I'm really not doing business

Chapter 972 A hundred taels of salary is for outsiders, a single cent of ownership is for oneself.
In early November, all five eunuchs were apprehended and brought to justice. When the anti-corruption campaign reached the eunuchs, everyone in the Ming Dynasty knew that this anti-corruption campaign was for real.

It is by no means a political means to make the people believe that justice has been served, but rather a self-reform and innovation that cuts to the core.

The five eunuchs were not imprisoned in the Eastern Depot, but were instead put into the prison of the Northern Garrison Command. The Garrison Command's Chief of Justice interrogated them, and Zhao Mengyou finally determined their crimes.

The reason for handing them over to the Zhenfu Division for interrogation was mainly to see if these eunuchs had anyone behind them, such as Li Yougong, Zhang Hong, and Feng Bao, and whether they were authorized by these senior eunuchs in the palace to be so audacious.

Gao Tan and his adopted son Gao Huai embezzled the winter coat allowance for Liaodong. It was only because His Majesty paid the full amount that Liaodong did not experience any unrest. After the Luomu Camp mutiny, the entire Ming Dynasty was extremely sensitive about military pay, not only to the emperor but also to the soldiers.

Finally, the imperial guards interrogated the eunuchs and found that none of them had given orders behind the scenes.

After interrogation, it was discovered that Gao Xin and Gao Huai's reasons for doing so were quite simple.

In their minds, neither Jilin nor Korea were truly Ming Dynasty territories; they were more like tributary states, where they could amass wealth and then lose it when the tide of the Wanli Reforms receded.

Just like the former Nurgan Regional Military Commission, Beiping Regional Military Commission, Hetao, the Seven Guards of Guanzhong, and Jiaozhi.

The officials and eunuchs in Jiaozhi back then were all levying exorbitant taxes for similar reasons. The land belonged to the imperial court, but the silver was their own. They would take what they could and leave, since the emperor and his ministers didn't care about these places anyway.

This reason is truly laughable.

Zhu Yijun's order for Xu Jue to arrest the person was also an implicit approval that Feng Bao could kill to silence him. After all, it was a matter within the palace, and there were interpersonal relationships and mutual protection within the palace. It wasn't that you would see each other all the time, but that you might need to use each other's people to settle things someday.

Zhu Yijun planned to clean up the mess little by little afterward to ensure the stability of politics in the palace and prevent people from becoming suspicious.

However, the fact that several criminals were able to return to the capital and be interrogated means that the senior eunuchs in charge of the palace not only did not benefit from the case, but were also afraid of being implicated by these few scoundrels, which is why they began to conduct a self-examination.

In early November, Feng Bao executed the five eunuchs and their adopted sons who had committed crimes, a total of seventeen people. The method of execution was blanching them in water.

Zhu Yijun was quite curious about this, so he went to observe the execution. He was curious about exactly how the blanching was done.

"Is that Gao Huai?" Zhu Yijun asked Feng Bao, looking at the group of criminals awaiting execution.

Feng Bao bowed and said, "Your Majesty, those are Gao Tan and Gao Huai."

"Whose people are they?" Zhu Yijun asked again.

Feng Bao took out the case file, bowed his head, and said, "Please take a look, Your Majesty."

"Summon them both." Zhu Yijun flipped through the case files for a long time. It seemed that Gao Tan and Gao Huai did not have any deep connections with the eunuchs in the palace.

Like Feng Bao and Zhang Hong, Gao Tan was an old man in the Prince Yu's mansion. He had grown up there since childhood. After Prince Yu ascended the throne, these people rose to prominence along with him. Compared with the cautious Feng Bao and the ruthless Zhang Hong, Gao Tan did not make a name for himself.

Gao Huai was a street rogue who made a living by collecting debts in Chongwenmen. When money shops lent money at exorbitant interest rates and couldn't collect it, these rogues would come to his door to collect the money. Gao Huai had a wife and two sons.

In the ninth year of the Wanli reign, Gao Huai castrated himself to enter the palace and became an adopted son of Gao Tan, thus changing his surname to Gao.

It was Gao Huai who instigated Gao Tan to take action against Dong Ao Yin, and he personally committed most of the evil deeds, using extremely ruthless methods.

"Your Majesty, spare me! Your Majesty, spare me!" Gao Xin knelt on the ground, kowtowing and begging for mercy. He was in a panic and didn't know what to do. Logically speaking, Feng Bao and Zhang Hong, who came from the same background, should have stood up and said a few kind words, but the two of them kept their eyes down and didn't say a word, for fear of getting into trouble.

