Chapter 2094 Priorities (asking for a guaranteed monthly ticket)
Because he was going to the inner manufacturing office, Brother Jiu got off the bus at Xihuamen.
Although he was not on duty in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he had the palace card and entered the palace directly.
When passing by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Brother Jiu went in anyway.
If you really want to use in-house craftsmen, you have to report to the main hall office.
But there was no accurate letter, so the ninth elder brother did not go to the manager Ding Zaobao, but went to the twelfth elder brother's room.
The twelfth elder brother was writing at his desk. When he heard the movement, he looked up and saw that it was the ninth elder brother who came in. He quickly stood up.
"Brother Ninth..."
"What are you busy with?" As Brother Jiu spoke, he came closer and looked at the writing on the desk with a strange look on his face.
The twelfth elder brother was not dealing with official documents, but copying scriptures.
Brother Jiu looked a little ugly and said, "What does Ding Zaobao mean?"
Is this because he became the general manager and began to exclude the twelfth elder brother?
The twelfth elder brother saw that he had misunderstood and hurriedly explained: "I have already read it in the morning. It was my younger brother who wanted to copy a few sutras to the Buddha before Medicine King Bodhisattva's Christmas..."
It's not that the twelfth elder brother was bullied to seize power. The ninth elder brother's face softened and he said with concern: "Okay, why do you think of copying scriptures? Is there something wrong with your body?"
The twelfth elder brother nodded and said: "I haven't been able to sleep well these days, which makes me worry."
She was the adoptive mother of the twelfth prince, and she was an old man whom even the emperor respected.
Brother Jiu didn't say anything. He just said: "It's probably because of the change of seasons. Ask the doctor to take pulse twice more. It should be fine after a while."
The key is that Grandma Su Ma is already over ninety years old. She is still strong and strong at this age. She only has a small problem like sleeplessness, so she is extremely lucky.
There are many bedridden old people in their fifties and sixties like Prince Yu.
He thought of the Queen Mother's joy at Baiwang Mountain yesterday, and said to his twelfth brother: "My fifth brother and I set up several yurts in Haidian, and also selected some Mongolian cooks and Mongolian musicians. Do you want to smoke?"
I’ll take my grandma there for a day.”
It seems that when people get old, they miss the past.
If the Imperial Grandmother is like this, will Aunt Suma be like this too?
The twelfth elder brother was stunned when he heard this.
Among the princes, he was the only one who had not patrolled the north with Hu, so naturally he had never seen a yurt.
However, he had heard it many times from Grandma Su Ma.
Vast grasslands.
Meandering river.
The swift eagle.
White yurt...
"Isn't this... inappropriate? Those were prepared by Fifth Brother and Ninth Brother for the Imperial Grandmother..."
Brother Twelve was moved, but hesitant for fear of causing trouble to Brother Ninth.
Brother Jiu said: "It's okay. Grandmother Huang had already swam there yesterday. I took some money and left the yurt as a place to rest for an outing..."
At this point, he thought that Aunt Su was not an ordinary palace member, but an elder respected by the emperor, so he reminded: "If you have such a plan, don't be alone. You should report it to Khan Ama."
The twelfth elder brother nodded and said: "Yes, I know... I just don't know if I can go and take a look first so that I can talk to my grandma later..."
Brother Jiu said: "Of course I can. Seeing that you are free, I will go back to Haidian with me at noon. The village is only ten miles away from Changchun Garden. It can be reached in less than two quarters of an hour on horseback."
The twelfth elder brother doesn't like to go out, and he doesn't like to trouble people.
But the yurt still has a huge attraction for him.
"Was Grandma Huang happy yesterday?"
The twelfth elder brother asked carefully.
"Well, I was smiling from ear to ear... While eating the Mongolian meal, I listened to Horqin's Chaoerqin and other songs, as well as the singing and drinking song brought by my fifth brother. I also found the Mongolian deer chess piece, the imperial grandmother
I’m happy that the children have also gained knowledge..."
Brother Jiu said, thoughtfully.
Except that Khan Amma came uninvited, everything else was fine.
It seems that the arrival of Khan Amma also has benefits.
That was Khan Amma’s filial piety towards the royal grandmother.
The royal grandmother was not Khan Amma’s biological mother, and the servants in the palace were the best at deceiving the superiors and the subordinates.
Only when Khan Amma repeatedly expressed his respect for the imperial grandmother, people in Ningshou Palace did not dare to make any mistakes.
The twelfth elder brother listened with yearning.
The place that the Queen Mother likes should also be liked by Nanny, right?
That is the place where grandma lived when she was a child.
For example, I have moved to Qianxi Wuzhuo for more than ten years, but the place I miss the most is the back courtyard of Ningshou Palace.
After Brother Jiu finished talking about his family affairs, he remembered the business and said, "By the way, I'll accompany you to the inner city to do something..."
The twelfth elder brother didn't ask any further questions and answered immediately.
After leaving the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Brother Twelve asked: "Brother Ninth, do you want to see the porcelain?"
What he was thinking about was that the medicinal wine in the official pot needed utensils, and the more refined the better.
Brother Jiu shook his head and said: "That porcelain that does not need to be made inside, the palace porcelain is placed outside, and it is only for first-class officials and above. It is too grand and against the rules. I go to the clock department."
The twelfth elder brother saw that He Yuzhu, Zhou Song and others were all empty-handed. His ninth elder brother didn't look like he was here to repair the clock, so he couldn't guess the reason for the moment.
