-two spindles.

Wayne pulled out his Professor's Gold Pocket Watch, and closed the cover with a smile:

"I'll be there in five minutes!"

Two female workers pulled down the clutch lever, and the machine slowly came to a stop.

The comparison results are clear at a glance.

To spin the same length of yarn, the old machine consumed a full two ounces of roving, while the new machine not only used less material but also produced better quality yarn.

Wayne trotted up to Matthew and said cheekily:

"Hey Matthew, is someone about to kowtow? I see the workshop floor was just swept, it's pretty clean, why don't you start now?"

Matthew had no time to pay any attention to Wayne.

He was incredulous and quickly stepped forward to check.

"Impossible... this is impossible! The thread is so thin, it would break easily and couldn't even be used on a loom..."

Matthew verifies quality.

But then he pulled.

The cotton thread was taut and straight, without any breakage.

On the contrary, Matthew himself had red marks on his palms from being squeezed.

Matthew winced in pain, then bent down to rummage through the scrap bin under the new machine, exclaiming in utter shock:

"How could this happen... how could this happen..."

Estelle nodded slightly.

Caroline immediately stepped forward and said:

"Mr. Li En, Mr. Li Mo, this spinning machine has achieved significant breakthroughs in both raw material utilization and yarn strength."

"With the northern shipping routes currently blocked and the entire kingdom under wartime material rationing, every machine that can reduce raw cotton consumption is extremely important."

"On behalf of Her Majesty the Queen and the Royal Special Envoy Office, I hereby formally announce: From this day forward, the Li En Spinning Mill in Mondel Town is officially designated as a Royal Chartered Cooperative Workshop!"

Li En was completely stunned.

With the Goddess of the Moon above, is there really such a good thing?!

Caroline is still speaking:

"Tonight I will submit the improved blueprints for the new equipment to the Royal Academy of Sciences and the Trade Committee in the capital, and directly process the royal patent certification for Mr. Li Mo. Once the certification is issued, this improved plan will be promoted by the royal family to all cotton mills throughout the country. According to the Kingdom's Patent Law, any factory in the country that uses this technology must pay Mr. Li Mo a monthly patent licensing fee for each spinning machine it operates."

"Furthermore, the Special Envoy's Office will allocate all subsequent cotton fabric procurement orders for the third defense line at Mendel Port and the Northern Territory Legion to the Li En Spinning Mill for priority!"

Matthew turned pale after hearing Caroline's words.

Although he didn't seem very bright, he was still clear about the accounts of his own business.

The textile and raw cotton business is the foundation of the Oliver Family's livelihood!

The Special Envoy's words are law, and this is not just empty talk!

In stark contrast to Matthew were the two noblewomen beside him.

Two elegant ladies, lifting their skirts, quickly surrounded Li Mo, their faces beaming with smiles, and Ku Ku showered him with praise.

"Oh my! I knew it! The moment Young Master Li Mo walked in, I could tell this boy had an extraordinary air about him! Mr. Li En, you are truly blessed to have raised such a genius son! At sixteen, he can already help Her Majesty the Queen resolve matters of state. In the hundred years since our Mondel Town was founded, we have never seen such a promising young man!"

Mrs. Turner looked at Li Mo's face with concern. "Young Master Li Mo, does the wound on your face still hurt? It's so painful to see! We happen to have a box of ointment that was just brought back from the capital last month. It's the best for removing scars. As soon as I get home, I'll have the butler bring it to you!"

At this point, Mrs. Turner turned to look at Li En and said:

"By the way, Mr. Li En, didn't you mention the tax breaks for the workshop's technological upgrade while we were having tea? Don't worry, as soon as my Old Turner walks down the door tonight, I'll make sure he gets the tax exemption approval for the West End sorted out for you!"

Not to be outdone, Mrs. Crawford quickly added:

"Yes, yes, yes! Young Master Li Mo, with such excellent machinery, you must be planning to expand production, right? Mr. Li En, if your factory wants to build additional factory buildings or purchase new machinery, just let us know how much funding you need! Our Mondel Joint Venture Bank is ready to grant the Li family a long-term loan at the lowest interest rate!"

The two ladies chatted back and forth, wishing they could adopt Li Mo as their godson on the spot.

Li En snorted and slowly straightened his collar.

--I still prefer the way you guys were all circling around Matthew just now.

--What's wrong now? Don't you like Matthew anymore?

People are in high spirits when they encounter happy events.

After straightening his collar, Li En couldn't help but chuckle.

I thought to myself: I didn't expect that my son's words the other day about handing over business matters to me were actually true.

Who raised this son? He's such a good parent!

Li Mo nodded politely and said, "Thank you for your kind offer, ladies. As for the loan and tax matters, my father can discuss them with you two gentlemen later."

Just then, Sarah arrived in a flurry of activity.

She jogged over, and before she could even see how many people were standing inside, she called out:

"Xiao Li! You've come at just the right time! I've made what you asked for!"

Li Mo took the initiative to go to meet her.

After looking at the item in Sarah's hand.

He turned around and said:

"Everyone has come at the right time. Besides this improved spinning machine, I'd like to introduce another thing to you. This thing can increase the efficiency of the existing steam engine by more than 40%."

The audience. "???"

It's important to understand that improving the spinning machine only affected the textile industry.

However, the increased efficiency of the steam engine had far-reaching implications!

The entire kingdom's factories, railways, and ironclad warships will all need this new tool during wartime when coal is so scarce.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that it's a powerful tool that could rewrite the fate of a nation.

Caroline quickly glanced at Estelle.

Estelle remained expressionless.

She had been in a very bad mood all day.

But after these two waves, her bad mood is gradually recovering...

Estelle glanced at Li Mo quietly.

Thinking:

How many more surprises can this guy possibly bring me?