Early the next morning, Chen Kai went to the armory workshop to be on duty. It was back to 9 to 5 in the morning, or 5 to 5 in the morning, which gave him some strange delusions. But this illusion only lasts until you get out of bed, and once you start washing and changing, the illusion suddenly disappears, leaving only a wry smile.

Last night, the rat beard worked overtime to drive out the data of You Er's greed for grain and vegetable silver, and when Chen Kai returned to the town mansion, he sent it to Zheng Chenggong by the way.

Chen Kai didn't know what happened next, and even when he had to work overtime to catch up with the construction period, he had to give the craftsmen a holiday, Zheng Chenggong didn't ask even half a sentence, but just cared about whether the food was to taste and whether the office location would be a little cramped.

In this way, there was no word all night, and when he arrived at the armory workshop, a middle-aged man dressed as a businessman was waiting for him outside the gate with a few people, but when he saw him coming, he knelt on the ground after a little inquiry, confirmed his identity, and repeated the death penalty.

"It turns out that these six miscellaneous servants are all here."

Zheng Chenggong used to recruit soldiers in South Australia, with a military salary of one or two or five cents a month plus one stone of food, which is a great temptation for the local labor force in this year. However, more than 2,000 strong laborers became sergeants in one go, which directly led to the shortage of local labor in South Australia.

The armory workshop was assigned to miscellaneous labor, and You Er sent out six to work at the middle-aged merchant. In this way, the miscellaneous military weapons workshop that served in the conscription would not be broken, so that Yuji received the salary, the miscellaneous servants compensated for the conscription, and the merchants had temporary workers, and the three won three. The one who suffers is nothing more than the ordnance workshop, and at most other miscellaneous servants have to do more work.

"The boss who joined the army, it was really You Er's guy who forced the villain to use these miscellaneous servants, the villain ......"

"Your business, go to the line, this official is not responsible for the prison." Interrupting the merchant's defense, Chen Kai was about to leave, but as soon as he raised his foot, he turned his head and asked, "You said you are a grain merchant, right?" ”

"Yes, the villain is willing to praise the military supplies, only for ......"

"Someone, this official suspects that You Er's greedy grain is to resell it to this person, and send it to the general to act."

After that, the guards came up to lock up the merchants, and Chen Kai entered the armory workshop without looking back. He wasn't interested in Yuji's pickled things in the first place, and he came here to do things, not to dwell on these details. The incident just now was just an episode, and Chen Kai's original work plan remained unchanged. Today, the craftsman is resting, but the handymen are still in his hands, and they have to do the physical work.

"Move this shelf to the official's office."

Chen Kai commanded the miscellaneous servants, and the miscellaneous servants entered the room of the mouse whiskers and moved the shelves containing written records such as copywriting, records, and rosters.

"Join the army, these things are moved, that, that villain ......"

The rat's whiskers trembled, but Chen Kai smiled, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Mr. Cai is still doing Mr. Cai's original thing, and the official is to change the pattern in this small courtyard, so there is no need to worry about it." ”

The small courtyard is not big, the main room is Chen Kai's official room, and the left and right wings are the location and warehouse of the mouse's whiskers respectively, while the main house is facing a wall and a courtyard gate, and the total space is so large, which is proportional to the scale of the workshop.

Originally, the office room was only a temporary office for Hong Xu during his inspection, but now it has become Chen Kai's permanent office location, so he simply moved all the copywriting that was originally kept by the mouse whiskers. The vacant space in the room of the rat whisker is used to place the finished products, so that the rat whisker has to register the daily entry and exit of weapons and materials, and has some duties of care. The remaining compartment is naturally only used to store raw materials.

Originally, according to the regulations, the finished goods were delivered to the arsenal every five days, and the raw materials were also collected from the treasury of the town government every five days, and the ordnance workshop was only responsible for manufacturing and temporary storage.

However, this time Chen Kai's plan was even more ambitious, and it was too cramped to use a single room to store both raw materials and finished products, especially when the wood cut down by the carpenters with their handymen was always stored here. Therefore, Chen Kai decided to readjust the layout to prepare for the next increase in production.

The handymen work hard, carrying and tidying, which is easier than on weekdays, at least the work in the factory is not available today. In contrast, the craftsmen are naturally more relaxed, after all, there is an essential difference between the reduction of labor and rest.

