"Go and inspect the Ordnance Bureau in Chengdu City." Zhu Yurao said without much hesitation, "To prepare for war, in addition to recruiting soldiers and strengthening training, we also need weapons and equipment.

Apart from anything else, although the soldiers of the Hong Niangzi Division are called elites, it mostly refers to the fact that the soldiers are skilled in combat and have rich combat experience.

In terms of weapons and equipment, they are actually very average and definitely not as good as the elite divisions equipped according to the regulations of the Ming Dynasty's regular army.

Besides, didn't you say before that the development of military industry is a key factor affecting the combat effectiveness of the army."

After hearing this, Hao Guangming smiled happily and praised: "Your thinking is very clear."

"Of course." Zhu Ayao's lips curled up slightly, showing a coquettish look.

Hao Guangming shook his head for a moment, then calmed down his distracting thoughts and said: "You should sort out the Ordnance Bureau in Chengdu as soon as possible, and then go all out to produce all kinds of weapons, armor, arrows and other equipment.

It should be more than half a month before Zhang Xianzhong comes to attack Chengdu, which is enough time for you to upgrade the equipment of the Red Lady Division a lot."

Zhu Yuyao is no longer a military novice. She knows that the manufacturing speed of weapons and equipment in the Ming Dynasty is very slow. When she heard this, she couldn't help but asked: "Is the time too short?"

Hao Guangming said: "In terms of your Ming Dynasty's manufacturing speed, half a month is very short, but I believe that great efforts can produce miracles."

"Strength can produce miracles?" Zhu Aao looked confused when she heard this.

"Well, it means spending a lot of money to greatly improve the treatment and status of craftsmen, and then recruit more people, improve production methods and management methods, in short, we will do our best to expand production capacity."

Zhu Yusao didn't understand what he was hearing, so she nodded slightly and said, "Then I will ask you for more advice during the inspection tomorrow."

As he spoke, Zhu Ailao couldn't help but grab one of Hao Guangming's arms.

Hao Guangming was wearing short sleeves.

The warmth of skin contact came from her hand, and she realized what she had done, and she blushed and let go.

This habit of hers was formed by acting coquettishly with Chongzhen in the past, but she didn't expect it to fall on Hao Guangming today.

But the feeling just now was completely different from being coquettish with Chongzhen, which made her feel like a deer just thinking about it.

Hao Guangming had experience after all. Although his heart was slightly shaken, he did not show any strange expression.

He said calmly: "Don't worry, it is a great pleasure for me to observe the scenery of the Ming Dynasty through you and influence the historical process of the Ming Dynasty."

The two chatted for a while, and Hao Guangming went to wash the dishes.

Zhu Aina took a bath, changed clothes, and helped Zhu Aoshan take a bath. Finally, she put their clothes in the washing machine and washed them. Then she tidied up and took a box of compressed biscuits to Daming as usual.

Hao Guangming returned to the hall, passed the east room to the bathroom in the backyard, took a shower, and then returned to the west room.

Now the old house has been renovated by him and air-conditioning has been installed. Even in the hot summer, it will not feel hot.

Seeing Auntie Zhu sitting on the bed with a mosquito net in the north watching cartoons, he didn't pay much attention, sat down at the desk beside the bed, and got down to business.

The first thing is of course to send a video message to Zhu Ailao to see how she is doing there.

When the video was connected, Zhu Yuyao was watching Li Yan in the Chengyun Hall. The overview of the accounts given by Liu Xiaolian was very boring.

Moreover, there was no air conditioning there. Even though Fei Zhen'e brought two ice cream fans nearby and gently fanned the room with a fan, Zhu Aa'a still felt a little hot.

But that's all.

The Chengyun Hall in Chengdu in the late Ming Dynasty was definitely not as hot as in later generations in the same month.

While maintaining the video connection between the two of them, Hao Guangming began to do other things online.

At present, Zhu Yuluo has initially established a stable territory in the Ming Dynasty, and what needs to be done next is development in all aspects.

Hao Guangming felt that the most powerful help he could provide under the current conditions was to find some technologies that Ming Dynasty needed and could be mastered quickly.

Not all this type of knowledge can be found for free on the Internet, and some require payment to view and download.

In addition, you can also ask questions and offer rewards to allow people with relevant professional knowledge to answer and provide detailed information.

Hao Guangming is not short of money now, so it is not difficult to do this.

In this way, Hao Guangming checked and sorted out the information, and occasionally chatted with Zhu Yusao, and time passed by unconsciously...

The weapons manufacturing institutions of the Ming Dynasty were both central and local.

The central government is divided into two departments, namely the Ordnance Bureau under the Ministry of Industry and the Military Staff Bureau under the direct control of the emperor.

The local ones are also divided into two places, one is the Ordnance Bureau of each local military post, and the other is the Ordnance Bureau under each Chief Secretary.

Chengdu is the seat of the Chief Secretary of Sichuan, so there is an arms bureau in the city.

After all, Sichuan is wealthy, plus it has the important task of intimidating the chieftains from Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan. In recent decades, it has been involved in various wars, so the scale of this weapons bureau is not small.

Its address is in the west of the city. It is a complex of buildings composed of multiple courtyards. Today, there are still thousands of craftsmen and various employees.

The craftsmen here are basically live-in craftsmen and are required to serve the government for ten days every month. The government is required to provide a certain amount of money and food every month as usual.

