Daming Crazy Emperor

Chapter 259
The artisan household system originated in the Mongolian and Yuan dynasties, and it probably meant that people with various manual skills were registered as artisans and gathered for the court to drive.

This system was somewhat compulsive from the very beginning, because the Mongolian Yuan, as a nomadic tribe, did not have many handicraftsmen, and most of the artisans registered by them as artisans were captives.

Therefore, they basically imprisoned these craftsmen and forced them to work. Moreover, they did not give any compensation, basically only gave them a certain amount of food and clothing, so that these craftsmen would not starve to death or freeze to death.

Therefore, the status of craftsmen in the Mongolian and Yuan Dynasties was quite low, almost like slaves!
After the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, it basically inherited this craftsman household system. Emperor Hongwu also divided ordinary people into three categories of farmers, businessmen, and implemented a strict household registration system, including military households. These household registrations cannot be changed casually. After the household registration is determined, it will be passed down from generation to generation, and the household registration can only be changed unless the emperor gives special approval!
Of course, there is another way, that is to study hard and take the imperial examination.

If you can obtain fame, your household registration and destiny will naturally change.

There is still a big misunderstanding here. Many people may think that low-status household registrations such as military households, artisan households, and merchant households cannot participate in the imperial examination.

In fact, in the Ming Dynasty, it was really stipulated that the people who were not allowed to participate in the imperial examination were lowly households who had been classified as humble. That was no longer the category of ordinary people, but military households, artisan households, and merchants were all eligible to participate in the imperial examination.

For example, Li Dongyang and Zhang Juzheng, the famous chief ministers of the cabinet in the history of the Ming Dynasty, were originally registered in the military.

Of course, not all military households, artisan households, and merchants can change their destiny through the imperial examination, because studying requires money and time.

Military households and commercial households are better off, because military households basically have a lot of time, while commercial households are not very short of money.

As for craftsmen, it is basically impossible to change their destiny through the imperial examination, because they have neither money nor time!

Craftsman households are the worst among ordinary people.

Although the Ming court did not keep the craftsmen under custody and force them to work like Meng Yuan did, it formulated a shift system and a shift system that forced the craftsmen to work.

The so-called shift means that all kinds of craftsmen must take turns to perform labor in the workshops set up by the imperial court every year, with an average of about three months per shift.

During these three months, the craftsmen worked for the court for free, and even had to bring their own food!
This shift system can make the craftsmen miserable, because the traffic is not developed these days, and the workshops set up by the imperial court are generally located in the north and south capitals. If it is far away from the north and south capitals in the northwest or southwest, it can be thousands of miles away. People have to walk for several months for the distance, and once they come and go, half a year is gone. Adding the three months of shifts, there is not much time left in a year.

Doing this is killing people!

There was no wages for shifts, so the court naturally didn't care whether the craftsmen had food on the road, and the craftsmen who were far away were either on the road or in shifts for a year, so they had no time to make money at all.

They have no land, no time to make money, what to eat?
Therefore, many artisans starved to death on the way to work shifts!

Who wants to starve to death?
Even if I would rather starve to death myself than my family would starve to death!

Therefore, in the Ming Dynasty, many craftsmen risked their lives and fled, becoming refugees or even rogues without household registration.

For example, Liu Zongmin, the number one general of the Dashun Dynasty, was a craftsman, and he was a very famous blacksmith.

Of course, the escape of craftsmen did not start from the Tianqi Dynasty and the Chongzhen Dynasty, but from the Hongwu Dynasty, and it became more and more severe later.

According to historical records, in the tenth year of Ming Yingzong Tianshun alone, more than 8000 artisan households fled in one year!

This shows how much craftsmen are afraid of the shift system.

Compared with the shift system, the shift system is better.

The so-called shift system means that craftsmen go to the workshop opened by the imperial court to serve ten days of free labor every month, and other time can be arranged by themselves.

This is also the reason why there are more artisan households in the northern and southern capitals, because many artisan households choose to sit on shifts in order not to die on the way of shifts, and live directly in South Zhili or North Zhili.

However, it is not so easy to be a shift worker.

This kind of craftsmen can't hide from the exploits of corrupt officials or even eunuchs, because corrupt officials or eunuchs want to do some private work, they will use clever names to force craftsmen to work for them for free.

For example, building a private house, making household items, making utensils, building a shrine and so on.

