After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

The Bureau of Armory and Weapons is different from the Bureau of Ordnance.

The Ordnance Bureau was under the Ministry of Works, but their Armory Bureau belonged to the prestigious Imperial Household Department!

The quality of the weapons produced also clearly showed the difference between them.

During the Former Liang Dynasty, the imperial court used the weapons manufactured by the Armory Bureau as a "benchmark" to issue to the Old Capital Armory Bureau, as well as local Armory Bureaus and local garrisons as a reference.

As for the Ordnance Bureau... well, that's rather regrettable.

During the Former Liang Dynasty, at its peak, the military equipment industry in the old capital had as many as nine thousand artisans!

The weapons they produced were equipped by the armies of the Great Liang, and as the Great Liang warriors fought in all directions, their power spread throughout the land.

However, over the centuries, as the practice of receiving salaries without working became increasingly rampant, the status of craftsmen was low, and officials even enslaved them. Whenever the imperial court ran out of money, it would drastically cut the arsenal and dismiss the craftsmen.

This led to the Liang craftsmen either escaping their registered residence or paying silver to replace their corvée labor.

By the time the Former Liang Dynasty fell, only about three hundred craftsmen remained in the Old Capital Arsenal.

During the early Ming Dynasty, the weapons of various armies were supplied by local military equipment bureaus and garrisons, but the problems of shoddy manufacturing and short weights were not resolved.

It was after the southward migration that Empress Fuye made a firm decision to rebuild the Arsenal, which restored the number of artisans in the Arsenal to three thousand.

However, sixty years have passed.

The imperial treasury is becoming increasingly strained. After several rounds of layoffs of artisans, the number of artisans in the Ordnance Bureau has now dropped to just over a thousand.

The quality of the manufactured weapons varied, which led to increasing complaints from various military units.

Their weapons bureau prioritized quality over quantity in its artisans, maintaining a workforce of around six hundred.

The weapons they produce are of superior quality and still stand out in the Liang Dynasty!

On the long table next to Cao Du, the Vice Minister, were displayed matchlock guns, novel flintlock guns, and various bows such as the Kaiyuan bow, the large-tipped bow, and the small-tipped bow, as well as armor-piercing arrows, crescent arrows, and double-shouldered arrows.

The knives on display included willow-leaf knives and goose-feather knives. However, there were no embroidered spring knives, as the Embroidered Spring Knives of the Embroidered Uniform Guards were only manufactured by the Bureau of Armory.

Besides these, there were also several guns on the long table in front of Cao Du.

Hong Wei was able to sit in this position for more than a decade, and it was certainly not just by flattering and pleasing the senior eunuchs in the palace.

He also paid close attention to all kinds of weapons from the Ordnance Bureau.

For example, the eunuch in charge of the seal squinted at the several spears on Cao Du's long table and knew that the other party had brought all six types of long spears recorded in the "Treatise on Military Preparedness"—iron hook spears, dragon saber spears, and so on.

"Oh."

Hong Wei smiled slightly.

He even noticed that the other party had brought some horseshoes with them.

That's strange indeed. Even a mosquito is still meat, no matter how small. Do they think that if others don't care about their muskets and knives, they can at least take a look at their horseshoes?

"Eunuch Hong,"

A clerk from the Bureau of Armory next to me laughed:

"This time, our Armory Bureau should have won first place."

This official has a smooth, bald chin.

Although he wasn't a eunuch, he worried that growing a beard would annoy Eunuch Hong, so he shaved very diligently every day.

"Shi Huan,"

Eunuch Hong shook his head at the scholar-turned-official in charge and smiled:

"Don't be too arrogant. Her Majesty the Empress has said that this is just an experiment. How much of a share we get is one thing, and how much we can actually consume is another."

"If we're greedy and try to do everything at once, and someone orders ten thousand muskets from us, and we accept the order but can't produce them, we'll not only be punished, we might even go to jail."

Liu Shihuan exclaimed "Oh!" twice, matching Eunuch Hong's surprised and frightened expression, and whispered:

"Then let's hire more craftsmen! We can take this opportunity to boost our Armory. I've always thought Eunuch Hong is brave, resourceful, and capable. It's a real waste of his talent to have so few people in our Armory!"

The number of people under its jurisdiction has increased.

Only then can one be promoted.

He got promoted.

Only then can one become wealthy.

How could Hong Wei not understand this principle?

