When they arrived at the Yamen, several people had just sat down when Yang Shen hurried over from behind and stepped forward to salute.
Wang Xiaolie said to Wang Ruohai and Lu Qing: "This turned out to be a grain and grass officer in our army. His name is Yang Shen. He is now in charge here."
The two of them shook their heads slightly when they saw that Yang Shen was not wearing official uniform and looked like a businessman. Wang Xiaolie's place is so strange. In terms of the size of the army and daily management, the system is strict and the scale is grand. But many places look petty and even shabby. Just like the soldiers in the new barracks in front, many of them did not have military uniforms. This Yang Shen was not wearing official uniform. Being an official is also called Shi Brown. What does it look like without wearing official uniform?
After serving tea, Wang Xiaolie asked Yang Shen: "How are these days? Everything is new, but everything is not going well. You have to pay more attention."
Yang Shen said: "In the past few days, the ordnance production has been going smoothly, and we have been able to produce weapons and armor. But other things, most of them are just giving a name and recruiting some people to know how to read. We haven't started yet."
"There is a shortage of people!" Wang Xiaolie sighed. "Everything is new now, and there is a shortage of people everywhere, and there is no good solution. At the beginning, we must hire more teachers, compile our own teaching materials, and teach people to read. As long as people are literate, they will think about things differently from before. This is called enlightenment Okay. Also, there are many scholars here now who need to organize themselves and let them compile something that can be read by literate people."
Yang Shen was startled after hearing this and asked: "What are you making up? There are so many classics left since ancient times. If you want to read them, you will naturally find books to read."
Wang Xiaolie smiled and shook his head: "For many people, even if they are literate, they will not read those classics. In addition to books used to make money, they like to read legends of legends, historical novels, and some rumors. Interesting fact. I heard that there are also a few storytellers from the capital here, and the storybooks they used to talk about are like this. You can organize some scholars to sort out these storytellers and print them into books. "
Yang Shen raised his hand and said yes.
Wang Ruohai on the side said: "Zhizhi, the government publishes books, how can we publish those? How many names are there in the pre-Qin, Han, Sui and Tang Dynasties? Since there are scholars and the government is willing to pay, they can compile these and print them into books."
Wang Xiaolie said: "Of course we already have these books. Why should we compile them again? The imperial court had already compiled many of them in the past. However, most of the literate people we teach now do not read classics, but only technical books. Let them read these classics, and they won't be very interested. But if you can read, you must have books to read. Print some story books and sell them to them."
Wang Ruohai shook his head: "Paper is not easy to make, so how can it be used for this? After all, the government is not a profit-seeking businessman, so it should not do these things. When printing books, the government still has to be careful to rectify people's hearts."
Wang Xiaolie smiled and said nothing more.
What happened to government-printed books? It’s also about making money. And as long as your thoughts are healthy and positive, the storybook is also a good read. Most people in the world, even if they are literate, have no interest in reading those classics. Just like in later generations, most people are literate, but how many are willing to read so-called classic books? Having studied Marxism-Leninism since primary school, how many people have read the real Marxist-Leninist classics?
It’s not that classics are unimportant, but for Wang Xiaolie now, popular books are more important.
After drinking a bowl of tea, we chatted a few words. Wang Xiaolie said: "It's still early, let's go back and take a look at the weapons production. In these troubled times, in the final analysis, this is the most important thing. The rest is just the icing on the cake."
Going out from behind the Yamen is a large courtyard. As soon as we entered the yard, we heard the sound of ping-ping-pong-pong. Under the pergola beside the courtyard wall, blacksmiths are busy. Some are making swords, and some are making various parts.
Wang Xiaolie said: "Most of the blacksmiths from various states and counties are here. To be honest, there is something wrong. There is no one to repair the farm tools of the people in the countryside. I plan to let these people lead apprentices. In a few months, most of them will People can go home."
Lu Qing said: "How to do it? You have recruited so many new soldiers, and it is the time when you need ordnance. Let me tell you, the old blacksmiths are very experienced, and the swords they make are not comparable to those of novices."
Wang Xiaolie said: "It doesn't matter. There are only a few types of equipment used in the army. It's easy for one person to do one process. Many blacksmiths have been making iron for a lifetime. They can do things that others can't do, so there is no need to waste them. day."
Seeing that Wang Xiaolie refused to listen, Lu Qing stopped trying to persuade him and could only sigh in his heart. It seems that Wang Xiaolie is still too young to know how powerful he is. Perhaps in his eyes, doing so was caring for the people. But they don’t know that if the weapons are not good, people will die on the battlefield.
The largest factories in the Song Dynasty were all government-run. Like the former Kaifeng Mansion. One is the royal weaving courtyard, with nearly 10,000 female workers. There is also a place where ordnance is made, with thousands of craftsmen. Such a large-scale factory is not comparable to a small workshop. Product manufacturing is divided into many processes, and each person is only responsible for one process. But in the small place down there, there is no such division of labor.
Wang Xiaolie's idea is to rationally divide large-scale manufacturing into several processes. For each process, workers only need to know the knowledge of this process. Training like this is much easier than teaching disciples.
After looking around, Lu Qing said: "Zhizhi, I see you are making swords and guns here, why don't you see any crossbows?"
Wang Xiaolie said: "The production of crossbows is time-consuming and laborious. Only recently did I find a few bowsmiths from Kaifeng Prefecture among the refugees and explained the production process clearly. It was just that it was difficult to purchase all the materials for a while. So I asked others nearby Set up a courtyard and let them prepare there.”
Lu Qing nodded: "Yes, making crossbows is not easy. Especially the bows used by the military are not comparable to the bows used by the people."
Wang Xiaolie originally planned to build a water-powered forge, but the terrain here was not suitable and he was looking for another place. Although there are many rivers in Xinye, the terrain is so flat that it is difficult to store water. If you want to take advantage of water power, Ruzhou in the north is suitable.
If we want to develop the military equipment manufacturing industry, there is a long chain from iron and steelmaking to processing and manufacturing. How could Wang Xiaolie be prepared in such a short time? We can only make urgently needed weapons here first and replenish them later.
Across the courtyard, there is a row of houses. There was a sign on the door that read "Audit Department".
Wang Ruohai asked: "Zhizhi, why is there an audit department here? If it is a matter in the yamen, it should be located in the yamen."
Wang Xiaolie said: "In the officialdom, the most important thing is to conduct audits. To audit, you can't do without checking the accounts and understanding numbers. How can there be so many talents at once? We can only set up here and train people first. . When there are too many things to do in the future, it will be up to them to do the work."
There was a Department of Activities before the Song Dynasty, and when Zhao Gou ascended the throne, it was changed to the Department of Audit because of taboos. The name of later generations of audits comes from here. Above the officialdom, including in shopping malls, auditing is particularly important. Wang Xiaolie has past life memories, so of course he knows this.
When appointing an official, he must be fully empowered to ensure efficiency. Full authorization does not mean allowing subordinates to do whatever they want, and must be strictly audited. Whether the audit can be done well will directly affect the entire officialdom.
In this era of auditing, there are not many places where numbers are actually used. Wang Xiaolie is different. Those who join the audit department must first learn mathematics. When auditing, check money and items carefully one by one.
In Wang Xiaolie's view, subordinates must have power and strict auditing, and the two complement each other.
After walking through the yard, Wang Ruohai looked into the house. I saw 20 to 30 students standing there, ranging from less than 20 to more than 30 years old, watching a lecture by a teacher above. A student turned his head and saw the person outside the door, looking a little shy. What the teacher is saying inside cannot be seen clearly from the outside. But seeing that the students are studying seriously, their attitude is quite good.