This money is not much food, it is barely worth ten days of rations.

In the morning, when it was just dawn, smoke started rising from the homes of each craftsman's household.

The same is true in Lao Wangtou's home.

Lao Wangtou has two sons and a daughter. The eldest son has married a daughter-in-law and has given birth to a boy, which can be regarded as renewing the incense of Lao Wang's family.

The youngest Yaomeier is also married.

But the second son, who is in his late twenties, is still a bachelor.

It has always been difficult for a craftsman family like theirs to get married, so they often marry in exchange for marriage.

His eldest daughter-in-law was married to Yao Meier in exchange for marriage.

Therefore, Lao Wangtou often lamented that if he had known earlier, he would have worked harder and given birth to another girl, so that his second son would not be a bachelor.

The one who was making breakfast was his daughter-in-law. As for Lao Wangtou's mother-in-law, she fell ill and died two years ago.

"Daddy, we are running out of rice at home." The daughter-in-law shouted from the kitchen.

"I understand. Didn't I tell you about it yesterday?" Wang Baoshuan, the eldest son, came out of the room and yawned.

Lao Wangtou was sitting in front of the house, already sharpening arrowheads.

He knew that his daughter-in-law was not speaking to the eldest son, but to his father-in-law.

Since the beginning of this spring, the Eight Kings have invaded Sichuan from the east. The daily work of the bureau has increased a lot, but the amount of food and supplies for the craftsmen has not increased.

Not only did it not get a raise, it also owed two months of food and payment.

Nowadays, many craftsmen families are either looking for ways to make money to hire people to teach them, or they are stealing things from the bureau and borrowing some usury money from the Shu Palace to survive.

Lao Wangtou's ancestors have all been working as blacksmiths in the bureau. They have been honest all their lives. They have few opportunities outside and can't get any "big money" jobs. Naturally, they can't hire anyone to take charge of them.

As for stealing and selling things from the bureau, he had never thought about it.

He didn't want to borrow money from the Shu Palace, so life was naturally difficult now.

The elder took a sip of cold water, rinsed his mouth, washed his face, and then came over to sharpen the arrowheads together.

"Dad, a princess came to the city yesterday. I heard she came from Beijing." The eldest child started gossiping while sharpening his arrow.

Lao Wangtou said with a dull expression: "What does it have to do with us?"

I heard that Emperor Chongzhen died a few days ago, and the old Wangtou also had this blank expression.

Although he had honestly worked as a blacksmith for the Ming Dynasty for most of his life and abided by the law, he really didn't have the slightest feeling for the emperor, princess, pavilion elder, etc. who only existed in dramas and rumors.

He doesn't care whether these people live or die, or come and go.

But the eldest son came closer and whispered: "I heard from Manager Yao that the princess came into the city with troops and occupied the Prince of Shu's palace as soon as she arrived. I was thinking, if the princess really occupied the palace, the interest on usury money in the future would be

Not less? Then maybe we can borrow some."

The old Wangtou frowned after hearing this, "Are we allowed to talk nonsense about the palace's affairs? Work honestly!"

After hearing this, the eldest son couldn't help but said, "You work hard and you don't get any money or food."

After hearing this, Lao Wangtou raised his hand and wanted to slap his eldest son, but he stopped abruptly when he saw his daughter-in-law coming out of the kitchen.

So I lowered my head and continued to sharpen the arrowhead.

The daughter-in-law didn't say anything, but her face didn't look good.

When it was time to have breakfast, as we drank the clear porridge where people could be seen, the atmosphere in the house became very strange, and no one could talk.

Four-year-old Zhong Wa'er licked the bottom of the bowl after drinking the porridge and said, "Mom, I'm hungry."

During this period, because the men had to work in the bureau, they could drink two bowls of porridge in the morning, while the daughter-in-law and Zhong Wa'er could only drink one bowl.

Lao Wangtou put the remaining half of the second bowl of porridge in front of Zhong Wa'er, then stood up and said, "I don't want to lose my appetite. I'm going to the bureau first."

When he arrived at the station, Lao Wangtou went to see Er'er first.

Although the second son, Wang Tiezhu, was also a blacksmith, he learned how to make guns and changed his career.

The salary for making gunsmiths is higher than that for ordinary blacksmiths, but now the bureau still owes them money and food.

The family's place is small, and the eldest son has married a daughter-in-law, so the second son finds it inconvenient and often lives and eats in the bureau.

When Lao Wang saw that Er'er was still sleeping soundly, he didn't bother him and went about his business.

As the sun rises, more and more people come to the bureau, but few are doing serious work. They are either using the bureau's tools to do outside work, or just chatting.

The conversation was still about the princess leading troops into the Shu Palace yesterday.

There were all sorts of random things, and some even said that the princess could do magic, and that she could scare the King of Shu to death with a loud roar, which made the old king burst into laughter.

Shouldn't it be Zhuge Wuhou who knows magic? Why does it sound like he is talking about Zhang Yide?

At 9 o'clock in the morning, the ambassador and deputy envoy of the Ordnance Bureau, who rarely appeared in public, suddenly arrived. After hurriedly walking around the bureau, the ambassador suddenly became furious.

"Where are the people? Just a few people? Where did everyone else die?!"

When Lao Wang saw his eldest son coming, he looked on coldly.

After a period of ups and downs, a piece of news came out that made everyone uneasy.
Chapter completed!