Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 118 Iron Factory
Since the first time Zhu Shenzhu asked Zhao Da to make a musket for him, Zhao Da has made eight muskets in total. With these five, he now has thirteen muskets.

These muskets were carefully crafted according to Zhu Shenzhui's requirements. There is absolutely no problem with the workmanship and quality. Zhao Da has excellent skills and he has become more and more experienced in making muskets over the past year. The five muskets now are more sophisticated than the original two.

Picking up the rifle and looking at it carefully, Zhu Shenzhui nodded with satisfaction after a while.

Zhu Shenzui always carried the first two muskets with him, and gave the later ones to Wang Jinwu and others. Now he has five more. In this way, his cousin Wang Jinwu, Xia Dong, Wang Chuer and others each have one. Even Ma Shizhou had given him two for self-defense.

However, the speed of making muskets is still not good enough, the key is that the efficiency of manual manufacturing is too low. But there is no way around it. The current technical barriers make it impossible to mass-produce like after the industrial revolution, but the efficiency is too low. According to Zhao Da and his son Zhao Shitou, they can make 14 or 15 muskets a year.

"Well done." Zhu Shenzhui inspected the five muskets one by one and said with satisfaction.

"Of course I have to do good things for Sixth Master. You can rest assured about my craftsmanship." Zhao Da replied with a smile.

Zhu Shenzhui took out the silver he had prepared and placed it on the table, pushing it towards Zhao Da: "Uncle Zhao, is this enough as we agreed before?"

"Enough is enough, enough is enough!"

When Zhao saw the white silver, he laughed so hard that his mouth couldn't stop. He quickly put the silver away, put it in his arms with joy, and thanked Zhu Shenzhui again and again.

"Uncle Zhao!"

"Sixth Master, please tell me what to do."

"Do you want to earn more money?" Zhu Shenzhui picked up the tea and took a sip, then asked slowly.

"Sixth Master, of course I want to. It would be great if I could earn more money, but you also know that this thing is not easy to make. Besides, I'm alone and the stone isn't finished yet, so I can only help out. It's not easy to make these in a year." Although Zhao Da is a blacksmith, he's not stupid.

There is no stupid craftsman. A stupid person cannot be a craftsman, especially a skilled blacksmith like Zhao Da.

As soon as Zhu Shenzhui asked this question, Zhao Da understood what Zhu Shenzhui wanted, which was nothing more than for him to make more muskets. But Zhao Da had no choice, just like he said, he couldn't make more even if he could! Zhu Shenzhui's muskets were very demanding, and each one was carefully crafted. If there was any negligence, it would fail.

Zhu Shenzhui smiled and said to Zhao Dadao: "Uncle Zhao, don't you want to take in more apprentices? If you have more apprentices, wouldn't it be faster to do things? This way you can earn more."

"Apprentice?" Zhao Da said with a bitter smile, "It's not that easy to take in an apprentice. And to be honest, we are all craftsmen whose skills are passed down from generation to generation. Let's not talk about whether they are willing to learn. Even if they are willing to learn, I am afraid that they will starve to death after teaching them the skills."

"Sixth Master, it's not that I don't want to, it's just that this matter is very difficult to handle. Don't be afraid of you laughing at me, Sixth Master, I have never had this idea."

Zhao Da's words made Zhu Shenzhui smile silently. He shook his head. Although Zhao Da is illiterate, he is quite smart. Just like he said, the craftsmen's skills are passed down from father to son, from generation to generation. Now his son Shitou is actually his apprentice. When Shitou learns the skills well, he will teach them to his grandson in the future. Isn't it like this from generation to generation?
Besides, being a craftsman is not a good job. Zhao Da is lucky because he is from Wangjia Village. If he works as a craftsman in the guard post, it will be a problem whether Zhao Da and his family can have enough food from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. The status of a craftsman is low, not much better than that of a merchant. But you have to know that merchants have money, but craftsmen have no money. From this point of view, who would be willing to be a craftsman unless they have no other choice?

Seeing Zhao Da's attitude, Zhu Shenzhui thought about it and told him about the situation in Zhaowuling. After taking over Zhaowuling and Zhaowu Village, Zhu Shenzhui had people secretly start mining there.

There is an iron mine with good reserves not far from Zhaowuling, and there is also a coal mine that produces clean coal nearby. With these two mines, based on Zhaowu Village and Zhaowuling, iron smelting will have no problem.

But to achieve this, we must have professional talents, and these professionals must also be absolutely trustworthy. After much thought, Zhao Da and his son are the best candidates. Zhu Shenzhu not only hopes that Zhao Da can go to Zhaowu Village to preside over this matter, but also hopes that Zhao Da can help him train a group of apprentices.

Everyone knows how powerful firearms are. In the future battlefield, firearms will be an important factor in determining the outcome of wars. Although Zhao Da is only helping Zhu Shenzhui make a few muskets, his craftsmanship and technology are trustworthy. If he can help Zhu Shenzhui build up the iron factory, he can not only build weapons, but also mass-produce muskets, and even more powerful and longer-range muskets and cannons. Then, you can imagine how useful it will be to Zhu Shenzhui.

After the suggestion was made, Zhao Da was stunned. He did not expect Zhu Shenzui to have such an arrangement, and he also directly told him the secrets about Zhao Wuling.

Although he was from Wangjia Village, Zhao Da also knew what Zhu Shenzhu had been doing with Wangjia Village over the years. But these things had little to do with Zhao Da. Zhao Da was just an ordinary craftsman. It was not a big deal for him to make a few muskets for Zhu Shenzhu. But once he directly built an iron factory in Zhaowuling and produced on a large scale privately, it was completely different.

