The Empire will continue to win

"Yes."

Gu Hongming picked up his teacup, took a sip to moisten his throat—he was parched from speaking too much—and said, "The gun factory is Mr. Dong's first testing ground, of great significance. As for how to dismiss these 1500 rotten apples, I do have a plan."

"speak!"

"Let's use the same trick that Mr. Dong used on me back then: the 'Employee Situation Survey'."

"Um?"

"Conduct militia training in the factory, requiring everyone to participate. In a few days, spread rumors that you are dedicated to serving the country and intend to lead all your colleagues to the front lines, which the two empress dowagers greatly admire. Then, without the Master's intervention, these people will resign on their own!"

"Okay~"

Shen Moqing slammed his fist on the table in admiration.

He admired this scholar who was born in Southeast Asia, passed the imperial examination in Guangzhou, encountered setbacks in the capital, and was full of knowledge but not pedantic, and wanted to give him more experience.

"Yes."

After Gu Hongming left, he opened the drawer.

"Brother, this gilded revolver is for you."

"No, no, it's too expensive."

"Take it. These days, wicked people are in power, and if we brothers want to uphold justice, this is the only thing we can rely on."

"Okay."

Zhang Zongcang happily placed the gun in its holster and tucked his original pistol behind his waist. One man with three guns was a symbol of elite troops.

.........

At lunch.

Shen Moqing sat at the head of the long table.

On the left is Zhang Zongcang, on the right is Gu Hongming, and in order are Tang Tingshu, head of the Materials Department, Bai Langning, head of the R&D Department, Zhou Wen, head of the General Assembly Workshop, and Zhang Erhe, head of the Gun Bolt Workshop.

Shen Lian sat on the other side of the long table.

Shen Moqing stood up and raised his glass: "Cheers, everyone!"

"Dry!"

After finishing the round of drinks, everyone went to eat.

As the saying goes: a little wine is pleasant, but too much wine is harmful. Those on duty should not drink excessively, and those who drink excessively should not be on duty.

The luncheon was simple yet effective.

"I have a suggestion: could we group all the lazybones and spoiled brats together in one workshop to prevent them from affecting the enthusiasm of the others?"

"Okay. Shen Lian, find a room in the corner and hang up the sign for the General Affairs Department."

"Yes."

Zhou Wenxi beamed with joy.

His suggestion was immediately adopted, which showed he carried considerable weight. He was desperate for advancement. Who doesn't want to improve? It's just that his humble background prevented him from having the opportunity before.

Tang Tingshu, a native of Guangdong, also spoke up: "Supervisor, I have found that the quality of materials delivered by the various factories in the group is inconsistent. Since they are all sister factories, it is difficult for me to negotiate."

Shen Moqing: "You must be strict in your checks. Accept qualified materials on the spot, and resolutely refuse to accept unqualified ones. However, you need to pay attention to the process: written handover, with signatures and fingerprints."

"In that case, there won't be enough materials, which will affect production."

"We'd rather halt production than use substandard raw materials. Don't worry about this; I'll figure something out."

"Yes."

But a deeply worried Browning raised an even more serious question:

"Bullets! Even the best gun needs the right bullets to be effective. Although our gun factory has its own bullet workshop, it's too small and the technology is outdated. I'm worried that the soldiers on the front lines will blame us for the inferior bullets."

"This is really a headache."

Shen Moqing frowned. That's how industrial development works; everything is interconnected, and if any link breaks down, the whole thing will fail.

Unless I can take control of the entire Yanshan Heavy Industry!

.........

afternoon.

Li Shaoquan, the commander of the First Town, has arrived.

As soon as he entered, he complained, "Brother Mo Qing, how dare you stop me at the gate? If it weren't for our close friendship, I would have already..."

"Brother Li, please sit down," Shen Moqing retorted without any politeness. "Would you rather see a well-ordered and strictly regulated gun factory, or a loose, chaotic one that's always in disarray?"

"Of course~"

Li Shaoquan suddenly fell silent. Damn it, he'd fallen into their trap. To ensure weapons meet standards, management must be strict, and strict gatekeeping is one aspect of that.

As expected~

Shen Moqing: "You can't just complain about the gun factory when the weapons are substandard!"

"Yes, you're right." Li Shaoquan was slightly embarrassed, then changed the subject, "I have already persuaded the two empress dowagers in person, and the imperial decree and supporting funds for the repeated-fire gun project will be in place tomorrow."

"How much?"

"20 silver dollars."

"Too few."

"That's quite a lot. You know the Ministry of Revenue runs a deficit every year. Oh, by the way, you need to produce 10000 repeating rifles for me. Deliver 3000 before the end of the year, and the rest will be delivered monthly next year."

"impossible!"

Shen Moqing refused this unreasonable request without any hesitation.

"Supervisor Shen, what do you mean?"

Li Shaoquan leaned back in his chair, squinted, and had a cold expression.

.........

Shen Moqing was furious, waving his arms: "200,000 silver dollars for 10,000 repeating rifles? That means each new repeating rifle is only worth 20 silver dollars? Commander Li, do you know how much a single Type 30 single-shot rifle costs in the army? 25 dollars!!!"

"This doesn't even include research and development costs."

"How many can you produce?"

"At most 3000 units."

"no."

"In that case, you should find someone else."

"Aren't you afraid that I will petition the Empress Dowager to have you dismissed and punished?"

"It doesn't matter. Once the war starts, the front lines will be desperately demanding munitions. Do you really think that manufacturing arms is a good job? It's just a hot potato that you can't get rid of."

There was a few seconds of silence.

Li Shaoquan burst into laughter, stood up, and embraced Shen Moqing affectionately.

"I praised you before the Empress Dowager as a rare young talent and a model of loyalty and patriotism. How can you abandon your post at this critical juncture?"

"I'm sorry, I'm powerless to help."

"I understand your difficulties. How about this, 3500 units! 3500 units it is!"

Shen Moqing coldly brushed away Li Shaoquan's left hand that was around his shoulder: "I have one condition!"

"I would agree to three conditions, let alone one."

"Besides Wang Shizhen, lend me 10 more men. No veterans, just young officers, even sergeants or squad leaders will do."

(Sentry officer/sentry commander, equivalent to platoon leader or deputy platoon leader)

"What do you want to do?"

"Training militia."

"What militia?"

"I would like to select some young and strong workers from the factory to form a militia, and have them undergo some basic training under the guidance of your army officers, such as shooting and drill."

Li Shaoquan's eyes held a mixture of suspicion, surprise, and wariness.

.........

"What do you need militia for as a supervisor of a military factory?"

"The factory protection team is just changing its name."

"No, the militia belongs to the reserve force, and it's not the same as the factory protection team." Li Shaoquan was an expert and was not easily fooled, but his reaction was exactly what Shen Moqing had expected.

He sighed.

"To be honest with you, Yanshan Heavy Industry is the place that enemy spies most want to destroy. After the entire First Town set off, I was worried about the factory's security."

"Don't you have a factory security team?"

"Didn't you just say that the factory security team is just a bunch of armed henchmen? What good are they?" Shen Moqing said anxiously.

"No! You're still not telling the truth!"

Li Shaoquan's eyes were intense, as if he could see through everything. Actually, just now, he had noticed the change in Zhang Zongcang's eyes, looking past Shen Moqing.

People from Shandong are not good at lying.