He was greedy for money and didn't give any tribute to the palace eunuchs. Now that something has happened, it will be very difficult for the palace eunuchs to settle the matter.

Zhu Yijun looked at Gao Huai, who was kneeling on the ground, but looking up at the gloomy sky, muttering to himself: "Heavenly Lord, Heavenly Lord."

Gao Huai was faking his madness; everyone present knew he was just pretending.

"Execute him." Zhu Yijun ordered Feng Bao to do the work without asking any questions.

Gao Huai was clearly stunned for a moment, forgetting even to utter his incoherent ramblings. He looked utterly incredulous, thinking that the emperor would be curious about who was behind this and who had given the money to. This was Gao Huai's only chance to survive.

But the emperor didn't play by the rules at all, and even ignored the questioning process.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I am innocent! I am innocent! My son and I gave away all that silver..." Gao Huai finally panicked, crawled a few steps on his knees, and shouted as if he had just come back to his senses.

"Drag him away." Zhu Yijun waved his hand, interrupting Gao Huai. A eunuch, seeing that His Majesty didn't want to listen, stuffed a wad of handkerchief into Gao Huai's mouth.

Gao Huai was putting on an act, deliberately making it seem like there was something else going on behind the scenes.

The father and son divided the spoils. Gao Huai received more than 70,000 taels of silver, which he gave to his wife and son before they entered the palace. Gao Tan took 140,000 taels of silver, of which more than 30,000 taels were thrown away at the Wanhua Brothel. The remaining 100,000 taels of silver were also seized by Xu Jue during a raid on his home.

"Your Majesty, I have given all the silver to Wang Rulong, the General of Liaodong! Your Majesty, please understand!" Gao Huai struggled a few times, pulled out the handkerchief from his mouth, and shouted hoarsely.

Gao Xin looked ashen-faced, kicked Gao Huai hard, knocking him to the ground, and returned to the crowd without saying a word.

Even on the verge of death, he still tried to fool the emperor, admitting his mistakes after being caught, and even making baseless accusations. He was somewhat afraid to admit his wrongdoings.

Gao Tan and Gao Huai's biggest enemy was Wang Rulong, the general of Liaodong, who was involved in the illegal sale of military supplies.

This time, it was Wang Rulong who submitted a memorial exposing the crimes of the two men. He wasn't afraid of making some money; the main problem was their actions, which forced "young, strong, and brave men from Liaodong to work under the barbarian chieftains." This was something Wang Rulong could not accept.

If this continues, the Liaodong barbarians might rebel.

Relying on his relationship with Qi Jiguang, Wang Rulong told Qi Jiguang about the matter. One day after court, Qi Jiguang stopped Xu Jue and told him about it, thus doing Feng Bao a favor.

If Qi Jiguang were to personally file a complaint, even powerful eunuchs like Feng Bao would likely face consequences.

Zhu Yijun thought that Feng Bao's water torture involved throwing people into boiling water to boil them alive and then throwing them into cold water, but that was not the case.

Feng Bao simply drove the seventeen eunuchs to keep running until they were drenched in sweat and out of breath. He kept them running for more than three hours until they could no longer run. Only then did he have them thrown into icy water, which was a vat of water with ice floating on top that had not yet completely frozen.

Zhu Yijun naturally couldn't wait more than three hours to watch them run, so he came over to check on them again at the very end.

The seventeen people were put into the ice water tank, and several of them died immediately. Those who didn't die had their eyes rolled back and were convulsing incessantly.

Feng Bao then sent these seventeen people to the Dissection Institute. People of the Ming Dynasty were not allowed to enter the Dissection Institute, but these people were all dead or half-dead, and no one collected their remains. This can be considered as making a final contribution to the medicine of the Ming Dynasty.

Don't be fooled by the fact that these people seem fine on the surface; their blood vessels have actually ruptured.

In the Ming Dynasty, this was called "armor removal wind." When fighting continuously and the body was extremely hot, no matter how hot it was, one could not remove one's armor. One could only squat under the shade of a tree and wait to cool down. During this process, one could not drink cold water, especially well water.

If one removes their armor, the wind can easily rupture their blood vessels, leading to a stroke or even death.

Similar to the battle between the Monkey King and Red Boy, he was burned by Red Boy's Samadhi True Fire and then plunged into a deep pool of cold water, which caused him to lose his breath.

