Chongzhen Wiretapping System

Chapter 212

Just like businessmen, there are actually some who are watching, and some who have heard about it. After knowing it, they will inevitably feel sour.

In front of the already wealthy businessmen, the group of artisans is actually more of a source of profit and an object of their exploitation.Although there has long been talk about the ranking of scholars, farmers, businessmen, and commerce, in front of Yinzi, except for the class of scholars, the class of merchants is already completely ranked before the class of farmers and workers.

However, the current situation is that the court once again clarified the group of craftsmen, and they have a very good place to go, that is, to serve the royal family. Not only can they receive a salary, but they may even get a title. This is the dream of the merchant class. of.After all, they don't lack money, what they lack is status.

In fact, by the end of the Ming Dynasty, the status of merchants had been greatly improved because of money, and many scholars even abandoned Confucianism and went to business.The class of merchants, they have money, spend money outside, show off, want face, make friends with powerful people, buy land, become landlords, become the object of pursuit of scholars, etc., but, no matter what, at least at the court level, their status In fact, it has not changed.

On the contrary, because of the case of Shanxi merchants who conspired against captives, it is said that the emperor has great opinions on merchants, especially rich merchants, and is planning measures to restrict big merchants and prevent another group of merchants from appearing. Because of greed, In order to obtain more money, they embarked on the old path similar to Shanxi merchants.

Regarding this point, no one in the court dared to object.Because, the example of Shanxi merchants has just happened.Everyone hates Shanxi Merchants, and they also hate businessmen like Shanxi Merchants.On this point, at least here in the capital, no one has any doubts, and the rape street is a clear proof.

As for the decree that the emperor might promulgate, some people speculate that it is likely to be the policy of the new governor of Baoding, Lu Xiangsheng, who was originally appointed as the governor of Xuanda.Because Governor Lu's food-for-grain policy was aimed at the rich, which made the Shanxi merchants feel very uncomfortable. They even sent people to kill Lu Xiangsheng's father for this reason, so that Ding You would leave office.

They had reason to suspect that Lu Xiangsheng would be the vanguard of the emperor's sanctions against businessmen, and they would know a thing or two about this after Governor Lu took office.

Emperor Chongzhen actually knew about the worries of the merchants in the capital.Today's factory guards have already resumed comprehensive supervision of the capital.Just like the price of capital in the capital, Dongchang has fulfilled its original duties and reported it every day; therefore, the opinions of non-governmental scholars on the new policy will naturally not be missed.

Emperor Chongzhen was happy when he heard the remarks from outside.Because the rumor about it was that he deliberately let the factory guards out to guide public opinion.It would be too bad to take advantage of this opportunity of severely punishing Shanxi merchants to gain more benefits.

In fact, for big businessmen, history has proved that restrictions must be imposed.Although the Shanxi merchants in the north have fallen, there are still salt merchants in the south who have accumulated a lot of wealth, which is not good for Ming Dynasty.

As for the system of craftsmen, many officials also opposed it after it was made public.However, some additions have been made to the suggestions of Lu Xiangsheng and others, which can appease this class of scholars.

In other words, if a scholar engages in craftsman's craft and makes a major contribution, he can still obtain the corresponding title.

In fact, there were many officials in the Ming Dynasty who were studying craftsmanship because their official career was not going well or because they were interested.It can be said that many inventions were not created by the craftsmen themselves, but by the scholars.After all, scholars, as a group, had more money and knowledge than craftsmen, so they were naturally more likely to produce results.

For example, Bi Maokang, who served as the right servant of the Ministry of War in the Chongzhen Dynasty, published "Illustration of Military Weapons" in the eighth year of Chongzhen, in which there was an improved firecracker called self-generated firecracker. The name is called the flintlock.

Although the original Emperor Chongzhen knew that the self-generated firecracker was better than the matchlock gun, but because the firing device had to be made of fine steel, otherwise it would not be easy to fire sparks and misfire. Most importantly, the cost was much more expensive than the matchlock gun.The impoverished Emperor Chongzhen naturally couldn't make this kind of self-generated firecrackers at that time, let alone ration them for military use.

It can be said that Bi Maokang's achievements in firearms are much greater than those of Ming's gunsmiths.

Now officially promulgated, the titles imitating the pre-Qin period are divided into junior craftsmen, intermediate craftsmen, senior craftsmen, professional craftsmen, masters, grand masters, and grand masters.

