I am not a deposed emperor of Han Dynasty

Chapter 40
"How many slaves are there in this worker?"

"Now there are a total of 450 workers and officials, 38 big slaves, [-] big maidservants, and [-] small slaves and maidservants."

Ma Yanshou is still very competent as a worker, and he is very fond of the "family background" of the worker.

At this time, a large part of the officials of the Han Dynasty came from Confucian scholars, but there were still many officials who were technical officials who were proficient in one skill, and Ma Yanshou was one of them.

"Can these slaves be sold?"

"Of course, no matter male or female, regardless of age, there is no difference between slaves and horses. Since cows and horses can be sold, these slaves can also be sold."

Ma Yanshou spoke very frankly, as if he really regarded the living person as a cow and a horse.

Liu He frowned slightly, but didn't say anything. This is not something that can be changed by a few words.

"Then can I buy a few servants from the worker?"

Visiting the workshop is fake, this is Liu He's real purpose.

If the workshop of Changyi Palace is to be opened as soon as possible, artisans are naturally indispensable. Although Li Anding has been sent to recruit them, the fastest way is to buy them directly from the workers.

"This……"

Ma Yanshou never thought that Liu He would ask this question, so he was a little surprised.

"The worker's servants are more expensive than the ones on the market, so it might not be worthwhile to buy them directly from the door."

"I want to set up a workshop in the palace. The most lacking are experienced craftsmen, so I want Ma Shijun to make it convenient. The price is easy to say."

When Liu He brought his words to this point, Ma Yanshou naturally had no room to refuse.

After some hesitation, Ma Yanshou asked, "I wonder how much you want to buy?"

"The more the better, Ma Shijun does the math to see how many people he can sell to us, regardless of age or gender, we want them all."

In order to prevent Ma Yanshou from going back on his word, Liu He turned around and said to Dai Zong next to him: "Mr. Ma has already agreed, I believe he is not a person who does not keep his word, and the price we give must be fair, and we will bring him tomorrow. Walk."

Then, Liu He said to Ma Yanshou: "Mr. Ma, don't forget about this matter. No matter what, give me fifty people."

After Liu He finished speaking, regardless of Ma Yanshou's answer or not, he strode towards the interior of the worker, leaving the other party in a daze, not knowing whether he had won or lost.

After talking about the business, the rest of the visit became the final link.

No matter which workshop he went to, Liu He would stop and take a closer look.

Only at this time did he realize that the entire Gongguan was not so much a large-scale comprehensive handicraft workshop as a labor reform workshop.

Those slaves do the heaviest and most difficult work, but without the slightest dignity.

If there is any hesitation or mistake, the overseer and the patrolling soldiers will beat them up, and the whips and sticks in their hands will be greeted without fear.

Old craftsmen who are skilled and old can still get some kind treatment, while young servants who are unskilled and young are not even as good as livestock.

These servants will never see their day, they can only wear stars and moons, working without end.

When Liu He and his party came to the pottery workshop, they saw a thirteen or fourteen-year-old boy on the ground covered with broken pottery by a miser, using a bamboo stick as thick as a thumb. greet him.

The boy rolled around in pain, wailing like a wild beast, and the skin exposed outside the rags was slashed with bloodstains by the sharp pieces of rough pottery, which was shocking.

But the tall and burly stingy man was not moved at all, and the bamboo stick in his hand never stopped for a moment.

And all of this was just because the boy dropped the pottery pot on the ground when he was carrying it.

Here, a living human life is probably not as precious as a pottery cauldron.

As for the other slaves who were working around, they turned a blind eye to this scene, doing their work indifferently: as long as they hesitate or show any intention of resistance, they will become the next to be tortured.

Dai Zong couldn't stand it and wanted to stop it, but Liu He stopped him with his eyes.

In addition to the high-pressure and cruel management methods, the working environment of the workers is also very bad. Fortunately, the workshops such as the bow workshop and the woodworking workshop will not have other sufferings except that the hands are easily scratched.

And the hardest ones are the pottery and lacquer workshops.

The first step in making pottery is to crush the soil, and then sift out the stones in the soil with a dustpan. A dozen servants are working without protection in the dusty workshop, and their bodies and heads are covered with dust. , one by one like natives.

In addition, those pottery kilns are burning all the time, and the temperature is very high.

Under the dual effects of high temperature and dust, the whole pottery workshop is like a huge oven, which is daunting.

Lacquer workshops look much more "respectable" than pottery workshops, and the work they do seems to be just smearing and smearing, which doesn't take much effort.

But as soon as Liu He and Dai Zong walked in, they were almost overwhelmed by a pungent smell—it was the smell of lacquer.

What's even more frightening is that the freshly boiled lacquer is extremely corrosive, and if it sticks to the skin and is not cleaned as soon as possible, the skin will easily fester and leave ugly scars.

Therefore, the faces and hands of the slaves in the lacquer workshop were covered with deep and shallow scars.

The sores on Hua Cheng, who was in charge of the study of materialization in Changyi Palace School, would make passersby look at them, and the rotten sores on these slaves were more than a hundred times more terrifying.

From the carpentry workshop to the lacquer workshop, Liu He and Dai Zong's complexions became more and more ugly, but Ma Yanshou was beaming when he explained how each workshop worked, as if all these were common things.

Living in the place of abalone for a long time without smelling its stink can't be blamed on Ma Yanshou.

When Liu He came out from the last lacquer workshop, he stood outside the workshop and looked back at the smoky place where he came from, without saying a word.

Ma Yanshou, who had explained for a long time, thought he would be appreciated by Liu He, but at the moment he felt a little uneasy. He secretly guessed whether his explanation was not clear enough, which caused His Highness's dissatisfaction.

Ma Yanshou approached Liu He, and asked flatteringly, "Is there anything that the servant didn't explain clearly?"

"No, Ma Shijun explained it very clearly, which benefited me a lot."

"That……"

"Ma Shijun wants to ask why I still seem to be dissatisfied, right?"

"Your servant is too talkative!"

Liu He looked at Ma Yanshou with some pain and pity.

"Mencius said: Today, when people first see a child about to fall into the well, they all have a heart of fear and compassion."

"No matter what crimes these slaves have committed, they are lively creatures. I hope Ma Shijun will have compassion for them."

After Liu He finished speaking, he took a step back and made a big gift to Ma Yanshou.

This sudden movement frightened Ma Yanshou for a moment, then he knelt down, nodded his head on the spot, and shouted, "This official deserves to die."

Liu He stood up, turned around and left, leaving only Ma Yanshou, who seemed to understand but half understood, still kowtowing on the spot.

(End of this chapter)