Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 1483 Spy
The temperature in the drying room was not low, and sweat seeped out from the Marquis' curly hair again.He looked at the rows of cannonballs on the wooden shelf, with a thoughtful expression on his face, as if he was muttering to himself: "Count Tilly fires [-] cannonballs to Magdeburg every day. So it took him five months to bring the city down. All of Bavaria and Genoa and Venice melted all the iron and lead, and all the foundries were busy casting cannon balls for his army."

"If he had the cannon and shells you see now, it would take only one-twentieth of the shells to destroy the heretics' defenses, probably in a day." Hale bowed humbly, and finished playing the fanatical A scientific genius, he returned to the role of a calm and pious priest: "It is my highest honor to serve the cause of the Lord."

"You're a little impatient, Marcos," until he watched the large paddle boat that the Marquis and his party were on unmoor and set sail along the Pasig River to Manila downstream.Hale boarded the carriage and taught the sailors of the smuggling ship who followed him, "Those elm-headed fools who can't figure out how to work deserve it. But you will give my guests the wrong impression. They've come here to see a factory like they've never seen before, where everything is in order; not a manor where some overseer can kill a slave at will, which is all over the colony, not new, Worthless."

"I'm so sorry, sir," said Marcos, who stood bewildered until he was dragged into the carriage by Hale, "that kind of shit happens all the time in the factory. I'm afraid when you're going to show the Spaniards the gunpowder factory." Terrific. Luckily, they were out of their minds and didn't go."

"What happened to the gunpowder factory? Did something happen to the Lei Mercury House?"

"No, your students have managed it very well. It's the grinding workshop, and a fire broke out in a mixing drum. Fortunately, according to your instructions, the humidifying pipe for mixing powder was connected to the fire hose, and it was quickly The fire was extinguished, but there was no explosion. Four people were injured, one was hit on the head by a fallen tube stand, and the doctor thought it was possible to save. The other three were seriously burned, I'm afraid-"

"Perhaps I'll be in time to anoint 'em." Hale sounded like he was saying, "Tomorrow's Friday, make me fish soup for dinner."

"What about the other bad news? Where else did people die?"

"A manual punching machine was damaged in the pyrotechnics workshop. The worker who caused the accident has been dealt with according to your regulations. Mr. Gebser is losing his temper and complaining that the workers assigned to him are stupid as hell. They are all uncivilized savages. Fuze The passing rate of the random test has increased a bit compared to last month, and [-]% of them can effectively get angry."

"Tell that German guy who doesn't take a bath that paying him the highest wages in the factory is not just to sell his skills. If he can't teach his apprentices well, I will punish him myself. What do I need most now? Knowing technology A talent like you is more precious than any gold gem. Marcos, I will never find another one like you."

Marcos felt coy about the compliment: "No, sir—in fact, I didn't even finish high school—"

"At least you went to secondary school, Marcos, which is remarkable in the times we live in. I don't know why fate has brought us here, but I know that your education in the past is enough to disdain the most profound Spanish today. You can read, write, and calculate, understand the principles of cost and efficiency, know statistical data, and understand the formulas and process flow charts I wrote to you. What else can I expect? Yes, I accepted A few students, very smart, but I have to teach them little by little from the decimal point and the principle of leverage, which is harder than building Rome. Marcos, you are my right arm. Without you, who can I rely on? Your compatriots from the 17th century are blinded by religious superstition, see machines as demons, and just kneel on the ground praying that they will not be eaten. As for the Spaniards? Those who only read the Bible and take communion scream all day Heresy executioners, or slackers and idiots who are only interested in making money and producing bastards? Marcos, this is an era where we can rewrite history and do something great. But getting started is tough , you must help me."

After Hale finished speaking, he poked his head out and looked out of the hood, leaving the flattered Fernando Marcos sitting inside in a daze.The Tagalog coachman couldn't understand English, but seeing the priest sticking out of the hood, he lashed his whip several times in fright.

