Chapter Twenty-Six: A Time of Great Promise

He Xi said: "Why is that? The south was humid, and iron tools were prone to rust, so a large number of ordnance had to be made. And aren't firearms more susceptible to moisture? Only then did he replace it with a bow and crossbow. ”

Fu Zhong laughed when he heard this, felt that He Xi was innocent and cute, and said: "You only know that gunpowder is easy to get wet, but you don't know that the bow and crossbow are more delicate than gunpowder. He casually picked up a half-finished bow and said, "The bow is made of dry, horn, tendon, glue, silk, and lacquer, which are collectively called six materials." Those who do it think that they are far away; Those who are are also sick; Those who have tendons think they are deep; Those who glue also, think that they are harmonious; Those who are silk also think that they are solid; Those who paint also think that they are affected by frost and dew. But it is hot in the south, and when the bow reaches the humid land in the south, it is easy to open the glue, and the bowstring is easy to weaken. ”

"When gunpowder is damp, there must be gunpowder that is not damp. And it's a big deal, just roast it dry. But the bow and arrow opened and weakened. There's no way around that. You can only engage the enemy in close combat. ”

Immediately, Fu Zhong didn't care about the fruits of the craftsmen's labor at all. The semi-finished bow body is broken, and there are several layers inside, with a layer of wood, a layer of horns and other patches. There are also glue, lacquer and other things.

This is why it is said that ancient China was a compound bow.

A real strong bow is not something that can be used with a long stick in some places.

He Xi took a deep breath and said, "Thank you Brother Fu for your advice." ”

Fu Zhong was a little bored, he came over today, originally to warn He Xi, but now he has also been warned, and now he will not leave immediately, he can only follow He Xi to visit, the things here are nothing new to Fu Zhong. Bored and said: "It's okay, I actually don't say a few more words, this is known to everyone in the army." In fact, it is the officers who really attach importance to bows and arrows in the army, and ordinary non-commissioned officers can use firearms. ”

Although He Xi was a little uncomfortable listening. But it is also in line with his understanding that the Ming Dynasty was a dynasty of cold weapons and hot-weapons. Cold weapons have not completely retired from the scene. But hot-weapon weapons have begun to creep in.

He Xi almost understood. There is only one last point. He Xi asked Foreman Ge and said, "Old Ge, do you get paid to work here?" ”

Foreman Ge said: "My lord said that I am joking, we are all craftsmen, and we serve the imperial court here, so naturally we have no wages." However, Your Majesty cherishes the people, and as long as we do a good job, we will be rewarded. ”

He Xi was stunned for a moment and rewarded money.

He Xi couldn't believe it, without him. He Xi's understanding of the Ming craftsman household system is all about letting craftsmen serve the country for free. Exploiting this craftsman layer by layer, making the craftsman live miserably.

It's just that I never thought that craftsmen work without wages, but there is a reward.

He Xi said: "How much is the reward? Is it everyone's got it? ”

Foreman Ge said: "Naturally, everyone has it. It's not much, but it's enough to make ends meet. ”

He Xi thought back to the craftsmen he saw along the way, although he was in shabby clothes, but the overall situation of this era was not only for craftsmen. Even the clothes of the eunuchs and maids in the palace will have patches in inconspicuous places, but they can't be seen at a glance.

This is already decent.

This is determined by the productive forces of this era.

And the physique and face of the craftsmen can be seen, although they are not too good, but they are definitely not unbearable.

He Xi deeply felt that there were too many differences between the Hongwu period and the later Ming Dynasty.

Not only is the martial arts noble and lowly today, but also because the Hongwu system is flexible, although it can be adjusted, it is not the rigid and rigid of later generations. It's as if this craftsman has a silver reward, which seems very simple. However, it is completely different from the craftsman system after the middle and later Ming Dynasty.

And He Xi just thought about it, which was also very strange. After the Hanlin Academy finished repairing the book, the emperor had a reward for silver, and when the work was completed, the emperor had a reward for silver, why did the craftsmen work and not reward money? Apparently there were.

Nanjing City was slowly developed after Zhu Yuanzhang became the owner. In both the Song and Yuan dynasties, Jinling was deliberately suppressed. In the Yuan Dynasty, it was called Jiqing, and when it came to Zhu Yuanzhang's hands, there were not many people. In today's metropolis of millions of people, many people are wealthy families who moved from all over the country by Zhu Yuanzhang, including military families and a large number of craftsmen.

Craftsmen are required to build the city walls, craftsmen are required to repair the palace castle, and craftsmen are required to make weapons. And so on to craftsmen.

In this era, craftsmen bear a lot of work, and even the main task of these craftsmen is to do things for the government, and there is no opportunity and time to do private work in private. If the court did not give money, these craftsmen would have to rebel.

As a rebel, how could Zhu Yuanzhang make such a mistake.

