Neon Clothes and Iron Clothes

Chapter 853 The Law of the Ancestors
This economic form is actually very beneficial to handicraft workers. They have their own fields and houses, and they don’t have to spend money on food, vegetables and accommodation. They even bring their own labor tools. The situation of these workers is better than if they are completely separated from agricultural production. Workers who work all day long in handicraft workshops and pay on a piece-rate basis (such as the Ji households in Jiangnan in the late Ming Dynasty) are much better off. In terms of average life expectancy, physical health, and the number of offspring they can raise, they are far better than those who lived together in cities at that time. handicraft workers in.

But for business owners, it’s a different story. The fact that handicraftsmen have not left agricultural production means that the supply of labor is seasonal. During the busy farming season, handicraftsmen have to manage their own fields and cannot engage in handicraft production. The operators' production plans are subject to various restrictions; and handicraftsmen have to manage their own fields. Living scattered in villages or towns greatly increases the cost of warehousing and logistics; limited by the financial resources and technology of craftsmen, it is difficult to put the latest production technology and tools into use. Therefore, when the ancient handicraft industry developed to a certain level, it faced the problem of where to get enough free workers with nothing.

This problem was solved in the West through "sheep eating people" and the price revolution. In ancient China, the population surge in the Ming and Qing dynasties allowed for a sufficient supply of surplus labor while maintaining the small-scale peasant economy, thus focusing on the southeastern coastal areas. The main export-oriented handicraft industry developed rapidly. In the late Manchu Dynasty, there was even a strange phenomenon of handicraft agricultural countries dumping handicraft products to Western European industrial countries. But the problem is that the population of the Tang Dynasty in the seventh century AD was much lower than that of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. There was still a large area of ​​undeveloped land in the Yangtze River Basin in the south alone, not to mention the Northeast Asia region that Wang Wenzuo had just conquered. There are thousands of miles of fertile land. It will take another two to three hundred years for the population to naturally increase to fill these new lands.

Therefore, the handicraft center operated by Wang Wenzuo in the Hebei region - in fact, mainly Fanyang - the Cangzhou axis encountered the problem of labor shortage from the beginning. In this regard, it was similar to that of modern Tsarist Russia - the technology and funds of the handicraft industry were imported from outside. ; The market is also mainly for military, navigation, and colonial trade needs; there is sufficient external land to be developed, and there is a serious shortage of labor. Under such circumstances, it is a daydream to expect the surplus population to work as handicraftsmen, as was the case in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Although handicraft workshop owners like Gao Wuniang have never studied political economics or ancient world history, they still instinctively embark on the journey. The only way out is to take advantage of floods and droughts to purchase people as handicraft workers, which is the serf labor system with the characteristics of the Tang Dynasty.

After getting the letter from Di Renjie, Gao Wu Niang happily left the yamen and got into the carriage: "Go back to the old house in Fangli first, and then go to Henan tomorrow!"

Like most Chinese people who have become prosperous, Gao Wuniang returned to Luoyang this time to get Di Renjie's letter. The first thing she did was to return to her old house and meet her old friends. As soon as her carriage arrived at the gate of Fangshi, she saw a bustle of people standing in front of the gate. The ground was re-paved with loess, and the front gate was temporarily blocked with pine branches. Standing at the front was an old man with white beard and hair, who was the clan leader. .

"Stop, stop!" Gao Wu Niang pulled the string by the window twice, and a bell sounded immediately outside. The coachman cracked his whip, pressed the brake pedal tightly with his feet, and tightened the reins in his hands. The carriage quickly stopped. stopped.

"Clan leader, you personally greet me. I am really ashamed that Wu Niang is a woman!" Gao Wu Niang stepped out of the carriage and said to the clan leader.

"Hey——!" The patriarch laughed and said: "Wuniang, you have been very prosperous in Hebei in the past few years. There are children in every house working for you. If I, the leader of the clan, don't show all the etiquette I should have, Come, not to mention the family members in each room, even the ancestors below will not agree! Come on, Wuniang, please!" She asked Gao Wuniang to do it, but Gao Wuniang refused. After pushing for a while, the clan leader took half a step forward, and Gao Wuniang entered the square gate a little later.

A group of people entered the Gao family ancestral hall and sat down in the hall. The patriarch smiled and said: "We have heard about Wu Niang in Hebei. Needless to say, you have made a lot of money. I heard that the imperial court also gave you a gift." Official position, is this true or false?”

