Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 425: Money Must Be Spended in the Right Place
After attending his first cabinet meeting as Prime Minister, Zhang Tingen's decisive side was fully revealed.

The first order issued was to review the implementation of the performance evaluation law introduced earlier. All departments, especially those held by cabinet ministers, must submit the review results as soon as possible.

Officials who are lazy and negligent in their work will be severely punished upon discovery. They will be given a warning or demoted according to the severity of the case. Those who are lazy and negligent in their work will be dismissed from office if they are warned three times, and dismissed from office if they are demoted twice.

Where there is punishment, there is reward. Those who perform well will be given priority for promotion.

What Zhang Tingen said was very clear. Starting from the various government offices in the capital, if there is a problem, find the direct person in charge. If there is a problem with the subordinates, the department leader will have joint liability.

After the previous performance evaluation law was introduced, only some measures were promulgated, and there were no strict requirements for their specific implementation.

Zhang Tingen took real action and sent the contents of the cabinet meeting to the whole country via official reports. He also took the initiative to provide information to newspapers in the capital so that everyone in the capital would know how the performance evaluation system would be implemented and how rewards and punishments would be given.

In fact, the biggest feature of the performance evaluation system is to make things difficult for officials, so that they can get moving and do their jobs well.

But what can I say? Among officials, there are always some lazy or incompetent ones.

Don’t think that the imperial examination system is powerful, which means that there are outstanding government officials. This is a very wrong perception. No matter how smart a person is, without experience, it is difficult for him to make a difference in government affairs.

Zhang Tingen entered a busy state. Seeing that the situation was not good, his good disciple Jia Lian hid in the R&D department and refused to come out. I want to do scientific research. I love scientific research.

You know what, Jia Lian himself didn’t come up with anything interesting, but the technical officials under him were all really good at doing things.

Just look, Zhu Cheng, a person in charge of the Ministry of Industry, worked with a group of craftsmen to improve the processing precision, and based on the model sent by the British, they built a steam engine with improved performance.

Upon hearing the news, Jia Lian rushed to the scene immediately. Before he arrived, he heard the sound of "Kuang Kuang Kuang" and saw from afar a shed with black smoke and steam billowing out of it.

The air was filled with the pungent smell of incompletely burned coal, but Jia Lian did not feel any discomfort. Instead, he felt intoxicated. This was the beginning of industry.

Zhu Cheng walked in with a big stride, holding it in his hand, smiling like a fool. In the noisy environment, he shouted to Jia Lian: "Brother Jia, this thing can rotate continuously, which is much better than human labor."

Jia Lian walked closer to take a closer look. He didn't understand the structure, but he understood the principle. After a round, Jia Lian didn't see anything. He just saw a valve and a blazing fire under the boiler.

This thing is very big. It looks like a small hill. The diameter of the chimney is about 50 centimeters.

Call Zhu Cheng and a few craftsmen out and talk in a quieter place.

"How much horsepower?" Jia Lian asked, and the answer he got was: "What is horsepower?"

Jia Lian…….

"Horsepower is a unit. One horsepower is equivalent to..." Jia Lian explained patiently, but his explanation was in vain because there was no testing tool.

Zhu Cheng didn't mind: "This is easy. We can figure it out later. Now that we have the stuff, where should we use it?"

Jia Lian looked at Zhu Cheng's face, which had several black spots, but he was still smiling like a fool. He couldn't help but sigh in his heart that technology geeks are the driving force for progress.

"For this machine, we first need to find a way to connect it to the machine tools in the workshop, such as milling machines and boring machines. On this basis, we will build another one and send it to the coal mine to pump water."

After Jia Lian's simple arrangements, these people consciously began to work like slaves and excitedly started the next round.

It's not that we haven't thought about using it in textiles, but we don't dare to do it for the time being. The textile industry needs a large number of workers. The output is easy to deal with, just add equipment, but what about cotton? What about the market?

The most famous thing about the Da Zhou Dynasty is the cotton cloth produced in Songjiang. Songjiang cotton cloth requires a large number of workers. What will be the consequences if these workers are replaced by machines?
Jia Lian didn't dare to think about it, so he could only put it aside for now. In addition, the quality of the cotton was not good. There was no long-staple cotton in the local area. This kind of cotton was more suitable for artificial weaving, and it would kill people if it was used on a steam engine.

