"But what I said is the truth!"
"If it hadn't been for the emperor's rule and Jiangling Gong's new policy, I would have died in prison long ago, and I would never have met Sister Laidi again, could have married her, and could have had a son and a daughter, as well as the current family business. , it can increase the income of so many tribesmen, and it also allows you, Brother Lingyu, to get a lot of dividends from me, so that you can sleep on all the flower boats on the Qinhuai River."
"Otherwise, is the monthly money given by your brother Lingyu's house enough to drink wine with brother Lingyu?"
Liu Quexian responded.
Snapped!
Wang Changgeng slapped the table, stood up suddenly, and looked at Liu Quexian with eyes like fire.
Liu Quexian leaned back in his chair, looked at him calmly, and asked, "What's wrong with you?"
Wang Changgeng snorted and then walked away.
"Brother Lingyu!"
Seeing this, Liu Quexian quickly stood up and called his classmate and friend.
Wang Changgeng ignored him and got on the carriage without looking back. After getting on the carriage, he muttered: "Now that I'm going against my wishes, you've actually begun to make fun of me. Are we still friends?" ?!”
When Liu Quexian saw Wang Changgeng leaving, he ignored him and didn't say anything. He just continued to sit back in the chair and let the maid clean up the unfinished chess game. He took a sip of tea and looked at the few strands that had missed the plum blossom-shaped window pane. Sunshine, looking at "Ju Zheng's Whispers" written by Zhang Juzheng, which he bought at a high price in Beijing.
"Why did Uncle Wang Shi leave in such a hurry?"
"Didn't you say he wanted to stay for dinner?"
At this time, Laidi came back from the market with a vegetable basket. Watching Wang Changgeng's carriage go away, she asked about Liu Quexian.
After the mid-Ming Dynasty, the commodity economy in the south developed rapidly, especially the rapid development of the textile industry. Because many women were the main force in spinning and weaving, they began to bear the economic expenses of the family, and their social status was improved. There were even many women. What this era calls jealous women and shrewish women.
There will even be female generals in command later, such as Qin Liangyu and Qin Liangyu's daughter-in-law.
Of course, the most famous shrew in this period of the Ming Dynasty was Qi Jiguang's first wife.
Turning back to the situation, it is precisely because women's social status has improved that women have begun to show their faces, especially in the south, where women can be seen in many towns and cities.
Nowadays, Laidi often goes to the market to select ingredients in person, without having to worry about local people gossiping. She can also invite friends to go with her, and she can also agree on a certain day to go to a certain market together, and a certain day to go to another market.
Gradually, in later generations, it will evolve into a town meeting that will open the market on the third, sixth, or ninth day, or the market will open on the sixth, seventh, or ninth day, and overseas Chinese businessmen will gather in a certain place on the agreed days. A town comes to sell goods.
"Sister is back!"
After Laidi asked, Liu Quexian quickly stood up, put down his book, and walked over quickly with a smile.
In this era, wives often call their husbands' brothers and friends the same as their children, that is, uncles.
Therefore, the Wang Shishu mentioned by Laidi is Wang Changgeng.
Liu Quexian's eyes were only on Laidi, and Laidi took some vegetable baskets filled with meat and fruits from his hand. He smiled and said, "Don't worry about him! Just cook something delicious for me." !”
"Are you arguing again?"
"I thought he seemed a little angry when he left."
Laidi asked as she walked towards the kitchen.
Liu Quexian said: "No! Ignore him!"
"Aren't you going to apologize? Aren't you worried that he won't recognize you as a friend?"
Laidi asked.
"not going!"
"I can't always be the one to apologize and give in. I haven't done anything to apologize to him, but I'm just talking about the matter. Besides, I'm not his servant, so why do I have to follow what he says?"
Liu Quexian also replied with some resentment.
Laidi smiled after hearing this, and then came to the kitchen to stop Liu Quexian who was about to come in: "Give me the vegetable basket, don't come in!"
Liu Quexian was stunned when he saw this, and said with a smile: "Sister, there are no gentlemen here, only us."
"No! You are the husband-in-law now!"
Laidi refused.
Then, Laidi pursed her lips and looked at the girls she bought behind Liu Quexian: "They are all looking at you as the master."
Seeing this, Liu Quexian withdrew his foot from the threshold and asked, "You have bought someone back this time. Can the family property provide work for them all?"
"I plan to teach them embroidery first, and then arrange for them to go to the embroidery workshop."
"They agreed that while they were learning embroidery, they would not be paid any wages. We would just let us feed them and help clean the embroidery workshop."
"So it won't add much expense."
"So, I thought, I can buy some if I can. Now the gentlemen in the city (town) are selling their slaves out because I heard what you said about implementing the idea of paying grain and serving errands for both officials and gentry. Especially those little girls who haven’t grown their heads yet. A lot of them are kicked out of the house and live in the market, only to be bought by flower boats, so that an innocent girl is ruined for nothing!”
"This is how I was sold back and forth. If I can buy one more, I will buy one more so that they can work and support themselves and become a married couple in the future."
Laidi started talking at this time.
Liu Quexian nodded after hearing this: "Sister has a kind heart, just like the female Bodhisattva."
Laidi glanced at him, then smiled brightly: "Your mouth is getting more and more honey-covered!"
