In ancient times, when manpower was the center, animal power and simple machinery, there was no doubt that skilled craftsmen represented the most advanced productivity.

In Jiangdong, including present-day Huainan, the prosperity of commerce and trade led to the flourishing of handicrafts, although great progress was also made in some areas. But it is still undeniable that in terms of overall handicraft technology, Koto is still far inferior to the north.

This is a gap in experience accumulated over hundreds or even thousands of years, and it cannot be equaled by just a few years of time and a few innovations in production technology. What's more, Shen Zhezi neither has much energy nor sufficient reserves, and single-handedly promotes the development of Jiangdong's overall manual technology.

The biggest change he brought to the handicraft industry in Jiangdong should be the simplification of the production process and the expansion of the production scale, which is also due to the constraints of the actual situation.

Although the Shen family was known as the leader of Jiangdong in the early years, in the final analysis, it was just a local tyrant portal in Wuzhong, and a chess piece in the hands of the power gate. In addition to the struggle for status, there is also a large amount of reserves brought about by the improvement of basic production capacity.

But this does not mean that Shen Zhezi has no pursuit of truly high-tech industrial technology, which was mainly about accumulation and expansion, and now it will turn into a relatively smooth digestion and operation.

He had in mind some of the technical principles of later generations, but if he wanted to put them into practice, he still needed a high-level group of craftsmen to cooperate and try to transform those principles into technologies that could be realized in the present world. This is one of the reasons why he was in a hurry to gather a large number of northern artisans.

Skilled craftsmen are equivalent to the foundation of running a family business in a wealthy private family, and the meaning is almost equal to that of acres. In the national community, it is even more extraordinary.

As early as the Chinese and Korean dynasties, large cities such as Luoyang and Yecheng gathered a large number of artisan households, and in the later wars and disasters, these populations were also repeatedly contested. When Shile unified the north with a different race, in order to consolidate his ruling foundation, a large number of people migrated to Hebei, including many artisan families.

Yecheng, which was previously broken by the Huainan army, was one of the centers of Shi Zhao's rule, and in the later period of Shi Le's reign, it was also a frequent construction of the capital. The artisan households gathered around Yedi are as many as 100,000 households to meet the needs of Shizhao's construction and enjoyment.

Of course, not all of these artisan families have a skill, and most of them are still driven by forced labor. But even if only some of them have mastered various skills, this is an extremely staggering amount.

Speaking of this, Shen Zhezi also had to sigh that although the Jiangdong Imperial Court nominally inherited the orthodoxy of China and the DPRK, it was still inferior to the Hulu regime in the north in terms of real inheritance acceptance. Emperor Sima Rui of the Yuan Dynasty himself was a distant king, and he had no contact with the core power of China and North Korea before going south to Jiangdong.

Therefore, most of the craftsmen who were concentrated in the Central Plains and Heluo regions were still enslaved by Hu Lu in the north.

The gap between the north and the south at the level of skills, Shen Zhezi originally felt that it was not too profound, one was that he did not have a deep understanding of this aspect, and the other was that he did not have much energy to ask for guidance, basically as long as various industries could meet his needs, he would not set any too high-precision goals.

However, when he recovered Heluo a few years ago, he also saw the old city of Luoyang with his own eyes, although only a piece of ruins remained, but even if it was just these wreckage, the skill displayed was far superior to that of Jiangdong.

In particular, Shen Zhezi presided over the construction of Jiankang City earlier, and he was also complacent about the achievements he led, but he was enough to feel a lot after truly seeing the crystallization of the world's most high-end craftsmanship, even if it was just a residue.

This time, the requirements for the selection of craftsmen in various parts of the north are still relatively high, mainly concentrated in some artisan families that have been passed down from generation to generation. In this era, not only did the culture have a monopoly on family traditions, but also the inheritance of craftsmen's skills also had this continuity, and many families often followed each other from father to son, and several generations were engaged in a certain industry, which was the same in both the north and the south.

For example, the Shen family itself supports a group of such craftsmen, and they want to keep their core technology secret, even if the master family can't be too demanding in this regard, which is really understandable.

Through a little screening of such standards, the so-called artisan households that were appeased in Yecheng shrank significantly, reaching more than 7,000 households. This is also because the Huainan Army confiscated a lot of internal register materials in Yecheng, and these craftsmen naturally had to carry out centralized management, which saved the Huainan Army a lot of trouble.

At present, Shen Zhezi's foundation is still placed in Huainan, but he is not willing to leave these heirloom craftsmen idle in Henan, and simply transfer some of them. It just so happens that Huainan is currently lacking manpower in various industries, which can be supplemented with this.

Large-scale migration is difficult, even without the invasion of war. In particular, many of these craftsmen have passed down some unique skills for generations, and it is sad to lose any of them.

The reason why Shen Zhezi was happy was that the task was completed so beautifully, more than 3,000 artisan families came all the way from Henan, and only a few hundred people were lost along the way.