The Industrial Revolution was good, as productivity was greatly improved. However, with the start of the Industrial Revolution, countless families were affected.

Jia Lian planned to start with wool weaving. He would first arrange personnel to study how to degrease and how to add local cashmere and veil for blending.

He found a dozen craftsmen, assigned them this task, allocated a sum of money, and then Jia Lian began to wait for the results.

It is impossible to do everything by ourselves. Jia Lian is a liberal arts monk, how could he understand these things? It is better to let the craftsmen explore it themselves and just give them a direction. We must believe in the wisdom of the people.

Before Jia Lian could come out of the joy of the steam engine, he was taken to a kiln outside the city by a technical official Liu Chuanchuan. There was more than one kiln here, three in total.

The man pointed at three kilns and said, "Brother Jia, please look, this is the result of my hard work for more than half a year. In the past, I only had the idea, but I didn't have enough money to implement it. Now that I have the funds, I have built three furnaces. According to different formulas, I have carefully studied how to pile materials and how to control the fire. At present, a total of three kinds of plaster have been fired. There are three walls over there. Brother Jia, please take a look at the quality."

Jia Lian was a little confused. I didn't even mention the cement. What did you tell me at the beginning? Oh, I remember now. You said you wanted to make a kind of building material.

Doesn't a converter need to be used to burn cement? I have some impression of that.

Jia Lian felt puzzled, but he followed Liu Chuan to see his masterpiece without saying a word.

There are three walls in total, all made of brick, stone and cement.

Several craftsmen stood in front. After greeting each other, a burly man spat into his hand, picked up a sledgehammer and started swinging it. It was obvious that he was a veteran, his technique and rhythm were very skillful.

After a dull bang, there was a loud crash, and a wall was broken in half, bricks scattered all over the ground, stirring up a cloud of dust.

Liu Chuan was not discouraged and shouted: "Furnace No. 1, the finished product failed."

Then another hammer came down, with an estimated weight of about 20 pounds, and it hit the wall hard. This time the situation was better, the wall did not collapse, but the cracks were serious, many cement blocks fell off, and the wall cracked.

Liu Chuan shouted again: "The No. 2 furnace is still OK, record the results carefully, it should not be enough, continue."

Jia Lian didn't say anything and just watched quietly. After all, it was an experiment, so failure was normal.

The third wall was hammered down again, and this time the situation was obviously much better. The hammer created fine cracks on the wall, which were invisible without careful observation. Turning to the other side, there was no bulge.

"Hit it a few more times, there's a way this time." Liu Chuan shouted excitedly, rubbing his hands excitedly.

The sturdy man swung the hammer and hit the wall three times in a row. Finally, the wall could not hold on any longer. With a loud crash, the upper part of the one-meter-high wall formed a V shape and collapsed.

"Yes, this thing is enough for building walls and hardening roads." This time Jia Lian couldn't help it and shouted excitedly.

Jia Lian knew the cement grade, but he didn't know the exact data. Judging from the strength of the strong man swinging the hammer, he couldn't say how good the cement was. It was no problem to build a bungalow. If he added some steel bars, it would definitely be a two-story building. To put it bluntly, it was better than the prefabricated houses in some modern rural areas.

The only part of the road that is in good condition is the bluestone slabs. You can see it if you go to the city gate. The long-term rutting of vehicles has worn deep grooves on the bluestone slabs.

The gold bricks used in the palace are either made of gold or fired bricks.

Many streets are dirt roads, which is fine on normal days, but a pain when it rains.

"Open more kilns, increase production capacity first, and build a road from the city to the technical school." Jia Lian gave the order directly. Liu Chuan smiled and said, "Where's the money?"

"Deposit the amount of money into the account. This road must be repaired. It must be repaired to the point where people are speechless." Jia Lian's abacus beads fell on the faces of the wealthy people in the capital.

"Also, I will personally pay for the pavement of Ningrong Street, and the drainage needs to be done well. Lord Liu will go and survey it personally. With these two projects, I don't believe they won't be tempted."

"Brother Jia, just wait and see! I promise to do a good job." Liu Chuan patted his chest and promised. Jia Lian smiled and said, "Brother Liu, after finishing these two jobs, you will be worth a Yuanwailang. I said so."

"You are so particular!" Liu Chuan couldn't help but feel deeply moved. Working is one's duty, and if one does a good job, one can get a promotion, which is a pleasant surprise.