"Sixth...Sixth Master...I...I..." For a moment, Zhao Da's heart was in turmoil. Once this iron factory was set up, it would be no small matter. It would be equivalent to privately building an iron factory to manufacture military equipment on a large scale. It would be disastrous if the imperial court knew about it.

When he thought of this, and even the charge of treason, Zhao Da's legs trembled. "Hahaha, Uncle Zhao, what are you afraid of? Are you afraid that I will rebel? Don't forget my identity." Zhu Shenzhui laughed when he saw his pale face.

"Of course not, this...how is this possible...you are a member of the royal family..." Zhao Da's smile was uglier than crying. He said this, but his heart was beating fast.

Were there not many members of the imperial clan who rebelled? Not to mention the Ning Wang rebellion, just in Shanxi, weren't there members of the imperial clan who colluded with the Mongols to rebel privately before?

However, before they could start the rebellion, they were discovered by the imperial court, and they were captured without much effort.

But Zhao Da knew that Zhu Shenzui was now leading the people of Wangjia Village not only to smuggle salt, but also to secretly go to the grassland to do business. Now he invited him to run the iron factory in Zhaowuling. When these things were connected, Zhao Da had no time to think.

Seeing Zhao Da looking terrified, with fearful eyes, and even worried that he would be silenced if he said no, Zhu Shenzui couldn't help but laugh again.

He stood up and patted Zhao Da on the shoulder. Zhao Da was so frightened that his whole body trembled and his legs almost went weak and he knelt down to Zhu Shenzhui.

"Uncle Zhao, what are you thinking about? Don't worry, I'm not going to rebel, and even if this ironworks is built, it's not for privately manufacturing weapons." After saying this, Zhu Shenzhui said, "To tell you the truth, if nothing unexpected happens, my uncle will also go to Zhaowuling in a few days."

"The captain is going too? This...?" Zhao Da was stunned. Wang Rong was the head of Wangjia Village and a captain here. Why was he going to Zhaowuling? Wangjia Village was not close to Zhaowuling. Even if he took the official road, it would take several days.

"What? You don't believe it?" Zhu Shenzhui said with a smile, "To tell you the truth, my uncle will be promoted in a few days. He will either go to Luzhou Guard or Ningshan Guard to serve as the commander-in-chief. He may even be the commander."

"Zhaowuling is located between Luzhouwei and Ningshanwei. No matter where my uncle works, this place will be under his jurisdiction. By then, this iron factory and workshop will be the official industry of the garrison. Whether it is ironmaking or making equipment, it will all be done in the name of the garrison."

Zhao Da was stunned for a moment. Zhu Shenzui's news made him dizzy. As a craftsman, he certainly knew what a garrison was, and he understood more clearly what the positions of the Tongzhi and Zhihuishi were.

The Wei Suo system was created by Taizu and was under the jurisdiction of the Five Military Governor's Office. Each province had a commander-in-chief, who was equivalent to the highest military commander of a province and was at the same level as the provincial administration commissioner's office.

Under the command of the commander-in-chief, a province would set up a number of garrisons according to the prefectures. These garrisons were equivalent to the military sub-districts in later generations. The head of the garrison was called the commander-in-chief, and the second in command was the associate commander.

Under the guards, there are the thousand households and the hundred households, which are under the jurisdiction of the guards. Wang Rong is the leader of Wangjia Village and has the hereditary title of hundred households, so Wangjia Village is also a hundred households.

Ma Shizhou was previously in a thousand-household unit. The hundred-household unit of Wangjia Village and the thousand-household unit where Ma Shizhou was located were under the jurisdiction of the same thousand-household unit, so they were so familiar with each other.

In terms of position, a centurion was a sixth-rank military officer, a commander-in-chief was a second-rank military officer, and a commander-in-chief associate was a junior second-rank military officer. The commander-in-chief and associate of a garrison were third-rank military officers and junior third-rank military officers, respectively.

A sixth-rank centurion suddenly became the commander of a garrison or even the commander? The leap was unimaginable. Zhao Da counted on his fingers for a long time but couldn't figure out how many levels he had been promoted. He looked dumbfounded.

"What? Don't believe it?"

“I…I…” Zhao Da felt a little dizzy and he didn’t know how to answer.

Zhu Shenzhui smiled and said, "It's good that you understand this matter. You will know it after the official appointment. I am just telling you this in advance. After my uncle takes office, he will have the final say over the garrison. At that time, the ironworks will definitely be opened and the equipment will be manufactured. These are all approved by the court."

"Uncle Zhao, you are one of us, so I won't hide some things from you. As long as you are willing to go there and help run the iron factory and bring people to build the workshop, I can't guarantee anything else, but I will take care of the affairs of a mere guard or a small flag. When the time comes, I will ask my uncle to help you. This way, you will have an official position in the future, and it will not affect the manufacturing income of the iron factory and workshop."

As soon as these words came out, Zhao Da's eyes widened. He was just an ordinary craftsman. As a craftsman, not only his ancestors were craftsmen, but also his descendants. If he could become a military household overnight, or even a low-level official among the military households, even if this official was only the lowest governor or a small flag, it would be a good thing that Zhao Da had never thought of.

Once he had this opportunity, his life would be worth it. Thinking of his son Shitou and future grandsons who would no longer be lowly craftsmen, Zhao Da's breathing became rapid and his face flushed red.

(End of this chapter)