Tang Long, the golden leopard, spoke the words "Shuai Zi Xuan" very slowly, and with his accent, everyone could tell that it was definitely not "Shuai Zixuan". Some of the blacksmiths could not help but laugh out loud.
They were with Shuai Zixuan every day, so why didn't they come up with this nickname? As soon as Tang Long said it, almost everyone thought that this nickname was much better than "Shuaiye".
The blacksmiths were not sure whether there was ringworm on his body, but although Shuai Zixuan's surname was Shuai, his appearance had nothing to do with Shuai.
He has five big features, three thick eyebrows, and triangular eyes. He really looks like a destitute person.
"Why are you laughing!" Shuai Zixuan didn't mention how angry he was, his voice suddenly rose an octave, and he gritted his teeth and said, "That's right! Who are you, this birdman? How dare you ask me!"
"You, a little blacksmith, dare to call yourself master?" Tang Long, the golden leopard, sneered: "Tang was invited by your big boss to be the master, so you don't dare to call yourself master."
When the blacksmiths heard that Tang Long said he was sent by Chao Gai, they all started whispering among themselves and looked at Tang Long with completely different eyes.
After hearing this, Shuai Zixuan's arrogance suddenly became less arrogant, but he still said bravely: "That's nothing! King Chao Tianwang and I are fellow villagers. Do you understand that we are from the same village? Dongxi Village!"
"Oh? Are you the blacksmith of Dongxi Village?" Tang Long looked at the handsome man up and down: "No wonder you can be the head blacksmith."
Shuai Zixuan suddenly pushed away the middle-aged woman beside him, patted his chest and said, "I am really talented and learned. I was the one who made the big sword of the King of Heaven! The King of Heaven trusted me, so he made me the leader of the blacksmith."
The middle-aged woman was pushed by Shuai Zixuan and almost fell down. She made a coquettish look and frowned and complained in a low voice. The coquettish voice she squeezed out deliberately made the blacksmith next to her have his hair stand on end.
"Why are you like this, turning your back on me before paying for the night?"
Even Shuai Zixuan blushed and replied in a low voice: "Didn't that bitch give you two fucks at the beginning of the month? Go back to the house and wait!"
The village girl gave him a sideways look and walked away, leaving only a cheap aroma behind.
Tang Long laughed in his belly and said with a straight face: "Since the King of Heaven trusts you, let me ask you, it's three o'clock in the morning, why haven't you gotten up yet? The stove is cold and no one is working. Do you still look like a blacksmith?"
After hearing this, the blacksmiths looked at each other, and some of them, who were usually timid, were already preparing to light the fire and start the furnace.
But Shuai Zixuan shouted and stopped the timid blacksmiths.
"What's the difference between working and not working?" Shuai Zixuan turned around and replied coldly: "It's just two regular payments every month. It puts down a lot of work and it's impossible to finish it."
"Bring the brochure!" Tang Long ordered his soldiers to find the brochure and flip through it twice under the rising sun. He estimated the workload. Sure enough, with just these twenty or thirty blacksmiths, it would take a year to catch up.
Just fine.
It's no wonder that there are as few as 10,000 soldiers on the mountain, and these few blacksmiths are really not enough.
"Why don't you apply to add people?" Tang Long frowned. He thought that the blacksmiths headed by Shuai Zixuan were lazy, but he didn't expect that there was something hidden: "There are so many people on the mountain, you can bring out a group of apprentices while working, no?"
Can it be solved?"
"How can it be so simple?" Shuai Zixuan shook his head and turned around and shouted: "Come and tell the new leader, why can't it be done?"
An older blacksmith took a step forward, stooped and said: "If there is food to eat, who will do the hard and tiring work of a blacksmith? He bakes in front of the stove every day, and the smoke is burning.
After a long time, I still have a cough..."
After saying that, the blacksmith kept coughing. Someone next to him tapped his back, and continued: "Those who have been soldiers say that training is hard. How can it be as hard as ours? What we get more here is
Two rations of money per month is always less. Although food and accommodation are provided on the mountain, except for those of us who are blacksmiths, who is willing to endure this hardship? Although the monthly salary of a soldier is only 500 francs, it is a happy life.
It’s easy.”
Tang Long, the golden leopard, nodded secretly after hearing this. Several generations of his family had been in the army making weapons, so he naturally knew the pain involved.
"I know all this, but you are just lazy and herding sheep." Tang Long said sternly: "The work is never finished, so at least you can do it slowly. If you don't even have a stove, how can you finish it?"
After hearing this, Shuai Zixuan sneered: "Tangtou, you are new here, so naturally you don't know the ways inside. For example, if you make weapons as usual this month, you can make 200 simple knives. But starting from the second month
, the number of tasks assigned by the superiors will become 300, and if it goes on for a long time, how can we keep up with it?"
"So my brothers and I have agreed that the fire will be on for two days and off for one day." Shuai Zixuan continued to explain: "In this way, about one hundred, fifty or sixty simple knives will be produced every month, even if there are additional tasks or unexpected events.
We can handle the tasks assigned to us."
"Today happens to be the day of the ceasefire, so we are all resting."
