Seeing Huang Qiong's puzzled look, he also knew that the British king had just come out of the cold palace for less than a year, and he probably didn't know much about the cats in those government-run workshops. Sima Hong smiled bitterly and said: "Lord Wang, now that the officials in the court are not able to receive all the money, do you say that these powerless potters may receive the full amount of food and salary every month?" ”

"Moreover, even if they receive their full wages. However, the amount of food and salary that has never changed since the Taizong period is no longer able to feed a family at today's grain prices. During the reign of Taizong, when the craftsmen of the various divisions were in order, the rice was only more than 20 yuan. Now the official price of doumi has risen to sixty or seventy yuan. In a year of famine, the price of this grain is much higher. ”

"Unlike the previous dynasty, the government-run workshops of our dynasty have always only distributed money, not food. The grain that should have been given was converted into the monthly example. According to the monthly rules set by the Taizong Dynasty, even if they are thirty-year-old craftsmen, they only have three monthly money. And the new craftsmen are not even more than five dollars a month. ”

"After three years of apprenticeship, I started to increase by 100 wen a year. After the price rises to two and five, it will take thirty years to give another 500 Wen. Craftsmen, on the other hand, are exempt from forced labor, but they are required to pay taxes. Regardless of the grade of the craftsman, the tax money is always made every year. An old craftsman who has been supporting a large family for 30 years, even if he gets the monthly rules, is only 30 yuan a year. ”

"And a craftsman who has just entered the industry is only eighteen valuable entries per year. is such a meager income, but you still have to pay the tax every year. You must know that the slave of a large family is still paying at least three times a month. And you don't have to feed your family, and you don't have to pay taxes. ”

"I have been a craftsman for 30 years, and I am often a person who drags my family. With such a little money, a family with a little more people is enough to take care of the family's mouth every month. As for the son marrying a daughter-in-law, the daughter's future dowry is not taken care of. The potters themselves are particularly wasteful clothes, but the little money they get every month is not enough to even tear their clothes after shaving food. ”

"You go and see the Junyao potter settlement, there are a lot of people in the old and young clothes. What's even more hateful is that some people still have to go up and down with such a little money. When I was in office, under the joint efforts of the deputy capital eunuch and the eunuch who supervised the construction, those bitter potters never received a full monthly allowance. Basically, eighty percent, even if it's a lot. ”

"Roughly every month, I generally only receive 60% of the monthly money. And even if they have the rest of the money, they still have to deduct 200 wen per person every month, which is still for those potters who only receive the usual five yuan. If you receive the highest monthly allowance, you will have to deduct 300 yuan every month. 300 wen a month, 3,600 wen per year, which is exactly three times and six money. ”

"Most of those single potters have fled and gone south to the porcelain kiln under the name of the Guilin County Palace. But after all, there are only a limited number of single potters, and most of the potters are dragging their families, so they can't escape if they want to. Lao Yu has been in office for two years, and the life of those potters he sees is really miserable. Some potters even have to rely on their wives and daughters to sell themselves to make ends meet. ”

"And those potters who have reached the age of marriage and cannot afford to marry abound. Even if you marry a wife and can't afford to support you, it's not uncommon to run away with others. The people of Junzhou all say that there are more than three potters in Junyao, many singles, many motherless children, and many half-closed doors. There is also a local rumor that you don't marry a Jun kiln worker, you don't have food, you don't wear, you are sick, no one cares, and you die of a broken straw mat. ”

"King Ying, you are now the envoy of Zhengzhou, and you are the prince of my Great Qi Dynasty. After you return to Beijing, can you give the emperor a message and leave a way for the Jun kiln potters to live? The little tax they paid was not much more than them to the imperial court, and it was not much less. But for those potters, at least you can buy an extra bucket of rice every month. ”

Looking at Sima Hong's expectation, Huang Qiong hesitated for a moment, and finally said: "Lord Sima is really sorry, this king is the envoy of Zhengzhou." Although the Jun kiln is on the ground in Zhengzhou, it is directly under the Ministry of Industry, and the king can't manage it now. Although the king sympathized with these potters, he was really beyond the reach of the whip. ”

just looked at Sima Hong's disappointed face after listening to his words. Huang Qiong hesitated several times, but finally relented: "In this way, Lord Sima, you can write an excerpt, and this king will present it to your father for you." It is guaranteed that it does not go through the Zhongshu Province and the Department of General Administration, and goes directly to Tianting. If your excerpt is reasonable, the king will not be able to help him speak. ”

Originally, when Huang Qiong said that he couldn't do anything about the Jun kiln, Sima Hong was depressed. But after Huang Qiong's last words, a glimmer of hope was rekindled in his eyes. He hurriedly turned into the house, and soon took out a wooden box carefully wrapped in a tarpaulin. After carefully wiping the wooden box in his hand, he carefully handed it to Huang Qiong.

"His Royal Highness, this is a statement written by the old man during his tenure in Junyao and his exile in Longyou, based on his experience in the Ministry of Industry over the years, against the shortcomings of the royal ministers. Some of them have been written during their tenure in Junyao. It's just that before I can present it, I will save it from those things. Dismissal and exile, where is there anyone willing to present this fold for the old decay? ”

However, although it has been a little hard in Longyou over the years, but the rights and wrongs of leaving the officialdom can also calm down and ponder some things carefully. Some deficiencies in the original article have been revised. This article can be said to be a collection of years of hard work. ”

Huang Qiong opened the wooden box, took out the strip inside and looked at it carefully, then carefully put it back into the box, raised his head and looked at Sima Hong, who looked forward to the face in front of him, and said: "The old gentleman's hard work, this king will definitely hand it over to his father, and he will definitely live up to the trust of the old gentleman." However, has the old gentleman ever thought about what the consequences will be once this note is handed over? ”

