Chapter 40: New Year (1)

  The Laba Festival is over, and in a dozen or so days it will be the day of the stove worship. Everyone in the mansion, from top to bottom, is busy with New Year's preparations, the most important item being cleaning and sweeping the house. All the miscellaneous servants, lower-ranking attendants, wives, and maids are mobilized, even family members who have come to visit are given a broom to sweep the courtyard.

  There are not a few courtyards where people live in the mansion, and there are even more halls and pavilions. Except for the empty rooms in the inner courtyard, there are no less than 160 rooms in total. Not to mention daily chores such as wiping windows and sweeping walls, just those indoor dark floors, partitions, railings, and various carved screens are enough to dust off a breath of air. Some things even have intricate carvings of landscapes. Delicate objects such as people, fish, insects, birds, and beasts that are intricately carved would be damaged if not handled carefully. In addition, there are various decorations in the house, including fine porcelain, jade, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, vases, and other treasures that require extra care, some need to be washed with water, some need to be wiped with oil, it's very tedious.

  If there were no large number of people, it would be impossible to achieve the goal of working from dawn till dusk. Fortunately, Zheng Shou, who was in charge of miscellaneous affairs in the government office, and Jian Xi, who managed the inner courtyard, had both participated in this kind of grand meeting before and had experience. They divided all the people into several groups, led by experienced people, and worked together to complete their tasks, which is a typical "production contract responsibility system" model commonly seen in later generations. The two of them coordinated and directed, allocating personnel, just like a great general commanding thousands of troops.

  Zhaoyi himself was always awkward wherever he went, so he simply took the two little yellow gates and hid in the workshop of the mansion. There were usually more than a dozen people here, not only bricklayers, carpenters, blacksmiths and other " rough workers", but also coppersmiths, silversmiths and other fine craftsmen who were responsible for the daily repairs and maintenance of the mansion, as well as the production of various necessities. They were considered to be the maintenance team of the mansion. However, although there were not many people, they were all experienced old craftsmen who had been in the industry for many years, otherwise they would not have been selected into the Wangfu.

  As soon as Zhao entered their small courtyard and saw the ironwork furnace, tongs, hammer, and saw on the edge, he felt a sense of familiarity. In his previous life, he had studied mechanical manufacturing and was supposed to either enter a design institute or work in a factory producing airplanes, cannons, machine guns, and missiles. However, due to some unexpected twist of fate, he was selected into a special forces unit, changing the course of his destiny.

  "Second Master Zhao, how did you end up in this place? There isn't even anywhere to sit!" Zhang Erbao, the workshop foreman, said with some surprise and awkwardness as he entered.

  "Master Zhang, wherever I go, they all think I'm in the way. I thought I'd come to your place to hide out for a bit, but it seems like you're not welcoming me either!" Zhao said with a bitter face.

  "Second Master is killing us with his politeness, we invited you but you still wouldn't come!" Zhang Erbao hastily ushered Zhao and the others into the house, while the others also quickly paid their respects. Zhang Erbao used his sleeve to wipe down the only chair in the house several times, then added a cushion made by his wife before inviting him to sit down. The others were also busy stirring up the brazier and pouring tea for him.

  "Everyone, please sit down and don't be formal. I'm just here to hang out with you guys. If you're polite, it's my fault!" Zhao Chu made a courtesy gesture, revealing two small tiger teeth as he smiled innocently.

  "Hehe, Second Master is joking with us. Our place is simple and may not be able to treat you well!" Copper artisan Zhang Liu Jin brought out a plate of dried fruits such as walnuts, dates, persimmon cakes, and chestnuts, and said with a smile, "Second Master, please have some, these were all brought by the women who came to our house for New Year's. Although they are common, they are fresh from our own home!"

  "Alright, everyone's here, how was the trip home?" Zhao Yan picked up a date and took a bite.

  "We should thank Master Er for his kindness, these old ladies rarely go out, if the mansion didn't send someone to pick them up, they would probably get lost as soon as they leave the house. With food and drink in the mansion, what can't they adapt to? After staying here for a few days, they want to find something to do and don't want to leave!" said Lu Dabin, the carpenter.

  "This is a good thing, we will develop in the future, what's lacking is manpower. After the New Year, repairing roads and building dams, construction sites also can't lack people to boil water and cook meals. After the dam is repaired, we can also raise ducks and fish. Later, we still need to build wineries and mills, all of which require people. Don't worry about having nothing to do, those who are willing to stay, the government can help solve the problem of housing, and it's also convenient for you two to be together, no need to miss each other at night and can't sleep!" Zhao said.

  "We should thank Master Zhang for this, having multiple wives to do laundry and cook makes it feel like a real home. The old ladies must be overjoyed when they hear the news!" Zhang Liu Jin said with tears in his eyes. The others were also tearfully grateful, who wouldn't want their wives and children to live together under one roof? But in the past, these were just pipe dreams. As artisans, they were all registered as single individuals, not only could they not leave their posts at will, but they also had to be on call at all times, confined to the workshop to work, often unable to return home, with husbands and wives rarely reunited.

