[Well, it’s really not too early...]

After Baochai passed his life, more than ten days passed in the blink of an eye.

That morning, Jiao Shun went to inspect the elementary school again. Afterwards, he hosted a banquet as usual for all the craftsmen and some of the top working-study students. But what was different from the past was that this time he specially selected a few who had performed well in military training.

As mentioned earlier, Jiao Shun had already set up a military training curriculum for elementary school with several outstanding retired officers years ago, so the formal military training for the work-study students started in the first month of the year.

After three drinks and five dishes, Jiao Shun put down his chopsticks and coughed lightly, and everyone at the table gradually became quiet.

After there was silence, Jiao Shun looked around and raised his voice: "As the saying goes, all the banquets in the world come to an end. You enrolled in school on April 19th last year and were expected to graduate in one year. Now it is less than a hundred days away from graduation. It is also

It’s time to consider your future after graduation.”

It was not just once or twice that he delivered a speech during the banquet, but his speech this time undoubtedly attracted unprecedented attention.

It was a matter of future and destiny, and all the engineering students pricked up their ears in unison, and their eyes looked at Jiao Shun eagerly, fearfully, or confused.

Jiao Shun paused for a moment, then said calmly: "We are not serious scholars, and there is no friendship between me and you to preach, learn, and resolve doubts, but I am responsible for this work-study program."

I get up, and no matter how busy or tired I am, I never stop going back and forth for inspections. Over the past six months, I have already regarded you as my disciples."

"Although we are not yet at the point where we are both prosperous and devastated, I sincerely hope that all of you will have a bright future, so I will spare no effort to help where I can!"

Everyone who spoke these words was very excited, and some of them who had the urge to "make progress" even had the courage to call out "mentor".

After all, most of them came from ordinary families, and their family capital connections were almost non-existent. Normally, they would be lucky to be a foreman in their lifetime.

Now they are regarded as disciples by a high-ranking official in the imperial court, and he promises to spare no effort to help them find a future. How can everyone not be overjoyed and shed tears of gratitude?!

But at this time Jiao Shun poured cold water on him again: "As a rule, officials in the workshop have a quota, and even I have no right to increase it, so after you graduate and return to the workshop, you will probably have to start from

It starts with the nameless 'supervisor and order'."

This so-called "supervisor and order" is actually similar to the team leader of later generations, that is, the kind of small foreman who is not out of work, but is responsible for supervising work and assigning work.

For ordinary workers, being able to serve as such a small foreman before the age of twenty is already considered a winner in life.

But if you want to completely get rid of the shackles and truly join the official class, there is a gap in the sky.

Generally speaking, if you want to cross this chasm, you not only need to gain seniority and accumulate merit, but also need to open up relationships with upper-level people, so that you can stand out from your peers.

And this will obviously be a long race, and many people may not be able to achieve it even in their lifetime.

If such a future were stated directly and directly, the work-study students might be happy to accept it, but with Jiao Shun's foreshadowing just now, they couldn't help but have more and greater expectations.

He is obviously regarded as a protégé by the powerful Mr. Jiao, but if he still has to work under the hands of those unscrupulous officials, wouldn’t his role as a protégé be in vain?!

At this time, Jiao Shun raised three fingers and raised his voice again: "So I have tried my best to find three more ways out for you! First, those who are technically talented enough to stand out among the work-study students

, you can enter the inner workshop of the Ministry of Industry and continue to study with the master craftsmen. If you succeed in your studies in the future, those who are good enough to stay as officials in the Ministry of Works, and those who are not qualified can also be transferred to the workshop as officials."

As for the fate of poor students, it goes without saying that they will definitely be in vain. They will either continue to work as apprentices or do odd jobs, or they will simply be kicked out of the inner workshop.

But if you have talent and enter the inner circle, how can you think that you are a poor student?

Therefore, the most talented ones are gearing up for this matter, thinking only about how glorious they will be in front of their relatives and friends if they become officials based on their abilities in the future.

Jiao Shun bent one of his fingers and continued: "Secondly, on the first day of April, the elementary school will have a holiday in order to prepare to accept the next batch of work-study students - and all of you will temporarily enter the Ministry of Industry to observe politics.

Internship means following the clerk's office and officials of the Ministry of Industry and learning how to handle government affairs."

"Those who perform well can be retained by the Ministry of Works. After a few years of experience, those with the best performance can also become officials, while those with the best performance will have the opportunity to be transferred to the workshop as officials."

Compared with the former, the wording used by Jiao Shun on this road was obviously discounted. He added a supplementary explanation: Although on the surface, it seems that working as an assistant or secretary next to officials is easier to win the favor of the leaders.

Take it seriously, and then rise to the top.

But the problem is that most of these things are done by lower-level literati, and the officials who are qualified to help them rise to the top are basically from the imperial examination.

In the eyes of these non-commissioned officers, work-study students with a background of craftsmen are somewhat nondescript. Even with the care of "mentor" Jiao Shun, only a small number of them will stand out in the end.

On the contrary, it was the imperial court's established policy to select craftsmen from among the master craftsmen in the inner workshop. Coupled with the emperor's obvious inclination and Jiao Shun's encouragement, the probability of becoming an official was naturally much higher than the latter.

Of course, even if you can only work as a clerk in the Ministry of Industry, it is considered a level jump for ordinary workers, and it is not much worse than working as a clerk in a state-owned factory.

Just when the work-study students were secretly considering which of the two paths was more suitable for them, Jiao Shun once again crooked a finger, raised his remaining index finger and said: "Of these two paths, the former requires talent, and the latter

The latter takes up 'humanity', and as for the third way, it is diligence that can make up for one's weakness."

