Among the many silk workshops, the one led by female workers came out on top and received a large royal order, totaling two hundred and thirty pieces of high-quality silk.
The quantity is not very large, but it is recognized by the royal family and has become a royal item.
The female workers headed by Shen Rulan fell into great joy.
In addition, he established a monument to Huang Daopo and severely punished the Yang family workshop for mistreating female workers.
The happy events came one after another. Everyone wiped away the depression of the day before and smiled as if their faces were blooming.
"We have survived the hard times. We will buy more sketching silk next year and work hard next year. By the end of the year, we, we will all have a new house to live in, and we will have meat for the New Year's Eve dinner!"
The female workers were smiling and thinking about the future, looking forward to a better life... The third year of Hongwu is about to pass, and the new year is not far away.
Zhu Yuanzhang bought silk to buy new clothes for the prince.
If you buy it for your son, you can't help but buy it for your concubines. The old couple of the Ma family don't care, but those imperial concubines are hard to ignore. They are young to begin with, and after entering the palace, they don't see the emperor a few times. If every new year comes,
On the festival day, I didn’t even have any clothes or a reward for my money. I couldn’t survive this day.
The number of concubines and children, simply calculated together, is a large sum of money, a total of two hundred and thirty pieces of silk, which still made Zhu Yuanzhang's flesh ache for a long time.
But no matter how painful he was, he still had to send a copy to the Zhang family to buy new clothes for the young master of the Zhang family.
This little kid got twice as much as Zhu Di.
By the way, Zhang Ximeng did not agree to Lao Zhu's naming method. The smooth and smooth way of adding the five elements to each other should be left to the children of Lao Zhu's family.
Zhang Ximeng just thought about it casually and named his son "Shun Ning", which roughly means the peace of the common people, which is in line with Prime Minister Zhang's taste.
However, some people say that this name is extraordinary, as it comes from the Book of Changes, the first common thing to appear, and the name Xianning of all nations.
In the future, this child will definitely be able to rule the country and bring peace to the world. The two generations of Zhang family are the most virtuous prime ministers in the past and present, and it is really something that people look up to.
Anyway, the kid Zhang Shuning, who was wearing crotchless pants, still didn't know about the adulation outside. He just sat quietly on his father's desk, acting like an ornament.
After dad is done with his work, he will take him outside for a spin. This is the happiest time for the little guy every day.
At this moment, in front of Zhang Ximeng, there was a book of women's rings that he had read many times, a piece of silk given by Lao Zhu, and several newspapers that attacked female workers.
In addition, there were the test scores of the officials, the confessions written by Zhang Shicheng, and the property lists of the wealthy families who followed Zhang Shicheng... Such a large number of things were placed in front of Zhang Ximeng.
Vaguely, Zhang Ximeng felt that there was some connection here, that there should be a thread that could tie everything together and explain these phenomena.
Just what is the answer?
Zhang Ximeng frowned, thinking hard, and suddenly raised his head, just in time to see his son's big smile, a glistening saliva bubble burst, and a drop of saliva fell on Zhang Ximeng's manuscript.
Zhang Ximeng frowned slightly, and suddenly, he had an idea.
Blessed in his soul, Zhang Ximeng suddenly felt enlightened with a flash of inspiration. Then he picked up his pen and wrote three words: Productivity.
After finishing writing, Zhang Ximeng looked at it again and felt that it still lacked some meaning, so he added two more words in front: release.
After examining these five words for a long time, Zhang Ximeng suddenly burst into laughter.
"It worked, it really worked!"
In excitement, he picked up his son and kissed the little guy hard on his fleshy face.
Then he hugged the laughing little thing, wrapped himself in a blanket, and walked quickly outside. Facing the cold north wind, Zhang Ximeng felt that his head was particularly clear.
"My dear son, do you know that your father is going to lead the whole world out of the involution cycle? We must be high-spirited and achieve a glory far superior to that of the Han and Tang Dynasties... Your father is about to become the most powerful person in the world."
Zhang Ximeng was murmuring, and just as Jiang Nan was returning from picking off some wintersweets, he bumped into the two men and couldn't help but said: "Why are you telling him that? He can't understand!"
Zhang Ximeng laughed and said, "If he understands, I won't stop talking."
Jiang Nan looked at her husband's boyish joy and cheers, and smiled: "You must have figured out something again! You are quite happy. Is this a big deal?"
"Yeah! It's very, very big. I can almost give an annotation to the history since the Anshi Rebellion, especially since the Zhao and Song Dynasties."
"Didn't you comment on it before?"
"It's different. This time I want to explain clearly the three obediences and the four virtues. I want to explain clearly why women are becoming more and more suppressed. We are becoming more and more conservative to the outside world and giving in step by step. The thoughts of literati are becoming more and more introverted. Why do we have the idea of Cuntianlimo?"
People’s thoughts of desire, why are they so focused on tormenting themselves and not willing to look up at the outside world!”
Zhang Ximeng said a lot in one breath, Jiang Nan listened silently, was stunned for a moment, and suddenly grabbed Zhang Shuning into his arms, then reached out and pushed Zhang Ximeng hard.
"Why are you bothering with such an important matter? Hurry up and write the article! Everyone is waiting to see it! If you don't write five thousand words today, I won't let you go to bed!"
How could Zhang Ximeng withstand his wife's urging? He had no choice but to return to the study.
Sitting in front of the desk, thinking over and over again, my heart surged. Although some truths have been said before, every time I look at history from a different angle, I will gain more.
This kind of fun is very similar to picking up leaks on the ground.
