The accident at the gunpowder workshop did not cause much damage, a saltpeter purifier died, and several other people were injured, but there was no explosion. However, the spread of the fire in a small area has ignited a lot of nitrate, including soil nitrate that has not yet been purified, and pure nitrate that has been purified into crystals, and there are still a lot of accidental consumption of raw materials.

Feng Chengshi didn't have to make much effort to suppress this matter. The personnel were compensated according to the work-related injury level set by Chen Kai at the beginning, and the purchase of raw materials was increased, and that was all. The man with the surname of the Japanese did not take the time to investigate the reason, and the matter was indeed just an accident, and it was quickly forgotten by people outside the Ordnance Bureau.

However, as the head of the Ordnance Bureau, Feng Chengshi's worries deepened. Because he is the one who can really touch every corner of the Ordnance Bureau's work, and he knows what is going on inside far better than those outside the walls.

On the third day of the accident, before the overtime had started, Feng Chengshi gave the order to take a day off. In the dim night, with the flickering of the torches, the craftsmen who were queuing up in front of the factory gate to receive lectures and late roll calls stood there with blank eyes, and they did not react to Feng Chengshi's grace at all.

Each other, just silent. Wang Fugui looked at Feng Chengshi's side face, turned his head to look at those craftsmen, took out his leather whip, pointed at those craftsmen and scolded: "Are they all deaf, and you have not thanked you for joining the army!" ”

The prestige accumulated over the past few years has finally played a small role, and the gratitude of the weak is unevenly staged. In this regard, Feng Chengshi was not angry, and he didn't name them here, and directly said a sentence of "lower value", and let these craftsmen who were "reluctant" to go home to rest.

The overseers moved out of the way, and the craftsmen silently walked towards the gate. There is no whispering on weekdays, let alone a smile. Some of them just silently dragged their almost collapsed bodies forward, in the dim firelight, dense, like a group of walking corpses, silent, and at most the rustle of shoes against the ground, even the air seemed to be frozen by this horrible sight.

Feng Chengshi stood there, just stunned as he watched the bodies that seemed to have lost their souls slowly rubbing towards the door, listening to the rustling sound gradually disappearing, and an inexplicable cold inevitably welled up in his chest.

"It's time to go back and rest."

After waving off the overseer and other management personnel, Feng Chengshi returned to the office alone, and looked at the reports of the past few days by candlelight, the sweat on his forehead dripped down, and just a "snap" dripped on the most conspicuous 10,000 characters.

The report, naturally, was also written in ink, Feng Chengshi hurriedly wiped it, who knew that the beads of sweat the size of the bean would wet the paper in an instant. After a few strokes, the water stains could not be wiped clean, but the 10,000 words had become a mess, and I couldn't see what the words were.

"Hey."

With a long sigh, Feng Chengshi never wanted to give him a report for a book, but the ink could melt, but the shortage in the army was still clearly there. There is no need to even read this report, Feng Chengshi is very clear about how great the pressure on munitions production is now.

"I hope that the day after tomorrow will be able to ease my strength. It's really not good, just focus on the shortage in Fujian, and let Chen Kai toss it by himself in Guangdong. ”

Chen Kai established a manufacturing bureau in Chaozhou, and the Ordnance Bureau divided the personnel and equipment of South Australia. However, the people who produced weapons were mainly carried on Feng Chengshi's shoulders, and Guangdong was more engaged in the manufacture of saltpeter and gunpowder, and the production of weapons used in the army was not too much.

Regarding the Manufacturing Bureau, Feng Chengshi knew that Chen Kai had made a lot of machinery there. These machines are more trial works, but with these trial works, the output of the copper mine in Changhua County, Qiongzhou Prefecture is much larger, and there are also a lot of copper materials that are transported to the Zhongzuo Institute, which are also very good for casting cannons and producing copper coins.

However, there are relatively few iron raw materials in Chaozhou, and the traditional production area of Chengxiang is now in the hands of the Qing army, and the Fujian iron that can be purchased is mainly transported to the Ordnance Bureau. The production capacity of a single machine seems to be larger than that of manpower, but there are still some clever women who are difficult to cook without rice.

