Take control of Wei Zhongxian at the start and confiscate 100 million from him!

Chapter 296 The Governor's Inspection Tour: Investigating Things and Extending Knowledge
The military training and integration in the barracks were in full swing, and the various conflicts and bloody crackdowns that broke out had already reached the ears of officials and gentry in Guangzhou through various informants.

However, in their view, this was just Lu Xiang-sheng making trouble in his own "little patch of land," and as long as he didn't extend his reach into the city, they would let him do as he pleased.

The more he indulged in training troops, the more it proved that he had no way to deal with the situation in the city and could only settle for second best.

The officials' feigned compliance and the clan's open provocations made Lu Xiang-sheng realize that it was absolutely impossible to understand the true situation in Guangdong through normal channels.

That night, he unfolded a special file alone in his study.

This dossier was printed on the finest Chengxintang paper, and the cover was bound with bright yellow silk thread. Inside, half of the text consisted of neat reports from officials, while the other half was imperial edicts written in bold and elegant vermilion ink.

This was the "Guangdong Strategic Map" that the emperor had given him.

He carefully examined the place names circled in vermilion ink on the map, along with the detailed annotations beside them.

"Guangdong's wealth lies not in its land, but in its commerce and industry. Its lifeblood consists of two things: handicrafts and overseas trade..."

Lu Xiang-sheng's finger finally stopped on the two characters "Foshan".

He recalled the young emperor's words in the Wenhua Hall before his departure, the voice still echoing in his ears:

"Jiandou, do not believe his words, but believe his actions, and even more so, believe the path I have shown you. Go to Foshan and see, for there lies one of the foundations upon which our Great Ming Dynasty defends against powerful enemies in the north."

At the time, although he verbally agreed to obey the order, he couldn't help but have doubts in his heart.

Foshan is just a town. Although its iron smelting is famous, how can it be associated with such a major military and national event as "resisting a powerful enemy in the north"?
But now, having experienced so much, he was completely convinced of the emperor's insight.

He wanted to verify the remaining point with his own eyes.

Lu Xiang-sheng put away the files, a resolute glint in his eyes. Since the path through the government was blocked, he would bypass them and strike at the heart of the matter!
……

Two days later, Lu Xiang-sheng and his party of one hundred changed into ordinary merchants' clothes and quietly left Guangzhou, heading straight for Foshan Town.

This marked the beginning of his series of actions, ostensibly as a "governor's tour to investigate things and gain knowledge," but in reality, a campaign to understand the lifeline of Guangdong.

Even a few miles away from Foshan, a unique smell, a mixture of coal smoke and metallic odor, wafted on the wind and entered the nostrils, making one's throat dry.

The closer you get, the stronger the smell becomes.

As night fell, they climbed a high slope.

Looking out, a vast area on the distant horizon was bathed in crimson light, with countless points of light twinkling and leaping in the night, like a burning sea of ​​stars, or like a massive, endless battle underway.

The towering flames dyed the clouds on the horizon a magnificent crimson.

"That's Foshan?" Zhou Chaoxian stared in disbelief, muttering to himself.

Lu Xiang-sheng did not answer; his heart was also filled with shock.

He had only ever seen such a scene when he was supervising the battle at the border, when tens of thousands of troops besieged the city and cannons fired in unison.

And what we're facing right now is just a town!

Entering Foshan Town is like stepping into another world.

Gone are the soft, melodious sounds of southern music; instead, a deafening symphony of thousands of hammers striking anvils fills the air.

clang!clang!clang!
The sound was dense, powerful, and full of energy, like the heartbeat of the earth.

A wave of heat hits you, enough to make you sweat profusely even at night.

Countless tiny sparks danced in the air, like fireflies on a summer night, yet they carried a scorching heat.

The streets were lined with ironware shops, with the storefront in front and the workshop in the back.

The shop was filled with all kinds of ironware, from farm tools to cooking utensils, a dazzling array.

Behind the shop were rows of smelting furnaces of varying sizes, with roaring fires and molten iron flowing freely.

Lu Xiang-sheng and his entourage visited the area incognito, going deep into its heart.

He saw hundreds of craftsmen, shirtless, their bronze skin gleaming in the firelight. Some were straining the bellows to make the fire burn brighter; others were carefully using long iron tongs to lift red-hot iron billets from the furnace; still others were working in groups, wielding heavy hammers and rhythmically pounding the billets, forging them into various shapes amidst sparks.

What alarmed him even more was its organizational efficiency.

This place is no longer a traditional small workshop.

Inside a huge factory, he saw hundreds of "laborers" working together under the direction of their supervisors.

From the rough refining of raw ore to the casting of molten iron, and then to the forging, quenching, and polishing of finished products, each process has a dedicated area and specialized craftsmen in charge. They are interconnected and orderly, and their efficiency is so high that it even has a hint of the rules of military formation, which makes this veteran general speechless.

