Chapter 464: The Wonderful Journey to Kaifeng City (5)
Chapter 464 A wonderful trip to Kaifeng City (5)
Author: Uncle Long Legs
Chapter 464 A wonderful trip to Kaifeng City (5)
"Ouch! It's just like what the noble concubine said. Although the wine is good, you can't be greedy. I was only five or six points drunk last night, and my head hurts badly today."
Early the next morning, when Du Baojun got up, he hugged his head and started yelling.
This proves the characteristics of the new "Shaodaozi" spirit produced by the Department of Commerce. If you drink too much, you will have a headache when you wake up the next day.
But even though my head hurts and I feel cold, there are more important things on my mind.
Just as planned, Du Baojun left the city early.
In fact, in Boss Shen's fleet, he found a servant who lived on the ship and watched the cargo. He was regarded as the son of their Du family.
After handing the letter I wrote last night to the other party, I gave him repeated instructions.
In the following time, I saw the fleet unloading all the numerous pieces of cloth and silk and handing them over to the officials of the Department of Commerce.
And after watching the fleet leave, he let go of his worries.
In the following time, they began to walk around and inquire around Kaifeng City. This situation would continue until the head of the Du family in Huzhou brought more rice and cloth.
It's giving up.
Frankly speaking! Huang Yizhi’s West Factory.
Such a method of relying on an old lady from the street office who is considered a non-staff to monitor suspicious outsiders may not be very decent.
But the actual effect is amazingly good.
These old ladies are very familiar with the neighbors in their area, and they can easily recognize who are outsiders at a glance.
I'm afraid that even if professional spies from the Kingdom of Jin come over, they won't be able to escape the sharp eyes of these old ladies.
What's more, Du Baojun is a rich man who has always been pampered and pampered without any training.
So it was no surprise that on the first day of wandering around and asking around, this guy was secretly reported by three old ladies.
Fortunately, he finished writing the letter to the head of the Du family last night while he was asleep.
Then a thin man from Jin Yiwei sneaked into the room to get a closer look.
When he got up this morning, he had a headache. In fact, it was not the cause of the hangover; it was because he was worried that he would be awakened. The rookie spy had used some Jin Yiwei's drug.
Therefore, I already knew why Du Baojun was wandering around like this and asking about Jin Yiwei.
After receiving the report, no measures were taken against him; otherwise, he would have been arrested and thrown into prison long ago, where he would have been given two cereal grains per day.
As for what Du Baojun found out during this process?
It can be seen from the diary he wrote in his own hand that night after walking around a lot every day and returning to the inn.
That's right! It's a diary.
This thing is not a patent of modern people, nor is it an imported product from the West. In fact, it has been around for a long time in the ancient days of flower growers, and it is not a strange thing at all.
But the names are a little different. In ancient times, they were called daily records, day counting, diaries, calendars, etc.
Generally speaking, this thing sprouted in the Tang Dynasty and developed in the Song Dynasty; it declined in the Yuan Dynasty and flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties; the earliest diary in history did not even have time to produce paper, it was carved directly on wood.
As for Du Baojun's diary, if the contents were translated into vernacular, it would probably look like this...
It's the second year of Jingkang, no! It's already the first year of Maode, but you have to watch your mouth and don't let it slip in other places and cause some trouble for nothing.
March 20th was another sunny day.
I have never understood it. Although Kaifeng City was the capital of the Song Dynasty and the location of the three provinces and six tribes, the world's talents and most of the elite craftsmen were gathered here.
But the last time the Jin came over, I heard that they took away all the skilled craftsmen from the Ministry of Industry.
Even if all private craftsmen can now be requisitioned by the imperial court, the number should be limited. It is thought that the number of thousands of people is already the limit.
So the question is, how can it be possible for these thousands of craftsmen to produce so many novelties that the Commerce Department has been producing recently?
After all, each of those novel things looks extremely exquisite, so you can just find some temporary labor.
With such a doubt, I came to the Imperial College in the south of the city today, intending to take a closer look.
Why go where? Because since Queen Namode ascended the throne more than two months ago, she has never had the intention to drive an Enko.
In addition, during the Jinbing Rebellion, Mr. Yiying, teaching assistants, and students in the Imperial College were all dispersed long ago.
But in the direction of the Imperial College, thick smoke is billowing every day. It can be seen from across most of Kaifeng City. However, the water dragon team in the city to put out the fire has not been dispatched, and the people are not surprised.
Apart from the fact that the buildings were requisitioned by the Ministry of Industry to produce those so-called new commodities, there is no other possibility.
That's right! There are places in the city where a lot of billowing smoke rises day and night, and there are many other places, but the movement at the Imperial College is even louder.
I believe that as long as you go in and take a look, you will naturally be able to clear up your doubts.
Then, damn it! I couldn't even get through the door.
Far away from the gate, a few men dressed as Imperial Guards chased me away like a fly without waiting for me to speak. It was really insulting to my gentleness.
But even so, I lingered outside for a long time and saw many unusual signs.
For example: there are often many large carts pulling heavy goods into the Imperial Academy; even if the carts are covered with some rags, it can still be faintly seen that they are all loaded with coal.
