Great Qing Dynasty talker

Chapter 154 Master Kun, the lady is waiting for you in the backyard.

Li Yu has been very tired recently. He has endless briefings and account books every day.

Du Ren is guarding Changxing County, which is too important to transfer him back.Fan Jing worked as a pawnbroker in Wuxian County and had a prosperous career, but it was not suitable for him to be transferred back.

The two of them were the most suitable candidates for the general manager, and they were good at materials, scheduling, and production.

Liu Wu stayed on the boat every day and trained with the warship in Taihu Lake.

Lin Huaisheng supervises the Musketeers' training every day, and provides food and accommodation at the training ground.

Liu Qian was like a fox, hiding in no corner.

There are also a bunch of other subordinates, all of whom are partial to military attachés and do not understand civil affairs.

The only person she can rely on is Yang Yunjiao.But there were many things that she couldn't make the decision about.

Therefore, Li Yu could only grit his teeth and persist.

"Changxing Cement Plant has been officially put into operation for half a month. It is estimated that the output this month will be 20 jins?"

"Not enough, far from enough."

Li Yu thought to himself that one bag of cement weighs about a hundred kilograms.

20 pounds sounds scary, but it’s actually just 2000 bags.

……

"Master, do you want to build a city with cement?"

"No, it's to build a small fortress."

Li Yu hesitated for a moment and then told her.

"According to my research during this period, the ultra-thick walls of traditional city walls made of blue bricks and rammed earth are irreplaceable and very resistant to damage. Therefore, in terms of city building, the crenellations can be reinforced with cement, but the city walls do not need to be changed."

"The servant understands."

"I said, you write. The scale of the cement plant is far from enough. This industry has no technical content and is an industry that consumes extremely manpower and resources. When you invest heavily, hire more manpower, and increase the output by at least five times."

"Changxing County Government asked, how to explain?"

"It's said to be materials for building embankments for the Hedao Yamen."

"Mr. Du also mentioned one more thing."

Yang Yunjiao suddenly froze and hesitated.
"what happened?"

"Mr. Du said that Liu Akun and Miss Zhen might have an affair."

Li Yu was stunned for a long time and then uttered a curse word.

Mrs. Zhen now has a husband, who is a guerrilla in the Changxing camp.

Liu Akun, a good guy, has put a hat on others, I'm afraid he is not trying to cause trouble.

"Tell Du Ren to reward A Kun with 50 military sticks and clean up this matter."

At this time, Liu Akun tiptoed into a house.

When the two maids saw his guilty look, they covered their mouths and smiled.

He quickly bolted the door and said softly:
"Master Kun, the lady is in the backyard."

"oh oh."

Liu Akun took off his waist knife and threw it to a maid.

Duang,

The maid was hit and fell to the ground crying.There was a big bump on his forehead and he was bleeding.

"Oh, I thought I was in the military camp."

Liu Akun rubbed his hands in embarrassment, hesitating whether to grab a handful of ashes from the ground to help stop the bleeding.

Mrs. Zhen came out after hearing the commotion and pulled out a hairpin:
"Go find a doctor. I'll reward you."

"It doesn't hurt at all, slave."

The maid happily took the hairpin and walked away briskly.This hairpin is worth at least 50 taels of silver.

Zhen looked at Liu Akun and smiled: "Look at you, why are you so reckless?"

"Hey, hey hey hey."

"I wanted to completely break up with you, but it's a pity that I~"

Hey, Mrs. Zhen sighed quietly, that little appearance is so cute.

However, Liu Akun is stupid and doesn't know how to comfort people.

"Damn it, what are you waiting for?"

evening,

In the carriage, Mrs. Zhen opened the curtain and looked at the night.

I feel my conscience and say that I don’t want to maintain this bad relationship~
But, it's like a private car.

If you are used to driving 2.5 and then driving 1.2, you will feel that something is wrong, and you always suspect that there is a mechanical failure.

One foot is deep and the other is shallow, making people dizzy.

……

Xishan Gun Factory,
Thanks to the efforts of Zhang Tiejiang and his son, as well as a group of craftsmen, production capacity has continued to expand.

As the saying goes, "It is better to teach a man to fish than to teach him to fish."

Using this set of machine tools, more simple machine tools were manufactured.

Although, the accuracy and efficiency are slightly inferior.But it solves a problem of mass production.

A big step has been taken!

Father Zhang happily explained:

"The main body of the machine tool is made of southern ironwood. This wood is comparable to pig iron and extremely strong."

"Others are made of cast iron, which is wear-resistant and not easily deformed."