In order to prevent the craftsmen from escaping, these craftsmen were arranged to live between the ordnance workshop and the barracks, and there were two guards patrolling on weekdays, countless pairs of eyes staring, and they could only endure in the ordnance workshop every day. However, on April 29 of the third year of Longwu, this day was destined to be a completely different day from the previous nearly half a year.

Early in the morning, carpenter Lin Zhengzhong woke up according to the usual hour, and the chickens outside had obviously crowed, and it was the last two crows of the chickens that made him vaguely wake up from his sleep. However, when he woke up, it was unknown how long the rooster had stopped. Realizing this, he stood up even more violently.

"This woman, how did she sleep today? At this hour, it is estimated that it is late, and when I go to the workshop for duty, my son and I will have to be whipped. ”

Leaving behind a complaint that made the sleepy-eyed Lin family lady not react much, Lin Zhengzhong hurriedly got out of bed and ran straight out of the door. Looking at that posture, it seems that I want to slam the door open.

Lin Zhengzhong rushed out of the house, seeing that the sun was fine, it should not be too late, but there seemed to be something missing in the yard. frowned, and suddenly realized that his apprentices would usually come over early to join him on duty - not only respected the teacher, Lin Zhengzhong also knew that his apprentice was very interesting to his little daughter, and every morning when he came over, he always looked around with a pair of eyes, and he would settle down with satisfaction until he saw the shadow of his little daughter.

After scanning for a week, Lin Zhengzhong confirmed that the apprentice was indeed not there, shook his head and walked towards the hut where his son lived, and slammed it on the door.

"Stinky boy, get up quickly. It's late to be on duty, so be careful of the whip of the guy surnamed You. ”

Lin Zhengzhong slammed the door loudly, but he was afraid that if it weren't for his own door, he would have kicked it with his foot. However, after knocking a few times, there was barely movement in the room, but the movement made him stunned.

"Dad, don't knock, that bastard surnamed You has been driven away by joining the army, take a break today, let the child sleep lazy."

That overseer was driven away by the army!

Rest today!

That's right!

Hearing this answer, Lin Zhengzhong suddenly realized, stopped knocking on the door, turned around and was about to go back to the main house where he lived, but at this moment, the figure of the apprentice flashed on the side of the chai door of the small courtyard, tiptoeing, looking a little unsightly.

"Go, go, go, go home and sleep, rest today, not on duty."

The rude apprentice went back, and Lin Zhengzhong also knew that his apprentice was not like him, and that appearance was clearly that he came to look at his girl, so could he easily succeed?

Afraid of the master's huge "deterrent power", the apprentice gradually retreated. However, Lin Zhengzhong shouted a few words, and went straight back to the main room, as if he was planning to make up for another sleep. Unexpectedly, he just pushed the door open, but saw that his daughter was also about to push the door out, seeing this, he hurriedly blasted his daughter in, and closed the door with his backhand.

"Take a break today, don't make breakfast, sleep more, and save money for a meal, your brother's dowry and your dowry will be thicker."

said that Lin Zhengzhong was about to drive his daughter back to the daughter's boudoir that was separated at the other end of the main room, but her daughter was still a little unhappy about this, and she glanced at the door a few times.

"Stinky girl, listen to your father, there will be no mistake."

"Hmph, Daddy didn't use Grandpa's method of holding you back then on the third brother."

The daughter pouted, flicked her braids, turned around and returned to the boudoir, looking at this scene, Lin Zhengzhong couldn't help but laugh dumbly. In fact, for this apprentice, Lin Zhengzhong is still quite satisfied. It's just that today's daughter mentioned this, recalling that every time he saw the eyes of his apprentice looking at his daughter, he could indeed always recall himself back then, because his daughter-in-law was also his master's daughter, and he was still a hairy boy back then.

Shaking his head with a smile, he let out a soft sigh of "the woman is not staying", and then returned to the room. Lying down again, the lady of the Lin family looked at him and didn't speak, but just watched him lie down before closing her eyes again, as if she was waiting for him to come back. It was Lin Zhengzhong, who originally planned to make up for sleep, but there was always a trace of uneasiness lingering in his heart.

Chen Kai's series of actions yesterday, on the way back, in his communication with a craftsman who he had been friends with on weekdays, interpreted it as the new official taking office to burn the three fires. But this fire is also burning, whether the better days can really come, and whether it will return to the way it was before in the future, really bothered him.

