Mixed with salted fish in Hongwudang

Chapter 179 Three bad old men can't stand up to a cobbler!
The Military Weapons Bureau of the Ming Dynasty is located near the Dajiaochang outside the Taiping Gate, with a total of 200 craftsmen.

Of course, this is only the number of people on paper. In fact, there have been successive escapes over the years, and the actual number is less than 7000.

Even so, when the [-] craftsmen fired at full strength and made weapons with all their strength, there was still a huge momentum and fireworks all over the sky.

But this is the old calendar. When Zhu Yunxi entered the Military Weapons Bureau, there were only sporadic jingling sounds.

Half of the craftsmen inside were chatting and spanking, and half of the craftsmen squatted at the base of the wall to bask in the sun.Only some of the craftsmen who were on duty were tinkling to make weapons.

The bureau ambassador in charge of the Weapons Bureau heard that His Royal Highness King Wu came to inspect on behalf of His Majesty, and was so excited that he trotted all the way here.

As soon as he saw so many people basking in the sun, he immediately ordered them to work angrily.

"You slackers, why don't you get up and work quickly, and you have to wait for the officer to whip you!"

The craftsmen reluctantly got up from the ground when they heard the urging from the ambassador of the Bureau, and then...then there was nothing...

"Ambassador, we don't have iron materials here, what do you tell the little ones to use to make weapons?"

"There's not enough charcoal, you can't let us burn our thighs!"

The ambassador of the bureau couldn't help cursing when he heard the complaints from the craftsmen.

"Can't you work without iron materials? Can you clean the yard!"

"Also, if you know that there is no charcoal, you don't know how to cut trees outside the city. You have to wait until the charcoal is gone before you complain?"

The ambassador of the Bureau scolded the craftsmen while explaining to Zhu Yunxi.

"His Royal Highness, look at these slackers, they are really invincible!"

Zhu Yunxi frowned when he heard this, and glanced at Huang Ligong beside him.Huang Ligong hurriedly took a step forward and explained.

"Recently, there is a real shortage of iron materials. The guards all over the country are building weapons, and our military bureau in the capital can't supply the iron materials."

"How much is missing?"

Zhu Yunxie said this to the bureau ambassador, but the bureau ambassador was in a daze for a long time, but he couldn't give an exact figure.In the end, Huang Ligong had to take out a booklet from his sleeve, flip through it slightly and said.

"Back to His Royal Highness King Wu, the iron smelting workshops in various places should have handed over 30 catties of refined iron this month, but the actual payment was less than 20 catties, leaving a gap of [-] catties."

"catty?"

Zhu Yunxi was taken aback when he heard the unit of measurement "jin".His concept of iron is still in the "ton", and it is uncomfortable to hear "jin" at first.

"It's only 120 five tons?"

After Zhu Yunxi converted the unit of measurement of iron into "ton", he immediately had a concept in his mind.

This point will be ironed out in later generations, not to mention building bridges, it is estimated that even a building with more than [-] floors will not be built.But in the Ming Dynasty, it was already a month's consumption of the Military Weapons Bureau.

"Is there an iron smelting workshop under the name of the Ministry of War?"

"Have!"

"There are several places under the Lime Mountain on the north side of Xuanwu Lake, but the scale is not large, and they are mainly transported by neighboring counties."

"oh oh……"

While Zhu Yunxi was chatting with the two, an old craftsman who was watching the excitement came over and asked tentatively.

"Are you the grandson of the Living Bodhisattva?"

"what?"

Zhu Yunxi was stunned again when he heard this, who gave him this nickname, why didn't he know?
"I am indeed the emperor's grandson, but I don't know what you mean by living Bodhisattva?"

The old craftsman took another two steps forward, but was stopped two feet away by the guards brought by Zhu Yunxie.

"This is the grandson of the Third Emperor of Ming Dynasty, who was recently conferred the title of King Wu by His Majesty!"

Hearing this, the old craftsman fell to his knees with a plop, and then waved behind him.

"Everyone, come and see, the grandson of the Living Bodhisattva is here, we will have a good life in the future!"

As soon as the old craftsman's words fell, all the craftsmen who were standing under the wall watching the fun gathered together, and then knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Zhu Yunxi.

"Kowtow to the grandson of the Bodhisattva!"

"The grandson of the Bodhisattva is a thousand years old!"

At first there were hundreds of craftsmen, and as their shouts became louder, other yard craftsmen also gathered and kowtowed to Zhu Yunxi.

This sudden scene not only completely confused Zhu Yunxi, but also the ambassador of the bureau and Huang Ligong were stupefied.

Only Zhu Yunxie's three masters looked gratified and had a sense of pride that was popular among the people.

"Get up, old man, tell me what's going on with this Bodhisattva grandson, when did I become a Bodhisattva!"

Hearing this, the old craftsman hurriedly asked.

"Aren't you the grandson of the Three Emperors who built houses for the craftsmen of the Banking Bureau?"

