"Hello, Mr. Huang." Han Du greeted politely.
At this time, Xiong Shi solemnly introduced Han Du to Lao Huang, "This is Mr. Han Duhan, the Treasurer's Office, who has been ordered by His Majesty to supervise the creation of treasures." As he spoke, he clasped his hands and raised his hand towards He handed over in the direction of the imperial city.
"It turns out it's Mr. Han. I can't bear the title of Mr. Han, so just call me Lao Huang." Facing his new immediate boss, Lao Huang exercised some caution and restraint.
"There is no need to be polite, old man. We will work together to run errands for the emperor in the future. Please feel free to do so." Han Du spoke first and comforted Old Huang.
When Lao Huang saw that the young adult had an easy-going tone and no airs, the caution he felt in his heart dropped, and his expression suddenly became much more relaxed.
"May I ask what the old man's name is? How do you address him?" Han Du felt that as a young man, it was a bit bad to address an old man too casually, so he asked the old man's name again.
"Hey, sir, you are joking. The little old man's father is just an ordinary craftsman. Whatever the name is, it will offend your ears. It is not as nice as Lao Huang."
Han Du saw that the old man was unwilling to say anything, so he stopped asking. I guess the old man's name is indeed not very elegant. After all, most people in this era have not read any books. In addition, it is generally believed that people with cheap names can make a living easily.
Therefore, many people have extremely weird names, such as dog, pig (also known as pig), etc.
"Why do I see that almost all the old people are working here, why are there no young people?" Han Du asked the doubts in his heart.
"This..." Lao Huang hesitated and looked at Xiong Shi.
Seeing this, Xiong Shi said expressionlessly: "If your Excellency asks you, just say, let's see what I do."
Xiong Shi stood behind Han Du, half a body behind, bowing slightly, with a completely on Han Du's side and following Han Du's lead.
Seeing Xiong Shi's attitude, Lao Huang stopped being secretive and said openly: "I dare not lie to you, sir. There are indeed no young people in the banknote bureau. Almost... almost all are old people." Seniors are supporting us.”
"Why is this happening?" Han Du wondered, "If I remember correctly, craftsmen's families should be passed down from generation to generation, right? How come there are no young people? Don't they all have descendants?"
This is simply impossible?
How much people of this era attach importance to the inheritance of incense, Han Du can understand it just by looking at him. His father had a son like him, and he still wanted to give birth to a younger brother.
Han Du didn't believe that there wasn't even a man in these craftsmen's families.
One generation is a craftsman household, and all generations are craftsmen households. This is Lao Zhu's classification of the four types of people: scholars, farmers, industry and merchants.
According to common sense, the craftsmen in this banknote and paper bureau should be composed of three generations of talents: old, middle and young.
As a result, there are only some old and middle-aged people left, which is wrong.
"This, this..." Old Huang hesitated for a long time without saying anything.
"Sir," seeing this, Xiong Shi waved to Han Du.
Han Du came over.
Xiong Shi whispered in Han Du's ear: "Sir, please don't delve into the reason. The situation is like this..."
With Xiong Shi's explanation, Han Du understood what was going on.
Lao Zhu's original intention of dividing the four peoples was good, but as time went by, it became less and less what it was.
The craftsmen's household was a little better in the early Hongwu years. At that time, Lao Zhu focused on the people's rest and recuperation. Therefore, those few years were also the best time for craftsmen. After all, they were skilled craftsmen, and they had no problem supporting their families with their craftsmanship.
However, as the wars in the Ming Dynasty continued, the recruitment of craftsmen became more and more frequent, and now the government has been recruiting craftsmen for many years.
You must know that when the government recruits craftsmen, they will not pay them.
This is equivalent to the craftsmen working for the imperial court for free without any income.
Just imagine, the original craftsmen could support their families with their craftsmanship and were equivalent to the backbone of the family. But now they are not only unable to support their families, but they also need their family members to support them.
This time and again, the living standards of craftsmen families plummeted.
So much so that now, people are afraid to avoid becoming craftsmen.
Craftsmen's families will also try their best to let their next generation escape the fate of becoming craftsmen, either by adopting them to brothers, or by spending money to solve the problem.
In short, there are fewer and fewer craftsmen now, it is becoming more and more difficult for the government to recruit craftsmen, and the time for craftsmen to work for the court is also getting longer and longer.
"That's the situation. Please don't reveal it to anyone." After Xiong Shi finished speaking, he helplessly pleaded to Han Du.
"Sir, please spare us."
"Sir, we kneel down for you."
"Please have mercy on us, sir..."
...
