Iron Powder and Spellcaster

Ivan - the former sergeant known as Gévaudan for his alcoholism and domestic violence - finally realizes the true meaning of life: life is not about peaks and valleys, life is about valleys and deeper valleys.

He was the first enemy captured by Winters during his first battle with the New Reclamation Army. From this point of view, the existence of prisoner Ivan was a witness that Winters officially raised the flag of rebellion.

From the moment he was captured, Ivan's experience can be summarized as follows: being beaten, interrogated, escorted, imprisoned, and the most important experience - being forced to knit straw sandals.

There was no violent coercion, and the attitude from above was simple and clear: no work, no food.

The management of the prisoners was given to Samkin by Winters. At that time, there were only three prisoners in total.

In order to prevent someone from tampering with the straw sandals out of resentment, Ivan and the others were asked by Samkin to leave special marks on the straw sandals.

Samutin told Ivan sincerely: "If there is a problem with the quality of the shoes, then you will have problems."

Ivan nodded desperately. At a certain moment, he really thought he was going to die. His luck in surviving made Ivan extremely reluctant to live.

Samujin invited an old man from Nanxin Village who knew how to make shoes. The old man taught the prisoners for a day, leaving behind a few sets of brackets and a large bundle of rushes and flax, and left shaking his head.

For the first two days, Ivan lived entirely on water. The straw sandals he had knitted would fall apart before he could wear them, so he couldn't replace them with food.

People in desperate situations can occasionally burst out with power that even surprises them. On the third day, Ivan, who began to master the trick, successfully knitted a pair of shoes.

Although the quality of the shoes he knitted was still not up to standard, Samkin still gave Ivan two small pieces of black bread as an encouragement.

On the fifth day, Ivan received a normal amount of black bread.

Ivan's subsequent life consisted of refining his shoemaking skills while reuniting with his former colleagues one after another.

During that time, Winters devoted himself to destroying the microstructure of the Gévaudan garrison. Any recruits who were ambushed by him could leave after surrendering, but he would not spare any veterans or sergeants.

The Wolf Town Prison is becoming more and more crowded. Even after several expansions, it is still filled to the brim by Gévaudan's sergeants.

Warden Samutin initially insisted on solitary confinement to prevent possible connection. Later, too many prisoners were captured, so they were not very particular about it. It became normal to cram four or five people into one cell.

This made Ivan even miss the days when he was first captured and lived in a single room.

As the number of prisoners soared, Ivan gradually left his front-line shoemaking position and began to teach others shoemaking skills in exchange for bread. His life improved considerably.

It was at this stage that the supply of straw sandals produced in the "labor camps" exceeded demand. It started out as one pair of straw sandals for one day, but soon it became three pairs of straw sandals for two days, and then two pairs of straw sandals for one day.

We only have two hands, so no matter how fast we can knit shoes, there is a limit. Ivan was not a businessman, but he realized that if he continued to develop, he would either starve to death or die of exhaustion. The demand for straw sandals is already saturated, and new products that are equivalent to more bread must be found.

Anyway, it was all about weaving, and Ivan thought of weaving baskets, mats, and baskets. He petitioned Samutin, hoping to hire a bamboo craftsman to teach him his skills, and also wanted to purchase raw materials such as reeds, wheat straw, and thin wicker sticks.

The petition was made one day and the prisoners were transferred the next day.

When Ivan walked out of the military camp, he was so scared that he almost peed his pants. He thought he was going to the execution ground. But they were simply taken to a secluded camp deep in the forest.

It was in this camp that Ivan collapsed and met another prisoner, Lieutenant Asko.

Askew was ordered to assist Bader and Mason in suppressing the bandits, but was captured just after they left Gevaudan. In fact, Asko had been taken to Wolf Town a long time ago, but he lived in a single room, so Ivan never saw the lieutenant.

"Why were you also arrested?" Ivan's tears suddenly flowed out: "Gevaudin is gone too?"

"I was tricked." Lieutenant Askew was very calm: "Don't worry, the rebels are rushing to move us now, which means that Major Ronald is coming - he may have already arrived. I estimate that I can hold on for a few more days. , the major will be able to rescue us."

Ivan was both happy and a little regretful when he heard this.

In fact, he really wanted to try basket weaving and mat weaving, because it was one of the only two things in his muddled life that he was full of hope to do - the other was getting married.

