Chapter 34 Ge Tiangong’s fate
"Okay." He Xi said, "This matter has been revealed."
Does He Xi really believe Ge Tiangong's words?
In fact, I may not believe it.
After all, eyes are the window to the soul and can express many things, but people can deceive, and people's eyes can also deceive. And every politician is a very good actor. He Xi has seen too many people who tell lies with their eyes open. That kind of thing, whether you believe it or not, I believe it anyway.
The sense of belief in the performance is at the level of an actor.
He Xi never trusts people easily.
From this perspective, Zhu Yuanzhang's suspicion may be understandable.
Sometimes whether you doubt or not does not depend on whether the person is trustworthy or not, but on whether you can bear the consequences of betrayal after believing.
He Xi now doesn't care too much about whether Ge Tiangong's words are true or false. Because He Xi himself had never thought about how to punish Ge Tiangong. I never thought about taking it seriously, regardless of whether what Ge Tiangong said was true or false. He Xi just thought he was real.
Before Ge Tiangong could be happy, He Xi followed him as if chasing his life, saying: "However, it is impossible for your official position to be restored. These people are yours. Even if you are not involved, they will No more responsibility?"
Ge Tiangong was stunned, and the joy on his face suddenly condensed.
This is the lesson for Ge Tiangong. He Xi knows that Ge Tiangong cares more about his official position.
In this era, there is a real official standard. It is said that everything is inferior, only studying is high. In fact, it is not true. It is that everything is inferior, only being an official is high. If there is anything higher than being an official, it is probably to be a high official.
Ge Tiangong was a little lost. Looking at He Xi, he couldn't believe this fact. A trace of resentment secretly arose in his heart, and he thought to himself: "It's better to punish me directly."
Ge Tiangong said feebly: "Thank you, Teacher."
He Xi said: "Okay. Don't look dead. I've found a way out for you. Do you know about the construction of Beijing City?"
Ge Tiangong suddenly thought of something, and a glimmer of hope suddenly arose in his heart, and he said, "I know."
He Xi said: "I am in charge of this matter, and the construction of Beijing City and its ancillary projects requires a lot of craftsmen. I will write you a letter, and you can just go there. With my letter, no one will make it difficult for you. . But we can only start from the bottom foreman. After all the projects in Beijing are completed, we will also need to recruit a group of craftsmen to manage these facilities. So ------"
Ge Tiangong was overjoyed and said, "Thank you, teacher. Thank you, teacher."
Ge Tiangong's presence with He Xi for so many years was not in vain. The organizational skills, scientific principles, technical details, R&D capabilities, etc. of construction have all been developed. His current ability will certainly be inconspicuous in future generations. But compared with those craftsmen who are not very literate and use so-called ancestral crafts passed down by word of mouth, it is a bit too bullying.
If Ge Tiangong stood out from below under normal and fair circumstances, it would definitely not be a problem.
The petty officials of some specific executive agencies in the Ministry of Industry have always had the habit of selecting from among craftsmen. Of course, most of them are petty officials. But for Ge Tiangong, as long as he is an official, he is not picky about food.
He Xi sighed and said, "I was going to discuss some technical issues with you. But in the end, this happened."
Ge Tiangong said: "It's all the disciple's fault. I made the teacher upset."
He Xi said: "Let's not talk about this. Things like this must never happen again in the future. I will not give you another chance. There may not be such a good opportunity next time."
I won’t mention Ge Tiangong’s guarantee.
Next, He Xi gets to the point.
He Xi asked about some of the projects he had left behind, especially the progress of the steam engine project.
After entering his professional field, Ge Tiangong became confident and talked eloquently. It is very clear that several major problems have been plaguing the project team.
The first is the material issue.
When a steam engine is in operation, the requirements for the mechanical structure of each part are different. From the beginning, building a steam engine was not difficult. The hard part was getting this steam engine running. It's not bad every three days.
But all this is reflected in the steel material.
Although He Xi's improved steel production methods have made it possible to produce large amounts of cheap steel. But the problem is that there are too many uncontrollable factors in these steel production processes. If these steels are used to make cold weapons or even artillery, as long as the design is appropriate, there will be no problem. But building a machine that could run very fast, a steam engine, was problematic.
Not to mention, the tens of thousands of revolutions of the engine, just let the steam engine drive the runner, hundreds of revolutions per minute, this kind of wear and tear is also a problem for steel.
It cannot be said that qualified steel cannot be produced.
Rather, it is unstable and depends on the batch.
A certain batch is OK. But it won’t work for a certain batch. It is obviously the same operating steps, the same time, the same heat, and even the raw materials from the same origin. However, what was produced was different.
He Xi had nothing to do about this situation.
He Xi did have some guesses, such as the heat. There is no instrument for measuring temperature now. Judging the temperature depends on experience and the color of the flame. This method is too crude. Maybe the flame is a few degrees higher or a few degrees lower, and the results are completely different.
But the question is, does He Xi have a solution?
There is no way.
He Xi couldn't make a thermometer that could measure temperatures of several thousand degrees.
This problem was not completely solved even in the twentieth century. Not to mention He Xi now.
He Xi secretly thought: "From this point of view, the only way to implement the water-lifting steam engine is to implement it first." However, He Xi suddenly had an idea in his mind and said: "Which of your craftsmen can replace you? Also, do you think, Do your craftsmen want to be officials? Or do they want to study technology?"
Ge Tiangong pondered for a moment and said: "Teacher, technically speaking, my deputies are not much different. Just let the teacher arrange it. As for what they want to do? Of course they want to be officials."
In Ge Tiangong's tone, it was a matter of course, without thinking.
It seems to be a rhetorical question, why would someone not want to be an official? Is he a fool?
He Xi thought to herself: "It's my fault."
In order to improve the status of technicians and temporarily find enough technical talents, He Xi turned some capable craftsmen into officials to manage the factory. They all have official status, even though they are minor officials.
But he really underestimated the desire of people in this era to be an official.
This is far more than the Chinese people's pursuit of civil servants.
Ge Tiangong is not an exception, it is a common phenomenon.
For craftsmen, if they continue to study, they can get a lot of benefits, including gold and silver, and official status. But their official status is more similar to that of reputation. Once you become an official, you still have to do craftsmanship. That's not the case when you become a factory manager.
They are real officials, and they take life and death within their jurisdiction. The apparent benefits and potential benefits it brings are simply too great. In this way, science and technology have also become the same stepping stone for stereotyped writing. Once you become an official, you throw it aside.
Even this screening mechanism causes the most skilled craftsmen to become officials instead of continuing their studies. It's like every great Confucian who has studied Confucianism wants to be an official.
Some of the doubts in He Xi's mind were also solved.
When construction in Liaodong just started, He Xi could get through many technologies with just a hint. However, in the past year or two, all aspects of technology have stagnated on some detailed issues.
He Xi naturally has no experience in dealing with these problems. You can only rely on them. And these only want to be officials. You may not even think highly of your own technology, so how much motivation can you have to study it?
"Craftsmen are just craftsmen. Scientists are the ones who really promote development. The two are completely different." He Xi thought to himself.
It’s just talent, which is scarce at all times.
He Xi faced another problem, how to train scientists.
Yes, He Xi ran a school and established a sect. But in fact, most of these students can serve as bureaucrats rather than scientists. Because the education they received since childhood has been solidified. Investigate things with sincerity and knowledge to regulate the family, govern the country and bring peace to the world. Where do you put your mind on studying nature?
Some people died, but not completely...
