Li Min wanted to understand and laughed loudly at Gu Zhengchen who had a sincere attitude.
Gu Zhengchen also relaxed when he saw Minister Li Min acting like this.
There are very few records of Li Min in later historical materials, only a few words: he was a loyal supporter of Neo-Confucianism, an honest man who served the public, and made great achievements in his tenure. These are not important. What is important is that this person is the person who served as Minister of the Ministry of Industry for the longest time in the entire Hongwu Dynasty.
As long as five years!
Five years may not seem like a long time, but for the ministers of the Hongwu Dynasty who were just looking around, this term was really not short. The sixth year of Hongwu was only the first year that Li Min took charge of the Ministry of Industry. In the next four years, he would be in charge of all Ming Dynasty projects.
A cheerful person will not pay too much attention to minor details, and it is not impossible to make a harmless joke.
After Li Min smiled, he stood up and walked out from behind the desk: "We are very happy that you can send these drawings to us. I heard that you have built three courtyards in Jurong and are preparing to prosper Jurong with engineering. Magistrate Gu, this is This is not a year of famine, so how long can the county government support this kind of work-for-relief approach?"
“Credit for work?”
Gu Zhengchen was stunned for a moment.
Could it be that in their eyes, gathering people to work means that the county government provides work for relief?
Work-for-relief means that in times of famine, in order to prevent victims from fleeing to various places, they choose to find some "work" to do, such as dredging rivers. If they work, they will have food and porridge to drink, which not only saves the disaster, but also works.
Gu Zhengchen didn’t understand how these big bosses linked work with work-for-relief, and explained: “Li Shangshu, everyone, the three major courtyards in Jurong are not the county government providing work-for-relief, but a The road to industrial prosperity.”
"Industry, well-off?"
Li Min frowned and looked at Huang Su and others.
Tang Jun, a doctor from the Ministry of Industry, came out and said with a smile: "It is recorded in "Daya Minlao" that the people are tired and can be well-off. Hong Mai of the Song Dynasty said in "Yi Jian Zhi" that people have been trapped in poverty for a long time and hope to be well-off. Come to think of it. Well-off means stability and prosperity. As for the word industry, "Historical Records: Biography of Su Qin" says that the custom of the Zhou people was to manage industry, focus on industry and commerce, and do everything possible, which should be a matter of accumulating property. Don't you know? "
Gu Zhengchen looked at Tang Jun with admiration. The ancients' knowledge reserve was amazing. Some allusions and sources could be picked up at his fingertips!
"The concept of well-off is indeed true, and so is the concept of industry. However, the industry of Jurong's three courtyards refers more to the entire process from purchasing materials to production, sales, and profit distribution."
Gu Zhengchen saw that the explanation was not clear, so he led everyone into the Jurong Craftsman's Courtyard and introduced it carefully: "The Craftsman's Courtyard mainly focuses on making utensils. To the east is the wood processing area, and there are dedicated people responsible for purchasing, felling, and processing wood. , the middle area is mainly responsible for the division of labor in building utensils. In terms of cargo carts, there are people who are responsible for the handles of the carts, and there are people who are responsible for pushing out the plates and wheels. To the west is the assembly, inspection and warehouse area.
…”
Huang Su, Li Min and others took people to see it and were very surprised.
Li Min looked at the taciturn craftsman who had been following the team and asked, "Craftsman Kuai, what do you think?"
Kuai Mingsi was observing the craftsmen assembling. Seeing Li Shangshu's question, he quickly turned around and replied: "This division of labor is equivalent to the means of building a palace. It's just that Gu Zhixian refined this division of labor into a small artifact. , It is extremely powerful, and it is difficult for a non-great craftsman to have such thoughts."
Gu Zhengchen looked at Craftsman Kuai and saw that this man was quite young, less than thirty years old. He had a thin appearance and bright eyes. There was a mole at the corner of both eyes. His beard was very short, but the calluses on his hands were a bit thick.
This man is a craftsman under the Ministry of Industry. It can be seen that Li Min thinks highly of this man. After all, there are several older craftsmen, but Li Min did not ask.
It must be not easy to be called upon by the minister to answer questions.
Gu Zhengchen cupped his hands and said, "It's just like you said that the master craftsman is over-reputed, but he just refined the same idea into an artifact."
Kuai Mingsi returned the gift and said seriously: "This is exactly what ordinary people are difficult to do, or what they are unwilling to do. But the county magistrate can break the rules here, take the path that ordinary people dare not take, and create a new world." This new method is extremely valuable!”
For ordinary craftsmen, when building a cart or other utensils, one person often acts as a sawmaker, a framer, a painter, etc...
Basically, one person does everything, which means that one person controls all the processes. He needs to convert the processes, and the conversion process takes time.
But Gu Zhengchen was different. He dismantled the entire process of a thing. He changed the original one person to be responsible for all processes, and changed it to one person for each process, and then efficiently connected, and everyone just did their own thing.
Although this method inevitably brings about an increase in labor volume, it also increases manufacturing efficiency and quality!
Huang Su looked at the busy craftsmen and asked, "How many craftsmen are there in this craftsmanship compound?"
Gu Zhengchen ordered someone to bring the roster and pointed to the number of people on it: "There are currently 926 registered craftsmen."
"this much?"
Li Min was a little shocked.
To put it bluntly, the number of people in some workshops controlled by the Ministry of Industry is not even as large as the number of people in Jurong's craftsmanship compound!
"With so many people, wouldn't it cost a lot every day? How can the county government support them?"
Huang Su asked.
Gu Zhengchen put down the list and replied seriously: "It's not the county government that supports them, on the contrary, it's them that support the county government. What you don't know is that in addition to carts, this craftsmanship compound also produces new stoves. The first batch of 500 carts has been transported to Jinling by waterway. They were sold out, and the total proceeds were 225 guan, and this was only two days' production."
"As for the new stoves, because the royal family likes them, the princes, nobles and ministers of Jinling will also buy them in the future. The first batch of new stoves are already being produced. Ten ships have been rented and are ready to be shipped to Jinling in two days. When the transaction is completed After that, the income from the craftsman building the compound will be revealed. Putting aside all kinds of costs, the wages paid to the craftsmen, it is estimated that the county government will be able to leave some money every month."
Li Min, Huang Su and others were shocked.
It turns out that Jurong's craftsmen built a large courtyard, and they were still doing business that made a lot of money?
Tang Jun chuckled and marveled: "We originally just wanted to observe the craftsmanship, but we learned a lot here in Gu Zhi County. Gu Zhi County, you are not afraid of us stealing this way of making money. This craftsman If you build a compound, your livelihood will be gone?"
Gu Zhengchen didn't mind at all: "It's a good thing if you are willing to follow suit. The more things that benefit the people, the better. Jurong craftsmen don't just have one or two skills to build a courtyard. If you can't succeed in this one, just try another one. As long as you can It is always a good thing to make life easier for the craftsmen and give Jurong people a place to work in their spare time."
Tang Zonglu, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, frowned, stepped forward and asked, "Listen to what Gu Zhixian said, this sentence about allowing craftsmen to build a courtyard seems not to benefit the county government, but more to benefit the craftsmen?"
