Zheng Guozhu and the other four were shocked. Guo Zhiyuan had never served in the Ministry of Works, but he was assigned to the job in an orderly manner and hit the nail on the head. This made them look more excited about following Guo Zhiyuan, and bowed in unison and said, "We must do our best to live up to the entrusted lord!"

The military weapon manufacturing in the Ming Dynasty was divided into two parts: central and local. The military weapon manufacturing in the central government occupied a central position. Especially after the Ming Dynasty's Emperor Zhu Di ascended the throne, he attached great importance to military weapon manufacturing. Since the Yongle period, the Military Weapon Bureau in Beijing has become the center of military weapon manufacturing across the country.

The Military Weapon Bureau is under the management of Yu Heng Department of the Ministry of Works. The Military Weapon Bureau under the Yu Heng Department is not only responsible for the manufacture of cold weapons such as armor, waist knives, long spears, but also for the manufacture of hot and hot weapons such as muskets, guns and cannons. Even Western firearms such as Folang machine cannons can be imitated. After Xuande, an armor factory and Wang Gong Factory were added, among which Wang Gong Factory made fire and medicine.

In theory, since the Military Weapon Bureau manages such important national weapons, it should be a key department that is highly valued by the imperial court. However, as the national strength of the Ming Dynasty gradually declined, the scale of the Military Weapon Bureau became smaller and smaller, and the fees allocated by the imperial court to the Military Weapon Bureau were reduced every year, and Yu Hengsi, who was in charge of the Military Weapon Bureau, was increasingly not valued.

Guo Zhiyuan had already learned about this situation when he checked the information of the Ministry of Works in the morning. However, when Zheng Guozhu and Xu Jinglei brought him to the gate of the Military Weapon Bureau, he was still shocked by the dilapidation and desolation here. The walls on the long walls were all gone. Several crows stood on the dead trees with all leaves in the walls and shouted rattle. The plaque with the words "Military Weapon Bureau" hanging at the gate was almost finished painting. Is this the famous Ming Military Weapon Bureau?

Guo Zhiyuan did not see the guards at the door of the Military Weapon Bureau. Instead, there were loud shouts from the doorman beside him. The guards gathered in the doorman to gambling!

Zheng Guozhu was about to come forward to scold him, but Guo Zhiyuan waved his hand and signaled them not to alarm the guards. He walked around the gatehouse and entered the military weapon gate. The guards who were addicted to the gambling game were unaware of it!

After entering the gate of the Military Weapon Bureau, the area inside was quite large. Guo Zhiyuan turned inside for a while but couldn't touch a single person. Guo Zhiyuan frowned and turned to Zheng Guozhu behind him and asked: "How many craftsmen are there in the Military Weapon Bureau? Why can't you see people?..."

Zheng Guozhu replied a little embarrassedly: "The Military Weapon Bureau originally had 3,163 registered craftsmen, but in recent years, the imperial court has reduced the scale of the Military Weapon Bureau, and only 1,781 registered craftsmen are left. If the military weapon manufacturing task is tight, temporary craftsmen will be supplemented. This is the number of registered people, and the actual number may be less than this number..."

Guo Zhiyuan sneered. Zheng Guozhu said it was quite obscure, but he understood it. He was nothing more than just a salary, so he didn't say anything. He continued to lead everyone in. Finally, he heard the "dingdang, dingdang" knock. Zheng Guozhu took the initiative to introduce: "There is an armor manufacturing workshop in front. Do you want to go and have a look?"

Armor manufacturing is the focus of Guo Zhiyuan's inspection. Guo Zhiyuan nodded and took the lead and walked over quickly. There were more than a dozen craftsmen in the workshop making armor. When he saw Guo Zhiyuan and the others coming in, he just glanced casually, no one paid attention to it, and continued to knock on the iron piece of armor in his hand weakly.

There were several piles of finished armor products piled up in the corner of the workshop. Guo Zhiyuan walked over and picked up a pair of built-in chain mail. He felt something was wrong when he bought it. It was light and rough. The gap between the armor pieces was very large and it could not achieve the protective effect at all. Guo Zhiyuan handed the chain mail in his hand to Zheng Guozhu and asked in a deep voice: "Mr. Zheng, do you think this armor is considered qualified?..."

Zheng Guozhu took the chain mail and took it in his hand and weighed it. His face changed. He frowned and said, "According to the standard mailing, the weight of the standard mailing must not be lighter than forty kilograms. The weight of this mail is less than half, which is obviously unqualified..." As he said that, he carefully checked it and then said, "The name of the craftsman was not engraved on the craftsman according to the Scriptures. The gap between the mailings is so large, it is too rough!..."

As a member of the Yu Heng Shi Wailang, Zheng Guozhu also knew about the loose management of the Military Weapon Bureau, but he did not expect the situation to be so serious. He immediately picked up the set of mail and shouted to the craftsmen: "Who made this armor?..."

The craftsmen were still weakly grinding foreign craftsmen, and no one paid attention to Zheng Guozhu. Zheng Guozhu was a little worried and said angrily: "Where is your ambassador (ambassador: official position, the head of the Military Weapons Bureau, the ninth rank)? Let him come to see me!..."

Seeing that Zheng Guozhu claimed to be his official, the craftsmen glanced at him again, but they were not very frightened and said lazily: "The ambassador is not here. If you want to find him, you should not come here. You have to go to the Bada Hutong (in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the Bada Hutong had become the prototype of a famous place for seeking flowers and asking about willow flowers. It said that going to the Bada Hutong is mostly just a prostitute) to look for it!..."

Zheng Guozhu became even more angry when he heard this. The ambassador of the Military Weapons was working as a job as a prostitute. This was too lawless. He emphasized and said, "It's simply outrageous! Is that deputy envoy here? Lord Guo, the Minister of Works, is here! Go and call him here quickly!..."

The dozen craftsmen then showed surprise. Although they had never seen a third-rank or above court official visiting the Military Weapons Bureau, they knew how old the Minister of Works was. A middle-aged man with a beard put down the hammer in his hand and shouted at a young craftsman near the door: "Goudan, go and call the deputy envoy, and say that the senior official has come to the Ministry of Works!..."

The young craftsman responded and ran out quickly to call people. The other craftsmen also put down the hammers in their hands and looked at Guo Zhiyuan and others with some anxiety. Guo Zhiyuan was also looking at these craftsmen carefully. The craftsmen had thick calluses on their hands, and they were generally over forty years old. They should be experienced old craftsmen. Why did the armor they made was so rough? Then they smiled at the bearded middle-aged man who answered and asked, "Are you the craftsman here?"

Although the middle-aged man with bearded faces this first time seeing a high-ranking official like Guo Zhiyuan, he was not very panicked. He clasped his fists and said, "The villain Li Tiechu has met the adults. The Shangguan of this armor workshop has not designated a craftsman. However, the villain has been a craftsman in the Military Weapon Bureau for generations. His ancestors also made armor for Emperor Chengzu. Therefore, if there are any problems in the workshop, they are all villains, so they can be regarded as craftsman!..."
Chapter completed!