Rebirth of Zhu Di's son

Chapter 278 Extra: Industrial and Commercial Situation in the First Year of Qianxi of the Ming Dynasty
In the history of China, the independent private handicraft industry roughly emerged in the Spring and Autumn Period, and had developed greatly by the Warring States Period.

Not only are more and more handicraft sectors such as pottery, lacquerware, brocade, and woodware beginning to be separated from agriculture, but also large-scale private workshops have emerged in industries such as salt production and iron smelting.

During the Qin and Han Dynasties, he became extremely wealthy. Especially in the early Han Dynasty, when the ban on mountains and rivers was relaxed, powerful people among the people "made iron and stone drums to cast and cook salt, and a family could gather more than a thousand people" ("Salt and Iron Theory·Restore"), Accumulating wealth can easily amount to "tens of millions" or "huge tens of millions."

The production scale and process technology of salt boiling, iron smelting, pottery making, car and ship building, lacquerware making, wine making, etc. all exceeded those of the previous generation.

After the middle of the Western Han Dynasty, due to the implementation of the government's salt and iron monopoly policy, the private salt and iron industry declined for a time.

After the Emperor He of the Eastern Han Dynasty lifted the ban on salt and iron, powerful landlords returned to their old businesses, and other handicrafts also developed to varying degrees.

From the Warring States Period to the Qin and Han Dynasties, it was a relatively obvious development stage of China's folk handicraft production.

After entering the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, although handicraft production declined and revived within the jurisdiction of each political power, its level of development was never as high as that of the Han Dynasty.

It was not until the Sui and Tang Dynasties that the private handicraft industry improved significantly.

In the Tang Dynasty, the porcelain, bronze, tea making, paper making and other industries formed famous local specialties. The mining and metallurgy industry was relatively widespread. The textile industry became the main handicraft industry at that time, and new printing and dyeing methods were invented.

In addition, handicraft industry organizations also began to emerge.

By the Song Dynasty, the number of independent handicraftsmen increased compared with previous generations, and mining, metallurgy, silk weaving and other industries developed significantly.

Among them, the amount of coal mined in the mining industry increased and was used for iron smelting, which improved the iron smelting technology and quality.

Since the Northern Song Dynasty, the silk weaving industry in the south of the Yangtze River has gradually surpassed that in the north. Silk fabrics are rich in variety, production technology has also been improved, and some products have reached an extremely delicate level.

There were kilns that fired porcelain all over the country, and the porcelain they produced varied in style. The porcelain making industry occupied a prominent position in the handicraft industry at that time.

In addition, papermaking, engraving and printing, and shipbuilding industries are also very developed.

The Tang and Song dynasties were another prosperous period for China's folk handicraft industry.

In the early Yuan Dynasty, the government handicraft industry developed abnormally, which seriously hit the private handicraft industry. The cotton textile industry and silk weaving industry developed mainly.

And when Zhu Gaoxu traveled to the Ming Dynasty, history changed dramatically.

This change mainly started in the first year of Yongle. Due to the guidance of imperial policies, the income of handicrafts gradually increased and their status was also improved to a certain extent, which led to the rapid development of both government handicrafts and folk handicrafts.

For example, in the porcelain making industry, the number of private kilns has greatly exceeded that of official kilns, and the fired porcelain is comparable to that of official porcelain.

As for other industries and commerce, it is mainly reflected in the following four major aspects.

The first is the steel industry.

By the 25th year of Yongle, there were more than [-] iron-producing areas in the Ming Dynasty. Especially in Zunhua, Hebei, Yangcheng, Shanxi, Longxi, Fujian and other places, copper and iron smelting industries - steel plants that had begun to take shape - had appeared.

One of the biggest symbols of modern industrial society in later generations is the steel industry!

It includes the mineral mining and selection industry of metallic iron, chromium, manganese, etc., ironmaking industry, steelmaking industry, steel processing industry, ferroalloy smelting industry, steel wire and its products industry and other subdivided industries. It is one of the important raw material industries in a country. .