"Drill bits are the most troublesome. They are made of hard steel under the supervision of Lao Chen himself. The wear rate is too fast. Dozens of them are scrapped a day."

Li Yu stared at this simple machine tool and happily rewarded all the craftsmen who participated, ranging from 100 taels to 5 taels.

"Over there is the newly built workshop where these machine tools are placed."

“What are these powered by?”

"Originally we wanted to use water power, but it's not convenient here on Xishan Island. We can only rely on manpower."

"Can you carry it?"

"It has a simple gear transmission, which is a bit slow, but it can drill the gun barrel."

"That's good."

……

Li Yu picked up a newly made flintlock gun. It was visible to the naked eye that the workmanship was slightly worse, but it did not affect its use.

He opened the hammer and pulled the trigger. There was a click and sparks flashed out.

"This is the batch of flints Mr. Du sent from Changxing."

"How does it compare with the flint we purchased for a large sum of money?"

Li Xiaowu, who had been following behind, immediately answered: "I tried it with a few brothers. The purchased one can be used 30 times. Changxing flint must be replaced after 20 times."

Li Yu nodded, this shortcoming is acceptable.

The ignition life of 20 times can support a battle.

He tried the process of changing flint, and it was quite fast.
It is thick in the middle and thin on both sides, sandwiched between the steel sheets of the crane's mouth.

However, the size and thickness of the flint need to be considered, otherwise it will be impossible to produce sparks.

"Find some women and children and train them intensively to process flint."

"As ordered."

The stones sent from Changxing are all rough and need to be processed before they can become usable gun flints.

The use of flintlock guns is also quite cumbersome.

But the biggest advantage over matchlocks is that there is no open flame, and the spearmen can line up closely next to each other to increase the density of firepower.

If the matchlocks were placed so close together, they might ignite the gunpowder bags of the teammates next to them.

……

Military uniforms, boots, and 2000 sets have been piled up in the warehouse.

The portable vehicle is still under design.Gunpowder, lead bullets, flint, lard, and simple repair tools need to be considered.

Recently there is another serious production task, bayonets!

To be precise, it is a three-edged bayonet with a blade length of 50 cm.

Many musketeers unanimously hope to be equipped with melee weapons.

Large-scale operations can be coordinated by cold weapon legions.

But what about small-scale encounters?
As soon as the musket is fired, the enemy is likely to be in front of you.If there is a bayonet on the gun, you will have confidence.

Fixing the bayonet is a difficult problem and involves processing technology.

The tenon can't be counted on for the time being, so we adopted a compromise method.

The ring fits over the barrel, and the bayonet end is flat and wedged nicely into the wooden frame.

There is a round hole in the tail, and a corresponding hole is drilled in the gun body, and iron nails are driven in to fix it.

The advantage is that the bayonet is firmly fixed, but the disadvantage is that it is troublesome.

Xishan Gun Factory does not support idle people, and there is constant noise from morning to night.

Father Zhang often inspects his business with satisfaction, holding his hands behind his back.

There are workshops stretching for 1 mile in the valley, as well as many supporting workshops outside, which gives a great sense of accomplishment.

He often said to the craftsmen below:
"You only have three-legged cat skills. Fortunately, you have caught up with the good times and rely on machine tools for everything."

"If you leave it to my apprenticeship, the master can break his arm."

……

He picked up a freshly finished bayonet from the wooden box,

Looking at the knife marks on the surface, he shook his head:
"It's too rough."

"Dad, Master Li said there is no need to be too precise. Weapons are all consumables on the battlefield."

"That's what I say, but my many years of craftsmanship do not allow me to praise such craftsmanship."

Zhang Manku glanced at his mouth and felt quite disapproving, but still asked:
"Master Li said that he purchased 5 kilograms of finished steel from the south. When will it arrive?"

"It should arrive next month."

"How did you transport so much steel?"

"This is confidential, you shouldn't pry."

Father Zhang's arrogant tone angered his son.

Zhang Manku couldn't help but tease: "You act like you know everything."

Father Zhang held his head proudly and smiled:

"Boy, your level is not high enough. I know a lot of secrets."

"Then tell me? Many people say that Mr. Li has a navy in the East China Sea. Is it true?"

"No comment."

Xiao Zhang was really angry and asked:
"Am I still going to reveal secrets?"

"You are still young and you don't know what to say. What if you brag to others and tell secrets?"

"What's wrong with being young? Mr. Li is not very old either~"

Father Zhang suddenly stood up and slapped his son:

"What nonsense are you talking about? Can you compare to Mr. Li?"

Zhang Manku was beaten so hard that he staggered and became dumbfounded.

