The handicraft industry in the Northern Song Dynasty was very developed, and there were naturally many skilled craftsmen, and the engraving and printing industry was no exception.

However, Xie Shangbin and Wei Sihai, whom Mi Youren found for Wu Haogu, are not craftsmen in the usual sense, because their craftsmanship is not good. Engraving, inkmaking, printing, book binding...... They can do all the crafts of these engraving shops, but they are not proficient. If you really want to do it yourself, it is equivalent to the level of an apprentice who has just graduated from the school.

But they are recognized as "master craftsmen" in the industry, or "chief craftsmen" and "master craftsmen". Their job was not to do it themselves, but to direct other craftsmen and apprentices.

In the words of later generations, they were engineers in the printing industry.

In the Song Dynasty, most handicraft shops had the existence of "master craftsmen", "chief craftsmen" or "master craftsmen". Among them, the name left for future generations is Yu Hao, the builder of the Kaibao Temple Tower, because Ouyang Xiu recorded this person in his "Returning to the Field" and called it: The essence of the heart is like this. Since the dynasty, there is only one carpenter, and so far carpentry is based on prediction.

And Li Jie, who is compiling "Building the French Style", and Wu Zongyuan, the ancestor of Wu Haogu, are also craftsmen in a sense. The former is the chief engineer in the construction industry, and the latter is the engineer in charge of interior decoration (murals......

That afternoon, when Wu Haogu had just returned from the Lotus Nunnery in the west of the city, and brought back a few pencil sketches. Mi Youren had already taken a young master craftsman and waited in Christie's study (Wu Haogu's office).

"Teacher, you're back."

Mi Youren waited a little anxiously, and when he saw Wu Haogu enter the door, he hurriedly began to introduce.

"These two are the people you want, and this is Xie Duliu." He first pointed to a young man wearing a cyan Confucian robe, with very delicate facial features, and a few very neatly trimmed beards, and said, "He is a person from the Xie family who carves books, and now he is working in the Guozijian Library. ”

"In Xia Xie Shangbin, I have seen the military officials."

After Mi Youren's introduction, Xie Shangbin bowed.

"Are you an official?" Wu Haogu looked at him and asked.

"Under is a hired craftsman." Xie Shangbin replied.

The development of the handicraft industry in the Song Dynasty was different from that of the previous era, the private handicraft industry developed rapidly, while the government-run handicraft industry was relatively in decline—this decline was not compared with the five dynasties of the Tang Dynasty, but compared with the great development of the private handicraft industry.

The rise of private handicrafts has caused the loss of officials and craftsmen. Excellent craftsmen can get higher remuneration in the industry, and they can also start their own businesses and open workshops, so they are not very willing to enter the government-run handicraft industry as official craftsmen.

In addition, in the Song Dynasty, there was also a kind of "soldier", that is, a craftsman with a military status, who was generally attached to the box army - the box army of the Song Dynasty was actually not a real army, but a military member who did all kinds of chores for the imperial court. Similar to later generations of police, tax officers, fire brigades, employees of state-owned enterprises, and so on.

But people who are really capable will not be willing to be a military craftsman with a military registration.

Therefore, in the Song Dynasty, there was a large number of "and hire" folk craftsmen in the government-run handicraft industry, and some folk craftsmen also liked this employment model of "coming and going freely". They can learn what they can do in the government-run handicraft industry, and then go out and make a lot of money.

This model of "harmony and employment" not only solves the problem of shortage of manpower in the government-run handicraft industry, but also improves the technical level of the non-governmental handicraft industry.

"Teacher, this is Wei Duliu," Mi Youren pointed to another man who was older, dressed as an outsider, and looked loyal and honest, "He is also from a family of book carvers, and he is a member of the Wei family who carves books." It is also a national eunuch and a hired craftsman, and he can come to Christie's in the next year. ”

In the Song Dynasty, because there was no socialized vocational education, the hereditary occupation was still the mainstream. The master teaches the apprentice, and it is inevitable that he must keep a hand! When a father teaches his son, he will have no reservations.

Therefore, if you don't do a craft for several generations, others will not believe that you have real skills!

"Both of you, sit down and talk."

Seeing the two of them seated, Wu Haogu nodded and continued to ask.

"Have you two ever read?"

"Read." looked at Wei Sihai, who was quite honest, and smiled, "You can't do it if you don't read...... To tell you the truth, Xiao Di also entered the school when he was young, and he took the liberation test once. ”

"Have you ever been to school?" Wu Hao Guxin said: Reading books is stronger than yourself (before the soul wears)!

"Why don't you read on?" Wu Haogu inquired again.

"Big officials, it's like this in the craft shop of Kaifeng Mansion." Wei Sihai smiled bitterly, "If you can't try to solve it once, you have to learn your skills." ”

The industrial and commercial status of this dynasty was higher than that of the previous generation, and it was allowed to participate in the imperial examination. However, the industrial and commercial households are usually not as persistent as the small landlords in the imperial examination, and they are not likely to take the examination endlessly, and usually only send the examination once - this is probably related to the high cost of living in a big city like Kaifeng Prefecture.

Of course, this is also related to the "low-cost education" under the imperial examination system with moral articles as the criterion.

