However, my decency made it difficult for me to make the decision to take off my clergy robe, so I had to hesitate to stand there.

I wanted to ask someone for help, to ask me something I was curious about, but the craftsmen who were constantly passing by, all very attentive to their work, as if I had been a strange-looking foreigner. This makes me feel very strange, because as far as I have seen and heard along the way in the land of the Ming Dynasty, the craftsmen are very discriminated against, not only have low incomes, but also have no social status, and sometimes they are even used as slaves completely, so they often lack the motivation to do things - this kind of careless attitude towards craftsmen has only one result, that is, this people, which once created a glorious civilization and created things, now makes the utensils very crude, Even we Europeans can only learn how to make zuò guns.

Here, however, I see a completely different ethos, the craftsmen are very motivated, dedicated and hardworking.

Why is that? How did Zhao Jin increase the motivation of these craftsmen? Another doubt has been added to my mind. However, no one answered me or even looked at me.

After a long while, my unattended state was finally lifted.

I was approached by one of the people in charge here.

Perhaps because of the surprise I've been getting lately, and my nerves have been paralyzed, I wasn't particularly surprised when I found out that he was a European.

He was about forty or fifty years old, with gray-and-white hair, an unpretentious, weathered face, a very kind attitude, and a very restrained manner, which gave me the impression that he looked more like a soldier than a craftsman.

Thankfully, he knew some German, so we were able to communicate soon.

From his mouth, I learned that he was originally a Spaniard, and after serving the king for a long time, he was rescued by de Rocheford in the Netherlands due to his injuries, and then followed him around the world for many years, and finally came here to serve Zhao Jin.

I confess that I was amazed - I did not expect that such a domineering de Rocheford would have such a kind heart, and still less that such a kind man would mingle with him.

I hope God will forgive me for the prejudice I had against him because of the first time I met.

After this kind veteran told me about my experience, and perhaps as a vent, I told him about the difficult situation I was facing, and implicitly revealed that I hoped to be helped by him.

He listened to me kindly, and then told me that he understood my pain, but it was better for me to cooperate here, work for Zhao Jin's workshop first, and then find a way to find an opportunity to get out.

"But I'm a priest? I came to China to preach, not to stay here in obscurity as a craftsman, and I am not very good at machinery......" I replied bitterly.

"You'd better lay down your clergy dignity here, no one cares about that. You'd better think about how to do the work assigned to you well, so that your employer can recognize your value, because he now only recognizes the cannon and not God. That's how he answered me.

I was stunned by his answer. And then, I thought carefully about his words,

In a sense, he is also right, a person like Zhao Jin must be an absolute utilitarian, he will not believe in our mission, only let him get the exact results first, he will believe and accept the glory of the Lord.

Then, under his construction, I changed out of my heavy clergy robes and put on a short gown that the craftsmen here often wear.

This short gown has a very strange style, it looks like it was specially designed to facilitate work, there are no sleeves, and there are some signs on the front and back of the chest, indicating which part of the workshop is in charge and which process is in charge.

The short coat I got was red, and the artisans here generally wore red short coats, which seemed to mean that I had officially become a craftsman here. Incidentally, he wears a green coat, while his main assistants, the high-ranking craftsmen and apprentices, wear blue coats.

After changing into this short coat, I felt that the workshop was not so stuffy, and then I took a tour of the large workshop under his guidance.

The workshop was very large, it was made of barrels, and the craftsmen were standing or walking around, and no one looked at us.

Since I had already decided to help Zhao Jin's people cast the cannon first, I carefully watched these craftsmen work.

From the strange furnace, the cast copper is melted into a copper paste, and then two layers of slurry are brushed on the inside of each lobe. Finally, the slurry of the metal is poured into the mold. After the mould is poured, it is slowly cooled and formed, and the craftsmen immediately peel off the mould in order, gradually revealing the smooth barrel, which is then carefully washed by the craftsmen and finally dragged away as a product by the trained craftsmen.

Everything is so well organized that it looks like the whole plant is running as a whole.

"What do you think, sir?"

With a bit of veteran smugness, he asked me kindly.

I could see that he was very much like I had been praised for his performance, so I told him that I thought the pace of cannon casting here was very fast, and it could be seen that the workers were very skilled and serious, and that this was a very efficient artillery factory, at least I had never seen such a good artillery factory in the Ming Empire.

"Don't stop Mingguo!" He shook his head, "I dare say that this is one of the most advanced artillery factories in the world, but it's still a little smaller than those of the King of Spain. ”

I did not refute him for the sake of politeness, but he had seen the reservations in me.

Perhaps because of that kind of military pride, he suddenly became very strict.

"Sir, please do not doubt my words, I have served in the Spanish army, fought in Italy and the Netherlands, and I think I have more authority to speak on this matter than you!"

Then, with that heroic wave of his hand, several craftsmen who were beside him, apparently apprentices, surrounded me, and together they led me out of the factory.

I thought he was going to punish me for my disrespect, but I soon realized that I was wrong again. He just led me into a large clearing that we had just passed.

Then he led me to the center of the clearing, and then to a patch of dead grass, which, strangely enough, was covered with a grayish-yellow cloth.

Then, with a gesture, an apprentice craftsman stepped up and peeled off the cloth.

That's when I realized that there were still a lot of cannons here.

These cannons come in all sorts of sizes, from large to small, and some of them can be seen to be purchased products, and even after careful inspection, I found that the cannons I brought from Macao were placed here.

Seeing that the precious cannon we presented to the Emperor of the Ming Kingdom was placed here by these people without hesitation, I suddenly felt some silent heartache.

At the same time, I also understood that the large open space I saw just now should also be used as a production area in addition to separating various workshops.

Then, the apprentices pushed several cannons out of the grass.

At this time, I suddenly discovered something that surprised me even more—the gun mounts of these cannons were completely different from those I had seen before, whether they were European or Asian.

"You saw that, right? What a good thing that is! With a look of ostentatious boasting, the veteran pointed to the cannons and shouted to me, "It's better than what I saw on the battlefields of Europe!" ”

With his permission, I walked over to the guns and took a closer look.

The first thing I looked at was a cannon, fixed to the gun carriage, with a short barrel (but a little longer than a mortar) and a larger caliber, which could be seen as a field gun that could fire grenades. The cannon was mounted on a two-wheeled gun carriage and could be fired with shells at angles of 12 to 30 degrees, and I reached out and stroked the turquoise barrel and found it to be very smooth and apparently well maintained, as if it could even be pulled straight into battle.

After careful observation, I came to the conclusion that this cannon is the leading in Europe in terms of craftsmanship and maintenance, and this veteran is not exaggerating. Compared to it, the gift I presented to the Ming court was nothing more than a defective product.

I was even more interested in the gun carriage and gun carriage used for this cannon.

It was a wooden gun carriage made of fine and heavy wood, with blackened wooden wheels and high axles, almost as large as a cannon. In the middle of the gun carriage, there was a movable wooden gun carriage, and the cannon was chained to a fixed bracket in the middle of the gun carriage, which could then move with the gun carriage.

Although this kind of gun carriage looks a little strange, it has proved to be a very ideal design - it is very delicately constructed, the gun carriage and the gun carriage can move freely, and with the help of this gun carriage, even a bulky copper cannon can be operated by several artillery men on the battlefield and reach the battlefield in time when it is needed.

This kind of sports car is a little more sophisticated and advanced than what I've seen in Europe.

As a result, my hand moved from the barrel to the stand, and then I carefully examined the gun carriage.

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Quiet and lonely weekend, thank you for your subscriptions, monthly passes and tips, thank you!