If the Ming Dynasty wanted to create steel battleships driven by steam engines that could traverse the four seas, as well as rail trains with the power of ten thousand horses, without the support of steel mills, that would be an unrealistic delusion!

The second is the shipbuilding industry.

Craftsmen in the Tang and Song Dynasties innovated shipbuilding technology, which promoted the shipbuilding industry to become more and more perfect. A large ship at that time could carry more than 100 people, and its carrying capacity was greatly improved compared with previous generations.

Moreover, during this period, various types of ships appeared in various shapes and sizes, the number of ships also greatly increased, and shipbuilding technology was further improved.

The Song Dynasty formulated a strict shipbuilding process. First, design drawings were drawn, then models of the ships were made, and finally the ships were built based on the design drawings and models.

The shipbuilding industry developed during the Tang and Song Dynasties and reached a new historical peak by the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty.

At the same time, due to the rapid development of handicrafts, commerce, and agriculture, the enthusiasm of ordinary people in the Ming Dynasty to engage in handicrafts has greatly increased.

The development of the shipbuilding industry has benefited from the development of the handicraft industry to a certain extent. As the number of maritime trade and shipbuilding factories increased, industries related to the shipbuilding industry also gradually developed, such as the processing of spare parts for ship ropes, etc.

Due to the rise of the shipbuilding industry, the division of labor in the shipbuilding supporting industry has become more and more detailed, and shipbuilding technology has become more and more developed.

The development of the shipbuilding industry led to the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty's economy, and also provided all the necessary conditions for sea patrols and for the vassal king to change his feudal status and establish a country overseas.

The Ming court established strict regulations to govern all aspects of the shipbuilding industry, pushing the shipbuilding industry to a new peak.

Zheng He led the fleet to patrol overseas, allowing the world to see the Ming Dynasty's strong military power and economic prosperity, strengthening economic and cultural exchanges around the world, shocking other countries, attracting worship from all directions, and also improving other countries to a certain extent. shipbuilding technology.

The third one is the textile industry.

The historical Jenny Textile Machine was the beginning of the first industrial revolution. From then on, machine production began to replace manpower, and human civilization entered a new era.The principle of the Jenny spinning machine is not complicated. Changing the single horizontal yarn beam to eight vertical yarn beams will increase the efficiency eight times.

However, 400 years before the invention of the Jenny loom, China had already developed a textile machine that was more efficient than the Jenny and could spin 32 yarns at the same time.

This kind of textile machine was recorded in the "Wang Zhen Nong Shu" of the Yuan Dynasty. It is about six meters long and one and a half meters wide. It can spin 32 yarns at the same time. Driven by human or animal power, it can spin nearly 120 kilograms of cotton yarn in one day. Far more than the Jenny loom 400 years later.

In the original history, this world-leading textile machine has not been handed down because it was lost in the middle and late Ming Dynasty.

However, with the emergence of the time traveler Zhu Gaoxu, this powerful textile machine was not only widely used, but also promoted.

As a result, by the first year of Qianxi, in the silk and cotton textile industry of the Ming Dynasty, production tools had been greatly improved compared to before. Not only were the finished products woven with newer designs and colors, but the output was also higher.

The fourth is the development of the handicraft workshop industry.

After 25 years of development in Yongle, by the first year of Qianxi, not only cotton and linen textiles, sericulture and silk reeling, which were rural side industries, were widely promoted.

Moreover, in cities and towns across the country, there are mostly large and small handicraft workshops such as mills, oil mills, machine mills, paper mills, sauce mills, cotton mills, sugar mills, woodworking, copper making, lacquer making, and iron making.

In addition to the two capitals, some important handicraft production areas had already formed at that time, such as the cotton textile industry in Songjiang, the silk weaving industry in Suzhou and Hangzhou, the pulp and dyeing industry in Wuhu, the paper making industry in Qianshan, and the porcelain making industry in Jingdezhen. Industrial and commercial towns also began to rise.

