Yunxi then summoned several of the best performers. Of course, it was impossible for him to summon these workers in his true capacity, and there was no need, but he summoned them as a member of the Ministry of Labor, expressed his importance to the workers, and rewarded each of them with a few taels of silver.

Rao is so, and they are already very excited. These workers are all peasants who have faced the loess with their backs to the sky for several lifetimes, and they have never even seen a real official before entering the factory as workers, and the officials they see are all fierce and vicious; Who would have thought that after entering the factory, he would be able to be personally received by the Wupin officials, and his attitude towards them was so kind!

They all knelt down and said, "Thank you for your grace, and thank you for your grace." ”

"Get up. What to do on your knees. Yunxi asked them to get up again and talk about family life.

Yun Xi has always been more concerned about the suffering of ordinary people, and he is condescending, so these workers are eager to take out their hearts to show him and know everything about him.

"My lord, the grass people came to work in the factory because their families couldn't get by." A worker in his twenties said: "We have five brothers, two younger sisters, dozens of acres of land, two fathers and mothers planting cotton and two grass people and second brothers are also in their teens and can help, and life is very good." ”

"But the old year before the mother suddenly contracted the disease and died. He spent a lot of money on the funeral, and spent all the family's savings; The next year, the family suffered another disaster, and although some grain was collected, there was not much left after paying the national tax, and it was not enough to eat until the next year's grain harvest. ”

"There's no way, I borrowed some food from the local old man's house. Master Zhao is not bad, he only receives 30% of the profit in three months, but our little people can't afford it. ”

"It just so happened that the factory came to our village to recruit workers, and I heard that as long as they worked, they would earn money every month, and they would have work every month, so in order to pay off their debts, the grass people would also be recruited to work in the factory."

"Working in a factory is harder than farming in the countryside, and there are more rules, and many of the fellow villagers can't stand it. The grass people couldn't stand it at first, but when they thought of the money they owed at home, the money they had in the factory, the food they could eat to their heart's content, and the good things they had to give out during the New Year's holidays, they gritted their teeth and did it. After a long time, you will get used to it. And after staying here for a long time, I also knew that the rules were not made blindly, and several unruly people fell into the molten iron and steel, and even their bones were gone. He rambled on and on.

"Three months to get 30% of the money? Is this still a good person? Yun Xi knew that the high interest rate of borrowing money at this time was scary, but he didn't expect that the profit of 30% in three months would be a good person.

"My lord, the profit of three months is not high." The man said: "Some of the vicious families have returned from nine out of thirteen, and the profits are more than twice as much in less than half a year, and not many families are forced to sell their fields and houses by such high profits, and even sell their sons and daughters. Fortunately, the imperial court is now very strict with the sellers, and in recent years, it has generally been smooth, and the taxes of the imperial court are not high, and most families are still living. ”

When he spoke, 1 was anxious like an ant on a hot pan, and winked at him. Although what this worker said had nothing to do with him, if the emperor was going to do something after he went back, everyone inquired and learned that it was because of the 'nonsense' of the workers here that made the emperor make a lot of trouble. But the worker was so excited that he just stared at Yun Xi's feet, and didn't look at 1 at all.

"Is that so?" Yun Xi muttered softly, and asked the other workers about their past experiences. It's almost the same as the first worker, because something happens to the family, most of them are happy events and spend their savings, and if they suffer a disaster or another thing, they have a debt that they can't pay off in a lifetime just by farming, so they have to come out to work.

Yun Xi didn't say anything after hearing their story, but each of them was rewarded with a few taels of silver, and they were thanked for their retreat.

"Ambassador Li, are all the workers in the factory the same as these ones?" Yoon-hee asked.

Although Yun Xi's question was a little unclear, of course 1 knew what he meant, and immediately said: "Your Majesty, there are more than 700 workers, almost more than 500 are like them, and the family owes money and can't pay it back, so they come to work. However, in the past two years, because the workers who stayed here in the past few years have said how they are treated, more and more people who are still comfortable at home are willing to come to work. ”

Yun Xi nodded when he heard this, and did not comment on this, but ordered: "In the future, they are not allowed to deduct their food, and the people on night duty will be given an extra money." ”

"Yes, Your Majesty." 1. Hurriedly agreed.

After saying this, Yun Xi didn't have to inspect the steel plant, and got up to leave.

1 Sent Yun Xi to the gate of the factory, and when he couldn't see him, he turned his head and said to the people who were sent out with him: "Quick, immediately give orders, and in the future, there will be officials who will come to inspect and meet the workers, and they will not be allowed to talk nonsense!" Because the officials who came to inspect before had never chatted with the workers, he neglected to tell them and was busy adding at this time.

