Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 215: Successor (Part )
Dang Dang Dang——

At this moment, a bell rang in the iron factory, and a clerk in black clothes walked into the workshop and shouted loudly.

"It's time to change shifts. Mark the names of workers on the items. Each team should count the output and mark it. Finish the work early and rest early. Each team leader should check the list of his or her team and make sure the handover is done well to prevent mistakes."

The clerk shouted several times to ensure that all groups could hear him, and then began to inspect each group in turn to count the numbers to see if they had completed the production task. If they completed the task quickly and well, and exceeded the target, they would be rewarded with extra meals and drinks. However, they could only drink after work; they were not allowed to drink before work.

Yang Heng looked at the sky outside with some surprise. It was still mid-morning and the craftsmen in the factory were handing over their work in an orderly manner. After only a few minutes of activity, another group of craftsmen stood at their workstations. Many machines did not even stop and production continued without any pause. Everything was in perfect order.

He asked the craftsman beside him in surprise, "How many shifts do they have here in a day? Why are they taking a break at this time?"

The craftsman said quickly, "It depends on the type of work. For example, in the smelting area, we now produce 12 furnaces of molten iron a day and night. It is hot and tiring to smelt iron and stir steel. A little negligence can result in casualties. If you work too hard, it is easy to make mistakes, resulting in poor quality steel.

"So the commander-in-chief divided the workers who made iron and steel into six shifts, a total of three groups of craftsmen, each shift lasted two hours, and iron was produced twice, three shifts during the day and three shifts at night.

"For example, if Group A is on duty in the early morning, during the Mao and Chen hours (5am to 9am), they can rest for four hours, and then the next shift will be on duty during the You and Xu hours (5pm to 9pm). The same goes for the other two groups, Group B and Group C. Each shift has two shifts, day and night, and someone will call them to take over at that time.

"This is the smelting area. The rest of the forging and carpentry groups basically work in three shifts day and night. Each shift is on duty for four hours before the next shift takes over.

"The Marshal said that this is called cold work and hot work. Any work that involves burning furnaces is called hot work. When changing shifts, you should be more diligent. Cold work that does not involve burning furnaces can be done longer because the smoke and fire from burning furnaces make you sweat and get tired faster. Although the factory must ensure the quality and quantity of production, it must also cherish the labor of craftsmen and people."

"I see. So what are they going to do after work?" Yang Heng nodded in understanding and asked as he looked at the groups of craftsmen leaving get off work.

The man replied, "Eat, then go back to the dormitory to sleep, or take a shower and change clothes, or go home to do private work, or go to the factory school to study, or go out for fun, but you can't go too far.

"Also, the iron smelting furnace workers are not allowed to leave the ironworks. Once an accident occurs in the blast furnace, or a worker is injured or killed, another shift must immediately fill in. In short, the iron smelting furnace must not be stopped."

Yang Heng was even more surprised when he heard this, "Can we go out and play here?"

The craftsman explained, "We have several thousand people in the ironworks, and they are well fed and well clothed. Although we don't get paid much, we sometimes get subsidies, and the craftsmen in the factory also want to buy some things for themselves. So over time, people from nearby areas would come here to the market, selling things, singing operas, performing acrobatics, and even looking for marriage partners for the craftsmen in the factory. There was everything. When the workers were tired, they would go to the market to buy some snacks."

Yang Heng was shocked when he heard this, saying that he had never heard of such an organizational system. You say the iron factory is lax, but it operates in three shifts day and night, production never stops, and the output is amazing. You say the work in the iron factory is tiring, but the craftsmen in the factory even have time to go out to the market, watch plays, go to school, and do private work at home.
Busy and leisurely, tense and relaxed, these two completely contradictory states actually exist at the same time in this iron factory.
Just at this moment, Fang Lanyue, the young man who was boring gun barrels next to him, had also packed up his things and was preparing to go home with a shoulder bag. Seeing him like this, Yang Heng hurriedly chased after him and asked.

"Fang boy, what are you going to do after work?"

Fang Lanyue said as she walked out, "Let's go eat first, and then go to the school to teach after dinner."

"You are still teaching in school?!" Yang Heng was even more surprised.

"Well, I learn math quickly, so the teacher asked me to help teach the arithmetic." Fang Lanyue explained. Seeing that Yang Heng was still following her, she invited him, "Sir, do you want to go to the cafeteria with me for dinner? In addition to working, I also work as a teaching assistant in the school. I have some savings, so I can treat you to a meal."

"Okay, how about the food in the iron factory's canteen?" Yang Heng didn't refuse at all and agreed immediately.

"The commander said that the craftsmen worked day and night and were very tired. Ordinary people only had two meals a day. Now is the lean season, and some poor families only have one meal a day. But we in the ironworks can eat three meals a day. Although there is not much meat, there is enough rice, fish and meat can be eaten frequently, and there are also pickles and sauces."