Feng Bao sent them to the Jieku Hospital, which was also necessary for the hospital's chief physician. The main purpose was to determine which blood vessel had ruptured, and if any were still alive, to see where the ruptured blood vessel was and what impact it would have on the person.

Or rather, the way these seventeen people died was specially designed by Fan Wuqi, the unpredictable killer, for the purpose of studying the "armor removal wind" or stroke.

"After the beheading, the decree will be passed on to the nine border regions as a warning to others." The Ming emperor was quite satisfied with this result and imposed further punishment by passing it on to the nine border regions, so that the soldiers, officers, generals, garrison eunuchs, and military governors would clearly know the tragic consequences of drinking soldiers' blood.

Zhu Yijun became emperor by relying on the military, so naturally he had to act as a benevolent ruler for the military.

After overseeing the execution, Zhu Yijun returned to his study in Tonghe Palace. At this moment, there were three memorials in front of him. One of them was written by Gao Qiyu, and the other was also written by Gao Qiyu. The third memorial was written by Shen Shixing.

These are not just three memorials, but also a sign that the Wanli Reforms have reached a crossroads, and the emperor needs to decide where the Ming Dynasty should go from here.

Gao Qiyu's two memorials were on the left and right respectively.

The road on the left is the road that the Ming Dynasty is currently using. This road is for resolving labor-management conflicts by utilizing various welfare policies, including public pharmacies, government residences, schools, and start-up funds, etc.

This path is truly difficult. First, it requires the transformation of the commodity economy and the change of production relations. In the foreseeable future, it will face endless contradictions, and even the emperor will face an inevitable outcome: the betrayal of the emerging bourgeoisie.

Welfare policies, which regulate labor disputes, are essentially about squeezing the flesh of the wealthy and powerful to feed the poor and maintain basic social stability. All that hard-earned money goes to the poor, which the newly emerging wealthy and powerful see as a sin.

The road on the right, however, is the traditional route, which involves suppressing all activities by laborers who spontaneously defend their rights without any bottom line. Actions such as occupying factories or going down the mountain are met with a full-scale crackdown by the riot control vanguard.

The road on the right is easier to travel because it has been used for thousands of years and has accumulated a wealth of experience. The imperial court and local wealthy merchants are in cahoots and can maintain basic local stability and the rule of the imperial court before large-scale civil unrest.

The left side represents continuing to strive, while the right side represents ceasing to strive.

The road on the left is very bumpy, while the road on the right is smooth. Once you choose one, everyone in the ruling class will sing praises to His Majesty the Emperor and shout that he is wise and benevolent.

Gao Qiyu used thousands of words to describe the advantages of choosing the right path. For example, immediately, the emperor's younger brother, Zhu Yiliu, the most beloved youngest son of Empress Dowager Li, would not have to go to Jinshan City to take up his fief, and the imperial heirs would not have to take up their fiefs overseas.

For example, the Ming Dynasty did not need to continuously expand its territory, nor did it need to worry about the overseas governor-general offices getting out of control.

The Ming Dynasty could maintain sufficient production cost and commodity advantages by exploiting the poor and laborers, keeping its industries firmly within the Ming Dynasty, and obtaining sufficient markets and raw materials overseas by relying on the vast navy and colonies of the Spanish Empire, the "empire on which the sun never sets".

Without the extra military expenditures required to maintain airspace security and stabilize overseas markets, one can make money simply by sitting at home.

But if the road on the right is really as good as he described, then there's no need to submit another memorial.

"Is Gao Qiyu planning to become the sinner of history himself?" Zhu Yijun marked the memorial on the right with a big X.

The emperor presided over the Wanli Reform for eighteen years, which was very tiring, busy and difficult. If the emperor wanted to take a break, he approved Gao Qiyu's memorial. In the future, Gao Qiyu will be the culprit who ruined the Wanli Reform, and he will bear all the historical responsibility.

Continuing to expand overseas, maintain the safety of shipping routes, and stabilize overseas markets requires enormous military expenditures, which will snowball and put tremendous pressure on the Ming Dynasty's finances.

At the same time, it will inevitably face the predicament of losing control of overseas governor's offices; the more investment is made, the faster the loss of control will occur.

Internally, there was no need to worry about these costs; all that was needed was to place the goods in the port, and Western fleets would arrive in waves, taking Ming goods to all corners of the world. Zhu Yijun chose the path of continued struggle, not because he didn't want to win without effort, but because he knew there was no way he could be a passive recipient of wealth.

