Chapter 1058: The Artisan Works Bureau

1058. Chapter 1058: The Artisan Works Bureau

"... So many of the great lords in the capital draw income from this river. So many in the capital depend on it for their livelihood. If troops really were dispatched and unrest broke out, the Grand Canal would be cut off again, and the income from the grain tribute would be severed along with it. Whoever makes the decision bears the responsibility — that would draw universal wrath, and no one is willing to shoulder it..."

Right now, the most pressing matter at court — whether for Wei Zhongxian, the Supervisor-in-Chief of the Directorate of Ceremonial, or for the faction opposing Eunuch Wei — is the dispute over whether the Tianqi Emperor's wet nurse, Lady Ke, should leave the palace. The next most urgent matter is the war against the Jianzhou Jurchens in Liaodong. Further down the list are the rebellions in Sichuan and Guizhou in the great Ming's southwest. What does Xuzhou even count for? It's always been peaceful enough — why stir up trouble?

"... This Ming dynasty deserves to fall..." Willing or not, aside from such resentful grumbling, no one had any other recourse. They could only hold their noses and accept it.

The household troops were awe-inspiring and majestic; the Agricultural Reclamation Office governed an entire domain; Trade was a mountain of gold and a sea of silver; the Patrol Guards managed local affairs; and the Internal Guard could be likened to the status of the Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard. The gentry and commoners within the Zhao Battalion's sphere of influence paid extraordinary attention to all these posts, discussing them endlessly. Compared to these, the Artisan Works Bureau seemed far less noteworthy.

What was a place where craftsmen worked and learned their trades worth? If a family's child had no other prospects, they could go there to study and have a skill to fall back on in the future — that was all. With the Zhao Battalion's territory so prosperous now, with so many opportunities, if someone wanted to rise in the world, there were plenty of places to go. Why bury themselves there?

Everyone did have one calculation, though: the Artisan Works Bureau surely had plenty of lucrative posts. According to hearsay, those great distilleries of Xuzhou had all been placed under the Bureau's jurisdiction. A place that made liquor was a mountain of gold — how could one lack opportunities to get rich on a mountain of gold? People said in private that Lord Zhao, upright and impartial as he was, still had his human attachments. To look after his own brother-in-law, he had set up this separate Artisan Works Bureau and elevated the unremarkable Xu Housheng to a position equal to that of the brothers at his side.

But then again, Lord Zhao's brother-in-law — how exalted was that status? He ought to have been an equal from the start. Some also voiced grievances on Wang Zhaojing's behalf, saying that among Lord Zhao's band of brothers and companions, some held independent commands, some governed entire domains — yet the most talented of them all, the third young master Wang, accomplished in both pen and sword, had no fixed assignment. Day in and day out, he simply followed Lord Zhao like a staff advisor or private secretary. They said Lord Zhao didn't care for scholars, and it seemed that was indeed true.

That was how outsiders saw it. Only the core echelon of the Zhao Battalion and those truly close to Zhao Jin knew just how much importance Zhao Jin attached to this Artisan Works Bureau.

Zhao Jin's daily routine was monotonous in the extreme. He rose early to practice martial arts, then had breakfast. After breakfast, he met with Wang Zhaojing in the study to review the documents and urgent dispatches sent from various places, along with intelligence gathered from the capital and elsewhere. Once these were dealt with, he would ride out to the various encampments. Every camp within a half-hour's ride had to be visited and inspected, and he personally supervised the training. Occasionally, he would go take a look at the Xuzhou salt market and the public markets. Lunch was always eaten outside, often right in the camps, sharing the common mess with the household troops.

During all this, newly arrived documents and letters from various places, and any matters requiring Zhao Jin's decision, had to be chased after him so that he and Wang Zhaojing could handle them on the spot. By the time he returned to the council hall from outside, it was usually when those with the standing to come to Hejiazhuang had gathered together, and everyone would report and exchange views. By this hour, the sky was already growing dark. Zhao Jin would often still make a surprise inspection of some nearby camp before finally going home for his meal. At first, Xu Zhenzhen and Mu Shulan had waited for him to return to eat together, but as time went on, they simply instructed the kitchen to keep his food warm, or to cook it fresh when he came back.

This was how it was when Zhao Jin was in Xuzhou, and the same when he went to Pizhou and Qingjiangpu — endlessly busy. Yet within this hectic schedule, Zhao Jin still tried his utmost to make time to visit the factories of the Artisan Works Bureau. At first, everyone thought he was concerned about arms and armor. Later, they thought he was passionate about firearms. Later still, they thought he wanted to look after and guide his brother-in-law. In the end, everyone finally understood: Zhao Jin regarded this artisan manufacturing as extremely important, even on par with the household troops, Agricultural Reclamation, and Trade.

Since Zhao Jin valued it so highly, everyone adjusted their own attitudes accordingly and began to value it as well. Yet privately, they simply could not fathom it. That ironware and firearms were of vital importance to the Zhao Battalion went without saying, but why attach such importance to everything else?

The Zhao Battalion's firearms workshop could now produce four hundred firelocks per month, every single one of guaranteed quality. Inscribed upon each were the names of the craftsman who made it, the overseer, and the artisan who inspected it for defects. Should any problem arise, responsibility could be traced back layer by layer through these names, fixing accountability on the individual. Once this rule was instituted, the craftsmen forging the firelocks all summoned twelve-tenths of their focus, not daring the slightest slackness.