Ivan waited for Major Ronald to appear. He waited for a long, long time.

When they were brought back to the scorched earth of Wolf Town, when Samujin hired a master bamboo craftsman, when the wicker sticks and wheat straw were approved... Major Ronald didn't show up.

Ivan began to learn basket weaving and mat weaving, but Lieutenant Askew, who was once calm and composed, almost lost control of his emotions and had to be persuaded by Ivan.

"Stop drinking and eating meat. These will be counted as working hours." Ivan suggested carefully: "You should come and learn basket weaving from me. If you do more, you can still count your working hours."

Asko looked at the former sergeant and now novice bamboo craftsman with drunken eyes: "The rebels win, what's the point of these things? The rebels lose, and I will naturally regain my freedom. Basket weaving? Drink! Drink!"

Food was in short supply. How could there be so much wine for the lieutenant? Ivan silently knitted the straw, watching the lieutenant try to get drunk with moonshine mixed with water and bear more "work hours" for it.

Ivan didn't think as much as the lieutenant. He was simple-minded. He was just hungry and scared, and he behaved well. The brutal and brutal Sergeant Ivan did not survive, but the one who survived was the cowardly prisoner Ivan who was afraid of death.

Major Ronald finally appeared in front of Ivan, but he also came to the labor camp as a prisoner. Not only the major, but also all the surviving officers from the former Gévaudan garrison came.

Ivan has become numb, and now even if General Adams appears in front of him in shackles, he will not be surprised at all. He was promoted to instructor and was responsible for teaching basket weaving to his former superiors.

Lieutenant Asko's will completely collapsed. The lieutenant first wanted to commit suicide. After being rescued from the sling, he stopped drinking and honestly learned basket weaving from Ivan.

Lows and deeper lows are real, and the days just pass.

On this day, Ivan, as always, brought straws and distributed them to each cell. Then he went to the warehouse and started checking the previous day's products in each cell.

In order to prevent other prisoners from secretly playing tricks with resentment, Ivan insisted on retaining the "marking measures." If something is not done well enough, then follow the "marks" to find people and deduct rations.

Now Ivan not only has enough to eat and occasionally eats meat, but he can also receive a salary.

The proverb says, "Although a sparrow is small, it also has blood, organs and bones."

As the scale expanded, Samkin's labor camp gradually differentiated into many "organs", like a small society.

For example, Ivan is now only responsible for teaching and quality inspection, and no longer makes baskets and shoes all day long like ordinary prisoners.

The production of woven products requires a large amount of raw materials, so Samkin sent prisoners who behaved well to cut branches and collect wheat straw as rewards.

Hard-working prisoners were responsible for light, important tasks, and received occasional ale and meat, as well as a break within the camp walls.

Prisoners with poor skills and poor attitudes are at the bottom of the labor camp society and sit in their cells all day long.

Invisibly, the production of baskets is divided into several processes, and each process is responsible for prisoners at different "levels".

In the labor camps, human life was treated with contempt. If you deliberately seek death, as long as you don't work, you will soon starve to death.

Samkin, who manages the labor camp, does not have a similar obsession with "letting everyone survive." His attitude has always been "if you want to die, just die", and naturally he is willing to live for the rest.

The operation of the labor camp was stumbling at first, and there were instances where prisoners hid tools in an attempt to kill guards and escape. But it continues to move in a good direction - from Samkin's perspective.

The output of woven products has steadily increased, and has gradually been subdivided into different styles such as large baskets, small baskets, wide mouths, and narrow mouths.

Samkin used a carriage to pull up the basket and exchanged it with farmers in nearby villages for grain.

At first, the carriage only went to the villages in Wolf Town because they were close. However, the demand for baskets from the farmers in Wolf Town soon became saturated, and the basket-making capacity of the labor camp was increasing day by day, so Samkin had to send carriages to neighboring towns.

In order to sell more, Samutin was sold very cheaply. The two bamboo craftsmen in Wolf Town were quickly squeezed out. They really couldn't compete with the free raw materials, free labor and the production method of "one person only does the same job".

A bamboo craftsman was recruited by Samujin and came to the labor camp to work as a supervisor. Another bamboo craftsman's family had land, and weaving baskets and mats was to supplement his family's income.

