The accident in the gunpowder manufacturing workshop did not cause much damage. A master of saltpeter purification died and several others were injured. There was no explosion. However, the spread of the fire in a small area did ignite the fire.

There is a small amount of nitrate, including unpurified soil nitrate, and pure nitrate that has been purified into crystal form. There is still a lot of unexpected consumption of raw materials.

Feng Chengshi suppressed this matter without much effort. The personnel were compensated according to the work-related injury level set by Chen Kai, and the purchase of raw materials was increased. That was all. The man with a busy schedule did not take the time to delve into the reason.

It was indeed just an accident, and it was quickly forgotten by people outside the Ordnance Bureau.

However, as the head of the Ordnance Bureau, Feng Chengshi's worries have become more and more serious. Because he is someone who can truly touch every corner of the Ordnance Bureau's work, and he knows far better than those outside the high walls what is going on here.

What.

On the third day after the accident, before the overtime work had started, Feng Chengshi issued an order to take a day off. In the dim night, with the flickering of lighting torches, the craftsmen who lined up in front of the factory gate to receive instructions and be called on late had no eyesight.

God stood there, showing no reaction at all to Feng Chengshi's grace.

They were just silent. Wang Fugui looked at Feng Chengshi's side face, then turned to look at the craftsmen. He pulled out his whip, pointed at the craftsmen and yelled: "Are they all deaf? Thank you."

Exceed the grace of joining the army!”

The prestige accumulated over the past few years, whip after whip, has finally exerted some effect, and feeble gratitude is being staged unevenly. Feng Chengshi is not angry about this, and does not mention names here, but directly says:

"Reducing duty" means letting these craftsmen who are usually "reluctant" to let go go home to rest.

The overseers moved out of the way, and the craftsmen walked toward the door silently. There were no whispers at all, let alone smiles. What was left was just silently dragging their almost exhausted bodies forward.

, in the dim firelight, densely packed, like a group of walking corpses, silent, the most is the rustling of shoes on the ground, and even the air seems to be stagnant by this horrific scene.

Feng Chengshi stood there, just staring blankly at the bodies that seemed to have lost their souls slowly approaching the door. Listening to the rustling sound gradually disappearing, an inexplicable coldness inevitably surged in his chest.

"It's time to go back to rest."

After shooing away the supervisor and other managers, Feng Chengshi returned to the office alone, reading the reports of the past few days by candlelight, sweat dripping from his forehead, and with a "pop" sound, it dripped on the last

Above the conspicuous 10,000 characters.

The reports were naturally written in ink. Feng Chengshi quickly started to wipe them, but the big beads of sweat wetted the paper in an instant. After a few times, the water stains could not be wiped clean, but the ten thousand characters had been blurred.

It became a ball, and it was impossible to tell what the word was.

"Why."

With a long sigh, Feng Chengshi would not have given him a report just for a piece of paper, but the ink could melt, but the vacancies in the army were still clearly there. There was no need to even read the report, Feng Chengshi

It is also very clear to what extent the pressure on military production is now.

"Hopefully, I can feel better the day after tomorrow. If that doesn't work, I'll just focus on Fujian's vacancies, and let Chen Kai figure it out on his own in Guangdong."

Chen Kai established a manufacturing bureau in Chaozhou, and the Ordnance Bureau allocated personnel and equipment from South Australia. However, the role of weapons production was mainly carried on the shoulders of Feng Chengshi. Guangdong still produced saltpeter and gunpowder. For

The production of weapons used in the military is not too large.

Regarding the manufacturing bureau, Feng Chengshi knew that Chen Kai had manufactured a lot of machinery there. Most of these machines were trial works, but with these trial works, the output of the copper mine in Changhua County, Qiongzhou Prefecture was actually large.

A lot of it, and a lot of copper materials were shipped to the Zhongzuo Institute, and they were used in cannon casting and copper coins, which were also very good.

However, there are relatively few iron raw materials in Chaozhou. The traditional production area of ​​Chengxiang is now in the hands of the Qing army. The Fujian iron that can be purchased is mainly transported to the Ordnance Bureau. The production capacity of a single machine seems to be greater than that of manpower.