The historical materials are there, and there are many people who can come into contact with them. However, it is indeed not easy to discern patterns and find inspiring things from the complicated historical materials.
As for great discoveries that can lead the times and rewrite history, there are even fewer.
Why is it said that the only lesson people learn from history is that people will not learn any lessons... In fact, this statement itself has a pessimistic tone of fatalism.
It seems that history cannot be studied, cannot be pondered, and cannot be changed...
Obviously, Zhang Ximeng did not think so.
He silently picked up the pen in his hand... This one, to him, was the best weapon.
Why is the phenomenon of employing workers common, and female workers even more widespread, but it cannot be brought to the table. Some people even hire female workers while criticizing them for being immoral.
Is this a brain problem?
Indeed, if one thing appears on the surface and another behind the scenes, there will naturally be problems.
But behind this question, can we analyze something, can we see a deep-seated purpose?
Zhang Ximeng wrote a conclusion: denying human value.
At least it denies the value of half of the people.
To put it more bluntly, it means making labor worthless and relying on squeezing labor costs to satisfy the pursuit of profits.
Let’s turn our attention back to agriculture for now.
Men farm and women weave, farm and read and inherit the family, treating women as accessories, unable to establish a family, unworthy of owning and inheriting property... Why is this?
Zhang Ximeng has already analyzed it before, because only in this way can a man be held back by his wife and children, and thus a family.
Tie all labor to the land.
Then the land will be cultivated intensively without any limit.
There seems to be no problem in cultivating intensively and increasing yields.
Isn't this great?
But the question is, is it a cost-effective business to use several times the labor force to increase grain production by 10 to 20%?
What is this called?
Isn’t it just involution?
Why should we desperately involute... Because land is limited and population is expanding. In comparison, labor is far less valuable than land.
The gentry landlords who control the land naturally want to maximize the profits of the land resources in their hands, and in turn, suppress labor to an outrageous level.
Only in this way can farmers work hard all year round. In addition to meeting the basic rations, all other output can be given to the landlords.
They will even take away 70% to 80% of the output of a piece of land, forcing the family to struggle to survive and not have enough to eat... At this point, women must work day and night to knit, embroider and mend, in exchange for a meager income to supplement the family income.
Children as young as a few years old have to herd cattle and sheep, and do things for the landlords. The whole family strives for a better life for the landlords.
Zhu Yuanzhang understands this very well, after all, he has lived this kind of life since he was a child.
Zhang Ximeng explained the truth clearly, and Zhu Yuanzhang naturally felt the same. This is why Lao Zhu was determined to equalize land, took heavy measures to restrain the powerful, and attacked the gentry.
So the question is, if agriculture is like this, is it also like industry and commerce?
If Zhang Ximeng had to say it, the problem would be even more serious.
You have tried your best to suppress labor costs, especially the costs of female workers. How far have you suppressed them?
The loom that could spin sixty-four threads at a time was actually lifeless.
Water-powered looms are no match for human power.
Although there are various reasons, many of which have been mentioned before.
But in the final analysis, it’s not that people are too cheap. Labor is worthless. All we need is to pile up manpower.
Silk, porcelain, and various handicrafts are all made at no expense to strive for exquisiteness.
One by one, the craftsmen were overwhelmed.
What are these things used for?
Of course, descendants a hundred years from now can look at it and be amazed, and it can be placed in a museum as a treasure and charge a few extra admission fees.
But what next?
Can the country become rich and the people strong, help the country, violently defeat the barbarians, and achieve a prosperous age?
It seems that it is really not good. No matter how involved a manual workshop is, it cannot compare with industrial machines.
In the case of Han Xiuniang earlier, some people said that women are not allowed to come out to do things.
Now in the workshops in Suzhou, it is even more illegal to let women manage the textile workshops.
Whether in agriculture or industry, women are being excluded, and officialdom is no exception.
If you ask these people what they think, it’s just that the competition is already so fierce, so what’s the point of adding half of the people to compete?
Also, the land is so big and there are so many products. If you release the productivity, what's the use?
Can I still grab it outside?
Even if you try to rob, can you still win?
After combing through this, Zhang Ximeng's mouth corners raised, showing a helpless smile, "Since the Anshi Rebellion, Zhao and Song have been defeated one after another, which has left a huge shadow on the Central Plains!"
The land of the Central Plains and the people of China cannot continue to engage in extreme involution with the desire to destroy others. We should hold our heads high and have the world in mind!
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs was established, Fang Guozhen was dispatched overseas, and Suzhou's textiles were added... As the stones fell one after another on the chessboard, the overall situation of the world was also quietly changing.
Zhang Ximeng finished the article before a year ago and handed it to Zhu Yuanzhang. There is no doubt that he received Lao Zhu's approval.
"Sir, this pen really wrote down the Ming Dynasty's politics in the next thirty years!" Lao Zhu said with a smile: "With this article, will we establish a broader territory than the Yuan Dynasty and a more prosperous era than the Han and Tang Dynasties?
, then you have the basis to follow it?”
Zhang Ximeng smiled reservedly and said calmly: "My lord is so complimentary that I am ashamed to accept it!"
Zhu Yuanzhang laughed loudly, "Okay! Great! Speaking of which, Suzhou's female workers are still the key to our rich country and strong military!" Zhu Yuanzhang thought for a moment, then picked up his pen and wrote on the red paper: Heroine Skilled Craftsman.
Then he said: "Send it to Suzhou quickly and give it to them before the New Year, so that it can be hung outside for everyone to see!"