What the imperial examination system brings is not high-cost elite education, but low-cost "universal education", and the cost of reading is not high. The landlords and rich peasants could bear it, and for them, it was just a waste of worthless time to land the imperial examinations again and again......

And this model of rising imperial examinations is most beneficial to small and medium-sized landlord families with a large number of small and medium-sized landlord families with relatively low living costs.

"Then you've also taken the Liberation Test?" Wu Haogu asked Xie Shangbin again.

"I've passed the exam," Xie Shangbin said, "but Xiaodi hasn't entered the mansion...... Therefore, his knowledge is not as good as that of Brother Wei, but he has read a lot of books in various categories. ”

Ordinary craftsmen in the book engraving shop can not read, even if they are illiterate. However, the master of the book engraving shop must have read books, and he must have read all kinds of miscellaneous books, not necessarily proficient, but must be able to read through. Because the manuscript delivered to them cannot be free of any errors or omissions, and the handwriting may not be clear. Therefore, the craftsmen of the book engraving shop not only have to "review", but sometimes also copy the book, so they are all literate.

Wu Haogu nodded, took out two manuscripts written by Li Jie on the table, and handed them to Xie Shangbin and Wei Sihai respectively.

"Do you understand?" Wu Haogu asked the two humane.

"I understand," Xie Shangbin said, "it's stone work, that is, quarrying, stone slabs, stone carvings, etc...... It seems to be the content of "Yuanyu French Style". ”

Wu Haogu looked at Wei Sihai again, and Sihai said: "This one in Xiaodi's hand is not in "Yuanyou French Style", Xiaodi has seen the stone work of "Yuanyou French Style", it is different from this one, it is not as meticulous as this. ”

It seems that this Wei Sihai was responsible for the engraving of "Yuan You French Style".

"It's okay." Wu Haogu smiled and gave his good student Mi Youren a look.

Mi Youren immediately said: "Teacher, both of you expect to get 100 taels of money in Guozijian, which is about the same as utility people, we have to invite them, and we have to add three times ......."

100 taels plus triple is 400 tassels!

The price is not low, but it is not a lion's mouth. Because they are all craftsmen from the country's prison - they have a gold-lettered signboard on their backs!

"It's no problem to add three times," Wu Haogu smiled, "but I'll have to try my skills first." ”

As he spoke, he picked up two more sketches of the ink lady and handed them to Xie Shangbin and Wei Sihai.

"This is the ink lady......"

"This painting...... What did you draw it with? ”

The two took the sketch, looked at it, and were stunned.

Of course, they knew that the big proprietor of Christie's was the first person in the painting, Wu Haogu, and they had also been to Fengle Building to see the pictures of beauties - since the portraits of Mo Niangzi and Li Shishi were hung in Fengle Building, Fengle Building was about to become a tourist attraction, and business was more than twice as good as usual. The doorbed on the first floor can't even wait for a seat!

But now that the two of them saw the bust sketch of the ink lady, they were still surprised.

Just the three colors of black, white, and gray, plus a bunch of lines, portrayed the ink lady vividly.

But this skill lives up to the title of "the first person in the painting".

"Can you carve it?" Wu Haogu looked at the two and asked.

"Can't carve out ......"

"I can't carve out the bottom either."

Not unexpected.

It is normal that it cannot be carved, because Wu Haogu used the light and shadow sketching method on these two sketches, which is not easy to print.

"Let's get two more." Wu Haogu gave two more sketches, which were two line sketches, but still used some chiaroscurographic techniques.

"The hair can't be like this, it's too fine to be carved, even if it's carved, it can't be printed well."

"The nose has to be changed here, and it is all done with lines."

Wu Haogu nodded, it seems that there is still a lot of room for improvement in printing technology. But there's no rush in this matter, there will be time in the future,

"Okay, come back tomorrow, I will give you a white drawing, and you will take it to find someone to carve and print." Wu Haogu said, "If it is well printed, I will give you 500 yuan for the year, okay?" ”

"Okay, big official, you can wait and see."

"Give a certain 5 days, keep it and get things done."

This time, both craftsmen took pictures of their chests, and the white drawings are not difficult to carve, and the New Year's paintings and Buddha statues are like this. As long as they find the best engraver in the country, they can carve out the plate for a long time, which is much easier than carving a book.

……

The sun was shining and there was no wind today.

Approaching the end of the year, Kaifeng City, the chill receded slightly, and the streets in the center of the city were crowded with people, revealing a prosperous atmosphere everywhere.

Wu Haogu and Mi Youren walked out of Christie's together, greeting people from time to time along the way. They both headed west, both carrying sketchpads on their shoulders.

The two of them came all the way along Panlou Street, turned a corner under Panlou, found a shop that rented livestock, rented two donkeys, and rode towards Zhen'anfang.

They went to Zhen'anfang to find Master Li, and the sketch of the Mo Lady was there, but Master Li hadn't painted it yet. Although Wu Haogu promised to draw a piece of paper for her a few months ago, this promise has never been fulfilled. It's not that he can't spare time, but Master Li somehow hooked up with His Royal Highness Duanwang and became a full-time model of "Zhao Xiaoyi......