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

“More than two years ago, I told the soldiers of the Guards that bravery is the foundation of a strong army and can determine the lower limit of combat effectiveness.

However, the upper limit of combat effectiveness is the weapons and firearms in one's hands.

Someone once said that if you want to do your work well, you must first sharpen your tools. That's why we have the Imperial Manufacturing Bureau of the Ming Dynasty and all the dedicated scientific researchers gathered here.

As for me, I don't like to talk too much formally, nor do I want our Manufacturing Bureau to be infected with the habit of talking nonsense.

We are here today to celebrate, but we also hope that you can familiarize yourself with the environment as soon as possible so that this huge machine of the Manufacturing General Administration can start up as soon as possible.

If there are any technical problems during this period, I hope you will devote all your loyalty and wisdom to overcome them together instead of just keeping your own skills to yourself.

At the same time, if there are any suggestions or opinions on the existing system of the General Administration of Manufacturing or a certain technology, they can be reported to the directors of the four bureaus under the General Administration of Manufacturing.

If your suggestions or opinions help the General Administration of Manufacturing overcome a difficulty or improve production efficiency, the General Administration of Manufacturing will give you a one-time reward of 1,000 taels of silver or more. "

The General Administration of Manufacturing was not an official government office, but was similar to a state-owned enterprise in later generations.

Therefore, Zhang Shikang was extremely casual in naming the professional titles of the institutions under the General Administration of Manufacturing. For example, the heads of the four major bureaus, such as the Industrial and Peasant Bureau and the Firearms Bureau, were called Bureau Chiefs.

The person in charge of various workshops under the four major bureaus is called the supervisor, and the person in charge of Tianjin Shipyard and Guangzhou Shipyard under the Shipbuilding Bureau is called the helmsman.

The high-level organizational structure of the General Administration of Manufacturing is similar to that of the Heliansheng Chamber of Commerce, consisting of seven directors including Song Yingxing, Bi Maokang, and Wang Zheng. In case of major issues, the seven-member board of directors participates in the voting.

Of course, like the Heliansheng Chamber of Commerce, Zhang Shikang has the decision-making power over all matters of the General Administration of Manufacturing. This is mainly to control the general direction. After all, the two emerging large organizations have just been established.

Of course, Zhang Shikang also gave himself a resounding title to compare with the person in charge of Liansheng Chamber of Commerce. The title is called "Chief Leader", which means the person at the helm of the general direction.

All the craftsmen listened to Zhang Shikang's speech carefully. After two years, most of the craftsmen believed that the young man in front of them never lied.

Everything is moving forward according to Zhang Shikang's idea.

At the end of last year, although the General Administration of Manufacturing had not yet moved, the award that Zhang Shikang mentioned had already begun to be implemented.

One of the third-level musket craftsmen was rewarded with 1,500 taels of silver for finding a better flint, which reduced the misfire rate of the musket.

A second-level glass craftsman in the glass workshop was rewarded with one thousand taels for improving the glass making process and solving the bubble problem in the glass production process.

The bonuses from the General Manufacturing Administration are real and will be paid in full in front of all craftsmen, which is a significant incentive for the craftsmen's enthusiasm.

After all, one thousand taels of silver is enough for an ordinary family to live on for a lifetime.

"Now, I declare that the Ming Dynasty Imperial Manufacturing Bureau is officially launched!"

After these words were spoken, the more than 2,000 people present burst into warm applause and cheers, and someone lit several long strings of firecrackers.

Fortunately, there were no salutes at that time, otherwise he would have fired at least a hundred shots.

When the firecrackers burned out, the applause and cheers continued, and almost all the craftsmen had excited smiles on their faces.

This was not only the beginning of the Ming Dynasty's industrial revolution, but also a key node in changing the destiny of all the craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty.

Zhang Shikang waved his hand, signaling everyone to be quiet, and then continued:

"What I just said was just a normal form of reward from the General Manufacturing Administration.

A while ago, I communicated with Your Majesty and the cabinet ministers, and established two new awards for our Ming Dynasty - the Great Invention Award and the Innovation and Progress Award.

These two awards will be given to craftsmen from all over the country. Of course, if you from the General Administration of Manufacturing can make outstanding contributions, you can also compete for these two awards."

Although the General Manufacturing Bureau brought together many elite craftsmen from the Ming Dynasty court, they were just a drop in the bucket compared to the craftsmen across the entire country.

The reason why these two awards are given to the whole country is, of course, because Zhang Shikang wants to use them to encourage craftsmen across the country to be more enthusiastic about invention and creation.

The General Administration of Manufacturing has control over high-tech information, but it is not an easy task to gather the best people here.

Of course, Zhang Shikang did not expect all the great people to come, but as long as they could play a major role in promoting the industrial development of the Ming Dynasty, it didn’t matter where they were or even their identities.

Zhang Shikang had a calm expression when he talked about the ordinary awards within the General Administration of Manufacturing just now, but now he attached so much importance to the two newly added awards that the craftsmen present were very curious.

They probably understand the difference between the two awards. For example, the focus of the Great Invention Award is naturally on invention and creation.

The focus of the Innovation and Progress Award is naturally on innovation, that is, improvement, such as improving a certain technology, which leads to a qualitative leap in the efficiency of this industry, etc.

But what everyone is more concerned about are the rewards that come with these two awards.

Zhang Shikang did not let the people present wait too long, but continued to speak bluntly:

"The Innovation and Progress Award is given once a year for the entire Ming Dynasty. If there are no outstanding improvements in the current year, no award will be given.

The rewards are as follows: an Imperial Medal, 5,000 taels of silver, and special allowances from the Imperial Manufacturing Bureau of the Ming Dynasty until his death. "

Five thousand taels of silver is enough for an ordinary family to live a comfortable life for the rest of their lives, so it can be said that the reward is very generous.

The special allowance of the Ming Royal Manufacturing Bureau was implemented last year and is also a reward for craftsmen who have made significant contributions to the Ming Dynasty's industry.

The rule is five taels per month, paid once a year, divided into annual limit and lifetime limit.

Five taels of silver per month may not seem like much, but considering that an ordinary family of three spends one tael of silver per month, it is already quite a lot.

Zhang Shikang's original intention in establishing this special allowance award was not to reward a craftsman with money, but to enhance the craftsman's sense of honor.

It is conceivable that when the General Administration of Manufacturing begins to lead the world in technology in the future, it will be a great honor for the recipient of this award to receive such a subsidy.

But that is a matter for the future. At least for now, the craftsmen are most concerned about the reward money itself. After all, this is the most real thing.

In addition, all the craftsmen’s heads were filled with a big question mark, that is - the Imperial Medal.

What the hell is this?

never heard of that.

“The Imperial Medal is a new reward mechanism introduced by our dynasty. It is also the highest honor in our Ming Dynasty besides the title of nobility.

The Imperial Medal is divided into three classes: bronze, silver and gold.

The third-class medals are all awarded by His Majesty in person in front of all the civil and military officials in the court!"

……