The bamboo craftsmen in Blackwater Town and Five Mastiff Town are about to follow in the footsteps of their counterparts in Wolf Town.

The reputation of the labor camp spread quickly, and even merchants from Shenk Town drove their carriages to purchase goods.

Samutin ruthlessly destroyed the "household-by-household" production tradition in rural areas, but he did not realize this. He was just trying his best to maintain the operation of the labor camp.

Although Ivan was Samkin's "accomplice", he failed to look at this issue from a higher perspective. To be honest, he was just doing work in exchange for rations, deducting working hours, and making some money on the way.

Ivan checked the previous day's products and picked out those that were obviously of substandard quality - he even let the ones that were so-so go, but some prisoners were just too much.

After the inspection, he went to inspect each cell as usual. Today Ivan is more like half a guard than a prisoner.

A real guard came over and patted him on the shoulder affectionately: "Brother Ivan!"

"What's the matter? Sir Hamil?" Ivan knew who it was when he heard the voice.

"Chief Samukin asked you to go over." Hamil reminded in a low voice: "Master Montagne is here and wants to see you by name."

Ivan walked toward the camp anxiously, thinking wildly all the way. Finally, he walked outside Samkin's office and hesitated for a long time before knocking on the door with difficulty.

"Please come in." It was the voice of Chief Samukin.

Ivan swallowed and pushed the door open. He saw Chief Samukin and "Lord Montagne" chatting happily.

Winters turned around and saw Sergeant Gévaudin again, who was famous for drinking and beating his wife.

Winters looked at the former sergeant carefully - he was so thin that his neck, shoulders, and wrists were all skin and bones. His old clothes looked like rags hanging on the branches; only one of his hands was particularly thick. The knuckles were swollen.

"Are you the Ivan who likes to beat his wife?" Winters asked with a slight frown.

Ivan would be awakened by this voice in his dreams. The owner of this voice once dragged him out of the room like a dead dog and smashed three of his molars with one punch. He trembled all over and didn't dare to answer.

This is because Ivan wronged Winters. It was obviously Pierre who beat Ivan that night. Winters just asked, and he asked Pierre to be gentle.

However, Ivan's memory has long been confused, so he identified it as the blood wolf Montagne, and this misunderstanding may not be resolved until his death.

Seeing the other party's shivering look, Winters sighed.

He said to the prisoner with emotion: "Your wife is really... amazing. I heard that you are still alive. Your wife holds a child and leads a child. She stands at the gate of the garrison every day to petition for pardon. Every day from She was stuck in traffic from morning to night, and I didn’t know what she was eating or drinking. It was really annoying.”

After hearing Winters' words, Ivan's eyes were dull and his limbs were stiff, as if his soul had been shattered.

"What's wrong with you and your wife?" Winters raised his chin and asked with great interest: "I heard that you beat your wife every time you get drunk, so that the neighbors across the street can hear it. Just like this, your wife still You will never leave her. And you beat such a good wife every once in a while. Are you possessed by the evil spirit, or is she? "

Ivan lowered his head deeply.

Winters turned to look at Samkin: "Is this some special custom of you Plato people? Drinking alcohol, beating your wife, and trying to save the other party from death?"

"How can you use 'you'?" Samujin felt extremely aggrieved: "My family just moved here ten years ago!"

"Okay." Winters smiled and picked up a piece of paper from the table and knocked it on the prisoner: "This is the first pardon list, and you are not in it. According to my opinion, you should continue to be detained. When you have done enough work, when will I let you go?"

Ivan tried to swallow, but his mouth was dry.

"But Samkin said you were very diligent and had a good attitude." Winters picked up the quill pen, scrawled the prisoner's name at the end of the list, and said coldly: "It's also because of your wife's petition— -you're free."

Ivan still stood stiffly.

"Why are you still standing?" Winters raised his eyebrows slightly: "Let's go!"

Samkin stood up, patted Ivan on the shoulder, sent the latter outside the door, and said to the latter: "The pardon will be officially announced tomorrow, and then a carriage will take you back to Gevaudan."

Ivan nodded gratefully.

"Go." Samujin waved his hand: "Just clean up."

Winters watched Samkin go out and come back. Although his expression was calm, his mood was a little turbulent. Not for the prisoner, but for Samkin.

