For example, businessmen, in fact, there are also those who are watching, and there are also those who have heard about it, and after knowing it, it is inevitable that they will be sour.

In front of the businessmen who have become wealthy, the artisan group is actually more of a source of their profits, and they are the object of their exploitation. Although it has long been said that the rank of farmers and industrialists is ranked, in front of silver, in addition to the class of scholars, the class of merchants is already completely ranked before the peasants and workers.

However, the current situation is that the imperial court has once again made it clear that the artisan group has a very good place to go, that is, to serve the royal family, not only to receive a fortune, but even to get a knighthood, which is the dream of the merchant class. After all, they are not short of 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 even many scholars abandoned Confucianism and engaged in business. The merchant class, they have money, throw money outside, show off extravagantly, want face, make friends with the powerful, buy land, become landlords, become the object of scholars, etc., but no matter what, at least at the court level, their status has not changed.

On the contrary, because of the case of the Jin merchants who conspired against him, it is said that the emperor has great opinions on merchants, especially rich merchants, and is considering measures to restrict big merchants and prevent the emergence of another group of merchants, because of greed, in order to obtain more money, so as to embark on an old path similar to that of Jin merchants.

For this, no one in the court dared to object. Because, the example of Jin Shang has just happened. Everyone hates Jin Shang, and they hate businessmen like Jin Shang. At least here in Jingshi, no one has any doubts about this, and that hoe street is proof of this.

As for the decree that the emperor may promulgate, some people speculate that it is likely to be the policy of grain implemented by the new governor of Baoding, Lu Xiangsheng, during his original appointment as governor of Xuanda. Because Governor Lu's policy of grain was aimed at the rich, which made those Jin merchants very uncomfortable, and even did not hesitate to send someone to kill Lu Xiangsheng's father for this reason, so that he could leave his post with worry.

They have reason to suspect that Lu Xiangsheng will be the vanguard of the emperor's sanctions against merchants, and this will be known after Governor Lu takes office.

As for the worries of the merchants in Beijing, Emperor Chongzhen actually knew about it. Today's factory guards have long resumed the comprehensive supervision of the Beijing Division. Just like the price of Jingshi, Dongchang has also fulfilled its original duties, reporting once a day; Therefore, the remarks of the people on the new policy will naturally not be omitted.

Emperor Chongzhen heard the remarks outside, but his heart was happy. Because of this rumor, he deliberately let the factory guards out to guide public opinion. If you don't take advantage of this opportunity to severely punish Jin Shang and get more benefits, it will be too much of a loss.

In fact, for big businessmen, history has proven that restrictions must be met. Although the Jin merchants in the north have fallen, there are still salt merchants in the south, all of whom have gathered a lot of wealth, which is not good for the Ming Dynasty.

As for the system of craftsmen, after it was made public, many officials also objected. However, in the suggestion of Lu Xiangsheng and others, there have been some additions, which can also appease the class from which the scholars originated.

In other words, if a scholar is engaged in the crafts of craftsmen and has made significant contributions, he can still obtain the corresponding title.

In fact, there are indeed many officials in Daqing, because their careers are not going well, or because they are interested, they are studying crafts. It can be said that many inventions are not actually created by the craftsmen themselves, but by the scholars. After all, compared with craftsmen, scholars have more money and are educated, so they are naturally more likely to produce results.

For example, Bi Maokang, who served as the right attendant of the military department in the Chongzhen Dynasty, published the "Illustrated Description of Weapons" in the eighth year of Chongzhen, which contained an improved fire gun, called a self-generated fire gun, and in later generations, there was a very popular name called a flintlock pistol.

Although the original Emperor Chongzhen knew that this self-generated fire gun was better than the arquebus, because the firing device was made of steel, otherwise it was not easy to shoot sparks, and it was easy to dumb fire, and the most important thing was that the cost was much more expensive than the arquebus. Emperor Chongzhen, who was poor and died, naturally couldn't make this kind of self-generated fire gun at that time, let alone ration it for the military.