Then, Laidi became serious again and asked him: "Do we want to expand the scale of our embroidery workshop? Didn't you say that my embroidery work can be top-notch even if I sell it in Suzhou and Hangzhou?"
“It can’t be expanded yet!”
"My current fame can only guarantee the normal operation of a small embroidery workshop and a small weaving workshop. If I expand it further, I will be stealing food from the tiger's mouth. Let's wait until I become a scholar. It is best to expand it after I become a Jinshi. That way the honor in Nandu will be expanded." It’s expensive, I’m afraid I won’t even dare to covet my big embroidery workshop.”
Liu Quexian answered at this time.
Laidi nodded after hearing this.
She also understands that without power, business will only grow for others.
"I just want to grow bigger so that I can hire more people, so I will have fewer servants. Although it is hard to be our servant, at least I won't be beaten or scolded, I can start my own business, and I can go back to my hometown to see my friends. "
Laidi said while washing the meat.
Liu Quexian nodded: "I know, but this is not just a problem of my failure to win the election, but also a problem of money!"
"My current status is not qualified to lend money to big families, especially those nobles from the Xu family and Nandu. If I go to borrow money, I will only be eaten with flesh and skin!"
"I won't dare to borrow money from them until I have an official status. This way I won't worry about me borrowing their money and them taking the opportunity to eat me flesh and skin."
After hearing this, Laidi nodded, tied her apron over her horse-faced skirt, rolled up her sleeves, exposed her two fair arms, and stood inside the door, cutting meat.
Liu Quexian stood outside the door, letting the breeze blow the kerchief on his head, and looked in the direction of the Forbidden City.
He didn't know when he would be there for a roll call and then be able to do something bigger.
…
"Sir, I'm thinking that the imperial court can actually set up a commercial bank that specializes in lending silver dollars. Let's call it a bank. Zhang Juzheng can support some officials and gentry engaged in industry and commerce to further divide the officials and gentry. This will also be conducive to the implementation of the new policy of paying grain and serving as errands. .”
"After all, the purpose of reform and eliminating disadvantages now established is not only to make people rich but also to benefit the people. The livelihood and desires of the people must be truly taken into consideration."
"According to my review of some post-population survey chapters and the investigation by Jin Yiwei, I learned that after the implementation of the New Deal, the number of landless refugees has increased, and crimes have also increased."
"That's because many big households dare not resist the New Deal, but they dare to transfer the losses caused by the imperial court to the common people!"
"They released slaves and servants to reduce expenses, resulting in a large number of vagrants in the local area, most of whom were old and young people of little value. The almshouses in various local government agencies began to be unable to bear so many old and young people."
"Many girls were sold to brothels and raised as playthings for the rich and powerful in the future."
"At this time, if we encourage some gentry engaged in industry and commerce to expand their operations, we can allow them to hire more landless people."
"In particular, the court should encourage the middle- and lower-class gentry who have the main responsibility of employing small people to become bigger! Provide them with some financial support or institutional guarantees, and do not allow bureaucrats or powerful officials to bully them. In this way, many problems can be solved Regarding the problem of landless refugees, it is difficult for the court to create a lot of farmland for the time being, but it can create many jobs through such a policy."
"For the high-ranking officials and gentry engaged in industry and commerce, we can also provide loans to support their cross-sea operations, or we can directly use internal funds to invest in shares. The imperial court can also ask the Ministry of Household Affairs to request a decree to use national funds to invest in shares after the ministry meeting, so that more refugees can have something to do. Do."
"In particular, you can use big tea merchants like many young and old to pick tea, or big cloth merchants who let many women do embroidery, so as to prevent the young and old from being able to support themselves, and to prevent many women from falling into the trap of prostitution and still becoming powerful people. It’s a plaything and hurts the world.”
On this day, Zhu Yijun was in the west room of Wenhua Hall and told Zhang Juzheng that he hoped that the imperial court would end the financial industry and encourage industry and commerce.
And Zhu Yijun said that he gave Zhang Juzheng the chapter memorial and the Jinyiwei memorial report on the results of the population survey:
"Sir, you can see that the refugee problem is actually serious enough that a large-scale popular uprising is likely to occur!"
"For example, Wang Zongmu, governor of Jiangxi, said that in the Jiuling Mountain area of Yichun, Yuanzhou, there are more than 130,000 shantytowns who make a living by making paper, wood, and mining!"
"Although this is related to the fact that I don't allow you to exterminate them as chaos and increase their numbers, the imperial court cannot ignore these shanty townsfolk."
"According to the Jinyi Guardian, they earn very little from papermaking in the mountains and forests, which is enough to ensure that they do not starve to death. Firstly, because the officials are exploiting their power, and secondly, because their papermaking and other skills are too poor to compete with the government-run and large-scale workshops, they can only It relies on low prices to make profits, so the profit is very small.”
"Once there is a major disaster or business routes are affected, and they cannot make a living by making paper, lumber, or mining, trouble will occur. Therefore, the court has the obligation to help them with low-interest loans or participation in technical shares, so that they can work better. Be rich and avoid becoming homeless again in the event of a major disaster.”
Zhang Juzheng's eyes lit up after hearing this.
(End of chapter)