Tossing and turning, it was like that last night, and it's like this today. After thinking about it, Lin Zhengzhong shook his head, shook off these unpredictable thoughts, and returned to sleep quietly.

I don't know how long it took, the second loudest voice in the workshop on weekdays echoed in my ears, and Lin Zhengzhong, who was sleeping in a daze, woke up and couldn't help but scold: "This soup pockmarks, Xiu Mu doesn't bring people to live in peace." ”

The lady of the Lin family is no longer in bed, obviously getting up to sell vegetables, cooking, and tidying up the house, Lin Zhengzhong got up and got dressed, and then opened the door, only to feel that he had made up for such a short sleep, but he was a hundred times more energetic.

"Stinky boy, go to your Uncle Tang's house and bring those two stools. If you don't repair it, your Uncle Tang will have to complain about your old man. ”

He is a carpenter, and he has said earlier that he will help the soup of the door to repair the broken furniture at home, but he works hard every day, and he wants to eat and sleep when he goes home, and he can't always lift the spirit to do things.

However, before his sleepy-eyed son went out, Tang Quanyou's voice came first: "Second Brother Lin, you are arranging me behind your back, is my surname Tang as unbearable as you said?" ”

With a smile in his words, Tang Quanyou pushed the door in and handed a kitchen knife to Lin Zhengzhong.

"Xu you, I haven't forgotten, I got up early today to repair and polish for you."

Tang Quanyou put down his things and didn't leave, he just sat on the side, chatting with Lin Zhengzhong, who was working, and got busy at the same time. The two families were originally good friends, and they were the craftsmen in this arsenal workshop who originally worked in the main town government, and when it was noon, they simply set up a table in the small courtyard and had lunch together.

"Second Brother Lin, the new one who joined the army, what can you see?"

According to the rules, when there are guests, the ladies of both families eat in the kitchen. The boys of the two families had eaten and had gone out to play together, and the two of them were left on the table, and the soup here looked around at no one, and then lowered his voice and asked Lin Zhengzhong, who was older.

However, hearing Tang Quanyou's question, Lin Zhengzhong shook his head, and just asked in a low voice about the treatment he would be treated under Chen Kai's rule in the future, and after receiving an affirmative answer, he said his cranky thoughts last night.

"Hey, Second Brother Lin thinks so, and Little Brother also thinks so last night. Thinking back carefully about yesterday's events, that Chen joined the army to see people very poisonous, and he was a temper that he said he would do, he came over at noon yesterday, and drove away You Er's house in an hour's effort, and then he just stared at us in the afternoon, and he also wrote and painted, but I was afraid that tomorrow when the duty is gone, the fire will have to burn on us. ”

Tang Quanyou sighed, but Lin Zhengzhong seemed much more open-minded: "Don't think too much, anyway, it's not good to take a day off today." There is a saying that there is wine today and drunk today. ”

"That's right! There is wine today, and there is drunkness today. ”

As soon as these words came out, Tang Quanyou's eyes lit up, and he whispered to Lin Zhengzhong: "I haven't finished drinking the wine sent by my son-in-law in the Mid-Autumn Festival last year, and today is just right, you wait for me to get it." ”

Tang Quanyou said that he would go, and when Lin Zhengzhong heard that there was wine, he couldn't help but swallow his saliva, and then said to him: "You go, I'll ask my mother-in-law to fry two more side dishes, and today our old brothers will also relax and relax." ”

The craftsmen enjoyed a rare moment of rest, which was a good thing they hadn't had since they were recruited into the armory.

When Tang Quanyou and Lin Zhengzhong were drinking, in the study of Zhongzhenbo's mansion, Zhongyong Marquis Chen Bao and Zhongzhenbo Hongxu also got together, and the object of their discussion was naturally inseparable from Chen Kai, a newcomer who caused ripples on the calm sea.

"Jiufeng, I probed the tone of the country's surname today, and your distant relative, I'm afraid I won't be able to keep it."

"That's what it should be."

