My life skills in Daming Liver

On June 25, Yan Jun and Tong An formally organized the employees of Wang Gong Factory to go on strike. Employees in the three workshops responded and demanded that Mingting pay arrears of wages and improve the wages of employees.

Nearly a quarter of the entire Wang Gong Factory's employees participated in the strike. They refused to go to work and used a printing press to print leaflets and distribute them in the streets of the capital.

Zhang Juzheng received the report from Wang Gong Factory and immediately refused to negotiate with the striking employees of Wang Gong Factory.

Zhang Juzheng severely called the general office of Wang Gongchang to Zhongshu Province and gave him a severe punishment.

The general office of Wang Gong Factory was an eunuch. He was Feng Bao's godson, and he finally took the position of the general office of Wang Gong Factory.

He was standing in front of Zhang Juzheng at this time. Facing Zhang Juzheng's anger, little Eunuch Feng lowered his head and said:

"We have already calculated that even if we meet the demands of these workers, it won't cost much money."

Zhang Juzheng immediately glared and said: "Bold! This is a major military and national event, how can you and others participate in it?"

Little Eunuch Feng suddenly knelt down.

Feng Bao was Zhang Juzheng's political ally. This young Eunuch Feng was considered effective among the general offices of government-run workshops.

Zhang Juzheng put away his anger and said: "This is not a problem of a government-run workshop in Wanggong Factory! If the court gives in on the issue of wage arrears, will other workshops also go on strike? Then where is the prestige of the court?"

Zhang Juzheng added: "Half of my official salary has not been paid. Officials from the first to the ninth rank in the capital owe half of their salaries. Should they go on strike?"

Zhang Juzheng said: "No matter what, this strike cannot be negotiated. Go recruit and train new workers now, and fire all employees who participated in the strike!"

Little Eunuch Feng said bravely:

"Prime Minister, now that we are recruiting workers, we have to retrain them and resume production in the short term, I'm afraid?"

Zhang Juzheng immediately said: "I don't care what method you use, these employees who participated in the strike must not be used anymore! Recruit new employees and put them into production immediately!"

Little Eunuch Feng was about to open his mouth to persuade again, but when he saw Zhang Juzheng's fierce eyes, he swallowed his words abruptly.

After sending little Eunuch Feng away, Zhang Juzheng also slumped down on his chair.

Wang Gong Factory is just one of the thirteen large government-run workshops. If their needs are met because of the strike, the remaining government-run workshops will follow suit.

Even other small and medium-sized workshops in the capital will follow suit.

Nowadays, the troops in Jiubian need to be armed, and the troops need to be mobilized to North Korea to quell the rebellion on Jeju Island as soon as possible. These all require money, and the court really has no money.

Zhang Juzheng called the governor of Shuntian Prefecture to the Prime Minister Zhongshu's house again, scolded the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture severely, and ordered him to arrest the person who led the strike.

A newspaper ban was also issued to the capital. Unless they were officially published newspapers, the printing and posting of all tabloids was prohibited, and those who spread tabloids were also arrested and imprisoned.

Zhang Juzheng finished all this, and on June 27, he finally suppressed the strike at Wang Gong Factory for the time being.

But the already tense emotions had already planted the seeds of fire.

July 2nd.

Wang Gong Factory's A-size warehouse is a warehouse for gunpowder that has been pre-configured by Wang Gong Factory.

According to the production process of Wang Gong Factory, sulfur and nitrate will be stored in the A-size warehouse in the city after being mixed. The pre-configured gunpowder produced in the A-size warehouse must be sent to a workshop outside the city to be mixed with toner before it can be turned into gunpowder. into gunpowder.

In order to control the gunpowder workshop, the Ming court set up Wang Gong's factory in the capital city.

This was done to prevent the gunpowder workshop from being located outside the city. In the event of a rebellion, the rebels would capture Wang Gong Factory and use the gunpowder from Wang Gong Factory to attack the city.

However, the gunpowder workshop set up in the city is just an explosive barrel. For the sake of production safety, the gunpowder is divided into two parts.

The gunpowder pre-configured in Wang Gong's factory needs to be added with toner in dozens of small workshops outside the city to turn it into real gunpowder.

These small workshops received pre-configured gunpowder in the morning and shipped it away immediately after production in the afternoon. This approach not only ensured the safety of Wang Gong's factory, but also allowed the Ming court to control the gunpowder.

This model originally worked well, but recently it was broken.

Because a quarter of the striking employees were fired, newly recruited employees were driven to work before they had completed safety training.

The old workers in the original warehouse were transferred to the production workshop to ensure the production of gunpowder. The current workers in the A-size warehouse are all newly recruited workers.

The workers who were originally responsible for transporting gunpowder outside the city were also the main force in the strike. Now these workers have been fired. Little Eunuch Feng has no choice. Now he can no longer maintain the original production model.

So he directly asked people to mix the toner in the No. A warehouse, then mix the gunpowder and transport it out of the city immediately.

The newly recruited employees were not familiar with the production process and their work efficiency was very low. As a result, a large amount of prepared gunpowder was piled in the A-size warehouse and could not be transported out of the city immediately.

