Uncle Lai in the Red Chamber

Chapter 244 Planning
The palace, the imperial study.

"Your Majesty, Lai Shangrong, pays homage to your Majesty!"

"Lai Aiqing, please be free!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

"I have called you here because I want to increase your burden. If you want to attack the target first, you must sharpen your weapon first. I have already seen the iron tools you smelted in the firearms factory. They are stronger in terms of sharpness and durability. Produced by the Salt and Iron Department. I plan to let you concurrently serve as the director of the Salt and Iron Department."

The emperor's reward for him was just an introduction, but the purpose was still to entrust him with important tasks.

Ancient times were an agricultural society. Without the assistance of modern machinery, agriculture relied entirely on manpower and livestock. The demand for high-quality agricultural tools was particularly prominent.

Although the emperor may not understand how to farm, there are still knowledgeable people in the court who understand the pros and cons.

"I am deeply grateful to have gained His Majesty's trust, and I will do my best to repay His Majesty's favor!"

Lai Shangrong hurriedly knelt down and saluted, thinking to himself, just do your best, and the latter sentence was omitted.

Emperor Zhenglong raised his hand in vain and said with a smile: "Get up! The appointment of the staff will be issued soon. You should go back and prepare well!"

"I have one more thing to ask for, and I hope your Majesty will grant it!"

"Oh? Come and listen!"

"The Salt and Iron Department covers the domestic smelting, tea, and porcelain industries, and is also the main income from foreign trade between our country and Western Yi. I believe that the smelting, tea, porcelain, and float glass and rubber processes of the state-owned department must be kept confidential. The Western Yi are so ambitious that they must set up a dedicated department to prevent them from stealing the craftsmanship of the country."

Lai Shangrong has never forgotten the theft of porcelain and silk technology in his previous life.

There has been no news from King Zhongshun and Uncle Tian Guo, but now he is about to take over the Salt and Iron Division, which gives him a reasonable reason.

The resources needed to develop industry are huge. Lai Shangrong does not intend to over-exploit the resources in Daxia, so importing them is imperative.

Currently, silk, porcelain and tea are the three largest sources of foreign trade income. No matter what the considerations are, there can be no surprises.

The same is true for glass and rubber. The processes of float glass and rubber are currently leading.

Of course, Lai Shangrong also had selfish motives. In feudal society, monarchy was supreme, so many loyal ministers and good generals did not end well, let alone him?
When necessary, having a trustworthy team at your disposal is the key to staying alive.

He was not a military commander, so he could not control the army. He could only use confidentiality as an excuse to set up a semi-armed team.

However, as the scale of the factory expands, this team will also grow. If these personnel can be familiar with firearms, they may not be unable to do anything in the future.

The reason why firearms replaced cold weapons did not happen overnight. In the initial stage, the effect was not as good as crossbows.

But the advantage is also very obvious, that is, the threshold is low.

A good archer needs several years of hard work, and on the battlefield, he often loses his accuracy after a few shots.

However, firearms have the advantages of short training time and long battery life.

Emperor Zhenglong pondered: "Ai Qing means that the Western Yi people will try to steal our dynasty's technology?"

"I dare not lie. Xiyi started out as pirates. They have a predatory nature in their bones. Under the guise of doing business and preaching, they slaughtered countless people overseas and colonized large areas of land. Now they are approaching our dynasty. The poisonous bodies in the south and Countries such as Johor and Sexiang are living examples.”

This year, the Xiyi fleet approached the coast of the West Sea, which greatly affected Emperor Zhenglong. Although it did not cause any substantial losses, the rescue of Qianxiang Kingdom was really defeated.

"As my beloved, how should I take precautions?"

"I think that security departments should be set up in various factories to guard against internal thieves internally and external enemies externally." Emperor Zhenglong's eyes flashed with a glint and asked: "You mean to set up a department similar to the Jin Yiwei?"

"The Security Section is just a title given by the minister. It is not established separately. Instead, manpower is recruited from each factory, ranging from ten to three to fifty people."

Although he did not see the emperor's expression or eyes, the emperor compared the pickets to the imperial guards, so Lai Shangrong had to treat it with caution.

After hearing the number of people, the emperor's expression softened.

"What Ai Qing said is not unreasonable. You can just report it according to the table. I will give instructions after discussing with the elders."

"Yes! Your Majesty!"

"Have you moved into the house I gave you?"

"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. I moved in last night."

"Oh!" Emperor Zhenglong smiled and said, "That's good, you can go down first!"

After leaving the palace, Lai Shangrong breathed a long sigh of relief.

He changed his ways and got a semi-armed one. In the name of protection, of course he had to do some military training. He had already thought about the candidates for training. When Qin Zhong got familiar with the business in Shenji Camp, he transferred him back to the state-run camp. Department, specifically responsible for security affairs.

Of course, the ideological construction work of the security department personnel must also be improved. He cannot guarantee how long he can work in the state-owned department.

In fact, he had already begun to implement the plan to win over people's hearts. Building dormitories and establishing a staff school were two of them.

I believe workers who live in dormitories with heating systems will experience this firsthand this winter.

In the future, he also plans to publish the Workers' Weekly and read the newspaper regularly to make up for the shortcomings.

Of course, it must be under the banner of academic exchange.

But for now, we still have to wait for the official appointment and the emperor's instructions. Taking advantage of this gap, I want to use this month's rest, so as not to be too busy later and have no time to rest.

Seeing that it was still early, he went to the firearms factory. The emperor asked him to concurrently serve as the Salt and Iron Department, with the main purpose of improving smelting technology.

The steel produced in the firearms factory was completed under his own guidance by Wu Qinian and Jiang Maocai. They were originally from the Salt and Iron Department, so they naturally had to be brought over to guide the work.

"My lord, what you are saying is that you are going to work in the Salt and Iron Department?"

"It's a part-time job. The emperor did not let me leave the state-owned department and the firearms factory. You may have to work harder at that time and accompany me on both ends."

The two of them said with joy on their faces: "Being able to share your worries for your Excellency is a blessing for this humble position."

He was originally a craftsman at the bottom of the Salt and Iron Department. He was excluded and transferred to the State-owned Department. Now he has become a ninth-grade official. Returning to the Salt and Iron Department again can be said to be a glorious return to his hometown.

"How is the progress of the stainless steel I asked you to develop?"

"The two humble men have indeed extracted a metal called nickel from gabbro and granite according to your Lord's instructions, but they are still accumulating the stock."

Lai Shangrong originally didn't know much about nickel, but before the time travel, the price of nickel increased due to the war between Da Mao and Er Mao. He accidentally saw the news and paid attention to its uses and other related information.

He told the two of them to make an overall plan for the improvement of the Salt and Iron Department in advance so as not to be caught off guard. He then returned to the State-Owned Department and completed the rest procedures.

(End of this chapter)