Looking at his father, he stared at himself seriously:

"If Mr. Li wins the world, our old Zhang family will be indispensable for a Minister of Industry."

"Watch your mouth, we are craftsmen, do more work! Talk less!"

……

On the side of Xishan Island, Li Ergou and several teenagers of similar age were shooting targets.

The flintlock guns in their hands are somewhat special.

The caliber of the gun barrel is obviously much smaller, but the length has increased a lot.

Notched sights are also more refined.

The position of the flintlock bolt has also been adjusted so that it does not affect the line of sight at all.

Pulled through the rifling, still using expanding Mini bullets.

This is a batch of guns specially made by Xishan Gun Factory and is called "Lee's Type IV Scatter Gun".

Compared with ordinary muskets, the accuracy is much better. 150 meters, the landing point is almost guaranteed to be at the trunk position.

Bang, another shot.

The wine jar in the distance immediately shattered.

"Yes, if you want to assassinate Fukangan, are you sure?"

"Don't worry, foster father, I can issue a military order. When will I do it?"

"hold on."

Li Yu waved his hand and motioned for the others to continue training.
Two days ago, Liu Qian found a commanding height near Daoqian Street, a library of a large family.

If you are on the top of the building, you can just see the courtyard inside the governor's office.

When entering or leaving Fukang'an, you must pass through this courtyard.

The distance is about 100 meters, and it can be used as one of the assassination plans when necessary.

……

A close family member of Fucheng came and brought a handwritten secret letter, which he burned after reading it.

Li Yu was surprised.

It turns out that there are also undercurrents surging in Guangdong, which is very uneven.

In the Heaven and Earth Society, there were also conflicts between natives and guests, and they were beaten and killed.

No wonder the princes from Chaozhou Prefecture came to buy dozens of muskets from time to time, paying with silver, saltpetre, and brass.

If it weren't for Li Shiyao, the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, who was ruthless and good at dividing and coaxing, there would have been a huge thief in Guangdong and Guangxi long ago.

He even began to allow the villagers who were close to the government to organize team training.

In fact, the Qing government had some strategies, but Li Yu was not aware of them.

The Qing court had a clear positioning for the 18 provinces of Han Dynasty.

North of the Huaihe River is the absolute core area, and large-scale associations and gangs will never be allowed to appear.

Any signs of resistance must be stamped out immediately.

This is an official task, regardless of costs or reasons.If local officials fail to perform the duties well, they will be dismissed, demoted, or even beheaded.

As for the Jiangnan area in a broad sense (southern Jiangsu and Anhui, and northern Zhejiang and Jiangxi), peace must be maintained and there must be no military disasters.

Because this is the court's money bag.The assessment of local officials' money and food is extremely strict.

……

And further south, such as Fujian and Guangdong and Guangxi.

It belongs to the "rebellious and disobedient to the king" area in the eyes of the Qing court, and the requirements are relatively low.

It only requires absolute control of important cities such as Guangzhou, Zhaoqing, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Wuzhou, etc.
In other places, as long as you still hang the flag of the Qing Dynasty and pay the money and food on time, there will be no more requirements.

Therefore, in the Guangdong and Guangxi areas, clans and societies are very powerful.

The magistrates would not interfere too much and were unable to interfere.

Li Shiyao is a young man from an aristocratic family who has mastered the essence of being an official.

On the one hand, there was no shortage of money and food turned over to the court.On the other hand, they often kill chickens to scare the monkeys.

With the absolute advantage of the flag soldiers and the green battalion, equipped with sufficient artillery, they destroyed the disobedient village.

When you break in, it will be a brutal massacre, and the well will be buried for you.

Only then did he gain the reputation of "Li Beheading" on the border between Guangdong and Guangxi.

Speaking of which, he and Li Yu are a good match, one in the south and one in the north, two "Lis of Hell".

Seeing Li Yu put down the letter and raised his head,

The family member said:
"My young master said that the weaving competition in Suzhou is fierce. We met a strong opponent, a descendant of the Fucha family in the capital. He has a lot of money and a lot of connections."

"Fukangan is the Fucha family, right?"

"Master Li is right. There is another big thing. My master raided Yihe Xingwu's house and sent all the money to the capital."

Li Yu was startled, thinking that his sworn brother was a bit ruthless.

Just as Yihe Xingwujia was about to take off, his wings were broken by him.

……

"Were the Wu family members killed?"

"Three brothers from the Wu family killed two of them for the crime of treason. There were also five shopkeepers and more than a dozen clerks. They couldn't be said to have been uprooted, at least they were dying."

"Oh, why not kill the remaining one?"

The family members trembled in their hearts, thinking to themselves that they were indeed sworn brothers, they were all ruthless people.

