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

Chapter 199: No Fight, No Success

The reason why Zhu Shenzui talked about these things with the Yao brothers was just to dispel their concerns and reassure them in this way. At the same time, he could also use this method to understand the temperaments of the Yao brothers.

Judging from the current situation, Zhu Shenzui's method is good. The Yao brothers gradually relaxed from their initial caution and answered his questions completely. Their answers also allowed Zhu Shenzui to understand their brothers' temperaments.

The eldest brother, Yao Liang, is relatively stable, while the second brother, Yao Yuan, is more active. But no matter what, these two have real skills, and they are young, so they are more suitable for Zhu Shenzhu's needs.

After chatting for a while, Zhu Shenzhui asked the Yao brothers what kind of fireworks they were good at. The two thought about it and answered. After listening to their answers, Zhu Shenzhui smiled and said that if they were given some time, could they make some fireworks to see?

In response to this request, the Yao brothers said that it was no problem. As long as they had all the materials, it would not be difficult for them to make some ordinary fireworks. However, if it was fireworks with special requirements, it would be more troublesome because the process was more complicated and the materials and time required were more than usual.

"It's okay, just make some ordinary ones that you are good at. By the way, in addition to fireworks, you can also make some firecrackers. If you do well, I will reward you." Zhu Shenzhui said half seriously and half jokingly.

Yao Liang said sternly, "Please rest assured, my brother and I will do our best. However, sir, we need to make the necessary things..."

"Uncle Zhao!"

"Sixth Master, please give your orders."

"I'll leave this matter to you. Whatever the Yao brothers need, you will do your best to provide it. If you don't have it, go directly to Captain Lu... By the way, Jin Wu is also in the Captain's Office now. If the Captain's Office doesn't have it, ask him to send someone to the Guard Office and say it was my arrangement. Naturally, someone will help get it."

"Don't worry, Sixth Master. I will take care of this matter. I guarantee it will be done properly." Zhao Da nodded repeatedly. The current Zhao Da is not the same Zhao Da in Wangjia Village before. Now he is not only the manager of the workshop, but also has the rank of a governor.

Although the governor was only an eighth-rank official, he was still an official after all! Zhao Da's ancestors were all craftsmen. If he hadn't met Zhu Shenzhui, he would have been a craftsman all his life. His sons, grandsons, and even his descendants would all be craftsmen, and there would be no future for them.

But things are different now. Zhao Da now has an official position. Even if the position is low, it is a leap in class. This is something Zhao Da had never thought about before, let alone dared to think about.

Therefore, in Zhao Da's heart, Zhu Shenzhui was simply his adopted parent. How could he not work hard for Zhu Shenzhui? Moreover, as an old man in Wangjia Village, Zhao Da knew Zhu Shenzhui's identity better than outsiders. If he worked hard with Zhu Shenzhui, maybe when his son grew up, he could help his son get a small official position. By then, their Zhao family would be completely prosperous, no longer a craftsman family that was looked down upon by others, but a real official family.

"Boss, I have a few words for you, Rong Xiao." Yao Liang spoke again.

"Tell me, what else do you want?"

Yao Liang told Zhu Shenzhu that if he wanted to make fireworks, he had to prepare a workshop first, and the location of the workshop was very important. Because fireworks workshops are different from ordinary workshops, the main raw material of fireworks is gunpowder, and gunpowder is dangerous. Once something goes wrong, it is not a big deal to injure people, but if it is not handled properly, it may even kill people.

Just like what happened to their Yao family before, otherwise the Yao family would not have fallen. Since Zhu Shenzhui wanted them to make fireworks, this matter could not be neglected. It would definitely not work to build a fireworks workshop here, and they had to choose another location far away from the workshop area here.

In addition, various facilities such as waterproofing, moisture-proofing, and fire-proofing are also needed and must be arranged.

As for manpower, they don't need it at the beginning, the two brothers will be enough. But if they want to produce on a large scale later, they will have to add more manpower, whether it is the preparation of gunpowder or the grinding of mineral powder, etc., it is impossible for the two brothers to produce on a large scale. The specific number of people needed depends on what kind of fireworks Zhu Shencui wants to make in the end and how much.

These were all reasonable requests, so Zhu Shenzhui naturally had no reason to refuse. He asked Zhao Da if there was a suitable place nearby. After all, Zhao Da knew the terrain of the workshop better than he did. After asking the Yao brothers about their specific requirements, Zhao Da thought about it and said that there was a place about two miles away from the workshop. The terrain there was open and flat. If the area was not so large, it would have been a good location for the workshop when it was first established.

However, the Fireworks Workshop is different from the workshops here. Compared with this place, the Fireworks Workshop is just a small-scale workshop, which does not require too much construction and investment, and the current requirements are not that high. It only needs to be built in the size of the yard where the Yao brothers live, and then build a warehouse, so that place is more suitable. Since that's what he said, Zhu Shenzhui thought about it and suggested going over to take a look now. If it's suitable, let the people here build the workshop as soon as possible.

