The four peoples, scholars, farmers, industry and commerce, are the stone people of the country.
Therefore, people do not hold official positions, and officials do not hold concurrent jobs. Scholars, peasants, and merchants are different from each other, and their hometowns and states are different. This is why farmers and peasants have different words and deeds.
Since Taizu Taizu founded the country, he has issued several edicts stating that the four peoples are equal. However, how can a thousand-year-old system be changed with just one word?
Therefore, a hundred years after the founding of the country, the four peoples of Daxia remained as before. Scholars were the first class, farmers and workers were the second class, and merchants were the last.
In fact, judging from the current national conditions, it is quite necessary to suppress businessmen, because often wealthy businessmen are backed by dignitaries.
Merchants pursue profits, and the people of the Central Plains are very fond of purchasing land. If they are not suppressed, let alone the change of dynasties in two or three hundred years. With the speed at which officials and businessmen collude to annex land, it would be thankful that the court can survive a hundred years.
However, there is a rather special class among the four people, workers.
In "Shang Shu·Tai Shi", King Wu of the Zhou Dynasty denounced King Zhou of the Shang Dynasty for one crime: "The suburbs of the community were not built, the ancestral temple was not used, and the ancestral temple was not used for the enjoyment of women."
In fact, what King Wu of Zhou meant was that he used excessive skills to create luxuries such as carvings and carvings that were flashy.
The starting point is also to prevent the ruling class from getting lost in luxury and corruption, and for the sake of the country and society, so the theory of "strange skills and obscene skills" is proposed.
However, the direct result of these four words is that the status of workers as a class has gradually declined. Moreover, since this concept was proposed in "Shang Shu·Tai Shi", the scientific and technological development of the Central Plains Dynasty has been deeply affected by this concept.
Especially after Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty "deposed hundreds of schools of thought and respected only Confucianism", Confucianism began to become a prominent school.
However, some corrupt Confucians have a one-sided understanding of Confucius’s thoughts on technology and Confucianism’s discussion of “strange skills and obscene skills”, and have begun to regard science and technology as a “little path” that “comes only after one’s skill has been achieved”, thus creating a new foundation for the development of science and technology. Put up many artificial obstacles.
From then on, the study of science and technology was in a subordinate position, and there were very few scholars among craftsmen. Traditional scholars only conducted research on a subset of classics, history and literature.
This has resulted in an extremely strange phenomenon. The Central Plains society is technologically advanced, but basic and theoretical science has failed to achieve breakthroughs.
To describe it in three words, it is partial!
This is clearly reflected even in the court. For example, the Ministry of Works where Jia Cong currently works. Before Jia Cong interfered with the Ministry of Works, the craftsmen under the Ministry of Works and even the officials of the Ministry of Works were often called over by dignitaries in the court. Working for him is like prostitution for free.
If you do a good job, you won't get even a word of praise, but if you do a bad job, the craftsmen will be beaten to death at every turn. You can imagine the low status.
It wasn't until Jia Cong got involved in the Ministry of Industry that those craftsmen who were vaguely placed at the bottom of the four peoples had a relatively stable life.
Later, there was a breakthrough in the connection between the craftsmen of the firearms workshop. When the emperor saw that these craftsmen were treasures, he legally elevated the status of the craftsmen with an edict, so that the dignitaries in the court no longer dared to use the craftsmen of the Ministry of Industry at will. people.
But these are not enough. According to the rules of Daxia, craftsmen cannot divide their fields. No matter how hard life is for farmers, there is still land to grow food for export. Craftsmen can only rely on their pitiful salaries to support their families. With the little money allocated by the Ministry of Industry, the craftsmen could not even afford rations.
Therefore, Jia Cong thought of the stories of Chengfei brand washing machines and 504 Factory ice cream in his previous life, and asked the master craftsmen of the Ministry of Industry to make artillery, muskets, and fireworks at the same time.
Not to mention, they were all made by playing with gunpowder, artillery and guns, and they were also very good at using fireworks and firecrackers. The colorful Gongbu brand fireworks soon became popular all over the country, and money went to the Ministry of Works in droves, causing other ministries and temples to complain that the Ministry of Works used power for personal gain and competed with the people.
However, after Jia Cong "cordially and friendly" communicated with several public officials, these remarks disappeared on the surface.
The Ministry of Industry has methodically expanded its innovation path and built up a considerable fortune in just one year.
