Daming Crazy Emperor

Chapter 258 Skill Competition

The cold wind is blowing, the snow is falling, and the winter in the northern country is coming ahead of schedule.

The winter in the Little Ice Age was really not so cold. The Taiye Pool, which was supposed to freeze around the New Year’s Eve, was covered with thick ice early. The moat and Tonghui River were frozen long ago. The North Canal and The Haihe River is also impassable.

At this time, the boat must not be able to take it. Originally, the journey from the capital to Tianjin Sanwei was less than [-] miles, and it was impossible to arrive within two or three hours, because there were no cars or trains at the moment.

Moreover, ordinary people simply can't stand horse racing in such a severe cold environment.

However, Taichang still spent nearly two days in a carriage to reach Wubei City.

There is no way, Wubei City is too important to Daming, he can't rest assured if he doesn't visit it for a few days!

At this moment, the more than ten grid cities in Wubei City have begun to take shape, and the walls of the city walls have almost been completed, but most of the arrow stacks and gate towers on the top have not yet started to be built. As for the grid cities, most of them have only been built. Many workshops have not been built yet.

Officials from the Ministry of Industry such as Bi Maokang, Wang Zheng, and Sun Yuanhua supervised the work here day and night. They didn't know that they hadn't returned to Beijing for several months.

When the three of them heard that the emperor was coming, they naturally greeted them out of Gecheng in a hurry.

After paying respects to the monarch and his ministers, Taichang greeted the three of them to get into his carriage and enter the outermost grid city.

This is the last grid city to be built. Except for the residences of the craftsmen, the buildings in the city have almost been built, and the other buildings such as factories, warehouses, and workshops have almost just started construction and are still far away from completion.

At this time, in order to catch up with the progress, officials from the Ministry of Industry such as Bi Maokang, Wang Zheng, and Sun Yuanhua could no longer take care of so many.

Although the weather was cold, all the construction sites did not stop working. A group of craftsmen and soldiers of the Fifth Army Battalion were still working in full swing. There were dense figures everywhere on the construction sites. Many people's cheeks were already flushed with cold, but they were still there. busy.

Taichang raised the thick curtains to look at it for a while, and couldn't help but sigh slightly: "Meng Hou, it's so cold, it can't be done, stop all the work outside, don't freeze everyone."

Hearing this, Bi Maokang quickly cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, it's extremely cold outside Gecheng, but it's better inside Gecheng, because Gecheng is small and the city walls are high, and the wind inside is not very strong, but it's not too cold." It’s so cold that no one can go out.”

This guy still wants to do it!
Taichang shook his head and sighed: "Forget it, Menghou, nothing can be done overnight, especially the construction of a city, there is no need to hurry. Besides, people are not machines, and they can't keep working. When it's time to rest We need to rest. Let people stop all outside work tomorrow, and the soldiers of the Fifth Army Battalion have been out of Beijing for so long, let them go back to Beijing to reunite with their families tomorrow."

Hearing this, Bi Maokang could only cup his hands helplessly and said, "My minister complies with the order."

The carriage passed through the city gates one by one non-stop, and every grid city was full of people, a busy scene, and there were more and more buildings in the city, and they became more and more complete.

Taichang looked at it for a while, and then asked: "How is it? How many craftsmen have been transferred in the past few months? If all the more than ten grid cities and factories are completed, will there be enough manpower?"

After hearing the words, Bi Maokang estimated for a while, and then slowly said: "Almost all the relevant craftsmen from Beizhili and Nanzhili have been mobilized, there are probably more than 90 households, including their family members, there are about eight [-] people.

As for the artisans in the other thirteen provinces, Weichen has not yet started recruiting, because most of the artisans with better skills are concentrated in the northern and southern capitals to make a living, and even if they are recruited from other places, most of them can only be recruited.

Moreover, most of the craftsmen's work is done by the whole family. With so many people, there must be no shortage of manpower in a dozen factories. "

Taichang nodded slightly, and then said to Wang Zheng: "Liangfu, what happened to the shipyard? Alas, I miscalculated on this matter. No wonder most of the treasure ships were built in the shipyards in Fujian during the Yongle Dynasty. In winter, the river and waterways are frozen, and it will be delayed for several months a year."

