The noisy sound of disputes continued to come into his ears, Wang Xu was puzzled, walked out of the gate of the General's Mansion with a calm face, his eyes quickly swept over the audience, and he shouted majestically: "What happened, why is there a noise in front of the General's Mansion!" ”

When he stopped drinking, the surroundings immediately fell silent, and the soldiers guarding the door panicked, and immediately knelt down and saluted: "Meet the general!" ”

When the craftsmen outside saw this, they didn't understand the identity of the person who came, and they all knelt on the ground in fear and saluted. "Meet General Wang!"

At this moment, the leader of the guards did not wait for Wang Xu to ask, and had already taken the initiative to speak: "Report to the general, these craftsmen insist on seeing the general without permission, and their subordinates and others are being expelled!" ”

"Hmm!" Wang Xu nodded, ignored it, then turned his head to look at the craftsman in front of him, and asked in a deep voice, "Why did you gather the crowd to make a noise in front of this general's mansion?" ”

Wang Xu's prestige in Jingzhou was extremely high, and those craftsmen were taken by his momentum, looked at each other, but calmed down, and after a while, they all looked at the person who was the leader.

The man had a sturdy body, a Chinese face, a wide mouth and a wide nose, and was quite powerful. At this moment, he raised his head, although he was very respectful, but he was not afraid. "General Qiyu, we and other craftsmen gathered to come here because we wanted to complain to the general, and we have a hard time!"

"Oh?" Wang Xu raised his eyebrows and said meaningfully: "If the people are not justified and sue the high-ranking officials in Jingzhou, they can't go directly to the General's Mansion, and they must go through the petition point set up by Song Cao outside, do you know this?" ”

"The grass people know this!" The big man nodded yes, but then he opened his mouth and continued: "But I waited for more than 100 letters but there was no news, and no one accepted them, so I was helpless." That's where the decision came in. I hope the general will forgive his sins! ”

Wang Xu saw that this person was talking extraordinary. The answer was decent, and his expression and demeanor were not like ordinary people, and he couldn't help asking, "Who are you?" ”

"I am the Jingzhou Military Workshop, the blacksmith is in charge, Zheng Hun!" The big man replied loudly.

Hearing this, Wang Xu was even more puzzled, and asked quickly: "Since you are already in charge, you can also be regarded as a minor official under the jurisdiction of my general's mansion." Why don't you report something to the higher-level officials of Bing Cao? ”

Zheng Hun smiled bitterly, shook his head and said, "General Qiyu, what Bing Cao said that what we ask for is not something they can manage!" They only give orders to our workshop, and then we regularly hand over the materials for production and production, and pay them, but they can't care about me! ”

"Bing Cao can't take care of it? What is so important? Wang Xu felt strange in his heart and asked again.

Zheng Hun boldly looked at Wang Xu, and replied eloquently: "General, I don't know that all kinds of craftsmen like us are specialized in serving the army. Research technology, development of equipment. Does it belong to the General's Mansion? ”

"Of course, it belongs to the General's Mansion, and your food and salary are all issued by the General's Mansion!" Wang Xu nodded in agreement.

When Zheng Hun heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up, and then he nodded and said: "Since the general agrees with this matter, then please forgive the grass people for daring to ask, if my craftsman is accidentally killed or disabled at work, who will be in charge?" Who is in charge of the daily affairs of our craftsmen and the fate of the necessary scheduling? ”

"This ......" Wang Xu was stunned suddenly, he had never paid attention to such a thing. Have you not appointed stewards? Weekday affairs are naturally managed by stewards? Aren't you also a blacksmith? ”

Zheng Hun sighed bitterly and slowly expressed his bitterness: "General, we are not ignorant of good and bad, the general has given Jingzhou wealth and given us a piece of paradise. We are all grateful and willing to do our part for the general. With the development of Jingzhou, we have no support and no system, and we simply rely on the craftsmen's gratitude to the general. ”

"The general treats the villains well, and it is said that we should not be greedy, but the general knows that in order to improve our skills and research new achievements, we craftsmen have to pay for it ourselves. In addition to the basic food and clothing of our families, our salaries are all used for research and development, if we can produce results, it is good, and there will be high rewards for declaring to the general's palace, but most of the time the research is not fruitful at all, and the workers feel the kindness of the general, almost all of them do their best, and most of them are destitute. ”

"To tell you the truth, the general can ask the representatives of the craftsmen present which one has not invented something, but I feel that the general has given us wealth and peace, and many times he has not declared it, and he has not asked the general's palace for any reward. This time, our blacksmith developed a new type of forging device, but unfortunately two of them were stoned to death by the instrument in the real yàn! ”

"This kind of thing has happened many times, and I have never complained before, the brothers have always insisted, understanding that the general fought in the south and the north to ensure the safety of Jingzhou, and the soldiers returned from the battlefield in blood, and the Jingzhou treasury also needs a lot of money and materials, so the brothers are also doing it silently, just to support the general and make a modest contribution to the prosperity and peace of Jingzhou!"

