Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 49: Rebuilding the Ironworks, Power in Hands [Seeking Follow-up Reading]

Because Liuhe's smelting industry has a long history, there are many smelting craftsmen. Since the pre-Yuan Dynasty, most of the ironworks craftsmen were from Liuhe and several surrounding counties, and the same was true in the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, some craftsmen in Liuhe Iron Works were under the jurisdiction of both the Ministry of Works and the county government.

Since it was the 14th year of Hongwu, the craftsman system in the early Ming Dynasty had already taken shape.

Craftsmen serving in official places are mainly divided into two categories: shift craftsmen and resident craftsmen.

Shift workers refer to craftsmen recruited from other places to serve. Generally speaking, each shift serves for three months, and the rotation lasts one to five years.

A resident craftsman refers to a craftsman who serves locally. Generally speaking, he only needs to serve in a designated workshop for ten days each month and can work freely for the rest of the time.

During the period of service, the court would provide the craftsmen with rations, salt, and occasionally reward them with cloth and clothing.

In addition, when a craftsman is required to serve in the army, the craftsman's family can be exempted from some miscellaneous duties - but they cannot be exempted from regular labor, land tax, and head tax.

Generally speaking, although the artisan household system in the early Ming Dynasty was inherited from the previous Yuan Dynasty, it underwent innovations. Although the control over craftsmen was still strict, it was more lenient than the previous Yuan Dynasty.

However, in the eyes of Liu Kuan, a later generation, the craftsman system in the early Ming Dynasty was still harsh and unreasonable.

After lunch, Liu Kuan went to the inn to take a short rest.

Then he took his entourage and went to Liuhe Iron Field with Wang Buqun.

On the way, after being asked by Liu Kuan, Wang Buqun recounted what he had learned in the first few days.

"Liuhe Ironworks is the largest ironworks in Yingtian Prefecture, and even in the entire Ming Dynasty, it ranks among the top ten."

"Moreover, the Ministry of Works had an iron smelting plant located on the ironworks, with an ambassador, a deputy ambassador, five regular clerks, and ten miscellaneous clerks."

"There are twenty-one iron smelting furnaces, four steel frying furnaces, and fifty foundry furnaces."

"There are also 1,148 craftsmen of all kinds, large and small, and 2,355 people left over..."

Liuhe Iron Field was only four or five miles away from the county town. With Wang Buqun's intermittent introduction, Liu Kuan and his party arrived soon.

Liu Kuan sat on Wuyuntaxue and looked around. He saw that the ironworks was located on the east bank of the Chu River.

Although it did not have a factory building or walls like the steel mills of later generations, it still had quite a few buildings.

The most eye-catching ones are the more than 20 iron smelting furnaces - some of them are even emitting thick smoke, obviously they are in operation.

In addition to the iron smelting furnace, there is also the temporary residence of the craftsmen and the iron smelting office.

During the Hongwu period, Zhu Yuanzhang established a total of thirteen iron smelting plants to manage iron fields throughout the country.

That is to say, an iron smelting plant usually has jurisdiction over multiple iron yards.

Today, there is an iron smelting plant in Liuhe Iron Field, which shows the importance the court attached to Liuhe Iron Field.

When Liu Kuan was sitting on horseback and looking at the entire Liuhe Iron Works, two green-robed minor officials and several clerks hurried out of the iron smelting office and rushed over here.

"Your humble servant, Gong Zheng (Deputy Ambassador Zhang Yi) of the Liuhe Iron Smelting Institute, greets you, my superior!"

Although they were only two green-robed minor officials of the eighth or ninth rank, Liu Kuan was not arrogant. He dismounted and returned the greeting, saying, "No need for formalities. I have been ordered to come to the Liuhe Ironworks on official business. I hope you will cooperate with me."

Hearing this, Gong Zheng and Zhang Yi were obviously relieved.

These small officials working in the local areas are most afraid that their superiors will be difficult to talk to and difficult to serve.

At the moment, Liu Kuan doesn't seem difficult to talk to.

Gong Zheng, who was sturdy and dark-skinned, resembling a military commander, said, "Vice-Lord Liu, you are too polite. Since His Majesty has ordered this, it is our duty and we will fully cooperate."

"Then let's go to the government office and talk first."

"Vice-Chairman Liu, please."

In this way, Liu Kuan, accompanied by a group of accompanying officials and Wang Guangyue's fifty Yiluansi soldiers, "entered" the Liuhe Iron Field.

As for the one thousand Feixiong Guards led by Zhou Tao, they were stationed outside the county town and only sent one hundred people to accompany Liu Kuan to the iron field - these one hundred people stayed outside the field to provide support and did not enter with Liu Kuan.

The Tieyesuo Yamen was also a large compound.

After Liu Kuan entered, he sat down in the main hall of the yamen, exchanged a few pleasantries over a cup of tea, and then got down to business.

"I'm here mainly to get a firsthand look at the various aspects of the Liuhe Ironworks and make some improvements."

"It is not only to better complete the steelmaking task, but also to transform the Liuhe Iron Works into the first steel plant in the Ming Dynasty."

Although Gong Zheng and Zhang Yi learned from Wang Buqun that the Science and Technology Department was ordered to produce steel at the Liuhe Iron Works, they had only just heard about the plan to convert the iron work into a steel mill.

"Excuse me, Vice-President Liu, what's the difference between this steel mill and an ironworks?"

Liu Kuan asked back, "I heard from Master Wang on the way that the master ironworkers at the Liuhe Ironworks can produce steel using the stir-fry method, but they can't fully master it."

