On this day, Zhang Bin opened the yellow book in the Qinzhi Hall again.

Perhaps because he learned the lesson of the last time, he did not order someone to bring over the one-meter-high yellow book catalog, let alone let all the yellow books be moved, and there was only one yellow book in front of him.

However, just this yellow book made him frown deeply and his face was full of sadness.

He looked at the yellow book of the craftsman in Pingyang County, the potatoes and sweet potato seeds have been planted, and the mountainous land for trial planting has also been opened, just wait for the seedlings to grow out and transplant, there should be no problems in terms of yield, and then we should consider the production of the stove for roasting sweet potatoes and the small board cart for sale.

For this reason, he specially asked people to take the yellow book of craftsmen in Pingyang County, and prepared to select a few blacksmiths and carpenters who had a difficult life from them, let them estimate the price, and then contract these two jobs to them when the money was raised.

The reason why he frowned deeply was not because there were too many blacksmiths and carpenters to choose, but because there were too few blacksmiths and carpenters.

There are only five blacksmiths and three carpenters in the entire Pingyang County, what the hell is going on!

He doubled through it and checked it carefully, and there were really five blacksmiths and three carpenters.

There are not many artisan households registered in this yellow book, and all the artisan households in Pingyang County add up to less than fifty!

The most of them were weavers, there were more than ten households in total, and there were bamboosmiths, bricklayers, stonemasons, shipwrights, fan makers, coffin makers, etc., he could understand what they were doing, and what kind of tent makers, reed carpenters, five-ink craftsmen, two-thread craftsmen, etc., he didn't understand what it meant at all.

He is Nai, it is really not easy to be a county magistrate, not only to be familiar with the "Da Ming Law", "Punishment Regulations", "Ming Huidian", "Real Criminals, Miscellaneous Crimes of Capital Crimes" Regulations, "Confiscation" Regulations and other laws, but also to have a general understanding of the rules and regulations of the six departments.

He knows that the rules and regulations of the six departments are gathered together to be the "Classification of Laws and Regulations", which he has, but he has no time to read it, it is not one or two books, but dozens of volumes, and the original county order Zhang Bin only took a general look at the rules and regulations of the Ministry of Officials and Households, because one involves promotion, and the other involves tax collection, so it is not okay not to read it.

This craftsman is under the management of the Ministry of Industry, and the rules and regulations of the Ministry of Industry, who will look at it.

Thinking of the rules and regulations on the shelves, Zhang Bin had a headache, so he simply called someone to ask, the engineering scribe must know, otherwise he would not be able to work.

Thinking of this, he shouted at the door, "Someone." ”

Zhang Cha entered in response and said, "The little one is here." ”

Zhang Bin waved his hand directly and said: "Go, let the engineering scribe Liu Fangyuan come over, the official has something to ask him." ”

Zhang Cha said yes and obeyed, and quickly retreated.

After a while, Liu Fangyuan, an engineering scribe, came at the order, and he stood in front of the desk and respectfully bowed his hand and said, "The villain Liu Fangyuan participates in the county order." ”

These six scribes are just officials, not officials, and they don't have any fame, Zhang Bin doesn't have to be too polite to others, please sit down, he asked directly: "Why are there so few craftsmen in Pingyang County?" ”

When Liu Fangyuan heard this, he hurriedly arched his hand and said: "Go back to the county order, there will only be so many when the villain takes over." ”

Seeing his panicked appearance, Zhang Bin couldn't help but comfort him: "Don't panic, this official doesn't blame you, it's just a little strange." According to your meaning, it turns out that there should be more than these artisans in Binh Duong, do you know where the others have gone? ”

Liu Fangyuan was embarrassed and said: "This, it turns out that there are more than so many craftsmen in Pingyang, but where they went, the villains really don't know, because they all fled out." ”

When Zhang Bin heard this, he was shocked: "Escape? Okay, why should they run away? ”

Liu Fangyuan shook his head and sighed: "Alas, it's not the shift system. ”

Shift system, Zhang Bin really didn't know, he couldn't help but ask curiously: "What is the shift system?" ”

