Chapter 687 Calculate how much money they owe me!
“The grievances of the craftsmen are like boiling water, which cannot be covered up no matter what.”
“When we arrived at Nanya, the craftsmen wanted to cry, but Shi Shi wanted to be brave. The right people think that we are a high-ranking king who is above the ninth level and will not meet the craftsmen. They are wrong, how wrong they are. Every year in Beiya, I have to meet with foreign officials, craftsmen, soldiers, and poor coolies to ask them about their status. difficulties, and effectively solve their difficulties."
"We are indeed an emperor, but we are also a farmer." Zhu Yijun saw that these craftsmen were still a little nervous and immediately told them to treat themselves as farmers.
This seems a bit contradictory. The emperor and the peasants seem to be incompatible with each other, or even have little connection. They are contradictory identities. The emperor has a court, and the court has yamen in various places. The court always seems to be following from It seems contradictory for a farmer to dig out money for pleasure, but these two identities are unified in His Majesty.
"Your Majesty, the common people have resentments in their hearts, but they are afraid that they cannot explain themselves clearly. Please forgive me." A craftsman-talker finally couldn't help himself and said.
Zhu Yijun still said gently: "Speak slowly, don't be in a hurry, there is plenty of time."
This gentle attitude made the craftsmen's nervousness dissipate a lot, and they became more fluent in speaking. , like pouring beans from a bamboo tube, he made the resentment in his heart clear and clear.
The craftsmen talked very verbosely, the information was very scattered, and the specific demands were not clear. They even didn’t know what they wanted, but they just felt dissatisfied. The craftsmen were not scholars, and they could not summarize it so clearly. , but Zhu Yijun is very good at summarizing the key points of the problem from these scattered information.
Zhang Juzheng believes that His Majesty is very talented in politics, because His Majesty is good at summarizing phenomena, based on the four-step analysis method of the theory of contradiction, phenomena, problems, causes, and methods. Only by focusing on these four steps can we analyze an issue. It requires political wisdom to analyze things that are inextricably linked and universally connected.
"We understand. Let me repeat it to you. Let the three of you listen and see if it's correct. Feng Daban, ask Xiao Huangmen to pass the words to the auditorium and ask them if what I said is correct." Zhu Yijun told Feng Bao. After a while, the audience must listen, which involves the emperor's face and the court's credibility.
“Long-term workers need to sign a contract and report it to the household office of each county, state, and government office, and the labor contract of long-term workers has a minimum labor remuneration standard. Therefore, the common practice in Jiangnan is to change long-term workers into "Being a part-time worker means not recruiting workers, but hiring brokers and compradors," Zhu Yijun began his retelling.
The three craftsmen and talkers kept nodding along with His Majesty's words. Your Majesty said that he was not good at writing, but this truth was very clear.
Since the imperial court began to implement labor remuneration protection, corresponding powerful figures and workshop owners also came up with their own methods.
For workshop owners, this is very convenient.
By brokering comprador labor, you will be more flexible. Most of the work in the handicraft workshop is affected by the output of the land, and the output of the land is affected by the season. You are not busy all year round. For example, weavers are busiest around the time silkworms spin silk in spring, but in summer, autumn and winter, the workshop does not need so many people.
If you hire workers through brokers and compradors, you don’t have to face the headache of labor conflicts. After all, all wages are negotiated with brokers and compradors. If anything happens, craftsmen go to these brokers and compradors instead of looking for jobs. Shop owner, even if you owe some labor remuneration and have not been paid, you can still hire comprador workers through other brokers, so don't worry too much.
The biggest benefit and the most important reason for hiring through a broker is to save money.
Saving money is all-round. When work is idle, labor expenses can be saved, and when work is busy, production can be accelerated. The most basic labor remuneration for various types of work stipulated by the imperial court does not need to be observed. , after all, there is no labor contract; and labor remuneration can be kept very low. The Ming Dynasty lacks everything except poor coolies; and it is easy to divide the spoils, and only need to get brokers and compradors.
“These powerful right-wingers are just bullying our hard-working people of the Ming Dynasty. Those natives of Nanyang, Japanese slaves, and the black people imported from the cannibals have no whips to whip them, they don’t work at all, and they will starve to death. I am too lazy to work, and I am not willing to cultivate the land well even though I am guarding such a good place, but we, the people of Ming Dynasty, cannot take time off and get panicked when we are free.”
"We understand, it's just like we can't see the land and abandon it, it's a crime."
"But they just rely on the hard work of the Ming people to bully us." Zhu Yijun started to talk about the impact. He thought this was bullying. .
