After listening to the mandarin duck brought by Qingwen to explain the whole story, Shen Yixiu also realized that the problem might not be that simple.
She was asked to go over and see the girl sent by Concubine Xiande from the palace, saying that she wanted to know about the situation of her husband in Yongping Mansion, or perhaps bring a message to her husband. This still aroused Shen Yixiu's vigilance.
It's not that I'm worried about personal affairs between men and women, but that such matters related to the palace often contain huge risks. Even if the virtuous concubine is a member of the Jia family, and even if the virtuous concubine has no heirs, such dealings are still It makes people feel a bit of hidden chill.
Shen Yixiu didn't know what role his husband-in-law played in this matter. The husband-in-law did meet the concubine during her wedding visit, but he never mentioned what was behind it. This made Shen Yixiu very sad. It's doubt.
It's just that when faced with this kind of thing, she had to deal with it with grit.
“Yuanyang, I have also heard of your reputation as a wise and virtuous person for a long time at my husband’s place...”
Shen Yixiu's words made Yuanyang quickly say, "Grandma, how can I deserve such praise from Grandma?"
“Yuanyang, this is not my praise, it’s the praise of my husband-in-law.” Shen Yixiu smiled and waved his hand, “Does Yuanyang still want to question the judgment of my husband-in-law?”
Yuanyang blushed and didn’t know how to answer.
"Well, Qingwen has repeatedly said how good you are in front of me, and I am the first person who can convince this girl." Shen Yixiu said calmly: "However, today you come to our house to say this. I'm still a little surprised about the matter. Miss Baoqin is the personal maid of the Concubine Xiande. She wants to know about my husband-in-law's situation in Yongping. This seems to be a bit against the rules. Moreover, she still let Qingwen go, but Qingwen How did this girl know that my husband-in-law was in Yongping?"
Yuanyang also knew that this matter was a bit outrageous no matter how you looked at it, but she couldn't answer such a question. She pondered for a while and then said: "Grandma, it is logical that it is not the slave's turn to intervene in such matters. I just follow the instructions of my ancestors." If you want to report it to the house, but since grandma asked, I have the courage to say a few words according to my own thoughts, I hope grandma will not be surprised."
Shen Yixiu nodded, "You say."
"The uncle met the imperial concubine when she was visiting for the wedding. The eldest grandma probably also knows that the empress may have entrusted the uncle with some Jia family matters. After all, Miss Bao and Miss Lin are both close relatives of the Jia family, and they are marrying into the Feng family. I had to live with the Jia family before, so it makes sense for my wife to care about the uncle..."
Yuanyang’s words made Shen Yixiu nodded slightly.
“In addition, the empress may also send a message to the uncle and grandma through Qingwen,...”
This is the key, Shen Yixiu weighed it in his mind.
To be honest, she does not want her husband to get involved in such matters. No matter what aspect it is, it is always an uncertain trouble when it is involved in the palace.
But she also knew that she could not be the boss of her husband-in-law. Since the husband-in-law could have a relationship with this virtuous concubine, he must have considered it carefully. The pros and cons, risks, gains and losses must have been calculated long ago, so she would not overstep his authority.
"In that case, Qingwen, please go with Yuanyang." Shen Yixiu thought for a while and finally nodded: "If Miss Baoqin asks about the uncle on behalf of the empress, just tell her what you know. , uncle’s matters are all official business, there is nothing that I cannot see anyone.”
"Grandma...?" Qingwen didn't want to go very much and frowned.
"Qingwen, since the empress specially asked Baoqin to leave the palace, it is reasonable and appropriate, so go ahead." Shen Yixiu waved his hand.
************
Feng Ziying stood beside the two blacksmiths, picked up a gun and examined it carefully.
This is a typical Swedish matchlock gun. It should be said that even in Europe, it is still relatively advanced. It only took more than ten years for it to be equipped on a large scale in European armies.
It was developed relatively early, but due to the complexity and high price of its gun, it was not popularized after it was developed in the mid-to-late 16th century. It was not until the end of the 16th century that it began to be slowly equipped in European countries. .
This kind of matchlock will soon come into play in the Thirty Years' War in Europe. Even spring-wheel flintlock muskets have appeared in large numbers. However, the high price and complicated manufacturing process of spring-wheel flintlock muskets have limited the ability of spring-wheel flintlock guns. The popularity of wheeled flintlock muskets will not be realized until the flintlock muskets become popular and the spring wheel is replaced by a sear with a spring.
The current spring-loaded flintlock gun still has many problems and shortcomings, and its production complexity and price are much higher than that of ordinary matchlock guns.
