During this time, Wang Xinyu didn't go to Chen Jinnan, and he didn't have time to look for it, so he can be said to be busy for a while.

The gunpowder workshop was built before the blacksmith's house, and there were seven houses in the gunpowder workshop: a nitrate room, a sulfur room, a charcoal room, a pulp room, a mixing room, and a warehouse. The perimeter of the workshop is barricaded by a high stone fence, and there is a gate guarded by guards, and the drying of raw materials and finished products takes place in the compound. There are a total of 126 gunpowder craftsmen in the workshop, and the craftsmen are also assigned according to different rooms, and each group of craftsmen has their own work tasks, and they are not allowed to run around. This ensures the speed of work and is not prone to confusion.

The soldiers guarding the gate were Chen Jinnan's personal soldiers, and they were all under the command of Feng Xifan to ensure the safety of the workshop.

Due to the way of assembly line operation, the production speed of granules huo medicine with cumbersome process is not busy, after entering the normal process, more than 100 catties of granular gunpowder and five catties of powder huo medicine can be processed here every day, and Wang Xinyu can provide more than 3,000 catties of new gunpowder to Yanping Wang in a month! The reason why old-fashioned powdered huo drugs are still used is because of the need to make fuses and primers.

Wang Xinyu was still not satisfied with such a speed, according to his idea, more than 100 craftsmen had to produce 10,000 catties of gunpowder a month to be normal. However, the craftsmen are not skilled now, and after they become proficient in the future, they may really be able to reach a monthly output of 10,000 catties.

After the gunpowder workshop was put into normal operation, the blacksmith workshop was completed.

The blacksmith's workshop was a few days slow to complete because of the need to fire refractory bricks.

The blacksmith's workshop, like the gunpowder workshop, was surrounded by a high stone wall. Inside the walls there are mud mold rooms, raw material warehouses, blast furnace rooms, finished products warehouses and pro-soldier barracks. As soon as the blacksmith was completed, it was put into use. The craftsmen in charge of the clay molds first produce spherical flowering shell clay molds from the excavated soil according to different calibers, and then dry them. At the same time, the blacksmiths also started to produce chain bullets.

The manufacturing method of chain bullets is not too complicated, similar to the production of solid shells, no special clay molds are required, as long as a ball smaller than the caliber of the shell is cast, and then the iron ring is welded while it is hot, and finally the two iron balls are connected together with an iron chain to make a chain bullet.

Solid shells and shotguns were also produced to increase the shell storage of King Yanping.

At present, the shells produced are mainly shells for naval guns, including 24-pound cannonballs, 18-pound cannonballs, 12-pounder cannonballs, 2,000-pound Franc machine shells, 1,000-pound Franc machine shells, and bowl-mouth cannon shells used in small boats.

After the blacksmith workshop also entered normal operation, Feng Xifan said to Wang Xinyu: "Brother Xinyu, you are now the commander, you can recruit your own soldiers, you can have more than 100 to 200 people, but you don't have any soldiers now, only a few of our brothers help you, this is not a way." ”

Feng Xifan's words reminded Wang Xinyu that indeed, he needed to cultivate his own team.

It takes money to cultivate his own team, and now the money is there: in the past few days, the king of Yanping has asked people to send 10,000 taels of silver, and after deducting various costs and wages, Wang Xinyu can still have more than 1,000 taels of silver left, plus the 1,000 taels of silver given by Chen Jinnan, Wang Xinyu has more than 2,000 taels of silver in his own hands. This is not a small amount, more than 2,000 taels of silver, which is equivalent to more than 600,000 later! With this money, Wang Xinyu can establish his first set of teams.

The people sent by the king of Yanping also brought another good news that made Wang Xinyu excited: the Wanshiyan Reservoir requested by Wang Xinyu has already chosen a location and will start construction soon. The reservoir is not large, and it only takes two or three months to repair the barrage, and then take advantage of the typhoon season to bring a few heavy rains, and the reservoir can be full. With a reservoir, it is possible to drive a hydroelectric lathe. However, at present, there is no lathe, and the reservoir has not been repaired, so it is still too late to get a lathe after the Qing army has been defeated.

During the day of the same day, Wang Xinyu called down and asked all the craftsmen to hold a meeting after dinner, in the raw material warehouse of the blacksmith's workshop, and everyone should participate.

At this stage, the raw material warehouse of the blacksmith is not yet full, and it can be used as a temporary venue.

After dinner, the craftsmen came to the blacksmith's workshop one after another. When I walked into the warehouse, I saw that the soldiers had already set up the venue: the venue was full of stone benches, lanterns were hung on the pillars, and a small platform was built with wood in front of the venue.

After everyone came together, Feng Xifan first said a few words on behalf of King Yanping, to the effect that everyone fled from all over the country to Xiamen Island, and it was King Yanping who took everyone in, so I hope everyone can work hard and make more weapons for King Yanping, so that they can repay King Yanping's great kindness.

