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Wang Qinian looked at a metal object attentively. He picked it up, put it down, picked it up again, looked at it closer, looked at it from a distance, and cut it with a knife. His deeply furrowed brows and focused gaze proved that Wang Qinian was currently highly focused.
Jiang Zhongyuan looked at Wang Qinian with appreciation, but he couldn't continue to wait for Wang Qinian, so Jiang Zhongyuan smiled and said, "County Magistrate Wang, what are you looking at?"
Wang Qinian was startled when he saw Jiang Zhongyuan and Li Hongzhang in a big room next to the factory. He hurriedly put down the things in his hands, got up, and knelt down to salute Jiang Zhongyuan. "Greetings, Lord Jiang."
As father and son, Li Hongzhang was a Jinshi, so they were very familiar with the affairs of the government. When he heard Wang Qinian call himself a subordinate, he couldn't help but snicker. Jiang Zhongyuan attached great importance to Wang Qinian, who was able to modify firearms on a large scale. He wrote Wang Qinian's name on the recommendation list. As one of Xianfeng's most trusted feudal officials, Jiang Zhongyuan's recommendation was naturally approved. The people from the Ministry of Personnel were really slippery. They actually gave Wang Qinian the position of a substitute county magistrate.
Manchu Qing was an official who openly engaged in business, so a large number of people were "candidates". In fact, it only required a few hundred taels of silver to become a substitute county magistrate. It wasn't really that expensive.
These reserve officials didn't have any special privileges, and after becoming a reserve official, it was even more difficult to "let go of the actual vacancies". First of all, one had to have a solid scholarly reputation or a solid backing. Then, one had to have a solid purse of money. Only then would one be able to smoothly fill the vacancy.
However, Wang Qinian was just a country bumpkin. How could he understand the ways of the officialdom? Li Hongzhang could still remember Wang Qinian's intense joy after knowing that he had become the "alternate county magistrate". On one hand, Wang Qinian was ecstatic, but on the other hand, he was thinking of ways to suppress his ecstasy. He didn't dare to lose his composure in front of his "benefactor", Jiang Zhongyuan. The two completely opposite performances were more fun to watch than acting in a drama.
Ever since he was promoted from a commoner to a 'County Magistrate Candidate', Wang Qinian worked even harder. Li Hongzhang felt that Wang Qinian's benefactor, Jiang Zhongyuan, was indeed different. Jiang Zhongyuan clearly admired Wang Qinian. Li Hongzhang, on the other hand, felt that such a laborer was not worthy of respect.
Jiang Zhongyuan did not seem to notice the terrible condition of the room next to the firearms factory. He pulled over a dirty stool and sat down calmly. Then he said to Wang Qinian, "Get up."
"Yes! My Lord! "Wang Qinian stood up respectfully and stood in front of Jiang Zhongyuan with his hands by his side.
Li Hongzhang looked at the dirty stool and did not want to sit down. In the end, he pulled over the stool that Wang Qinian had just sat on and sat down beside Jiang Zhongyuan. Jiang Zhongyuan glanced at Li Hongzhang, but did not say anything. He asked Wang Qinian, "Why is the production of imitation firearms so slow?"
Wang Qinian replied cautiously, "My Lord, the number of skilled craftsmen is insufficient. It is already difficult to produce a thousand firearms per month. I am worried that those people are not diligent, so I have to check every firearm carefully. If it is any faster, I am afraid that some of the firearms will not be used. "
Jiang Zhongyuan knew that Wang Qinian was meticulous in his work, so he did not nitpick. Instead, he asked seriously, "Qinian, I see that Vézé has modified tens of thousands of firearms in an extremely short period of time. How is he able to do it so quickly? "
"My Lord, the renegade Vézé is an expert in manufacturing firearms, and he also has a way to make a drilling tool." With that, Wang Qinian invited Jiang Zhongyuan to the table that he had been sitting at previously. He picked up the metal object in his hand and mounted it on a wooden drill press. First, he clamped a gun barrel onto the drill press, then used the metal object to press against the location where he wanted to drill. Wang Qinian forcefully shook the handle. Jiang Zhongyuan saw that the metal object was quickly drilling iron shavings out of the metal barrel. As Wang Qinian continued to shake the handle, the metal object drilled deeper and deeper.
Wang Qinian began to pant after all this effort. He stopped what he was doing and calmed his breathing, then said to Jiang Zhongyuan, "My Lord, this is a mechanism that was recorded by a craftsman who escaped from Vézé's munitions factory. He even stole a drill that the renegade Vézé used to drill holes in his guns. According to the craftsman, the renegade Vézé's munitions factory had many other mechanisms. A craftsman only needs to take care of one part of the process, and it only takes two days at most to modify a matchlock gun into a firearm. With hundreds of craftsmen working together, they can produce nearly a thousand firearms every day. We don't have these mechanisms, and even if we use Vézé's mechanism, a craftsman can only drill a hole in a single metal barrel in a day. "
Jiang Zhongyuan didn't quite understand. He pointed to the drill stuck on the drill press and said, "Isn't this one good?"
