Volume 1: Birth! Seven time travelers Chapter 028: Primitive Capital Accumulation (III)
When the Ming Dynasty was just established, the idealistic "economist" Zhu Yuanzhang directly defined the identities of all classes in the Ming Dynasty: civilian households (farmers), artisan households (workers), military households, merchants, medical households, stove households (the method of enclosing seawater to dry salt had not been invented in the early Ming Dynasty, and salt production mainly relied on boiling seawater and brine, which required a large stove, so salt producers were called stove households. During the Jiajing period, enclosing seawater to dry salt was widely promoted, but the name of stove households remained unchanged), etc. It was also stipulated that in the future, all walks of life would strictly abide by their own attributes and pass them down from generation to generation.
This is, of course, an overly idealistic system and is doomed to not last long.
Some professions require talent. For example, if you are a doctor, your ancestors did not give you this job, and you will never be able to learn it no matter how hard you try. Just because the father is a good doctor does not necessarily mean that the son will be good at medicine. If you insist on passing down the medical family from generation to generation, it is very likely that the father will work hard to save lives in the first few decades, and the son will keep hurting and killing people in the next few decades.
Besides, people are divided into wise and foolish, diligent and lazy, and the gap will naturally emerge after a little longer time. Take the salt producers as an example. The Ming Dynasty has been established for more than 200 years. Some of the former salt producers have run their own businesses and have become big bosses of salt fields. They have invested their funds in multiple industries and become cross-industry giants. What about others? Six or seven generations have been engaged in salt production. Others have either become hard laborers for salt field owners or simply fled...
Therefore, by the time of the Wanli Dynasty, the system established by Zhu Yuanzhang had long been in name only.
However, you can't say that Zhu Yuanzhang was fanciful, because this household registration system was very reasonable and had great progressive significance at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty.
The Mongols entered the Central Plains and brought with them the slavery system, which had long been out of the mainstream in the Central Plains. When Zhu Yuanzhang founded the country, in order to liberate the slaves of the powerful and wealthy class, he painstakingly formulated this household registration system for fixed occupations for all classes. It should be said that this system played a great role in destroying the slavery system. In fact, when this system began to disintegrate during the Chenghua period, it was basically a dead letter during the Jiajing period. The powerful and wealthy in the Ming Dynasty began to own slaves again...
In short, the household registration system of the Ming Dynasty was established by Zhu Yuanzhang out of good intentions in the early days of the founding of the country and it did achieve great results. However, the development of the times is never subject to the personal will of the ruler. Therefore, after Zhu Yuanzhang's death, this system did not last long.
Specifically speaking, the artisans that Zhu Youdong approached Zhu Changluo for coordination. The system in the early Ming Dynasty was very strict, but it could not withstand the continuous and large-scale escape of artisans. At least since the Chenghua period, the court has publicly agreed that artisans can pay the artisan silver without having to work at designated locations. Therefore, after more than 200 years, the artisan system in the Ming Dynasty has been very relaxed. The current Ministry of Works uses the collected artisan silver to hire people to engage in production.
However, no matter how loose the state's control over craftsmen is in any era, the state will definitely hold on to the most skilled craftsmen and will never let go unless the country perishes.
Zhu Youdong was targeting this kind of craftsman: Why would he need to ask Zhu Changluo for an ordinary craftsman? Wouldn't he just hire one himself?
"Artisan? Dong'er, what do you want the artisan to do?"
"Father, I have asked for a farm from Grandpa Huang. I want to do something in the farm and need some top-notch craftsmen. My teachers, father, to be honest, except for Mr. Shen and Mr. Lu, the others are just starting their careers. As for Mr. Shen and Mr. Lu, I am somewhat afraid of them, so I can only ask you for help."
"Oh~~ There are still people you are afraid of? That's rare. Well, my son is smart, and he does things in a very methodical way. I won't ask what he does specifically. There are just two things. First, the dignity of the royal family must be maintained, and he must not do anything tasteless. Second, my son is also the crown prince, and for a monarch, benevolence is the most important word, so he must not do anything that harms the world."
