Although Ma Jun was quite famous in Guanzhong, he was just a craftsman, and in the officialdom, he was still an unknown petty official.

However, the dignified Jingzhou Mu actually proposed to travel alone with him by boat, which not only shocked Ma Jun, but also surprised the surrounding civil and military officials.

Even Jia Xu couldn't help but advise: "Zhou Mu is going alone. I'm afraid there are some safety issues. It would be better to bring a few guards with him. I ask Zhou Mu to think twice."

On the surface, he was talking about safety, but in fact, he hinted that Liu Jing should consider his identity. After all, Ma Jun was just a good craftsman, so he could be reused and there was no need to be so condescending.

Everyone tried to persuade him, but Ma Jun stood aside silently. He couldn't speak, but he knew better than anyone else. He thought Liu Jing was putting on a show, but he didn't want to give in because of it.

Liu Jing waved her hands and smiled at everyone: "You don't need to persuade me anymore. I'm not powerless. There's no problem. Don't persuade me anymore."

Jia Xu saw that Liu Jing was having difficulty persuading him, so he stopped trying. He pulled Li Jun aside and whispered, "Use military ships to escort the troops on both sides to make the noise louder."

Li Jun understood what Jia Xu meant. Since he couldn't solve the problem of Zhou Mu being underemployed, he would simply create a situation and turn Ma Jun into a high-ranking official. "Sir, don't worry, I will make arrangements."

Li Jun turned around to make arrangements. At this time, the generals came ashore one after another. Jia Xu and Liu Jing's more than a hundred soldiers boarded several other cargo ships and headed eastward with Liu Jing.

The fleet slowly turned around and sailed towards the Han River. In the cabin, Liu Jing saw that Ma Jun was still a little restrained, so she smiled and said: "I also have some ideas that I would like to discuss with you sir. I hope you can give me some advice."

Ma Jun nodded silently. He did not expect that Liu Jing was not just pretending, but sincerely asked him for advice. As Liu Jing's official status as a state shepherd, he actually stooped down and sat in the cabin with him. This was something he could not imagine, and he could not imagine it.

This shows that Liu Jing attaches great importance to him, and it is this kindness that makes Ma Jun very moved.

But he couldn't express it, he just kept this gratitude in his heart silently. He sat down opposite Liu Jing and said sincerely: "Zhou Mu...please say it!"

"In a big war, a large number of arrows and weapons are often consumed, ranging from a hundred thousand to a million. Therefore, war is also a struggle for national power. I won't say more about this. Let's just talk about weapons."

Liu Jing took a piece of paper, drew a few arrows and weapon parts on it, and said with a smile: "A problem we often encounter in combat is that weapons vary in quality. Some craftsmen are highly skilled and can make

Weapons can allow soldiers to maximize their combat power, but there are also deficiencies in craftsmanship. The weapons often have accidents during battles, such as swords being cut off by enemy soldiers, etc., causing soldiers to die misfortunes. I wonder if you have any solution?

This question."

This is no longer as simple as mechanical manufacturing, it involves management issues. Although Ma Jun is not very interested in this aspect, he felt Liu Jing's sincerity and thought about it very seriously: "This problem has actually been around since the Qin Dynasty.

To solve the problem, we can engrave the names of the craftsmen on the weapons to clearly identify the responsibilities, so that the craftsmen will not dare to be careless. In addition, we can strengthen the inspection of weapons, which can also greatly reduce the number of inferior weapons entering the army."

Liu Jing laughed, "Although this is good, it still feels like it is not treating the root cause. As the saying goes, 'it is better to stop the fire than to stop the boiling.' What do you think, sir?"

Although Ma Jun stuttered severely, his thinking and reaction were extremely quick. He immediately realized that Liu Jing also had a plan, and asked with a smile: "President Mu, please... continue talking!"

"I have two ideas that can be used as supplements to Mr.'s plan. One is to have precise standards when making weapons. For example, when making knives, a unified mold should be used. The width and thickness must be specified. Some blacksmiths are good at it.

If someone wants to cast a mold, he will specialize in mold casting. Some blacksmiths are good at forging, so he will only forge and specialize in his skill.

In this way, each craftsman is responsible for a link, and making a knife flows like running water. The same goes for bows and arrows. Each bow and arrow pass through the hands of more than a dozen craftsmen, and the final weapon will be of the best quality.

"

Ma Jun nodded repeatedly. He very much agreed with Liu Jing's "specializing in his special skills". His interest was completely aroused. At this time, he was more concerned about Liu Jing's second thought. "What's next?" He was a little impatient.

asked patiently.

"The second plan is to establish a craftsmanship school and train qualified young master craftsmen in the school so that all apprentices can learn their true skills. In this way, weapons talents will continue to flow out."

Ma Jun was fascinated by what he heard. If he could think of "specializing in one's own skills", then establishing a craftsman school would be something he never dared to dream of. It's not that it's impossible, but the status of craftsmen is too low.

If you are a servant of the official family, who will run a school for craftsmen?

Although the princes from all over the country also paid attention to finding good craftsmen, they did not really respect the craftsmen, and no princes thought of setting up a craftsman school. Only Liu Jing heard about it.

Ma Jun stood up and bowed deeply to Liu Jing. His words were full of gratitude, "It is a craftsman's blessing that you can have such insight and broad mind!"

Although Liu Jing had long had the idea of ​​establishing a craftsmanship school, but now he was throwing it out just to catch the big fish Ma Jun. He had long discovered that Ma Jun had no ambitions and was a straightforward and gentle person.

So if you want to make him take the bait, you must use his favorite bait. It is probably useless to get promoted and make a fortune, so use the bait of Jiangxue. After all, Ma Jun is a doctor of official studies in Fufeng County.

