In 1367, Zhu Yuanzhang took zhang Shicheng and changed the pingjiang road to Suzhou Prefecture.
Because of the war at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and Zhang Shicheng's tyranny, Suzhou at that time had become in ruins, but with Zhu Yuanzhang's title of Emperor Nanjing the following year, Suzhou's popularity began to slowly gather.
In order for a place to develop in ancient times, it generally needs to have two elements.
The first is people.
The word "demographic dividend" believes that everyone has heard, but in the impression of some people, "demographic dividend" may only refer to the large population, more labor force, more production costs are low.
In fact, this is only a small aspect of the "demographic dividend", and its real strength is that after the population is large, it will give birth to a variety of talents, and talents are the core driving force for development. At that time, the capital of the Ming Dynasty was in Suzhou Province, and the ability of the political center to attract people was believed to be understood without saying more.
According to a written record during the Ming Chongzhen period, the people who came and went in Suzhou at that time were already "no less than hundreds of millions of people a day". Although the number at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty was certainly lower than this, as the location of Nanjing, how could the population here be small.
Another element of development is transportation.
According to local county records and other documents, during the Ming Dynasty, there were hundreds of roads and streets in Suzhou, and almost all of these roads and streets were built along the river, and the bridges at that time were not seated, which means that Suzhou is a typical "water city".
As we all know, whether in ancient times or in modern times, the most economical transportation is waterways, because in principle, it does not require daily construction and maintenance, and it is more effective in the case of smooth sailing, so in the past and the present, its own water network is dense, and there is no blockage to the outside world, and there are few places that cannot be developed.
Therefore, Suzhou, which has both elements, developed rapidly at that time. In the Ming Dynasty, Suzhou was not only an important political center (even after Zhu Di moved the capital, Suzhou's political status was still very high), but also an important transportation hub, handicraft town, commercial center, textile industry center... For ease of understanding, think of it as Shanghai today.
What is Shanghai today in everyone's impression, suzhou at that time was what it was like in the eyes of people at that time. A large number of mobile people, a prosperous economy, and convenient transportation have also made this place a "fashion capital". Clothing, food, housing, travel, Suzhou was a well-deserved benchmark at that time.
According to the statistics of people with hearts, there are about two hundred gardens in Suzhou under the heavens, and three-quarters of them were built in the Ming Dynasty, and the garden is something that is difficult for non-rich people to build, Suzhou has so much, and the rest can be imagined. Therefore, suzhou, the "fashion capital" at that time, became an example for everyone to learn from eating, wearing, living and traveling, so the name "Suzhou-like" slowly spread.
However, although Suzhou has a strong comprehensive strength, but it is not all-powerful, according to the Ming Dynasty's "Five Miscellaneous Tricks" record, Jiangnan and other places to ask craftsmen to work, if you hear the other party speak Cantonese, then you will take the initiative to increase the wages of craftsmen.
Why?
The answer is that at that time, the craftsmen in the Guangzhou area were famous throughout the country and were known as "Guangzhou craftsmen".
So why is Guangzhou full of craftsmen?
Although Suzhou Creek and Guangzhou were all recovered by Zhu Yuanzhang, but the fate of the two is not the same, Suzhou is completely Zhu Yuanzhang's response, and Guangzhou is not, when Zhu Yuanzhang's military peak arrived near Guangzhou, no one dared to be tough with the Ming army, but "looked at the wind and fell", so The Guangzhou that Zhu Yuanzhang accepted was a Guangzhou that had not been destroyed by war.
Friends familiar with history know that Guangzhou has become an important export trade city in China since the Tang Dynasty, and the Song and Yuan basically continued the old road of the Tang Dynasty, and after Zhu Yuanzhang founded the country, although after a short period of "forbidden sea", Guangzhou's foreign trade business was not greatly affected.
The foreign trade of the Ming Dynasty, first through the "tribute" way, disguised official trading, to the Yongle period, the official only put some of the more important goods stuck in the hand, the general goods, has allowed the private purchase, but the trade has been "endless", this situation developed to later, basically no longer set limits, allowing the people to carry out friendly business exchanges with foreigners at will.
Because of the strong relationship between supply and demand, guangzhou's commerce has been fully developed, and in addition to the local people busy with business, many handicraft masters have emerged, which is what later generations call "craftsmen".
The reasons for the emergence of these "craftsmen", in addition to the increase in demand, there are many other reasons:
According to records, at that time, many foreign imports of things, in Daming can sell at a price, and the smart Guangzhou residents, but from it to dig some things that can be imitated and processed, such as the famous "velvet" and other special fabrics at that time, the locals in the process of purchasing found these things valuable, began to imitate themselves, because the handicraft products at that time, in fact, the technical barriers are not high, so some are easy to imitate.
In the process of imitation, these craftsmen absorbed some relatively advanced techniques and ideas from them, and then transformed them into their own characteristics, and eventually formed something with a unique style, in addition to cloth, some other handicrafts have similar examples.
Because the "craftsmen" in Guangzhou are good at observation, good at "combining East and West", good at "summarizing and creating", the foreigners who finally came to buy goods issued a heartfelt sigh - perfect skills, ingenious craftsmanship!
In addition to the stimulation of money, the social environment at that time also provided a driving force for the development of "Guangzhou craftsmen", according to records, "Guangzhou craftsmen" because of their skill, won wide social respect, they not only haunted the factory workshop, but also the guests of all classes, even the noble readers, also have great respect for them, and even some people to the famous "Guangzhou craftsmen" respectful disciple ceremony ...
If "Suzhou-like" reflects the glory of the Ming Dynasty, then the "Guangzhou Craftsman" tells us that what is under the world is not enough for nobles!