"Yes, yes, yes... Don't worry, father. What I want to do is to benefit the country and the people. When I achieve results, father will only be proud of me."
"Hahahaha~~ Of course I am very proud of my father. Well, tell me, what kind of craftsman do you want? Your father will definitely find a way to get it for you."
Asking for favors is also very particular. Specifically speaking, when Zhu Youdong wanted to hire a craftsman, he could have asked Wanli directly. But this matter was not a big deal (craftsmen really wouldn't get much attention from the rulers in a society where officials were the most important). If you ask the emperor directly for favors no matter how big or small the matter is, you are not taking the emperor seriously. If you do this for a long time, the emperor will think you are a person who doesn't know the importance of things.
Besides, Zhu Changluo is Zhu Youdong's father, and the father and son now live under the same roof. You are always enthusiastic towards your grandfather and cold towards your father. Do you still want to live to adulthood?
Therefore, he found something appropriate for Zhu Changluo to do, so that he could feel the importance of others and the presence of a father, while at the same time preventing Wanli from having the negative emotions of "Why do you bother me with such a small matter?" This is where Zhu Youdong's skill lies.
"Father, I want four blacksmiths, four carpenters, four gunpowder makers, three porcelain makers, three weavers, and two leather makers. A total of twenty craftsmen, including their families, move to my farm." After saying this, Zhu Youdong added: "Father, since I asked you to do this , of course I don't want ordinary craftsmen. They all need to be first-class in all walks of life, even if they are not the best. For example, the porcelain maker must be transferred from Jingdezhen..."
"Well, my son has really given me a big problem. Carpenters are easy to deal with, and blacksmiths are fine. You are the grandson of the crown prince, so it's okay to have a few blacksmiths. But what is the gunpowder maker doing here? Although I am not good at military affairs, I know that the bird guns in the Shenji Camp are very dangerous."
"Don't worry, father. I only want the gunpowder maker to make fireworks for fun. Once you agree to this, I will report it to Grandpa Huang and will never cause any trouble for you."
Zhu Changluo was the crown prince, but he was a relatively weak prince, so he had little say in the appointment of officials and national policies. However, as long as he was willing to step forward, it would be relatively easy to mobilize the craftsmen. The difficulty lay in the quality of the craftsmen that Zhu Youdong required.
But there was no other way. After listening to Matteo Ricci's account of the current situation in the West, Zhu Youdong already had a sense of crisis. Many plans had to be implemented faster.
A time traveler travels from modern times to ancient times and wants to do something. What are the basic steps?
The first thing to solve is the identity problem, so that you can integrate into society. In this regard, Zhu Youdong has done very well.
The second thing is to have a group of subordinates to serve you. With Zhu Youdong's enlightenment, he already has a preliminary team in this regard.
The third was some start-up capital, which Wanli gave him.
The fourth is to have a base, which we also have.
After that, it depends on what genre you belong to. The female genre is all about scheming and palace fighting. The male genre, if you travel back to the peaceful times, of course, will take the imperial examinations to become an official, fight among officials, and climb up the . The genre of fighting for hegemony in troubled times is about accumulating original capital to prepare for the future violent army.
Specifically for Zhu Youdong, after he had his own imperial farm, it was time to start accumulating original capital.
Moreover, he is not the only one who travels through this plane. In addition to making money by using cheat codes, he also has to climb the technology tree...
When is the age in the 21st century when Chinese people have the most comprehensive and solid knowledge? When they are 18 or 19, in their third year of high school.
When Zhu Youdong traveled through time, he had already graduated from university for many years, and he had already returned most of his knowledge of mathematics, physics, and chemistry to his high school teachers. He did have a lot of medical knowledge, but for the rest, to be honest, he actually lacked confidence in climbing the technology tree.
What's even more depressing is that he still has no idea what the other six travelers were doing before they crossed over. What if there were military scientists or equipment manufacturing masters?
Oh, I don't want to think about it anymore. If I keep thinking about it, I might as well commit suicide. Let's try it out. I have gathered the best scientists and craftsmen of this era together. If I still can't beat them, then there is nothing I can say.