Thinking of these in his head, Feng Chengshi couldn't help but feel a little depressed. He has been in charge of the Ordnance Bureau for three years, and his mind has never been weaker than Chen Kai in terms of governance, but this time he can't get the lottery, so it is inevitable.

When he returned home, Feng Chengshi didn't say anything to his family, even if his son Feng Xifan didn't even have to eat, so he went straight back to the room to rest.

The next day, the craftsmen rested at home, and most of the managers were not here, and the entire workshop of the Ordnance Bureau seemed empty. His subordinates were on vacation, but Feng Chengshi came, but he didn't come out when he entered the official room, and he took an abacus to calculate the relevant overall and regional vacancies, estimated the remaining time, and calculated how much he needed to do every day to make up for the vacancies before Zheng Chenggong sent troops.

I sat like this all day, and when I came home at the next duty, I still didn't have the heart to talk more. After washing up, he went back to his room to sleep, and his family couldn't help but worry about his body.

After the holiday was over and he started working again, Feng Chengshi rushed to the Ordnance Bureau early in the morning as usual. Approaching the time of the upper value, craftsmen began to walk into the gate one after another, one by one unkempt, with sparse eyes, frivolous steps, and a completely unawakened appearance.

Feng Chengshi watched all this silently, and soon, the hour of duty had passed, and in the past, everyone had already gathered at this time, and then he was going to start the roll call and lecture early, but this time there was not even half of it. And at the door, there are craftsmen coming one after another, but they are just a little more anxious than the former. Only the resentment in his eyes is as always.

"Joining the Army......"

Lateness, a phenomenon not seen in the Ordnance Bureau for many years. Wang Fugui remembered earlier that he naturally had to use a leather whip to spur this kind of goods, and it was also a reminder for others. But when he habitually looked at Feng Chengshi, Feng Chengshi seemed to understand his thoughts, just smiled bitterly and shook his head, and then continued to stand there waiting for the craftsmen to arrive one after another.

After a while, according to the usual day, the construction has probably already started, and the flow of people at the gate has finally been completely cut off. Feng Chengshi looked at the craftsmen in front of him, who were mostly a little frightened, and didn't say anything late, and with a wave of his hand, he began to roll call. It's just that as the roll call progressed, the phenomenon of shouting the name but not responding appeared one after another, and there were even those who dared to be absent from work, which was really beyond his expectations.

"If you go back to join the army, my master is sick."

"My master is also sick."

"Tell me to join the army, my unlucky apprentice is also sick and can't get out of bed."

“……”

The reason for absenteeism is that they are all sick and can't get out of bed, so naturally it can't appear here. At this moment, the reason is basically the same, Wang Fugui's anger began to accumulate again and again, in his opinion, he didn't even make up some reasons, this was clearly despising his existence as the leader of the overseers!

"Join the army, and the villain will take people to arrest those guys back!"

Wang Fugui arrived at Feng Chengshi's side, suppressed his anger, but was particularly resolute in asking for his life. However, Feng Chengshi's brows tightened, but he turned to say to him: "Bring a few Langzhong and go to see their illness." ”

At this point, Wang Fugui looked like he had suddenly realized, and immediately responded to the order. It's just that at this time, Feng Chengshi suddenly added: "If they are really sick, they will prescribe medicine, let them rest at home first, and then come back after they are sick." Well, don't force it. ”

Don't force the four words, Feng Chengshi said undoubtedly, Wang Fugui was stunned. This is obviously different from what he just thought, and it can even be said to be the opposite of what he just thought.

"Join the army, this mission ......"

Thinking that at the beginning, Chen Kai invited himself out, Feng Chengshi was ordered to take over the Ordnance Bureau, and Wang Fugui immediately turned upside down. Speaking of which, it is impossible to say that he has turned his back on the old master, after all, it is still only a "state-owned military industrial production enterprise" and cannot be regarded as privately owned. What's more, Chen Kai's real cronies when he was in the Ordnance Bureau were still Ke Chenmei and Cai Cheng's rat beard, and Yu Wang Fugui was only a little stronger than ordinary subordinates.

