Chapter 42: Don’t Forget What It’s Like to Be Human after Being a Slave for Too Long
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Superintendent Zhou, why do we have to carve a zero on the handles?” Zhang Yibei asked curiously.
For three consecutive days, they had barely slept or rested. From the moment they opened their eyes, they began to forge weapons with Zhou Shu, and they only stopped late at night.
As for Xiao Zongshui, Li Hongyuan, and the other superintendents, they took care of all the logistics so that Zhang Yibei and the other Forging Apprentices could focus on forging.
The effect was very obvious. On the fifth day, Zhang Yibei and the others had familiarized themselves with the forging process of the Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Saber and the Horse Slaying Saber.
Now, this group of people could already be leaders and lead other Forging Apprentices to forge.
Of course, the success rate was not necessarily high.
It was impossible to be like Zhou Shu and succeed every time.
But there were a total of 39 people like Zhang Yibei. If they split up, each of them could lead 40 to 50 people to forge at the same time.
As long as they succeeded once, there would be dozens of weapons. If the apprentices led by these 39 people all succeeded once, there would be over a thousand of them.
If everything went smoothly, completing Meng Bai’s mission shouldn’t be too difficult.
The only drawback of this method was that there were too many people that needed to be mobilized. If the 39 people were assigned 40 people each, it would be over 1,000 people.
If not for Great General Meng’s orders, it would be impossible for Zhou Shu to mobilize so many Forging Apprentices.
Among all the workshops in the Forging Division, the largest one only had about 1,000 people. And they also had their daily tasks to complete, so it wasn’t easy to mobilize them.
In addition to Meng Bai’s military order, Xiao Zongshui, Li Hongyuan, and the others were afraid that Zhou Shu would get even with them. This was why they were willing to hand over all their Forging Apprentices.
“This is called branding,” Zhou Shu explained. “When powerful forgers forge weapons, they will leave their own imprints on the weapons to show that the weapons are made by them.
“Although we are only Forging Apprentices, we should have this awareness. The zero means these weapons are produced by our 0th Workshop, and our 0th Workshop is responsible for their quality.
“We want everyone to remember that all the weapons produced by our 0th Workshop are of the highest quality.
“Therefore, all of you have to be careful. None of the weapons forged this time can be flawed. Otherwise, it will ruin the reputation of our 0th Workshop!
“Right now, we are just starting out. One day, we will make our name resound like the first thirty-six workshops of the Forging Division. At that time, you will understand what this means.”
Zhang Yibei nodded, but he didn’t fully understand what Zhou Shu meant.
It wasn’t just him who didn’t understand. Xiao Zongshui and the other superintendents felt their mouths twitch when they heard this. How dare you compare yourself to the first thirty-six workshops of the Forging Division? In those workshops, the worst are all Forging Masters.
“Superintendent, why do we have to split everyone into three groups? We can work sixteen hours a day!” Sixth Brother Wu asked loudly.
“If I find out that anyone dares to do this, I’ll make them leave the 0th Workshop!” Zhou Shu’s expression sank as he coldly said, “In the three groups, each person will lead forty people and use the same batch of smelting furnaces. Once a group finishes forging, regardless of success or failure, they will immediately rest and switch to the next group.
“Like this, each group will only forge for eight hours a day! They will rest for the remaining time in the day!
“This is an order. If anyone can’t do it, then find another job. Our 0th Workshop can’t keep such a talent!”
Sixth Brother Wu’s face was deathly pale. He didn’t know why Zhou Shu was so angry. When they worked at the other workshops, working 16 to 18 hours a day was normal.
He had only said it to express his loyalty.
The mission was so tight. How could they afford to rest for so long?
They only had to work for 8 hours a day and could rest the remaining 16 hours. This was too extravagant. Even the donkeys in the workshops wouldn’t dare to do this.
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He felt that it was already a blessing to be able to work for sixteen hours a day. Once upon a time, he had to work up to twenty hours a day!
“Superintendent, please rest assured. We will strictly follow your rules,” Zhang Yibei hurriedly said while tugging Sixth Brother Wu’s sleeve, hinting for him to apologize.
Sixth Brother Wu came back to his senses and hurriedly knelt. “Superintendent, I’m sorry!”
Although he still didn’t quite understand, the superintendent was always right. The superintendent would never be wrong!
“Get up!” Zhou Shu said. “I’ve said it before. You rely on your skills to make a living, not on anyone’s favor. Don’t kneel so easily!
“Don’t forget what it’s like to be human after being a slave for too long!”
The Forging Apprentices kept quiet out of fear. They didn’t even dare to breathe loudly.
In the distance, Xiao Zongshui, Li Hongyuan, and the others also looked at each other in confusion.
Zhang Yibei and the Forging Apprentices couldn’t figure it out. As superintendents, they couldn’t figure it out either.
To let the Forging Apprentices work for only 8 hours a day and rest for 16?
Were they mobilized to enjoy themselves?
