Fang Xing had been waiting on the side for a long time.

He was the newly appointed Armament Superintendent and in charge of the Bureau of Hooking Firearms. is also a military superintendent, and the iron ship and other things are under Zang Zhang's control, and it is Fang Xing's turn to come forward with firearms.

Hearing Cai Qu's question, and receiving the look from Han Gang again, Fang Xing took a step forward: "Xianggong." Fang Xing's side is ready. ”

"Okay." Cai Qu took the lead and smiled at Han Gang: "Let's see what surprises you can bring this time, Yukun." ”

Han Gang nodded and followed with a gesture.

Cai did follow Fang Xing, looked back at the crowd following behind, and sentenced Huang Lu to be in the crowd: "Huang Anzhong hasn't arrived yet?" ”

Fang Xing immediately replied: "I have already sent two groups of people to inform the eunuch before, and now we should be on the way back." ”

Cai Qu turned back to Han Gang and smiled: "It's rare that Huang Anzhong is so diligent. I wasn't so diligent in the past. ”

"Seeing Huang Anzhong in the past few days has made Han Gang feel ashamed that he is too leisurely."

In the past few days, Han Gang has been in contact with the ordnance superintendent for two things, the firearms bureau and the mint bureau, and Huang Lu, who was sentenced to the ordnance superintendent, has also met twice.

It's just today, I saw that Zang Zhang, who was promoted from below, was busy before and after, and Fang Xing was also busy in order to prepare, only the sentence ordnance supervisor Huang Lu went out of the city to inspect the workshops outside the city, and he didn't know if Lu Dao had received the news.

Huang Lu once knew the Yuan, sentenced the country to the prison, and also did the Chongzheng Palace storytelling, and repaired the living note. Judging from his resume, he has been a Qing official all the way, and he is the most enviable promotion route in the officialdom.

From the position of a clear person to the practical supervision department, it cannot be regarded as a promotion. However, the quality of the position depends on the story and the example. Lu Huiqing and Han Gang both rose from the position of military weapons supervisor, and they were located very high in the Jingbai Division. Moreover, Huang Lu was involved in the Taixue case when he was sentenced to Guozijian, and was suspended and punished, and the punishment was revoked some time ago.

Cai Qu said as he walked: "Huang Anzhong's body and bones have always been not good, and he has been in charge of Qing in the past, and it is difficult for him to be busy with official affairs this time." ”

Han Gang looked ahead: "There should be two judges, and there is still one vacancy." If Dongfu can choose any talent, Huang Anzhong can also be a little easier. ”

The judgment of the ordnance supervisor should be two people, and they are divided into judgment and the same judgment according to the depth of qualifications, which turned out to be Huang Lu and Zeng Xiaokuan. But Zeng Xiaokuan has recently gone out, and now there is only Huang Lu.

Zeng Xiaokuan has been a Hanlin for a long time, and he has been in the ordnance prison for a longer time. It's just that before Han Gang returned to Beijing, he had already released Qin Fenglu and asked him to cooperate with Lu Huiqing. If he was in Beijing, before Han Gang wanted to snatch Lu Jiawen's position as the third envoy, Wang Anshi only needed to replace Zeng Xiaokuan - Han Gang and Zeng Xiaokuan had a good relationship, and when he was in the ordnance prison, he also cooperated very well, and when Zeng Xiaokuan was really replaced as the third envoy, Han Gang was really inconvenient to turn his face.

"It's just that talent is rare...... The right person isn't so easy to find. ”

"Xianggong is in Dongfu, and there are a lot of people, so I can't select suitable talents. As long as it can be like Zeng Lingxuan, it's fine. ”

Han Gang has no intention of fighting for this vacancy, he doesn't have a suitable candidate in his hands, so it is better to give it back to Cai Qu as a favor. But there is still a premise, the kind of fool who loves to point fingers and pretends to be an insider.

"Do you want to compare with Zeng Ling?" Cai Qu shook his head and laughed twice, "This is even more difficult." ”

The group walked along the roads that crisscrossed the Ordnance Prison, and along the way were walled workshops, which were constantly emitting noise.

The squeak is sawn wood, and the tinkling is striking iron. There are trumpets shouted when carrying heavy loads, and there are also craftsmen who reprimand their apprentices.