Don't do it, that's fine, you will be disqualified from taking shifts, and you can go to shifts!
In short, the craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty are the worst. They basically either serve the court for free or work hard to earn food for themselves and their families. What they study depends on the imperial examination. They really don’t have the time or the money.

This may be the root cause of the Ming Dynasty's two hundred years of technology not only not progressing, but constantly regressing. Whether it is shipbuilding, cannon-making, or musket-making, it is all made by craftsmen!

You force craftsmen and households to not have enough to eat, and to be unable to live. Who has the heart to think about how to improve technology?
Obviously, this is bad governance.

Taichang's understanding of the artisan household system also started when he decided to recruit artisan households on a large scale. The more he understood, the more he felt that the artisan household system was unreasonable. the way!

Perhaps, at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the troubled times, ordinary people thought that as long as they could have something to eat, they would not starve to death.

At that time, craftsmen may not have much opinion.

However, if it continues like this, it will not work, and the craftsmen will not be able to bear it sooner or later, as evidenced by the large number of craftsmen fleeing later.

There is no doubt about the importance of these craftsmen to Ming Dynasty. Without them, who will build ships, who will build guns and cannons, who will build various weapons and equipment, and who will promote technological progress?

In fact, Taichang has long wanted to get rid of this bad government, but he has never thought of any good way to replace this artisan household system and improve the status of artisan households.

At this moment, when Bi Maokang mentioned the problem of the craftsmen, he suddenly had an idea and thought of a good solution.

Of course, this good method is not a skill competition, but a grade assessment for craftsmen through skill competition.

This rank is the same as that of civil servants and military generals, both rank nine and eighteen!
In the study room of the foundry, Bi Maokang, Wang Zheng and Sun Yuanhua were all dumbfounded after hearing Taichang's idea.

As the emperor said, they have no objection to the abolition of the shift system and the shift system, because these two systems have really made the craftsmen miserable, and they also feel that they should be abolished.

The problem is that it is a bit too much to rate craftsmen, and it is still the same level as civil servants and generals.

Bi Maokang was stunned for a while, and then he said carefully: "Your Majesty, I dare to say something, it is a bit inappropriate, after all, craftsmen are not civil officials and military generals, if their grades are the same as civil and military generals, it will be a bit messy .”

Taichang patiently explained: "The rank of this craftsman is not an official title, nor does he have any real power.

I just want to use this method to assess the ability of craftsmen, so as to determine their wages.

As for the high-grade and high-grade craftsmen, it does not mean that they have any power, it is just a name.

Calling it this way will also help improve their status, making everyone feel that they are not the most low-status people. You also know their role in the court. They also need to be respected, right? "

What he wanted to say was that everyone was equal, but he couldn't say that directly these days, because one still had to pay attention to dignity, otherwise the imperial power would be difficult to maintain.

Bi Maokang thought for a while, then shook his head, and carefully advised: "Your Majesty, can we call it another way? It's not good to call it that way. Think about it, the head of the Ministry of Industry of the sixth rank is going to take care of the third rank and the second rank. Even a craftsman of the first grade, isn't this messed up?"

Uh, it's a bit messy.

So, what to do?

Grade grade, if it is not called grade, then it is called grade!

Taichang had an idea and said: "How about this, the craftsmen are divided into nine levels, there is no distinction between principals and vices, just call it a few levels, not a few grades, and the higher the level, the more powerful it is, right? "

After hearing the words, Bi Maokang savored them carefully, then cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty is wise, it is indeed much better to call it this way."

That's enough, the next step is the skill competition of various craftsmen.

The Ministry of Industry formulated the rules, and all craftsmen in Wubei City participated in the competition. After the competition, the grades were evaluated. In the future, wages will be calculated according to this grade. The Ministry of Industry of other craftsmen will also organize competitions and grades.

Level [-], that is the lowest, one tael a month.

Level nine, that is the highest, and the salary is nine taels a month.

At the same time, the shift system and the shift system were abolished. In the future, whether it is the imperial court or private individuals, craftsmen will have to pay corresponding wages for work.

As soon as this notice was posted, the entire Wubei City was boiling, and many craftsmen were crying with joy.

They finally don't have to do hard labor anymore!
They can finally support their families with their skills!

Moreover, they can also obtain higher grades and higher wages by continuously honing their skills, so that they and their families can live a better life.

This is great news for all artisans!
(End of this chapter)