My Pen Pal Zhu Yuanzhang

Chapter 115 Harvest Season

Liu, the director of the Industry Department, was originally named Liu Sanwu and was from Yingtian Prefecture. It was not until the beginning of the Hongwu period that he changed his name to Liu Sanwu.

Unlike Shangguan Limin, he did not become an official through the imperial examination. Instead, he was recommended to the Ministry of Works because of his expertise in making muskets. He initially served as a seventh-rank official in the Ministry of Works' Construction Department.

He worked diligently in the Construction Office for many years. However, because he had no achievements, he was always excluded by other officials. It was not until Li Min took office as the Minister of Works for the second time that he was appreciated by Li Min and was promoted to the head of the Military Equipment Bureau.

With the drastic reforms within the Ministry of Industry, he was promoted from the head of the Ordnance Bureau to the head of the Industry Department, and his rank was also raised to the fifth rank.

It can be said that without Li Min, he would still be a seventh-rank official, unable to even support his family in this capital.

Therefore, he had long regarded himself as a member of Li Min's faction, or, to use the popular term in the Ministry of Industry, the Ming Industrial Party.

However, he had doubts about the production method of the assembly line, and if the trial failed, he would not only lose his position as the leader, but also implicate Minister Li, right?
This matter can only succeed, not fail. Since Minister Li is so confident, why should Liu Sanwu be hesitant?

After thoroughly studying the assembly line tutorial, he worked with other professional production directors of the Industry Department to develop a trial plan for the assembly line.

According to the plan, the production of guns should be divided into two different workshops, one for producing parts and the other for assembly.

First, the various parts of the gun must be classified into detailed categories, and different production lines must be built to determine which parts can be produced together and which must be produced separately.

The most important thing is that all parts must be manufactured to uniform specifications to facilitate assembly by the craftsmen on the assembly line.

Fortunately, steam engines have come into full use today. Many parts that previously required a long period of casting and shaping can now be pressed out in an instant using steam engines.

At the same time, he carefully selected 200 smart young men from the Ordnance Bureau and other factories for training.

After the training, we officially started trial production. At the beginning, there were many problems. Either the parts were not in place or there were assembly errors. The young men were in a panic. Not only could they not increase the speed, but they also wasted a lot of time.

For a while, everyone was a little discouraged. Many young men couldn't stand the pointing and criticizing of other masters, and they didn't even dare to look up at people when they walked.

However, after a period of running-in, everyone became familiar with this production process and things went much more smoothly.

Everyone is at their own workstation, operating the parts in their hands with familiarity. After assembly is complete, they push them to the next production line to continue assembly and production.

Everything was so well-organized and the whole process went smoothly. Liu Sanwu also understood why it was called an assembly line. The name was so apt.

What he couldn't believe was that a test group of 200 people could actually make hundreds of guns in one day!
In the past, this would probably take three or four days, and the number of craftsmen would have to be doubled!
Not only that, the needle-fired guns produced using the assembly line have a yield rate of over 90%, which has far exceeded his and Li Min's expectations!

The guys in the test group, however, didn't think so. They were already used to making guns at such a speed, and if they worked a little harder, they could double the daily output.

Although everyone can see the efficiency of the assembly line, the old masters are still somewhat dissatisfied and are secretly competing with it.

It was not until I saw two hundred young men made hundreds of guns in just one morning that I was completely convinced.

This speed is more than three or four times faster than theirs!
Liu Sanwu was also overjoyed. He originally thought that as long as the production speed was a little faster, it would be successful. Unexpectedly, the effect was several times better than he had imagined!
There is no time to lose. We must speed up the promotion within the Industry Department. Not only the production of guns, but also the bullets cannot be left behind!

When Zhu Yuanzhang heard the news, he was very calm. How could it be wrong if it was Lao Li's idea?
……

After the Autumn Examination, some were happy while others were sad. However, the hottest topic among the people of Daming was not the Autumn Examination, but the Northern Expedition! For several issues of the Daming Weekly, the articles were all about the Northern Expedition.

The article explains the necessity of the Northern Expedition from various angles, just like the tragic situations of the Han people and the southerners in the previous dynasty, and now the Mongolian tribes are still harassing the people in the border areas of the Ming Dynasty.

We should learn from the past and prepare for the future. Now we continue the Northern Expedition in order to eliminate the trouble in the north forever!
This naturally succeeded in igniting the anger of the people, and many students had already publicly denounced the Yuan court's atrocities on the streets.

The inner hall of the imperial palace was much more lively this time than in the past. Not only were Li Min, Xu Da and others present, but also the Minister of War and the left and right commanders of the Five Military Commanderies.

"Your Majesty, after using the assembly line, the speed of gun production has increased significantly. So far, more than 12,000 guns and more than 1.3 million bullets have been produced. If production is accelerated, the output can be further increased."

Li Min held a thick stack of booklets and reported to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded with satisfaction. Now the assembly lines have been rolled out in various factories. Although it took a lot of thought, the effect is amazing.

Once the guns and ammunition are prepared, as long as there is enough food and fodder, we can set out on the Northern Expedition!

However, Yang Siyi, who was in charge of the Agriculture Department, had not shown up and was not at the Ministry of Revenue. The eunuchs who went to recruit him did ask about his whereabouts, but the unanimous answer they received was that he had gone to the fields.

Why did such a senior minister always run to the fields? People were joking that after Li Min, Ming Dynasty would have another minister who ran errands.

Just when everyone was discussing the route of attack and the key points that needed to be conquered, the eunuch finally came to report that the Minister of Revenue Yang Siyi wanted to see him.

Only then did everyone see Yang Siyi stumbling in, gasping for breath, his body covered in mud.

Seeing his minister acting like an old farmer, Zhu Yuanzhang found it interesting and jokingly asked, "Minister Yang, are you working in the fields?"

Yang Siyi finally took a deep breath and said:

"Your Majesty, you are right. I did go to work in the fields!"

Seeing that everyone was looking at him in confusion, and Xu Da and others were even covering their mouths and laughing, Yang Siyi straightened his chest and said something that stunned everyone.

"Your Majesty, and my colleagues, I have good news to tell you. The potato and sweet potato harvest is good!"

Zhu Yuanzhang was immediately overjoyed and asked, "How is the output?"

Yang Siyi cleared his throat, and Zhu Yuanzhang immediately ordered someone to bring him some tea. After Yang Siyi gulped down the tea, he said:

"The potato yield per mu is 4,530 kilograms, and the sweet potato yield per mu is 5,160 kilograms!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire inner hall fell silent. Everyone looked at Yang Siyi in amazement, wondering if they had heard it wrong.

Zhu Yuanzhang was fine. Although he was prepared, he was still shocked by the output!
The yield per mu is four to five thousand kilograms. Oh my God, this is something I never dared to dream of, but I didn’t expect it to actually come true?
Lao Li, Lao Li, how can we repay the kindness you have shown us?
Yang Siyi looked at everyone's reactions and felt a little proud in his heart, but his face still had a calm expression.

"I weighed this output myself, and it is not false at all. Your Majesty, and my colleagues, if you don't believe me, you can come with me to see the potatoes and sweet potatoes piled on the ground!"

(End of this chapter)