A week later, when Zhu Wenkui arrived at the school grounds outside Dadu City, Guo Kang was waiting for him outside the door.
This training ground was originally in the city. The castle was in a state of decline back then. The once bustling city was sparsely populated, and there were large open spaces within the walls of Theodosi City. Not to mention finding an open space as a training ground, there were even people farming in the city.
But now, as the urban population increases, the training ground must be moved. In particular, Guo Kang likes firearms and always wants to make a big splash. The people in the city couldn't bear to be disturbed, so everyone could only ask him and his mess of little inventions to go outside.
As soon as the two met, Zhu Wenkui hurriedly said hello, and he couldn't wait to take out a small iron part and showed it to Guo Kang: "This is the connecting piece you mentioned last time. I thought about it, why not change the structure?" So I adjusted the design and asked someone to help me type it out. What do you think?"
"So fast?" Guo Kang was a little surprised. He took the iron tool and looked over it: "This curved surface is really good. How did you make it?"
"The master you were looking for before was a well-connected person recommended by the guild. His workmanship was terrible." Zhu Wenkui shook his head with a look of displeasure on his face: "I can't stand it, so I'll just do it myself. You see, I'm better at polishing than him." .”
"In this way..." Guo Kang didn't know what to say for a moment.
The guild organization does have the problem of suppressing newcomers and monopolizing positions, but in today's Khan's court, there are many people who have seen the world. If you want to occupy this position, you still need to be somewhat capable. The previous Greek master's craftsmanship was not to say exquisite, but at least it was at the top level of the local area, which is not bad.
Guo Kang suspected that there were other reasons.
"Is it because their tools are not good enough or their method is wrong?" he asked.
"Maybe there are problems." Zhu Wenkui thought for a while and analyzed: "I think the grinding wheels they use to grind the parts are not of good quality."
"The so-called grinding wheel can be understood as a high-speed rotating disc-shaped whetstone." He explained to Guo Kang: "Actually, this is a very ancient thing. Some people have been using it since the pre-Qin Dynasty. I also checked it specifically After checking the information, it is said that the Greeks also invented this kind of thing very early, and it was the first to popularize it in the capital city."
"I think this thing should be very mature." He shook his head: "I didn't expect that it is still so crude."
"The Greeks have been beaten back and forth by various groups for hundreds of years. There is nothing we can do about technological regression. At least there is a city here. When we regained Athens, it became a bandit den." Guo Kang Exonerate the Greeks.
"In the beginning, the 'Greek Land' around Athens and Moriana was a place where some Western European mercenary groups fought with various pirates and warlords. The Khan's court had no interest in it at all, and felt that it was too poor."
"Later, when Queen Mother Helena came to power, she insisted that regaining her homeland would help enhance the legitimacy of the Purple Tent. After that, she sent troops to drive away the Catholic warlords there, and then went there herself, doing everything possible to subdue a group of people in the mountains. The Greek strongholds - these 'descendants of Socrates and Aristotle' - were already more barbaric than the Slavs on the northern plain."
"A few days ago, I heard a Greek teacher talk about that place, saying that Athens was once the little overlord of the sea." Zhu Wenkui also expressed some emotion: "Looking at it this way, it is really a serious setback."
"Yes." Guo Kang nodded and said, "So, if you have any problems, you don't have to blame them harshly. Just look at what tools need improvement and ask your assistant to tell me directly. If you can find them, I will find them for you. Okay; if you can’t find it, I’ll try to get you some more funds, or we can do it ourselves.”
"I'm afraid you will have to spend more money." Zhu Wenkui immediately complained: "Although I am not a craftsman, I have been interested in these equipment and gadgets since I was a child. In these years in the land of Western Europe, I also know what I should know. Quite a few. Their craftsmanship is not bad at one place, but everywhere."
"Look." He pointed to the polished curved surface: "This place looks like it's just about poor polishing skills. In fact, I took a look and found that their grinding wheels are not round enough. I don't know how they were deemed qualified. . Moreover, the shaft that rotates the grinding wheel is not straight enough. It jumps back and forth when grinding. How can it be used?"