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

Now officially promulgated, the titles of imitation of the pre-Qin dynasty are divided into junior craftsmen, intermediate craftsmen, senior craftsmen, professional craftsmen, masters, grandmasters, and grand masters.

Just like the military merit title of the Qin Dynasty, the promotion of each level of craftsman has corresponding benefits. The most affordable, of course, is the Yulu and Tian property, which have been improved to varying degrees with the promotion of the title.

After reaching the title of senior craftsman, you can see the privilege of not worshipping officials. For example, senior craftsmen, in front of the officials of the seventh grade and below, can see the official and not worship; Professional craftsmen, in front of the prefect and below the five products, can see the official and not worship; The master is the fourth grade, the grandmaster is the third grade, and the great grandmaster is not worshiped by any official position, except for the emperor.

Starting from the title of professional craftsman, there is no tax on the land property that is obtained. The previous titles were still subject to taxes. And from the title of master, two family members can also be exempted from servitude. The Grandmaster is four, and the Grand Master is six exempt places.

Unlike ordinary dukes and earls, these titles are all personal, not hereditary, and not even demoted to hereditary status. But even so, for the craftsman class, the attraction is still incomparably huge. Even for readers, the same is true. Because the general duke and earldom can only be had by military merit or relatives.

Under the new title system promulgated by Emperor Chongzhen, this set of titles is actually not limited to the group of craftsmen. Scholars and other classes, if they have made significant contributions, can also be awarded the title of master or above. For example, Bi Maokang, Emperor Chongzhen has already sent someone to reward him, named him a master of firearms, and called him back to serve in the War Bureau.

And Bi Maokang, a firearms master, is the first person to be rewarded with this title after the new title system of the Ming Dynasty. This first can be regarded as giving the scholar class a face and a kind of comfort.

For now, if the craftsmen of the whole Ming Dynasty want to get the title, they can only do things for the royal family. Speaking from the general truth, the whole world belongs to the emperor, and everyone works for the emperor, so there is nothing wrong with doing things for the emperor to have a title.

Not only from the Jingshi, but also from all parts of the country, this notice has also been issued. And it is stated on the notice that as long as it is a craftsman, any industry can be. If you feel that your skills can be hidden, or you can hide your ancestral skills, you can take this opportunity to sell them to the emperor's family.

Since the announcement went out, the craftsmen in the Beijing Division, and those who signed up that day have lined up. For this situation, Emperor Chongzhen was naturally very pleased, his purpose was not only to recruit skilled craftsmen for the War 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 to form a systematic craftsman official learning system. There are apprentices, there are craftsmen, there are also grandmasters who study and innovate, and so on.

Emperor Chongzhen has reason to believe that after he brings this technical school to formalization, the production capacity of the Ming Dynasty in all aspects will be greatly improved. Of course, this is not something that can be done overnight, and it will take time.

Thinking of this, he looked at the dozen or so pieces of music that had been picked out on the imperial case. Among them, there are Zuo Yingxuan, Chen Hongxu, who have already performed their duties, and Fang Fengnian, who has been demoted and demoted, all of which are recitals from the areas that have been ravaged by Jianyu this time.

It can be said that once the prisoners entered the customs, the damage caused to these places in the Daming Pass was devastating. The economic losses are even more incalculable. This is a real trick to stab Daming and let him bleed. Even if there is no natural disaster, bloodletting like this, the giant of Daming will not be able to withstand it a few times. What's more, now there is another natural disaster, and he has been stabbed four times.

Looking at these movements, Emperor Chongzhen sighed and said, "No matter what, we can't let Jianyu invade the pass anymore!" ”

And this is also the reason why he had long thought about sending Lu Xiangsheng, a minister with both civil and military skills, to restore Dongjiang Town and contain Jianyu 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 Imperial Horse Supervisor. After he went, he had to re-recruit new recruits for training and select veterans to become the backbone. In a short period of time, it is impossible to move. You can't have money, that's one thing.

Second, a prerequisite for the restoration of Dongjiang Town is the Sailor Division. And the Denglai Sailor, because of the previous Denglai rebellion, that is, the rebellion of Kong Youde and others, lost most of it, and the rest were mostly taken by Kong Youde to surrender and build captives. It is also because of this that Jianyu had the opportunity to cross the sea and fight, and laid down the foundation of the Dongjiang River, Phi Island.