He walked into a casting pot factory that claimed to be a "time-honored brand". The owner was a shrewd, short, and stout businessman. Seeing that they were dressed in fine clothes, he tried his best to sell to them.

"Gentlemen, are you from the north? Take a look at our Foshan Guang pot! Look at the walls of this pot, as thin as paper; tap it, and the sound is as clear as a chime! It's tough but not brittle, thin but not cracking, and it conducts heat quickly. You won't find another one like it in the entire Ming Dynasty!"

The boss grabbed an iron pot and handed it to Lu Xiang-sheng.

Lu Xiang-sheng weighed it in his hand and found it to be extremely light. The pot was well-proportioned and the inner wall was as smooth as a mirror. He flicked it lightly with his knuckles, and the sound it produced was clear, melodious, and long, unlike any ordinary iron.

Seeing that he knew his stuff, the shopkeeper said with even more pride, "To be honest, our Cantonese woks are not only sold in the two capitals and thirteen provinces, but even those foreign countries in Southeast Asia are scrambling to buy them! Every year, which ship leaving Guangzhou Port doesn't carry thousands of our Cantonese woks? These are highly sought-after goods for the imperial court!"

Lu Xiang-sheng nodded silently, put the pot down, and the emperor's comment, "Guangdong pots are unparalleled in the world," was indeed true.

After bidding farewell to the foundry, Lu Xiang-sheng, relying on a black iron waist token bestowed upon him by the emperor, made his way through a maze of twists and turns to a heavily guarded courtyard.

This is the military workshop, which was "government-supervised and merchant-operated".

He was greeted by a commander of the Imperial Guard, who bowed deeply upon seeing the badge.

As he ventured deeper into the workshop, an even more intense heat swept over him. Inside one of the factory buildings, Lu Xiang-sheng witnessed the most shocking scene of his trip.

Several brand-new, massive cannon blanks with thick barrels lay quietly in a huge sand mold.

The design of these cannons is very similar to the "Hongyi Cannons" that Sun Yuanhua practiced with.

Dozens of the most experienced master craftsmen are busy working around one of the cannon blanks.

They carefully and evenly poured buckets of molten pig iron, which had turned into a golden-red liquid, onto the inner wall of the cannon blank through special ceramic pipes.

“My lord, this is the technique of ‘cast iron lining’,” Wang Feihong, a centurion of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, explained in a low voice. “This method can form an extremely hard surface layer on the inner wall of the cannon barrel, harder than refined steel, yet without losing its toughness. Cannons cast in this way not only have higher chamber pressure and can shoot farther, but are also less prone to bursting and can be reused repeatedly.”

He paused, his tone filled with pride: "His Majesty has set up artillery workshops in Dengzhou, Laizhou, Nanchang, Foshan and other places to test the production of new cannons. At first, each place had its own strengths and weaknesses. However, after some trial and error, only the craftsmen of Foshan have mastered the 'cast iron rimming' method the most skillfully."

Lu Xiang-sheng slowly walked forward and gently stroked the cannon barrel, which had just been quenched and was still warm.

The battlefield in Liaodong involuntarily came to mind.

He seemed to see the Later Jin cavalry, arrayed in dense formations, surging in like a black tide.

Before this surging tide, rows of brand-new cannons roared with deafening fury, their crimson shells tearing through the air and exploding into clusters of bloody, flesh-and-blood flowers of death amidst the enemy ranks…

A town that could nurture such a magnificent and exquisite power of creation.

This force, originating from the people, is powerful enough to shake the fate of the nation.

Standing before the roaring fire, feeling the almost tyrannical power emanating from the craftsmanship of all artisans, Lu Xiang-sheng recalled the emperor's detailed analysis of Guangdong's economy and his assertion about the potential of Foshan's military industry.

At this moment, the last trace of doubt in his heart completely vanished.

In this vast world, what can escape His Majesty's eyes?
Lu Xiang-sheng let out a long breath, his gaze more resolute than ever before.

He muttered to himself, his voice so soft that only he could hear it:
"His Majesty sits in the Forbidden City, yet he can perceive the true situation in Lingnan, thousands of miles away... He is no ordinary man! Truly... a ruler bestowed by Heaven!"

After leaving Foshan, Lu Xiang-sheng did not return to Guangzhou, but continued his journey of "investigating things".

By verifying each red circle on the emperor's strategic map with his own footsteps and eyes, he finally pieced together a complete and awe-inspiring picture of southern Guangdong in his mind, and thoroughly understood the emperor's true intention in sending him south, ostensibly for inspection, but in reality for a brutal and devastating campaign!

(End of this chapter)