Samkin Sopkin is his old Wolf Town subordinate, one of his most trusted and capable subordinates. When he only had about thirty people, Samujin was already the ten-capion commander, one of the three ten-capion commanders he had selected early on.

The other two captains are Wahika and Tamas, the latter is now the first company commander of the Tiefeng County Infantry Regiment.

If Samutin also goes to Jevaudan, then the position of first company commander should be his. But at that time, there were a large number of prisoners in Wolf Town who needed to be controlled, and Samkin was the only person with this ability, and he had been responsible for managing the prisoners.

So Samkin stayed in Wolf Town. He missed the Battle of Gevaudan, the Battle of Hammerfort, and the reorganization of his troops.

Winters felt guilty about Samkin.

He had many things to do when he returned to Wolf Town, but his original motivation to find the brick-burners Sean and Xiao Ping brothers fell into the background.

He wants to come and see Bud, he wants to abduct Carman, he wants to put Bentine on trial in Wolf Town, he wants to talk to Ronald and others... and he wants to take Samutin to Gevaudan. go.

"I've seen this kind of thing too many times." Samujin walked back with a smile: "Everyone in the village knows that if a couple fights and tries to stop them, they will be scolded by both of them. In fact, you don't have to speak for Ivan's wife at all. .Since that woman is petitioning you, she deserves to be beaten to death."

"Just don't block the door." Winters smiled bitterly: "She blocks the door of the camp every day, which makes me have to climb over the wall."

Samkin laughed.

Winters looked at Samutin and said with emotion: "You can manage hundreds of people with dozens of people and still get output. You manage this labor camp really well...beyond my imagination."

"You're just messing around, just don't blame me." Samujin scratched his hair in embarrassment: "I've been having a headache recently, and I don't know what to do."

"What?"

"There are too many people." Samkin pointed to the prison area and said helplessly: "Some people have already started to form gangs - the Jevodan people, the North Eight Towns, and the South Eight Towns. There was a fight last week, and I I wonder if I let them eat too much!”

"If you can touch this point, it means you are stronger than all the company commanders." Winters was no longer satisfied, but surprised. He deliberately reminded Samutin: "I remembered something that I didn't understand before, but now I can see it." Something is out of the ordinary. Do you know Hailan’s pier?”

Winters recounted the rivalries, strife, and battles of the Monta, Waan, and Platoon people at Sealand Docks.

Samujin listened carefully and asked: "You mean, the people above the dock workers deliberately divided them into three groups and asked them to fight each other? So I should also..."

Winters turned over the paper and drew a triangle on the back: "It's not necessarily 'deliberate', it's more likely to be 'laissez-faire'. Customs didn't want to directly manage all the dock workers, and they didn't want to see the dock workers forming a group. So the gang and associations fill that space.”

As he spoke, Winters divided the triangle into three layers and wrote Customs, Gangs, and Longshoremen respectively.

"What are the benefits of doing this?" Winters asked in guidance.

Samujin bit his lip: "Uh...it's easy to manage when people fight against each other?"

"What's the downside?"

"There are fewer people who are actually doing the work." Samujin thought hard: "And... it's very dangerous. You don't know when the small gang will get out of control. In the fight last week, two people were maimed, and I hanged two more. , suddenly there are four less capable people."

"Then what are you going to do?" Winters put down his pen.

"Now that I can control them, I think it's better to let the prisoners understand that there is only one fist in the labor camp. If I can't control them, I will find a way to separate them."

"Very good, really very good." Winters sat up straight, put away his smile, and called the name: "Samkin Sopkin!"

Samkin stood up suddenly as if he were sitting on a soldering iron: "Here we go!"

"The pardon of the prisoners is ostensibly in response to the petition of Jevaudan and the Eight North Towns." Winters said word for word: "Actually, I don't care about the prisoners. I am here to liberate you!"

Winters took out an iron arrow from his arms and said in a solemn tone: "An iron arrow is ten small arrows, now called a company, with a total of one hundred and twenty people. This iron arrow - is yours." "

Samu Jin looked at Tie Jian with a sore nose.

"The troops have been organized, and it is difficult to integrate them directly. So I plan to set up another military police company, and you will be the commander of this company."

"I..." Samujin choked up, tears welling up in his eyes: "You still remember me, Centurion."