"It won't work for him to repair the shaft, because the entire driving device is just a crude product made of wood. It's normal for this thing to be unstable when it runs." He spread his hands: "If we continue to check this, the entire workshop will see There’s a problem with getting up.”
"If you really want to make a batch of compliant parts, instead of me grinding each one slowly, you will probably have to build a new workshop from scratch." He threw the parts to Guo Kang again: "Maybe more A workshop. Other workshops that provide components to this workshop have to start over with higher requirements. You see, this costs a lot of money. "
"It doesn't matter, my family is quite wealthy, I can just figure it out." Guo Kang said generously: "Please go to the workshop to supervise the production in your spare time. Things there are troublesome."
In his mind, he had already thought of a plan.
When he was tinkering with the steam shrine, his adoptive mother thought that he didn't study hard and did some crooked things every day and was unwilling to give money. So he persuaded Wang, who was good at magic and had a good vision in this field, on the pretext of demonstrating miracles. The Grand Lama, received special investment from the Church.
And this time, it's not difficult either. By recruiting Zhu Wenkui into the group, he could directly ask the Khan's family for money in the name of diplomatic expenses.
The expenses of the Purple Khan Court were also divided into the private accounts of the Great Khan and the public accounts of the imperial court. In normal times, the expenses for entertaining guests and sending envoys are basically kept in public accounts. When it comes to rewards, gifts, banquets, etc., even if the Khan pays for the treat himself, it will be counted in his private account.
In the private accounts, there are some confidential expenses called "grape money" that are very flexible in scheduling.
This is not because of greed and profit sharing, but because of the situation.
In the early years, the Ayden Bey Kingdom in western Asia Minor decided to pay tribute to the Purple Tent. Bey came to Dadu in person and received a warm reception from the Great Khan.
However, after he returned, the Ottomans sent spies to sneak into the capital and obtained exact accounts and transportation records from wine merchants. They discovered that Bey not only drank at banquets and in the mansion, but also bought a large amount specially. Bring back.
Osman used this to accuse the Aydin dynasty of violating religious law and called on everyone to jihad against him.
Ayden's Bey was not someone to be trifled with. He sent people and quickly found the handle of the Karaman Dynasty in eastern Asia Minor.
It turned out that Karaman Bey not only drank too much when visiting the Purple Khan Court, but also caused trouble: Not long after their banquet, the Great Khan John Shira died of illness. According to folklore, the Great Khan actually drank himself to death.
So, why should you only hit yourself? There were so many Turkic princes, he didn't believe there was anyone who hadn't done it. If you have the ability, investigate them one by one and fight them one by one to see who can hide.
Since Hamid's "wine bundle" was a deterrent to the other beys, everyone quickly reached an agreement and decided to jointly prevent Osman from sending troops and not let the matter escalate.
Karaman is a powerful local power. With the help of business contacts, Bey soon learned that Osman himself was actually even worse: he had not gone to the Purple Tent to eat and drink recently, and he had not left any accounts. But the palace merchants there regularly crossed the sea to Crimea to purchase high-quality wine there from Venetian second-rate merchants. All in all, they consumed it quite quickly, spending more than other beys.
After Karaman announced the news, Osman was also very embarrassed. In the end, everyone had to negotiate and decided not to use this reason to condemn each other. At the same time, they sent a letter to the Purple Horde, asking them to control their subordinates more strictly and not to make big news all day long.
The Purple Horde Khanate had no choice but to accept it. After that, there were no records of this part of the wine purchase in the Khan's account books, and they were just collectively referred to as "grape money", indicating entertainment expenses. When purchasing, I also find familiar businessmen who are tight-lipped and buy them secretly for other reasons.
Opening a workshop for Zhu Wenkui can also be regarded as a diplomatic reception, so for this part of the funds, all he has to do is ask the queen to nod, and then ask the chief treasurer Otrifus to provide the money. Theodora was much easier to talk to than her adoptive mother. It would not be difficult to ask for money through her.
After thinking of a way, Guo Kang accepted the parts and asked Zhu Wenkui to visit with him.