Since the boss had spoken, the Yao brothers naturally would not refuse. They all stood up immediately, and Zhao Da led the way, and the group went to the place he mentioned.

Two miles is not far, and we arrived there quickly. When we got there, we saw that it was exactly as Zhao Da had described.

The Yao brothers walked around the area, discussed a few more words, and then told Zhu Shenzhu that this place was OK. Since they said it was OK, Zhu Shenzhu decided on this matter and asked Zhao Da to bring people to build a house here as soon as possible. When the house is built, the fireworks workshop will also be there.

Building a house takes time, but because it is just building a workshop and not a yard, it won't take long. There are craftsmen of all trades here and there is no shortage of materials, so it can be completed in a few days.

In the next few days, Zhu Shenzhui wandered around the workshop, mine, and centurion's office, inspecting the progress in all aspects.

Leaving aside the Hundred Households Office, the workshops and mines here are much better than when I came here before. Especially after several replenishments of strong laborers at the mines, the output and speed of mining have increased a lot.

The supply of raw materials is complete, and the workshop's iron and steelmaking has begun to take shape. The monthly output of pig iron is already quite a lot, and the forging of equipment is also in good shape. These days, the workshop has begun to produce the equipment needed for the Mandarin Duck Formation according to the requirements of Lao Jin and his team. After several adjustments and attempts, the equipment produced has also been recognized by Lao Jin and his team. However, these forged equipment are temporarily put into storage, waiting for the new soldiers to be trained to a certain level before being equipped one by one.

Speaking of the training of these new recruits, even though there are only four teams, it is not that easy to train them.

People nowadays have a very low level of education, especially Lao Jin and his team selected people who are basically the lowest-level military households and farmers. Few of these people can read and write, and it is no exaggeration to say that the illiteracy rate is 100%.

Of course, this is also a very common thing. In the Ming Dynasty, scholars were considered the bottom of a special class, with scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans ranking first. People who could recognize words were rare. How could those without a good foundation at home have the money to learn these things?

The saying that "everything is inferior except for reading" was not an exaggeration at the time. In fact, it was still the same hundreds of years later. The real improvement in literacy rate was after the implementation of compulsory education for all. Even in the 1980s, there were still a large number of illiterate and semi-illiterate people among the people.

This is the case in later generations, not to mention the present time. Not to mention ordinary farmers and military households, even among the military generals, there are many illiterate people. Some military generals have already become senior generals of the third or fourth rank, but they can't even write their own names. This is also the reason why civil officials look down on military generals. In the eyes of civil officials who are well-read, these military generals are just rude soldiers.

It is not easy to train these people and make them obey orders. These people are not college students who participate in military training in later generations. At least they have a high level of education. Even if they don't understand these, they can still understand the meaning of the orders.

But these people were all illiterate. They couldn't understand the meaning of an order in just a few words. They had to break it down and repeat it several times before they could barely understand it. The simplest part was that they couldn't tell left from right, front from back. Even marching in a queue could be a joke. After a few orders, the team that was neatly arranged at the beginning suddenly became a mess, with a bunch of people here and a bunch of people there. Some people were standing alone with a confused look on their faces. It was really a headache.

Fortunately, Lao Jin and his two men were experienced veterans, and they had their own countermeasures for this situation. The solution to the problem of not being able to distinguish between left and right was simple: take off one shoe and let the other foot go barefoot, and let the person wearing shoes or the barefoot person take steps. The same goes for the arms: tie a cloth belt on one of the arms to distinguish between left and right, and use it as a substitute when giving orders.

This can solve the left and back problems, but there is no way to solve the front and back problems. You can only beat them with a stick. If they make a mistake, just hit them with a stick as thick as a finger, making them scream. Beat them hard a few times so that they will remember these things in their memory and form muscle reactions. Repeat this several times, and they will naturally understand after a long time.

When Zhu Shenzhui went to the workshop from the Hundred Households Office, the training was still a mess. Lao Jin and the others would stop the training from time to time. Whoever did something wrong would be beaten with the sticks in their hands without any mercy, and they would curse at him non-stop.

Zhu Shenzhui had no intention of stopping this. What was the equality of officers and soldiers? It was not allowed to beat or scold soldiers. It was natural for soldiers to eat food and obey orders. As long as they were not maimed or killed, those who did not do well could be severely beaten.

Isn't it an old saying that a good son is born under the stick? The army is much stricter than my own family. Since ancient times, how can there be no beating and scolding of soldiers in military training? He spent so much money, but he still let them eat enough rice and flour every day, and only had meat from time to time. Could it be that Zhu Shenzhui was a kind-hearted man with too much money and nowhere to spend it, so he kept these useless people for nothing?

(End of this chapter)