Emperor Ming Dynasty

The nobles on the plateau have always been simple and unpretentious.

Cups made of gold, plates made of silver, necklaces inlaid with precious stones, and blankets woven with gold threads.

Even the Buddha statues made at home are made of pure gold and can weigh dozens of kilograms.

There are flocks of cattle and sheep, and serfs are everywhere.

The highland barley ripples, giving off the fragrance of wheat.

Zhu Cunqu was shocked by the luxury that hit him. It was so unreserved.

"Your Highness, this is tsampa, highland barley powder is mixed with sugar, and these spices are added to make it a delicacy!"

Zhu Cunqu ate the ball-shaped delicacy and glanced approvingly at the nobleman serving him.

A greasy feeling gets stuck in the throat and goes straight to the brain.

Fighting back his nausea, he swallowed.

In front of him was a rickety servant with a bent neck and a lantern hanging around his neck. He was a human-shaped lantern.

Serfs were cheaper than livestock.

He looked up and saw a human-shaped scroll hanging in the lobby, blue, red and white, depicting Buddha and Bodhisattva.

"what is this?"

"Your Highness, this is a thangka, painted on human skin." The nobleman bowed and said:

"The human body is just a skin. It is their greatest honor to use the humble skin of a serf to depict a thangka!"

Zhu Cunqu's eyelids beat uncontrollably.

Even though he had been baptized on the battlefield, he still felt extremely disgusted with such inhumane behavior.

At this time, he caught a glimpse of the Buddhist beads in the hands of the nobles. They were not round, but were made up of finger rings, which was very strange.

"Your Highness, this is a human bone Buddhist bead, which is composed of bones from a lowly slave."

Next, he inspected these manors and somehow came across the serfs.

The third-class serfs, Chaba and Duiqiong were free-range serfs, while Langsheng was a domestic serf and suffered the most miserable treatment.

Most people have never raised their heads in their entire lives. They are dirty, kneeling on the ground, and dare not move rashly.

There are not a few people with broken limbs and arms, mostly caused by the owner's wanton behavior, which can be described as miserable.

But this is normal on the plateau.

He turned around and saw a wooden basin placed in front of the door, with hair and clothes on it.

Taking a closer look, a scrawny child's corpse was placed inside and combined with the wooden basin, how harmonious and reasonable it was.

Zhu Cunqu's heart couldn't help but beat a few times.

He closed his eyes, and it seemed as if the sound of Buddhist scriptures was coming to his ears, but his heart could not calm down.

The place where the Buddha's light shines is the place where the most sins occur.

After a cursory stroll around, Zhu Cunqu left the manor.

There was a bit of compassion and a bit of hatred in his heart.

"The nobles on the plateau must be eliminated."

"The serfs have to be released!"

Although there are a lot of interests mixed in, for example, the nobles occupy [-]% of the land on the plateau, [-]% of the serfs, and more than half of the wealth.

But at this moment, coupled with the miserable life of the serfs, Zhu Cunqu was firm in his determination to reform the system, and he was also full of confidence.

"My father once said that whenever you do something, there must be many people traveling with you and few people going against you. Such a huge wave is overwhelming and irresistible."

Zhu Cunqu returned to Lhasa and began to prepare to attack the nobles.

"Among the nobles, the small nobles who own some land rely on the big nobles and are bullied, so they can cooperate."

"At the same time, Chaba and Duiqiong rent a small portion of land and are quite resistant to the nobles, while Langsheng, who is at the bottom, is like a tamed domestic dog, showing no resistance and even helping the evildoers."

He began to select hundreds of nobles.

The first thing to deal with is naturally the big nobles who have a bad record and are hated by the small nobles and serfs alike.

One can establish authority, just like Shang Yang established a tree as a trust, and established the authority of the Ming Dynasty. Otherwise, how could those serfs and nobles know my name?

As for the best candidates to establish authority, is there anyone more suitable than the Dalai and Banchan families?
Relying on his power, he created a great lama in the family and took advantage of the top resources, thus invading the interests of others.

This kind of family is the best target!

If you are said to do evil, you will definitely do evil. If the great lama is not here, who will speak for you?
A vigorous serfdom reform, planned by the prince, began to unfold slowly.

……

As the Mid-Autumn Festival passed, the scene in Songjiang Mansion became increasingly fascinating.

The prosperity is like cooking oil in a hot fire, making the entire Songjiang Mansion busy.

Throughout the first half of the year, Songjiang cotton sales at home and abroad reached 2000 million pieces, and exports to overseas countries reached 150 million pieces, which can be said to have reached a new high.

The world of clothes and quilts is worthy of its name.

Fucheng, Zaifang.

"Boy, how much does your Songjiang cloth cost per foot?"