"Whether or not a furnace can produce qualified steel (low-carbon steel) depends entirely on luck, right?"

Gong Zhengdao said, "It's not all down to luck. Master Tang, the most experienced iron smelter in the field, can produce a full batch of steel in just three batches."

"There are two other master craftsmen. Although their skills and experience are slightly inferior to Master Tang, they can still produce a furnace of steel in five or six furnaces."

Liu Kuan smiled and said, "The major undertaking Your Majesty has ordered our Science and Technology Department to undertake requires not only a large quantity of qualified steel, but also refined and specialized steels with even higher performance." "As Ambassador Gong has described, the Liuhe Ironworks is clearly incapable of undertaking this task. To accomplish this, it must be converted into a steel mill."

Gong Zheng and Zhang Yi looked at each other and were speechless for a moment.

Although there were a few new words in Liu Kuan's words, they could understand the general meaning.

That is, in order to fulfill the imperial order, Liuhe Iron Works must be converted into a steel plant.

The two men worked as minor officials in the Liuhe Ironworks for several years. Although they did not dare to engage in corruption, they took advantage of many things within the rules and became familiar with the current personnel and rules of the ironworks.

Therefore, the two of them instinctively resisted the reconstruction.

However, Liu Kuan was a senior official in the Ministry of Works and was acting under the emperor's orders. Even if they resisted, they could not say "no".

As for pretending to obey but secretly obstructing, the two of them rejected it after thinking about it.

Liuhe wasn't a remote place far from the emperor, but rather at the foot of the capital. If their actions were discovered by Liu Kuan, Wang Buqun, and others, and reported to the higher authorities, their entire family might be exiled three thousand miles away.

In addition, they saw clearly that Liu Kuan came with more than a hundred of the emperor's personal soldiers.

What does this mean?
This means that either Liu Kuan was a favorite of the emperor, or the emperor attached great importance to this matter, or even both.

Knowing this, it would be even harder for the two of them to have any intention of obstructing it.

Therefore, the two exchanged glances briefly, then bowed and said, "Since the reconstruction is necessary, I will fully cooperate."

Liu Kuan never regarded the minor officials in charge of the iron field as obstacles to his work - they were not worthy of it.

After "convincing" the two men with a few words, Liu Kuan began to conduct a real on-site investigation of the Liuhe Iron Works.

The Iron Smelting Office was actually relatively far away from the iron smelting furnace in the ironworks, so Liu Kuan didn't feel anything about it before.

But as the group walked towards the nearest iron furnaces, he could clearly feel the air getting hotter and hotter.

On the way, we passed by some craftsmen who were doing various jobs.

Then a petty official shouted loudly in front, "The master has arrived, why don't you kneel down to greet him?"

All of a sudden, these craftsmen knelt down in a group!
Although Liu Kuan had been an official in the Ming Dynasty for more than ten days, this was the first time he was greeted by the people on their knees - he frowned at the sight!

He directly asked Wang Buqun beside him, "Master Wang, when we traveled to the capital, we never saw the people kneeling to greet us. Why is it that they do things this way here?"

Wang Buqun was stunned and didn't ask Liu Kuan such a question first.

He pondered for a moment and said, "Replying to Deputy Liu, these craftsmen are civilians and also laborers under the Ministry of Works. They are under our supervision, so it is reasonable for them to kneel down and bow to us."

Liu Kuan frowned even deeper and asked again, "Does the Ming Dynasty have any regulations that require craftsmen to kneel and greet people in such situations?"

Wang Buqun thought about it and shook his head: "No, it's just a habit."

Liu Kuan said, "Since this is the case, I have no control over other matters, but Liuhe Ironworks will change this practice from today onwards."

"Whether you are an official, a craftsman, or a servant, unless you have committed a crime or are passing through the government office, you do not need to kneel when you see an official; you can simply bow."

"If you are busy with urgent work, you don't have to salute!"

The accompanying officials looked at each other in surprise. They had never expected that Liu Kuan would make a fuss about the craftsman kneeling to greet the officials.

After coming to his senses, Zhang Yi couldn't help but ask, "We've always been used to this. Would it be inappropriate to change it?"

Liu Kuan looked at Zhang Yi and said, "Deputy Envoy Zhang said earlier that he would fully cooperate with me in rebuilding the ironworks. How come, after just a few moments, he's going against me?"

Zhang Yi broke out in a cold sweat after hearing this. He quickly bowed and said, "I have absolutely no such intention!"

Although Gong Zheng looked like a warrior, he was actually quite clever. Seeing this, he quickly shouted at the clerk in front of him who was operating the furnace, "What are you still standing there for? Didn't you hear Deputy Liu's order? Tell the craftsmen and servants to stop kneeling and get up!"

The clerk clearing the way was startled and hurriedly shouted to the craftsmen, "Didn't you hear? The master is kind enough to spare you from kneeling. Stand up!"

Hearing this, the group of craftsmen finally stood up, some quickly, some slowly.

"Thank you, sir."

A few craftsmen expressed their gratitude, but most of them remained silent, as if they were not touched at all by the fact that they were spared the kneeling greeting.

When Liu Kuan looked over, he saw that most of these craftsmen were barefoot, wearing worn-out clothes, and many of them had pale faces.

There are even a small number of people who look numb.

From this we can see that the living conditions of these craftsmen in the ironworks are probably not very good.

Liu Kuan felt a little heavy in his heart, but did not do anything immediately.

He still needs to know more so that he can better use the power he has gained from Lao Zhu.

　Sorry, there is too much information to look up about smelting in the early Ming Dynasty, so the update is late.

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　　Good night~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)