Nan Ming Sun Never Sets

Chapter 113 Carpenter Adaptation

When the father and son entered the Civil Affairs Bureau of the Guangzhou Government, they felt very different from the usual yamen. They didn't have much sense of majesty, and there were no yamen servants on duty. They just entered a long table at the main entrance, and a few people who looked like masters sat at the table. behind, and there are some chairs in front of the table.

There was a "yamen servant" standing in the hall, but he was wearing a "official uniform" which looked strange. To put it bluntly, it was actually just a pair of formal pants and a shirt.

When the father and son entered the door, they nodded and bowed to the elder brother. Huang Shoukou said, "Hello, my lord."

The "yamen servant" is obviously not used to his own clothes now, and he doesn't seem to be smiling, but he still remembers his account before he took up the post, waved his hand and said: "The new regulations of the imperial court, civil servants of the Ming Dynasty are not allowed to be called adults, His Royal Highness establishes a new style." , people in the public family can address you as Mr. or Comrade.”

Huang Shou was taken aback when he heard that, he knew the word sir, everyone in the school is a gentleman, but what does the word comrade mean is very magical.

"Well, sir."

In fact, this big brother in shirt has only been on the job for a few days. He was originally a boy student who didn't even pass the exam as a scholar.He didn't expect that when entering the Imperial College, he would not take the Four Books and Five Classics exams, but just judge his ability to read and break characters, be able to write and count, plus basic moral qualities and a clean background.Brother Shirt studied in the "Imperial Academy" for two weeks, and all he was exposed to was things that made him dizzy. There were no moral articles, only practical things.

After hearing that the imperial court's new civil servants are graded from the sixth grade to a total of 12 grades, after studying in the Imperial College, they can all start from the sixth grade clerk, and they have the opportunity to be promoted all the way.He had only been in school for two weeks, and the Imperial College sent him and his classmates into various "yamen", which are now called government units as interns.

The teacher of the Imperial College specifically told them two things before they left. One is that they must not be corrupt. Now that the imperial court's Imperial Procuratorate is leaving, the newly appointed censors are not responsible for impeaching officials or causing trouble for the prince to oversee the country. It specializes in focusing on official discipline issues. As long as there is a corruption problem, the civil servant's career will be over; the second is a slogan - serving the people - although the prince has only arrived in Guangzhou not long ago, the people have already praised the prince. Virtuous.The prince attaches great importance to the people and advocates putting the people first. He even made a breakthrough in saying that "the people are the masters of the country, the king is also the people, the officials are also the people, and the four peoples are equal. The king is the leader of the people, and the king can promote the interests of the people and solidify the people's hearts." , If the people of the country are at peace, the country will prosper and the situation will be smooth; if the king cannot calm the people, benefit the people, protect the people, and love the people, the world will be in chaos and disaster will arise, just like the enemy of the country."

Brother Shirt can feel how serious the new court is about these things. Although this is not in line with his dream of becoming an official and making a fortune, at least he used to be poor and could only copy books and write letters for a living. Now At least as an intern civil servant, he can receive a monthly salary of 4 taels, which can be raised to 5 taels of silver after he becomes a full-time employee.So at least for now, the big shirt brother from a poor family dare not lose his "official position".

"Okay, you two should explain clearly what you are doing in the Civil Affairs Bureau." Brother Shirt still remembered that although it was not customary to address you respectfully to the public, he also said it for his own sake.

The Huang family's father and son still looked a little trembling, and Huang Chuan's stunned head was the first to speak: "Big... uh, comrade, our father and son are about to revoke their craftsman registration, and outsiders say that they will come here to change their registration."

The father and son looked at Brother Shirt anxiously, for fear that he would frown and say nothing.

Upon hearing this, Brother Shirt pointed to the long table and said, "Please go to the counter for business."

"Can we really change our household registration? We will not be artisan households from now on?"

The one on the counter, like Brother Shirt, is also an intern from the "Guozijian", but this one is a bit older, and he was a small official in the government before, so he will use it after a transformation.

The clerk at the counter checked the book and found the name of the Huang family.

"Your father and son are gunsmiths, and I can give you the craftsman's certificate, but you have heard that His Royal Highness is going to set up a new factory to specialize in the production of guns and cannons. It is called 'Southern Arsenal', and the prince spends a lot of money to hire workers. , both of you, father and son, are gunsmiths, so you should apply for it."

Huang Chuan was stunned, "But we've all lost our craftsmanship."

Huang Shou wished he could beat his son again.

The clerk smiled and said: "Now all the cheap registries have been removed. Whether they are farming, studying, serving in the army, trading or doing crafts, they are all the same people. There is no difference. This southern arsenal is run by the state. If you want to sign a labor contract with the workers, if you do well, the factory will give you an allowance, and the factory will continue to employ you in the future, pay you monthly, and take care of your family.”

Huang Chuan exclaimed: "Isn't that the same as a craftsman's book?"

The horror of craftsmanship has become unbearable for the vast number of handicraftsmen. The craftsman household is hereditary, the father is a craftsman, and the next generation must also be. They must come to the officially designated workshops to work and serve in a few years, and become shift craftsmen. The rest of the time, homemade finished products can be sold.Their personal freedom is greatly restricted, and even marriage requires official approval.Being registered as a craftsman household, they were not allowed to participate in the imperial examination, and it was even more impossible to leave the craftsman's status unless the emperor himself personally licensed it.In this case, a large number of craftsmen fled and slowed down their work.

In order to change this situation, the Jiajing period began to replace the system of shift craftsmen with money-paid employment. In fact, the system of shift craftsmen working for the government has existed in name only.But they are still a group of people who have been controlled since their household registration and do not have the freedom they deserve.

Obviously, this is not the first time the clerk explained this matter to the craftsmen, saying: "As I said just now, your family's craftsman registration has been cancelled, and thanks to His Highness's grace, now the Daming household registration does not distinguish between civilian households, military households, and craftsmen households." Well, all the common people are the same. The work of the southern arsenal, you Huang Laoer and Huang Xiaoge want to pick it up, and the monthly salary is two taels of silver, which is very nourishing. You may not know that now the prince is expanding the functions of the government , Promoting people's livelihood with various undertakings, and building factories to benefit the people. Therefore, people in the government's public offices are called "official establishments"; In the arsenal, those hired are the 'corporate staff', and if they rely on the staff, they are regarded as members of the imperial court."

The Huang family's father and son didn't understand the so-called establishment or not, but they understood that if they entered the southern arsenal, they could get two taels of silver every month.

"Is there really a monthly salary of two taels of silver?"

"What are you doing?"

The Huang family father and son looked at each other with the same meaning: "Done!"

(End of this chapter)