There is a matchlock clamp opening at the top of the snake rod of the gun. The medicine pot and the lid of the medicine pot are integrated into one body. Together with the barrel, this is a matchlock gun, which is the core component of the firegun.
The production of the gun mechanism is particularly complicated, and the quality of the barrel determines the range of the ignited gun.
Feng Ziying nodded and put down the gun, "How long does it take a craftsman to make a gun like this?"
"It's very slow. Even our skilled craftsmen from Foshan can make one in about half a month if they have all the steel materials and tools and the cooperation of an assistant." Zhuang Limin introduced at the side.
“What about the craftsmen I gave you here?” Feng Ziying couldn’t help but frown.
Zhuang Limin brought only more than thirty craftsmen from Foshan to serve as masters, and there were only more than eighty apprentices. This means that they can only make eighty guns in one month. If we add more
As for gun barrels, it is estimated that by the time the Mongols move south, if they rely solely on people from Foshan, they may not be able to make even 200 of them.
“They were even slower. The main reason was that the things they made were too rough, and many of them were useless. They had to be reworked repeatedly, and it was a lot of waste.” Seeing that Feng Ziying’s face looked very ugly, Zhuang Limin did not dare to lie.
This thing lied and had to hand it over in the end. Feng Ziying's intention was very clear, which was to build Yongping into the largest base in the north to provide various types of muskets to Jiubian in the future, completely replacing the imperial court's military strategy.
“Be more specific.” Feng Ziying said patiently.
"Sir, after all, it is still a matter of time. Although they are all from craftsmen's backgrounds, they are still different from us old craftsmen. Many have never touched this kind of production technology and have to start from scratch. They still have to start from scratch.
They have some foundation and can learn relatively quickly, but if you want them to reach the level of my craftsmen, it would be too demanding. I am an old craftsman with decades of experience, and they have practiced with me for two or three years.
It would be considered good to be able to make a qualified gun in one month per year, but now it basically takes them forty to fifty days to make something that is not satisfactory..."
Zhuang Limin explained.
"Well, is it possible to hand over these parts to different people for production?" Feng Ziying expressed her opinion, "I saw that the gun action needs to be divided into several small parts, and then installed on the gun body.
As for the barrel, I know that the barrel is specially made by someone, and the gun body is made by a carpenter, but for this bolt component, one person is responsible for the entire bolt, and then he tries to assemble it himself. So if each of us, or a group of people,
One person is only responsible for a certain small part, then the last group of people is responsible for assembly, and finally there is another group of people specifically for inspection and approval..."
In fact, this is the simplest assembly line model. In fact, this division of labor already exists in many industries. However, the truly large-scale adoption of this assembly line division of labor model needs to be applicable in modern factories, which is difficult to achieve in ordinary small workshops.
Useful.
Zhuang Limin was startled and stood there silently for a long time, seeming to be thinking hard about something.
“But sir, the parts made by each of us may not be the same. You have to match the most suitable one yourself, otherwise it will be difficult to combine...”
A craftsman couldn't help but interjected.
"Then we need to achieve consistent and strict requirements. You select a few of the most exquisite tooth rulers as a measurement standard, and then use these tooth rulers to make a batch of steel tooth rulers to achieve complete consistency, so
Use this tooth ruler as the basic tool for measurement, so that whether it is a bolt action or a barrel you make, there will be no false differences..."
This is also a big problem. The current weights and measures are still relatively crude. Rules such as ivory ruler, banknote ruler (tailoring ruler), and copper ruler (Baoyuanju) are relatively common, but they all have different measurements.
There is a slight difference even from foot to foot.
So if you want them to decide according to this, you need to determine a stable weight and measure first, and now Feng Ziying can only ask them to choose a few of the most exquisite tooth rulers as basic measuring tools for production.
Zhuang Limin seemed to have just woken up from his meditation at this time, nodding his head repeatedly like a chicken pecking at rice: "Sir, you said this method is great. Each craftsman will lead a group of people to make a small part, or even just make a small part.
A process is then handed over to the next group of people. As long as the measurements are accurate and refined, and the final inspection and review are stricter, the best results can be achieved. The key is that if this is the case, practice makes perfect, and efficiency will definitely be greatly improved..."
“But if this is the case, wouldn’t it be true that in the end if one of us is missing, we will no longer be able to make a complete firecracker?” The craftsman was still hesitant.
"That's true, but you can master the entire production process, but you don't necessarily need to be the most familiar and best in every link. You only need to be the best in one link. Of course, if he doesn't like this link of production,
You can also go to other aspects to do it, which is a process where the best makes perfect, isn't it?" Feng Ziying was in a particularly good mood at this time and explained patiently.