The Japanese mercenaries eat the big pots in the barracks.As for the thousands of workers and coolies, neither Hale nor the colonial government bothered to worry about their food problems, which was beyond the reach of the level of social management in the 17th century.In the end, the food for the factory was contracted by the Chinese managers and clerks of Parian, Huang Jian and Huang Xiang, who volunteered to do the business.Hale originally hoped that they would build a canteen in the factory, but unexpectedly, the gang leader sent by the Huang family was frightened when they heard the row of huge machines making noise and saw the fully loaded gunpowder barrels coming in and out here. He had the guts to refuse to stay in the factory no matter what.The daily food can only be sent to the factory by boat after Parian is ready.If the weather is bad and boats cannot sail on the Bashi River, if you are lucky, you will use a bullock cart to transport dry food. If you are unlucky, all the workers in the factory will have to go hungry.For this matter, Marcos and the Huang brothers argued several times, but they were still unable to persuade them to come to the factory to open a canteen.As for other Chinese contractors, none of them are as strong as these two brothers. They can advance the food expenses of thousands of workers in the factory for a month and can also reduce food poisoning such as diarrhea to the lowest level.

Gimmeade was in the line of food distribution, surrounded by workers who were yelling and cursing in various languages ​​​​because of hunger.It took Weislando a little effort to push him into Huang's food delivery team without attracting others' attention.The soup ladle in his hand didn't stop for a moment, but his eyes kept wandering around the factory.Just as he was looking at the carriage going away, he suddenly heard an old man sent by the Huang family scold: "Young man, don't slip out and dodge your laziness."

The old man was reprimanding the two half-year-old children who came to deliver the meals together. He pointed to the wooden barrels full of rice and soup behind him, and pointed to the casting and forging workshop that was emitting thick smoke in the distance: "Take it here, hurry up!" go."

Jimmy's heart moved. His hair was long enough and his skin was tanned. Except for his stronger body, he couldn't see any difference from any ordinary Chinese in Parian.He conveniently stuffed the soup ladle to a child beside him: "Don't be lazy, young boy." Squeezing out of the crowd, he picked up the pole, picked up the wooden bucket, and walked quickly towards the foundry.

By the time Hale's carriage arrived at the gunpowder factory, the three burned workers had already died.The corpses were covered with straw mats and prepared to be carried to the mass cemetery behind the factory for burial.Casualty accidents have occurred from a few days a day when the factory was first built to a few days now, and people have long been familiar with it.

Worker casualties are far less of Hale's concern than the damage to equipment and buildings.In order to prevent the explosion from affecting the fish in the pond, the gunpowder factory buildings were kept far enough away from other workshops and buildings, and were built on the banks of the San Juan River, more than 1000 meters above the estuary.Because the factory buildings were burned down and rebuilt several times, the outer walls and roofs were made of cheap bamboo strips, and the appearance was very simple.The roof is waterproofed with layers of abaca cloth, coated with wood tar and Cuban resin.But the floor was carefully paved with wooden planks, and every gap was carefully sealed with asphalt to prevent gunpowder particles from falling into it.The neat and tidy floor is now full of water stains and messy footprints here and there. The workers are busy removing the water stains and picking up the oilcloth hoses that were thrown around.

A pile of wreckage remained of the completely burnt wooden mixing cartridges, neatly stacked against a wall near the site.This is the rule in the Manila munitions factory, and no one can dispose of these wreckage without Master Paul's order.The scene that was originally a mess was also recovered from the shock, and the workers basically cleaned it up.

"Is the No. [-] black powder mixed in this tumbler?"

"Yes."

"Water is added to the cylinder when mixing the medicine according to the regulations. Did they forget?"

"It's ridiculous to say that a worker was yelling that he was thirsty, so he pulled out the gutta-percha hose on the humidifier to catch water to drink. The others couldn't wait for him to turn the mixing cartridge directly, and before turning it twice, they caught fire The sulfur powder and charcoal in the barrel next to it were also ignited and burned very quickly. Fortunately, no explosion was triggered."

"Where's the bastard who drank the water, dead or alive?"

"Alive. Some flesh wounds on the head, and a lot of blood."

"When his injury is almost healed, together with the three idiots who are in confinement today, each will receive forty lashes. Execute in public before dinner, and let everyone watch."

After announcing the punishment for violators, Master Paul began to patrol around the workshop again.From time to time, I use Spanish, and sometimes switch to blunt Hokkien to give instructions or reprimand to a nodding foreman.The foremen then turned to shouting at the workers in various dialects.After a while of noise, the ground and the fire hose were quickly cleaned up, the machine made the sound of chugging along with the water wheel, and the workshop gradually resumed working order.

"The No. [-] gunpowder is estimated to be out of production for seven or eight days. It depends on when the woodworking workshop will make a new drum."

Marcos nodded yes.

"Now hurry up to produce No. [-] and No. [-] black powder. This is not entirely a bad thing. Our supply of sulfur is always in short supply. It's better to save some for the time being."

(End of this chapter)