Diligence is a relative concept. Compared with those Annan people who came to Zhennanguan to cut sugar cane in Guangxi and Guangdong in the Ming Dynasty, compared with the humble Confucians like the Ming Dynasty who are used to getting something for nothing, the Annan people must be hardworking, but If we compare it with the people of the Ming Dynasty, we will get the result that the people of the Ming Dynasty are hardworking.
The impact of hiring through comprador brokers is extremely bad.
The most direct thing is that the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty were unable to obtain sufficient remuneration for their labor and lived in poverty. The indirect impact was extremely far-reaching.
Even if you don’t look at this issue from the perspective of a victim or a poor coolie, but from the perspective of a powerful right-winger, this is still very dangerous, because times have changed.
In the past, meat eaters could not care about the life and death of producers, poverty or not, and the emperor could rule the world with peace of mind and scholar-bureaucrats, because producers could only rely on their own enterprising spirit and creativity to gain income. A meager remuneration for labor, based on the meager remuneration provided by meat eaters, so alive, and producers can only comply because there is no other choice.
This is the limitation of the small farmer economy. If you leave this world, where else can you survive? Five miles have different pronunciation, and ten miles have different customs.
But if workers cannot get sufficient remuneration for their labor and cannot obtain enough hope, they will refuse progress and self-accumulation. Taking Nanya as an example, this method of employing people through brokerage and comprador will not work in the short term. It is beneficial to see it, but once the timeline is extended to five or ten years, an inevitable problem will arise.
If this employment method is allowed to spread, Nanya's workshops will not have enough skilled craftsmen born, and they will always remain in the status of handicraft workshops. The workshops will be full of short-term workers and there will be no long-term workers. It is doomed. If the production of high value-added goods cannot be completed smoothly, efficiently and quickly, the workshop will be eliminated.
Then these workshop owners will curse, what a bullshit world, what a bullshit court, they will never look for the reasons from themselves, and ask why they are eliminated by the market, absolutely not! They will think that it is all the fault of the emperor, the court, the government, and the world, not themselves. Coupled with the noise of the cheap Confucianists, it is even more serious.
Even if you look at this problem completely from the perspective of a meat eater, you will find that not only will you be eliminated, but there is also a more serious problem, that is, labor is no longer cheap.
Sufficient and cheap labor is never a good thing, because the result of low labor costs is a decline in profits. Meat eaters will only try their best to peel off the meat in exchange for more riches. profits, human resources are also a resource. When human resources are exhausted, all prosperity will collapse.
Zhu Yijun himself used the Huojia Quan to express the theory of contradiction. His views on problems were never purely from one standpoint. He never concealed his sympathy for the poor coolies and his sympathy for the poor coolies. biased position.
Excessive working hours and lethal levels of exploitation must be strictly limited, not only to protect producers, but also to protect meat eaters.
With the inflow of large amounts of silver and the gradual transformation of the small-scale peasant economy, this contradiction will become far more significant and complex than before. As the emperor and the court, they will lose their ability to regulate social contradictions and will be eliminated.
Zhu Yijun said with a smile: "Then let's take a look at the most urgent things now."
"The first thing is to simplify complex things. These brokers and compradors , we need to find a way to make them disappear completely, so that they lose the soil for survival. This is a top priority. We really have a few ways. I will make these brokers and compradors disappear within a month. "
Zhu Yijun. It was necessary to effectively solve the problem. After stating the problem, he did not discuss specific policies in depth with the craftsmen. Instead, he gave a promise that within a month, the employment system of brokerage and comprador would disappear from the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty. .
"This is difficult, Your Majesty. Without these brokers and compradors, we can't find work. If we are idle, the whole family will be eating, drinking and having diarrhea as soon as we open our eyes." A craftsman said quite Said sincerely.
Nowadays, most of the methods of working in the Ming Dynasty are through word-of-mouth. People from their hometowns are brought to Nanya. Without these brokers and compradors, the craftsmen are afraid that they will have no work to do.
Zhu Yijun nodded and said: "An Xin, we know very well that in order to completely make them disappear, a replacement needs to appear, and we will find a way."
"The second thing , It’s about food, clothing, housing and transportation.”
While the craftsmen were chattering, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty sorted things out according to priorities. The second thing was the important matter of firewood, rice, oil and salt. The craftsmen were working in the workshop, and the mother-in-law was there. Cooking food at home and delivering food to the workshop at noon. Food, clothing, housing and transportation are the biggest headaches for craftsmen.
Everything in Nanjing is too expensive.