Zhu Yunxi thought about it after hearing the words.

"Yes!"

"I'm currently building Wu Wang's Mansion. By the way, I bought a piece of land in the north of the city and built a staff dormitory for the workers of the Banking Bureau, so that they can work for me more conveniently."

As soon as Zhu Yunxi finished speaking, the old craftsman spoke loudly.

"Then you are the grandson of the Bodhisattva!"

"Since the Mongolian Tartars came here, we craftsmen don't even get paid for our work, let alone someone building a house for us!"

"My little ones heard that you not only paid the bankers' wages, but also gave them houses. This is not a living Bodhisattva!"

When Zhu Yunxi heard this, he finally understood why he had gained the title of Bodhisattva, and it was because of such a trivial matter.

It's only natural to get money for work, so there's nothing to say about this, right?
Furthermore, the reason why I allocated houses to them is just to hope that they live closer and have more time to work for me, which is far from being kind and good deeds...

However, he was so ashamed to be called a Bodhisattva by so many craftsmen for doing what a "human" should do.

The lower limit of this nobleman of Ming Dynasty is too low...

Zhu Yunxi looked at Wu Yaya, who was kneeling on the ground, and said with some emotion.

"All craftsmen, your good days are coming!"

"From now on, all the workshops near the capital of the Ming Dynasty will be under my management, Zhu Yunxi!"

"I'm not bragging with you, I only promise two things."

"First, you can earn money by working with me!"

"Second, work with me and have a house to live in!"

"Third, I will let you eat meat every now and then!"

"fourth……"

"fifth……"

Every time Zhu Yunxi said a word, the audience cheered.

No one cared that what he said didn't count. They clearly agreed to only say two points, but they had already said seven or eight points. They even hoped that he would say a few more points, the more the better.

Qin Hengbo was aware of the sufferings of the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty, and when he heard Zhu Yunxie's words, he only gave one comment.

"If this son can really do those things, needless to say all of them, even if he can only do half of them, then he is the Bodhisattva in the heart of the Great Ming craftsman!"

Yang Xinlu also echoed.

"Yes!"

"The artisan household system in the Ming Dynasty is so immoral. It is really hopeless to fix the ancestors as artisans for generations."

"If things go on like this, people will only escape from hard labor one after another, resulting in the loss of Ming's armaments, and the generals will no longer have any suitable weapons to use."

Gao Ming muttered in a low voice.

"As long as someone reads a few more history books, he won't be able to fully accept Meng Yuan's system..."

"Mengyuan's system is so rough, it's only like who is a treasure..."

When Qin Hengbo and Yang Xinlu heard the rebel's words, they took a step towards each other at the same time, expressing that they were not the same as the rebel.

Gao Ming saw that the two were so timid and fearful, so he snorted and stopped talking.

After all, he himself is quite nervous about criticizing His Majesty today.

Zhu Yunxi came here today to say hello to the craftsmen, and then under the leadership of Huang Ligong, he visited the production environment and accommodation environment of the Armament Bureau.

An hour later, Zhu Yunxi came out of the Military Weapons Bureau with a heavy complexion, only one thought in his mind, this place can be demolished!
Not to mention the backward production methods, the production environment is surprisingly poor.There was red rust all over the floor, and combined with the cross-flowing sewage, it presented a kind of agate-colored filth.

The place where the craftsmen lived was also horrible, just a shed supported by a few sticks, not to mention no walls on all sides, and only a pile of straw on the ground.

With such a dirty and messy working environment, he still expects to be able to manufacture qualified weapons. Grandpa Huang is also big-hearted!
"Master Huang, I've already seen this place, take me to another place..."

"promise!"

In the next few days, Zhu Yunxi followed Huang Ligong to visit the iron smelting workshop outside the city, as well as the Bingzhan Bureau, which is affiliated with the Inner Palace Supervisor, and is specially used for the production of military equipment such as saddles.

Relatively speaking, the military bureau is directly under the management of the palace, and the environment is much stronger than that of the military bureau.

However, there are still various disadvantages such as low production capacity, overstaffed, and shortage of raw materials.

But this doesn't mean that the government is incompetent, it's just that Ming's artisan household system is too bad, and it's useless to replace it with anyone.

Because from the beginning of its establishment, this thing was not used to improve production efficiency, but to facilitate the rulers to collect taxes.

This was the case in the Mongol and Yuan Dynasties, and Zhu Yuanzhang copied it as it was after establishing the Ming Dynasty, and it was also for this purpose.

Under this system, craftsmen not only have to be craftsmen from generation to generation, but also work for the government for three months every year.

During this period, there was no wages, and the government only provided a small amount of salt and grain.

If the food can make people full, it is actually okay.The key is that officials at all levels have worked hard to treat these free labors as private property, and try their best to get money from them.