In this way, after Feng Chengshi took over the Ordnance Bureau, he accepted Wang Fugui's betrayal, and the latter also did his best to implement Feng Chengshi's governance, and never had the slightest sloppiness. Because as far as Wang Fugui is concerned, Feng Chengshi is not only his superior, but also his backer, and his identity has been branded with the Feng family, so he naturally wants to think about Feng Chengshi.

This time, the time is tight, the task is heavy, Feng Chengshi is facing a very difficult situation, Wang Fugui is naturally looking at it, and his performance at this moment is also from the heart. In this regard, Feng Chengshi also gave a rare explanation, the right should be rewarded with loyalty.

"I'm really sick, even if I'm caught, what can I do, can I still continue to work?"

Yes, I can't even get out of bed, so I don't have the strength to work. Not to mention, if it is forcibly pulled and dies in the Ordnance Bureau, this matter is no longer as simple as an accident.

"The villain is talking nonsense, please join the army and forgive your sins."

Wang Fugui is like this, Feng Chengshi didn't embarrass him, just asked him to do things. Speaking of which, Feng Chengshi knows his people very well, this overseer has a lively brain, and he has never been a fool, but this time his words are extraordinarily stupid.

The reason why this is the case is not because he has the heart to calculate him, because with Wang Fugui's brain, he will never be so stupid. In the final analysis, it is because Wang Fugui has never regarded those craftsmen as people, and subconsciously feels that they are a group of animals, so naturally the words that do not care about their life or death will blurt out without thinking!

Wang Fugui took the order and left, and two hours later, the dejected overseer returned, bringing back the reply that the dozens of craftsmen were indeed tired and sick.

This did not surprise Feng Chengshi. Before that, he had already inspected the factory and seen with his own eyes that many of the craftsmen did not look very well, but they were not so sick that they could not get out of bed.

It seems strange at first glance that you don't get sick when you work overtime, but you get sick immediately when you take a break from work. However, after all, people always have a limit to endure, and the closer you get to this limit, the more time you will waste if you want to slow it back.

Not getting sick when working overtime does not mean that their physical condition is really good, but the accumulation of power of the feudal bureaucracy has forced them to work with 120,000 points of energy, but once they rest and relax their spirits, the pressure they had borne earlier will be overwhelming and crushing the whole person to the ground. But if you don't take a break from work and keep doing this, then it will no longer be as simple as getting sick, when that tendon is broken, it is likely to cause death!

In this regard, Feng Chengshi had no choice but to order someone to send silver money to those sick craftsmen. The voice of gratitude is naturally there, and Feng Chengshi doesn't care if it comes from the heart. But in the next few days, craftsmen continued to fall ill, and even those craftsmen who were not sick were mostly unable to complete their work tasks to varying degrees, and the production capacity of the entire Ordnance Bureau suddenly collapsed.

Walking through the workshop of the Ordnance Bureau, the sound of striking iron in your ears is dull and weak, and you will feel tired and sleepy when you listen to it.

Feng Chengshi walked out of the administrative area, as far as the eye could see, this was not the South Australian Ordnance Bureau, and the overall layout plan was made by him. But listening to such movements, thinking of the collapse of production capacity, and recalling that when I first took over the Ordnance Bureau, there seemed to be no such situation in South Australia, and it seemed that every knock was full of energy.

What's the difference?

Feng Chengshi thought about it carefully, three years is indeed a lot. The most obvious is in front of his eyes - in the South Australian Ordnance Bureau, the living quarters are independent, the canteen serves hot meals, and after eating, you can lie on the table and take a nap until it is time to go to work. The fires were lit every day until supper and hot water had been prepared for the guards, and the craftsmen could drink the hot water and even take a bath in the bathhouse in the living quarters before going home.