It turns out that the imperial commerce department actually smelted iron in many places such as the Imperial College, so that it had such amazing iron materials for sale...
Is this true? Du Baojun’s speculation is completely inconsistent with reality.
At the same time, Du Baojun was staying outside the Imperial College, looking over there with his head in the air.
In the Imperial Academy, because he had not had a good rest for a long time, the warehouse manager, who stared at a pair of rabbit-like red eyes, shouted to Lang Qing:
"Lang Qing, I think the steam engine is almost done.
Although the maximum horsepower of the steam engines we have built so far is 70 horsepower; with this foundation and experience, it is not a big problem to solve the problem of reaching 100 horsepower.
But Lao Hei's side is now urging us to hand over artillery every day so that their artillery can start training.
I thought that we are in such a hurry that we can't become fat in one bite; the current steam engine can be used as it is, after all, there are still many things waiting for us to solve one by one."
"Yes! Under the current circumstances, we cannot pursue perfection, but overall efficiency."
Later, AT also echoed this, saying that this young white-collar worker seemed to be in good spirits, but his hairline was a bit thin.
After hearing the above two sentences, Lang Qing had to nod helplessly.
His expression was filled with the frustration of a man who wanted to kill a thief but was unable to save his life.
Just as the warehouse manager said, they have now produced a steam engine that is barely usable. Problems such as seals and lubricants have also been solved by other methods.
For example, copper piston rings were used to solve the sealing problem.
The problem is that in this alternative method, not only the performance of the steam engine was somewhat unsatisfactory for a while; even the overall production quantity was far lower than expected.
The key reason is that there are three people like him, AT, and warehouse manager, no matter how powerful they are, they only have one pair of hands.
Although the recruited craftsmen are not stupid, they also have some experience in manual work; but they need to first cast a large number of parts with clay molds and then assemble them one by one, which also requires some time to become familiar with.
It is similar to the fact that workers recruited from the modern plane need to be trained for a period of time before they can be used; especially skilled workers, they need to be well trained before they can take up the job.
In short, today, with their all-out efforts,
A total of thirteen 50-horsepower steam engines were built.
There are eleven 60-horsepower steam engines and seven 70-horsepower steam engines, a total of about thirty steam engines. Compared with their original plan, they are far behind.
Fortunately, with these thirty or so steam engines, they have also solved the huge problem of insufficient power in military production.
After all, a steam engine can drive several forging hammers, grinders, drilling machines and other machinery, and the power provided is also quite stable.
At least up to now, all the 10,000 muskets used in rotation for training in the new army have been delivered one after another.
However, according to the new army's training method of stopping, grabbing, and firing wildly, the three-month recruit training period is over.
Basically all the barrels of these 10,000 Brown Bess muskets will be scrapped.
So, the large amount of coal that Du Baojun saw in his eyes was not used to make iron.
It's just that in the Imperial College, a total of fifteen steam engines were put down, as well as a large number of drilling machines, forging hammers and other processing machinery.
It is purely used to provide fuel for steam engines and processing other equipment...
*******
It was March 26th, the first year of Maode. It was drizzling, and it was very much like Du Mu of the Tang Dynasty. Du Mu wrote, "It rains heavily during the Qingming Festival, and pedestrians on the road want to die."
Originally, today, I was planning to go to the nearest elementary school to the inn where I live to visit Haosheng.
On the one hand, this elementary school is not an important place for the imperial court, and no one can get close to it, right?
(This sentence is full of deep resentment. God knows what this guy has been through in the past)
On the other hand, according to anecdotal reports, Kaifeng City respects the common people, regardless of gender, as long as they are children of school age, they can go to school.
Empress Maode and Nahu Yitong pretended to be ancient sages who were 'educated without distinction'. They were speaking in such a big tone. Didn't they know that this approach would cost astonishing amounts of money and food?
Especially under the current circumstances, such a impoverished court still has to prepare for war. Can they support such a huge consumption, and are they not going to survive?
But if they are really doing this, and not just acting like it, these people are truly enlightened.
The result? I didn’t make it today.
After encountering another strange incident, the plan to go to that elementary school was temporarily canceled.
At that time, I was still at a roadside stall, waiting for the vendor to make pancakes, which are very popular in Kaifeng recently and are said to have been invented by my husband who was kicked.
When I was making the deluxe version of pancakes with eggs and sausage, I discovered something strange.
I saw on the street, suddenly amidst bursts of loud Sanskrit chants, there must be hundreds of bald donkeys, no! It was the master wearing cassocks, walking together towards the palace.
The scene was even more lively than the Water and Land Dharma Assembly in previous years.
After asking the street office aunt who was wearing red sleeves next to me, I learned that these masters from the Daxiangguo Temple felt that the country was in difficulty and the imperial court was not well prepared.
Today we are all going to go outside the palace to ask for an audience with Queen Maud and all the ministers in the court.
He requested that all the 500 bronze Arhat statues in the temple, as well as several other larger bronze Buddha statues, be presented to the imperial court so that the imperial court could use them to make military equipment.