"Gao Qiyu and Shen Shixing are vying for the qualification to enter the cabinet." Feng Bao succinctly explained why Gao Qiyu submitted these two memorials: not to test the emperor, but to prove who was truly qualified to enter the cabinet!
Zhu Yijun looked at the memorial on the left. In this memorial, which called for continued struggle, Gao Qiyu proposed to fully implement the shareholding system in the Ming Dynasty, including all workshops such as government factories.

Shares can receive dividends, but they cannot be transferred or inherited. The shares exist as long as the person is in the shareholding, and they cease to exist when the person leaves.

Clearly define the profit scale for downward dividends, the dividend accounting system, the levels of downward dividends, and the equity rating criteria, etc.

For example, the equity rating system divides equity into nineteen levels ranging from one cent to ten cents. After the contribution is verified, equity increases continuously, and dividends gradually increase, which greatly avoids the predicament of government factories sharing the same pot.

The dividends from the start-up funds stimulated the production enthusiasm of government factories, but at the same time, the method of distributing dividends indiscriminately and rewarding everyone equally made the start-up funds an obstacle to production enthusiasm.

After all, whether you work a lot or a little, you get the same pay, so the incentive for starting work is gradually decreasing.

Gao Qiyu believes that the shareholding system is the biggest prerequisite for using various welfare policies to regulate labor-capital conflicts. Without this prerequisite, all actions are futile.

A hundred taels of salary belongs to outsiders, but a single cent of ownership belongs to oneself.

Only by taking ownership can artisans become the owners of the workshop and participate in its major decisions. Only then can the artisan alliance and artisan conference that Wang Chonggu has been exploring for a long time truly take root, sprout, blossom, and bear fruit.

If you don't want to take this step, you might as well just choose the right path and wait to die.

Just like not taking a land survey before returning land to its rightful owner, no matter how loudly you call for returning land to its rightful owner, it's just empty talk and a way to deceive the people. Only by taking a land survey to determine who owns the land can the return of land to its rightful owner be carried out completely.

Even in official factories, only by truly implementing a shareholding system can the welfare system be established, rather than relying on the favors and charity of Duke Wencheng.

The departure of personnel and the elimination of shareholders greatly prevented the disorderly expansion of rent-seeking in government-owned factories and curbed the pernicious influence of rent-seeking on government-owned factories.

“Shen Shixing’s memorial is based on the theory of contracts. He believes that signing a contract and fulfilling the contents defined in the contract are the key to the current labor-capital conflict.” Zhu Yijun flipped through another memorial.

Shen Shixing also had his own insights into labor-management conflicts; his position as governor of Songjiang Prefecture was not for nothing.

Shen Shixing was not unaware of the shareholding system. In his view, only stable and profitable government factories, money shops, and maritime trade companies had the foundation to implement the shareholding system, while some small workshops, especially newly established workshops and emerging industries, did not have the conditions to implement the shareholding system.

When Wang Qian served as an imperial censor at Yanxinglou, he set nine prohibitions for Yanxinglou. Only workshops that met the nine entry requirements were eligible to implement the shareholding system.

In Shen Shixing's view, a contract based on contract theory, which details the rights and obligations between workshop owners and laborers, is the policy that the court should promote at present. The shareholding system is too radical and somewhat unrealistic.

Zhu Yijun held two memorials, one on the shareholding system and the other on contractual regulations. Either one would be meaningful for resolving labor-management conflicts at the moment.

"I actually prefer Minister Gao's shareholding system," Zhu Yijun said, holding Gao Qiyu's memorial.

Reason told Zhu Yijun that choosing Shen Shixing's method was more prudent, but the path to Gao Qiyu's left was more in line with Zhu Yijun's personality and the underlying nature of the Wanli Reforms.

"I sent Xu Jue to the Quan Chu Guild Hall to ask the Grand Secretary why Gao Qiyu acted this way," Feng Bao said in a low voice. Gao Qiyu was like a shining, conspicuous bag, as if afraid that others would not see him.

"Oh? What did you say, sir?" Zhu Yijun asked curiously.

Feng Bao said in a low voice, "The Grand Secretary said that the reason Gao Qiyu is working so hard is that he is afraid of becoming the breakthrough point of the Wanli Reform. He must climb to a high position step by step and make people wary of him in order to ensure that the things that His Majesty did not care about back then will not become reasons to attack the Grand Secretary."

