Chapter 511: Yongji Bullet Factory
Chapter 506 of "The Great Ming in the Box" opens with: Zhao Sheng returned to Gaojia Village once.When he came back by boat again, he brought... See what unfolds next!
Zhao Sheng returned to Gaojia Village once.When he came back by boat again, he brought a large group of people with him.
One of them was surprisingly Xu Dafu, director of the Gaojia Village Firearms Bureau.
As it turned out, when Xu Dafu heard that Yongji Ferry Dock was considering building a âfrontline bullet factoryâ specifically to replenish ammunition for the militia expedition to Shanxi, he got startled.
He said, âA bullet factory? That means a lot of gunpowder needs moving back and forth, how dangerous that is! No, we canât just send an apprentice randomly for that; it might explode! I have to personally oversee this thing.â
By then, under his many years of management, the firearms bureau in Gaojia Village had become well-organized in every aspect, with outstanding safety performance.
Even if he himself was absent, his several disciples could manage the gunpowder properly according to the rules.
But he still felt uneasy.
He repeatedly instructed them many times before daring to leave.
He took along a group of technical experts and came to Yongji with Zhao Sheng.
The bullet factory building wasnât hard to set up.
Yongji Ferry Dock had undergone long development and had started building cement houses long ago.
The blue hats who arrived earlier had already trained a large group of yellow hat apprentices skilled with cement.
With Zhao Sheng giving an order, putting up another large cement factory building posed no difficulty.
The real challenge was the âworkers.â
Xu Dafu said, âWorkers permitted to handle gunpowder must be people thoroughly investigated for a long time, with absolutely spotless characters.
Moreover, itâs best if theyâre women.
Womenâs minds are meticulous, and they tolerate boredom well, staying indoors long hours for repetitive dull tasks.
Theyâre not like men, filled with restless ideas and itching to go conquer the world.
Do we have such folk at Yongji Ferry Dock?â
Zhao Sheng thought about it very carefully.
He said, âSuch people do exist here.â
Yongji Ferry Dock had already developed for over a year.
Xing Honglang came to Yongji Ferry Dock by boat during the Third Year of Chongzhen, when Shaanxiâs roving bandits invaded Shanxi.
At that time, over a thousand commoners were gathered at the dock working.
As time passed, it absorbed people from several surrounding county towns.
Many folks from Puzhou City also came laboring at the ancient ferry dock.
Now, two to three thousand residents lived in the commonersâ quarter.
Among these two to three thousand people, the men generally worked for Gaojia Village.
The women handled lighting fires and cooking at the construction sites.
One woman could fry twists, which Old Nan Feng especially loved eatingâŚ
The pay for cooking was very low, sometimes even non-existent; they just got meals provided.
But the women had no complaints and obediently did this low-paying work.
After all, they had lived this way for thousands of years.
Zhao Sheng said, âWe can recruit the earliest women who arrived to cook for our people at the dock into the bullet factory.
Theyâve diligently cooked all year, passing the test of time.
Theyâre fit for the bullet factory now.
Then we can recruit some new women for cooking from outside county towns.â
Xu Dafu said, âThen itâs perfectly fine.â
Thus, the recruitment meeting for female workers officially began.
A notice was hung at the central crossroads in the ancient ferry dockâs residential area.
It read, âRecruiting workers, male and female no restrictions, for highly classified work with wages and benefits equal to other technical workersâŚâ
Zhao Sheng also dispatched an educated subordinate to stand by the notice and read it aloud for women who couldnât read.
With this uproar, the dock instantly became bustling.
When men saw this notice, they grew thoughtful.
They said, âNo restrictions for gender? So women can also do this job? Is that for real?
Why should women work the same as us men?
Seems the wages are also the same.â
From the comic book âGao Piao,â they knew Gaojia Village already used women workers in many trades.
But they never expected that day to arrive at Yongji Ferry Dock too.
But when the women of Yongji Ferry Dock saw this notice, they burst into joy.
They said, âWow, sisters, look! Both men and women can take this job, and the income matches the workersâ.
Our old cooking jobs paid very little.
If we can do this, our earnings could finally match menâs.â
All at once, applicants surged forward eagerly.
The dock had just over two thousand people total.
But eight hundred people came to sign up, with men and women equally split.
Arriving at the registration spot, people saw Xu Dafu sitting stern-faced at the ârecruitment meetingâ platform.
He held a tin microphone.
He spoke seriously to the crowd below, âListen well, folks signing up for this new work: I must warn you bluntly upfront.
In this job, youâll not see daylight year-round.
Youâll stay long in a dry little room, repeating boring, dull motions over and overâŚâ
After he spoke, some men backed away.
Such long-term indoor jobs didnât appeal to men at all.
A brave man aims broad; how could he get trapped in a small dark house?
But the women showed no reaction.
For females of that era, staying indoors was pure bliss.
They thought, âI can totally handle this.â
Xu Dafu continued, âThis job demands precision too.
You need deft fingers for very tiny tasks.â
He pulled out a Paper-Wrapped Bullet and held it up.
He said, âSee? Only this small, and you wrap three things inside.
Harder than bundling rice dumplings.
Youâll wrap from dawn to duskâŚâ
This speech drove another group of men to withdraw.
The women still felt unaffected.
They said, âJust that?
Itâs much easier than sewing clothes or embroidery.â
Finally, Xu Dafu added, âThis job requires strict secrecy.
You mustnât reveal the work process, content, or production methods to outsiders.
Gossip is strictly banned.â
After that announcement, the men felt rushing with pride.
But the women got alarmed.
They thought, âNo gossiping?
But⌠how could life go on?â
Xu Dafu said, âYou canât gossip about work details.
But griping about a fellow worker having a son or daughter, someone sleep-talking they love neighbor Zheng Daniu, or another stealing off with Old Zhang from the next hamletâthatâs all okay to gab in full.â
Zheng Daniu, who came to watch the commotion, said, âWhoa? I object! Why drag my name into it?â
Zao Ying, who accompanied Zheng Daniu, also protested.
She said, âI object too!
Why paint Daniu as some lucky lothario?
Heâs nothing like that.â
Xu Dafu rolled his eyes at Zheng Daniu and Zao Ying and totally ignored them.
By then, the women there to register had cheered up.
They called, âTotally doable! Weâre signing up! Signing up!â
Large groups of women joined eagerly.
Soon, four hundred female workers and two hundred male workers got taken on.
The Yongji Bullet Factory could finally start running.