As he spoke, this Zheng Hun, a strong man, turned out to be full of tears, stretched out his hand to wipe and continued: "On weekdays, the brothers use Yulu to engage in research and development, but after life and death, they are left helpless, but they don't even know where they belong." ”

As he spoke, the strong man took out a blood-red silk silk from his arms, waved his hand and unfolded it, a meter square, with red handwriting densely written on it, Wang Xu knew at a glance that it was written in blood, which was shocking.

"Behold, the general, here are the brothers who died for the manufacture of instruments, and the names of each of them were written in the blood of the later brothers, including apprentices and miscellaneous servants, a thousand two hundred and thirty-two men in all these years. At present, some of their children are begging on the streets of Xiangyang, and we don't have much money to provide food and clothing for our families, plus the needs of daily research and development to improve technology, it is no longer enough, and the support we can give is extremely limited! ”

He didn't speak again, but held the list written in blood aloft, and the craftsmen who followed him also gently wiped their tears and choked silently.

Wang Xu was shocked and deeply shocked by this statement!

He really never thought about it, let alone that behind the advanced technology, sophisticated armor and weapons, and invincible war equipment that are constantly emerging in Jingzhou, there is such a bloody and naked blood book, there are not many people, but it is more shocking and sad than the death of soldiers on the battlefield!

He stared at the blood book. Looking at the silent dedication one by one. The invincible name that supports the invincible Jingzhou army. Step by step, he reached out and gently brushed the ......

In his mind, he remembered that the craftsmen endured poverty and hardship, working day and night in the workshop, or researching, or making zuò, and the countless sweat and hard work conjured up a powerful catapult on the battlefield. It has become more and more sophisticated armor on the soldiers, and more and more sharp and tenacious weapons!

He also saw how miserable and desolate it was when craftsmen were smashed into meatloaf by tall instruments while their wives were washing their faces with tears at home, their children were begging in the streets, and the old people wept silently!

In an instant, Wang Xu's tears flowed out. A crystal clear teardrop slowly dripped from the sharpened face......

Zheng Hun was already in tears. A rough man choked up like a daughter's house. "Will ...... General, it's not that we are not satisfied, we also know that it is not easy for the general, and I am very grateful to the general for allowing us to have a foothold in the troubled times, and I sincerely hope to help the general! If it's ordinary, we don't want to say it, but the general and the doctor have already been established, why don't we, the craftsmen, even have a home! ”

"We don't want to do too much, at least, let the world know that we are from the General's Mansion!"

"At least, our dead brother has a name!"

"At the very least, the children of the dead brothers begging in the streets can proudly say that their father died for the general's mansion, so that they will suffer a little less stard!"

"At least, the orphan and widow will not be bullied or abused!"

"General......

"General......" In an instant, with Zheng Hun's words, all the representatives of the craftsmen who came were crying bitterly, bowing deeply, and shouting out this Wang Xu ......

Wang Xu closed his eyes deeply, at this moment his heart ached, unspeakable heartache, what a good people, what a simple person, he didn't do enough as a general!

A breeze blew, stirring up the dust in front of the general's mansion, and also lifting the blood condensed, bewitching and poignant name book, and the sound of "soothing" was like the cry of countless orphans and widows, just like the craftsmen whimpering without blinking......

The guards guarding the gate wept, they never knew that the fine armor and weapons they wore could hide so much blood and tears......

The onlookers wept, and they didn't know if the little beggar they saw on the street and the begging woman they saw by chance were the family members of these people......

In an instant, in front of the general's mansion, the people and soldiers all knelt down in unison and cried in unison: "Please ask General Wang to correct the name of the craftsman!" ”

"Please ask General Wang to correct the name of the craftsman!"

"Please ask General Wang to correct the name of the craftsman!"