"Your Royal Highness, what you said has already been thought about by the old man, and it is nothing more than a death. Lao Yu has served in the Ministry of Industry for many years, and he can see the Tao too clearly. As soon as this Chen is handed to the emperor, I am afraid that I don't know how many people in the palace will be cut off from the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Households, the Ministry of Internal Services, and even the palace. ”

"Cutting off people's financial means is like killing your parents. These people who are still in power, even in high positions, will not let go of old age. The old decay is now another cloth cloth, and these people quietly kill the old decay, but it is just a piece of cake. Not even a splash of water will be lifted. It's just that the prince, at present, the craftsman household system is already full of drawbacks. ”

"Especially the shortcomings of the royal divisions, it has even reached the point where it is difficult to return, and it has really reached the point where it is impossible to solve it. Your Royal Highness, since the establishment of the craftsman household system of our Great Qi Dynasty, it has not changed for more than 100 years. But today's situation is no longer the same as it was at the beginning of the founding of the country. ”

"At the beginning of the founding of the country, the world had been in war for a long time, the people's livelihood was withering, and the imperial court's financial resources could not make ends meet. Our dynasty armaments, soldiers, coinage, and royal utensils craftsmen are unified into craftsmen. The first is to ensure the requisition of the imperial court, when the world has not yet been pacified, and the army consumes great ordnance. If we blindly recruit artisan households from the private sector, it will have a great impact on the people's livelihood that has not been restored. ”

"A part of the craftsmen were organized into artisan households, and the imperial court issued a certain monthly allowance every month to raise them. It can not only ensure the needs of the army, but also save the time spent on recruiting craftsmen. It will not affect spring planting and autumn harvest when the farm is busy. Another reason is that at that time, the army was fighting abroad all the year round, and the military power was in the hands of the generals. ”

"These craftsmen are in the hands of the imperial court, and all armies and ordnance are uniformly allocated by the imperial court, and all localities are not allowed to manufacture them without authorization. In this way, the armament can be firmly in the hands of the imperial court, and avoid the situation of the former Tang feudal town being divided again due to the generals holding the military power for a long time. Lord Wang, building a steel knife and building a hoe are completely different things. ”

"A blacksmith can make a good hoe, but he may not be able to forge a sword and spear for exploration. The craftsmen who make ordnance, especially ** and firearms, are in the hands of the imperial court, which may not be a way to control the armies. Therefore, since the Battle of Chenzhou, the imperial court began to successively organize such craftsmen and craftsmen who made royal artifacts in the former Tang Dynasty as craftsmen. ”

Some of the craftsmen in papermaking, ink, embroidery, porcelain and other craftsmen respectively set up the Imperial Department of the Ministry of Industry and the Provincial Government Bureau, which was later the Imperial Bureau, to specialize in the production of various utensils required by the royal family. Subsequently, because Emperor Taizong was particularly fond of the former Tang Jun and Ru Er porcelain, on the basis of the former Tang Yuan Jun kiln and Ru kiln, they became two imperial kilns. ”

"During the later Xuanzong Dynasty, Ruyao allowed private offices. It is the original imperial kiln, and it is also allowed to be jointly operated by the government and the people. Emperor Taizu and Emperor Taizong originally set up the imperial divisions, which were originally set up to avoid extorting the people and accumulating people's wealth when the chamberlain went out of the palace to purchase things for the palace in the former Tang Dynasty. All expenses are drawn by the inner treasury, and are not paid by the household and the second department. ”

"Emperor Taizong once promised that everything needed in the palace of our dynasty was made by the heavenly family, and the people would never be harassed. However, although the original intention of Taizu and Taizong not to disturb the people was good, time has passed, and the current general trend of the world is no longer comparable to the beginning of the founding of the country. At the beginning of the founding of the country, after the hard work of Taizu and Taizong, the doumi was only more than 20 yuan, and a horse of linen was only 30 yuan. ”

"A pound of pork is only 30 yuan, and the slightly more expensive mutton is only 50 yuan. A potter's monthly routine of five per month, after excluding the tax of no more than 100 yuan, is enough for the family to have enough food and clothing. will get by, and there is even a balance. But with the stability of the world for more than 100 years, Dingkou has continued to breed. ”

"At present, in the ordinary years of doumi, it has grown to sixty or seventy wen a bucket. was originally enough for the month, but now even if you get all the amounts, a family of five can only barely eat. If there is a little more, it is rare to have food and clothing. What's more, at least during the two years of his tenure, Lao Yu has never seen a potter get a full monthly quota. ”

"When Emperor Taizu and Emperor Taizong set up the Imperial Division, it was nothing more than to avoid local officials from disturbing the people by presenting royal things, and they didn't want to compete with the people for profit. But at present, the world is full of extravagance, and all kinds of luxury things are emerging in endlessly. Don't say anything else, but what is the value of this Jun porcelain in the folk? A Jun porcelain tea bowl is worth only a few households? ”

"One or two Tieguanyin from the Guilin County Palace, how many acres of land is worth of it? But these things are still in the market. Instead of spending a huge amount of money every year, it is better to treat Jun kiln and Ru kiln equally. The prince can exchange a boatload of Jun porcelain for copper worth dozens of times from Dongying and Goryeo. Why can't the imperial court do the same? ”

"This dynasty has always been short of copper, and every year we have to purchase a large amount of copper from Dali at a high price to cast copper coins. And because of the high price of copper, a large number of copper coins minted every year are melted into bronze by the people privately. The consumption of copper purchased by the imperial court every year is getting bigger and bigger, but the money made by the people is circulating less and less. The denomination of the silver tickets of Wuwei Qian Zhuang is getting smaller and smaller. ”