"You lazy blackbirds! The brick kiln has already lit a fire. Sleep on top of the kiln and watch carefully! The warriors in the county are all waiting for bricks. If the bricks are burned out, pull out all your bricks. Bird feathers, hanging naked from the tree!”
Outside Apa County, in the newly built brick kilns, charcoal-burning kilns are connected together, emitting green smoke like tombs. Dozens of tall kilns are lined up in a row, large pieces of bricks are drying in the shade under the straw shed, and piles of charcoal are piled in the corner. A sturdy middle-aged leader, wearing short clothes and holding a stick, stood in the center. In front of them were more than four hundred craftsmen and apprentices who were shirtless, sweating, and busy with their heads down.
In front of the kiln, Construction Director Koscach stared, his voice hoarse and loud. His face was as black as charcoal from the sun, and he yelled at the dark-skinned kiln workers under him. He was like the king of crows! He is physically strong and holds a bronze stick in his hand, which he wields with great force, like a capable warrior. When his stern eyes swept across the crowd, hundreds of strong men lowered their heads, too afraid to look at each other.
Koscak took a look around and was satisfied with his power. In his opinion, the craftsmen in the factory are different from the farmers in the fields. The most important thing is to obey the rules and obey!
How to make bricks, how to build a kiln, how to light a fire, and how to see smoke, all must be done according to the instructions of the veteran craftsmen, and no randomness is allowed. If he damages the bricks and kiln and delays the construction period, he will be beheaded according to the laws of the kingdom!
Of course, after giving a big stick, you should also give some hope. Koscach took the stick, slapped his palm twice with the tip of the stick, and grinned.
"The Lord God is watching us, and we should all work hard! When the bricks come out of the kiln, everyone will have a day off and be given a bag of grain! ... In the surrounding Tlaxcala villages, there are many women without husbands. You still have a half-year-old child with you! With food, it will be easy for you to go there, whether you want to have a good day or find a companion."
"When you finish your work before the rainy season, if you are done, there will be rewards in Apa City! By then, you can find a wife nearby to get married, and even the children will be ready-made, and they will be able to work for the family in two years! ... There is plenty of time I’m looking forward to it so much, do it well for me, do you hear me?”
"Yes, boss. Do your best and I will listen to you!"
At this moment, the craftsmen in the kiln all looked happy and responded loudly. A quarter of them are skilled workers, and along with the leader, they came from the Patzcuaro Lake area a few months ago to build a kiln outside the city of Apa. The other three-quarters are apprentices, recruited from Apa County, all Prepecha people who have been obedient for many years.
In the two southern counties, 200,000 Eastern Expedition immigrants moved in within this year. Immigrants are being resettled and establishing villages of various sizes, among which the most important buildings are brick barns! You know, people can live in wooden houses, huts, or even holes in the ground, but food cannot. In the humid rainy season in the south, it is necessary to have brick-built and waterproof barns to prevent grains from getting moldy and spoiling. Secondly, there must be a masonry altar to store sacred scripture tablets and precious copper and iron tools.
Therefore, under His Royal Highness's order, Koscach took a group of people south to Apa City last year to build a large brick kiln to supply building materials nearby. The charcoal fields and smoking kilns are burning day and night, like giant beasts lying on the ground, swallowing up the power to transform the Apa Plain.
With the continuous resettlement of immigrants, the scale of the kiln has also continued to expand, and more than 300 apprentices have been recruited. Most of these craftsman apprentices are single, strong men who want to start families locally and become craftsmen in the county. What he lacks most now is the possessions and a wife to start a family.
Apa County gave a reward, and there were many single women among the captive immigrants. Being able to work here as a craftsman was an opportunity that only came after a lot of fighting. If you do well, you can become a master craftsman, which is not much different from the respected military nobles.
