Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

"You are such a talented person. Call them over to have a look." Zhang Shikang praised.

Giving a pillow when sleeping, handing a chamber pot when peeing, and even passing by can attract talents. We should have more such wonderful people.

Soon the craftsman was brought over. He was in his forties, tall and thin, and slightly dark.

"I, Mo Wu, am here to greet the Grand Marshal." Mo Wu was very respectful and modest, but not humble either. He gave people a feeling of being neither humble nor arrogant.

"No need to be so polite, just tell me your resume first." Zhang Shikang asked calmly.

“Replying to the commander, I was a carpenter before I was twenty years old. Later, I had no way to make a living, so I followed someone to a shipyard owned by the Zheng family overseas. Since then, I have been engaged in shipbuilding, and it has been twenty years now.

Besides that, common people can also make some useless gadgets, just for fun." Mo Wu said very frankly.

"What is this useless little gadget?" Zhang Shikang asked sharply.

"They are just some instruments passed down from our ancestors. Some are used for attacking cities, and some are used for defending cities. They are all old-fashioned things. I use them to entertain myself when I have some free time."

"Your last name is Mo."

Mo Wu didn't know why Zhang Shikang suddenly asked this. He had already introduced himself just now, but he had no choice but to say yes again.

"Do your ancestors have any relationship with the Mo family?" Zhang Shikang guessed.

"I dare not deceive the commander-in-chief. According to the older generation, I am indeed a branch of the Mohist school that has been stranded abroad." Mo Wu did not deny this.

"That's not surprising." Zhang Shikang said with sudden enlightenment.

The Mohist school was at its peak two thousand years ago and was an indispensable school among the Hundred Schools of Thought.

But unfortunately, the Mohist philosophy was not liked by the rulers, and the final outcome was quite tragic.

In this era, the Mohist school has long since scattered to various places and even overseas. It is merely a coincidence that we can meet the descendants of the Mohist school.

"Can you build a ship of 800 tons?"

Zhang Shikang was not impressed by the Mohist siege and defense equipment. Times had changed and artillery was the future.

But the Mohists were good at woodworking machinery, and shipbuilding was not separated from this business.

"In reply to the commander-in-chief, I have participated in the building of Ganzhuang boats many times. If it is just a Ganzhuang boat, I can build it as long as there is a qualified shipbuilder to cooperate with me." Mo Wu said truthfully.

The 800-ton ship is almost the size of a silk ship, and is the absolute main force of the Zheng family’s navy warships.

"What if it's in this shipyard?" Zhang Shikang asked again.

Mo Wu didn't say anything, but looked around at the current situation and infrastructure of the Guangzhou Shipyard, then looked at the shipbuilders and apprentices, and finally shook his head slightly.

"Marshal, if this shipyard can build some transport ships or canal boats of 300 to 400 tons, the conditions are acceptable.

But for ships weighing more than 500 tons, this draft alone is not enough, and the shipyard needs to make major repairs.

I don't know the specific level of those shipbuilders, so I can't answer the Marshal's question."

Building a large warship is not a task that can be accomplished by one or two people. It requires the full participation of at least dozens of people.

Mo Wu didn't understand the level of those people, so he didn't dare to be arrogant.

Finally there is someone more reliable, Zhang Shikang thought.

If this person patted his chest without even looking, Zhang Shikang might just ignore him as a fool.

"I would like to appoint you as the manager of this shipyard, and you will be fully responsible for the renovation and reconstruction of this shipyard.

I will allow you to recruit more people. I wonder if you can make this shipyard capable of building silk ships within a year?" Zhang Shikang said seriously.

Mo Wu did not answer directly. He frowned and thought for a while before saying:

"If I were to do it, it would take a year, and I would need to recruit at least 800 people to repair the shipyard, and a number of shipwrights to assist.

If everything goes well, I can do it.”

Recruiting people to renovate the shipyard is easy, but shipbuilders are hard to find. The Ming Dynasty had abandoned the shipbuilding industry for decades, and even if there were shipbuilders, they all went to the Zheng family or went overseas.

"It must go smoothly. You can raise any difficulties you encounter, but I don't want to hear any uncertain answers," Zhang Shikang said in a deep voice.

Shipbuilding is an urgent matter and does not allow much time for mistakes.

"I obey your command!" Mo Wu finally stopped hesitating and knelt down to accept the task.

“If this shipyard can build silk ships in a year, I will count you as a credit to the commander.

Since the manager of the East Factory is called the Supervisor, from now on the manager of the shipyard should also be called the Supervisor.

Also, in this process, you have one more important thing to do." Zhang Shikang frowned.

Zhang Shikang has always been good at naming, but it was a bit inappropriate to call the factory director at that time.

He originally thought of calling him the helmsman or the helmsman, but he felt that it was too much of a joke to say that he would be the chief helmsman in the future.

After much thought, I decided to follow the tradition of the Ming Dynasty, a supervisor, a boss who oversees everything, how great.

Mo Wu didn't care about the title, but listened attentively to the important things Zhang Shikang said.

“You should do your best to train more shipbuilders. If you find some skilled shipbuilders among them, you should encourage them to train more new ones.

Let's take the construction of silk boats as an example and tell them that if they can train an apprentice who is capable of building silk boats, they will be rewarded with 60 taels of silver." Zhang Shikang said seriously.

Guangzhou had developed commerce and was a trade center. The monthly silver for an ordinary helper here reached 2 taels and 8 qian, and the monthly silver for a shipwright was as high as 4 taels and 6 qian.

You have to know that a wealthy family in the north only paid one or two taels of silver a month to employ a servant, and an ordinary maid could not even get that much.

The reward of sixty taels is more than a shipbuilder's annual salary.

Zhang Shikang just didn't believe it. As long as they were paid enough, would those old shipbuilders be afraid of starving to death?

“Replying to the commander, with such a reward, the old shipwright will naturally be willing to pass on his skills to the apprentice.

But I think we should add a clause that apprentices should sign a contract with the shipyard or the court, stipulating that they cannot leave the shipyard within a few years after completing their studies. "Mo Wu added.

"You are such a talented person! Let's do it!" Zhang Shikang praised.

"I will give you one million taels of silver as an upfront fee, and you can decide on your own what kind of personnel you need to recruit.

I will leave two people behind, and if there is anything that cannot be resolved during the process, I will write a letter and give it to them.

Although I won't interfere with your work, you need to have a clear record of where the money was spent." Zhang Shikang said as he called over two Jinyiwei Tiqi.

"You will stay here temporarily from now on. Remember, you are not allowed to interfere with anything here."

This is actually somewhat similar to the military supervisor in the Ming Dynasty military camp before, but Zhang Shikang did not like this title because the military supervisor did not understand military affairs. Not only did he always interfere with the orders of the chief officer, but he also took bribes.

Whether it is a military inspector or a supervisor, he is only responsible for supervision. Anyone who dares to interfere will cross the line.

Ever since Zhang Shikang took charge of the factory guards, the penalties for crossing the line have been extremely severe.

"I obey your orders." The two Tiqi and Mo Wu all bowed and accepted the order.

After finalizing the general plan, Zhang Shikang walked towards the group of original shipbuilders and apprentices at the shipyard.

“From today, this shipyard will have a new lease of life.

I hereby declare that the monthly salary of all shipwrights who have passed the inspection of the Mo Supervisor will be adjusted to six taels, the monthly salary of apprentices will be adjusted to two taels and five cents, and the monthly salary of helpers will be adjusted to three taels!"

……