At the end of that year, every family of craftsmen affiliated with the Ministry of Industry lived in new houses and wore new clothes, and the originally thin little children became chubby one by one.
Later, the Ministry of Industry opened a new ironworks factory, textile factory, ice factory, shipyard... The stalls were too big, and there were obviously not enough craftsmen.
Jia Cong turned his attention to the four major technical schools that were originally opened to deal with Kaihai. He didn't know if he asked. This question really gave him a surprise.
Six hundred skilled craftsmen, these are rare treasures. It happened that Lin Ruhai was about to step down as the imperial envoy to the south of the Yangtze River. Weng and his son-in-law did not hesitate to place the four major technical schools under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Industry, and they returned to their parents' home.
After listening to Jia Cong's explanation, the emperor nodded with satisfaction: "Yes, yes, this technical school is a good thing. It happens that there are few craftsmen in the palace, so let these six hundred people..."
ha? Is this to rob someone?
Jia Cong hurriedly interrupted the emperor's attempt to grab people: "No, Your Majesty, the Ministry of Industry is currently very short of people. Due to the lack of craftsmen in the textile factory, the output of the third generation loom is not high so far. Anbei The wool sent has almost piled up. The newly opened shipyard also needs people, and you don’t want the naval athletes of Great Xia to have no ships to use."
"But I'm also short of people here. Wen'an just asked for 4.5 million taels of silver from me to promote the development of compulsory education. Now your husband-in-law comes to ask for money from me again, and the internal treasury can support it. when?"
The emperor spread his hands and sighed, and said helplessly: "I originally thought that with these skilled craftsmen, we could use less outsiders when building schools and save some money. After all, from now on, the inner treasury will allocate at least 500 yuan to the Department of Compulsory Education every year. Thousands of taels of silver, a century-old plan cannot be missed, and a little money can be saved..."
hiss! It turns out you are waiting for me here!
Jia Cong stretched out a finger in distress, gritted his teeth and said, "How about 10%?"
"What 10%?" The emperor pretended not to understand.
"Then 20%!"
"I don't understand what little Jia Aiqing is saying."
Ahhhhhh~
Jia Cong stamped his foot: "Thirty percent, thirty percent, no more. But I have a request, please allow your majesty."
The emperor raised the corners of his mouth slightly and asked with a smile: "Tell me about it."
Jia Cong asked for pen and paper and wrote a few lines. Before submitting it to the Dragon Case, he explained: "If you want the horse to run, you must provide enough fodder. Ministers can make their own decisions regarding money, but if they want the craftsmen to continue to delve into innovation, they need to improve their status, such as granting awards. When it comes to conferring titles, His Majesty must make the final decision on these matters."
"According to my wishes, craftsmen can be divided into five levels, namely apprentice, craftsman, master craftsman, master craftsman, and master craftsman. Among them, students in technical schools are apprentices, and they are craftsmen when they graduate. After that, master craftsmen, master craftsmen, and master craftsmen The craftsmen correspond to the official titles of the seventh, sixth and fifth grades respectively, and those who have made great contributions to the court can be rewarded by the court."
The end of the universe is the establishment, and this trick is extremely appropriate in Daxia.
The craftsmen in the Ministry of Industry all received salaries from the court to support their families, but in the past there was not enough room for promotion. This resulted in those craftsmen often preferring to stay on the side, or just muddle along.
Jia Cong had previously promised that master craftsmen in firearms workshops and textile factories would petition the court to grant official positions to those who had made great contributions. This was one of the reasons why firearms and textile factories successively made innovative breakthroughs.
The emperor just took away 30% of the proceeds from the Ministry of Industry from him. He is short-tempered and does not mention when he will wait for more.
"The highest fifth grade..."
It's not too much, and it shouldn't cause too many objections from the DPRK and China.
This is actually the highest limit reached by Jia Cong and Lin Ruhai after several discussions before. No matter how high it is, it will attract the opposition of most officials in the DPRK.
"I'm OK. I will discuss this matter with the cabinet, and we will start with the craftsmen in the firearms and textile workshops. When you go back, report the people who have made meritorious services in the manufacture of firearms and textile utensils, and I will bestow official titles on a day. Honor your merits."
"Your Majesty the Holy Ming..."
Just as Jia Cong was about to bow down, the emperor waved his hand and said, "Don't rush to shout long live. When will my 30% profit be delivered?"