You know, he was also a Jinshi among the twenty-year-olds, and he was also a talented person at that time, and a Jinshi of the second class. After more than ten years, he finally became a manager in his early forties. "Nonsense, people who can do their work well don't get promoted, so why should people who can only talk get promoted? I don't think that makes sense."

After finishing the instructions, he inspected the technical school. After a tour, Jia Lian felt quite melancholy. His initial ambition was just a technical school?
It’s all my fault... No, it’s that old fool Ding Lian.

Take it slow, let the technical bureaucrats make money and get promoted first. So, before leaving, Jia Lian announced that bonuses will be distributed tomorrow. Liu Chuan and Zhu Cheng will each receive one thousand silver dollars as a technological innovation award.

The awards given to officials do not count. The participating craftsmen will receive 200 silver dollars or 50 silver dollars based on their contributions. Please prepare a list and submit it as soon as possible so that we can award the prizes tomorrow.

What this means is that Liu Chuan and Zhu Cheng will give as much as they can.

Jia Lian would rather spend the money earned by the R&D Department on technical personnel than hand it over to the Ministry of Revenue.

Otherwise, why do people say Jia Lian is hated? You work hard to make money, and other officials want to have a taste of the soup, but you don't let them. Not only don't let them drink, you don't even let them look at it.

Judging from the current development trend, the R&D Department is a bit like a giant state-owned enterprise, but in this enterprise, Jia Lian has the final say, and the emperor does not care and allows him to "do whatever he wants."

In fact, Jia Lian knew very well that the emperor had been watching Jia Lian doing things, hoping that he could make some noise.

Before leaving get off work, Jia Lian got the list. In addition to the two officials, there were also several craftsmen. Jia Lian gave out bonuses of 3,000 taels at a time, and held a small ceremony right after work. Everyone wore red flowers on their chests and took turns to receive the bonuses. Jia Lian personally handed the bonuses to everyone and gave some encouragement. The group of oxen and horses immediately started to work hard again.

Some people looked at it with envy, but they didn't make any trouble, just walked away quietly. Isn't it just hard work? We are all playing with technology, you are the only one who can do it, right?

Look, looking at the pile of silver dollars, Arang felt so distressed. I have to speed up the process of making the hydrochloric acid soy sauce.

Bi Daoxing looked at the silver and thought of his wife at home complaining that the house was too small. He turned around and went back to study his shrapnel shells. How to make them more powerful? There was also a mortar.

A mortar, not a mortar.

It’s not that Jia Lian had never thought about making a mortar, but there were several technical difficulties, one was the fuse and the other was the propellant.

The key point is the fuse. Without the fuse, talking about metal-integrated shells is just ridiculous.

The mortar can be made, so let's try it out first, and if it doesn't work, we'll continue to improve it.

The key is still the fuse. This thing is difficult to make. Jia Lian doesn't know the working principle, let alone how to process it. He just tells his subordinates what he wants, but there is no telling whether or when it can be made.

It's hard to say about this. It's possible that one day someone will suddenly get crazy and come up with a solution, and the problem will be solved.

Bullets with metal casings can be made, but the difficulty lies in the raw materials. The only material we can use now is copper. We can't use steel casings, right?

Speaking of steel, Jia Lian later learned that the steel production of the Great Zhou was quite good. They used the steel-making method and graphite crucible, not the kind that relied on luck or repeated tempering.

I can only say that the foundation left by our predecessors is quite acceptable and does not disappoint the book "The Exploitation of the Works of Nature".

Now the steel production of Da Zhou is mainly concentrated in three places, one is Zunhua, one is the so-called Sugang, and the other is Foshan.

And steelmaking uses coke, which is great. What is lacking now? One is raw materials, and the other is chemical processes to remove phosphorus and sulfur.

The content of these two substances seriously affects the quality of steel.

Jia Lian also arranged technical bureaucrats to solve the related problems. Whether it is feasible or not, just do it first. If you don’t understand, just read the basic chemistry textbook. Can you learn it by yourself?
The first steam engine was made on a boring machine in just five days. Why a boring machine? Of course it was the barrel of a gun. This thing was cast in an iron mold, and the inside was uneven, so a boring machine was needed to make it smooth.

The noise in the workshop was a bit loud. Jia Lian blocked his ears with cotton and looked at the not-too-high ceiling. He finally understood why the factories were built so high.

