Yang Fan was a little surprised. Not only did he meet the Song Yingxing brothers today, he actually met two celebrities. Xu Guangqi was the first person to open his eyes to the world in the late Ming Dynasty. He had in-depth research on Western science. Sun Yuanhua was also a technical official who built many buildings. Advanced Firearms.
It's a pity that this guy didn't know who he was, which led to the Dengzhou mutiny. His men surrendered to the enemy with firearms and firearms casting technology, which actually gave the Manchus an advantage.
In the second year of the Chongzhen reign of the Manchu Dynasty, they invaded the pass on a large scale, occupied the four cities of Zunhua and Yongping, and robbed tens of thousands of miners and blacksmiths, greatly enhancing their metal smelting capabilities.
After this battle, iron-making blast furnaces and blacksmithing shops stretched for hundreds of miles along the Hun River in Shenyang. Working day and night to build weapons and armor. The Qing army was even more powerful. From then on, they crushed the Ming army in terms of equipment.
As for the Dengzhou Mutiny, the most advanced firearms troops, R&D personnel, and production personnel were packaged and sent to the Qing Dynasty. The Manchu Qing Dynasty gained the ability to conquer fortified cities.
From then on, the Qing Dynasty was invincible in field battles, invincible in sieges, and had sufficient weapons and armor, and finally dominated the world.
Xu Guangqi continued: "I have been ordered by the Ministry of Industry to manufacture a batch of heavy artillery. We are currently preparing. The copper used in your new money is extremely pure and is the best material for casting cannons. Can you tell me the price of this money? Where to come from.”
Xu Guangqi knew at a glance that this was private coinage. This was a bit funny. Although the emperor's reign was determined when he ascended the throne, the new emperor had only ascended the throne for less than a month. This year is still the seventh year of the Apocalypse, and the first year of Chongzhen will start from New Year's Day next year. Start by counting the whole year. How could the coin of the new dynasty be produced so quickly?
Yang Fan still doesn't know that it is still the seventh year of the Apocalypse. He thinks that after the emperor ascends the throne, he will immediately change the Yuan Dynasty. He didn't know that having two era names in one year would cause great confusion. How will history books be recorded in the future?
Song Yingxing also nodded and said: "Manufacturer Yang, my brother failed the examination this time. He really wants to find a job first and stay in the north to wait for the next examination."
"However, Mr. Xu has been a favor to my brother. Now Mr. Xu has been ordered to cast cannons to defend the capital. He is short of manpower, craftsmen, and materials. He came to my brother for help. My brother can only help Mr. Xu complete this first." Things first, and then make personal plans later.”
Song Gu Master also said: "Yes, the military affairs here in the imperial court are urgent, and the time given is very tight. There may be changes in the north. I did not go out today, but accompanied Mr. Xu and a few others to inspect more than ten large-scale businesses in Zunhua. Ironworks, look at the casting capabilities.”
Yang Fan was not very concerned about forging cannons, which were too far away from him, but he was very concerned about how to retain the two talents of the Song brothers. I will need such industrial generalists if I want to run the ironworks and other businesses well in the future.
"How's your inspection going?" Yang Fan did not answer Xu Guangqi's question. It was better not to tell the source of the copper.
"Alas! Now is the peak season for ordering. All the major ironworks are unwilling to undertake it. The loss of casting cannons is huge. Moreover, what we want to build this time is not the Franco cannon, but the red cannon. We still need to study and gradually experiment. Occupying people and occupying space. The discussion is not very good." Seeing that Yang Fan was avoiding talking about the source of the copper, Xu Guangqi knew what was interesting and did not continue to ask.
After all, this is someone else’s trade secret, who wants to share the purchasing channels?
"Isn't the Ministry of Industry responsible for manufacturing artillery? Why are they placed outside?" Yang Fan was a little surprised. Military products have always been supervised by the government themselves, both to keep them secret and to prevent loss.
"If the firearms made by the Ministry of Industry can be used, why would I bother to travel hundreds of miles to Zunhua." Xu Guangqi also smiled bitterly.
By the end of Tianqi's reign, the Ministry of Industry was in ruins.
A set of armor costs 11 taels made by the Ministry of Industry, but only 3.7 taels is made by Bian Town's own arsenal. And the quality is better.
