Seeing that the young man Yu Zuo had not yet learned how to deal with an official like Yang Qian, Fu Xuechen had an idea and hurriedly spoke up: "Chief Yang, has the Holy Will ever forbidden His Highness to observe and learn the manufacturing process of other items?" ”

"Not really." Yang Qian was still frowning, but he also shook his head honestly.

Fu Xuechen smiled: "The law does not prohibit it, and the saint has a heavenly constitution in his mouth, so the truth is the same!" Besides, His Highness also has his own ideas about the manufacture of firearms, which need to be verified, so the Holy Lord ordered the Ministry of Works to give convenience to His Highness, how do you know that there is no relevant skill in the printing workshop that can help His Highness verify the design of new firearms? ”

Yang Qian widened his slitted eyes, and looked hard at the little companion beside the sixth prince with clear eyebrows but sharp teeth, knowing that this kid was ridiculous and strong, but he had no way to refute it, he really couldn't get out of his stomach.

Yu Zuo had long felt that his companion was very smart and able to speak, and when he saw it again, he immediately appreciated it, avoided Yang Qian's sight, and quietly gave her a thumbs up with a smile.

Feeling that Fu Xuechen was messing around and unable to communicate, Yang Qian turned his gaze to Yu Zuo: "Dare to ask Your Highness what you think, do you think that there are any skills in the printing workshop that can be used in the manufacture of firearms?" The old minister is not talented, and he knows all kinds of manufacturing skills, and he was originally a detailed explanation for His Royal Highness. ”

Yu Zuo is not stupid, with Fu Xuechen as an example, he immediately learned: "Thank you Lord Yang for your kindness!" It's just a little bit of a lesson, before my idea is verified, I don't dare to make an axe in front of the experienced Director Yang, let's wait for Director Yang to take us to see the printing workshop! If it proves that my idea is feasible, it is not too late to speak out and consult with Director Yang. ”

The implication is that if this idea of not knowing whether it exists or not is not feasible, then of course he does not need to say it.

Yang Qian was sullen again, so he had to agree to take the two bastard boys to see the printing workshop first.

The printing workshop under the Ministry of Industry is in the city, close to the east of the city, but the distance is not close, if you walk, it takes two quarters of an hour to walk from the Yamen of the Ministry of Industry to the printing workshop, but fortunately, everyone has horses to ride, and it takes less than a quarter of an hour to reach the destination.

It was also on the way that he chatted with Yang Qian about a lot of topics about the Ministry of Industry Workshop, and Fu Xuechen discovered that the entire Central Plains of China in the previous dynasty had fallen under the iron horses of the northern nomads, and the entire civilization inheritance was almost broken.

However, the previous dynasty did not pay attention to the manufacturing process of various items and instruments of the Central Plains people, which led to the fact that the newly established Darong Imperial Ministry of Industry had almost no decent large-scale workshops in the capital, and even these small and medium-sized workshops were scattered everywhere.

Fu Xuechen was very emotional: "It is good to choose a place and gather all the workshops of the same type together, some small workshops are good to say, the manufacture of equipment such as firearms requires the division of labor and cooperation of various workshops, and then integrated manufacturing!" ”

When Yang Qian heard this, he glanced at her a few more times in surprise, this kid is a bastard, he can actually say such an opinion, it's not simple! Obviously, she hadn't even seen a firearms workshop.

Judging from her age background, it is unlikely that she was sent by her family to see various workshops at such a young age, and the firearms workshop only owned by the Ministry of Industry is even more unlikely to be visited by this kind of little doll, so where did she get these feelings, but it is too puzzling.

Fortunately, it didn't take long to arrive at the printing workshop.

Fu Xuechen dismounted at the gate of the workshop, raised his head, and looked at the huge workshop in front of him with wide eyes, his face full of consternation.

In her expectation, the printing workshop would occupy a courtyard at most, seven or eight of them, and at most a dozen craftsmen were busy, but what did she see?!

The workshop in front of it, the size of an ordinary secondary school in later generations, had many houses, including a public house for craftsmen's minds, a workshop for craftsmen connected to each other, a warehouse guarded by guards, and a book building that was said to be used to store all kinds of books.

According to Yang Qian, there are 600 people in various positions in the entire printing workshop, which is the largest medium-sized workshop.

Walking into it, craftsmen of different ages can be seen everywhere in a hurry to carry things, or bury their heads in work, seeing Yang Qian bring people over, they all looked curiously, but craftsmen enjoy the right to ignore external affairs in their work, without the call of the chief official, they will not take the initiative to gather to greet Yu Zuo and others, Yang Qian has no intention of letting them all come to the prince to greet him.

Fu Xuechen has seen a lot about the tragic status and situation of ancient craftsmen in various literary and artistic works in later generations, but everything in front of her has subverted her existing impression, the craftsmen are not full of dishes, nor are they numb and decadent, they may be a little tired, but in general, they are quite energetic, and they are also serious and focused, occasionally laughing and scolding each other...... It felt no different from the ordinary factories and workers of later generations.

I don't know if this is because the Darong Empire has just been founded, the system has not yet been established or collapsed, and the craftsmen have not yet been discriminated against and treated lowly, or because of the difference in time and space, the phenomenon of cultural development.

Fu Xuechen was curious about why there were so many craftsmen in one printing workshop.

When she heard Yang Qian say that this workshop was also responsible for printing books for the Hanlin Academy's historical masterpieces and other great works of the dynasty, and that it now had more than 5 million square meters of various new and old engravings, her jaw was about to drop!

Engraving! So many engravings! Storage alone is a big problem! No wonder there are so many houses and craftsmen in the printing workshop!

"That...... Director Yang, is there no movable type in the workshop? Fu Xuechen almost thought that movable type printing had not yet been invented in this time and space.

Yang Qian's answer was a little unexpected for her: "You say movable type? Naturally, there are all kinds of movable type, wooden movable type, pottery movable type, copper movable type, lead movable type, all of which are available. ”

"Then why do you need to make so many engravings?" Fu Xuechen asked if he didn't understand.

Yang Qian laughed: "Although the movable type is flexible, the font is difficult to unify, the typesetting is not easy, and there will be problems such as uneven character columns and different sizes of gaps, and it is easier to wear and tear and lose, and it is much more troublesome to maintain than engraving. ”

Ah......h Fu Xuechen was worried about the book in his arms, and asked tentatively: "How long does it take to engrave that book of more than 3,000 words?" ”

Yang Qian looked at her: "If you are an ordinary craftsman, it will be more than a month!" ”

How long is it going to take? In other words, it takes a day to carve a plate, a hundred words? Fu Xuechen was a little dumbfounded, this is too slow, right?