After speaking, Feng Xifan invited Wang Xinyu to the stage.

Wang Xinyu stood on the stage, looked around at the craftsmen in the audience, cleared his throat, and asked first: "I will ask you a question now, why did you leave your hometown and come to us?" ”

The craftsmen in the audience had different opinions, some said that there was a shortage of soldiers, no one took care of the craftsman's workshop, and no one paid money, so they ran away; Some say that their homes were occupied by Tartars, so they fled; Some said that they were supposed to stay in their hometown, but who knew that the Tartar wanted to shave his hair and change clothes, so he ran away; Others say that the Tartars occupied their hometowns, and the Manchus colluded with local officials, cool officials, and bullies, and were so oppressed that they couldn't live anymore, so they came over. There was even a craftsman who said that his daughter was insulted by the Tartars, and he wanted revenge, so he came to the king of Yanping, but he was too old and the army didn't want it, so he had to return to his old business as a craftsman, hoping that the weapons he made could better kill the Tartars.

After the craftsmen finished speaking, Wang Xinyu continued to ask: "Everyone here left their hometown and came here because your hometown was occupied by the Tartars!" Everyone, if one day, my Ming King can recover his homeland, are you willing to return to your hometown? ”

The people's statements are different, some say that the king can return to his homeland; Some said that they only hoped to make more weapons so that King Yanping could kill more enemies; Some say it's better to stay in the south......

Wang Xinyu was a little crying and laughing, originally wanted to inspire the craftsmen to hate the same enemy, and through the rhetoric of taking them back to their hometowns, to stimulate their motivation, and even dig out their children to be soldiers for themselves. Who knows that everyone's statement is different, which almost extinguished the passion that Wang Xinyu had just ignited. Of course, Wang Xinyu didn't give up, if he gave up, how would he convince others in the future? So he thought for a moment and said, "Everyone, my greatest wish now is to follow the king of Yanping and lead the king back to our hometown with your help and drive the Tartars out!" In order to realize this wish, are you willing to help me with this favor? ”

"We do!" Now the craftsmen are in unison.

Wang Xinyu nodded with satisfaction, and announced loudly: "Brothers, since the day you came here, I have regarded you as my own brothers!" In my eyes, the craftsman is an excellent technical talent, and a powerful logistical support force for the front-line army to kill the enemy! As long as you do well enough, I will apply to the king of Yanping to increase your wages and status, so that you can have the opportunity to get the reward you deserve! ”

Everyone in the audience was ecstatic, you must know that their original status was very low, and the household registration system of the Ming Dynasty was a chain on their heads. Later, although the Qing Dynasty abolished the Ming Dynasty's strict hierarchical household registration system, the craftsmen were still heavily exploited, and their status and income were not improved in the slightest.

Feng Xifan listened to Wang Xinyu's words, and felt that something was inappropriate, and even a little rebellious: How can the household registration system of the Ming Dynasty be changed casually? It seems that the Tartar Emperor came and abolished the craftsman system, right? But it's nothing to think about, there is no strict craftsman household system here in King Yanping, after all, it was originally started by pirates. Moreover, there are few people here in the king of Yanping, and everyone is very precious, of course, there is no system to suppress the craftsmen. It's just that these craftsmen are used to living a hard life, and they have no confidence in their future.

Seeing everyone's high spirits, Wang Xinyu motioned for everyone to be quiet: "From today onwards, I will observe you, I will pass the assessment, and select a group of outstanding talents from among you, and they will officially become my disciples!" I'll give them what I've learned all my life! But the number of places is limited, and I will choose the best five people in the gunpowder workshop, and five in the blacksmith workshop! There are only 10 places in total! When they learn what I've learned all my life, I'll pay them ten times more than the average person! ”

The craftsmen are excited, the salary is ten times higher than that of ordinary craftsmen is still a trivial matter, you must know that if you can become a disciple of Lord Wang, then the head craftsman will definitely be indispensable in the future, maybe there will be a chance to be reused by Lord Wang, and finally make a fortune.

Wang Xinyu is interested in cultivating a group of talents who can take charge of themselves among the craftsmen, and these people can bring out more students in the future. One brings ten, and these ten bring out a hundred...... Eventually, there will be more and more technical talents to meet the requirements of mass production.

Next, Wang Xinyu talked about some future development trends, and painted a beautiful prospect for the craftsmen.

Wang Xinyu finally informed these craftsmen that their children would report tomorrow, and he would select a group of soldiers from the middle. At the same time, he told these craftsmen that his soldiers were paid full salaries, and there would never be any such thing as deducting military salaries.

I heard that being a soldier can also receive a full salary, and the craftsmen are very interested.