"That is indeed a good life. I'm sure there are many people nearby who want to come and work here," Yang Heng commented.

"That's right. Not only do many people want to come and work, but there is also an endless stream of people coming to the factory to propose marriage."

The two talked as they walked, and when they got to the cafeteria, they got their food and sat down. As they talked, they came to the topic of Fang Lanyue's background.

"My family was originally a craftsman in Lu'an. After the Marshal captured Lu'an, my family had no land and my father was old. The Marshal disliked my youth and did not select me when recruiting soldiers. It happened that the iron factory needed craftsmen, so my family moved here. I worked in the factory boring gun barrels, and my father worked as a carpenter assembling carriages.

“Although my family was poor, my father taught me to read when I was young, so I knew some words and arithmetic. Later, the factory opened a night school and taught the Marshal’s Gongshu Secret Code. I learned the fastest and was very obsessed with the secret code.

"Later, Mr. Meng, the disciple of the Marshal, came to the factory. I took the opportunity to ask him some questions. He was obsessed with the secret book just like me, and he often discussed with me. Mr. Meng appreciated my talent and intelligence, so he wrote to the Marshal to recommend me as a disciple. However, the Marshal did not accept me and only regarded me as a nominal disciple. He wrote me a letter in reply.

"My original name was Fang Qiwu. The Marshal named me Lan Yue based on the line in the sequel to the secret book, 'I can reach the moon in the sky and catch turtles in the five oceans.' He hoped that I would have lofty ambitions and become a useful person in the future."

Yang Heng didn't eat much. He was holding a copy of Gongshuzi in his hand, which he had borrowed from Fang Lanyue. Upon hearing what he said, he immediately turned to the preface.

"If you enter Gongshu's school and learn the way of science, you can reach the moon in the sky and catch turtles in the five oceans. You can understand the changes of heaven and earth, the principles of nature, and use the power of heaven and earth to perform the functions of ghosts and gods."

"The Mohists regard me as an immortal god, while the corrupt scholars regard me as a demon. Without a broad vision, it is difficult to see the talent of governing the world. If you can only see a small part of the leopard through a tube, you can benefit from it. Then you can become rich enough to rival a country, feed all the people, and pacify the nine provinces."

What a big tone, even comparing himself to a god, a demon or a ghost, pacifying the nine states and supporting the people, and even looking down on Mohists and Confucianists. This is really...
Yang Heng asked curiously, "Do you really believe what's said in this book, that calcium gold can be refined from lime, sodium gold can be refined from salt, and that people can control lightning?"

Fang Lanyue frowned and looked up at him, "Why don't you believe it? I can see that you didn't study Gongshuzi seriously. The Gongshuzi in the first part of Gongshu Secret Canon, the two most important chapters are the scientific worldview and scientific methodology. Science is about bold questioning, what others say is not necessarily true. Gongshu disciples only believe in what they see with their own eyes and what they get from experiments with their own hands. "The Gongshu Secret Canon is based on mathematics. There is a good saying in the Mathematical Classic that if there is truth in this world, it must be mathematics, because one is one and two is two. Anyone in this world can deceive you, even your own parents can deceive you, but mathematics cannot. As long as I can verify the result with my own hands, why shouldn't I believe it?
"Although I haven't refined metal from lime and salt, I have used the method in the book to make a battery, which generates electricity and can also light a lamp. I have personally verified what I have obtained. Why shouldn't I believe it?"

Hearing this, Yang Heng thought that the young man in front of him was a lunatic who actually believed such words, but he didn't know how to refute it, so he asked curiously again.

"Since you are so knowledgeable about Gongshu's teachings, why didn't the commander-in-chief accept you as his disciple?"

Fang Lanyue continued, "The Marshal wrote back to me saying that he was busy with official duties and didn't have much time to teach me, and he didn't have the conditions to teach me. Moreover, if the Gongshu Secret Code is compared to a martial arts secret book, then physics and chemistry are the moves. But if you want to learn martial arts, it's useless to just learn the moves. It's like swordsmanship. If you only learn the sword moves but don't have a sword in your hand, what is this sword? It's a machine, which is the Gongshu family's mechanical art.

"Physics and chemistry are just techniques. If you want to use the techniques, you need tools. Mechanical manufacturing is Gongshu's tool. If you want to learn how to use machines, the iron factory is more convenient than the Marshal's Mansion. That's why I was allowed to stay here to study. If there is anything you can't learn, you can write to the Marshal for advice."

Yang Heng listened to this kid's theories and wanted to refute them, telling him that wanting to go to heaven and comparing oneself to ghosts and gods was all nonsense. But he didn't know how to refute him. What's more, this was a book passed down in Lu Jin's family, and he couldn't openly slander his own master in front of others, right?

So he could only laugh dryly and close the book. "Then I wish you success in your studies and that you can soon become the useful talent that the Marshal mentioned."