But there are still some things that can't be done without rice.

Thinking about this in his mind, Feng Chengshi couldn't help but feel a little downcast. It has been three years since he took over the Arms Bureau, and he has never been less interested in surpassing Chen Kai in terms of political talent, but this time he couldn't get the chance.

It is also inevitable.

After returning home, Feng Chengshi did not say anything to his family, not even his son Feng Xifan, and went back to his room to rest without even having a meal.

The next day, the craftsmen rested at home, and many managers were not here. The entire Ordnance Bureau's workshop seemed empty. His subordinates were on holiday, but Feng Chengshi came, but he only entered the official room and did not come out.

The person was using an abacus to calculate the shortfalls in the relevant groups and divisions, estimating the remaining time, and figuring out how much work needed to be done every day to fill up the shortfalls before Zheng Chenggong sent troops.

He sat like this all day, and when he returned home at the end of his shift, he still had no intention of talking much. After washing up, he went back to his room and went to bed, which made his family worry about his health.

After the holiday was over and work resumed, Feng Chengshi arrived at the Ordnance Bureau early in the morning as usual. As the time for duty approached, craftsmen began to walk in one after another at the gate, each with unkempt hair and sparse eyes.

His steps were light and he looked like he was sleepy.

Feng Chengshi watched all this silently. Soon, the duty hour passed. In the past, everyone had gathered at this time. Next, he would start to name names and lectures early, but this time he didn't even have half of them.

.And on the other side of the door, there are also craftsmen arriving one after another, but they are just a little more anxious than the former. Only the resentment in the eyes is the same as before.

"join the army……"

Being late is a phenomenon that has not happened in the Ordnance Bureau for many years. Wang Fugui remembered earlier that it is natural to use a whip to whip things like this, and it is also a warning to others. However,

When he looked at Feng Chengshi out of habit, Feng Chengshi seemed to understand what he was thinking. He just shook his head with a wry smile, and then continued to stand there waiting for the craftsmen to arrive one after another.

After a while, work had probably started on weekdays, and the flow of people at the gate was finally completely stopped. Feng Chengshi looked at the craftsmen in front of him, most of whom were a little scared, and waved his hand without saying anything about being late.

, and began to call names. However, as the roll call continued, the phenomenon of calling out names but not responding appeared one after another. Some people dared to be absent from work, which was indeed beyond his expectation.

"If I go back to join the army, my master will be ill."

"My master is also sick."

"Tell me to join the army. My unlucky apprentice is also sick and can't get out of bed."

"..."

The reason for absenteeism was all because he was sick and couldn't get out of bed, so naturally he couldn't be here. At this moment, the reasons were basically the same. Wang Fugui's anger began to accumulate over and over again. In his opinion, he couldn't even make up some reasons.

Come on, this is clearly showing contempt for his existence as the leader of the overseers!

"Join the army. I will take people to capture those guys!"

Wang Fugui arrived at Feng Chengshi's side, suppressed his anger, but was particularly determined to ask for orders. However, Feng Chengshi's brows tightened, but he turned to him and said: "Take a few doctors and go to see their diseases."

At this point, Wang Fugui seemed to have suddenly realized the situation and immediately responded to the order. But at this time, Feng Chengshi suddenly added: "If they are really sick, I will prescribe medicine and let them rest at home first and recover."

The disease will come again. Well, don't force it."

Don't force the four words, Feng Chengshi said without a doubt, Wang Fugui was stunned. This was obviously different from what he had just thought, and could even be said to be completely opposite.

"Joining the army, this mission..."

Thinking back to when Chen Kai asked himself to go out and Feng Chengshi was ordered to take over the Arms Bureau, Wang Fugui immediately reversed the situation. Speaking of it, it was hard to say that he had abandoned his old master. After all, this was just a "state-owned military production enterprise."

It can't be regarded as private ownership. What's more, when Chen Kai was in the Ordnance Bureau, his real cronies were Ke Chenmei and Cai Cheng. Yu Wang Fugui was only a little stronger than ordinary subordinates.

