The temperature in the drying room was not low, and sweat seeped out from the Marquis's curls again. He looked at the rows of cannonballs on the wooden rack, with a thoughtful expression on his face, as if he was muttering to himself: "Count Tilly fires eighteen thousand cannonballs at Magdeburg every day, even if It took him five months to make the city fall. All the iron and lead in Bavaria, Genoa, and Venice were melted down, and all the foundries were busy casting cannonballs for his army."
"If he had the cannons and cannonballs you see now, he would only need one-twentieth of the cannonballs to destroy the heretic's defenses. It would take about one day." Hale humbly bent down and finished playing the fanatical role. A scientific genius, he reverted to the role of a calm and pious priest: "It is my highest honor to serve the cause of the Lord."
"You are a little impatient, Marcos," until he watched the large paddle boat on which the Marquis and his party were riding unmoor and sail down the Pasig River toward Manila downstream. Hale boarded the carriage and lectured the smuggling ship sailors who were looking down upon him, "Those elm-headed fools who can't figure out how to work deserve to die. But you will leave the wrong impression on my guests." They came here to see a factory that they had never seen before, everything was orderly and orderly; not a manor where an overseer could beat slaves to death at will, which was seen all over the colonies and was not new. Worthless."
"I'm so sorry, sir," Marcos stood at a loss until Hale dragged him into the carriage, "bad things like this always happen in the factory. I was afraid when you were going to take the Spaniards to see the gunpowder factory. Awesome. Luckily they were too hot to go."
"What happened to the gunpowder factory? Did something happen to the thunder and mercury room?"
"No, your students took good care of it. It was the powder grinding workshop, and a rotating drum for mixing gunpowder caught fire. Fortunately, the humidification pipe for mixing the gunpowder was connected to the fire hose according to your instructions. Soon it was over The fire was extinguished, but there was no explosion. Four people were injured, one was hit on the head by a falling bobbin, and the doctor thinks he can still be saved. The other three were seriously burned, I'm afraid—"
"Maybe I can go and anoint them in time." Hale's tone sounded like "Tomorrow is Friday, prepare fish soup for me for dinner."
"What about the other bad news? Where else have people died?"
"A manual punch was damaged in the pyrotechnics processing workshop, and the worker who caused the accident has been dealt with according to your regulations. Mr. Gebuser is losing his temper. He complained that the workers assigned to him are terribly stupid and are all uncivilized savages. Fuze The passing rate of random tests has improved a bit compared to last month, with 60% of them able to effectively fire."
"Tell that German guy who doesn't take a shower. Paying him the highest wage in the factory is not just asking him to sell his craft. If he can't teach the apprentice assigned to him, I will punish him personally. What do I need most now? To understand technology Talent is more precious than any gold and gem. Marcos, I will never find another talent like you."
Marcos felt embarrassed by this compliment: "No, sir - in fact, I didn't even graduate from high school -"
"At least you went to high school, Marcos, which is amazing in the era we are living in now. I don't know why fate arranged for us to be here, but I know that the education you received in the past is enough to be proud of the most knowledgeable people in Spain today. A scholar. You can read, write and calculate, understand the principles of cost and efficiency, know statistical data, and understand the formulas and process flow charts I wrote to you. What else can I expect? That’s right. I accepted it. Several students are very smart. But I have to teach them bit by bit starting from decimal point and lever principle, which is more difficult than building Rome. Marcos, you are my right-hand man. Without you, who can I rely on? Your compatriots in the 17th century were blinded by religious superstition. They regarded machines as demons when they saw them. They would only kneel on the ground and pray that they would not be eaten. As for the Spaniards? Those who could only read the Bible and receive Holy Communion screamed all day long. Are they the bastards who clamor for the execution of heretics, or the slackers and idiots who are only interested in making money and creating mixed-race illegitimate children? Marcos, this era allows us to rewrite history and do great things. But starting is difficult. , you must help me."
After saying these words, Hale stuck his head out and looked outside the hood of the car, leaving the flattered Fernando Marcos sitting inside in a daze. The Tagalog coach driver did not understand English, so when he saw the priest leaning out of the hood of the coach, he was so frightened that he whipped his whip several times. The coach immediately ran rampant, causing a group of Chinese laborers who had gathered to receive meals to flee in fright.