Just like the title of military merit in the Qin Dynasty, each level of craftsman level promotion has corresponding benefits.The most affordable ones are naturally the salary and land property, which will increase to varying degrees with the promotion of the title.

After attaining the title of senior craftsman, one can have the privilege of not worshiping officials.For example, senior craftsmen, in front of officials of the seventh rank and below, can not worship officials; professional craftsmen, in front of officials of the fifth rank and below, can not worship officials; For the third rank, the great master does not worship any official position, except the emperor.

Starting from the title of professional craftsman, there is no need to pay taxes on the corresponding land property.The previous titles still have to pay taxes.Starting from the title of master, the two family members can also be exempted from hard labor.There are four for Grandmasters, and six exemptions for Great Masters.

Different from ordinary dukes and earls, these titles belong to others and cannot be hereditary, and even downgrading cannot be hereditary.But even so, for the class of craftsmen, the attraction is still extremely huge.Even for scholars, the same is true.Because the general title of prince and earl can only be obtained by military merit or relatives.

Under the new title system promulgated by Emperor Chongzhen, this set of titles is actually not limited to the craftsmen group.Scholars and other classes who have made significant contributions can also be awarded the title of master or above.Just like Bi Maokang, Emperor Chongzhen had already sent people to reward him, made him a firearms master, and called him back to serve in the Military War Bureau.

And Bi Maokang, the master of firearms, is the first person to be awarded this title after the new system of titles was introduced in Ming Dynasty.This number one can be regarded as giving face and comfort to the scholar class.

As far as the current situation is concerned, if the craftsmen of Ming Dynasty want to obtain titles, they can only work for the royal family.From a general point of view, the whole world belongs to the emperor, and everyone does things for the emperor. Therefore, only those who work for the royal family have titles, and there is nothing wrong with it.

Not only the capital, but also all over the country, this announcement has also been sent out.And it is stated on the notice that as long as it is a craftsman, any industry is fine.If you think your skills are good, or you have hidden ancestral skills, you can take this opportunity to sell them to the emperor's family.

Since the announcement was made, the craftsmen in the capital had all lined up to sign up that day.For this situation, Emperor Chongzhen was naturally very happy. His purpose was not just to recruit skilled craftsmen for the military battle bureau, but to gather craftsmen from all over the country to complete the inheritance of craftsman skills, that is, to establish a certain technical school in the Ming Dynasty. Form a systematic artisan official education system.There are apprentices, craftsmen, and masters who research and innovate, and so on.

Emperor Chongzhen had reason to believe that after he brought this technical school into a formal school, the production capacity of Ming Dynasty would be greatly improved in all aspects.Of course, this is not something that can be done overnight, it will take time.

Thinking of this, he looked at the dozen or so memorials picked out from the imperial case.Among them, there are the memorials of Zuo Yingxuan and Chen Hongxu, who have already gone to perform their duties, and the memorials of Fang Fengnian, who was demoted. results.

It can be said that once Jianlu entered the pass, the damage caused to these places in Daming Pass was devastating.The economic loss is even more inestimable.This is a ruthless move to really stab Daming and let his blood out.Even if there were no natural disasters, a giant like Daming would not be able to withstand a few times of bloodletting like this.What's more, there is another natural disaster now, and he has been stabbed four times.

Looking at these memorials, Emperor Chongzhen sighed and said: "No matter what, we can't let Jianlu invade the pass again!"

And this is also the reason why he had already thought about sending Lu Xiangsheng, a civil and military minister, to restore Dongjiang Town and prevent Jianlu from leaving Liaodong.However, this is easy to say, but there are still many difficulties in doing it.

First of all, Lu Xiangsheng took office almost alone, and his subordinates are now under the jurisdiction of the Royal Horse Supervisor.After he leaves, new recruits will be recruited for training and veterans will be selected to become the backbone.It is impossible to take action in a short period of time.It doesn’t matter if you have money, that’s one of them.

Second, a prerequisite for the restoration of Dongjiang Town is the navy.As for the Denglai Navy, because of the previous Denglai rebellion, that is, the rebellion of Kong Youde and others, most of them were lost, and most of the rest were taken by Kong Youde to surrender to Jiancap.It is also because of this that Jianlu had the opportunity to fight across the sea and lay down the foundation of Dongjiang, Phi Island.

