Zheng Guozhu and the four of them were in a state of mind, Guo Zhiyuan had never served in the Ministry of Industry, but the assigned work was orderly and to the point, which made them look forward to following Guo Zhiyuan a little more, and said in unison: "We will go all out and live up to the trust of adults!" ……”

The Ming Dynasty's ordnance manufacturing is divided into two parts, the central ordnance manufacturing occupies a central position, especially after the Ming Dynasty Chengzu Zhu Di ascended the throne, it attaches great importance to the manufacture of ordnance, from the beginning of the Yongle period, the Ordnance Bureau in Beijing has become the center of the national ordnance manufacturing.

The Ordnance Bureau is under the management of the Yu Heng Division of the Ministry of Industry, and the Ordnance Bureau under the Yu Heng Division is not only responsible for the manufacture of cold weapons such as armor, waist knives, and spears, but also responsible for hot weapons such as muskets and guns. In the manufacture of weapons, even Western firearms such as the Franc cannon can be imitated. After Xuande, the armor factory and Wang Gong factory were added, of which the Wang Gong factory was autocratic. Medicine.

It is said that since the Ordnance Bureau manages such a national weapon, it should be a key department that is very valued by the imperial court, but with the decline of the national strength of the Ming Dynasty, the scale of the Ordnance Bureau is getting smaller and smaller, and the expenses allocated by the imperial court to the Ordnance Bureau are decreasing every year, and even Yu Hengsi, who is in charge of the Ordnance Bureau, is becoming less and less important.

Guo Zhiyuan already understood this situation when he checked the information of the Ministry of Industry in the morning, but when Zheng Guozhu and Xu Jinglei took him to the door of the Ordnance Bureau, he was still stunned by the ruin and desolation here, the skin of the long wall was all gone, a few crows stood on the dead trees that had lost all the leaves inside the wall, and the plaque with the words "Ordnance Bureau" hanging at the gate was almost finished.

At the gate of the Ordnance Bureau, Guo Zhiyuan didn't see the sergeants guarding the guards, but there was a shouting and shouting sound from the gatehouse on the side, and the sergeants of these guards all gathered in the gatehouse to gamble. Beau!

Zheng Guozhu was about to step forward to scold, but Guo Zhiyuan waved his hand, signaling them not to alarm these guarding sergeants, and lightly bypassed the gatehouse and entered the gate of the Ordnance Bureau, and the guard sergeants who were indulging in gambling were unaware!

Entering the gate of the Ordnance Bureau, the area inside is not small, Guo Zhiyuan turned around for a while and was stunned that he didn't touch anyone, Guo Zhiyuan frowned and turned his head to Zheng Guozhu behind him and asked, "How many craftsmen are there in the Ordnance Bureau?" Why can't I see people? ……”

Zheng Guozhu replied with some embarrassment: "The Ordnance Bureau originally had 3,163 registered craftsmen, but in recent years, the imperial court has reduced the scale of the Ordnance Bureau, and there are only 1,781 registered craftsmen left......

Guo Zhiyuan sneered, Zheng Guozhu said more vaguely, but he understood, it was nothing more than empty salary, so he didn't say anything, and continued to lead everyone inside, and finally heard the knocking sound of "jingling, jingling", Zheng Guozhu took the initiative to introduce: "There is an armor manufacturing workshop in front, do you want to go and see it?" ……”

Armor manufacturing is the focus of Guo Zhiyuan's investigation, Guo Zhiyuan nodded, took the lead and walked briskly, there were more than a dozen craftsmen in the workshop who were building armor, and when they saw Guo Zhiyuan and them coming in, they just glanced at it casually, no one paid attention, and continued to beat the armor iron piece in his hand weakly.

There were several piles of finished armor in the corner of the workshop, Guo Zhiyuan walked over, picked up a pair of well-made chain mail, and it didn't feel right to start, it was light and fluttering, the workmanship was rough, and the gap between the armor pieces was very large, and the protective effect could not be achieved at all, Guo Zhiyuan handed the chain mail in his hand to Zheng Guozhu, and asked in a deep voice: "Lord Zheng, do you think this armor is qualified?" ……”

Zheng Guozhu took the chain mail and took it in his hand, his face changed, and he frowned and said: "According to the regulations of the guild code, the weight of the standard chain mail shall not be less than forty catties, and the weight of this armor is less than half, so it is obviously unqualified......" said and carefully checked it again, and then said: "The name of the craftsman is not engraved on the nail piece according to the regulations of the guild code, and the gap in the nail piece is so large, it is too rough!" ……”

As a member of Yu Heng's division, Zheng Guozhu also knew something about the loose management of the Ordnance Bureau, but he didn't expect the situation to be so serious, so he immediately picked up the chain mail and asked the craftsmen: "Who made this armor?" ……”

Those craftsmen were still grinding foreign workers weakly, and no one paid attention to Zheng Guozhu at all, Zheng Guozhu's face was a little unbearable, and he said angrily: "Where is your ambassador (ambassador: official position, the person in charge of the Ordnance Bureau, Jiupin)?" Let him come to see the officer! ……”

Seeing Zheng Guozhu claiming to be his own official, those craftsmen glanced at him again, but they were not too frightened, and said lazily: "The ambassador is not here, if you want to find him, you should not come here, you have to go to Bada Hutong (in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Bada Hutong has become the prototype of the famous place of looking for flowers and asking willow flowers, and most of the time you go to Bada Hutong is to go to prostitution. Prostitute) Find! ……”

Zheng Guozhu was even more annoyed when he heard this, and the ambassador of the Ordnance Bureau went to prostitute on an errand. Prostitute, this is too lawless, and said in an accentuated tone: "It's just unreasonable! The deputy envoy is always there, right? The squire of the Ministry of Works, Lord Guo, is here! Call him! ……”

The dozen or so craftsmen showed a look of surprise, although they had never seen a court official above the third grade come to the Ordnance Bureau to inspect, and they also knew how big an official the Ministry of Industry was, a middle-aged man with a beard put down the hammer in his hand and shouted to a young craftsman near the door: "Dog, you go and call the deputy envoy to come, just say that the Ministry of Industry Yamen is coming to the official!" ……”

The young craftsman answered, and quickly ran out to call someone, and the rest of the craftsmen also put down the hammer in their hands and looked at Guo Zhiyuan and the others with some trepidation, Guo Zhiyuan was also looking at these craftsmen carefully, these craftsmen have thick calluses on their hands, and they are generally over forty years old, they should all be experienced old craftsmen, why is the armor made so rough? He smiled at the bearded middle-aged man who answered and asked, "Are you the head craftsman here?" ……”

Although the bearded middle-aged man was the first time to see a big official like Guo Zhiyuan, he was not very flustered, and he hugged his fists and saluted: "The villain Li Tiehammer has seen the adult, and the official of this armor workshop has not designated the head of the craftsman, but the villain has been a craftsman of the Ordnance Bureau for generations, and his ancestors have also made armor for Emperor Chengzu, so everything in the workshop is the villain's idea, and it can be regarded as the head of the craftsman!" ……”

Guo Zhiyuan raised his eyebrows, this Li Tiehammer can be neither humble nor arrogant in front of him, and his answer is quite organized, but he is also a character, and since he has been a craftsman in the Ordnance Bureau for generations, he is naturally very familiar with the situation of the Ordnance Bureau, so he pointed to the iron armor in Zheng Guozhu's hand and asked Li Tiezhu: "Then you are also a famous craftsman, then you tell the official, why is the armor you made so rough?" ……”