If Forging Apprentices worked this way, how could they complete their forging tasks? Who would do it?
With such working hours, it would be strange if they would be able to forge 3,000 Huben Sabers, 1,000 Hundred Refinements Ring Pommel Sabers, and 500 Horse Slaying Sabers a month!
Superintendent Zhou was really daring. They were already at this juncture, yet he only allowed the Forging Apprentices to work 8 hours a day.
Even they didn’t dare to say that they could rest sixteen hours a day.
Were they still considered Forging Apprentices like this?
Such a relaxed life was probably comparable to that of Forging Masters and Grand Craftsmen.
Zhou Shu didn’t care what these people were thinking. To him, forging was both technical and physical work. If Forging Apprentices worked too many hours a day, it would be harmful to their bodies.
Eight hours of high-intensity physical labor was quite a lot of work.
If they worked longer, it might not be obvious in a short period of time. But over time, the Forging Apprentices would definitely collapse.
Didn’t his predecessor exhaust himself to death like this?
Therefore, Zhou Shu came up with this three-shift system. The smelting furnaces wouldn’t stop, and the three waves of Forging Apprentices would take turns working.
At any other time, he might not have been able to make such a bold attempt.
After all, if it was just the 0th Workshop, even if he wanted to improve the conditions of Forging Apprentices, he wouldn’t risk failing the forging mission.
It was different now. With General Meng’s mission, he could mobilize all the resources from the 37th to the 108th Workshops, including manpower.
This allowed him to have enough Forging Apprentices. Even if there were three shifts, he could guarantee that there would be enough people forging at the same time.
Only then could he ensure that he could complete Great General Meng’s mission.
If he failed the mission, the punishment wouldn’t be a joke.
Xiao Zongshui, Li Hongyuan, and the others were afraid of Great General Meng’s punishment, and so was Zhou Shu. He didn’t have any intention of knowing what the punishment involved.
It was through strict, precise calculations that Zhou Shu was certain that he could complete Great General Meng’s mission in a month. This was why he dared to make such an attempt.
“Superintendent Xiao, Superintendent Li, did you hear what I said?” Zhou Shu looked at Xiao Zongshui and the others.
“For this forging mission, the 0th workshop will be in charge of everything. I’ll send Zhang Yibei and the others to your respective workshops to assist in the forging. You need to ensure the manpower and other logistics work. As for what needs to be done, they will decide. You are not allowed to interfere, understand?”
“We understand!” Xiao Zongshui, Li Hongyuan, and the others said in low voices.
They would need to transfer a large number of people to help with the forging. This way, their workshop’s daily forging tasks would be somewhat difficult to complete.
From the looks of it, they could only increase the number of tasks for the other apprentices.
Zhou Shu’s gaze fell on the superintendents, and he immediately guessed what they were thinking.
He had already considered this problem when he decided to mobilize so many people from their workshops.
“I’ve already reported this to the great general. All the people I’ve taken away will be exempted from their original forging tasks within this month,” Zhou Shu said in a deep voice. “So you don’t need to think about oppressing the other Forging Apprentices.”
“No.” Xiao Zongshui and the others smiled awkwardly. “We just think that your management method might be effective, Superintendent Zhou.”
They actually couldn’t understand why Zhou Shu would do this.
Even though Zhou Shu had explained to them that this would be better for the Forging Apprentices’ health and allow them to work for a few more years, Xiao Zongshui and the others didn’t care.
If the Forging Apprentices were exhausted, they could just recruit more people.
In any case, there was no need to worry about not being able to recruit people for the Forging Division’s workshops!
At most, it would take some effort to train them again.
Although Xiao Zongshui, Li Hongyuan, and the other superintendents had changed recently, it was impossible for them to completely get rid of their previous thoughts.
What Zhou Shu wanted to do was to make them treat Forging Apprentices as individuals. Then he would think of a way to convince the grand minister through the upper-level route. When the time came, he would then promote his management method to the other Forging Division’s workshops.
The premise was that he had to prove that the 8-hour shift method was indeed effective.
Otherwise, if it affected the supply of weapons from the Forging Division, it would affect the survival of the country.
“Superintendent Zhou, since you’ve already reported this to the great general, we will naturally obey your orders,” Xiao Zongshui and the others said. In any case, they just had followed Zhou Shu’s instructions. In the end, it wouldn’t be their responsibility if they couldn’t complete the mission.
“I hope so.” Zhou Shu nodded. “Follow what I said before. Everyone, move out!
“I will stay here. If there are any problems, send someone to inform me.”
Zhou Shu said in a low voice, “According to the completion of the mission, everyone will be rewarded.
“Of course, all of you won’t get it. All the superintendents are rich and overbearing. You will definitely not be interested in my little reward.
“At most, I’ll send you a silk banner.
“It will read ‘Hardworking and uncomplaining, highly meritorious and respectable, an old steed in the stable still aspires to gallop a thousand miles…’”
