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A square and black silhouette slowly "rubbed" forward on the gray canopy, and the trajectory was towards the factory door, flashing and shrinking, as ambiguous as the obscure sky at this time. "Shenmu! It, how it floated up! "One morning during the reign of Emperor Chenghua of the Ming Dynasty (1465-1487 AD), Sun Zuo, a craftsman in a public workshop in Beijing, went to the factory early to prepare for the start of construction, and was startled by the scene in front of him.
"Shenmu" is actually a raw material allocated by the Ministry of Works to Sun Zuo's workshop. The material management of the ming dynasty public handicraft industry was based on economy, so the "sacred wood" was not a precious wood, but a pine wood (one said to be "fir"), but because of its superior quality and unique texture, the craftsmen passed it on by word of mouth and regarded it as "sacred wood". To exaggerate, it is like the "Prince of Yizhong's Old Chitose" level of wood in xue panjiamu shop in "Dream of the Red Chamber", "out of the Huanghai iron net mountain, made a coffin, ten thousand years is not bad." Who knew that if it drifted up, could it really appear?
Sun Zuo's heart was colliding with the fawn, and the "Shenmu" suddenly fell to the ground, and the two figures ran out in panic. Sun Zuo suddenly realized, "Where is the manifestation of divine power?" Some people take advantage of the fact that the sky is not dark, carry the wood without authorization, and discard the wood as soon as they bump into people to escape, obviously being a thief with a weak heart! Sun Zuo subconsciously rushed over, while calling for help from the workers.
The two nameless men had run out of shadows, and their feet were faster than rabbits. However, Sun Zuo noticed that there were two other people next to Shenmu, rubbing their shoulders and crying bitterly. He took a closer look, but it was Wang Shenbao, the "class craftsman" of the workshop, and the blue donkey dog (real name). Sun Zuodeng was angry: "Well, wow, I said that you two are not serious, and you really can't do a good thing!" He immediately led the workers who had just arrived to twist Wang Shenbao and the blue donkey dog and interrogated them for details.
It is said that as craftsmen and colleagues, why did Sun Zuo suppress Blue and Wang duo? Because the three of them come from different sources. Sun Zuo was a "resident craftsman", roughly understood as a local, managed by the "internal officials" of the Ministry of Works and the Inner Province, and mainly produced handicrafts for the imperial palace, various offices, and nobles. Specifically, Sun Zuo belongs to the "military smith" (the other is the "folk craftsman" in the "resident smith") and has a military rank. Wang Shenbao and Blue Donkey Dog are "class craftsmen", craftsmen who are recruited from other places. Since the ming Dynasty Emperor Jingtai five years (1454 AD) stipulated "four years a shift", the "class craftsmen" every four years, taking turns to serve in Beijing, attending two days a month. Sadly, the labor of the "class craftsmen" is unpaid, and the white work is not to be said, and the transportation expenses have to be borne by themselves, which is purely an obligation.
In ancient times, the transportation conditions were primitive and simple, and although the craftsmen only worked two days a month, it was difficult to go home, and they were uprooted and isolated for a long time. The "sitters" usually have longer service hours than the shift craftsmen, and must attend ten days a month, but their labor is paid, they receive "monthly salt" on a monthly basis, they can go home every day, they have a safe haven, and they have connections. Moreover, Sun Zuo has deep seniority, and his influence in this workshop is second only to that of "ZuoTou" and General Jiang Chun. Perhaps it is "one mountain does not allow two tigers", Sun Zuo and Jiang Chun do not look at each other well, and the relationship is not good.
After being pressed by Sun Zuo, Wang Shenbao and the Blue Donkey Dog confessed: Jiang Chun instructed them last night to carry the "Shenmu" out of the factory this morning and move it to Jiang Qun's house. The two men who escaped were jiang chun who had come to help, and they didn't know each other. Looking at "Shenmu" again, it did add the four words of "Jue Shan's material", and Sun Zuo recognized it as Jiang Chun's handwriting. Wang and Lan said that the words were personally annotated by Jiang Chun last night. When Sun Zuo heard this, his heart was full of flowers: "Jiang Chun, you blatantly sent your public property to your house, God opened his eyes and taught you to plant it in my hands!" "Report the situation immediately.
When Jiang Chun heard the news, he quickly ran to the eunuch Kang of Shangshan for help: "Sun Daoxi and the other two who came to help carry the sacred wood are really in a nest, and they can't withstand the wind and grass." I didn't expect Sun Zuo's mad dog to come so early and want to bite people! Eunuch Kang could not help but complain that Jiang Chun, Sun Daoxi, and others were not reliable in their work, but they still had to pull Jiang Chun along. After all, the "Shenmu" was originally planned to be sold by Jiang Chun's hand, and a considerable proportion of the profits would fall into the pockets of the Kang eunuchs. They have "cooperated" for a long time and have profound common interests, so how can they not protect each other?
"Huh!" Eunuch Kang smiled confidently, "The East Factory side has been clearly investigated, and Sun Zuo is not clean, and recently he got the twenty silks assigned to your workshop by the Ministry of Works to his own home." Originally, it was convenient for others and convenient for themselves, and we didn't want to block his financial road. Who knows he's going to embarrass us. Coming and going without being rude, we had to pay him back a pot..."