The more open the room is, the less harm the noise will cause to people.

After a gun barrel was successfully processed, Jia Lian signaled to stop and even the machine stopped.

Calling everyone out of the workshop, Jia Lian gave instructions: "Sharpening the knife does not delay the chopping of wood. Working in this environment for a long time will shorten one's life. We must find a way to build the factory higher and in a larger area. If it is not possible inside the city, then go find wasteland outside the city. Anyway, the cement has been burned out, so build a few more pillars to support it and install a few more lightning rods."

"Sir, what is a lightning rod?" Some craftsmen were puzzled, so Jia Lian had to explain patiently. The craftsmen then understood and said there was no problem.

Ma San did have a question: "The three major camps are urging us to get equipment, so the workshop here can't stop."

Jia Lian glared at him: "Why are you in such a hurry? Let them wait slowly."

Ma San shrank his neck. He didn't want to take the blame. He was in charge of production, warehousing and delivery. How could I, an eighth-rank official who was not a high-ranking official, afford to offend anyone?

Jia Lian added: "I really can't wait, let them come to me. The people in the R&D Department are not someone they can bully whenever they want."

Hearing this, Ma San immediately smiled like a chrysanthemum, nodding and bowing repeatedly: "Your words make me stand up straight."

Jia Lian sneered, "The equipment produced by the R&D department is unique. I don't believe that if you don't accept their benefits, you will care about their nagging?"

Ma San was silent, not even daring to beg for mercy. If he dared to defend himself, he was afraid he would die a more miserable death.

Fortunately, Jia Lian added: "It's not out of line to give a little convenience, just don't make it unclear which side you are on."

Ma San breathed a sigh of relief and quickly defended himself: "I was treated to two treats and didn't go to a brothel. I just went to a roadside restaurant."

Jia Lian knew that he was telling the truth, and he probably received a small amount of money, but how to say it, the amount was not large, and it was okay to give a few more spare guns or bullets when shipping. After all, the spare number was very flexible, and it was originally an unspoken rule and a benefit for the people below.

Giving one extra rod is a backup, giving five extra rods is also a benefit, and giving ten extra rods is like reselling arms.

Jia Lian was not worried about the outflow of rifles and bullets, because there was no need, they would definitely outflow. There was no threshold for flintlock rifles, the key was the production volume, the quality of the barrel and the ammunition.

Otherwise, why did Jia Lian keep staring at the metal shell? We really need to hurry up. With the steam engine, as long as the machine tool accuracy can be improved and the locking mechanism is fixed, we can put the paper shell on and load the ammunition.

As long as it is a breech-loading rifle, it is a huge improvement over a muzzle-loading rifle, and there is a generation gap.

In order to obtain the raw materials for metal bullet casings, Jia Lian took the initiative to go to the palace to meet the emperor.

With the Ox and Horse Cabinet, Emperor Chenghui has been feeling much more relaxed recently, and at the moment he is even in the mood to chat with the Queen about family matters.

The topic of conversation between the couple was naturally their children.

When Emperor Chenghui mentioned the second son, his disappointment was evident in his words.

"I have high hopes for the second son. I don't want him to do things that disappoint me." After Emperor Chenghui dismissed all the people around him, he spoke about Li Yuan in a low voice.

When Queen Zhou heard this, her heart tightened. Her palms and backs of her hands were all made of flesh and blood, and she didn't want to see her own flesh and blood killing each other.

"Speaking of which, my family has a great influence on the second son. Let Long Jinwei keep a close eye on them. If there is any disturbance, those who should be punished must be punished. If they are still not sensible, they should be punished." This is taking the initiative to take responsibility for Li Yuan. The brothers and even the father in the family are not easy to deal with. If they are a little relaxed, they dare to do anything. Having said that, Queen Zhou still felt very uncomfortable. Her family was not up to the task and did a lot of bad things. The things that could reach her ears were all the kind of things that could not be handled and must be severely punished.

"I plan to send the second son to Liangjiang to supervise the implementation of the performance evaluation system in the local areas. He is always bored at home, and I am afraid he will get sick. And his teacher is not good enough, so let Prime Minister Sun teach him well."

Empress Zhou sensed Emperor Chenghui's painstaking efforts and immediately said, "I will take some time to meet my family and tell them what I should say. If they still don't make progress, Your Majesty can do whatever he wants."

(End of this chapter)