Early the next morning, all the craftsmen brought their children with them, hoping to be favored by the king and become his soldiers. You must know that these artisans have fled from the north with their families, and their families are here. As a result, they brought more than 1,000 children for Wang Xinyu to choose.

Wang Xinyu has been carefully selected, don't be too young, don't be too old, don't be too thin, don't be too fat, don't be too weak, don't have a smooth tone, don't have fine skin and tender meat, don't want a veteran who has been a soldier, and don't be afraid when you see an official. In the end, a hundred were selected to join his army.

Only a hundred people can be selected, and no matter how many can't be picked, after all, among the children of these craftsmen, the most suitable for soldiers has already joined the team of King Yanping.

In addition to selecting from the children of artisan households, Wang Xinyu also selected twenty people from his village to join the army. In this way, Wang Xinyu has a team of one hundred and twenty people in his hands. He is now the general manager, and it is in line with the regulations to have a team of 120 people.

However, not everyone of these 120 people can be pro-soldiers, and only more than 10 people can be selected as pro-soldiers in the end.

With soldiers, Wang Xinyu did not choose team officers and chief for the time being, but the few personal soldiers left by Feng Xifan and Chen Jinnan temporarily served as team and chief officers. Wait until your own military training is complete, and then promote grassroots officers according to their performance.

That night, when Wang Xinyu handed over the training materials with pictures to Feng Xifan, Feng Xifan's eyes widened and he was stunned after reading it, and only after a long time did he speak: "What kind of military book are you?" For a whole month, they practiced every day, and they didn't teach them eighteen kinds of martial arts, nor did they teach birds and artillery, but they practiced turning left and right all day long, walking in unison, and running every day? And every day to practice, how much food does this cost! You have to feed them every day. ”

Wang Xinyu said with a smile: "Grandpa Qi's soldiers back then, the formation could be so neat, and the formation could be kept not chaotic during the march, which was practiced in this way. It's just that my requirements are higher than his, and his soldiers have to reorganize their formation after walking about fifteen steps, and I ask that there will be no chaos from the moment they go to the battlefield! ”

"You have to train every soldier to be your own soldier!"

"Wrong, they are just ordinary soldiers, and the requirements for pro-soldiers will be stricter!"

Feng Xifan shook his head: "If you train like this, it is estimated that in a month, half of these one hundred and twenty people will have to run away!" ”

Wang Yu said categorically: "Run, run!" I'd rather not be a person who can't hold on! Every soldier I want is an elite soldier! In the future, the recruitment of auxiliary soldiers can be relaxed, but the military salary will be much less. ”

Feng Xifan asked again: "But there is only so much food allocated to us from above, what if they don't have enough to eat?" ”

"Don't I have more than two thousand taels of silver here? I paid for their own food! ”

At that time, people got up very early in the morning and got up at midnight, which was equivalent to getting up at five o'clock in the morning. After the recruits got up, they were gathered by Feng Xifan and his own soldiers to start a day's exercise.

Early in the morning is trail running, and the amount of exercise on the first day is small, and you can pass the test after running five miles. If you can't finish running, you have to do a hundred push-ups to eat breakfast according to Wang Xinyu's requirements.

After breakfast, there is a standing queue from morning to noon, which is equivalent to a practice queue from 7 am to 11 pm.

In the afternoon, before the time comes, that is, from one o'clock at noon to five o'clock in the afternoon, it is still a queue. After the queue, run another mile and have dinner.

After dinner, Wang Xinyu personally taught the soldiers to read. At present, there is no teaching gentleman, so he can only teach by himself.

Every day after running and standing, standing and running, not only were the recruits so tired that their whole bodies were weak, and the soles of their feet were blistered, even Feng Xifan and a few pro-soldiers were tired enough, if it weren't for the silver that Wang Xinyu promised to give them for nothing, those pro-soldiers would have left their burdens long ago. Nonsense, it's not so easy for each person to give twenty taels of silver a month as a coaching fee. Wang Xinyu himself was even more tired, he had to teach the craftsmen various techniques during the day, and he had to teach the soldiers to read and write when he came back at night.

Although the recruits suffered, the food was still very good, and the rice was full every day, as well as duck eggs and small dried fish. Every five days, you can also be late for a meal of meat.

In fact, the first few days were particularly difficult, and the recruits had to pick up blisters every night when they came back, and then they slowly got used to it, and the queue at the running station was not so hard.

Soon a month passed, much better than Wang Xinyu imagined, these carefully selected soldiers only ran thirty-three, and the others persevered. After all, these soldiers saw that they could receive enough pay every month, and that they could eat with their bellies open every day, and they could eat a meal of meat for five days, which was not bad, so most of them chose to stay.

After the basic queue was almost familiar, Wang Xinyu began to let the soldiers teach spears, bird guns, bows and arrows, and short knives.