"No, I don't want you to be the commander of the military police company now." Winters exerted force on his hand, and the iron arrow broke with a "bang".

Winters slapped the broken arrow on the table: "One hundred and twenty people, you are so wronged! I will give you one thousand, two hundred people!"

"One thousand two hundred?" Samujin was stunned.

"That's 1,200 people." Winters laughed proudly: "But it's not 1,200 soldiers, but 1,200 prisoners, prisoners from Wargne County. There is no one in Gevaudan, so I have to take charge personally. Large labor camp. But looking at it now, you are qualified to shoulder this heavy burden. Your official position is still company commander, but the number of people under your command will be ten times that of other company commanders. Pack your bags and follow me back to Gevaudan the day after tomorrow!"

"Then...what about the labor camp in Wolf Town?"

"All those who have not been pardoned will be moved away and put together with the 1,200 prisoners you want to take over. Take them all to Forge Township, where the troops are stationed."

"What should we do with the captive officers of Gévaudan?" Samkin looked troubled: "Are they also taken to Forge Township? Are they too close to Gévaudan?"

Winters also had a headache when he mentioned this matter: "They should continue to stay in Wolf Town. You allocate some reliable personnel to Lieutenant Bader and let Lieutenant Bader take care of them first."

Samkin raised his hand in salute.

Winters sighed. He had no intention of hiding his true thoughts: "Two hundred people, I don't know if you can manage a large labor camp of this size. I want to mine the Tiefeng Mine again, and I want to organize a logging team. Also Many things are expected to be done with these prisoners. Therefore, this position is very important, and I would not trust anyone else."

Samkin leaned forward, pursed his lips, and looked nervous.

"Don't be so sullen, why are you so serious?" Winters smiled easily: "You fought with me all the way, are you even afraid of me?"

Samkin forced out a smile, but his cheeks were still stiff.

"But I can't do everything myself. Sooner or later you have to share my responsibilities. I think you are ready to challenge more important responsibilities. You are also the first person in my old department to take on such responsibilities. Let go Go ahead and let me tell you the truth."

Winters casually threw the two broken arrows to Samkin, and said with a helpless smile: "If you don't do well in the big labor camp, you can find a blacksmith to put this iron arrow together, and then come back and continue to work as a military policeman for me. Company Commander.”

Samujin held the iron arrow, remained silent for a long time, then stood up and saluted.

Winters also stood up and returned the greeting solemnly.

…

When he left the labor camp, Winters felt relaxed and settled another worry.

He hadn't had time to put Bentine on trial, nor had he had time to talk to Major Ronald, but these were minor matters.

After arranging Samkin's whereabouts, Winters only had one big thing left to do when he came to Wolf Town - to kidnap dear Father Carman to Gevaudan.

Winters is not anxious about this matter at all. He has not even spoken to Kaman alone yet.

Because he knew very well that he wanted to kidnap Kaman to Gevaudan... Well, the key to this matter is not Kaman.

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[The process of the labor camps defeating the bamboo craftsmen of Langzhen is the process of the handicraft workshops defeating the rural self-employed]

[It’s not a factory, it’s still far from the industrial revolution]

[Factories refer to large-scale manual workshops in the embryonic stage of capitalist development; factories refer to modern production methods of mechanized production. ]

[The core of industrialization is the change in the source of power. Using human power as the prime mover cannot be called "industrialization" in any case, it can only be called handicraft industry]

[As for the assembly line, the real assembly line was invented by Ford. However, the concepts of "decentralized production" and "centralized assembly" have been used in industries such as shipbuilding for a long time]

[The concept of division of labor did not appear after industrialization. Manual workshops are the product of division of labor among many people. There were manual workshops in the Qin Dynasty and ancient Rome, but they had nothing to do with industry]

[Please allow the author to give an example of the ship outfitting operation carried out on the 16th day of the Venice Arsenal: the keel and hull were built in the new arsenal, and then went down the river to the old arsenal. "The corresponding assembly was done through each workshop in order. First the rigging, then the Storage facilities, then swords, then projectiles and artillery...everything was outfitted one after another." This description completely feels like a vehicle assembly line, but it is not an industry, it is still a handicraft industry]

[The title of Chapter 12 of Volume 1 of "Das Kapital" - Division of Labor and Handicraft Industry, the content is about handicraft workshops]