All the craftsmen are envious of the live-in craftsmen in the official factory, because the live-in craftsmen have official residences to live in, and there is a big canteen for eating. Even the big pot rice is not delicious, but it can definitely make you full. There will be no problem. There are many people in the official factory who are hungry. I am afraid that everyone from the general manager to the top leaders will suffer.
According to what these craftsmen said, only craftsmen who live in the countryside can be considered craftsmen. These craftsmen in private workshops are just working as cattle and horses.
Zhu Yijun said with a solemn face: "This problem will be alleviated to some extent with the disappearance of the comprador brokers, but it will only be alleviated, not solved. Yingtianfu, Nanya, these Meishikou, Caishikou, The grain, oil, rice and noodle mills are all in the hands of some people. Our Bei Ya government-run Meishikou. We also guarantee that Nan Ya will be government-run. As for the Caishikou and the grain, oil, rice and noodle mills, the imperial court will also find a way. "
"The treasury and Changpingcang were burned down some time ago. Hai Zongxian reorganized the treasury, and Changpingcang should also play some role."
"When the grain is low, it will increase. When the grain is high, it is necessary to reduce the number of farmers and buy it.”
When the price of millet is low, you buy it, which is called buying. When the price of millet is high, you sell it, which is called selling. Changpingcang plays the role of stabilizing grain prices, but this function has failed. Now the court needs to find a way to play it. The role of Chang Ping Cang.
The problem of Changpingcang in Nanya is the most serious, because Nanjing is the capital of the capital, and the Thirteenth Prefecture of Nanya is in Nanzhili. There are no governors, inspectors, censors, and household officials sent by the imperial court. Because the basic framework of the Ming Dynasty was "blocks and blocks", there were only blocks and no rules, so the situation was so corrupt.
"The third thing is to go to school. To be honest, we don't have a good way." Zhu Yijun sighed. He is a human being, not an omnipotent god. Facing the craftsmen The third thing that concerned him the most was that the Ming Emperor expressed his powerlessness.
According to general rules, meat eaters should hope that producers should be literate, flexible, disciplined, well-behaved, and cooperative, because only in this way can they be competent enough to do their jobs. For example, how can the boat master on this ship be illiterate? Learn how to lead stars across oceans?
But the meat-eaters of the Ming Dynasty seem to have a natural fear of producers being literate. It is best for every craftsman to be illiterate.
This kind of fear is the same as Chen Wuyin's desire to set a very high threshold for military affiliation, and the reason why hundreds of officials in Nanya wanted to seize the monthly rations of wives and families in Zhenwuying. The demand for a monopoly of political power.
Besides for the purpose of monopoly power, illiterate producers are easier for meat eaters to control.
The government-run schools of the Ming Dynasty always instilled in students a kind of collectivism that worries about the world first, while the private schools are more inclined to rootless individualism. Man is the sum of social relations, and all social relations constitute man. There is no absolute individual, so this kind of extreme individualism is a tree without roots and water without a source.
Now, all Zhu Yijun can do is to set up schools for official factories, and the main purpose is to train craftsmen. Being able to do this is already the emperor's limit.
Since he can't do it, he won't make a promise easily.
But if he can't do it now, it doesn't mean he can't do it in the future. He will write it down. Once public education investment is started, it will be a huge expenditure than military spending, and the Ming Dynasty will become richer. Only when some materials are richer can we have the opportunity to implement them.
"The last thing is the same as the first thing. Within a month, we will clean up all these wandering people and send them all to Java to develop." Zhu Yijun's final words to the craftsmen Regarding the fourth question of concern, we responded positively.
The craftsmen live relatively close to each other, so some criminals have set their sights on the craftsmen. Vicious incidents such as theft, robbery, gambling, abduction, etc. have occurred frequently. This is why a Weaver Girl is recommended. The reason for coming out is because many Zhi Niang's children were abducted.
The craftsman talked about many things, such as theft. The craftsman was obviously very poor, so why did he steal and rob him? Because big families have servants, they will be hung up and beaten if caught. Even if they are beaten to death, the Yamen will not care about them. If they break into the house, they will be beaten to death. This is a clear stipulation of the Ming Dynasty law, and in a craftsman's house, the risk is even smaller.
There are even more gambling houses, which are part of the labor compensation recovery plan.
"Your Majesty, something happened." Zhang Hong hurriedly ran to the emperor and whispered the specific situation. Zhu Yijun frowned and then relaxed.
When the emperor and the chief craftsmen met, a bloody incident occurred. Fortunately, the capital camp and the government officials were all there, and there were no more serious casualties.
"If no one is dead, it doesn't count as an accident. Since you dare to call the craftsmen to come to Fuxi Tower, you must be prepared to pay the price, pass on my will, and let the government officials release the people." Zhu Yijun He spoke loudly, and after giving specific instructions to Zhang Hong, he explained to the three craftsmen what happened.