Especially in the early Yongle period, after the policy of never increasing taxes and apportioning land into acres was implemented, Ding Yin and Tian Fu were collected based on the number of acres of land, which reduced the burden on landless and landless farmers.

This increases the mobility and autonomy of farmers, and on the one hand promotes the rapid expansion of the scale of the Migrant Construction Bureau.

Otherwise, where would anyone build the Ming Dynasty's fourth-level official roads, schools, banks, and frontier cities all over the world?

On the other hand, many farmers have gradually become new craftsmen who are not craftsmen.

After Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, he followed the craftsman household system of the Yuan Dynasty and divided households into civilian, military, craftsman, and stove household registrations. Among them, all craftsmen were handicraftsmen.

In terms of legal status, these craftsmen and military craftsmen who were included in special household registrations had a lower status than ordinary civilian households. They had to inherit their crafts from generation to generation and were not allowed to be divided into households in order to facilitate compensation.

It is extremely difficult for those with craftsman or military status to leave their original household registration, and they must obtain special approval from the emperor. Those with craftsman or military status are not allowed to take the examination to join the scholar stream.

Craftsmen were exploited by officials at all levels during their visits, and eunuchs from various supervisory bureaus often occupied craftsmen's services, so that craftsmen often slacked off at work or fled.

In view of this, Zhu Gaoxu petitioned Zhu Di and ordered the shift craftsmen to be allowed to pay a discount of two taels, and after paying the money, they would be exempted from going to Beijing to work on duty.

A few years later, Zhu Di further reformed the craftsman service system and stipulated that each shift craftsman should pay four cents and five cents per year, thereby abolishing the shift system. However, the resident craftsmen still had to work on a monthly basis, and the craftsmanship system was not abolished at this time. .

However, with the development of the Ming Dynasty's social economy, the skills inherited and learned by craftsmen from a family of craftsmen could no longer keep up with the new technologies needed for the Ming Dynasty's growing development.

In the middle of Yongle, after Zhu Di and Zhu Gaoxu discussed it, they issued an edict to the world and announced the abolition of the craftsmanship system.

This move is objectively more conducive to the development of private handicraft industry.

Therefore, by the first year of Qianxi, the production level of folk handicrafts in the Ming Dynasty had exceeded that of the Song Dynasty, labor productivity had also been relatively improved, and output and varieties were richer.

In the process of self-employment by small craftsmen, the labor force they use is their own members, and the production and processing are mainly carried out at home.

They either use their employer's raw materials for processing, or they prepare their own raw materials and produce and sell them themselves.

Other craftsmen only have a few simple tools and cannot afford to open a workshop. They only rely on their manual skills to process raw materials for their employers, or engage in repair work, and receive a certain amount of remuneration.

Craftsmen of this kind often seek employment from door to door, and their migration is unpredictable.

Private workshop handicrafts mainly exist in cities or areas with industrial and mining resources. They use small workshops of craftsmen and apprentices, and shopkeepers also participate in labor.

Helpers and apprentices work to learn skills and make a living. The purpose of the shop owner's production is also to maintain a living, and the motive of making profits only occupies a subordinate position.

This kind of workshop is generally a combination of industry and commerce, and is run in a residential setting.

As for larger-scale private handicraft workshops, they mainly exist in textile, porcelain, mining and metallurgy and other industries.

The operators of this type of workplace are generally powerful landowners or industrial and commercial owners. They purchase production resources from ordinary people or government mines, and obtain the legal right to operate by paying annual industrial and commercial taxes.

For example, there are ceramic factories, mines, and textile factories opened by relatives of DPRK and Chinese ministers such as Fang Xiaoru and Xie Jin.

Its laborers were mainly exiles and slaves in the early Yongle period, while in the later Yongle period they were mostly servants. The products were either sold by themselves or to merchants in the same field.

In other words, in the first year of Qianxi's reign, the Ming Dynasty's economy, science and technology, education, medical care, transportation and other development levels had at least reached the level of the Longqing and Wanli years of the Ming Dynasty in history.

PS: I have something to do today, so I will only update one extra chapter.

(End of this chapter)