The Ministry of Industry mainly supplies the Beijing camp, which has hundreds of thousands of people and does not fight. How to test weapons without going to the battlefield? They rely entirely on imaginary designs, making the weapons unsuitable for battlefield use at all, with extremely poor human efficacy and poor quality. The chamber explosion rate is more than half.
The main reason is that there are too many mothers-in-law who hope to make money here. From the concubines to the eunuchs, there are also civil servants who are exploiting them at all levels. However, the price cannot increase indefinitely, which can only squeeze out the manufacturing funds. How can we pay the delivery without deducting labor and material costs?
If the materials are not good, the quality will not be good. If wages are deducted, do you still expect the workers to do a good job for you?
Yang Fan thought about it, he already had an iron factory and an iron-making furnace, but the problem now was that there was insufficient operation, and it was impossible to use all three blast furnaces at the same time.
If you can trick them into doing research and development in your own factory, you might be able to keep the Song brothers. Even if you can't, it would be good to exercise your own factory's technical strength through this cooperation.
"How much money does the imperial court pay to the iron factory?" This is what Yang Fan cares about, to see how much profit there is.
"If Brother Yang's factory meets the requirements, we can allocate 200 taels a year to rent a blast furnace and several factories. If we provide manpower, we will pay three taels of silver per person per month. If Brother Yang is responsible for supplying other materials, we will pay them at market prices. Pay the money.”
"After the research and development is successful, it depends on the imperial court's wishes. If it is allowed to be cast outside, the imperial court will purchase it. If you can undertake the casting of cannons, you can also purchase them here. What's the price? A three thousand kilogram cannon is estimated to be 600 to 700 taels of silver," Xu Guangqi said .
In fact, the imperial court allocated one thousand taels of silver. Everyone understands why the actual purchase was 30 to 40% less.
Yang Fan looked at Song Yingxing and said, "How long will it take for the experiment to be successful?"
"One to two years. Firearms are not like other weapons. They need to be repeatedly tested and improved."
Yang Fan thought this would be a good idea. In a year or two, the apprentices here would probably be very familiar with the entire process. This would be a good deal.
Xu Guangqi put R&D outside, which meant that he wanted to bypass the workshops of the Ministry of Industry, and he did not want to be disturbed and could research with peace of mind. At the same time, he had the technology in his own hands, so that once the court wanted to start building cannons, it could be put into production quickly.
"I have an ironworks with three blast furnaces. I might consider renting one to you. I wonder what it would be like," Yang Fan said. "I have more than forty craftsmen here, and I can give you half of it for your use. As for the materials, I can also provide them. Whether you are making iron cannons or copper cannons, I can provide materials. Just pay them at market prices, but I don't want them. Silver, I want the equivalent in gold.”
Xu Guangqi didn't expect that Yang Fan actually had a ready-made iron factory available. All problems were solved at the same time. Very surprised, I kept saying hello.
Everyone decided to visit Yang Fan's factory soon.
Yang Fan continued: "I am here this time to hire an academy principal, two teachers, and two kindergarten teachers. It is best to find a few female teachers. After all, it is more convenient for female teachers to teach women. No requirements The level is high and it can teach literacy.”
Master Song was very excited. The salary offered was much more than what he could get from fortune telling. He quickly recommended himself: "My brother is not talented, but he is also a scholar. He is qualified to teach some students how to read. My brother's wife is the daughter of his former teacher, and she is also familiar with the Four Books and Five Classics. She is more than enough to be a female teacher. My brother has two daughters. The eldest daughter, Shi Qi, and the second daughter, Fifteen, are both literate and capable of being a kindergarten teacher. I don’t know what Dongzhu Yang thinks.”
Yang Fanxin said that Master Song Gua was quite good at seizing the opportunity. After making arrangements for his family, this month he will have two thousand pure copper coins, which is equivalent to four taels of silver. At the same time, we take care of food and housing, which also saves money on renting a house and eating.
Yang Fan nodded and said, "You can try it for a month."
Yang Fan said to Song Yingsheng: "My brother wants to develop artillery and will not leave Zunhua for a while. Sir, are you willing to serve as the mountain director of Xinghe Academy?"
Song Yingsheng pondered for a moment and said, "If my younger brother stays in your factory, I can be the mountain leader."