Wang Qinian smiled bitterly, "My Lord, we only have one good drill, and it was brought back by a craftsman who escaped from Vézé's munitions factory. As for how it was made, he didn't know either. Vézé is treacherous and cunning, and everyone only cares about one part of the process. Those who drill holes only care about drilling holes, and those who make the stocks only care about making the stocks. Those who make the caps and bullets only care about one part of the process. Every part of the process is in a different factory, and the mechanisms are strictly guarded. If we don't have someone who understands how these mechanisms work, we won't be able to understand how Vézé's munitions factory works. We won't be able to learn his techniques. "
Jiang Zhongyuan was a smart man, and he understood what Wang Qinian meant after hearing this. He pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Qinian, you've met Vézé. Do you think Vézé made all of these things by himself? "
Wang Qinian didn't dare to be negligent in the face of Jiang Zhongyuan's question. He thought for a while before replying, "My Lord, if you say that Vézé made all of these things, you won't be able to obtain them. Vézé himself doesn't understand folding and forging. But Vézé knows what to learn, and where to use them. This is a skill that no one else has. "
"What skill?" Li Hongzhang looked down on craftsmen like Wang Qinian, so he vaguely expressed his praise for Vézé. Li Hongzhang couldn't help but to provoke Wang Qinian.
Wang Qinian didn't think too much about it. He frowned and thought for a while before he found a suitable excuse. "Vézé may not know anything, but he knows how to use those who know how to make use of various skills. At that time, I knew folding and forging, so Vézé only let me do folding and forging. That was because I carefully observed Vézé's various processes in private, and only then did I know how to make flintlock guns. If I was a little lazy, or if Vézé was a little stricter, I would only know how to use folding and forging to make the gun. "
After listening to Wang Qinian's words, Jiang Zhongyuan couldn't help but nod repeatedly. "I see. If that's the case, then it makes sense. "
After leaving Wang Qinian's factory, Li Hongzhang couldn't help but say to Jiang Zhongyuan: "My lord, I feel that Wang Qinian isn't willing to do anything."
"Why do you think so?" Jiang Zhongyuan asked noncommittally.
Li Hongzhang replied: "According to him, Vézé's munitions factory can make a thousand flintlock guns in two days. Wang Qinian can only make a thousand flintlock guns in a month with a few hundred people. This difference is too big. "
"Then why do you think Wang Qinian has the guts to do this? Is he doing this to threaten me? "Jiang Zhongyuan said with a smile.
"This … …" Jiang Zhongyuan's words left Li Hongzhang speechless. Indeed, even if Wang Qinian was given a few more guts, he wouldn't dare to use the slack method to confront and blackmail Jiang Zhongyuan. Recently, a considerable number of Jiang Zhongyuan's subordinates had been given the position of "XX Candidate". Most of these people came from humble backgrounds. If they wanted to get rid of the "XX Candidate" title, then they had to work hard for Jiang Zhongyuan. Only then would they be able to make contributions in the upcoming battle to cross the Huai River and obtain real promotions. Therefore, regardless of whether it was the civil officials, generals, or those in charge of craftsmen like Wang Qinian, everyone was working hard. Apart from working hard, they were also afraid of making a mistake and losing their "XX Candidate" title.
Ignoring the fact that he had refuted Li Hongzhang, Jiang Zhongyuan continued to speak. "Vézé is indeed capable. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to kill tens of thousands of soldiers in the north. Nor would he have been able to destroy the Jiangnan and Jiangbei Barracks. What Wang Qinian said shouldn't be false. But at this time, we don't know how he did it, so we might as well do it this way. Also, a few days ago, Zeng Gong sent a letter saying that he had bribed the foreigners at a high price and obtained the recipe for making the fire hats. We have to hurry up! "
"Obtained the recipe for the fire hats?" Li Hongzhang was shocked. Ever since Vézé defeated the Qing Army with the help of the fire hats, the Manchu Qing paid special attention to the introduction of foreign military technology. And Zeng Guofan, even before the imperial court paid attention to it, he had already attached great importance to it. His Xiang Army was equipped with guns and cannons imported from abroad. But at that time, the foreign devils were very cunning. A thousand fire hats were sold for seventeen taels of silver. It didn't seem like much, but when tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of fire hats were bought, the money flowed out like water. Li Hongzhang had always felt that it was too expensive and wanted to copy it, but he had no idea how to do it. Now, he didn't expect his teacher Zeng Guofan to get the recipe.
"Yes, Zeng Gong got the recipe. But Zeng Gong said that there was something strange about this matter. The British seemed to have a conflict with Vézé and were about to go to war. So, in order to let us build a good relationship with Vézé, the British were willing to sell the recipe to Zeng Gong at a high price. "Jiang Zhongyuan stated the new information.
"Why is that? Don't the foreigners and Vézé believe in God? "Li Hongzhang was even more surprised.
"I heard that Vézé banned smoking in Guangdong. Anyone who sold cigarettes was killed! The British weren't doing well in business, so naturally, they wanted to get rid of Vézé! "Jiang Zhongyuan said in a relaxed tone.
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