Li Tiezhu was now deep in thought. His family had passed down their craft; his father and grandfather had been making firearms during the Yuan Dynasty. His ancestors were even said to have been captured by the Jurchens and originally lived in Kaifeng.
Zhao Tiezhu looked down on handguns made of pig iron because they were very difficult to cast and prone to cracking. Many craftsmen now knew that bronze-cast firearms were superior, only slightly less accurate.
Actually, firearms in the Yuan Dynasty already had a muzzle, a powder chamber, and a breech socket. However, these firearms were basically just a single tube, and many people at that time did not realize the importance of rifling or the reasons for barrel explosions.
Loading too much gunpowder can cause the barrel to explode, as can shoddy manufacturing of the barrel, poor maintenance, or overuse. All of these can lead to the danger of a barrel explosion.
In this era, or in any era, using firearms carries the risk of barrel explosions; the only difference is the frequency of such explosions.
Li Tiezhu was aware of some of the recent changes. For example, the Crown Prince had strictly ordered that all the craftsmen who made firearms must be registered. This meant that if a firearm exploded or something similar, an analysis would be conducted to identify the person responsible.
This naturally made the craftsmen cautious, daring not to be careless in the slightest; any ambiguity could lead to execution or exile. In fact, over the years, Zhao Tiezhu had witnessed some of his colleagues being arrested.
The reason was that the firearms malfunctioned during routine training and combat, leading to an investigation. As for those who were wrongly accused, there might be some, but probably not many. It's said that the Crown Prince specifically hired people to study these things; if a soldier made a mistake, that was the soldier's problem. Or, if the officials supervising the manufacture were corrupt, that was the officials' problem.
Seeing his son return home, Zhao Tiezhu asked, "Laibao, do you think we should offer up the craftsmanship?"
Zhao Tiezhu was reluctant to hand over the family's traditional craft, a precious legacy left to him by his ancestors to continue the family line. His son, Zhao Laibao, was also reluctant; he didn't seek wealth or status, but as long as the craft remained, his descendants would have food to eat.
Zhao Laibao thought for a moment and said, "Father, His Highness the Crown Prince is indeed a master craftsman, but we've also heard from others that we're registered as artisans, and it's not easy to change that once we're on the register. What if His Highness doesn't approve of our ancestral craftsmanship?"
This isn't just something Zhao Laibao is worried about; it's something many craftsmen are concerned about as well.
That's how it is in China; many skills are passed down through generations, specifically to sons. If a skill were to be passed on, it would be considered disloyal and unfilial. Most importantly, if this unique craft were lost, the descendants would lose their means of livelihood.
It's perfectly normal to have such concerns. Even though many artisans have heard about the rewards in the past two years, they still don't dare to easily hand over their skills. Besides, if their submitted skills aren't recognized, the most they'll get is some money.
Even with his family's ancestral craft, Zhao Tiezhu couldn't guarantee he'd be able to earn a government position. If submitting his skills didn't bring him any official rank, and he only received some reward money, then his descendants would lose their livelihood.
After all, having received the reward, other craftsmen would likely learn those techniques very soon.
This is also why Zhao Tiezhu was unwilling to go to that so-called academy. The old craftsmen in the academy had traded their skills for easier jobs and received some salary. It seemed like a slightly easier and more respectable job, but the salary wasn't free; they had to teach apprentices, which wasn't worth it.
Zhu Xiong Ying had no idea what these craftsmen were thinking. He was just studying his own large-scale development and some technical matters, and he was feeling a little headache.
Xu Miaoqing looked at her husband and asked softly, "Husband, are you worried about the weavers?"
"Yes, we've planted quite a bit of cotton, but we don't have enough weavers," Zhu Xiong Ying said with a smile, shaking his head. "Especially in the various prefectures, there's a shortage of weavers. Transporting cotton here is troublesome; it's much better to weave it into cloth and make cotton quilts to send over. We still lack weavers!"
There's not just a lack of weavers, but also a shortage of looms, which is hindering production efficiency. Sending cotton to the capital is not a profitable business. Cotton may seem light, but it takes up too much space, which is also a headache for Zhu Xiong Ying.
Xu Miaoqing was at a loss. She had actually wanted to follow the example of her late grandmother, the Empress Dowager, at the suggestion of her two aunts, by personally weaving cloth to reward the students at the Imperial Academy. However, the Crown Prince did not approve of this approach, and Xu Miaoqing knew that her needlework skills were mediocre, so she did not force herself to continue.
These are indeed the things that Zhu Xiong Ying and Xu Miao Qing are worried about. In short, the production materials and tools are not keeping up. While many prisoners were captured to cultivate the land, and many laborers were busy planting cotton, the cotton was produced, but the number of looms and weavers was not keeping up.
This gave Zhu Xiong Ying a headache. Sure enough, a system was needed; if certain links were missing, it wouldn't work.
These things were giving Zhu Xiong Ying a headache, but he really didn't have any better solutions right now. He could only feel anxious and hope for some improvement in his skills.
Or perhaps we can only rely on our current production capacity to slowly consume all that cotton. Although it's a bit slow, the cotton is still there, which isn't a bad thing, is it?
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