Wu Tianxiao listened to it and thought in his heart: It is a little hard to build a ship by himself now, but it can be a long-term plan, and Wujiazhai will still have to set up a shipyard in the future. Raising so many people, I don't care about raising a few more, but these boatwrights are a rare opportunity. So he said to Gong Jing: "Brother Gong Jing." Can I hire these shipwrights as well? ”

Gong Jing listened and secretly calculated: The shipwright has been sold and there is not much left, although there will be no one to do anything for me if he sells it again. But now there are fewer and fewer people buying boats, and they can't sell one a year. There is not much silver to be made by doing anything else. It's better to take this opportunity to ask him for more silver, and make future plans in the future.

After thinking about it, Gong Jing smiled and said, "If it's a brother, you want to buy it." Ah no. Hire outside. That brother, I'm naturally helping you. It's just that there are some ugly things to say ahead, and that's the rule. ”

Wu Tianxiao said: "Brother Gong Jing, but it doesn't hurt to say. ”

Gong Jingdao: "The apprentice is twenty taels for the apprentice, and the master is fifty taels. After the expatriates, the craftsmen and their families will need you to support them. As for the salary, you can make a deal with them yourself. But if you are killed or injured, you have to pay another pension. As for the household registration of these shipwrights, they still have to be left with me. Finally...... It is to deal with the inquiry of this superior. Well, this one. You and my brother. You can simply give five hundred taels of silver, and once there is an inquiry from the officials, I will take care of it. ”

Wu Tianxiao thought it was good when he heard it, so he responded casually: "Okay." How many shipwrights are there under Brother Gong Jing? ”

Gong Jing saw that Wu Tianxiao deserved to be happy, and he was depressed, thinking that he was cheap, so he squeaked again: "Actually...... Let's be honest. These craftsmen have been with me for a long time, and I am reluctant to give up my brother. What's more, Brother Wu, if you are all hired by a foreigner, there will be no one to work for me...... This ......"

Wu Tianxiao knew that Gong Jing wanted to increase the price when he heard it, and said softly: "What does Brother Gong Jing think?" ”

Gong Jing smiled: "Why don't you add five taels per person?" Our brothers, talking about money hurts feelings. ”

Wu Tianxiao sneered: "Okay." A shipwright adds five taels, and the younger brother can't afford it. ”

Gong Jing listened to Wu Tianxiao's repentance, and immediately agreed: "Okay." Deal. ”

Wu Tianxiao nodded and continued, "Brother Gong Jing. The younger brother has one more thing to ask for. ”

Gong Jing said: "What do you have to say, brother? ”

Wu Tianxiao asked: "The junior brother wants a few sailor flags, I don't know if it's convenient?" ”

Gong Jing smiled casually when he heard this: "It's easy to say." A banner is eighty taels, if you want a few, I'll give you a few. ”

Wu Tianxiao heard that even though he asked for the banner of five Hangzhou Sailor Guards, he just despised Chen Qianhe in his heart. He also boasted that one side was one thousand taels, and it cost one hundred taels to see his face. It turned out that he made twenty taels as soon as he turned his hand.

After deciding the matter, Gong Jing summoned all the shipwrights and told everyone about the foreign employment. In the end, there were twenty-nine shipwrights, including one hundred and thirty-one family members. Among them, there are three masters, and one of them is Shen Quan, a shipbuilding expert. Shen Quannai is a family of shipbuilders for generations, and his ancestors are one of the main designers of Zheng He's treasure ships in the West.

The foreign craftsman counted 26 apprentices as 650 taels, three masters as 165 taels, plus 500 taels for official inquiries, and 400 taels for five sailors, totaling 1,715 taels. Wu Tianxiao gave a whole number of 2,000 taels, and Gong Jing was happy to say that they would all be brothers in the future, and if there was anything difficult, just open your mouth. Wu Tianxiao just wanted to leave early and take the boatwright to Zhoushan Island as soon as possible. So he paid with the silver ticket of the Tonghua Chamber of Commerce, and asked Wu Dayou to go back to the expedition to recruit some people to help the shipwrights move. At this time, the expedition was coming to Hangzhou with Wu Tianxiao to purchase supplies, which was just in time.