Several group leaders agreed one after another, and one of them said, "My lord, do you want to expel the person surnamed Zhang?" ”

"No, you don't." 1 immediately said: "Zhang Bing's job is very good, if he is fired, he will have to delay the continuous casting, and now several firearms workshops under the Ministry of War are in such a hurry, but it can't be delayed." What's more, when the emperor saw him this time, maybe the next time he came to inspect it in two years, he asked, what should I say? Or keep him. "He can tell the emperor that Zhang Bing died in an accident or quit, but what if the emperor casually ordered Jinyi Wei to investigate? He didn't dare take that risk.

After instructing this matter, 1 accompanied Yunxi to inspect for a while, and he was tired, so he went back to the bathroom to take a shower and change his clothes, and went to rest in the public room.

……

……

Yun Xi left the steel factory and went straight to several firearms workshops under the military department. Li Bo has been secretly looking at Yun Xi's face all the way, and if he asks anything, he will answer immediately, but Yun Xi didn't say anything along the way, so he didn't dare to speak, and came all the way to the firearms workshop.

The military officials in charge of these workshops had been waiting at the door for a long time, and when they saw Yun Xi getting out of the car, they immediately knelt down and said: "Lu Fang, a member of the arsenal of the Ministry of Ministers, has seen Your Majesty, long live, long live, long live!" ”

"Aiqing is flat." Yun Xi said.

Unlike the Ministry of Industry, which did not attach great importance to the iron and steel mills, the Ministry of War attached great importance to these firearms workshops under its own management, and specifically requested that an additional member of the Arsenal Division, Wailang, be added to manage these workshops. Because the firearms workshop needs a lot of steel, and most of the steel factories near the capital are located here, and the place is large, and it is easy to test firearms, so the military department also moved the workshop here.

Yun Xi said a few words to this outsider and walked into the workshop to inspect.

They first came to the cannon-making workshop, and before they could get inside, they heard a 'clanging' sound, so loud that it was almost deafening. As soon as I walked in, I saw several craftsmen covered in dirt digging the barrel of a cannon out of the soil, and someone shouted from time to time.

Walking further inside, I saw a craftsman putting his arm into the barrel of the cannon, and from time to time he made a screeching sound, polishing the barrel.

"Your Majesty, this is a workshop specializing in making cannons over ten inches." Lu Fang said: "There are a total of 135 craftsmen in the workshop, working from dawn to dark every day, constantly making cannons. Each craftsman with an apprentice can build a cannon in about ten days. ”

At this moment, the roar of cannons came from not far away, and Lu Fang said again: "This is a test cannon." After each cannon is built, it must be tested, added to the maximum amount of gunpowder specified in accordance with the caliber, and three cannons are tested to see if there are cracks in the barrel. If not, it will be handed over to the health center. ”

Yun Xi nodded again. That's a good job. Distinguishing cannons according to caliber was his request, and because the generals felt that it made sense, it was popularized in the army.

He then inspected the workshop that produced small cannons under 10 inches. Compared with the cannons that are thousands of pounds at every turn, although these small cannons have a much smaller power range, they are easy to move and can be placed on the gun carriage to fire, although they still have to be reset every time, but they are also more convenient than cannons. It is also useful when defending cities or attacking quickly.

After that, there was a workshop for the production of firecrackers. There are many more craftsmen in this workshop. This workshop of several thousand square meters is almost crowded with craftsmen, countless people holding the barrel that has been formed in their hands, and they are trying to clean the inner wall of the barrel.

Yun Xi looked at this very busy scene, and after listening to Lu Fang's introduction, he suddenly asked: "Lu Aiqing, I remember that the last time I talked to Mei Yin from the Ministry of War, I mentioned the matter of 'standardization', that is, asking all craftsmen to make things of the same size and model, such as gun barrels, didn't Mei Yin tell you?" The cannon is not enough, it has to be built by many people, and the amount is small, so it is not very useful; But the output of firecrackers is very large, and standardization is very useful for production, but why do the craftsmen here still make firecrackers alone? ”

"Your Majesty, Mei Shangshu and the ministers have talked about the 'standardization', and the ministers also understand the benefits, but the ministers found that they couldn't do it after trying it in the workshop."

"Most of the craftsmen here are illiterate, and the methods of making firecrackers are passed down by word of mouth from generation to generation, never let outsiders know, and never set up writing, and the methods of different craftsmen making firecrackers are not small, and it is difficult to standardize."

"Second, the weights and measures they use are so inaccurate that some craftsmen don't even know how to read them, but they rely on experience, and even if they are equipped with exactly the same instruments, the size of the things they make will be different. The firecrackers are small, and they can't fit together if they are slightly different. Therefore, the craftsmen here still make the fire guns alone. Lu Fang said.

(三七 Chinese )