Teaching Apprentices to Starve the Master
After a long while, the continuous clanging of hammers in the workshop finally stopped.
Karl waited patiently outside the door, knowing that Hector had likely completed the most crucial shaping stage in the barrel forging process.
Sure enough, not long after, the heavy wooden door of the workshop was pushed open from the inside, Hector came out.
He was still shirtless, sweat trickling down his strong muscles, his face showing a mixture of exhaustion and satisfaction after completing meticulous work.
He was also holding a small ceramic wine bottle in his hand, tilted his head back and took a big gulp, letting out a comfortable exhale.
Carnford doesn't produce wine locally, and the Count's support list would never include such "unimportant" luxuries.
The wheat beer in Hector's hand was from a limited stock that Edgar had brought from the Schmidt Family; every bottle he drank was one less.
Karl himself hardly drank, but he knew Hector was a man who couldn't live without alcohol; skilled craftsmen often have some peculiar habits.
As the highest-ranking first-class craftsman in the territory, Hector demanded wages that were even less than some second-class craftsmen, but his hard requirement was that his supply of alcohol be guaranteed.
Considering his irreplaceable nature, Karl readily agreed.
"Is the gun barrel finished?" Karl asked as he saw him come out.
Hector wiped the wine stains from his mouth and shook his head. "Sir, not yet. The rough blank has just been forged. We have to wait for it to cool naturally until it's soft enough to hold in our hands before we can proceed to the next step."
"Use a file and scraper to meticulously polish the inner and outer walls, ensuring they are smooth and flat, especially the inner diameter. There can't be even a single burr, otherwise it could easily jam the bullet or even cause a barrel explosion. Sir, you called me here... is there something you need?"
Karl said calmly, "I just wanted to talk to you about some work-related matters and see if there's anything we can improve."
He paused, then got to the point. "How's the experiment I mentioned to you last time—about trying to reduce the caliber of the musket while also lightening the overall weight—is going? Any progress?"
Upon hearing this, Hector immediately frowned, a troubled expression on his face. "Sir, this matter... is difficult. If the caliber of the gun barrel is reduced, the requirements for the smoothness of the internal parts will be even higher."
"We already find it very difficult to manually polish the inner wall of a standard caliber gun barrel with a file. If we shrink it further, it will be even more difficult to insert the file, making it hard to guarantee efficiency and accuracy."
"Unless... unless there are more specialized tools, such as a small hydraulic or manual drill press specifically designed for drilling and reaming gun barrels... it's too difficult to do it by hand, and the scrap rate would be very high."
Karl listened attentively and nodded. "Drilling machine... I understand. I'll remember this and find a way to help you solve the tool problem."
He knew that to do something well, you must first have the right tools; without suitable equipment, many technological improvements would indeed be difficult to achieve.
"And what about bayonets?" Karl continued, "The kind that can be attached to the muzzle of a gun, allowing Musketeers to use them as short spears in close combat."
Hector frowned even more deeply and sighed, "Sir, that bayonet... to be honest, it's even harder to deal with than the gun barrel. The difficulty lies in the iron ring that connects to the barrel!"
He gestured with his hands. "The iron ring must be able to fit securely onto the barrel so that it doesn't fall off with the slightest bump, but it can't be made too tight either. If it's too tight, it can easily get stuck on the barrel when you try to force it on or take it off, or it can deform the muzzle, rendering the whole gun useless."
"It must be perfectly matched to the barrel caliber of each gun, with extremely small margins of error... This places extremely high demands on forging and polishing, is very time-consuming and labor-intensive, and makes mass production very difficult."
Perhaps realizing that he had been reporting bad news and difficulties one after another, he was afraid of displeasing the Lord.
Hector quickly changed the subject, his tone becoming more positive. "However! Regarding the ' Fixed Ammunition Pack ' you mentioned earlier, sir, I've made some progress; I've already produced a usable sample!"
As he spoke, he turned and walked quickly back to the workshop, then came out again soon after, holding several small cylinders wrapped in some kind of light brown parchment, which he handed to Karl.