These shipwrights obviously knew what was going on with the foreign hires, so they didn't talk much, picked up the tools and asked the family to clean up the little bit of rags, and with the help of Wu Tianxiao's men, they got on the expedition. Wu Tianxiao asked the crew to take out the dry food on the ship for everyone to eat first.

Wu Tianxiao paid attention to the feedback of the shipwrights from beginning to end. He noticed that the shipwrights didn't seem to care much about being sold as goods. After the materials were procured, the ship was on the sea route to Zhoushan, and Wu Tianxiao came to Shen Cheng, the leading master of these shipwrights, to understand the situation.

Shen Cheng saw that although the new "owner" in front of him was young, he had a kind face, so he also chatted with Wu Tianxiao.

Wu Tianxiao asked, "Master Shen, right?" I have a question below, and I would like to ask Master Shen to solve my doubts. ”

Shen Cheng returned: "What's the owner's confusion? ”

Wu Tianxiao said: "Master Shen." It's a straight person below, and I can't hide what I have to say, and if I say it, I'll be offended, and I'll ask Haihan. ”

Shen Cheng chuckled: "The owner is polite." It can be seen that the owner is a real person, and if you have something to say, you can say it directly. ”

Wu Tianxiao asked, "Then Gong Qianhu also explained it to you." Although Gong Qianhu said that he was a foreign employee, this is not much different from selling you. How is it that you have not objected, and have not even asked a word? ”

Shen Cheng smiled bitterly: "What the owner said is right, Lord Gong hires us and other shipwrights abroad, and there is not much difference between selling us and you. Master Gong has done this a few times. If you don't hire outside, you won't have enough to eat in the shipyard, and you can get a lot of silver if you hire Master Gong. It's us, if we meet a good owner, then we don't have to go hungry anymore. If you encounter a little stinginess, it is also fate. ”

Wu Tianxiao asked again: "You are all from generations of shipwrights, and you all have some craftsmanship in your hands. You traveled with me like this, Gong Qianhu didn't care about it except for leaving your household registration, wouldn't it be better for you to never return to the water guard? ”

At this time, one of the shipwrights heard it and scolded: "Phew." There is no good person in the office, and the Lord of the Thousand Households is eager to sell us all. When we left, the military salary he reported to the court would not be less, and it was not all in his pocket. If you wring us away, you can not only get a lot of silver, but also a lot of military salaries and food. Where will Lord Qianhu let us go back, he wants to keep our household registration, but it is just to report more military salaries and money and food to the imperial court. ”

Then Shen Cheng persuaded: "Say less." Let the Lord of Qianhu hear it and pick your skin. ”

It turned out that Gong Jing had done this before, selling his boatwrights to large private merchants, and these shipwrights were also happy to be bought. Because the Ming Dynasty was a household registration system at this time, military households could only be soldiers, tun households could only be tuntian, and shipwrights could only build ships and could not do anything else, and it was like this for generations. Of course. There are also people who secretly do other things for their livelihood, but they only do it secretly, and they have to bribe Shangguan, otherwise they will be severely punished once they are found out by Shangguan. Some even go straight as escapees, but once they are caught, they will not end well.

Therefore, due to the neglect of sailors by the imperial court, the direct consequence was that these shipwrights struggled to make a living, and the escape from the house often occurred. Those who can stay and persist until now are generally honest people, or those who have bribed officials and secretly made other livelihoods.

Wu Tianxiao was secretly surprised when he heard this. This soldier and warmaker treated his boss like an enemy, which was very different from his situation in the later life.

Let's take an analogy. Shen Cheng and others are no different from the personnel of state-owned enterprises in later generations, they are employees of enterprises directly under the jurisdiction of the military. And when the company's efficiency is not good, employees have nothing to eat. Unlike later generations, there will be laid-off reemployment in later generations, but not only is there no laid-off subsidy here, but you are not allowed to be laid off to find a way out. You can't walk and you can't go, and if you don't go, you won't have anything to eat. is so hard, Gong Jing and other officials still use these craftsmen and military households to make money for their own work, and from time to time they also deduct military salaries and food. This kind of exploitation of subordinates by superiors directly leads to resentment of lower-level personnel against superiors.