When Zhang Juzheng was in power, Gao Qiyu set a question in the provincial examination in Yingtian Prefecture: "Shun also appointed Yu to rule." Once Zhang Juzheng passed away, this would be irrefutable evidence that Zhang Juzheng intended to take his place.

Gao Qiyu used all his strength to climb up the ladder, fearing that he would ruin his hard-won success.

Gao Qiyu was fully aware of the hardships endured by the emperor, his ministers, and the people for the Wanli Reforms. He had personally gone to Kyoto, Japan, to force Toyotomi Hideyoshi to surrender.

"Send these two memorials to the Wenyuan Pavilion and see what the cabinet ministers have to say." Zhu Yijun did not make a decision immediately, but instead asked the cabinet ministers to express their opinions.

Zhu Yijun preferred Gao Qiyu, but Shen Shixing's method also had its merits and was quite reasonable. Taking into account the opinions of the cabinet ministers, he thought it over carefully before acting.

Feng Bao took the two memorials to the Wenyuan Pavilion and handed them to Zhang Juzheng, but did not mention His Majesty's inclinations, leaving it entirely to the cabinet ministers to discuss.

“I choose Gao Qiyu. If possible, I will support his actions. In my opinion, equalizing contributions regardless of caliber or mediocrity is unfair to the diligent and capable. It shows that Duke Wencheng was too sentimental. I think the shareholding system is extremely reasonable.” Ling Yunyi first stated his attitude.

Government-run factories must complete the transformation from personal connections to systems; relying solely on personal connections will not get them far.

The shareholding system is undoubtedly an excellent opportunity.

“I choose Shen Shixing. He has served in Songjiang Prefecture for many years and his words are not without purpose. It is clearly the most suitable method at the current stage. I think Shen Shixing is right. Most of the private villages do not meet the conditions for the shareholding system, including most of the government factories.” Zhang Juzheng chose Shen Shixing’s memorial.

Shen Shixing wasn't trying to be impartial; rather, Shen Shixing's approach was more realistic and easier to achieve.

"I choose Gao Qiyu." After hesitating between the two memorials, Grand Minister Zhang Xueyan chose Gao Qiyu's memorial.

Zhang Xueyan continued, "Indeed, Shen Shixing is right. The shareholding system requires certain conditions. Some government factories that did not meet the preconditions will see the implementation of the shareholding system and be encouraged to take initiative. These government factories will then have the necessary conditions."

"The shareholding system is a banner, a banner that drives the reform of government-owned factories. It is more important to raise this banner than to implement it."

As the empire's accountant, Zhang Xueyan was well aware that the current improvement in the Ming Dynasty's finances was mainly due to the profits from the official factories being handed over to the government and the monopoly on coke, steel, and tobacco, rather than land taxes.

Because of the changing times, the Ming Dynasty court is gradually reducing land taxes, and the Ming fiscal and tax system is undergoing a transformation in accordance with the direction originally envisioned by Wang Guoguang.

Whether the shareholding system succeeds or not is not important; the key is to raise the flag so that we can proceed step by step. If we don't even dare to raise the flag, it will never be successful.

"I choose Shen Shixing." Shen Li flipped through the two memorials and finally chose Shen Shixing's memorial. He was silent for a moment before saying, "The reforms and self-salvation efforts of all dynasties have always failed because the reformers have become increasingly radical and extreme in the process of constant change, and then they have encountered widespread opposition in their extremes."

“I don’t think the conditions for a shareholding system are right now, just as it’s impossible to fully return land to farmers right now.”

The policy of returning land to its original state in Zhejiang was highly unique, stemming from the assassination attempt on the emperor in the thirteenth year of the Wanli Emperor's reign. It was an economic punishment imposed by the emperor to quell a rebellion and lacked universal applicability.

"I won't choose it." Lu Guangzu looked at it from all angles, and as if he had seen a ghost, he quickly returned the memorial to the prime minister.

Lu Guangzu joined the cabinet as the head of the Anti-Corruption Department. He was just watching the show and never imagined that he would one day become a decisive vote!
In the eighteenth year of the Wanli reign, His Majesty made very few pronouncements of "my mind is made up" and rarely opposed collective decisions made by the cabinet.

Lu Guangzu never expected that he would become the key player. He chose to abstain, and he made up his mind to abstain from all future games!
He, a minor figure, absolutely could not participate in the power struggle between the Grand Secretary and the Second Grand Secretary.

Lu Guangzu had already planned it all out: to do a good job in the fight against corruption and to be remembered in history.