"His Highness Shenqi values craftsmen and gives them generous remuneration! When you become a craftsman at Shenqi, your good days are really here! From now on, you don't have to worry about food and drink, and you can work in the kiln with peace of mind. As long as you last more than ten years. , you can become a skilled craftsman, and your food and clothing expenses are no worse than those of samurai! After twenty years, you can become a senior craftsman and raise seven or eight wives and children! If you can figure out new improvements, There are also huge rewards, and you may even be like me, superior to others, and become a master craftsman or a craftsman priest!... Tsk tsk! You can leave the village and work in the workshop, what a blessing from the Lord God!"
Koscach shook his head, waved his stick, and patiently gave instructions for a long time. He spoke out from his own experience and spoke sincerely. The kiln workers under his command also nodded in admiration, feeling full of energy to work.
The Kingdom in the Lake now has a population of more than 1.2 million. The kingdom in the lake is full of vigor and vitality, expanding year by year, constantly plundering people and wealth from outside, and cultivating and colonizing within. This place is different from the Eastern Alliance. The upward path is very broad!
The first smooth road to advancement is naturally to join the army. In the kingdom, apart from the thousands of emerging priests and nobles, the only remaining ones with the highest status are the 50,000 warriors in the seven legions! The samurai masters went on foreign campaigns and won every year, and the loot they plundered filled the entire house. They were able to confer military merits on fields and titles, occupy one-third of the kingdom's fields, and owned more than 300,000 serfs. They were the most important pillars of the kingdom!
However, this smooth road requires hard work and skill. Generally speaking, only wealthy civilian families can support warrior training from an early age. Or he must be a hunter in the mountains who has hunting skills and can become an archer. The kingdom has sufficient military resources, including tribal barbarians who dare to fight tooth and nail, and surrendered troops with war experience. If you don't have such a foundation, you can only become a militia at most, and it is difficult to be selected into the legion and go out as a warrior.
"In Apa County and Zicao County, I heard that they are recruiting soldiers again to build a Long Snake Corps. Among the Tlaxcala immigrants, those tribal warriors who have fought in the war suddenly appeared. And the Tecos Flag Army The militiamen are also clamoring to join. The magistrates of the two counties are fiercely fighting over the allocation of troops. I don’t know where this regiment will be stationed in the end. It can’t be half in one county, right?"
Koskaci touched his chin, looked at the busy kiln workers, and thought about the situation in the two southern counties. He intended to send his own children into the army. It's just that he followed His Highness and made his fortune from a commoner, but it has only been seven years. The family has insufficient foundation, and the young men it has trained have average martial arts skills.
The kingdom's legions fight every year, fighting with every ax and spear, and fighting with blood. On the battlefield, it only depends on strength and luck, which is very fair. The army is full of desperate barbarians, so it doesn't matter. With the ability of one's own children, it is always difficult to stand out on the battlefield.
"No matter! The kingdom has never lost a war, and thousands of warriors have died. If the family wants to establish itself, being a craftsman is always inferior. If they want to be a priest, they don't have the ability. In the end, they still have to give away Let them join the army!...Well, spend some money and get bronze armor for all the little ones. As long as they don't die, they can eventually rise to the top!"
Koskaci thought for a moment and made up his mind. The kingdom's bronze production increased rapidly, new copper mines were opened in the two counties, and copper armor controls were relaxed. As an old man who follows His Highness and is the director of the Shenqi Institute, he still has a way to buy some self-defense bronze armor for his clan members from the Military Industry Department.
In the Kingdom of the Lake, the second way to rise is to participate in the temple selection at the age of fifteen and become a priest apprentice at Shenwei University. Afterwards, they will study at Shenwei University for several years and successfully graduate as priests of various departments in the kingdom. This road is also open to civilians. But to be honest, most of the places are occupied by children of noble and priest families.
Not to mention anything else, just the literacy test in the first month. The children of nobles and priests have been educated by their elders since childhood. They have been studying for several years and are familiar with enlightenment scriptures. Most of the children from ordinary families cannot recognize a few words and have to learn them from scratch. Unless you are really talented, there is no comparison. As for the next math test, one has been taught and the other knows nothing, let alone that.