Today's Denglai Navy is completely in name only.Although Emperor Chongzhen allocated money to Lu Xiangsheng, it was impossible to immediately conjure up a navy with money.This also takes time.Whether it is shipbuilding or training sailors.

Of course, the previously discussed transfer of the Fujian navy to the north is one way, but Emperor Chongzhen was not sure that Zheng Zhilong, who is now the overlord of the sea, would obey the dispatch.After all, judging from the original history, he had no awe of the imperial court at all.

Thinking of this, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help recalling the information about Zheng Zhilong. After considering the half-payment, he decided to directly give Zheng Zhilong a secret decree, and the factory guard sent it quickly.

After finishing this, Emperor Chongzhen thought about the third difficulty on Lu Xiangsheng's side.It was what Lu Xiangsheng proposed, to contain more Jianlu troops and prevent the possibility of Jianlu dividing troops to detour through Mongolia, then the containment force on Dongjiang Town must be strong enough.Therefore, an elite mobile cavalry army is what Lu Xiangsheng wants.

Thinking of this, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but smile helplessly, Daming has no horses!
For the first battle in Tianjin, not only the entire capital's horses were recruited, but even mules, donkeys and the like were sent to the battlefield.Not to mention anything else, even in the hussars battalion under the Yumajian, only half of the people have horses to use.The most important thing is that not all horses can be used as war horses, and the higher requirements made Emperor Chongzhen feel helpless.

Where do horses come from?

Emperor Chongzhen thought about this question, and couldn't help but look to the north.There are indeed horses on the Mongolian grasslands, but that is the territory of Jianlu.

He was thinking about this question when suddenly a servant came to report that Chen Qiyu was asking for an audience outside the palace.

Chen Qiyu, the former governor of the five provinces, was convicted and exiled to the frontier, but now he is recommended by Hong Chengchou, the governor of Xuanda, to come out of the mountain again.This is to come back to thank the emperor and prepare to serve as the governor of the three sides.

Thinking of this, Emperor Chongzhen immediately remembered, wasn't he exiled to Yansui, where was the grassland.Moreover, his new official position is the governor of the three sides, that is, the military and political powers of the three sides of Yansui, Ningxia and Gansu. Ask him, maybe there will be a way.

Therefore, he immediately decreed that Wenhua Palace summoned Chen Qiyu.

Not long after, when Chen Qiyu entered the palace to meet the ceremony, Emperor Chongzhen almost couldn't recognize him.In the original impression of Emperor Chongzhen, Chen Qiyu was a Confucian official in his prime, the kind who was very official.But when I saw him at this time, he was only 43 years old, his hair was already half white, and although his waist was still straight, there were many more wrinkles on his face.At first glance, I thought it was a man in his 60s or [-]s.

However, Emperor Chongzhen was a little relieved that although he looked old, he was in good spirits.

"When the imperial court is employing people, Hong Qing recommended them. I decided to give you another chance." Emperor Chongzhen looked at Chen Qiyu who was standing with his head bowed, and said first, "Can you be sure that you will do a good job as the governor of the three sides?"

Chen Qiyu didn't have the kind of reaction of thanking the great kindness as soon as he heard it, and repeatedly assuring that there would be no problem, but Yili clasped his hands and played back: "I don't know if there is money and food allocated?"

Emperor Chongzhen appreciated his reaction a little bit.If Chen Qiyu agreed immediately in order to become an official, it would worry him instead.

Therefore, he smiled and said: "I can give you 10 taels, and there will be no food. You need to raise money on the spot after you take office."

In fact, it is impossible to transfer food from the capital, otherwise, it would not be enough to consume on the road.

Seeing Chen Qiyu looking up at him, Emperor Chongzhen added: "I think Sun Qing, the former governor of Shaanxi and now the governor of Jiliao, has done a good job in paying the Qingtun. Concern. Understand?"

When he said this, there was actually a layer of meaning in it.It means: Chen Qiyu, don't be afraid of offending others, I'm here for you.You see, Sun Chuanting used Qingtun to pay his salary, I am very satisfied, and now he has been promoted from governor to governor of Jiliao.

Chen Qiyu came from Shaanxi, so he naturally knew what Sun Chuanting was doing there.On the way to Laide, I also heard about what happened after King Sun Chuantingqin.He was actually very touched by this.

　Trying to write another chapter, but it may not be finished, so look forward to tomorrow.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)