open sea

Chapter 849 Salary
Guangdong Metropolitan Commander Si Nanyangwei is a well-deserved manufacturing center in the world.

Guan Zuner, the chief of Weigang Armaments Bureau, was grinding an exquisite long gun in his palm. The head of the craftsman did not display common porcelain in the official hall. There were tall lacquered wooden cabinets in front of the screens on the left and right sides, and inside the cabinet was a There is only a gun rack, which is filled with various bird guns of various specifications.

From old-made firearms, matchlocks to flintlocks, the entire military bureau hall is like a firearms museum.

But the blunderbuss in Guan Zuner's hand was not made by the Nanyang Wei Military Bureau. The barrel is three feet three inches long, with the inscription of Emperor Wanli cast on the tail, and the four characters "Tianxia Taiping" cast on the tail, with a tenon for connecting the thorns; The wooden gun bed is made of oak, and the whole gun is exquisite in workmanship and style.

This blunderbuss came from the Forbidden City. It was a sample blunderbuss sent by Emperor Wanli to the three major arms towns. It is called Tianxia Taiping blunderbuss.

The person who sent the blunderbuss was a well-dressed family. In addition to delivering the blunderbuss, his other duty was to be the military supervisor of the Nanyang Military Bureau directly appointed by the emperor.

He was not the only one appointed by the emperor. In Guangdong, he had several subordinates, divided into ship inspector, artillery inspector, gun inspector, and armor inspector. They were directly controlled by the emperor, and he wanted to firmly control the military bureau in the hands of the Forbidden City.

The supervisor of the Military Weapons Bureau asked, "How much is the salary of the chief officer?"

"The director of the Military Weapons Bureau has no grades. Guan's salary is related to his performance. Guan will get as much money as the number of weapons the Military Weapons Bureau supervises every month."

The gun supervisor raised his eyebrows, and asked again: "How many guns did the Weapons Bureau make last month?"

Guan Zun was expressionless in his ears and said: "Matchlock 740 rods, flintlock 140 [-] rods."

In fact, there is not much difference in the production process between a matchlock and a flintlock. Although the flintlock is more complicated, the complexity only means that the yield is low, but it is not too labor-intensive. If it does not consume labor, it means that the cost is not high. However, the most time-consuming thing is to drill the barrel.

To put it bluntly, this is roughly a foreign trade version and a self-use version.

The huge output of Nanyang Wei Military Weapons Bureau frightened the Military Weapons Supervisor. The young Jinyi Baihu frowned and said, "Does the Military Weapons Bureau have such an output every month?"

This levelless Guan Zuner's salary is too much, so he can get nearly 20 taels a month.

One person can support twenty Beiyang Banner troops.

In fact, Guan Zun'er's salary is much more than this. He gets one point for making a piece of armor, and one point for making a cannon. The position of director of the Nanyang Wei Military Bureau is undoubtedly the first-class fat man in the world. Difference.

"It was less last month. A batch of artillery from Sichuan was rushed, and the number of gun armor weapons was much less. There should be [-] guns in storage this month."

The military inspector from Jinyiwei didn't know what to say. Seeing Guan Zun'er's still young face, he paused, and then asked: "Xuanfu doesn't have such a high output, nor does Beiyang. Can the Bureau create firearms for arming a guard?"

No place can have such a large production capacity. There are thousands of craftsmen in Xuanfu and fewer craftsmen in Beiyang, but none of them have such a production capacity.

The number of craftsmen in the Nanyang Weijun Bureau is relatively small, so why can they make so many guns?

Armed in January?
Guan Zun'er smiled self-confidently. He liked such a title. He cupped his hands and said, "To tell the truth, Nanyangwei's production of bird guns is quite large. It’s just inspection and assembly on the gun.”

Tens of thousands of furnace households in Foshan are making iron forged steel, rolling guns and drilling bores for the Military Bureau. Carpenters in Xinhui process gun beds after providing wood for the shipyard. Even with the huge output of Nanyang Wei, Still haven't saturated their productivity.

Because the positivity is different.

In the past, these furnace households waited all year round for the court to apportion some work, and made some iron parts to subsidize their families in their spare time. The sales only covered the south of the Lingnan Mountains. Many mountain master iron mines were limited, and their excess productivity had nowhere to release.

What's the use of making more ironware?
It’s different now. Annan Railway, Myanmar Railway, and Luzon Railway are continuously shipped from overseas. At most, iron ships can stop at the Pearl River Estuary seven times a year. Not to mention that the commission given is much higher than in the past, and outstanding furnace households can even get official status.

The Guangzhou Fu Jiangwu Hall opened [-] research places two years ago to these outstanding blacksmiths, carpenters, and gunpowder smiths.

Official positions like this are privately called Doctors of Craftsmanship, and are sometimes divided into Doctors of Blacksmiths, Doctors of Gunpowder, etc. according to their skills.

Doctor is not an imported word. As early as the Qin and Han Dynasties, it referred to the official position of being familiar with historical events and classics. In the Ming Dynasty, it gradually became an official position for academically specializing in one classic or proficient in one art, and teaching students. For example, Zhu Yunqi once named Fang Xiaoru as Ph.D.

In addition, Fudo wrought iron and bore are inseparable from steam engines, and the higher productivity greatly simplifies the process of making gun barrels.

The military supervisor sent by the Forbidden City was very interested in this matter. He asked, "I don't know what the master thinks, can this division of labor be implemented in Xuanfu and Beiyang?"

"What the Supervising Army said is also my concern. Last year, I communicated with the Beiyang Ordnance Bureau, hoping that they can use this method to increase production. My brother also has this intention, but before that, the production of Zunhua Iron Works must be increased. Then let all the military craftsmen in northern Beijing gather in one place before it can be implemented."

As Guan Zuner said, he put the Tianxia Taiping gun in his palm on the table, carefully looked at the tenon of the muzzle, and understood its structure in just a moment. His Majesty replied that the Nanyang Defense Armament Bureau can manufacture such muzzles, and it should be able to produce [-] rods in the first three months, and then [-] rods per month will be used for the imperial army's flintlock.

The military inspector frowned and said, "The output can't be increased any more? The matchlock guns are no longer used by the armies, so why should they produce so many guns every month? Wouldn't it be good to produce two thousand flintlock guns in a month?"

It is undoubtedly a huge waste of productivity to make these outdated antiques with great productivity.

"Your Excellency does not know that apart from the Nanyang Banner Army, the imperial court's overseas troops also include Luzon Banner Army, Annan Banner Army, Burmese Banner Army, Sulu Banner Army, Java Banner Army, and Goa and Japanese Banner Army. They are not local soldiers, respecting Beiyang's orders, all overseas armies use matchlock bird guns and tiger squat guns."

"Therefore, this matchlock has to be made. This is also the imperial court's largest source of income overseas. The copper and iron needed by the Military Weapons Bureau are also earned back from these matchlocks."

The military inspector bowed his hands to the north, and said solemnly: "I hope the master will explain this matter to His Majesty."

"It is natural that a matchlock gun is sold overseas for seven renminbi of silver, and the price is different. If there is iron, iron is used, and if there is silver, silver is usually three to ten times the cost. These flintlock guns and The materials for the artillery, the salaries of the directors of the Armament Bureau, and the wages of the craftsmen are all exchanged for these matchlock guns."

As he said that, Guan Zun'er suddenly turned his head and asked solemnly to the military supervisor: "Guan hasn't asked yet, how much salary should the Military Bureau provide you for Your Majesty to let the supervisor come here?"

(End of this chapter)