"Grand Secretary Lu, you must share your thoughts." Zhang Juzheng did not intend to let Lu Guangzu off the hook. He returned the memorial to Lu Guangzu and said very clearly, "Grand Secretaries cannot be left out, there can be no ambiguity, and a clear stance must be taken."

As a court official, you can reserve your opinions; as a Grand Secretary, you participate in confidential matters and cannot express ambiguous views. You can't get away with it by just getting by. A Grand Secretary must have political responsibility.

"Do we have to choose one?" Lu Guangzu asked, his brows furrowed.

Zhang Juzheng shook his head and said, "We must have a clear attitude and opinion for His Majesty's consideration. We cannot be ambiguous or vague. It is not a matter of choosing one or the other."

After hesitating for a long time, Lu Guangzu said, "How about this, I'll choose both, or I'll choose neither."

"These four official factories in the capital can begin to reform into a shareholding system. In the civilian areas, the contracts issued by Shen Shixing will be the main ones. In this way, we can proceed in parallel, using whichever is more effective and making it the dominant one, while the rest can coexist."

"The Ming Dynasty is very large and its situation is very complex. It cannot be generalized. In the capital and in the north, the shareholding system may be more suitable, while in Songjiang Prefecture and in the south, the contract system may be more suitable. Generalizing will not be conducive to the implementation of the system."

“What Grand Secretary Lu said is absolutely right.” Zhang Juzheng pondered for a moment and nodded. Lu Guangzu’s words had a bit of the style of Wan Shihe back then. He said that choosing everything was actually the same as choosing nothing. He seemed to have said something, but in fact he hadn’t said anything at all.

Zhang Juzheng had no intention of making things difficult for Lu Guangzu. Lu Guangzu wanted to protect himself, and forcing him was useless. Zhang Juzheng quickly wrote up the draft bill and handed it to Feng Bao.

Feng Bao returned to the Imperial Study in Tonghe Palace and relayed the words of the cabinet ministers to His Majesty the Emperor. Two votes went to Gao Qiyu, two to Shen Shixing, and one was abstention. This vote count represented the Emperor's opinion and was of great importance.

After weighing the options again, Zhu Yijun selected Gao Qiyu's memorial. If he chose both as Lu Guangzu suggested, it would be like using his left hand to fight his right hand; he would be unable to do either of the two options.

Following Ling Yunyi's suggestion, the nineteen levels of the shareholding system were reduced to nine levels.

Gao Qiyu's nineteen-level shareholding system, which starts from one cent, one and a half cents and goes up to ten cents, is the original structure of the Shanxi merchants' shareholding system. So many levels are designed to make it impossible for people to climb any higher, as too many levels would keep people climbing for their entire lives.

By the time they reach a point where they can earn substantial dividends, they are already old and frail, and retirement means that all their past efforts have been in vain.

Reducing the number of levels and clearly defining what level of performance is required for promotion is intended to reduce the time spent climbing the ranks.

The system was not rigidly designed, but was constantly revised in practice. If the nine-level system did not work, it was changed back to the nineteen-level system, after all, it was the successful experience of Shanxi merchants.

Zhu Yijun looked at the memorial in front of him and said with a solemn expression: "After passing the written test, there is also an oral test. Applicants must be between fifteen and twenty years old, five feet tall, from a respectable family, with regular features, fluent speech, and quick-witted manners. They must also be recommended by skilled craftsmen from the official workshops. If any mistakes are made, they will be severely punished as a result. Only in this way can they pass the oral test."

The requirements for official factories have become more stringent. In the second year of the Wanli reign, there were no requirements regarding age or background, nor was recommendation required. In the ninth year of the Wanli reign, recommendation was no longer required, and now the threshold is still rising.

Just being five feet tall (170cm) is enough to keep many people out of the door.

Because the official factories in the capital had passed their period of rapid expansion, the entry threshold for official factories became higher year by year. Entering an official factory was almost equivalent to having one's life or death taken care of. Despite such high standards, there were still countless applicants.

"Does the Weaver Girl also need to be five feet tall?" Zhu Yijun asked Feng Bao, looking at the threshold.

Feng Bao said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, this requirement applies to both men and women. This threshold can only be met with a one-size-fits-all approach."

"Then let's approve it." Zhu Yijun pondered for a moment and finally agreed to the high threshold set by Ling Yunyi and Gao Qiyu. The threshold was the qualification to enter the venue only after passing this line.

Either don't set one, or you have to cut it off completely.

(End of this chapter)