Yunxi then summoned several of the best-performing workers. Of course, it was impossible for him to summon these workers in his true identity, and it was not necessary. He just summoned them as a doctor in the Ministry of Works to express his respect for the workers.
He took it seriously and rewarded each person with a few taels of silver.
Even so, they were already very excited. These workers were all farmers who had faced the loess and turned their backs to the sky for several lifetimes. They had never even seen a real official before joining the factory as workers, and the subordinate officials they saw were all vicious.
; Who would have thought that after entering the factory, I would be personally received by a fifth-grade official, and his attitude towards them would be so kind!
They all knelt down and said: "The ordinary people thank you for your grace. The ordinary people thank you for your grace."
"Everyone, get up. What are you doing kneeling down?" Yunxi asked them to get up again and talk about home affairs.
Yunxi had always been more concerned about the sufferings of ordinary people, and he was condescending to others, so these workers wanted to show him their hearts and tell him everything they knew.
"Sir, the ordinary people came to work in the factory when their families could no longer make ends meet." A worker in his twenties said: "We have five brothers and two sisters. We have dozens of acres of land, and my parents farm it.
The land is planted with cotton, and the grassroots and my second brother, who are in their teens, can help, so life is very easy."
"But the year before last, my mother suddenly fell ill and died. She spent a lot of money on the funeral, and all the family's savings were spent. The next year, the family suffered another disaster. Although they still collected some food, there was not much left after paying the national tax.
It’s too much, and it’s not enough to eat until the next year’s grain harvest.”
"I had no choice but to borrow some grain from the local Mr. Zhao's house. Mr. Zhao is a pretty good man. He only earns 30% of the profit in three months, but our little family can't afford it."
"It happened that the factory came to our village to recruit workers. I heard that as long as I worked, I would make money every month, and there would be work every month. In order to pay off the debt, ordinary people also applied to work in the factory."
"Working in a factory is harder than farming in the countryside, and there are more rules. Many fellow villagers who came with us couldn't bear it and gave up. The common people couldn't stand it at first, but when they thought about the money owed by their families and the money they earned from the factory, they suddenly stopped working.
I had a full meal and good things to give out during the holidays, so I gritted my teeth and got used to it. As time went by, I got used to it. And after I stayed here for a long time, I also knew that the rules were not what they were.
It was a blind order, and several unruly people fell into the molten iron and their bones were melted away." He rambled on for a long time.
"You want 30% interest in three months? Is this a good person?" Yunxi knew that the interest rate on borrowing money at this time was scary, but he didn't expect that 30% interest in three months would be a good person.
"Sir, 30% profit in three months is not high anymore." The man said: "Some vicious families, who go out nine times and return home 13 times, can earn twice as much profit in less than half a year. There are not many families who are treated like this."
The profit forced them to sell their fields, houses, or even their children. Fortunately, the court was now very strict with sellers, and the past few years had generally been smooth sailing. The court's taxes were not high, and most families were still getting by.
"
When he spoke, he winked at him anxiously like an ant on a hot pot. Although what the worker said had nothing to do with him, if the emperor wanted to do something because of this after he returned, everyone would know after asking that it was because of him.
The worker's "nonsense" made the emperor go into action, so he could not blame him for being meddlesome. But the worker was so excited that he just stared at Yunxi's feet and did not look at 1 at all.
"Is that so?" Yunxi murmured softly, and then asked several other workers about their past experiences. They were all similar to the first worker, because something happened at home, most of them were weddings and funerals that drained all their savings, and they suffered disasters or accidents.
Another thing was that I had to go out to work because I had debts that I could not repay in a lifetime just by farming.
After hearing their stories, Yunxi didn't say much. He just rewarded each of them with a few more taels of silver and asked them to leave with great gratitude.
"Ambassador Li, are all the workers in the factory the same as these?" Yunxi asked.
Although Yunxi's question was a bit unclear, 1 certainly knew what he meant and immediately said: "Your Majesty, there are more than 700 workers, and almost 500 of them are just like them. The family owes money and has to pay back the money."
I don’t know why I came to work. But in the past two years, because the workers who stayed here in the past few years came back and said how good their treatment was, more and more people with decent families are willing to work.”
Yunxi nodded after hearing this and did not make any comments. He just ordered: "In the future, they are not allowed to deduct their food. Also, those who work the night shift will receive an extra amount of money."
"Yes, Your Majesty." 1 agreed quickly.
After saying this, Yunxi no longer wanted to inspect the steel plant, so he got up and left.
1. He sent Yunxi to the gate of the factory. When he could no longer see him, he turned to the people who were sent out with him and said: "Quick, give orders immediately. In the future, officials will come to inspect and meet the workers.
Don't let them talk nonsense!" Because the officials who came to inspect before had never chatted with the workers, he ignored his instructions to them and was busy adding at this time.
