surnamed Wang

Chapter 60

In the next few days, Wang Bingquan would come to Guanghan Tower every day to tell Lu Xiaoxian the stories in the Red Tower. Several times, Lu Xiaoxian was so fascinated by the wonderful things he told, that he even forgot to write and let the ink flow down the pen tip. down.

Finally, on the fifth day, Wang Bingquan talked about the ending of the story, about the falling of the tree in Jia's mansion and the scattering of the monkeys, about Baoyu becoming a monk, and about Daiyu's death.

Lu Xiaoxian was completely fascinated, and an old man cried until he was crying.Seeing this scene, Wang Gingquan tried his best to restrain the urge to go up and hug the other person to comfort him, thinking that it would be better not to come to Guanghan Tower after today, otherwise he would be beaten sooner or later.

Lu Xiaoxian managed to calm down, and solemnly assured Wang Bingquan that he would do his best to perform this work well. After Wang Bingquan said some words of encouragement, the two said goodbye.

As soon as Wang Gangquan returned to the mansion, he was told that Yantiesi had just sent someone over, saying that the ordered iron pipes had been made and could be picked up at any time.

Wang Gangquan went to the Yantie Division non-stop. After seeing the Yantie Envoy, he first inspected the iron pipes under his leadership. After confirming that the quality was good, he asked the other party to take him to visit the factory. Willing, but can only lead the way honestly.

The salt and iron business has always been controlled by the imperial court, and private individuals are not allowed to operate it. Once discovered, it is a felony of beheading, so a high wall was erected around the factory, and there were heavy guards outside the high wall.

As soon as Wang Gangquan entered the factory, he felt a wave of heat. There were three blast furnaces standing inside. He looked up and saw that the height was much higher than the furnaces in Liulichang.

The envoy Yantie explained the casting process to Wang Bingquan one by one. Wang Gingquan nodded and looked around. After a while, he turned to envoy Yantie and said, "I want to talk to the workers. ?”

"Of course, it's their blessing." The Salt Iron Envoy nodded and bowed.

Having obtained permission, Wang Gingquan stood in the middle of the courtyard and clapped his hands, saying loudly, "Everyone, come here, I have something to say to everyone!"

The workers all looked at Wang Gangquan when they heard the words. Seeing that the young man looked familiar, but the Yantie envoy was standing beside him respectfully, expecting that he must be an extraordinary person, they all surrounded him.

Wang Gangquan looked around at the crowd and said loudly: "Although you all do hard and tiring work, your work is indispensable to the country. Each of you is a pillar of the country. Here..."

"Oh, by the way, haven't you asked your lord's surname yet?" Wang Bingquan remembered that he seemed to have never asked the envoy's surname.

"The villain's surname is Wu." The Yan Tie Envoy immediately came over and whispered.

"Oh, under the leadership of Master Wu, shine brightly and benefit the common people!"

After Wang Gangquan finished speaking, the scene burst into intense applause.These coolies are stared at all day long. How have they ever heard praise from others, especially the young man in front of him who looks like a dignified master. His compliment is worth more than real gold and silver. Immediately, his favorability doubled several times.

Wang Gangquan looked at the crowd with a sincere smile on his face, and after a while he made a quiet gesture and continued:
"I can't bear to see you all doing such important work, but you can only get that little money every month. But it just so happens that the imperial court has newly established an armory. If you are willing to condescend to go, I can I will give you double rewards, is there anyone willing to go?"

Mr. Wu at the side was listening with gusto at first, but then the more he listened to it, the more strange it became. He thought he was poaching his own corner here, and he was digging in front of his face.

Just when he was about to interject, the originally quiet scene suddenly exploded. Those workers who were usually unknown and honest, all of them were beating chicken blood at this moment, jumping and raising their hands, and shouting "I Go, I'll go!"

What the hell!At this moment, the official surnamed Wu was scolding his mother in his heart. Judging from this momentum, if he blocked their way of making money today, he might be beaten to death in public.He looked at Wang Quanquan with a sad face, but at this time Wang Quanquan had been submerged in the crowd, and outsiders couldn't squeeze in at all.

In the evening, Mr. Wu sat blankly on the steps of the iron factory. He felt that all this was too unreal. The place was still full of heat in the afternoon, but now it was empty. All of the more than 30 workers were covered by Wang Gangquan. Before leaving, Wang Gangquan said harshly: "Tomorrow afternoon, I will see my goods and [-] workers in the armory."

It's the first time in my life that a human being can be so shameless!

With everything in place, Si Tianjian will still help to choose an auspicious day. After a few days, the ordnance factory will officially start work on this day.

The ordnance factory was built in the outskirts of Beijing, covering an area of ​​more than ten acres. Apart from the factory buildings and warehouses, there is still a lot of open space.Wang Gangquan intends to keep it for now, and later will manage the household department to ask for a batch of money to build dormitories and canteens, but that's all for later. The first priority now is to produce the first batch of reliable and practical firecrackers.

Standing at the gate of the factory, Wang Gingquan looked up at the sign with the words "Ordnance Institute" hanging beside the gate, and couldn't help but feel a lot of emotion in his heart.Because of the need to protect himself, Wang Gingquan had no choice but to hand over Liulichang. Now that the overall situation was settled, he no longer needed to be timid, and he could let go of it.

Walking slowly into the workshop, Liu Luming has already arranged tasks.Yesterday, the two had a special discussion and decided to make a batch of muskets according to Liu Luming's design to equip the Jingshi musketeers. Because the quality of steel produced by the Yantie Division is uneven, Wang Gangquan planned to use up the batch of iron pipes by himself. Production of steel, after all, the dug corner cannot be wasted.

Although the iron and steel smelting technology of the dynasty is much more advanced than that of barbarians like North Tudonghan, it is far from meeting the requirements for making military supplies. Not only is it mixed with a lot of impurities, some also contain air bubbles. If it is used to make gun barrels, There is a risk of bombing at any time, so he plans to produce low-end firearms while studying steel technology.

So he selected a few experienced craftsmen from the [-] craftsmen, and Liu Luming took the lead to set up a research and development department, specializing in the research and development of military steel, while the rest of the workers were responsible for making the first batch of firearms.

Wang Gangquan was just like when he founded Liulichang. He lived and ate in the factory every day, and went to battle in person. He did this for half a year.

In the past six months, he went to the household department four or five times one after another. Every time the household department officials saw him, they would cry as if their mother had died. A few days later, I came to ask for it again. Because of this matter, the servants of the Ministry of Finance often went to the new emperor to complain.

This can't be blamed on Wang Gangquan, he wants to be corrupt, but every time the money just received is paid out, there is not much left after the materials are purchased.

In addition, there was an extremely expensive research and development department. Not to mention that Wang Bingquan didn't make any money, he invested a lot in it himself. He knew that the money for research and development could not be saved, so he could only go to the Ministry of Household Affairs to ask for it with the cheek.

He also didn't like to see the bad faces of those officials in the household department. Every time he came out of the household department, he couldn't help thinking, if Liulichang was still in his hands, would he still be insulted by them?Finally on this day, Wang Gingquan entered the palace with a jade pendant in his arms.

(End of this chapter)