Liu Fangyuan hurriedly explained: "This shift system is the artisan household management system promulgated by Taizu Hongwu in the nineteenth year, that is, the craftsmen from all over the Ming Dynasty are divided into several classes, and they take turns to serve in the capital. ”

When Zhang Bin heard this, he couldn't help but be shocked: "Go to the capital for a shift!" ”

Liu Fangyuan nodded and said: "Yes, to the capital shift, the provinces take turns to organize all craftsmen to go to the capital for shifts, each shift is three months, the beginning is every three years, and then because the escape of the craftsman is too serious, it is changed to a round every four years, but it is not much use, those who should escape still have to escape." ”

Zhang Bin couldn't help but wonder, the government organized them to go to the capital, which seemed to be a good thing, why did they escape?

He was puzzled and asked, "Why did they run away, are they tired of working in shifts?" ”

Liu Fangyuan shook his head and said: "Tiredness is secondary, the main thing is that you have to get out of your own way, Zhejiang to Beizhili, not to mention thousands of miles, the general artisan households have no money to hire a carriage, they can only walk over, one walk is three or four months, and there is no salary for shifts, when you come back, you have no money to eat, and you have starved to death on the way." Therefore, when many artisan households go to Beijing to work shifts, they have to pawn their children in the fields and borrow money and goods, otherwise they will starve to death on the road. After several shifts like this, many craftsmen could not afford to pay back the silver taels, and the children of the fields were sold out again, and by the next shift, they had to flee, not flee, only starve to death! ”

When Zhang Bin heard this, he couldn't help but be dumbfounded, he was too ruthless, just ask people to work for free, but he still has to go to the capital to work, and he doesn't pay for the journey, doesn't this cost people's lives, no wonder people want to escape.

However, it seems a little wrong, this shift is organized by the government, he has the impression that since he took office, he has not organized a craftsman to go to the capital to take a shift, even if he has taken a shift before he came to office, he has to organize a shift at this time, he couldn't help but worry: "Is it going to organize the county's artisan households to go on a shift this year?" ”

Liu Fangyuan shook his head again and said: "This is not necessary, the shift system was canceled when a whip law was implemented in the early years of Wanli, and craftsmen can avoid the pain of shifts by paying shift silver, but even if they only pay a few dollars of silver a year, many craftsmen are also a little overwhelmed." ”

Zhang Bin subconsciously thinks that artisan households should be more profitable, because they all have craftsmanship, and everything they make can make money, how can they not pay a few dollars of silver a year?

He asked a little incredulously: "No, they can make money by doing anything, can't they get a few dollars of silver?" ”

Liu Fangyuan couldn't help sighing and said: "The artisan household is bitter, the farmers and businessmen, the artisan households and the merchants are equivalent to the lowly status, there is generally no land, the family relies on that bit of craftsmanship to eat, the original people are better when they are rich, it is not very difficult to earn a few taels of silver a year, but now the people have to tighten their belts to live, they will not buy if they can't buy it, this artisan household has no money to make, all year round, it's not bad if you don't go hungry." ”

This is understandable, for example, when you have money, it is normal to buy several sets of clothes a year, and when you don't have money, you may not buy a set of clothes for several years, and the gap between them is not a star and a half.

However, the common people have no money, but the squire is rich, and he can't help but wonder: "What about the squire, don't they buy things either?" ”

When Liu Fangyuan heard this, he hesitated for a moment, and then plucked up his courage and said: "The squires use a lot of things, but they are all people with status, and the craftsmen go to work for them, they don't give money, and it's good to be able to give them food!" ”

This Liu Fangyuan is quite upright and dares to say anything.

However, the more he knew, the deeper Zhang Bin's brows wrinkled.

This craftsman is the main force in the production of all kinds of goods, so the craftsman is forced to death, how to improve the productivity of the Ming Dynasty, and how to make more money if the productivity is not improved?

Zhang Bin felt that the pressure on his shoulders had increased a little more, this was simply to understand where it was rotten, and it was not easy to save Daming!