The pot-bellied businessman came with two attendants and asked directly about the price.

"This guest, a piece of cotton cloth is forty feet, which is four feet. One foot is four cents, and a piece of cotton cloth is 160 cents!"

The waiter smiled and said the number quickly.

"It's too expensive!" The businessman lowered his head and said, "I'll buy five thousand horses, it's cheaper!"

"I can't be the master, the shopkeeper has to come!"

Soon, the shopkeeper in silk satin came out and chatted about the price with a smile.

After a while, each piece of cloth was sold for 150 yuan.

"The deposit is 250%, and [-] silver yuan is credited to the account!"

Fiddled with the abacus, the shopkeeper smiled broadly.

"Shopkeeper, the cotton cloth is almost sold out again today!"

The waiter sent the guests away, then came back and whispered:

"We're running low on inventory."

"How many more are there?" The shopkeeper frowned.

"There are only two thousand horses, half a warehouse."

"Go and urge me!" The shopkeeper put down the abacus and regretted it as soon as he said it: "I'll go in person, you watch the shop."

"Remember, if you have business, serve tea. I'll be back in a minute."

The shopkeeper put on his hat, and the autumn wind suddenly hit him. He couldn't help but shiver, and then walked out with small steps.

The rickshaws lined up on the street reacted immediately:
"Master, my car is spacious!"

"I run fast!"

"My car is clean!"

I found a car at random, and the shopkeeper hurried up: "Go to Xingren Street, No. 67!"

"Are you talking about Anren Cotton Farm? I know that place well, and my brothers and sisters are working there!"

The driver smiled and started running.

The green brick road in Songjiang City was swaying when running, which made him quite uncomfortable: "If I had known, I would have built a bridge."

After a while, he arrived at Almond Street.

"Is your boss here?"

The concierge saw an acquaintance and immediately opened the door.

"It's in the backyard!"

The shopkeeper took a breath, adjusted his clothes, and then walked in with his head held high.There was a dense sound of machine chatter immediately in my ears, which was very annoying.

But he didn't feel bored very much, but rather kind.

This represents money!

When he came to the backyard, Boss Zhao, who had already put on a thin cotton coat, was now reprimanding with spittle flying:

"If you were asked to find someone, would you just look for these crooked melons and cracked dates?"

"You are so clumsy. Three people are worth one person. You have been working for half a month in vain. Don't you want to do it anymore?"

The man who was scolded lowered his head and said nothing. After he rested, he said:

"Boss, you can't blame me. There are not many people in the five counties of Songjiang Prefecture who are good at textile work. I spent all my efforts to find these crooked melons and cracked dates..."

"Go down and reflect!" Boss Zhao's face turned red with anger, and his eyes widened: "Go and keep looking, if you can't find it, I will deduct your salary this month!"

The man lowered his head in embarrassment and could only give an example.

"Brother Zhao, don't get too angry. It's hard to find a female worker these days, so you have to relax!"

Shopkeeper Qian walked in and said with relief: "There are at least three to five hundred weaving workshops in Songjiang Prefecture, and there are eighteen of them with over a thousand looms."

"How many female workers are there in this city for all of you?"

"It's not just inside the city, it's also very difficult outside the city!"

Boss Zhao sighed, drank the tea handed to him in one gulp, and said slowly:
"Many weaving factories have opened branches in various counties, and then opened in towns and villages. It is difficult to find female workers in the countryside."

"As you know, there are not many men in my family, and not many capable ones. How can we have the energy to organize a separate show!"

Shopkeeper Qian chuckled: "Don't think it's a good idea to have separate games. I don't know how many people deceived the superiors and deceived the inferiors, and stole a lot of money!"

"I can't tell you the pain!"

"Who says it's not?" Boss Zhao sighed: "That's it, I don't dare..."

The shortage of female workers is extremely obvious in Songjiang Prefecture.

The market of Clothes and Quilts allows one-third of Songjiang Prefecture’s young labor force to engage in the textile industry.

There are a large number of market segments under categories such as silk, cotton, and linen.

For example, Huating socks are breathable and have the effect of preventing heatstroke and are very popular throughout the Jiangnan area; Qingpu's turbans, which are close to Suzhou, have endless embroidery patterns; Jinshan's short coats are lightweight and heat-dissipating and are the favorite of the people at the bottom.

Those who make shoes, clothes, hats, belts, etc. have gathered a lot of wealth.

And compared with factories, most of them are based on ethnic groups, connected by blood, strong organizational skills, and the technology is not easy to spread to others, so they are highly recognized.

Under these circumstances, female workers have become increasingly difficult to find.

Skilled female workers are hard to come by.

"By the way, Shopkeeper Qian, what are you doing?"

