lcionline Chapter 672 Making a Grand Entrance
Chapter 672 Making a Grand Entrance
It was merely a matter of pacifying a few petty pirates; naturally, there was no need for eunuchs to be involved. The Jinyiwei (Imperial Guard) garrison in Fujian handled the matter. A centurion, accompanied by several guards and officials from the Fujian Provincial Governor's Office, went to the Fujian Provincial Military Command to deliver the imperial decree.
Having been granted the rank of guerrilla commander, I would now be under the jurisdiction of the local military command, and minor matters would naturally be handled accordingly.
Why would Chen Er come to these places and kneel down like that? Dong Xian is really not here; he's busy robbing money in the East China Sea.
Xu Xinsu arrived as a representative, saying that those two were busy gathering their men so they could serve the imperial court.
No one, whether above or below, cared; the decree was hastily announced and the group dispersed.
Xu Xinsu and Zheng Zhilong were both recruited in this way. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call these two, along with Chen Er, the Kings of the South China Sea, since the Ming Dynasty had no power in the coastal areas that could suppress them.
Yet such a person was dismissed with a mere guerrilla rank and a few Imperial Guards, not even bothered to send a eunuch to hold a proper ceremony.
The Ming Dynasty was still immersed in the illusion of being a superior nation, completely unaware that the Dutch, with only two warships and five armed merchant ships, a small fleet of just over 1000 men, had suppressed the naval forces of Fujian and Guangdong to the point of immobility.
There were also two armed English merchant ships that were just watching the show.
Chen Er was too lazy to bother with these underhanded dealings within the Ming Dynasty; he was currently extremely busy.
At the beginning of the year, a major incident occurred in the workshop: a drilling machine collapsed, and the high-speed rotating ball bearing, due to its large tolerance, squeezed and ruptured the ball bearing mesh cover.
Without the mesh cover to hold it in place, the ball bearings moved erratically and soon fell apart. The bearings broke apart, but the waterwheel was still turning. The enormous kinetic energy instantly sent many parts flying at high speed.
Two workers died on the spot, one was seriously injured, and four were slightly injured.
Because of the accident, Yu Yuan stopped all the tools that the waterwheel was using. It was terrifying. What would it look like if a broken screw were stuck in a person's head?
After inspection by the master craftsmen, it was discovered that many of the bearing covers showed signs of damage. In China, death is a serious matter, especially since the deaths of the two workers were particularly horrific.
The workers operating the machines inside were terrified. Fortunately, the machines were separated, but they could still see metal and wood chips flying out at high speed and stuck to the walls. This job was going to be dangerous.
It's true that being a soldier can be deadly; everyone knows that before they go. But I've never heard of working being deadly.
With no other option, Yu Yuan had to lead the craftsmen to tackle the problem, and also send a ship to quickly notify Li Mian to stop as well. It would be even more terrifying if the wheel saws over there exploded.
Li Mian also opened a workshop in Changhua with his team.
Yu Yuan moved out of Chen Er's house because his wife insisted on establishing their own household. Li Binglan became pregnant, and unable to resist his wife's pleas, Yu Yuan asked Li Xi to prepare a house for him, and he moved out to live like a lord.
Li Binglan is a shrewd girl. How can being a young mistress in someone else's house be as comfortable as being a wife in your own? Besides, Yu Yuan doesn't lack that little bit of money.
Yu Yuan felt uneasy, even though Chen Er had said that he could move out anytime he wanted without having to tell Chen Er.
Yu Yuan originally wanted to wait for Chen Er to return before discussing it, but in the end he couldn't resist his wife's request.
After the New Year, one thing after another happened. An accident occurred in the workshop, and Yu Yuan and the master craftsmen discussed it day and night for several days. In the end, they decided to try using roller bearings.
The results were excellent. Not only were they much safer than ball bearings, but the two metal contact surfaces actually became smoother with friction, making lubrication much easier. Moreover, they were much simpler to manufacture than ball bearings.
This year, the workshop has a very heavy workload. Not only do they have to complete the renovation of nearly a hundred large Fujian ships, but they also have to manufacture cannons, muskets, armor, etc. He also has to take care of the school and teach classes.
Just after replacing the bearings in the workshop, his aunt fell seriously ill again. Li Binglan was pregnant, and in those days, pregnant women were not allowed to come into contact with sick people, so Yu Yuan had to run between the two places.
No matter how much favored Li Xi was, he was still a servant, and he dared not make decisions on many things. When Chen Er was not at home, Yu Yuan had to make the decisions.
Even though Yu Yuan went to great lengths, consulting renowned doctors in Fujian and Zhejiang, Chen Yu still passed away after two months of suffering.
Yu Yuan was deeply saddened. In truth, he probably felt a deeper connection to Chen Yu's family than to Chen Er, who felt more obligated to help.
Having experienced the bitterness of life, Yu Yuan felt even more affection for Chen Yu. Since he did not have the opportunity to fulfill his filial duties to his parents and see them off in their final days, he buried Chen Yu as if she were his mother.
When Chen Er was not home, Yu Yuan was the master of the house. Li Binglan was somewhat dissatisfied with Yu Yuan's handling of Chen Yu's funeral as a filial son, but she did not dare to express it.
What angered her even more was that, starting from Chen Yu's deathbed, Yu Yuan disregarded her pregnancy and moved back into the Li family home.
Qi Meier and Gao Caier have lost their loved ones, and Yu Yuan needs to stay with them until his older brother returns.
Chen Er kept telling Yu Yuan to look for assistants in his work, because Chen Er knew that he had given Yu Yuan a lot of work, but there was really no one available.
But Chen Yu's passing seemed to suddenly make Qi Meier stronger. Qi Meier, who used to treat teaching as a pastime, devoted herself wholeheartedly to educating Cai'er and her students.
Later, she simply moved in with Cai'er at the school.
After more than half a year of learning, many of the older children who can read are already able to take on some teaching tasks. In the afternoons, apart from the necessary instructors, children over twelve years old have already started to practice in various places.
When Chen Er returned to Liangshan, Yu Yuan no longer needed to go to school to teach every day.
With Penghu occupied, the waterway to Guangdong was cut off, and Liu Xiang's Hainan Fleet could not pass through. At this time, the Southern Fleet's designation had been cancelled, but the fleet was also unable to leave Zhongzuo.
Chen Er and Xu Xinsu discussed taking advantage of this opportunity to set up workshops in Zhangzhou. The three master craftsmen of that time, Wang Li, had died, Li Mian had gone to Changhua, and Wu Ang was in charge in Liangshan.
Fortunately, all of Wu Ang's apprentices graduated that year, so Wu Ang's apprentice, who was also his nephew Wu Zhengshi, took several apprentices to Zhangzhou by land.
Chen Erben also planned to develop the Shilu iron mine in Hainan, but seeing the situation, the sea route would not be safe until the Dutch were driven away, so he had to put it aside for the time being.
In fact, Chen Er's biggest problem right now is still the population issue. After continuous experimentation and adjustments, the workshop can drill two gun barrels per day with one drilling machine, requiring two skilled workers.
In addition, the iron rods for forging gun barrels, the drilled gun barrels need to have their inner walls bored and their outer walls cut, and then they need to be assembled and shaped before gunpowder and bullets are made. All of these require a lot of labor.
Chen Er can't find that many laborers right now. Does the Ming Dynasty lack manpower? Not at all. But Chen Er's status prevents him from recruiting people on a large scale.