Beware of Jin people invading, lest the Holy Spirit Tuta.
After all, Buddha is compassionate. As long as the believers have Buddha in their hearts, it doesn't matter whether the Buddha statues are made of stone, clay, wood, or copper.
Hearing such a statement, I immediately stood in awe.
I have seen many monks asking for money and food in my life, but this is definitely the first time I have seen a monk who even contributed a bronze statue.
As expected, he is indeed the master of Daxiangguo Temple. He has profound Buddhist teachings and compassionate heart, which is different from other small temples.
After eating a set of deluxe pancakes and fruits, I did not go to the elementary school to visit. Instead, I went to the Daxiangguo Temple to pay homage and donated three ounces of sesame oil money.
I don’t know if it was the blessing of Bodhisattva, but when I came out of Daxiangguo Temple, the drizzle that had been falling for several days actually stopped.
What Du Baojun didn't know was that when he was squatting on the roadside with a bowl of soy milk, munching on deluxe pancakes and fruit, he was wondering whether he should go to Daxiangguo Temple later.
Right opposite him, in a private room of a restaurant.
Yu Hanfeng, the singer, and Huang Yizhi were also eating breakfast.
The difference is that after taking a bite of noodles, Jin Yiwei's command made Yu Hanfeng couldn't help but mutter and calculated an account:
"Each copper Arhat weighs about 120 kilograms. If the five hundred Arhats are added together, the total will be 60,000 kilograms of copper.
There are also several large Buddha statues, which add up to almost 90,000 kilograms of copper, which must be enough for Lang Qing and the others to cast cannons.
After all, they only used copper to make the core of the cannon, not the entire gun core. These bald donkeys too, they would have simply agreed, but they couldn't see the coffin without shedding tears.
Now that it’s like this, do they think it’s interesting?”
Yes! That’s right, judging from some details in Yu Hanfeng’s words, those masters’ initiative to donate bronze statues today was not voluntary in nature.
At least the leading masters were not willing at all.
However, facing the urgent request of the New Army to forge cannons, the three intelligence giants who were almost driven crazy due to problems with raw materials had no choice but to resort to evil hands.
Specifically, he went privately to investigate the dirty information on the abbots and abbots of Daxiangguo Temple.
You won’t know the results until you check them. But when you check them, you will be shocked to find that not many of these guys have clean butts. Some of them have several wives and have a lot of babies. It’s a trivial matter.
In short, faced with the two different choices of being ruined after the black material was exposed, or losing money and avoiding disaster, the masters wisely chose the latter.
So there was a magical scene this morning, when hundreds of masters went out to destroy the temple and build a country.
Yu Hanfeng and the other three appeared here just to see their results with their own eyes.
Faced with Yu Hanfeng's question that "ninety thousand kilograms of copper should be enough", the factory singer of Dongchang asked another question:
"I said, that guy Lang Qing is an eighth-level fitter.
With his level, it should be no problem to just use an all-steel cannon, right? Why do you need so much copper to make an antique copper-core iron cannon?"
Faced with such a question, Huang Yizhi, the owner of the West Factory, answered:
"Of course all-steel artillery is fine, but even though Lang Qing has that skill, how many can he make if he just relies on his own hands?
To put it bluntly, we don’t have to rely on the craftsmen.
It’s just that once the workers are trained, I’m afraid the Jin people are about to attack, so we’ll have to use bronze cannons with simpler craftsmanship~”
In this way, after the three boasted for a while, they left with the truth; what people like Du Baojun saw were just some superficial situations they hoped to see...
It's April 1st, the first year of Maode. The weather is good today, neither cold nor hot.
I got up early this morning, but I didn't even have time to eat the morning meal, so I left the city as soon as the city gate opened.
In such a hurry, it's not because I'm tired of eating pancakes and fruit. This stuff is crispy and delicious. It's simply a delicacy in the world. You won't get tired of it after eating it.
It was only last night that I found out how I could see what the imperial court's new army looked like.
If we meet the Jin people in the future, we must not only win in battle, but at least be able to defend the city; this point is very important and is the key to whether our Du family will surrender to the imperial court.
Of course, there is no way for me and others to enter the important military camp of the New Army.
However, I heard that after getting up early every morning, the new troops would have to practice outside the camp. From this, we could more or less see their quality.
Sure enough, it was just as the rumors said, after leaving the city in the morning and walking all the way northeast for seven or eight miles.
I finally saw for the first time what the new army of the Song Dynasty looked like.
In the golden sunrise, tens of thousands of soldiers lined up in six long queues, running in an orderly manner carrying a piece of wood weighing at least thirty kilograms on their shoulders.
It took a long time to discharge, and it felt like a dragon that has seen its beginning but not its end.
I don't see how the generals are shouting and scolding, but tens of thousands of people are commanding as well as one person. The appearance of a strong army is definitely the only one I, Du Baojun, have ever seen in my life.
With such elite soldiers at hand, why worry about those Jin people joining the invaders again...
There is another chapter in the evening, but it may not be until after 12 o'clock. Don't wait, just read it tomorrow.
The daily routine will end tomorrow and we will enter the second phase of the task.