These, in front of him, the Central Left Weapons Bureau does not exist. Meals were delivered to the factory by handymen, and the craftsmen had to eat in the dirty workshops; After eating, they can only lean against the wall in the workshop and close their eyes for a moment, and then they will be pulled up by the overseers to continue their work; Hot water is available, but it must be limited, and the handyman will send it over regularly, and it doesn't matter if it is hot or cold when he drinks it; As for bathing, it's a fool's dream.

Even the living area, which originally occupied a large area in the South Australian Ordnance Bureau, is almost negligible in this place!

These seem to be just minutiae, at least at first glance, when he decided to cut and reduce these meaningless expenses, Feng Chengshi did not hesitate at all.

But today, he found out that Chen Kai tossed these things, and the root of it was that while he squeezed the production capacity of craftsmen, he exchanged it for welfare benefits, so the craftsmen would be happy to do it, and when Chen Kai was in charge of the Ordnance Bureau, even if he worked overtime, he didn't need the supervisor to forcibly suppress those complaints with a leather whip. It turned out that Chen Kai's so-called wooing of craftsmen, which he had always firmly believed, was actually the real combination of grace and power, which had already set the tone when he drove away the factory tyrant You Er as soon as he entered the weapons workshop of that year; And he, from the beginning of kneeling when he returned to work, has begun to blindly squeeze the core idea. It's ridiculous, he always thought he was giving ......

The collapse lasted for three days, and there was still no sign of improvement, and the craftsmen who were tired and seriously ill could not fully recover in the short term.

Feng Chengshi carefully calculated an account, this time the shortage of weapons came from the expansion of the army, and the number of the expanded army was 39,000. This is the overall volume, and the total number at this stage. Among them, there are 13 towns on the Guangdong side, so the Guangdong side needs to expand the number of 13,000 soldiers, while on the Fujian side, aside from the four troops that are already 2,000 soldiers, the left town of Rongqi, the right town of Rongqi, the left pioneer town, and the right pioneer town, it is 26,000 soldiers that need to be expanded.

The difference is doubled, and according to Zheng Chenggong's plan, this expansion is just beginning, and the army will continue to expand in the future. In this way, the production capacity of the Ordnance Bureau will face the dilemma of always fundamentally increasing the speed of military expansion. Even if new craftsmen are still joining the mix.

"The matter has come to this...... frowning slightly, Feng Chengshi hesitated again and again, and had to sigh: "No matter what, we can't delay the big event of the national surname." ”

With such a thought, Feng Chengshi simply left the Ordnance Bureau and went directly to Zheng Chenggong's mansion. When he arrived at his destination, Zheng Chenggong happened to be on official business, and after hearing Feng Chengshi's plea, Zheng Chenggong didn't care too much.

"I don't care about you." Speaking of this, Zheng Chenggong paused, as if he remembered something, but it was only fleeting, and he said to Feng Chengshi: "I have already repaired the book with Chen Fujun, and Guangdong's weapon output will be given priority to supply to Fujian to ensure that Fujian's troops can be fully equipped." On the Armory side, you can just follow the normal rhythm and don't need to rush too much. ”

"Students are dying." Bowing and saluting, Feng Chengshi's expression was grim, and when he got up again, he said to Zheng Chenggong categorically: "The students will fill the gaps in the towns of Guangdong as soon as possible." ”

This is dignity, and it is also the last effort, Feng Chengshi has already thought clearly at this moment, and when he goes back, he must first restore the morale of the craftsmen according to some of Chen Kai's ideas, not more than in the past, but it can't be less.

Hearing this, Zheng Chenggong couldn't help but raise his head, looked at Feng Chengshi's words deeply, and then lowered his head again, and continued to write the things in his hand, but he only said one sentence in his mouth: "It shouldn't be necessary, it turned out to be said, the Manufacturing Bureau is taking care of Guangdong at this stage, and at the same time supplementing Fujian, the problem is not very big." On the Ordnance Bureau's side, just follow the steps. ”