However, Cai did and Han Gang walked all the way, and their voices disappeared little by little.

The heads of each workshop went to the side of the road and saluted the prime minister of the Great Song Dynasty. Han Gang took a step back and did not compete with Cai Qu.

Cai Qu frowned and ordered, "Let's go back and do things." Don't get down to business. ”

The craftsmen got up and returned to the workshop.

Cai Qu suddenly pointed to the person in front of him, turned back to Zang Zhang, and said, "Zang Jian Cheng, this is Ling Lang." ”

Han Gang looked over, the man was almost middle-aged, and there was clearly the shadow of Zang Zhang's appearance in his appearance.

Zang Zhang stepped forward and said, "Hui Xianggong, it is the dog Zang Yan." ”

As he spoke, he raised his voice and stopped his son.

Cai did walk over with someone, and Zang Zhang's son stood by the door with his hands and feet tied, looking embarrassed that he had never seen a big scene.

The one who manages the horse chopping knife bureau is Zang Zhang's son. The officials in charge of the various bureaus of the Ordnance Supervision were originally eunuchs, but they were gradually replaced by military attachés, basically low-level envoys, and Zang Yan was too. If Fang Xing hadn't served as a military weapons supervisor, he would have been a court official in the county magistrate of Qi County, even if he was not a jinshi, it would be too aggrieved to be in charge of the Firearms Bureau.

The walls of this workshop are very high, and there is a sign at the door that reads "The Sword Bureau".

"Inside is the workshop of the Horse Chopper Bureau?" Cai did look inside twice through the door.

"Back to Xianggong, it's only a small part, and the big workshop has moved outside the city."

"A small part is a small part." Cai Qu said to Han Gang: "Yukun, I have been in Beijing for so many years, and I haven't been in to see it, how about going to see it?" ”

In terms of government affairs, the division of labor between the chief and the auxiliary is different, and each of the Beijing Baisi is in charge of a stall, and the ordnance supervisor is only in charge of Cai Qu. Personnel, finance, and results are what Cai is really concerned about. But for the details of the management in the prison, he simply let go, with the system drawn up by Lu Huiqing and Han Gang, it has been fruitful in the past ten years, and smart people will not interfere. But when you get to the door, it doesn't hurt to take a look at it.

Han Gang nodded and smiled, "Dare not be accompanied." Then he and Cai Qu entered the workshop with their front and back feet.

With the completion of all the reloading of the forbidden army, the Chopping Knife Bureau only needs to maintain the number of annual replacements, which is more than half smaller than in the past, and at the same time, the task of building military knives and swords has also been taken over, and the number of waist knives and swords produced every year even exceeds that of Chopping Sabers. The workshop that really made the custom horse chopping knife was outside the capital, using the hydraulic forging of the Bianhe River.

The workshops in the capital are meticulously crafted to create portable swords for officers, but the refined horse chopping swords for the honor guards of the upper four armies are also reprocessed here. There is no water power in the workshop, and a foot-operated hammer is used, which is driven by the foot and hammers the half-human-high blade.

When Cai Qu came in, the inside of the workshop was also back in operation.

A craftsman stood in front of the hammer forging machine, grasping the blade through his glove, one end of the blade glowing red, but the craftsman looked unconcerned, carefully placing the blade under the hammer and striking it.

Cai Cheng looked curious, turned around and asked, "Aren't you afraid of the heat?" ”

Zang Zhangdaimune's son replied to the question, "The gloves worn by craftsmen are all fire cloth, and they are not afraid of fire. In this way, it is more stable to hold and the forging effect is better. ”

"Huo Huanbu has heard of it, but he has never seen it. When I used to read books, I said that it was made of fire rat fur. I didn't expect it to be in this workshop. Cai was surprised, and said to Han Gang, "The world says that Yukun is knowledgeable, do you know why this fire cloth does not burn when it is in the fire?" ”

"I don't dare to be knowledgeable. However, I have been in the ordnance prison, and I know a little bit about it. Han Gang was modest and explained, "In the world, textile materials are divided into three categories, animals, plants and minerals. The animal fabrics are mainly silk and wool, and the finished products are silk and felt, which have a foul smell when burned. Vegetable fabrics are cotton and linen. Cotton cloth and linen cloth are very common in the world, and when burned, they turn to ashes, just like burning wood. And the mineral fabric, called asbestos, comes from Shuzhong. It can be woven into fire cloth. Because it is essentially an ore, it is only shaped like silk wool, so it does not burn when it is fired, so it is used to make cloth for iron-making and forging workshops with stoves. As for the fire rats, the ignorant ancients said in vain. ”