Therefore, in the craftsman household system of the Ming Dynasty, there were basically many escapes when Lao Zhu was alive. After Zhu Di, fleeing became common, and no one wanted to work for the court anymore.

After a few days of observation and combined with the teachings of the three masters, Zhu Yunxi finally had a certain understanding of the craftsman household system in the Ming Dynasty.

It only took Zhu Yunxi one afternoon to write the note to Grandpa Huang.In the evening, I showed it to the three masters. After reading it, the three masters first praised him severely, and then began to criticize him for an hour.

"Third Emperor's grandson, if you write a letter to His Majesty, don't make drastic changes."

"Your Majesty is old now, and he doesn't like big movements, so he can only accept minor adjustments."

"For example, you can change the suggestion of dismantling the original supervision, bureau, and workshop to building another branch factory next to the original site to implement a new business model, and the original everything will remain the same!"

"This will minimize His Majesty's resentment."

"The banning of the artisan crop rotation system also needs to be amended. This is the foundation of the Ming Dynasty's artisan household system. If you change it now, His Majesty will definitely not like it, and will even call you back directly..."

"There is also the matter of giving wages to the craftsmen. Let's replace it with food and salt. Giving money directly is too eye-catching, and it is easy for officials from other prefectures and counties to write letters of impeachment."

"If the craftsmen in other prefectures and counties also demand the same, if they don't work without paying, it will cause a lot of trouble."

"and also……"

"and also……"

Zhu Yunxi listened quite seriously at first, but after hearing more than a dozen "and", he immediately became angry.

He only wrote five articles in total, and they overturned all of them, why don't they come up and step on them a few times!

"Three masters, why don't you write it for me, and I will copy it according to yours!"

When the three of them heard what Zhu Yunxi said, they smiled embarrassedly.

"Three emperors don't need to worry about it. In fact, you have a few good suggestions. The angle is very unique and the ideas are novel. It's just a little thoughtless and didn't consider the overall situation..."

Zhu Yunxi rolled his eyes when he heard the words, and said in his heart, I believe in your ghosts.

"Then trouble the three gentlemen to draw up a copy for me!"

"it is good!"

The three of them received this request, and hurriedly racked their brains to polish, adjust, and modify it, and then the three of them fought.

"Qin Hengbo, you idiot whose brain has been broken from cultivating immortality, how can you write like this here!"

"You scum who wrote pornographic storybooks still have the face to criticize me, look at what you wrote, the life of a craftsman is already miserable, and you cut off so much salary because you are afraid of others complaining!"

Seeing that the two were arguing hard, Gao Ming hurried forward to comfort them.

"Why bother, we are all planning for the grandson of the Three Emperors, how can we quarrel over trivial matters?"

Not only did they not appreciate Gao Ming's persuasion, they turned their guns and fired at Gao Ming in unison.

"Don't talk!"

"The two of us are arguing about trivial things. Look at what you wrote, and you directly rejected Daming's artisan household system. Are you trying to kill the third grandson?"

"I……"

Zhu Yunxi saw that the three of them would not be able to finish arguing for a while, so he hid aside and revised it by himself.He combined the shortcomings raised by the three, and combined some vague concepts in his mind to write a new version.

After the new edition was finished, Zhu Yunxi put it in his sleeve directly, but he didn't dare to show it to three people.

These three people are like the prostitutes of the later generations, staring at the two eyes will only pick faults, if you really give them the "pen" to write, but Mao can't even write, pure mouth strong king.

The three of them quarreled until midnight, and suddenly realized that it was very late, so they said goodbye to Zhu Yunxi in embarrassment.

"Keep the Three Emperors waiting for a long time, let's go back and think about it, and I will definitely give you the final version tomorrow morning!"

Zhu Yunxi comforted them politely.

"The three masters have worked hard, get a good night's sleep when you go back, and don't worry about the emperor's instructions!"

"Ugh……"

The three of them hid their faces in shame and walked away. They didn't even have the face to sit in the carriage sent by Zhu Yunxie, and walked all the way home.

Early the next morning, the three old men who stayed up all night gave each of Zhu Yunxi a version, and then hid aside and closed their eyes to rest their minds.

When Zhu Yunxi saw this posture, he knew that none of the three of them could persuade the other, so they had to write one each, and then gave themselves the right to choose.

Zhu Yunxi casually opened it and looked at it. He had to admit that the three of them were all great talents, and any one he picked out was better than himself.

but!

He decided not to use any of them, but to use his poor version!

"Three great talents, I really don't know how to choose..."

The three old men who sat sulking couldn't help feeling a little bit better when they heard this.

"Third Emperor's grandson, none of us can convince anyone now, you judge for us who writes the best report!"

Zhu Yunxi sighed in his heart when he heard the words, it really is Wen Wu No. [-], no matter who he chooses, he will definitely offend the other two.

"It's all good, it's all good..."

"You must choose one!"

"Is it okay not to choose?"

"no!"

"Then I choose Su Daqiang!"

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(End of this chapter)