Xu Shu also cried, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, walked to Wang Xu's side gently, and looked at him quietly!

"My bad!" Wang Xu chattered to himself.

"It's my fault!" Wang Xu whispered again.

"I'm sorry! Brothers who have been silently dedicated, I will give you an account! Wang Xu said softly, slowly closed his eyes, and his fists crackled.

At this moment, the wind in front of the General's Mansion suddenly became stronger, gently brushing everyone's cheeks, either by coincidence, or by the souls of the craftsmen, they were relieved and excited......

After a while, Wang Xu took a deep breath and said calmly: "Call Cao Peng Liu Balai!" ”

"No!" The guards behind him immediately responded.

But after a while, Liu Ba was already in a hurry out of the general's mansion, and when he saw a large number of people kneeling in front of the door, he was immediately startled, knowing that something big must have happened, so he hurriedly walked behind Wang Xu and bowed. "Lord, my subordinates are ordered to come!"

"Hmm!" Wang Xu nodded lightly and asked: "There are more than 100 craftsmen who have written books, why don't they report to me directly if they are jointly booked?" ”

When Liu Ba, who was nervous, heard this, he immediately understood what was going on, his face changed, and he knelt on the ground with a "poof". "The Lord forgives sins!"

In Wang Xu's calm voice, he suppressed this monstrous anger. "I just ask why you didn't report it!"

Liu Ba panicked, he had just been promoted to Cao Peng, and he had never seen Wang Xu's appearance like this, so he hurriedly explained: "Lord, it's not that his subordinates don't report it, but it's useless to report it, and Guo Junshi and Guo Junshi let the ministers press it down first!" ”

"Call them in!"

As soon as Wang Xu's voice fell, Guo Jia and Fu Zhu, as well as many high-level officials of the General's Mansion, had already walked out of the mansion. "Lord!"

Hearing this voice, Wang Xu still didn't look back, and only said: "Why don't you report it?" ”

Guo Jia and Fu Zhu glanced at each other, and in the end, it was Guo Jia who stepped forward and stepped forward to salute. "Lord, it's not that you don't report it, but you really can't solve it!"

When Wang Xu heard this explanation, his heart was a little calmer, and he knew that there should be another reason, so he asked out loud: "Fengxiao, what's the matter?" ”

Guo Jia's face was full of bitterness, and he said helplessly: "Lord, it's not that the subordinates don't know the severity, but the treasury really has no money, there are big wars one after another, although there are still materials, but the money has been drained, and the medical Cao was squeezed out before, if you draw money to form a Cao, the normal operation of the army and internal affairs will not be able to support it!" And if it is a correct name, it will inevitably involve many affairs such as bereavement benefits, where will the money come from? ”

"In this workshop, in the past, Bingcao allocated materials, and then according to the amount of materials, they ordered the quantity of various armor weapons and other things, and they were only responsible for doing it. As for the loss required for research and improvement, they all figure it out on their own, and we only distribute a certain amount of money every month. If this Cao is opened, then in the future, all kinds of losses on this side, including personnel training, will be borne by the General's Mansion, and with the current situation, it is really powerless! ”

In the end, Guo Jia hesitated, but still spoke: "General, don't hide it, the current normal operation, many of the current normal operations are maintained by Jingzhou Wenwu donating their own savings!" ”

Hearing these reasons, Wang Xu was no longer angry with them, and his brows finally furrowed......

At this time, the street was very quiet, although Guo Jia spoke quietly, Zheng Hun had already heard it, hurriedly wiped away the tears on his face, and interjected: "We know that it is not easy for a general, there is no need to pay for money, as long as you have a name!" ”

Guo Jia was ashamed, but they really couldn't do anything. "Hey, we're sorry for these craftsmen!"

Wang Xu was silent this time, he didn't expect that the continuous war in the past two years had made the Jingzhou Treasury to such a point.

But think about it, one after another, the hoarding of materials is not afraid, but the consumption of money is the most huge, so many soldiers have been killed, the aftermath of the compensation, and the recruitment of new soldiers, training consumption, as well as officials at all levels, all kinds of construction costs, etc., are countless.

Thinking of this, Wang Xu sighed deeply, first helped Liu Ba up from the ground, and then looked at Zheng Hun, and promised in a firm tone: "You guys go back first, you can rest assured, this general is smashing the pot and selling iron, and he will also build this Cao, and he will give you an explanation!" (To be continued......)