“There was a little incident on the street just now. Some of the slaves of the workshop owner tried to disguise themselves as craftsmen and attacked the government servants. They wanted to muddy the water and fish in troubled waters. Instead, they were attacked by the craftsmen. I caught you now, everyone, our hands are from farming and are covered with calluses. These house slaves can be recognized at a glance if they don’t work hard.”
"Good fellow, a fight broke out immediately. It was difficult for the government servants to separate these people. These slaves were beaten until their noses were bruised and their faces were swollen."
Zhu Yijun's hands were covered with calluses and even a little deformed. The lines are also relatively deep, and there are some scars. The scars are mainly caused by accidental injuries while practicing martial arts. It is normal to bump and rub during martial arts. Zhu Yijun also has frostbite on his hands. It was from when he went to see ice harvesting in Yongding River last winter. , I tried my best to collect ice and got it frozen.
The domestic slave was sent to Huimin Pharmacy for treatment. The government officials arrested the craftsman who beat him. A violent mood was spreading. Zhu Yijun chose to let him go. This was a group incident and could not be tolerated. In terms of fighting, if it is not dealt with in time, the irritable mood will become more intense. This is contrary to Zhu Yijun's original intention of personally coming out to appease the people.
Of the four things that the craftsmen are most concerned about, there are three things that His Majesty has promised and a time limit for, and there is one thing that His Majesty has recorded in a small book.
The craftsman, who had been silent, looked around, and said with a troubled face: "Your Majesty, the common people have one more thing, and I would like to ask your Majesty to make the decision. This Hai Zongxian said, in a county, Taxation, land measurement, and silver levy were all divided into officials and hired servants to deal with it. That is to say, the labor was distributed among the acres. Songjiang Prefecture implemented a whip method, and later Nanya also implemented it. "
"If the grassroots understand correctly, we, landless craftsmen, don't need to pay for our labor?"
"That's right." Zhu Yijun frowned and said with great conviction.
This is what the One Whip Law is like. The labor in a place is included in the land. When labor is needed, money is paid to hire it. This is the true nature of the One Whip Law. The One Whip Law is a tax in kind. The change to monetary tax also put all kinds of labor on the land.
“But why do we, landless craftsmen like us, have to pay this servant’s silver? It costs seven silver coins a year.” The craftsman asked boldly.
"We never said that we would charge four poor silver from the landless people." Zhu Yijun sat upright. He looked at the craftsman and asked with some doubts: "Someone is carrying our dragon flag to ask for it." This money?”
The craftsman hurriedly said: "Well, they said they paid for the imperial grain. Seven coins of silver can buy two stones of rice, which is enough for a child to eat for a year."
"We have never received it from anyone." Zhu Yijun was very happy. He solemnly said: "The whip method is a method proposed since Gui E to solve the problem of people being trapped in labor. It has been so many years. It seems that there is a problem in the implementation. In addition to the servant silver, we also need to pay What money?”
“Yes!” The craftsmen also realized that ninety-nine percent of the money did not go into the emperor’s pocket, and someone was doing something wrong.
There is a word called being a tiger's assistant, which means that the ghost of a person killed by a tiger remains and becomes a ghost, attracting people to the tiger's territory and being killed by the tiger. The Ming Dynasty is the tiger, and it has the power to be powerful. , rural sages, gentry, and government officials are all scoundrels.
But now, the craftsmen discovered that the tiger did not have such a big appetite at all!
I didn’t know if this was an accounting or not. I was shocked when I did, and then I realized that the craftsmen had so many taxes in various categories!
These craftsmen can only move outside the city. Once they enter Nanjing, they have to pay an entry fee of five cents for every day they stay. They have to pay it every day. This five cents is directly deducted from their wages. Of course, you can also pay it yourself at the city gate. The craftsmen pay the full amount. The craftsmen guess that meat eaters may be able to pay less.
Reed, tea, and mines are all also required. During the winter, people in the Ming Dynasty not only stocked up coal but also stocked up on grass. After drying it in the autumn, they spread it on the bed and covered themselves to keep warm. Reed was the best fodder. When you go to buy grass, if you stock up on grass at the market, you have to pay the clerk sitting in front of the market. The mining class is mainly on the mines, gold, silver, iron, copper, lead, tin, mercury, alum. , cinnabar, etc. must be paid, and no physical items are collected, only money.
Sometimes the kiln owner defaults on wages, and the craftsmen actually pay to work.