Karl took it and examined it carefully.
These small paper packets are all the same size, and when you squeeze them, you can feel the granular gunpowder and a lead bullet inside.
Hector explained from the side, "Sir, as you can see, this contains gunpowder pre-weighed and mixed according to the optimal charge for each gun, along with a standard lead bullet."
"When soldiers use it, they only need to bite open one end of the paper packet with their teeth, pour the gunpowder into the barrel first, and then stuff the remaining paper ball along with the lead bullet into it, and tamp it down with a cleaning rod."
"This way, soldiers don't have to pour gunpowder based on their experience, which greatly simplifies the process and makes training new recruits much faster! Moreover, the amount of propellant is fixed, so there's no risk of the barrel exploding due to too much propellant, nor will there be insufficient propellant resulting in short range or low power. I think this method is excellent!"
Karl looked at the few simple yet significant Fixed Ammunition Pack in his hand, a look of approval in his eyes.
This is indeed a significant improvement that greatly enhances the efficiency and safety of musket firing.
"Very good, Hector, I'm very satisfied with what you've done," Karl said affirmatively, then asked seemingly casually, "Who was in charge of making all of this?"
Hector didn't think much of it and replied directly, "Oh, this? I had my apprentices do it when they had nothing else to do. It's very simple, just weighing and wrapping..."
Before he could finish speaking, Karl's expression darkened slightly, and he interrupted him, "So, you're making your apprentices do this all day? This repetitive, unskilled packaging work?"
"Hector, I asked you to recruit apprentices so that you could teach them the core skills of forging gun barrels, processing flintlock mechanisms, and assembling and testing muskets, in order to increase our musket production, not to have them do the kind of work that I could easily find a few careful women in my territory to do."
Karl's voice wasn't harsh, but the disappointment and questioning in his words instantly sent a chill down Hector.
He then realized he had misspoke and quickly lowered his head, stammering as he tried to explain, "Sir... I... I'm not... that... core technology... they... they haven't learned it yet..."
"Is it that you really can't learn it?" Karl stared at him, his tone calm but pressured. "Or are you simply unwilling to teach?"
Hector was speechless, and even more sweat beaded on his forehead.
His expression shifted several times, but finally he seemed to have made a desperate decision.
He raised his head, with the stubbornness and anxiety characteristic of a craftsman, and said in a low voice, "Sir, forgive my bluntness, but you... you don't understand... the rules of this trade... If I were to teach those lads everything I have to offer without reservation... wouldn't they... they become my competitors?"
"These young people are quick and efficient, hardworking, and cheap... If they all learn it, what use will I be? Won't I be pushed out of the game immediately? I... I have to leave myself a way out, a way to make a living..."
"It's not just me; all the other craftsmen in the territory are like this. They... they're all unwilling to teach the real stuff."
Upon hearing Hector's almost blunt confession, Karl instantly understood.
This is not a technical problem, nor is it a problem of the apprentice being clumsy.
This reflects a deeply ingrained guild mentality and the instinct for self-preservation in human nature, as the saying goes, "Teach your apprentice, and you'll starve."
Hector considered his superb gunsmithing skills as the foundation of his livelihood and his greatest asset. He feared that once the technology spread, his uniqueness and value would plummet, and he might even be replaced by younger, cheaper labor.
Karl fell silent. He understood Hector's concerns, a common phenomenon in the age of handicrafts, and not Hector's personal fault.
But understanding does not mean agreeing, much less condoning it.
Carnford urgently needs to rapidly increase its musket production capacity and must not be hindered by individual technical barriers.
The root of the problem lies in the distribution and protection mechanisms of benefits. Hector lacked a sense of security, which is why he held onto the technology so tightly.
Looking at the old craftsman before him, who was both uneasy and stubborn, Karl had already made up his mind.
Solving this problem cannot rely solely on commands and preaching; it requires institutional arrangements to fundamentally change Hector's concerns and tie his personal interests to the overall interests of the territory.