Cai Qu nodded when he heard this, and said with a smile: "It's not Yukun, I can't say it so clearly." ”

"It's just that the production of asbestos is too small, and now it can only be made into gloves. In the future, the output of the Shuzhong mine will increase, and clothes and shoes can be made. If it is used on a house, such as a roof, it can be more fireproof. ”

The capital is densely populated, and the most feared thing is fire. When Cai did hear this, he said: "It seems that we have to let Chengdu Mansion pay more attention." He turned back to Zang Zhang, "It's also up to you to think about it." ”

Zang Zhangbi was respectful: "It was all arranged by Han Xuanhui in the past." ”

"Oh? No wonder Yukun is the way you said, it turns out that you have long known the Tao. ”

"Xuanhui takes the most care of our craftsmen." Zang Zhang pointed to the bucket placed on the platform not far away, "That's the water that the craftsmen drink." Bring to a boil and let it cool. It's all mixed with salt and a little sugar. It is better to sweat than to boil with white water. ”

"It's not easy for them to work here for a day." Cai Qu nodded, just standing at the door for a while, he already felt the heat wave rolling in, and soon there was a trace of sweat. The craftsmen work harder day in and day out in such an environment, of course.

A little preferential treatment, in exchange for the excellent equipment of hundreds of thousands of troops. If you can't give up this amount of money, and the craftsmen are perfunctory, where will there be a famous Song Dynasty official that shocks all countries.

"Xianggong, Xuanhui, the eunuch is back."

"It's finally back." Cai Qu smiled and said to Han Gang: "Let's go out to meet Huang Anzhong." ”

Out of the gate of the workshop of the Horse Chopping Bureau, an official in his early fifties greeted him. Because of the hurry, it looks a little embarrassed.

When he arrived in front of him, the official immediately saluted Cai Qubow: "Huang Lu bows to see the prime minister." ”

The prime minister saluted hundreds of officials, Cai did not return the salute, just bowed his head, and waited for his hands to help Huang Zhi up.

Huang Lu turned around and saluted Han Gang again, and exchanged gestures, and Han Gang bent down slightly.

After the etiquette, Cai did smile and said: "Anzhong, you are the landlord, but you are late, shouldn't you be punished." ”

Huang Lu replied: "For private matters, Huang Lu can be recognized." For official business, Huang Lu didn't admit it. ”

Han Gang heard that Huang Lu and Cai did have a good relationship, and they did look alike. There is dignity and humility in salutation, and there is no more speech.

Cai Qu said a few words to Huang Lu, and then came back and said to Han Gang: "Yukun, didn't Fang just say that he wanted to take a look at the firearms?" Anzhong arrived, so I just went together. ”

Cai did seem to be waiting for Huang Xu, so he deliberately delayed in the middle. However, Han Gang didn't care, let Fang Xing lead the way in front, and soon arrived at the place where the production and experiment were arranged for the Firearms Bureau.

In the huge courtyard, the prototype that took two or three days to build is placed on a shelf, and thirty steps ahead is a wooden wall.

Han Gang walked to the side of the shelf: "This is the firearm that Han Gang ordered the people in the ordnance prison to build in the past few days, called artillery. The cannon of the thunderbolt cannon was stoned and changed to fire, and the word was born. ”

Cai did not pay attention to what Han Gang was saying, his attention was completely attracted by the new weapon on the shelf, and after a long time, he slowly raised his head, his eyes were sharp, and even a little angry, "This is the firearm you said Yukun?" Comparable to a thunderbolt? ”

"Exactly." Han Gang smiled and nodded, "The principle is the same, the appearance is similar, but the material is different." Make a simple firearm so that the craftsmen know what it looks like. ”

Cai did listen to Han Gang's words, and went to take a closer look at the firearm on the shelf. But when you look left and right, it's clearly a piece of pine, and it doesn't even go to the skin.

He raised his head suspiciously and looked at Han Gang, what are you kidding?