Hearing this, Wang Zheng cupped his hands and said, "Don't worry, your majesty, shipbuilding doesn't have to be done on the water, processing all kinds of wood can be done in the shed, and the hull can't be launched until the hull is built. In fact, most of the shipbuilding work is done on the water. What you do before you go into the water is only so much work when you actually get to the water, even if the waterway freezes, it won't delay much time."

Hearing this, Taichang couldn't help but feel relieved: "That's good. If it takes a few months of delay a year, it's really better to build the shipyard in Fujian and Guangdong, where the water never freezes."

At this time, the carriage they were riding in did not know how many city gates passed through, and seeing that they were about to reach the last few grid cities, Sun Yuanhua couldn't help asking: "Your Majesty, why don't you go to the Cannon Factory? It will be the warmest in the Cannon Foundry for a while."

Hearing this, Taichang thought for a while, then nodded slightly and said: "All right, let's go to the Cannon Factory to have a look."

He went in and took a look at the Cannon Foundry when it was just completed. At that time, there were not many craftsmen in it, and the production of artillery was not high. It could cast hundreds of Thunder God cannons of five hundred catties in a month. Check the guarantee The needs of the shipyard.

How is the cannon foundry now?
Taichang led everyone into the steaming foundry workshop to have a look, good guy, there are a lot of people in it.

This huge workshop may not be thousands of square meters, but it is crowded to the point where there is almost no space, whether it is around the Shatian or next to the furnace, there are people everywhere.

It seems that the craftsmen who were making clay molds outside seemed to be squeezed in, and they all crowded around the hot furnace to keep warm and work.

As soon as the group of them walked in, almost all the craftsmen stopped their work and prepared to salute.

Seeing this, Taichang quickly raised his hand to signal everyone to continue working.

He looked at it carefully for a while, and then asked with great interest: "How is it, Chuyang, how many Thor cannons can the Cannon Factory produce in a month?"

Sun Yuanhua hastily cupped his hands and said: "At the moment, the Cannon Foundry mainly casts the [-]-jin medium-sized Thunder God cannon, because both the Spike and Dragon Fang warships are used.

We also came here based on the needs of the shipyard. At this moment, the Cannon Foundry can probably cast three hundred medium-sized Thor cannons of five hundred catties a month.

As for the [-]-jin small Thor cannon and the [-]-jin large Thor cannon, not many were built, and the total amount was about [-] a month.

Your Majesty, what do you think of the output? If it is not enough, I can build a few more workshops and recruit more manpower. Anyway, there are still many open spaces in this city. "

About [-] doors a month, nearly [-] doors a year, the output is basically the same, at least it is almost the same before the output of the shipyard increases.

Taichang shook his head slightly and said, "It's enough for now, don't rush to expand."

At this time, Bi Maokang looked at the bustling scene in the casting workshop, and suddenly thought of a question.

He couldn't help but cupped his hands and asked, "Your majesty, you said that all the work outside will be stopped tomorrow, and most of the craftsmen will have nothing to do. I'm afraid that hundreds of thousands of craftsmen will be idle this time, and the current factory building There are not many people who have completed the work, even if they are allowed to squeeze in to help, they will not be able to squeeze so many people. What about the remaining people? Let them rest for a few months? How will the wages be calculated? Do you want to pay them? "

This is a problem.

Taichang frowned slightly as he looked at the skilled but humble craftsmen.

Scholars, farmers, businessmen, and merchants originally belonged to craftsmen, whose status was low.

Now the status of merchants is slowly rising, and the status of craftsmen may become the lowest.

These craftsmen are the foundation of the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty, and they must find a way to improve their status.

Taichang frowned and pondered for a while, then suddenly had an idea: "How about a skill competition?"

Competition of skills?
Bi Maokang was a little confused and said: "Your Majesty, what is the meaning of this skill competition?"

Taichang smiled and explained: "It is to compare their professional skills according to the types of craftsmen. For example, those who make clay molds can make them faster and better than anyone else. For example, carpenters can specify a few commonly used furniture or objects. , Let’s see who can do it faster and better.”

Oh, that's what it means.

Bi Maokang couldn't help but nodded slowly, "I understand."

In fact, he didn't fully understand it yet.

The reason why Taichang thought of skill competition was not just to let craftsmen compare their skills better, but he wanted to use this to change the status of craftsmen.

(End of this chapter)