After saying that, he finished his porridge, got up and left, continuing to inspect the situation in the factory.

Fang Lanyue silently took back her precious book, read the preface, and muttered softly, "You are the kind of corrupt scholar that the Marshal mentioned. Bah! A pedantic and ignorant person!"

Lu Jin asked Yang Heng to see how to make the iron factory double the output of firearms. He came to see that the speed of making gun barrels was still very fast, but the efficiency of boring gun barrels could not be improved. If they wanted to increase production, they could only improve technology or increase manpower.

The same is true for muskets and cannons.

Yang Heng went to see the foundry area again. There were three rows of large pits on the ground. The iron molds for casting cannons were standing upright in the pits. There were also people frying sand in a large pot next to them. After the sand was heated, it was poured into the casting pit, burying the entire iron mold. It was said that this was to keep warm. The cast iron was heat-treated and turned from white iron into gray iron that can be forged. The cannons cast in this way are easy to turn and not prone to bursting.

After each cannon is cast, it must be kept warm in the pit for three days. However, as long as the production quantity is arranged and the three pits are used in turn, a new batch of cannons can be cast every day.

But the problem now is that the ironworks has only one large hydraulic boring machine that can bore holes for cannons, and only a few skilled craftsmen can operate it. There are a large number of cannon blanks piled up nearby, but they just can't bore them all.

If one wants to increase the production of artillery, one can only start with boring holes. However, it would be difficult to manually bore holes in such a large object as a cannon, so one can only find a way to build a new boring machine.

After finding out the situation at the iron factory, Yang Heng went back to report to Lu Jin.

At the Marshal's Mansion, Lu Jin was working with a shovel and mud in the second courtyard. Next to him was a huge table with many squares drawn on it with hemp rope. Bao Yu was standing beside him with a stack of information. The two were making a sand table of the east bank of the Yangtze River based on the latest intelligence they had collected.

"You mean Niuzhuji is outside Caishiji and we can't attack Caishiji directly, right?"

"That's right. Maybe the commander was not familiar with the terrain of Jiangdong and mistook the place outside for Cai Shiji." Bao Yu took out a sketch and went to the sand table to explain.

"The so-called Caishiji is actually a port terminal, but the Caishi port is divided into inner port and outer port. Caishiji is actually the inner port. The outer line along the river is blocked by mudflats and mountains and hills, so it is impossible to land directly at Caishiji.

"However, there is an outer harbor outside the inner harbor. There is a gap in the hills and mountains along the river, forming a flat land facing the river. This is Niuzhuji.

"Niuzhuji is an outer port, guarding the gateway to Caishiji, the inner port. Only by taking Niuzhuji first can the army rush into Caishiji."

Lu Jin looked at the sand table in silence for a while. It was only at this moment that he suddenly realized that he had been deceived by the false propaganda of history.

It cannot be said to be completely false. It may be that the historical records are too brief, or the writers who wrote the history books did not go to the site to investigate the terrain at all.

It is probably true that Chang Yuchun landed on Caishiji first in history. But even if he took Caishiji, he must have landed at Niuzhuji and then fought his way into Caishiji inside. Otherwise, how could he have taken the inner harbor without breaking the outer harbor?
Lu Jin stood in front of the sand table for a long time, simulating the process of the landing battle in his mind. With the support of artillery, unless the enemy built a thick and high wall on the beach of Niuzhuji, it would definitely not be able to stop his infantry from landing.

But building a wall is basically impossible. If you set up defenses everywhere along the Yangtze River, it means you have no defenses at all, unless the enemy builds a Great Wall along the Yangtze River, but that would be even more outrageous.

So landing is not a problem. The key is to reach the east coast. After controlling Caishiji, what should we do next?
According to the intelligence collected by Bao Yu, there are conservatively estimated to be 100,000 troops in western Zhejiang. This is assuming that Lu Jin's judgment is successful and the main forces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang go south to counterattack Xu and Song, leaving Jiangsu and Zhejiang empty. If the main forces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang do not leave, then they must be prepared to face 200,000 enemy troops.

Lu Jin then looked towards Dangtu County, south of Caishiji, and asked, "How far is it from Caishiji to Dangtu City?"

"It's about 16 kilometers, or about 30 miles. If you land from Caishi and go to Dangtu by land, you have to cross two rivers on the way. When you get to Dangtu City, you have to face the Dangtu moat."

Lu Jin's face suddenly became serious when he heard that. The moat of Dangtu City is hundreds of meters wide, which is ridiculously wide. It is not easy to attack from the land side. In addition, the distance from Caishiji to Dangtu is that if the marching speed is too slow, it will probably take a day to reach the city. Therefore, they have to think carefully about how to capture the first city on the east bank.

At this time, Yang Heng came back from the iron factory, and a guard came in to report, "General, Chief Yang from the Logistics Department of the Martial Academy wants to see you."

"Let him in."

(End of this chapter)