  Zhao Zhe chatted with everyone for a while, and the topic turned to craftsmanship again. He wasn't very familiar with ancient production techniques, so he wanted to learn about modern technological advancements through their conversations. These craftsmen were living textbooks, and it was in practice that they created many new crafts.

  "Master Zhang, if I want to make this copper piece into this shape, what method do you have?" Zhao Yan picked up a thin copper sheet from the case and gestured as he spoke.

  "Second Master, this is easy to handle. Using a hammer can directly knock it out, and there won't be any wrinkles!" Zhang Liu Jin said as he took the copper plate and hammered away at it for a while.

  "If I need a large quantity of the same size, is there any quicker way?" Zhao asked again.

  "This is not impossible, as long as a mold is made, the copper plate is placed on top, and it is struck with a hammer to ensure that each one is consistent in size!" Zhang Liu Jin quickly came up with a solution, and his hands didn't stop moving, speaking while making what Zhao Shu wanted.

  "Master Cao, if I want to drill a hole in a two-foot long steel rod, can you do it?" Zhao asked Cao Shuangcheng, who was an ironworker.

  "Second Master, that's too long, we can't do it. One is that there is no good drill bit, and the other cannot guarantee that it will not deviate. A shorter one can be done!" Cao Shuangcheng replied respectfully.

  "Ah!" Zhao Chu nodded, his question was not without reason. He wanted to improve his gun because the propellant used in his revolver was black powder, which contained nitrates that could absorb moisture over time. If he wasn't careful, it might misfire when fired. To solve this problem, he had to make bullets with the propellant and projectile integrated into one.

  In many people's minds, the improvement of guns came after the development of bullets. In fact, this is wrong. The development of guns was step by step with the improvement of bullet manufacturing technology. From the previous conversation and demonstration, Zhao understood that it was unrealistic to ask them to make modern bullet shells using existing craftsmanship, but making fire caps with bottoms was completely possible. He suddenly had an idea, if they used early paper cartridges, maybe it would work, so they could solve the problem of gas leakage during firing and severe wear on the cylinder caused by frequent shooting, and the barrel could be changed to wrought iron, basically, a usable revolver could be made for actual combat.

  "Second Master, are you thinking of doing something? We'll definitely find a way to make it happen for you!" Zhao Chu was taken aback, and Cao Shuangcheng asked cautiously.

  "Hmm, this isn't urgent, but there is something pressing that I'd like everyone to help me think of a solution for!" Zhao Yan said.

  "Second Master, you speak!" Several workers chimed in, their heads poking out to say so. These days, only Zhang Liu Jin had made a big hot pot for the king and received quite a bit of reward money. The others thought that their own skills were not inferior, and they were eager to show off their talents.

  "Has anyone ever seen the 'distillation apparatus' used by Taoist priests?" Zhao asked, referring to the still he had built two days ago to make the burning wine, using the distillation apparatus left behind by Qingyun in the Taoist temple. Those ancient Taoist priests designed a distiller to extract mercury from cinnabar, which consisted of two parts: the upper part was shaped like a round-bottomed flask, called "pomegranate pot", used as a sealed container for holding cinnabar and other medicines, with a tube connected to it; the lower part was bucket-shaped, called "Gan Lu Zi", heated during use, allowing the mercury vapor generated in the container to flow into a condenser placed next to it, causing the mercury vapor in the Gan Lu Zi to condense into liquid mercury in cold water.

  Such a distillation device is still quite perfect even today. However, it's okay to make small batches of wine, but it's definitely not enough for large-scale production of spirits, so it must be improved on this basis, and these things may be used after the Spring Festival, just in time to discuss with these industry insiders now.

  It is said that there is no first in literature and no second in martial arts, but craftsmen also love to distinguish themselves. These people formed a "research and development team" around the topic proposed by Wang Ye, and began discussing it. Carpenters thought about how to solve it with their own methods, blacksmiths and coppersmiths also put forward plans from their own perspectives. Only silversmiths and jade carvers were frustrated, unable to inlay gold or hang silver on this thing, let alone carve out flowers.

  Everyone came up with their own ideas and suggestions, Zhao Ke listened to this one and that one, and said a few words, which mobilized everyone's enthusiasm. Zhao Ke spent almost a whole day here, even having lunch here, and finally came up with an initial opinion, deciding to start trial production after the New Year.

  When the sun was about to set, Xi Huo hastily found his way here and said, "Second Master, why did you hide here? Everyone is waiting for you to preside over the stove worship ceremony. Hurry up and follow me back to change your clothes!" He spoke loudly among Wang Ye and a group of craftsmen, with a sorrowful face.

  "Second Master, hurry back now, this is a big matter and can't be delayed!" Under everyone's persuasion, Zhao Chuji reluctantly left the workshop and followed Xianxi back.