"After you return to the workshop after graduation, it will be difficult to replace the original officials according to common sense. However, I requested the imperial court years ago that each workshop must form its own picket team to be responsible for correcting the unhealthy practices in the factory visited.

, and isolate external interference.”

"The people responsible for preparing the picket team are naturally disabled and retired soldiers with meritorious service - I named them military representatives. Although these military representatives are skilled in the military, they don't know much about workshops, let alone this picket team.

We must also accept the command and control of our Ministry of Industry.”

"Therefore, in the next two months, those of you who have the best military training results, after being recommended by several military training instructors, will become the adjutants of the military representatives and assist them in preparing picket teams."

"As long as you perform well by then, the position of captain of the picket team will naturally belong to you. The grade of this position has not been determined yet, but I can guarantee that it will be a first-class person, probably either a ninth grade or from the ninth grade.

Taste!"

As soon as these words came out, there was an uproar at the table.

From the perspective of the ninth rank, these nine-rank officials may appear to be just petty officials, but in general, there are no more than five-finger-level officials in state-owned workshops - even in large factories, there are rarely more than ten-finger-level officials.

In addition, the picket captain holds real power and is responsible for coordinating the leadership and the military. It is basically equivalent to directly entering the core management level in one step!

This is said to be a way to make up for one's weakness through hard work, but in the eyes of the work-study students, this third path is clearly the real and upright road to heaven!

Therefore, after Jiao Shun finished talking about these three paths, almost everyone regarded the picket captain as their target. Anyway, they would not be able to compete with others by then, and there were two other retreats that they could try.

And this is exactly Jiao Shun's purpose.

Only by selecting the best among the work-study students and selecting those who are capable of shouldering heavy responsibilities can we ensure that they will indirectly control the picket team in the future and prevent the picket team from completely becoming the private property of the military or the factory.

After guiding the work-study students on the road, Jiao Shun drew a big cake for the craftsmen present, saying that he is currently taking the lead in negotiating with the Ministry of Rites to prepare to add a deputy director in charge of the work-study students in the elementary school.

This position will naturally be selected from among the craftsmen.

The craftsmen were naturally overjoyed when they had hope.

In short, the guest and the host enjoy themselves and everyone gets what they want.

After leaving the restaurant, Jiao Shun got into the carriage alone. Seeing the curtain fall, he couldn't help but smile to himself.

No one would have thought that he, the head of the Ministry of Industry, would think so hard to control military power, and even thought of changing the royal flag on top of the city because of this small picket team that had not yet been fully formed.

But among all people, who doesn’t have some delusions in his heart?

As long as you hide it well and don't let anyone see it, it's fine.

After calming down, Jiao Shun reviewed his afternoon schedule and found that the first important thing was to accompany people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to inspect the 'golden hoe' that the emperor would use in the next few days.

In later generations, he also heard the old farmer's story about the emperor using a golden hoe.

At the time, he only thought it was sad and ridiculous. Now that he has become the general manager of the Ministry of Works, he discovered that although the emperor did not use gold hoes, he did prepare a set of exclusive farming tools in preparation for participating in farming activities on February 1st every year.

It is also commonly known as ‘personal farming’.

To put it bluntly, the emperor and his cabinet bosses wanted to put on a show in the one-third of an acre of land in Xiannongtan.

Although it sounds formalistic.

However, the ancients emphasized that the most important affairs of the country lie in sacrifice and military affairs. Since sacrifice is involved, naturally we cannot take it lightly.

This matter is jointly coordinated by the Ministry of Household Affairs, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Industry, Taipu Temple and other departments, and the rankings are...impossible in no particular order.

Basically, the Ministry of Household Affairs is in charge, the Ministry of Rites is in charge, the Ministry of Internal Affairs is coordinating, and the Ministry of Works and Taipu Temple are assisting.

Specifically, the Ministry of Industry was responsible for taking out a set of farming tools for plowing the land and mounting it on the ox on the day the emperor plowed the land - and selecting a suitable plowing ox was an important responsibility of Taipu Temple.

No one else dares to use this set of tools, and it is not suitable for the emperor to use it after it is old. Therefore, it is basically a disposable item. In addition, it is carefully crafted by the master craftsmen of the Ministry of Industry. In terms of long-term costs,

, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is the emperor's 'golden hoe'.

In fact, the Ministry of Internal Affairs can create this thing by itself, but in official affairs, the emphasis is often on participation. If the Ministry of Internal Affairs takes over everything, it will probably offend the superiors and subordinates of the Ministry of Works.

The whole journey was silent.

It was said to be the first important thing, but until Jiao Shun handled several official affairs in the Department of General Affairs, the talents from the Ministry of Internal Affairs arrived belatedly. In addition to the officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, there was also a correctional nun and five people.

A little palace maid of twelve or thirteen years old.

These little palace maids may not necessarily be outstanding in appearance, but all of them have tender skin and slightly plump bodies. At a glance, they are full of collagen.

As for the purpose of following them...

"Let's get started."

When they arrived at the inner workshop of the Ministry of Industry, the official of the Ministry of Internal Affairs gave an order, and the five little maids immediately began to raise and lower their hands on the plow under the supervision of the nun, leaving aside the bottom blade, from top to bottom.

You have to repeat the game more than ten times before you give up.

Especially the most important part of the armrest, the little palace maids even put their chubby cheeks on it and rubbed the wood back and forth with their flesh several times.

This is naturally not for the purpose of coating, but to ensure that the tools the emperor wants to use are not irritating in the slightest.

Of course, it’s not good to be too slippery. What you want is that kind of...

EMMM~

It is probably similar to the high-end mobile phone cases of later generations, with a so-called refreshing but not greasy skin-friendly feel.
To be continued...