Ga~
"When I go back and tell Duan Shangshu about this, I will have the money sent to the palace."
Jia Cong has a hard time that he can't tell, so he has to pay a lot of money!
Although he knew that as the Ministry of Industry's income increased, the court would not let the Ministry of Industry and his family enjoy these huge benefits alone, but he did not expect it to come so quickly.
He also plans to use the money to expand production scale!
Forget it, 30% means 30%, just think of it as paying protection fees. With the emperor as a golden sign, others should stop trying to get involved.
If you don't believe it, look at Mr. Lin. After Jia Cong handed over 30% of the profits, his face turned dark. The Ministry of Household Affairs has been coveting the money from the Ministry of Works for a long time.
Fortunately, after receiving 30% of the revenue from the Ministry of Industry, the emperor "lent" five million taels of silver to Mr. Lin, which made him feel better.
As for the three million taels of silver that Jia Cong wanted, it was reduced by 30%, and only two million taels were approved.
The monarch and his ministers each had their own gains. The emperor and Lin Shangshu made a profit, but only Jia Shilang suffered a big loss. If the matter of improving his status as a craftsman had not been completed, Jia Cong would have been able to hold the pillars of the Qinzheng Hall and cry.
Taking advantage of the emperor's good mood, Jia Cong asked the emperor to open the Royal Academy of Science and Technology in the capital. Together with the Imperial College and the Royal Military Academy, it was the highest institution of higher education in Daxia to cultivate talents in basic science and theoretical science for the imperial court.
The emperor did not approve the matter on the spot, but asked Jia Cong to go back and write a memorial. The Secretary of General Affairs would submit the memorial through normal channels. He planned to see the reaction of the court first.
After all, no one can decide this Daxia with just one word, even if this person is the emperor.
…
Although the Ministry of Industry lost 30% of its profits, neither Shangshu Duan Jun nor his craftsmen complained about it.
This is just the beginning. There is a profit of 20 million taels a year. Can the Ministry of Industry keep it? It must be handed over. If it is handed over to the emperor, it will be well placed in front of the emperor. If it is handed over to the Treasury of the Ministry of Revenue, it will not even see a splash.
As soon as Jia Cong returned to the Ministry of Industry, he discussed with Duan Jun the list of craftsman awards, and finally selected ten people with first-class merit, twenty people with second-class merit, and thirty people with third-class merit, and submitted them to the center to wait for the emperor's imperial edict and reward.
At the imperial meeting on the first day of September, the emperor issued an edict to appoint thirty people to the firearms workshop and textile factory affiliated to the Ministry of Industry as master craftsmen, and to confer the title of seventh-grade Chengshilang, twenty persons to be master craftsmen, and to confer the title of sixth-grade Chengzhilang, and ten persons to be great craftsmen. Master, conferred the title of five-level official.
At the same time, it was announced to the world that if the people of the Great Xia Dynasty create weapons that have merit in the country and are beneficial to the world, they can be rewarded by the imperial court, and the emperor will not hesitate to give them official titles.
For a time, the number of tools sent to the Yamen by private craftsmen increased explosively, and there were many tools with strange functions that dazzled Jia Cong.
Among them, there is one thing that Jia Cong attaches most importance to. Changping Prefecture actually sent a super simple version of the steam engine. If Jia Cong hadn't discovered something was wrong and stopped the people who kept stuffing coal into the furnace, the Yamen of the Ministry of Industry might have been destroyed by this super simple version. The simple version of the steam engine exploded.
Jia Cong stared at the big guy that kept spitting out hot air for a long time, and then ordered: "Take people to Changping Prefecture immediately to kill this cow..."
The scribe came forward and reported: "My lord, Niu Geng. This person is a member of the clan who has not yet graduated from the fifth service of the Duke of Zhenguo. He has a reputation as a scholar and has been fond of strange and obscene skills since he was a child."
It is in line with common sense that he is still a distinguished scholar and a member of the Lao Niu family. Those who are interested in technology don’t have enough money to play with such a big steam engine. Just using iron requires huge financial support.
Jia Cong nodded: "When you go to Niu's house to invite people, you have to be polite. Whether our Ministry of Industry can make another breakthrough will most likely fall on this Niu Geng."
Monthly ticket recommendation ticket
Thanks to the author, please provide more updates.
I fell asleep in the middle of writing last night. There is still a part that needs to be revised. I will post another chapter tonight to make up for 6,000 words.
(End of chapter)