"We don't have enough cotton cloth. We need to add another hundred thousand pieces."

Shopkeeper Qian Shizi said loudly: "It's almost winter in the north. There have been more and more merchants coming from the north in the past few days, and the supply of cotton cloth exceeds the demand."

"I have to prepare in advance, otherwise I will lose a lot if I can't make it."

"I can only give you [-] horses!" Boss Zhao was embarrassed: "Recently, various cloth shops have been asking for more and more, and there really is nothing left to give you."

"Look, I can't even find a female worker. Where can I find cloth?"

"In this way, if you find me ten female workers, I will give you another fifty thousand horses!"

"How can I do this?" Shopkeeper Qian spread his hands helplessly: "I have a few apprentices in my cloth shop, do you want them?"

"What am I going to do clumsy man?"

Boss Zhao immediately showed a disgusted expression: "We have the same salary, but the work is less than half. I can't support it with more money."

"I can only give you [-] yuan. Come get it in ten days!"

Shopkeeper Qian had no choice but to leave.

In autumn and winter, when cotton cloth is sold in large quantities in the north and south, their cloth shop alone can buy more than 30 pieces. The market is so good this year, if there is enough cotton cloth, it is no problem to buy [-] pieces.

It's a pity that even though his cloth shop has enough dyes, it can't cope with the shortage of cotton!
He visited several familiar factories, but as expected, they all lacked manpower and could only squeeze out [-] horses.

There were only [-] horses in total, not even half of previous years.

This made his heart go cold.

After shopkeeper Qian left, Boss Zhao received requests from several female workers to see him.

The three female workers were broad-shouldered and round-waisted, with burly figures that looked like men. They were not afraid at all when facing their boss, and said directly:
"Boss, the factories next door all give us two yuan a month, but our factory only pays one yuan and eighty!"

"Our family is our family, what does it have to do with their family?"

Boss Qian was stunned, blood immediately rushed to his forehead, and he was very angry.

Well, you dare to raise the price, you don’t have any respect or inferiority.

"It's okay if you don't increase the price, but some of my sisters have to save up for dowries to get married, so they can't delay, so they have no choice but to quit their jobs..."

The woman said with a grin.

"Didn't you sign the contract? It's not even halfway through three years?"

"Boss, this is not a matter of contract..."

When Boss Zhao heard this, he opened his mouth, waved his hand and said, "Go down and I'll give you an answer tomorrow."

After he left, he cursed angrily: "Bitch, there must be someone behind you."

If he just goes to court and doesn't mention the money, he won't be able to recruit anyone in the future.

And if someone is forcibly refused to be released, then a lawsuit will come.

The female worker has a small family.

For a moment, he felt that his position as a boss was meaningless:

"If it goes up to two yuan, I'll have to make hundreds of yuan less every month..."

At Guixiang Tower in Songjiang, the prefect Wang He is holding a birthday banquet.

As the former Minister of Internal Affairs and now the Magistrate of Songjiang, no one knows that he has great connections and will only be promoted in the future.

Therefore, it can be described as a grand event for everyone to participate.

The value of the gifts received alone exceeds 3 yuan.

This is an honest profit.

Wang He looked at the gift list with a drunken look on his face.

He might not remember who gave the gift, but if he didn't, he knew it very well.

In the huge Songjiang Mansion, there are thousands of wealthy businessmen, and the accumulation of small amounts is also a huge number.

At this time, his nephew came over and gave a birthday greeting, and then said with a smile: "Uncle, my nephew is here to see you!"

"Why, do you need me?"

Wang He squinted his eyes and felt clear.

This nephew, who has nothing to gain, must have an agenda when he is so flattering.

"Hey, I knew I couldn't hide it from you, old man!"

The nephew beat his legs and said flatteringly: "Isn't it almost winter? In the northeast, there is a shortage of cotton in the country of Yue, but there is an abundance of cloth here in Songjiang. Can't I beg you!"

"I don't have a cloth field!" Wang He shook his head: "If you want to buy cloth, just go to those merchants. I can't help you!"

"Don't mention it!" the nephew said with a wry smile: "The businessmen in Songjiang Prefecture are very wealthy, but one disadvantage is that they only do business with acquaintances."

"Why don't I know?" Wang He said with a half-smile but not a smile: "When people do business with acquaintances, that's because they only take [-]% of the deposit, and the rest will be paid in half a year."

"You, a stranger, need a [-]% deposit, and you have to pay the full amount when harvesting, right?"

"You know that I can still get the deposit, but I can't get the full payment, which is tens of thousands of yuan..."

The nephew said aggrievedly: "And now there is no market for it, and even if you have money, you can't order cotton!"

(End of this chapter)