Japanese mercenaries ate from the big pots in the barracks. As for the thousands of workers and coolies, neither Hale nor the colonial government bothered to think about their food problems. This was also beyond the capabilities of the social management level in the 17th century. In the end, the factory's food was contracted by Parian's Chinese managers and clerks: Huang Jian and Huang Xiang brothers, who volunteered to do the deal. Hale originally wanted them to build a canteen in the factory, but he didn't expect that the foreman sent by the Huang family was frightened when he heard the noise of the rows of huge machines and saw the loaded gunpowder barrels being transported in and out. I was so courageous that I refused to stay in the factory no matter what. The daily meals can only be prepared by Parian and sent to the factory by boat. If the weather is bad and it is impossible to sail on the Pasig River, if you are lucky, the dry food will be transported by oxcart. If you are not lucky, all the workers in the factory will be hungry. Marcos and the Huang brothers argued about this matter several times, but they were never able to convince them to open a canteen in the factory. As for other Chinese contractors, none are as powerful as these two brothers. They can advance the food expenses of thousands of workers in the factory for a month and reduce food poisoning such as diarrhea to a minimum.
Gimide stood in line distributing meals, surrounded by workers who were shouting and cursing in various languages because of hunger. It took Weiss Lando some effort to get him into the Huang family's food delivery queue without attracting other people's attention. The soup ladle in his hand didn't stop for a moment, but his eyes kept wandering around the factory. While he was looking at the carriage going away, he suddenly heard the scolding of an old man sent by the Huang family: "Young man, don't be lazy and lazy."
The old man was reprimanding the two and a half-year-old children who had come to deliver the food. He pointed to several wooden barrels filled with rice and soup behind him, and pointed to the foundry and forging factory in the distance that was spewing thick smoke: "Carry it over there, quickly. go."
Jimide's heart moved. His hair had grown long enough and his skin was tanned. Apart from being a little stronger, he couldn't tell any difference from any ordinary Chinese in Parian. He handed the soup ladle to a child next to him: "Don't be lazy, you will be born later." He squeezed out the crowd, picked up the pole, picked up the wooden bucket and walked quickly towards the foundry and forging factory.
By the time Hale's carriage arrived at the gunpowder factory, the three burnt workers had long since passed away. The bodies were covered with straw mats and prepared to be carried to the mass grave behind the factory for burial. Casualty accidents occurred every few days when the factory was first built, but now happen every few days. People have long been accustomed to this.
The casualties of workers were far less concerning to Hale than the damage to equipment and factory buildings. In order to prevent an explosion from affecting the fish, the building of the gunpowder factory was kept far enough away from other workshops and buildings, and was built on the bank of the San Juan River more than a thousand meters above the mouth of the river. Because the factory building was burned down, bombed, and rebuilt several times, the exterior walls and roof were made of cheap bamboo strips, making it very crude in appearance. The roof was waterproofed with layers of abaca spread with wood tar and Cuban resin. The ground was carefully laid with wooden boards, and every gap was carefully sealed with asphalt to prevent gunpowder particles from falling into it. The neat and tidy floor was now covered with water stains and messy footprints. The workers were busy cleaning up the water stains and picking up the oilcloth hoses that were scattered everywhere.
All that was left of the completely burned wooden mixing cylinders was a pile of remains, which were neatly stacked against the wall near the scene. This is the rule in the Manila Arms Factory. No one can dispose of these wreckage casually without Lord Paul's instructions. The scene, which was originally a mess, recovered from the shock and the workers basically cleaned it up.
"What's mixed in this drum is No. 1 black powder?"
"Yes."
"It is required to add water to the tube when mixing medicine, but they forgot?"
"It's really funny to say that one worker complained that he was thirsty and pulled out the gutta-percha tube on the humidifier to drink water. The others couldn't wait for him and turned the mixing cylinder directly, and it caught fire before he even turned it twice. . The sulfur powder and charcoal in the barrel next to it also caught fire and burned very quickly. Fortunately, it did not cause an explosion."
"Where is the bastard who drank the water? Is he dead or alive?"
"Still alive. He suffered some flesh wounds on his head and lost a lot of blood."
"When his wounds are almost healed, he will be executed together with the three fools who were imprisoned today for forty lashes each. Before dinner is served, he will be executed in public for everyone to see."
After announcing the punishment for the violators, Mr. Paul began to patrol around the workshop again. From time to time, he would use Spanish and sometimes use blunt Hokkien to give instructions or reprimands to a nodding and bowing worker. The foremen then turned to yell at the workers in various dialects. After a period of commotion, the ground and fire hoses were quickly cleared, the machines made rolling sounds again along with the water wheels, and working order was gradually restored in the workshop.
"Production of No. 1 gunpowder is expected to be suspended for seven or eight days. It depends on when the woodworking shop will prepare the new drum."
Marcos nodded in agreement.
"Now hurry up and produce No. 2 and No. 3 black powder. This is not entirely a bad thing. Our sulfur supply is always in short supply, so we might as well save some for the time being." (To be continued...)