When this rule was introduced, not only Wang Zhaojing and Ruhui were astonished — even Xu Zhenzhen and Xu Housheng were amazed. The rule was undeniably effective, yet the Xu family had never thought of it; they had only a rough set of regulations. When asked where exactly this rule had come from, Zhao Jin deflected it onto his second uncle, Zhao Zhenxing, saying that when Second Uncle Zhao Zhenxing had traveled abroad in his youth, he had heard people in Shaanxi recount ancient tales. They said that in the time of the Great Qin, craftsmen forging weapons had been bound by just such a rule, and if a defect occurred, those traced would face severe punishment.

Hearing this, everyone sighed with admiration. As Zhao Jin spoke, his expression was calm, but inwardly he was pondering: this rule was indeed from the Qin dynasty, but whether anyone alive today actually knew of it was hard to say...

The firearms workshop's ability to steadily produce several hundred firelocks each month was what guaranteed the supply of firearms for this expansion and reorganization. Otherwise, the framework would have been set up, but without enough equipment to supply it, the formation of combat power and daily training would have been severely delayed. However, while firelocks were sufficient, the supply of gunpowder had always been a bottleneck. Xuzhou could not provide enough of several of the raw materials needed for gunpowder. Moreover, the gunpowder had to be steamed, sun-dried, and finely sifted in Xuzhou, a process that entailed further loss. Thus, how to procure it had always been the greatest headache for Cloud Mountain Trading.

Throughout the various regions of the Great Ming, gunpowder was likewise a government monopoly. By greasing the palms of the officials in charge, one could obtain some, but the government arsenals themselves faced enormous shortfalls, so what could be acquired was limited. Fortunately, Yu Zhiyuan in Songjiang had rendered great assistance. The second young master Yu was always generous in matters concerning Xuzhou. He directly set aside three large sand-ships, loaded them with high-demand goods from the Western and Southern Seas, and used them to barter with foreign merchants and sea lords — one shipload of goods for one shipload of gunpowder.

Whether it was the sea lords of the Great Ming or the foreigners in the South Sea colonies, all had a need for gunpowder. However, the quantities needed were very small. Moreover, gunpowder could be imported in bulk from India, and the Great Ming itself could manufacture it, so it fetched no great price — it was hardly even considered a category of goods. Yet the three shiploads of goods that Yu Zhiyuan offered, whether bound for Japan or the Southern Seas, so long as they reached their destination with fair winds and smooth waters, could be exchanged for a whole ship's worth of silver.

So the moment Second Young Master Yu set forth these terms, countless people came knocking at his door. Even as a mere middleman reselling the goods, there was enormous profit to be made. Now, at Clam Shoal Harbor, gunpowder was coming ashore roughly two to three times a month, greatly easing the Zhao Battalion's demand. Under such circumstances, stationing a large regiment to garrison Clam Shoal Bay was only right and proper.

As for artillery, Louis now appeared more often in the role of master craftsman and supervisor. His old servant frequently served as an instructor at the Xuzhou Martial Hall. The drunkard Macan, along with the two Frankish craftsmen kidnapped from the Macau cannon foundry, were playing an increasingly significant role.

After the elder brother, Bento Borges, and the younger brother, Pedro Borges, were kidnapped and brought to Xuzhou, they spent over a month in constant fear and anxiety. They immediately thought of the sea raids by the Ottoman Turks and the North African pirates. When Europeans were captured by them, there were generally three fates: one was to be killed; another was to be ransomed by one's family; and the most common was to be enslaved for life. The Borges brothers had seen far too many horrors of what black slaves endured.

The two brothers naturally had no hope of a ransom being paid. Had they possessed such means, they would never have drifted ten thousand li from Europe to Macau to scrape out a living. Escape was out of the question — not only were the guards here tight, but they had absolutely no idea where they had been taken.

In the Borges brothers' conception, the Great Ming was supposed to look like Macau. Yet the local customs and scenery they saw before them were completely different from Macau. Back in Macau, the brothers had heard people say that the Great Ming's territory was vast, that a single province was as large as the entire country of Spain. At the time, they had thought it utterly unbelievable, but now they were forced to believe it. After all, from the moment they were kidnapped, they had traveled north for over a month.

The only reassuring thing was that their captors were highly disciplined. There was no abuse or beatings; they were even courteous to the women and children, and even gave them preferential treatment. However, the Borges brothers also knew one thing: if they did not obey, the other side would not hesitate to kill them.

The person dealing with them was a Frenchman. This Frenchman was clearly educated and, by all rights, should have been able to find decent work in Europe or the colonies. For some unknown reason, he was here, swearing fealty to a lord of the Great Ming. The two brothers discussed it privately and both felt they had come to a place like North Africa or the Ottoman Empire — that the lord here was not "oriental" at all, and that he had Europeans serving under him.

"Do your utmost to improve the cannons, to build better cannons. It will benefit you, your families, and your future." Louis knew how to deal with Europeans; he spoke very directly.

"Can we and our families gain our freedom?"

"When the time comes, if you want freedom, freedom will be given to you. But I believe that your arrival here is already the blessing of the Heavenly Father. If you work well, you should receive something better than freedom."

Louis's ambiguous answer set the Borges brothers' minds somewhat at ease. They understood that the other side needed their craft, and that they were reasonable people.

Originally, ninety percent of the Zhao Battalion's craftsmen came from the Xu family. But with the continuous intake of refugees and the large-scale prisoners taken in several great battles, craftsmen and apprentices with skills were steadily picked out from among the refugees. Gradually accumulating, they now made up two-fifths of the total.

Thanks to old friend "Mu Ming" for the tip, thanks to everyone for your subscriptions and monthly tickets, and thank you all for your support.