In this way, after Feng Chengshi took over the Arms Bureau, he accepted Wang Fugui's surrender. The latter also tried his best to implement Feng Chengshi's policies and never acted carelessly. Because to Wang Fugui, Feng Chengshi was both

His Shangguan is also his backer. His identity has been branded with the Feng family, so naturally he has to think about Feng Chengshi.

This time, time was tight and tasks were heavy. Feng Chengshi faced a very difficult situation. Wang Fugui naturally saw it, and his performance at this moment was also from the heart. In this regard, Feng Chengshi also gave a rare explanation, Quan Dang is

Loyalty in return.

"If you are really sick, what will happen even if you are caught? Can you still continue to work?"

Yes, you can't even get out of bed, so how can you still have the energy to work? Not to mention, if you are forced to come and die in the Ordnance Bureau, this matter will no longer be as simple as an accident.

"The villain is talking nonsense, please join the army and forgive me."

Wang Fugui was like this, so Feng Chengshi didn't make it difficult for him, he just asked him to do things. Speaking of which, Feng Chengshi knew him very well. This supervisor had a quick mind and was never a fool, but this time his words were extra special.

madness.

The reason for this is not that he deliberately plotted against him, because with Wang Fugui's mind, he would never be so stupid. In the final analysis, it was because Wang Fugui never regarded those craftsmen as human beings, and subconsciously thought that they were just a bunch of animals. Naturally, those craftsmen were so stupid.

If you don’t care about their life and death, you will blurt out your words without thinking!

Wang Fugui took the order and left. Two hours later, the dejected supervisor came back, and what he brought back was the reply that the dozens of craftsmen were indeed tired and sick.

This was not unexpected by Feng Chengshi. Before that, he had already inspected the factory area and saw with his own eyes that many of the craftsmen looked very uncomfortable, but they were not so sick that they could not get out of bed.

That’s all.

It seems incredible at first glance that you don’t get sick when you work overtime every day, but you get sick immediately after work. However, after all, people always have a limit of endurance. The closer they are to this limit, the more time they will waste if they want to slow down.

Just because they don't get sick when they work overtime doesn't mean that their physical condition is really good. It's just that the feudal bureaucracy's accumulated pressure forces them to work with all their energy. But once they take a break and relax, they will be in good health.

The pressure you bear will rush over you and knock your whole person to the ground. But if you keep working like this without taking a break, then it will no longer be as simple as getting sick. When the tendon is broken,

It is very likely that someone will die!

In this regard, Feng Chengshi had no choice but to order people to send money to the sick craftsmen for medical treatment. Naturally, there were voices of gratitude, and Feng Chengshi didn't care whether they came from the heart. But in the next few days, craftsmen kept coming.

Most of the craftsmen who were sick, even those who were not sick, were unable to complete their work tasks to varying degrees, and the production capacity of the entire Ordnance Bureau suddenly collapsed.

Walking through the Ordnance Bureau's workshop, the sound of hammering iron materials is dull and feeble, making people feel tired and sleepy.

Feng Chengshi left the administrative area and as far as he could see, this was not the Ordnance Bureau of South Australia. He had made the overall layout and planning. But hearing such news, he thought of the collapse of production capacity and recalled that he had just taken over the Ordnance Bureau.

At that time, there did not seem to be such a situation in Nan'ao, and it seemed that every knock was made with great enthusiasm.

What's the difference?

Feng Chengshi thought about it carefully, and found that three years was indeed a lot of time. The most obvious thing was right in front of him - in the Ordnance Bureau of South Australia, the living area existed independently, and the canteen provided hot meals and dishes.

You can also lie down on the table and take a nap until it is time to start work. And those fires are lit every day and will not be extinguished until supper and hot water are prepared for the guards on duty. The craftsmen can drink ready-made

With hot water, you can even take a bath in the bathhouse in the living area before going home.

These did not exist in the Ordnance Bureau of Zhongzuo Institute in front of him. Meals were delivered to the factory by handymen, and the craftsmen had to eat in dirty workshops; after eating, they could only eat at work.

In the room, he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes for a moment, and then he was pulled up by the supervisors to continue working. There was hot water, but it was limited.
To be continued...