Many of the hired workers were originally refugees from around the capital, and most of them were illiterate.

They have no safety training and don’t even know what they are producing.

As the temperature in the capital increased, a large amount of gunpowder accumulated, and there was no timely ventilation and heat dissipation.

At noon on July 2, a flame ignited in the squeezed gunpowder.

Almost instantly, a huge explosion occurred in the entire A-size warehouse!

A black cloud rose from near the city wall of the capital, and flames began to sweep through other workshops!

The entire Wang Gong factory was filled with flammable sulfur, saltpeter and charcoal, as well as a large amount of half-mixed gunpowder.

Because a large number of experienced employees were fired, old workers were assigned to the production department, and normal safety inspections were all removed. These flammables and explosives filled the entire Wanggong factory.

The people in the capital felt a sudden tremor, and Xiangzi, who was pulling a cart, almost stumbled and fell.

When Tong An heard the explosion, he immediately jumped out of the green car. He quickly determined that the explosion was from Wang Gong Factory!

Oops!

Tong An immediately said to Xiangzi: "Quick! Go to Wang Gong Factory!"

Xiangzi was very familiar with the traffic in the capital. He looked up and saw the direction of the black clouds and knew that this was Wang Gong's factory. He quickly said to Tong An:

"Mr. Tong, the place where the smoke is coming from should be Wang Gong Factory. It's dangerous over there!"

Tong An immediately jumped out of the car, took out some copper coins from his arms and said, "That's right, I'll just go by myself. This is the fare!"

After saying this, Tong An immediately ran towards Wang Gongchang.

Outside the capital, Yan Jun was wanted by the Shuntian Prefecture police for organizing a strike at Wang Gong Factory. He was hiding outside the city and discussing countermeasures with the strikers at Wang Gong Factory.

After hearing the explosion, the straw from the roof of the thatched house where Yan Jun and the others were located was shaken off. Yan Jun immediately walked out of the house and saw black smoke rising from above Wang Gongchang.

The key employees around him immediately said: "No! It's Wang Gong Factory!"

Yan Jun also quickly confirmed that there was a big explosion in Wanggong Factory. He immediately said: "Go, gather the workers, and go to Wanggong Factory for rescue immediately!"

Several key members immediately took action. At this time, one of Yan Jun's disciples said: "Sir! You'd better not go, you are wanted by Shuntian Mansion!"

Yan Jun blew his beard and said, "How could I not go!"

After saying this, Yan Jun ignored the dissuasion of his disciples and rushed to Wanggong Factory with these key workers.

When he arrived in front of Wang Gong's factory, Yan Jun also took a breath.

Wang Gongchang is next to the city wall of the capital, and the city wall of the capital is very tall, but a gap has been blown open at this time.

Black smoke was still hovering above Wang Gong Factory, flames enveloped the entire Wang Gong Factory, and people's wailing could be heard everywhere.

Not only Wang Gong Factory, but also the surrounding residential buildings were destroyed by the explosion. The entire residential area in the southwest of the capital was also ignited by the flames falling from the sky. It was like a hell-like scene. Even Yan Jun, who had experienced the Huainan flood, I also feel cold in my hands and feet.

Yan Jun immediately said to the workers beside him:

"There may be an explosion! Let's divert water from the moat to extinguish the fire, and then go into the workshop for search and rescue!"

Tong An, who rushed from the city to the vicinity of Wang Gong Factory, also began to organize the people near Wang Gong Factory to start saving themselves, and began to launch rescue operations inside Wang Gong Factory.

When he heard the explosion of Wang Gong Factory, the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture immediately trembled with fear. When he saw the rising black smoke, he knew that his political future was over.

Zhang Juzheng treated his subordinates very harshly. Although Wang Gong's factory was a government-run workshop, Wang Gong's factory was located in the capital city, so he must be responsible for the explosion.

Not to mention the nearby people who were affected by the disaster, all of which he was responsible for.

The prefect of Shuntian Prefecture could only send out officials to inquire about the situation of Wang Gong Factory, hoping that the losses would be smaller.

But as the news came back, the hands and feet of the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture became colder and colder.

The entire Wang Gong Factory was destroyed by the explosion. Little Feng Gonggong, the eunuch of the Wang Gong Factory's general office, was not sure whether he was alive or dead. The entire west side of the capital city was affected by the disaster, and tens of thousands of people were affected!

From Fuchengmen in the east to Xingbu Street in the north, houses in the capital were shaken, and the mansions of many dignitaries even collapsed.

What made the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture's hands and feet even colder was the maintenance project of the three main halls that had been suspended. Due to the explosion, all the wooden frames of the main hall collapsed, and even people inside the palace were injured!

The prefect of Shuntian Prefecture knew that he was doomed. Such a disaster could not be saved by Shuntian Prefecture alone.

While requesting rescue from the cabinet, he wrote a memorial to the cabinet.

The cabinet had also received news of the explosion at Wang Gong Factory. Zhang Juzheng looked to the west of the city in shock, his hands and feet were cold.

The Wang Gong Factory was the largest gunpowder production workshop in the Ming Dynasty. Such an explosion affected tens of thousands of people and worsened the already precarious financial situation of the Ming Dynasty.