"Yes!" Gao Wen sighed: "I just looked at the arranged timetable. The ore washing plant and new furnace will start construction next month, and then the new cold forging workshop and casting workshop. It is estimated that this year it will start again From the beginning of the year to the end of the year, there is no time for leisure!”

The patriarch originally wanted to take advantage of Gao Wuniang's return to Luoyang to fight against the autumn wind, but he didn't expect that the other party would agree so readily. On the contrary, he was a little embarrassed: "Wu Niang will pay for such a large sum of money alone. This, this - "

"What's inappropriate about this?" Gao Wuniang said with a smile: "Isn't Wuniang also surnamed Gao? Don't argue anymore. I will send someone to contact the famous craftsmen in Luoyang later and let them take a look. I care about the cost of building the ancestral hall, so you can rest assured!”

"Then it depends on whether you can make up the time!" Gao Wuniang said: "Awen, you have also seen that the things the general has told us over the years have been one after another. We are getting busier and busier. Can we I only have time to look at the arrangements!”

"Wuniang! This old man has a big appetite. He wants three or four hundred dollars at a time, and he is almost a county magistrate!" Gao Wen laughed softly as soon as Gao Wuniang and his party left the ancestral hall.

"Don't worry, I can still afford it for a few hundred dollars!" Gao Wuniang said with a smile: "It's just that I have been operating in Hebei these years, and I would like to ask you to take good care of the old house in Luoyang for the sake of the same clan. !”

"The patriarch is not greedy for money. I just watched it. To be honest, this ancestral hall should be repaired. The rafters in some places are rotten!" Gao Wanniang replied nonchalantly: "Anyway, our family has money, so if we have trouble, yes!"

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"That's natural!" The patriarch hurriedly patted his chest: "These are all matters within one's duty. There is no need for Wu Niang to say anything. If there is any damage, it will be my fault!"

"Oh?" Gao Wanniang was stunned when she heard this. Why would she ask herself a woman about offering sacrifices to her ancestors? She was confused when she suddenly heard two coughs behind her. When she turned around, it was Gao Wen who had done something on his hand. She then understood the gesture of counting money and said with a smile: "People from all over the world come to Luoyang, so it must cost a lot, right?"

"That's really a glorious honor for the ancestors!" The clan leader sighed twice: "Such a big event must be to comfort the ancestors, Wu Niang! In the next few days, I plan to gather the tribesmen from all over the country to worship the ancestors, what do you think!"

"What Wu Niang said is true!" Gawain nodded: "What about sacrificing ancestors?"

"Yes!" The clan leader sighed: "Just to renovate the ancestral hall will cost no less than three to four hundred dollars. Other expenses can be saved, but this cannot be saved. Otherwise, clansmen from all over the world will definitely come to Luoyang to see it. I feel that our Luoyang family is disrespectful to our ancestors!”

"Yes!" Gao Wanniang also showed a wry smile: "Under the rule of the general, the money our workshop earned has indeed gone out the window, and we are even more tired. One person can't wait to be used as two or three people. I just hope that this If we can buy dozens more obedient and smart people from Henan this time, we can breathe a sigh of relief!"

"I don't think so!" Gawain shook his head: "The person who bought it won't be able to use it immediately. It will take a year or two to train him anyway. Once we train him, the general will have more things to deal with. Well, we’ll never catch up here!”

"This, this is not appropriate!" said the patriarch.

Hearing this, Gao Wanniang still couldn't guess the intention of the clan leader. She smiled and said: "In that case, then I will bear the cost of rebuilding the ancestral hall alone!"

"Yes, this is indeed the case!" Gao Wu Niang also showed a look of pride on her face. There were actually many women who got imperial orders at that time, but almost all of them were because the husband they married was an official, and the wife followed her husband's rank. ; There are very few people like Gao Wuniang who directly become officials.

"That's true!" Gao Wuniang nodded: "But what can be done? Although there are many people coming to Cangzhou every year, there are more places that need manpower. Not to mention anything else, just carding, carding, spinning and weaving every year It requires two to three thousand more people. When it comes to our turn, three to five hundred will be the most. What can we do with this few people? "

"What I mean is, can someone specialize in this?" Gao Wen said: "Buy people, train them, and send them wherever they are needed. Just give a sum of money to the place where people are lacking. It saves us having to run specially. Paying money for a letter from the official is time-consuming and expensive, and can easily lead to trouble. "

"Well, that's a good idea!" Gao Wuniang glanced at Gawain and said with a smile, "What? You want to start this business?" "Wuniang is kidding!" Gowen sighed: "I can't even do what I'm doing at hand. I can’t finish it, so I still have the energy to find something else to do! I just feel like this business is worth doing!”