Putting down the teacup, Hong Xu sighed: "It's true that I am guilty of neglecting supervision, in fact, that guy is bullying others in the arsenal workshop, and I know a little bit about it." I thought that the speed at which the ordnance workshop produced weapons was acceptable, and that guy had indeed sold enough energy to supervise the work of craftsmen, so he turned a blind eye. It's just that I didn't expect this guy to be so bold, embezzling the money for buying vegetables, deducting and reselling military rations and craftsmen's wages, and also taking up conscription for personal use. No one can save him. ”

Last night, Chen Kai sent You Er's approximate amount of embezzlement and resale, which is actually not too conclusive evidence. But with the testimony and reply of the Zheng family's little man who delivered the meal, with the nearly three hundred taels of silver that were found from You Er's house last night, and the confession of the grain merchant sent by Chen Kai early this morning, Zheng Chenggong has obviously moved to kill, with their understanding of Zheng Chenggong's temperament and temperament, You Er's death is basically a foregone conclusion.

In fact, a corruption case that is less than 300 taels of silver is really nothing. But Zheng Chenggong intends to make an example, and Hong Xu doesn't plan to do anything more, at most, he will wait for the dust to fall, and save the mother and son a little, even if he is benevolent and righteous.

"Doesn't this scholar know that it depends on the owner to beat a dog?"

Chen Bao was very dissatisfied with Chen Kai's actions, and Hong Xu also knew why, it was nothing more than the disgust caused by the new attachment for not saving face for the old brothers of the Zheng Group. As a party to the case, he is in the game, and if he rashly rescues him, he will even affect his own body, and he will be even more unhappy. But compared to people like Chen Bao, who are only known for their loyalty and martial bravery, Hong Xu's mind is more active and his thinking is clearer.

"It's not that he doesn't know, he knows his identity too well."

What Hong Xu pointed to, Chen Bao frowned, and also reacted. Chen Kai is Zheng Chenggong's aide, and his position on Nanao Island and in this military group is only this and nothing else. Chen Kai did not contact Hong Xu privately, and even did not hesitate to offend a powerful faction like Hong Xu plus Zheng Chenggong's cronies, which obviously showed his position.

"Then can't this scholar give You Er's surname to the country?"

Hearing this, Hong Xu shook his head, and then explained: "Arrest and hand in first, and then find evidence of the crime, if he does this, everyone will think that the surname of the country instructed him, and let the surname of the country carry the black pot for him." Just like when Inspector Yuan killed General Mao without a will, he threw the black pot on the emperor with his backhand, Chen Kai is not Inspector Yuan, and his surname is not the emperor who is too suspicious. Now that he has let You Er go, at most, he will offend me, but if he makes his own opinion, the national surname can be directly related to this matter, and old brothers like my brother will be dissatisfied with him at most, and will not have resentment towards the national surname because of this. ”

"But weren't the Ke brothers sent by the country to support him?"

"He was alone, and went directly to the ordnance workshop, which has been running for half a year, to do things, and made it clear that he wanted to be generous, can the country not send people? The Ke brothers were just used by him, in fact, it can't be said to be used, it's just that he used the country surname to him in a more intense and cleaner way. ”

"There are too many twists and turns in this scholar's belly."

Chen Bao's rectum couldn't be understood, but in hindsight, Hong Xu didn't feel too much of the same, but shook his head and said: "Actually, he did this thing too roughly." However, the time left for him, or rather for himself, was running out, so he had to act recklessly. ”

"Hmph, don't have time to give those craftsmen a holiday?"

The problem returned to the original point when he heard about it yesterday, but Chen Bao still didn't understand it, thinking about it is nothing more than Chen Kai's kindness to the craftsmen, in fact, it still has nothing to do with the skyrocketing output - at least no one will believe that taking a day off can exchange those craftsmen for twelve hours in a row, and it is still a month and a half.

"Brother Chen, this problem is not only you, I can't think it clearly, it is estimated that the surname of the country is also there, and now it depends on what he does next."

"That's not going to be easy." Chen Bao smiled coldly, and then explained: "A certain housekeeper has calculated, if he wants to complete the guarantee of the national surname, he must make at least 16 guns a day." With the few blacksmiths in the workshop, this is impossible to do, and it is impossible to look good with him. ”

"Yes, if it can be done this time, he will be a good help with the national surname in the future, no matter how much you and I say, the national surname will only be tired, and there is no need to embarrass him for such things. But if he doesn't succeed, he is just a rhetorical scholar, and you and I don't need to do anything, and the national surname will naturally hate him. Therefore, for a month and a half, stay out of the matter and sit back and watch the success or failure. ”