Several team leaders agreed in succession, and one of them said: "Sir, do you want to expel the person named Zhang?"
"No need." 1 said immediately: "Zhang Bing has done a good job. If he is fired, it will delay the continuous casting. Now several firearms workshops under the Ministry of War are pressing so urgently, and there is no need to delay it. Besides, the emperor saw him this time.
, maybe he will ask when he comes to inspect again in two years, what should I say? Keep him." He could tell the emperor that Zhang Bing died in an accident or quit, but what if the emperor casually ordered the Jinyi Guards to investigate?
What? He didn't dare to take the risk.
After finishing the instructions, 1 became tired after accompanying Yunxi for inspection for a while, so he went back to the bathroom, took a shower, changed clothes, and went to the public room to rest.
…
…
Yunxi left the steel factory and went straight to several firearms workshops under the Ministry of War. Along the way, Li Bo kept secretly watching Yunxi's face. If he asked something, he would answer it immediately, but Yunxi could not say anything along the way.
He didn't say anything, so he didn't dare to speak and walked all the way to the firearms workshop.
The officials of the Ministry of War in charge of these workshops had been waiting at the door for a long time. When they saw Yunxi get out of the car, they immediately knelt down and said: "I have seen your Majesty, Wailang Lu Fang, a member of the arsenal department of the Ministry of War. Long live, long live, long live!"
"
"I love your life." Yunxi said.
Unlike the Ministry of Industry, which does not pay much attention to the steel plants, the Ministry of War attaches great importance to the firearms workshops under its own control, and specifically requested the addition of a member of the Arsenal Department, Wai Lang, to oversee these workshops. Because the firearms workshops need to use
There is a large amount of steel, and most of the steel plants near the capital are located here, and the area is large and it is easy to test firearms, so the Ministry of War also moved the workshops here.
Yunxi said a few words to the Yuanwailang and walked into the workshop for inspection.
They first came to the workshop where the cannon was made. Before they even entered the workshop, they heard a clanking sound. The sound was so loud that it was almost deafening. When they walked in, they saw several people covered in blood.
A craftsman was digging out the barrel of a cannon from the soil, and from time to time someone shouted a slogan.
Walking further inside, I saw a craftsman putting his arm into the barrel, making harsh sounds from time to time, and polishing the barrel.
"Your Majesty, this is a workshop specialized in making cannons over ten inches." Lu Fang said: "There are a total of one hundred and thirty-five craftsmen in the workshop, working from dawn to dusk every day, constantly making cannons. Each craftsman
It takes about ten days with an apprentice to build a cannon."
At this moment, the roar of cannons came from not far away, and Lu Fang said again: "This is a test of the cannon. After each cannon is built, it must be tested, and the maximum amount of gunpowder specified according to the caliber must be added, and the test fire must be carried out.
For the third gun, check to see if there are any cracks in the barrel. If there are any cracks, the unqualified craftsmen will not be paid for the gun; if not, it will be shipped out of the factory and handed over to the guard station."
Yunxi nodded again. This was done very well. It was his request to distinguish cannons according to their calibers, and the generals thought it made sense, so they promoted it in the army.
He then inspected the workshops that produced small cannons under ten inches. Compared with cannons weighing several thousand kilograms, although these small cannons were much smaller in power and range, they were easy to move and could be placed on a gun truck to fire.
It still needs to be reset every time, but it is more convenient than a cannon. It is also very useful when defending a city or attacking quickly.
Then there is the workshop that produces firearms. There are many more craftsmen in this workshop. This workshop of several thousand square meters is almost full of craftsmen. Countless people are holding the shaped barrels in their hands and are trying to clean the inside of the barrels.
wall.
Yunxi looked at this very busy scene, and after listening to Lu Fang's introduction, he suddenly asked: "Lu Aiqing, I remember that when I talked to Mei Yin from the Ministry of War last time, I mentioned the matter of 'standardization', which means to make all
Didn't Mei Yin tell you that craftsmen make things of the same size and model, such as gun barrels? Cannons are just that, they require a lot of people to work together, and the quantities are small, so this is of little use; but the output of firecrackers is very large.
Standardization is very useful for production, but why do the craftsmen here still make firecrackers alone?"
"Your Majesty, Shangshu Mei and I have discussed the matter of 'standardization' before. I also understand the benefits of it, but I tried it in the workshop and found that it did not work."
"Most of the craftsmen here are illiterate. The methods of making fire guns are passed down orally from generation to generation. They are never known to outsiders and are never written down. The methods of making fire guns vary greatly among different craftsmen and are difficult to standardize."
"Secondly, the weights and measures they use are very inaccurate. Some craftsmen don't even know how to read weights and measures. They rely solely on experience. Even if they are equipped with the same equipment, the size of the things they make will be different. The fire gun is small.
, if there are slight differences, they cannot be put together. So the craftsmen here still make the fire guns separately." Lu Fang said.