All the craftsmen present looked sad and knelt down towards Han Du.
Han Du also felt uncomfortable. Coming from a later generation, he never thought that the system at this time would be like this. In future generations, what would a place like the Banknote Bureau be? It was a state-owned enterprise, and it was a fat and oily state-owned enterprise.
I don’t know how many people have worked hard to get into such a state-owned enterprise; I don’t know how many people have gone to any lengths to get their children into such a state-owned enterprise, and would rather bear the stigma of inbreeding than stop it. Can't reach them.
But now, Han Du was speechless as he looked at the craftsmen kneeling on the ground one by one. This dignified banknote bureau under his command was actually regarded by them as a pit of fire, and everyone wanted to escape.
But this is not their fault, this is the court's fault, this is Lao Zhu's fault.
If the imperial court could pay the craftsmen some remuneration every month, it would not make them all want to flee. Even if Lao Zhu could give these craftsmen a way to rise to official positions, I am afraid it would make them flock to it.
Han Du walked back and forth among the people, pondering as he walked, "It seems that the first thing I have to solve is the issue of the treatment of the craftsmen."
How precious are craftsmen? Craftsmen represent advanced technology in this era.
Ming Dynasty originally had the world's leading technology, but it ended up stumbling for more than two hundred years. This is directly related to Ming Dynasty's lack of emphasis on technology.
Although I can't change the Ming Dynasty's culture of not paying attention to technology now, since I am the chief official of the Baochao Promotion Department, I naturally have to work hard to change the culture of my subordinates.
However, it is useless to just talk to these craftsmen on this matter. Maybe they think that he wants to harm them, so they have to go to Lao Zhu themselves.
Han Du put aside his plans for the time being and waved his hand to all the craftsmen, "Everyone, please get up. I won't reveal anything."
"Thank you, sir."
"The kindness of adults will never be forgotten by villains."
...
Seeing that Han Du promised not to reveal the secret of this craftsman, Lao Huang was extremely grateful and was no longer afraid of Han Du at the beginning. Instead, he felt more close to him.
"Sir, please see, this is where the raw materials for banknotes are processed."
Han Du followed Lao Huang and came to another house.
"The raw materials there are roughly selected, and the qualified ones will be sent here for further processing."
Han Du saw bark, vines, and various other things. The craftsmen are using knives to carefully scrape off the outer layer of dry bark. The same process is done for other items such as hemp stalks.
"Sir, the banknotes we make contain mulberry bark and hemp. The banknotes made in this way are flexible, not easy to break, and can be folded repeatedly."
Han Du looked at the dust floating in the beam of light coming from the window, frowned, and asked, "Is fire prohibited here?"
Lao Huang didn't understand why Han Du asked this, but he still answered honestly: "Sir, since there are flammable bark and dead branches here, fire is prohibited here."
Han Du nodded after listening, looking at the thick dust in the light beam, and nodded: "It is not enough to ban fire. In addition, all windows must be opened when working."
When Han Du saw the dust, he immediately thought of a word.
Dust explosion!
This is no joke, there are flammable dust products everywhere, and there is even a thick layer of sawdust and grass chips on the ground. Once the temperature rises, or the knife in someone's hand falls to the ground and hits a stone, sparks will appear.
Any possibility is enough to blow this place to the sky.
"Also, people must be arranged to clean up the sawdust on the ground every day. There should not be any sawdust left in it." Han Du looked solemn.
"Sir, there is no problem with cleaning every day, but..." Old Huang looked embarrassed, "But if you want to open the window, I'm afraid it is against the rules. If someone with a heart sees the raw material of the banknotes... ..."
"With such a broken banknote, you are still afraid of leaking the secret?" Han Du was speechless.
This kind of banknote paper raw material is not as good as Han Du's eyes. Besides, do you think that if you close the windows tightly, others won’t know what your raw materials are?
Anyway, if Han Du wanted to, he could easily find out. There is no need to come here to take a peek. You just need to check what is coming into this banknote bureau every time. Don't you know everything clearly?
Even if Han Du wanted to make banknotes, he never thought that he could hide the raw materials from anyone who was interested.
It’s not the raw materials that can really be kept secret.
However, Han Du did not intend to explain to Lao Huang. He just waved his hand to interrupt him and said: "It doesn't matter. If someone who knows the raw materials can make my treasure banknotes, then I will admire him." Five-body cast."
"This," Lao Huang heard Han Du say this, he couldn't refuse anymore, turned around and ordered to the craftsman: "Everyone has heard what you said, please open all the windows."
As the windows were fully opened, Handu's feeling of being in a powder keg finally subsided.