The answer is more careful:

"Back to Mr. Li, the remaining man named Wu reacted quickly and ran very fast. He quickly reached the residence of the garrison general in Guangzhou and couldn't come out."

"Oh, that's fine."

Out of the wolf's den and into the tiger's mouth.

If Chaozhou Pass supervises people to kill people and make money, wouldn’t the Guangzhou generals with military power not do the same?
Once you find out the details, you can close the door and beat the dog, make a small fortune, and you don't need to take responsibility.

Anyway, it was you, the Chaozhou Customs Supervisor, who took action first.

Li Yu pondered for a moment and asked:
"You gave away the Wu family's property, but you still haven't won a mere piece of Suzhou Weaving?"

"Master He, Master Yu, and even several princes have helped to speak. But Fucha's reputation is so great that the emperor is still hesitant."

"What does your young master mean?"

"My young master is standing on the mountainside now. He can't advance or retreat. I want you to give me some advice?"

"No problem, we are brothers."

The family members breathed a sigh of relief. Fu Cheng helped purchase steel a few days ago and even used personal connections.

At cost price, an iron merchant in Guangzhou was forced to ship the goods.

That's all fine wrought iron and hard steel.

……

"Fucha. Ye Ercan. The current leader of firearms at the Hangzhou Banner Camp. He loves gold and stone. He is simple and kind-hearted. He doesn't like military affairs."

Li Yu looked at this person's profile and was a little surprised. The Fucha family was famous for being loyal and capable.

It must be a headache to have such an unfilial son.

In terms of kinship, he is Fukang'an's eldest cousin, which is a bit interesting.

If cousins ​​live in the same city and one is a governor and the other a weaver, this is against the rules.

"You go back and ask Fucheng to express his loyalty, and at the same time impeach Ye Ercan for his ideological problems, advocating rule by inaction, and sympathy for the Han people. Again, Jiangsu belongs to the Qing Dynasty, not his Fucha family."

"what?"

"Also, let me write to all the adults who have collected money. Even if you can't get involved in Suzhou weaving, you should at least come to Hushu Chaoguan to supervise. If we brothers join forces, there will be no difficulties in Suzhou City."

"Yes Yes."

"I'm writing a letter now, and you tell Fucheng to do it immediately."

"Anything else?"

"Tell Fucheng that I miss him."

10 days later,

When Fucheng heard this simple sentence, he choked up.

The most touching words in the world are often the simplest spoken words.

An old lover's words, "Hi, are you ok?" can bring about red eyes and speechless choking.

As the saying goes, you can't say goodbye with a red face, at least you have to have red eyes.

Fucheng and his father discussed it for a while and decided to do it, lose face and have sex with the Fucha family!
You, the Fucha family, are noble, so how can I, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, not be noble?

A slave can occasionally ride on his master.

If you don't have some arrogant dreams in life, what's the difference between being a salted fish?

……

Suzhou Prefecture has begun to officially supervise the management of this year's money and grain.

The treasury was empty, but in exchange it was the emperor's encouragement.

Land taxes and miscellaneous taxes of the Qing court were levied twice a year according to regulations.It is called "spring dial" and "autumn dial". The spring dial can only be obtained before the third month of the lunar calendar, and the autumn dial can only be obtained before the ninth month of the lunar calendar.

Huang Wenyun was filled with murderous intent and slapped the table in front of officials of the eighth grade and above from the 1 prefecture and 9 counties:

"Whoever cannot complete the task, I will take the top of him."

"I heard you all clearly, this time I won't be merciful."

"All the money received will be transported and nothing will be retained."

Everyone was in an uproar,

Zhu Gui was also present.Without saying a word, this is an attitude, support!
The annual taxes are sent to the head of the Ministry of Household Affairs, which is called "Qi Yun".The small portion intercepted locally is called "retention".

The ratio is about 8% for the imperial court and 2% for local governments.

Now Huang Wenyun has expressed his stance not to keep it.

This means that the officials in Suzhou Prefecture will have a hard time in the first half of the year.

Of course, that’s just what we say.

No one should suffer, but the old man should not suffer.

With salaries and government funds gone, we have to figure out our own solutions.

Huang Wenyun won't say it explicitly, but everyone knows it well. The eight immortals cross the sea and each show their magical powers.

Just like that night, Zhang Youdao, the magistrate of Yuanhe County, mentioned a specific number.

Then, within 1 month.

This amount of money will appear in the county government treasury.

As a mature local official, he only looks at the results, not the process or methods.

If you do everything by yourself, your subordinates will laugh at you.

……

(End of this chapter)