Naturally, it is necessary to adjust it. It's just that craftsmen don't get a monthly salary or an annual salary, but something similar to a project salary. Obviously, in Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes, craftsmen serve the imperial court for a few months a year, and work by themselves the rest of the time. Such a system is perfect. Now giving more reward money is just an expedient measure for too many imperial court projects.

This one thing is not big or small.

But the impact on He Xi is very big.

Let him really feel it. The vitality of the new country of the Ming Dynasty. I also feel that an emerging country, a vast world, has a lot to do, and there are not so many rules and regulations at all.

A thought came to his mind.

"Let General Fei meet Emperor Gao, and the Marquis of Wanhu will be full of words."

This is also a high emperor, huh?

He Xi had been in the palace before, and he was more focused on protecting himself. After all, he had just come into contact with Zhu Yuanzhang, and Zhu Yuanzhang's reputation in later generations was more than a brutal one, what a brutal killing of heroes, and burning the Qinggong Building.

He Xi's heart for self-preservation is the majority. Now his ambition is ready to move.

His tongue was slightly dry, and he was a little excited. Gather your mind, and don't care if there are any gods in the dark who chose him and let him come to this world. He couldn't afford to let this opportunity go.

However, everything has to be done from this one thing.

Prove it to Zhu Yuanzhang. The power of modern technology.

It's just that He Xi didn't think of how to solve these problems in front of him for a while. Now you know everything you need to know. It's time to go back and check the information.

He Xi looked at the sky and said, "Today, let's stop here." He turned around and said to Fu Zhong: "Brother Fu, you helped me a lot today, so let's treat me to a treat, and I also invite Brother Fu to appreciate his face." ”

Fu Zhong suddenly became interested and said, "Okay." I just came back from Beiping, and I was going to go south in a few days, and a bird faded out of my mouth, and I heard that His Majesty had set up a new 36th floor in Nanjing. All of them are the best crafts, and I haven't tasted them yet. Did you bring any money, though? ”

He Xi was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously touched the mobile phone hidden in the inner pocket of his clothes.

Can Daming pay by phone?

Daming's money, He Xi really didn't bring it. Without him, he has been in the palace, what do you want? Da Ming's money was of no use to He Xi at all. And how can you bring money.

It was embarrassing for a while.

Fu Zhong said: "Then wait for the southern expedition to come back, and wait for you to invite me." With that, he left.

After He Xi returned to the palace, he checked the information on his mobile phone and computer, which was a pity. He hadn't paid attention to it before, after all, who would know he was going to cross?

So he hid the computer, picked up a gold pen, and analyzed it on paper.

There are priorities. As Fu Zhong said, the most important problem is armor, other problems can be pushed, and even in He Xi's opinion, if he can do the armor, other things can be slowed down.

After all, Zhu Yuanzhang, as the founder of the country, has a high prestige. It will not be because the Nanjing Treasury has been vacant for a period of time, and there will really be any big things.

And armor is the most important of the so-called armaments. Since ancient times, bows, arrows, knives and guns have not been forbidden by the imperial court, except for armor, as long as it is hidden, it is a capital crime.

So armor comes first.

It's just that He Xi went through the armor craft from his brain and shook his head.

A pair of nails requires more than 100 nail leaves, 100,000 pairs, and more than 10 million nail leaves. Although there are many blacksmiths, it is impossible to create so many armor leaves in a short period of time.

Not to mention the many weaving, riveting and other crafts.

I don't know when it's going to be.

He Xi secretly said in his heart: "It is necessary to change the armor and greatly reduce the armor." Take a look at plate armor. ”

He Xi didn't think about making plate armor in the real sense, he just wanted to greatly reduce the blades of the Daming armor, in He Xi's opinion, it was best to reduce it to a dozen. And even less, so that with the addition of a hydraulic forging machine. It can greatly reduce the number of man-hours, and if you can, you can replenish enough armor within three months.

It's just that He Xi can find very little information, and many of them are very simple, just a few words, or conceptual things. Finding principles, concepts, or technical terms from all corners of the computer is not enough for He Xi to design a complete set of solutions.

He Xi got up and paced, a little irritable in his heart. He suddenly thought of it, turned on the computer again, and found an article. Or the material. It reads the Angang Constitution. and various explanations.

In fact, if he hadn't flipped it out, he wouldn't have remembered when this thing was in his computer, whether it was for the essay before the college entrance examination, or the political class in college. Now this article has inspired him a lot.

Only then did he realize that what he brought from the lower reaches of history was not scientific and technological knowledge, but also the crystallization of the wisdom of countless people over the past six hundred years.

Now he can't do such a tall combination of two ginseng, one change and three combinations. But it is still possible to mobilize the masses and hold a Zhuge Liang meeting. After all, it is the soil experts of this era who really solve the problem. And not he, a college student from a later generation, who did not major in mechanical metallurgy.

Thinking of this, He Xi found the direction. Hurriedly ate in the palace, and did not forget to let Xu Baoer bring thousands of treasure money. Hurried out again.