Shen Zhezi entered the table, and after placing the book on the bookcase, he looked at Yu Du and said with a smile: "I have heard that Shuhong has such a virtuous ability, but now it seems that I have lost sight of the bias of talent in previous years." ”

"My subordinates are just the last ones in the army, and it is a great blessing to be able to continue to serve the Metropolitan Governor, and I really dare not deserve such a reputation."

Hearing the Metropolitan Governor's praise, Yu Du was inevitably overjoyed, and he was also full of expectations for his future again.

Ji You also said with a smile on the side: "The house has its own good talents, which is also the love of the heavens, and all parties are making full use of their talents, and they are really not afraid of the difficulties of the world." ”

"This statement of literature is indeed fair, Shuhong, you should indeed be praised for accumulating this merit. But at the moment, the house is also renowned, and I will remember this matter deeply, and there will be a thick supplement in the near future! ”

Shen Zhezi said with a smile again, to be honest, the significance of many transfer skills is not inferior to the direct battlefield combat achievements, if you count the exemplary meaning, the feudal marquis is more than enough. However, at present, the Huainan generals have not been rewarded for a long time, and the Taiwan is also sharpening their knives angrily, even if Shen Zhezi is promoted to Taichung, he may not be able to pass. Therefore, this work can only be accumulated temporarily.

Thinking of the recent stalemate with Taiwan, Shen Zhezi couldn't help but sigh. There is no point in contradicting each other, it is just a difference in position, and as Huainan becomes stronger and stronger, this contradiction will become more and more acute, just waiting for a critical point to erupt.

"Uncle Hong has returned from a long journey, and I will no longer hinder you from resting for a long time, but remember to return to the house tomorrow and go to the camp with me. In the last few days, you should first recuperate, and then listen to it. ”

Shen Zhezi smiled again and ordered, and then ordered someone to lead Yu Du out of the mansion. After hearing this, Yu Du couldn't help but be overjoyed, it seemed that the Metropolitan Governor must be giving him a new appointment again.

After Yu Du left, Shen Zhezi summoned Du He, Wang Shu and others to discuss how to place this group of precious craftsmen. In fact, the Governor's Office had already made a plan before, and now it is just another confirmation to discuss it.

Early the next morning, in addition to the subordinate officials who wanted to follow Shen Zhezi to inspect the camp, even some merchants and township sects rushed to hear the news. Most of them were building industries in Huainan, and they were suffering from a shortage of workers, and when they learned that the Governor's Office had mobilized a large number of craftsmen in Henan, they were naturally eager to share a little profit.

The arrival of these merchants made Shen Zhezi a little unexpected, and he had to sigh that once the capital began to operate, its profit-making nature would be fully revealed. He also had to be glad that although private capital was allowed to join, it did not open up more freedom to them, especially in terms of workers' leasing, and it was strictly forbidden to recruit workers on their own through the intermediary of the Metropolitan Governor's Office.

Originally, this was intended to facilitate the supervision of workshop production and the extraction of workers, as well as to protect the interests of the artisans. Now it seems that it is also a means to control the unlimited growth of these private capital.

In the final analysis, in this era, industry and commerce are only a means of allocating wealth, and if this erodes the agricultural capital, it is putting the cart before the horse. If this is not done properly, those farmers who have been exempted from household registration are very likely to be recruited by the workshops, resulting in a serious shortage of agricultural population.

Those merchants didn't know that their enthusiasm had deepened the Governor's desire to restrain their development, and happily followed the Governor's Mansion all the way to the artisan camp placed at the foot of Bagong Mountain.

After Shen Zhezi and others arrived, their own relevant personnel followed and pointed, and Yu Du also introduced them along the way.

The craftsmen who were transferred to Huainan this time were mainly from the material official office of the Shizhao court. The main functions are similar, responsible for civil engineering such as temples, mausoleums, palaces, gardens, etc., once the war is useful, it is also responsible for ordnance production, defense construction, including direct participation in battles, etc.

Shi Zhao was building Xiangguo and Yecheng until Shi Le's death. Then there was a civil strife, and the craftsmen who stayed in Yecheng were also directly incorporated into the army by Shi Kan, but after all, they were not professional soldiers, so they stayed on the defensive, so they gave the Huainan Army a chance to pack them all.

Therefore, among these craftsmen, there are not only ordinary craftsmen, but also many Shi Zhao official offices, such as the material official captain, the right school order, and so on. These people are now living in Huainan, and they are also very respectful to Shen Zhezi, the powerful minister of the southern country, and try their best to show where they are in order to get better treatment.

After the introduction of these officials, Shen Zhezi also learned that these craftsmen can be described as all-encompassing, with detailed division of labor, and each has its own strengths, ranging from small handicrafts such as wood and stone, gold and jade, leather goods, painting and dyeing, ceramics, etc., to large construction projects such as palaces, urban construction, and water conservancy.

In addition to manpower, these people also donated many theoretical old books and so on, including Zheng Xuan's annotation "Examination of the Gongji", Du Zhu's "Chen Nong" numeracy notes, etc., and even academic treatises such as "Nine Chapters of Arithmetic". Some of these old books have long been lost in Jiangdong, and even if they exist, they are very missing.