"Yes!" Gao Wuniang sighed: "Awen, what you said is quite right. Last time Mr. Sutuo came back, he said that there are more than ten islands in the northeast of Zhenbei Fort, extending all the way, vaguely pointing to Another continent. Obviously there will be more ships in the future, and our business will only get bigger and bigger, and we will need more and more manpower. This business is indeed successful!"

"Wu Niang!" Gao Wen whispered: "When you went to see Di Xianggong this time, I was by your side. Di Xianggong said it very clearly: 'Leave people's flesh and blood', which shows that Di Xianggong despises him very much. It’s about this. Mr. Di is a popular figure next to the general, and he is in a very high position now in charge of Dongdu. We can’t turn a deaf ear to his words!”

Gao Wuniang was stunned when she heard this, and whispered: "Awen, do you mean that we can't buy people?"

"It's okay to pay it off this time, but I'm afraid it won't work in the long run!" Gao Wen said: "Actually, what Mr. Di said is right. Taking advantage of the famine to buy people is indeed harmful to one's morality. According to my opinion, it is best to let the middlemen do the buying. People, let’s pay to buy it from them, this is the whole body’s solution!”

"Well, Awen, you are very thoughtful!" Gao Wuniang nodded: "Now that our family has a big business, we should consider things more carefully. When I go back this time, I will bring this matter up. Let whoever wants to make this money do it. We can make less money, but we can’t lose our virtue!”

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Chang'an, the General's Mansion.

"So, Liu Peiji has agreed!" Wang Wenzuo asked Murong Nao, who was bowing his head, while playing with the monocular telescope in his hand.

"Well, yesterday Liu Peiji came to his subordinate's home and expressed his willingness to serve the general!" Murong Miao said.

"That's great!" Wang Wenzuo put the telescope aside casually: "Then arrange for him to go to Cangzhou to familiarize himself with Duzhi first, and let's watch it for half a year!"

"Yes!" Murong Miao responded, but did not step back. Wang Wenzuo took a look and asked, "Why, is there anything else?"

"Not bad!" Murong Moo took a step forward and his voice was a little lower: "The day before yesterday, someone told his subordinates that the King of England often went to Prince Pei's Mansion during this period. The two of them talked to each other while talking to each other. The King of England often looked angry when he left. .so--"

"Do you suspect that the King of England and King Pei are conspiring?" Wang Wenzuo asked.

"I'm not sure yet!" Murong Miao lowered his head: "But there is indeed suspicion. After all, these two people are the emperor's younger brothers. The emperor is seriously ill, but the two of them have been excluded from the center. There is no reason to be dissatisfied. strangeness!"

Wang Wenzuo was silent for a long time, and Murong Miao did not dare to say anything. He just waited with bated breath. After a long time, he heard Wang Wenzuo say: "After all, this is all your speculation. The two kings are of high status and cannot rely on your empty words." Just deal with it!”

"What the general said is true!" Murong Miao said solemnly: "Then what if there is concrete evidence?"

Wang Wenzuo glanced at Murong Miao, and after a while he said: "The national law was made by Emperor Gaozu and Emperor Taizong. Although the two kings have noble status, they are not outside the national law!"

Hearing this, Murong Miao was secretly happy and hurriedly said in a deep voice: "I understand!"

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Political Hall.

"I have met Her Royal Highness, Princess Zhenguo!" Zhang Wenguan stood up from behind the desk and bowed to Princess Taiping, who was dressed in men's clothing.

"Mr. Zhang is exempt from the courtesy!" Princess Taiping waved her hand and smiled at the curious glances from both sides: "Today is the first time. In the future, we don't have to be so troublesome. Otherwise, how can we deal with political affairs? Taiping is your junior here, so please don’t think I’m stupid, but give me some advice!”

"Don't dare!"

Princess Taiping bowed to everyone around her, then walked to an empty table on the right side of Zhang Wenguan with a smile and sat down: "Mr. Zhang, what do you want to do today?"

"Things? That's a lot!" Zhang Wenguan smiled bitterly and took out a stack of documents from the desk: "Your Highness, please take a look at the drought and locust plague in Henan, the request for food and troops in Hexi and Longyou, and the Wuling barbarians in Jingnan are causing trouble again. ! Please give me money and food in Shuzhong! It’s all trouble!”

"It's true that Hebei is very peaceful!" Princess Taiping said with a smile.

(End of this chapter)