"Hey! Priests serve the Lord God, receive divine grace, and preside over the country. Even if they cannot be preaching priests, even if they are to be craftsmen's inspired priests, they still start on the mountainside and climb up from the top of the craftsmen! This road, But it’s a smooth road!... Well, any smart children in the family who are under ten years old must be sent to the community shrine as soon as possible, given some gifts, and asked to be taught by the community priests! Without family inheritance, this is the only way to learn Cultural approach."
Koscach grabbed the copper rod, looked at the busy kiln workers under him, and shook his head invisibly. For most civilians, who are uneducated, do not understand mathematics, and do not know divine knowledge, being able to become a master craftsman is already a manifestation of the Lord God and the blessing of the ancestors. As for the divine priests who graduated from Shenwei University, they belong directly to His Highness and can directly learn various divine revelations and even accept His Highness’s teachings!
Yes, in the Kingdom of the Lake, the third way to rise is to become a craftsman. There are two types of roads, one is the upper level difficulty of Kingdom of God, and the other is the lower level is the difficulty of Abyss.
The Kingdom of God difficulty means that ordinary students graduate as young divine priests, or outstanding students graduate as first-level divine priests and join the workshops of various divine institutions. They start out as leaders in charge of dozens of people, and then move up through the ranks of first-, second-, third-, and fourth-level priests. At the end of the day, it is the senior chief priest who is in charge of one department and one bureau! As for the shortcut like Koscach, who followed His Highness from a young age and then took off all the way, there will no longer be a shortcut.
Another difficulty in the Abyss is to join various workshops or crafts camps as a craftsman. After four years of hard work, when the skills and experience are sufficient and recognized by the master craftsmen, he will be considered a formal craftsman. This step will probably eliminate half of the people. In other words, at least half of the craftsmen must do the most basic work, such as making bricks or burning charcoal. Of course, apprentices who are eliminated can be re-examined every four years, so there is always something to look forward to.
Next, the craftsman works for another four years, rising from the lower level to the upper level. In another four years, if you pass the assessment, you will be promoted to skilled craftsman. In this selection, half will be eliminated. After being promoted to a skilled craftsman, you will be rewarded every year, and the treatment is not much different from that of a second-level warrior.
Skilled craftsmen are promoted in four years, and after eight years of assessment, they are promoted to senior craftsmen. This step will eliminate 60% to 70%. Among craftsmen households, the proportion of senior craftsmen usually does not exceed one tenth. After being promoted to a senior craftsman, you can lead a team of apprentices and take charge of construction projects in various places. At that time, their income, both overt and covert, was comparable to that of senior warriors. However, in terms of social status, it is far behind, and there is no land that can be passed on to future generations.
Generally speaking, if everything goes well, after an apprentice works for twenty years, he or she will be able to choose one out of ten and become a senior craftsman. And from here on up, there are rare master craftsmen. This is not something you can get promoted just by accumulating qualifications. You have to make great achievements and make real technological breakthroughs and improvements!
Even His Highness will see the promotion of a master craftsman, and he will often be given land. After being promoted to Master Craftsman, you will automatically become a divine priest. As an honor for crossing the class, you will successfully become a member of the ruling class!
"Master Craftsman! If only one of the two hundred kiln workers can independently improve his craftsmanship and become a Master Craftsman, then as their leader, I will also have merit and be rewarded!"
Koscak thought for a while, smiled and shook his head. Breakthroughs in new technologies are easy to say, but how easy is it to actually achieve them?
Like the large kilns that His Highness mentioned, they are designed with ventilation and fire channels so that bricks can be produced all the time without stopping the kiln. He and his senior craftsmen have been working hard for five or six years, and they have only just gained some insights. If this technology is made, at least two master craftsmen can be named!
"...However, there is a real opportunity now! Your Highness has told you about another divine revelation. After more than a year of research, some results have been achieved. If this technology is completed, there will definitely be a generous reward! With His Highness The emphasis is enough to promote two or three master craftsmen! But, which two outstanding apprentices should this opportunity be given to?"
Koskaci touched his chin and pondered silently. After a while, he inserted the bronze rod back into his waist, abandoned the kiln workers in the kiln, and strode toward the camp behind him. There, a newly built white wall was flashing like masonry in the sunlight.
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