In addition to entering the city, reed, tea, and mining, there are also many taxes on door stalls, shops, house numbers, etc. These are not official taxes and are not on the imperial tax list.
"No, why do you still ask Zhi Niang to collect taxes? Women who are over fifteen years old and do not marry until thirty years old, two coins of silver, and three coins of silver if they are above thirty?" Zhu Yijun was frightened by these various taxes, especially the ten-year-old tax. If you are over five years old and do not marry, you will be charged two coins per year.
"Wait a minute, this money will not be collected only from Zhi Niang."
Zhu Yijun ascended the throne at the age of nine and has already had thirteen years of work experience. This is outrageous If we want to collect taxes, how strong the executive power at the grassroots level is needed? He soon realized that this money could only be collected from Zhi Niang, where the women were most concentrated.
"Yes." Zhi Niang said with a painful look on her face: "Those government officials have to go to the Weaving Bureau to collect this money every year. Later, the Weaving Bureau collected it on their behalf. We only need to pay one yuan for two coins. , but if you are not a weaver from the Weaving Bureau, you will not be so lucky.”
The Weaving Bureau is a government factory, and most of the weavers are from the Weaving Bureau. For the sake of dignity, the Weaving Bureau had to go out for interviews. In the end. The Weaving Bureau shouldered half of the responsibility, which was considered to have smoothed over the matter.
Zhu Yijun took a deep breath and said to Feng Bao: "Tell Da Situ how much money there is in the treasury, and be sure to count it clearly! In my name, he levied and extorted money, and in the end it all went into his own pocket. How dare you I want an explanation from them for using my money!"
"Calculate how much money they owe me!"
"I obey the order of the leader. The local government said that it wanted to collect it, but it had to be in the name of the emperor!
The emperor was famously frugal, and using the emperor's money, isn't this the same as taking out the emperor's heart, liver, spleen and stomach? A famous actor from the south of the Yangtze River was also connected to the Duke of Wei. After listening to the song, the Ming Emperor gave him ten silver coins!
Even if it is nominal money, it belongs to His Majesty!
"We have investigated this matter clearly. We will make an announcement and collect taxes indiscriminately in my name. This matter will not take a month, but within three days, there will be a royal list!" Zhu Yijun gave a specific promise.
"You are fine as you are now. When you encounter unfair treatment, you have to hug each other to keep warm. You have to make a fuss. Only by making a fuss will these gangs be afraid only if they are bold and right-wing. Otherwise they won’t be able to see your strength at all, and strength needs to be shown! If you don’t stick together, they will stick together and bully you.” Zhu Yijun once again affirmed the actions of the craftsmen.
This behavior was in line with etiquette and law. Whoever said it was not in line with etiquette and law, Zhu Yijun took out the "Da Gao" and pasted it on his face, and activated the ancestral method.
Anyway, it was Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di who did it first.
As the sun set, the negotiations at the Fuxi Tower were successfully concluded. Zhu Yijun gave a commitment of three days and one month. Earlier than fulfilling the promise, in the early morning of the next day, a new imperial edict was posted on the imperial list.
"The Emperor of the Heavenly Sect, the edict says: Let the people of the world know that if these gentry use our name again to oppress you (us), deduct, default, or even refuse to pay, you will be Get together and escort them to Yousi. If they don't care, they will be escorted to Beijing and we will personally judge this."
This is an imperial edict issued to the people, dare to use the name of the emperor. After levying excessive taxes, Zhu Yijun flipped through the "Da Gao" and issued a similar imperial edict in a similar format.
It is worth noting that the imperial edict was sent to the Suihu Cabinet in the next chapter, and then posted to the streets and alleys of Nanjing by the Sixth Section of the Suihu. This imperial edict was not Zhu Yijun's bypass of Wenyuan Pavilion. The elders asked Tiqi to promulgate it, and Zhang Juzheng, Wang Chonggu, and Wan Shihe all agreed with this imperial edict.
This is a collective decision.
Da Situ Wang Guangguang was just checking the accounts. He was too busy to understand the whole story, so he stamped his approval stamp on the float.
Wang Chonggu was the leader of the Labor Party. He naturally agreed with the decree to expand the interests of craftsmen. Wan Shihe was an imperialist. He agreed with everything the emperor said. He also specially studied the imperial edict and blocked some objections.
The reason why Zhang Juzheng agrees is quite interesting. In his opinion:
Conflicts can only move forward in succession. Only the poor coolies are oppressed and one party is too strong, and the conflicts cannot spark. Naturally, it is impossible to form a state of conflict that everyone accepts in the constant conflicts. Ming Dynasty cannot move forward, so it is okay to make a fuss.
(End of this chapter)