Brother Jiu saw that he had doubts on his face, so he told him about the clockwork machine, saying: "The Western toys sold outside cost dozens of taels of silver each, so I wanted to use them on Buddha statues and gods, and make them more precise.
It's time to sell them to Mongolia and Jiangnan."
If we really want to produce on a large scale, it would be more appropriate for the Ministry of Internal Affairs to handle this production and sales.
It's just that Brother Ninth feels that this is a piece of fat, or fat that he has worked hard to figure out. If the people in the Ministry of Internal Affairs are corrupted by greed, he will be disgusted to death.
It would be better if it became private property.
In that case, there won’t be so many people handling it, and there will be fewer drawbacks in the process.
As for the craftsmen who used in-house manufacturing...
You can give dividends to Yuqian dry shares...
Brother Jiu suddenly realized.
I have been a little too conscientious these days.
If this is considered an official camp, hanging under the Lifan Courtyard, and one year later he will be transferred to the Ministry, wouldn't that be a loss?
In just two or three hundred steps, Brother Jiu had already made up his mind.
He said to the twelfth elder brother: "I haven't heard how many new clocks have been made in the clock department in the past few years. Is it because there are not enough craftsmen?"
The twelfth elder brother really knew something, and said: "Forty years ago, although there were foreigners working in the palace, they were just clock repairmen. The clock department could only repair clocks, not make them. Even if there were a dozen eunuch apprentices, they would not be able to make clocks.
That is the craft of making clock cases. Two flanges have been produced in forty years.
Western monks from Italy were clock makers, and they began to try to make clocks. They had made them the year before last, but there were not many of them. The palaces that got new bells were Ningshou Palace, Yuqing Palace, and Yanxi Palace.
Along with the Yikun Palace and Grandma’s place, I also got one.”
After hearing this, Brother Jiu said: "How many apprentices have been chosen this time? This foreigner can't stay in the palace forever. It would be a pity not to turn back and learn."
The twelfth elder brother said: "Fifteen eunuchs have been selected. They are all skilled in Tongzuo. They should be able to learn about the same."
Brother Jiu nodded and said: "That's good. It's not something difficult to crack. We have been across the ocean for more than a hundred years. We can't let foreigners use foreign clocks while our children and grandchildren also use foreign clocks.
Take us for granted."
The two brothers talked and arrived at the inner building.
The chief steward got the news and hurriedly came out to welcome him.
The ninth elder brother remembered the matter of managing the ministers and asked the twelfth elder brother: "Has anyone been arranged to take care of it here?"
If a management minister is arranged, if Brother Jiu wants to use the people here, he must say hello first.
The twelfth elder brother shook his head and said: "No, there are only two general managers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs now, Mr. Ha is also busy, and Mr. Ding is in charge of several other yamen."
Brother Jiu thinks so too.
In the past, most of the internal affairs were handled directly by the emperor, so Brother Ninth was not familiar with the news from the clock department.
The two brothers followed the chief steward to the watchmaking workshop.
This is a five-room house, which is considered a relatively large workshop among interior manufacturers.
There were more than two foreigners inside.
In addition to the two people mentioned by Brother Twelve, there are also four assistants and two interpreters of those two people.
In addition to the fifteen eunuch apprentices and one eunuch in charge selected from the palace, there were about twenty people in the room.
Brother Ninth spoke French and Italian, so he asked two foreign masters about the development of the clock department in the past three years.
The older foreigner, who was in his fifties and had gray hair, said with excitement: "The output was low the year before, and only twelve were produced in half a year; last year it was slightly higher, with twenty-seven; this year, apprentices can start, and we produced them in one spring.
, we made twenty-two. At this rate, we can make more than a hundred clocks for His Majesty the Emperor this year..."
Now, in the finished product room next to it, there are twenty-two new clocks that have not yet been inspected and put into storage.
Brother Jiu was happy and sad at the same time.
The output in the first year was small and uneven, so it was not easy to reward these princes.
But in the second year, weren’t there more than twenty clocks?
Why hasn't it been their turn yet?!
The prince is the prince, and the treatment of these sons differs from that of the prince by more than a year or two.
When the foreigner said he had finished the product, he showed helplessness and spread his hands and said: "But we can't make a hundred clocks. The money allocated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs is twice that of last year. By July, we will be out of materials..."
Brother Jiu looked at the eunuch in charge and said, "Didn't you report it to the superior?"
The eunuch in charge said: "Master Jiu, in the second half of the year, there will be time for the maintenance of the clocks in each palace."
"Stupid! Where are the old men at the clock department? Isn't it enough to use them to repair the clocks?"
Brother Ninth said.
These foreign priests traveled across the ocean to preach and did not stay in one country. Who knows when they would leave.
While they are in the palace, they should keep making new clocks and let the fifteen eunuch apprentices master this craft.
Brother Jiu looked at the steward next to him and said: "Khan Ama attaches great importance to the clock department. Please write a note to report the good news when you go back, and also mention the lack of materials. Don't delay."
The doctor in charge hurriedly responded.
Brother Ninth looked at a few foreigners again.
Compared with wind-up toys, the clock-making craftsmanship is more important.
At this rate, within a few years, not to mention princes like them, even the emperor's grandsons will have their turn to receive clocks and watches from the palace.
Brother Jiu is not in a hurry to call for help.
Let's wait for news from the emperor to see if there are any other arrangements.
If the emperor feels that he needs to limit the number of homemade clocks, he can borrow them himself.
If the emperor's father agrees with me, then I can borrow him again next year.
Brother Jiu can still distinguish the priorities...