Shuai Zixuan finally spread his hands, which means that this is the situation as you see it, you can't blame us for being lazy.
After hearing this, Tang Long sneered and said nothing. It was exactly what Ximen Qing told him. There were tasks above and countermeasures below.
Fortunately, Ximen Qing had already given him instructions when he arrived.
The golden leopard Tang Long put his hands behind his back and walked back and forth for two steps, lowering his head as if thinking about something. The blacksmiths headed by Shuai Zixuan followed Tang Long with their eyes, waiting for Tang Long to speak.
"Now that Tang is here, there should be something new." Tang Long suddenly raised his head and said, "From today on, there will be no ceasefire."
"What?"
"No, no!"
"You want to tire us out!"
Shuai Zixuan did not make a sound, but listened to the complaints of the blacksmiths behind him with a smile while looking at Tang Long.
Tang Long knew this would be the result. He stopped and coughed and said, "Please listen to what Tang has to say."
Shuai Zixuan pressed down with his very cooperative arms, and all the noisy sounds disappeared without a trace.
"Starting from today, all prepaid fees will be cancelled."
After Tang Long said these words, even Shuai Zixuan could not suppress the resentment of the blacksmiths.
"Isn't it okay if I quit? Even this small amount of payment is cancelled. What a waste!"
"I asked you to argue, but this time it's great, I don't even have the money to get medicine!"
“I’m done with it, I’m done with it, I’m going down the mountain and going home to farm!”
"Want to leave?" Tang Long smiled and waved: "Captain Wang, I'm done."
Wang Mazi nodded, stretched out his hand and pulled out the steel knife: "Everyone has it... Surround these birdmen, don't let any of them go!"
Although the number of blacksmiths outnumbered the soldiers several times, seeing the bright steel knives dangling in front of their eyes, the ones who had shouted the loudest shrank back into the crowd.
There was silence.
"You are too impatient. If you have this mentality, the quality of the weapons you build will not be very good." Tang Long, the golden leopard, glanced at him and said loudly: "Only when you have a calm mind can you make good weapons. You all know this.
Understand."
"Tangtou, you might as well say it directly." Shuai Zixuan looked at Tang Long thoughtfully: "I can guarantee that everyone present is a first-class expert, and there is no ambiguity in building weapons. However, what Tangtou just said about canceling the money
What's going on, I'd better explain it clearly."
Tang Long, the golden leopard, did not answer the question directly, but asked: "How much does a simple knife cost?"
"About 600 to 800 yuan." Shuai Zixuan answered without hesitation.
"Very good." Tang Long nodded and said: "I just said that there will be no payment from now on, but you can sell me the weapons you have made. Take the simple sword as an example. If the quality is good, I will pay 800 yuan."
The paper, if the quality is average, is six hundred. If the quality is not good, I’m sorry, then I’ll rework it and you won’t get a penny.”
"Eight hundred coins?" A blacksmith immediately started to calculate the calculation: "A simple knife only takes two or three days. If you have quick hands and feet, it won't be a problem to make more than ten in a month... Wouldn't that be..."
"That's right, if you can produce fifteen high-quality simple knives a month, then it will be twelve knives." Tang Long heard this and said loudly.
"Twelve guan! My dear mother, my handsome master originally only got two guan every month. Twelve guan!"
"Really or not, don't try to make us happy, or you will turn your back on us when the time comes!"
"Of course, not all of these twelve guans will be given to you." Tang Long immediately continued: "The iron ore and coal you use are all bought from the village, and of course they need to be deducted from them."
"The price is naturally reasonable. I estimate that what you will get in the end is a little more than ten strings."
"What's the difference from before we went up the mountain?" a famous blacksmith asked boldly.
"That's a good question." Tang Long smiled and said, "Let me ask you, before you go up the mountain, can you receive an order for fifteen simple knives every month? Can you earn ten copper coins a month?"
"No." The blacksmith's voice suddenly became quieter, replaced by an eager gaze.
All the blacksmiths, including Shuai Zixuan, couldn't help but turn their heads and look at the blacksmith shop next to them.
There were iron ore, coal, stoves and anvils there, just waiting for them to go there and use the sledgehammers and small hammers in their hands to forge weapons. No, they were just hammering out copper coins!
Tang Long took out a stack of Jiaozi that Ximen Qing had just given to him from his arms and waved it gently in front of everyone: "The money is right here. Do you have anything to exchange for it?"
"Brothers!" Shuai Zixuan raised his arm: "What are you waiting for! Let's do it!"
Wang Mazi ordered the soldiers to get out of the way, and the blacksmiths rushed towards the furnace in a swarm, fearing that they would fall behind others and lose a simple sword.
"Shuai Zixuan, wait a minute." Tang Long grabbed Shuai Zixuan, who was about to make weapons: "Is there a roster? I want to check the number of people."
Shuai Zixuan was stunned and said: "I don't know a word of Chinese characters. There is no roster anywhere. I just keep everything in mind."
Shuai Zixuan is confident that he can still remember the names of only twenty or thirty people.
But the next question from the golden leopard Tang Long made Shuai Zixuan feel strange.