Liu Jing smiled like a fox. He looked at Ma Jun with a smile, but said in a very sincere tone: "I had the idea of ​​establishing a craftsmanship school three years ago. But there is no one around me, so I haven't been able to establish it yet. I

Mr. Zhi is a doctor of official studies. Can you please help me organize a craftsmanship school and do my part to improve the status of craftsmen?"

Ma Jun was in a very difficult position. He actually did not want to come to Jiangxia to serve as an official, so he treated Liu Jing coldly at first. But Liu Jing's words had reached this point. If he, Ma Jun, did not agree, he would be the eternal sinner of the craftsmen.

Liu Jing saw Ma Jun's hesitation, so he stood up, bowed, and said sincerely: "The craftsman has been a servant of the government for hundreds of years. Liu Jing intends to break it. If the master refuses, Liu Jing's ambition will eventually be hopeless!"

Ma Jun was finally convinced by Liu Jing's sincerity. He could no longer refuse, so he stammered and agreed: "Since I have such great ambitions, Ma Junan... I can't help but I just ask you to allow me."

Go home and tell your mother first. Then I will come to Jiangxia to accept the appointment."

"Okay! I believe what you say, sir, and it's settled like this!"

Speaking of this, Liu Jing smiled again and said: "Zhang Ji, the governor of Changsha, is the first of the three famous doctors in the world. If Mr. comes to Jiangxia, I will ask him to treat Mr. Jian's disease, and there will definitely be improvement."

Ma Jun was overjoyed. The stuttering problem was a lifelong pain for him. If Zhang Ji could cure this problem for him, he would be free of a serious problem, and he would also have an excuse to resign as a doctor of official studies.

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Xiazhi County has always been a small county in Jiangxia. It has been unknown for hundreds of years. However, since the petroleum oil produced here became a strategic military material three years ago, Xiazhi County has become one of the important counties.

Although more and larger natural oil wells have been discovered in Jingling County, Xiazhi County is still an important source of kerosene for Jiangxia Army. More importantly, Jiangxia Army's large-scale workshop for refining kerosene is located in Xiazhi County.

.

At the same time, nearly a hundred miles of alfalfa were planted on both sides of the rich water outside Xiazhi County, making Xiazhi County and Yangxin County a high-quality forage base for the Jiangxia Cavalry. All the forage for thousands of Jiangxia Cavalry horses came from here.

This makes the status of Xiazhi County particularly important. For this reason, Jiangxia has carried out three population migrations, and has successively moved the population of Xiazhi County to Wuchang. At present, the population of Xiazhi County is less than 500 households, and almost all of them are kerosene and kerosene.

Pasture work.

That morning, a gray-haired old Confucian scholar came to the city gate leading a donkey. The donkey was skinny but had a huge belly. Behind him was an eighty-nine-year-old child. The old Confucian scholar looked to be nearly six years old.

Ten days later, his back was also a little rickety, his constitution was weak, and he kept coughing as soon as he got close to the city gate.

Xiazhi County is very tightly guarded. Residents in the city have waist badges to enter, and soldiers will strictly interrogate and search every outsider, even women.

"Show me your badge!" the guard guard shouted.

The old Confucian scholar coughed so hard that he could hardly breathe. He squatted on the ground and curled up into a ball. He was still a child and said with an accent from Anlu County: "My grandfather and I took refuge with my uncle. My uncle's surname is Wang and he lives in the county town."

.”

Hearing that they were outsiders, several soldiers immediately surrounded them, but they were not nervous. After all, they were an old Confucian scholar and a child. After a long while, the old Confucian scholar stood up with great difficulty, trembling, and he was even worse than an eighty-year-old man.

If he is weak, a gust of wind can blow him down.

He panted and said: "My nephew is a butcher king who sells meat in the east of the county. I am old and have no support, so I came here to seek refuge. I beg the military master to let my grandparents and grandchildren go to the city to visit my relatives."

When the soldiers saw how pitiful they were, young and old, they couldn't bear to drive them out. The leader said, "Then let's search them according to the rules!"

Several soldiers came forward and searched the two of them thoroughly. There were only a few dry biscuits, a pot of water and dozens of copper coins. Others were a dark bamboo sign with more than a dozen seal characters engraved on it. It was very long.

He didn't know him either, so the old Confucian scholar quickly bowed and said: "The copper coins are given to the military master to sell wine."

"Who wants your money!"

Seeing that the copper coins were all rotten money, Shi Chang looked down upon him at all. He handed the money back to him, waved his hand and said, "Let me send them to the city to find their families."

This is also a rule that outsiders must have local people as guarantees. One old man and one young man slowly followed a few soldiers into the city.

Several soldiers in front were chatting and laughing about whether they might be spies of Cao's army. The commander turned back and glanced at them and said: "If these two are spies of Cao's army, I will cut the bird for you!"

Everyone burst out laughing, but a strange smile appeared in the old Confucian scholar's eyes. He was not panicked at all and still led the donkey slowly forward. After a while, they finally arrived at the door of Butcher Wang's house.

Just then, Butcher Wang, who was tall, thick and fat, came out of his home. The chief stopped him, "Butcher Wang, there are outsiders here looking for you."

Butcher Wang stepped forward in surprise. The old Confucian scholar burst into tears and shouted loudly: "Good nephew, do you still know Uncle? Ten years ago in Xinye County, you were bitten by a snake, but Uncle sucked it out for you."

Venom! Have you forgotten?"

Then he handed him the bamboo sign again, "You still know this, right?"

Butcher Wang recognized the bamboo sign and looked at the old man for a long time before finally shouting, "Uncle Third, why are you so old?"

Seeing that they were indeed relatives, Shi Chang waved his hand and said, "Let's go!"
Chapter completed!