Today's Denglai Sailor is completely in name only. Although Emperor Chongzhen allocated money to Lu Xiangsheng, it was impossible to immediately conjure a sailor if he had money. It also takes time. Whether it's building ships, or training sailors.

Of course, the transfer of Fujian sailors to the north as discussed before was a way, but Emperor Chongzhen was not sure, and Zheng Zhilong, who was now the overlord of the sea, would obey the dispatch. After all, judging from the original history, he did not have a sense of reverence for the imperial court at all.

Thinking of this, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but recall the information about Zheng Zhilong, and after considering half a salary, he decided to give Zheng Zhilong a secret decree directly, which was sent by the factory guard.

After finishing this, Emperor Chongzhen thought about the third difficulty on Lu Xiangsheng's side. It was proposed by Lu Xiangsheng that in order to contain more Jianguo men and horses and eliminate the possibility of Jianguo dividing troops to bypass Mongolia, then the containment military force on the side of 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 battle of Tianjin, not only the horses of the entire Beijing division were recruited, but even mules, donkeys and the like were sent to the battlefield. Not to mention anything else, even now only half of the hussar battalions under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Horse Supervisor have war horses available. The most important thing is that not all horses can be used as war horses, and the higher requirements make Emperor Chongzhen feel even more helpless.

Where do horses come from?

Emperor Chongzhen thought about this question and couldn't help but look in the direction of the north. On the Mongolian steppe, there are indeed horses, but over there is the territory of Jianyu.

He was thinking about this question when suddenly an attendant came to report that Chen Qiyu was outside the palace and asked for an audience.

Chen Qiyu, the former governor of the five provinces, was previously convicted and exiled to the frontier, but now he was recommended by Hong Chengchou, the governor of Xuanda, and was able to re-emerge from the mountain. He had returned to thank the Emperor and was ready to take up the post of Trilateral Governor.

As soon as he thought of this, Emperor Chongzhen immediately remembered that he was not exiled to Yansui, and it was not next to the grassland. Moreover, his new official position is the governor of the three sides, that is, the military and political power of Yansui, Ningxia and Gansu.

So, he immediately issued an order, and Wenhua Hall summoned Chen Qiyu.

It didn't take long for Chen Qiyu to enter the palace to greet him, and Emperor Chongzhen almost didn't recognize him. In the original impression of Emperor Chongzhen, Chen Qiyu was a Confucian official in the prime of life, the kind of official appearance. But at this time, I was only forty-three years old, my hair was already half-white, and although my waist was still straight, there were a lot more wrinkles on my face. At first glance, I thought I was a man of fifty or sixty years old.

However, what made Emperor Chongzhen a little relieved was that although his face was old, he was in good spirits.

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

Chen Qiyu didn't have the kind of reaction that would thank Daen as soon as he heard it, and promised that there was no problem, but he just replied with his hand: "I don't know if there is money and food to be allocated?" ”

Emperor Chongzhen appreciated his reaction. If Chen Qiyu wanted to become an official, he would immediately accept it, but it would make him worried.

Therefore, he smiled and said, "I can give Qing 100,000 taels, but there will be no food, and I need to raise it on the spot after Qing arrives." ”

In fact, it is also impossible to allocate food from the Jingshi, otherwise, it will not be enough to consume on the road.

Seeing Chen Qiyu looking up at himself, Emperor Chongzhen added: "I think that Sun Qing, the former governor of Shaanxi and the current governor of Jiliao, has done a good job in Qingtun to replenish his salary. Got it? ”

When he said this, there was actually a layer of meaning in it. Meaning: Chen Qiyu, don't be afraid of offending people, there is me. You see, Sun Chuanting used Qingtun to replenish his salary, and I am very satisfied, and now I have been promoted from governor to governor of Jiliao.

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

Called heaven said

I'll try to write another chapter, but I may not finish it, so I'll see you tomorrow.