Jiang Chunxin understood the spirit and countersued Sun Zuo for stealing public property- twenty horses of silk, worth a thousand yuan. According to the Ming Law, if the accusations against each other by Jiang and Sun are established, they will undoubtedly die. Sun Zuo was shocked to realize that Jiang Chun had the support of a tall man behind him, and quickly became soft and reached an understanding with Jiang Chun. Therefore, Jiang Chun changed his speech and said: "Sun Zuo suri and I are not very harmonious. In fact, Sun Daoxi, a cook in the palace that day, went to the factory to spread the word that the Kangnei official who was still in charge of the food supervisor would choose a piece of wood to use as the sacrificial table. Sun Zuo was present at the time. I responded in front of him, selected the 'sacred wood' on the side, approved the four words of 'Juan Shan', and agreed that Sun Daoxi would bring a person to the factory in the early morning of the next day to carry it together.
Later, when Sun Zuo returned home, I continued to arrange this matter, explained it to Wang Shenbao and the Blue Donkey Dog, and told them that if they were tired halfway through, they could stop by my house to rest and go again. Sun Zuo did not hear these words. Wang and Lan, the foreign craftsmen had never seen the world, were dull-minded, clumsy, and did not understand my Beijing accent, and failed to accurately relay my original meaning. The two of them did not know Sun Daoxi, so much so that they had a big misunderstanding. Sun Zuo questioned me indiscriminately, and when I was annoyed, I frightened him. In fact, those twenty silks are nothing. ”
The cook Sun Daoxi made up for the merits and came forward to confirm Jiang Chun's statement. Sun Zuo also said that he was a bit reckless and misunderstood the situation. Based on their confessions and the face of the eunuch Kang, Yousi sentenced Jiang Chun to a hundred rods and three years of imprisonment according to "false accusations", and also punished him with "being a head" and demoting him to an ordinary craftsman. Sun Zuo, Sun Daoxi, Wang Shenbao, Blue Donkey Dog, and others were flogged thirty times in accordance with the article "those who should not be done." Although this is true of the superficial article, jiang Chun has the care of the eunuch Kang, and most of them cannot eat much substantial suffering, and when the limelight passes, I am afraid that they can return to the position of "making the head", and it is a big deal to change a factory.
Speaking of this, everyone must have seen that the Kang eunuch who was still in charge of food played a crucial role. As eunuchs and without descendants, why did the "Kang eunuchs" regard wealth as their destiny? The author speculates that there are three reasons:
First, they want to make up for the great psychological and physical trauma with material abundance.
Second, in order to provide adequate security for retirement life and prevent the decline in the living standards of the elderly. Many eunuchs are pampered and treated well, dogs are accustomed to fighting people, afraid of "old and poor", and cannot accept the fate of "dogs ignoring" in the future. In the Ming Dynasty, ordinary people "raised children to prevent the elderly", eunuchs could not give birth to sons, adopted sons had no blood ties, and may not be very reliable, and pension planning naturally depended more on the special status of eunuchs.
Third, some eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty kept mistresses, got married and started a family, and needed to open up financial resources to support huge maintenance expenses. For example, during the Wanli period of emperor Mingshen, many eunuchs bought private houses, raised concubines, pursued singers, and competed for the wind. These eunuchs were all rich, and some vain women took the initiative to give their arms to the eunuchs. The eunuchs, of course, had to pay them the corresponding consideration.
For the above motives, the "Kang eunuchs" took advantage of the plunder and did everything they could. For example, during the Jiajing period of Emperor Ming Shizong, the eunuchs encroached on the property in the great inner treasury, and Ming Shizong accidentally wanted to use "ambergris" but could not find it, so the household department had to buy "ambergris" at a high price outside the palace. And these "ambergris" flowed out of the palace from the eunuch's hand, and then sold back to the palace at a higher price.
One after the other, the eunuchs reaped double profiteering. Another example is the discussion of rebuilding the Zhengyang Gate Tower in the thirty-eighth year of the Wanli Calendar (1610 AD), according to the budget of Zhang Jiayan in the Ministry of Works, only 3,000 to 6,000 gold, but after the operation of the eunuchs, it eventually cost 30,000 taels of silver. The Qianqing Palace slightly repaired a window mallet, the budget was even five thousand gold, and the eunuch in charge was still too low... Relatively speaking, the actions of the eunuch Kang during the Chenghua period were nothing more than small witches and big witches.
It was also from the Chenghua Dynasty where eunuchs Kang, Sun Zuo, Jiang Chun and others were located, that the source of raw materials for public workshops gradually transitioned from requisitioning physical goods to purchasing with silver; foreign craftsmen began to be allowed to pay silver and replace their service in Beijing. While promoting the rapid development of the folk handicraft industry, the above changes also created favorable conditions for the Ming Dynasty's public workshops, workshop operators, "heads" and eunuchs to form a chain of interests and damage public wealth and private interests, resulting in the gradual shrinking of the Ming Dynasty's public handicraft industry, while the eunuchs' greed and wealth continued to expand, and their sense of existence was increasing. This was accompanied by the gradual decline of the Ming Dynasty.
About the Author
Drizzle Silk Bamboo, also known as Asaru Drinking Sea, literary and historical control, reasoning fans, romance obsession, examination of evidence, the main works are Tang Dynasty historical background reasoning + romance novels "Divine Detective Princess", "Fish Mystery", etc., have been published or signed for publication.
References for this article:
Ming Dynasty Wang Liang's "Wang Gongyi Gonggong Refutation"
Shen Defu "Wan LiYe Won"
Li Chuanwen, "Research on the Craftsmanship System in the Ming Dynasty"
(Please note that this article is based on the reference to the historical record, the details of the blank artistic processing, please readers appreciate)
The image comes from the Internet
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