"What do they want craftsmen to do?" Chen Hailong asked with a frown when he heard Chen Fu's report.

In the household registration system of the Ming Dynasty, the artisan households were originally compiled separately. But in the Wanli period, due to the abolition of the military household system in the army. Some artisan households were also added to the military household and used as military households. In the eyes of the generals, the military household was their slave.

Low-level captains will embezzle the property of military households, and senior generals like Chen Hailong will even take what they want from military households, and do whatever they want. He didn't understand why Li Xiao wanted to recruit those artisans who were so poor that they couldn't even wear their pants.

"I heard that they owned an island and wanted to build a house on it. There is a shortage of craftsmen, so I would like to ask the young master for help. The old slave looks, this brother is also honest. As......! ”

"Uncle Fu! Collecting money from others? Before Chen Fu could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Chen Hailong.

"Uh......! I couldn't hide it from you, young master, and accepted two taels of gold from him. ”

"Being able to pay two taels of gold for these craftsmen, it seems that they really care about this matter. I could have promised them, but ......! In the future, their soap business will only be able to trade with us. In addition, craftsmen who know how to build ships are not allowed to give them to them.

Doesn't it mean building a house? Give some carpenters, bricklayers, and even blacksmiths. Remember! Shipbuilders can't do it! Chen Hailong thought for a while and said.

Chen Fu is an old man of the Chen family, and it is normal to receive a little filial piety when doing things. You can't get any benefit from following yourself, how can you be loyal to yourself. Chen Hailong didn't care about Chen Fu receiving money, in the final analysis, Chen Fu couldn't betray the Chen family for two taels of gold.

"No! The old slave knows how to do it, and you can rest assured. Chen Fu bowed deeply to Chen Hailong, turned around and walked out.

He understood what Chen Hailong meant, and the Chen family was bought and sold on the water. If the shipbuilder is given to Li Xiao, Li Xiao will have his own fleet in the future, and he will be the opponent of the Chen family. A second Chen family is absolutely not allowed to appear on the sea!

"Huh! Brother Xiao, my general agreed. The old man is for your business, and he has said good things to the young master. This old face is all out of the way. Chen Fu's face smiled like a chrysanthemum.

"Thank you, Governor, don't worry! My Lord Mao will never let you be busy, don't worry. Li Xiao smiled and bowed his hand to Chen Fu.

"But my general has one condition, that is, this soap business, you can't find a second one. It has to be franchised by our Chen family! After Chen Fu sat down, he said solemnly to Li Xiao.

It turned out to be a soap franchise, which wasn't a big deal. Li Xiao now has no connections, and no one has the hands to buy and sell soap. Besides, Li Xiao can't look down on this kind of business. When it comes to making money, the first thing Li Xiao thinks of is glass.

I think that at the beginning, a glass with three flats and four non-round holes cost two hundred taels of silver. It can be seen how high the profit of glass is in these years. It's just that there are still problems with the glass process, and we need to go back for further research. Li Xiao only knew the general principle, and if he wanted to purify the glass and improve the process, he had to think of other ways.

"No problem, then tomorrow the kid will follow the old superintendent to recruit artisan households."

"Since you agreed, it's no problem. In this Shandong Navy Division, my general is the same. If it were someone else, it would be difficult. ”

"There is Lao Lao in charge!"

After breakfast the next morning, Li Xiao went to find Chen Fu. The two of them come to the place where the craftsmen live!

As soon as I entered the craftsman's camp, a foul smell hit my face. The weather is already a little cooler in October, but it is still overgrown with mosquitoes and flies. The water in the sewage ditch is black-green and there is a fishy smell wafting up. The craftsmen Li Xiao saw were all unkempt and wearing clothes with patches on their bodies.

It used to be an adobe house, the kind of house made of mud and covered with thatch. A hole in the wall, even if it's a window. In winter, the hole is plugged with thatch. The inside of the house is pitch black, not much different from a cave.

Not far away, a few children were picking up food on the ground with chickens. These children are all naked, and under the dark skin of their upper bodies are ribs that can be seen in shape. The two legs are like two sticks, supporting a very large belly.

The first thing that comes to Li Xiao's mind is African refugees.

"Old Governor, this is ......!" Li Xiao was shocked by the scene in front of him, he had never seen such a thing in the slums of Liaoyang before.

"Hey......! These artisans are artisans in the army, which means that they have to make things for the army. But now the imperial court can't even pay the salaries of the soldiers, let alone the money and food of these craftsmen. Even if there is some money and food, there are few pieces in their hands.

And they are craftsmen, and they cannot go out to work. Over the years, there have been many escapes from the artisan households, so the imperial court has brought them together to live. The armor protection system here is very strict, and one family has escaped from five families. Therefore, they can only live here without starvation.

If you can take some of them away, you can do a good deed. Those civil officials in the imperial court treat us warriors as people! When Chen Fu saw these people, he was also a little unbearable in his heart. He even knew a few of these people, and it was they who went to Korea with the army back then. When the battle is tight, even the craftsmen have to carry knives into battle. However, when he returned to Daming, he only divided a few dozen copper brothers.

This Li Xiao knows that the civil officials of the Ming Dynasty have always looked down on military attachés. Especially at the moment when the Donglin Party is in power, the lives of the warriors are even more worthless. Today's Liaodong Jingluo Wang Zaijin is a standard Donglin Party. Just look at what he did, what kind of attitude he had towards the warriors. The thousand human heads that Man Gui had worked so hard to cut down became his capture when they reached Wang Zaijin's mouth.

only gave Mao Wenlong a thousand taels of silver to gag his mouth, and as for Man Gui's credit, people didn't even mention it.

With the so-called victory of Zhenjiang Fort, Wang Zaijin got the official position of the military department and the right deputy capital of Yushi, and passed through Liaodong, Jizhen, Tianjin, Deng, and Lai. The Emperor of the Apocalypse gave him python jade, clothes and monks, and he was favored for a while.

A large group of people walked in, all standing against the wall. Hanging his head and peeking, the image is as obscene as it is. Li Xiao didn't know the bottom of his heart, these people are really craftsmen? Looking at these people, they don't have the bearing that a craftsman should have.

Just when Li Xiao was out of his mind, suddenly a gong sounded. Frightened, Li Xiao was clever, and when he turned his head to look over. I can't help but frown!