He sneered and said:

"Recruiting craftsmen? It's easy to invite a god, but hard to send him away. The court is doing this this year, but it might not be the same next year. If we recruit craftsmen, every household will send their sons or nephews over. Should we take them in? If we do, and the court doesn't do this next year, where will we get the money to feed them?..."

Hong Wei looked disdainful, but a hint of anticipation rose in his heart.

...about a month ago.

Her Majesty the Queen summoned him and presented him with a new idea.

In the past, the Ordnance Bureau and the Armory Bureau would determine what weapons to produce and how many to produce each year.

The Five Military Commissions, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Works had the final say.

It's basically about each army and garrison reporting the weapons and armor they need for the following year.

The Five Military Commissions discussed the matter and then reported it to the Ministry of War.

Ministry of War verification.

We will then discuss this with the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue.

After the three parts were finalized.

The Ministry of Revenue allocated silver to the Ministry of Works.

The Ministry of Works allocated silver to the Beijing Arsenal, local arsenals, and weapons bureaus to manufacture weapons.

After the weapons were produced, they were handed over to the Five Military Commissions and the Ministry of War for inspection.

But Her Majesty the Queen said that she had received guidance from a wise person and intended to change this rule.

The words "expert guidance" really intimidated him.

As the Empress's household servant, Hong Wei was afraid that Her Majesty the Empress might have listened to some slander and act on a whim, arbitrarily changing ancestral rules.

A sudden feeling of fear and unease washed over me.

I don't know whether I should offer advice or not.

He also thought to himself, "How dare I, a mere eunuch, offer any advice?"

In a single breath, Hong Wei understood what he had to do. If he were to offer any advice, he might lose his position, which was being watched by many eunuchs.

He made up his mind that no matter what Her Majesty the Empress wanted to do, he, Hong Wei, would do it with his life.

Thinking this way, his expression became more solemn, giving off a sense of facing death without fear.

but……

For the next quarter of an hour, he listened to Her Majesty the Empress's proposed reforms, and he was utterly astonished.

Then...

A surge of overwhelming joy welled up within me...

"I intend to try implementing a military procurement system..."

army……

Procurement system?

Her Majesty the Queen said that in the past, the Ordnance Bureau had taken silver from the Ministry of Revenue to manufacture weapons.

Although the Bureau of Armory also received funding, it didn't produce many weapons. They mainly produced firearms for the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the palace guards, and the Brave Guard Battalion. It was somewhat of a waste of resources.

Meanwhile, at the Ordnance Bureau, the problem of artisans shirking their duties was also serious, and the practice of receiving salaries without working was repeatedly prohibited but not stopped, even at the cost of execution.

I have inquired with the Ministry of Works and the Bureau of Ordnance.

The Ministry of Works complained bitterly, saying that the Ministry of Revenue allocated too little money. Iron mines, artisans, and even timber all required expenditures, so the amount allocated to artisans was less, leaving them with no choice but to flee their posts.

The various armies of Daliang were also dissatisfied, saying that the weapons were inadequate, in short supply, and of poor quality, getting worse year by year.

The Ministry of Revenue was also dissatisfied, saying that too much money was being spent, with at least one-third of the national treasury's annual military expenditure going towards weapons.

The Five Military Commissions and the Ministry of War were even more dissatisfied, saying that the quality of weapons was declining day by day, and if this continued, they feared that the old Liang dynasty would be repeated.

Her Majesty the Empress at the head of the table handed a decree to the eunuch Zhang Qi, who then passed it to him kneeling in the Qianqing Palace to receive the decree.

Hong Wei heard Her Majesty the Empress's clear voice say:

"This military procurement system is the method that the wise man gave me."

"I will allocate a total of 100,000 taels of silver to Nanjing and its surrounding areas for the purchase of military equipment."

"The Ministry of Revenue will contribute half, and my personal treasury will contribute the other half. Of course, the military expenditures of the various armies will also be reduced accordingly this year... by about 50,000 taels, to avoid causing unrest. In the end, the Ministry of Revenue will actually break even, which means I will subsidize them with 50,000 taels."

"Hmm... let's leave it at that for now, let's try it out..."

Hong Wei was startled, and the voice from above came again.

"One month from now, your Ordnance Bureau, Armory Bureau, and the newly established New Weapons Bureau will compete head-to-head to snatch orders from them..."