People in the Ming Dynasty are lawless

Chapter 541 What is the pinnacle? Guns and artillery are the pinnacle!
To be honest, this is indeed very unfair, because Captain Liu has felt it is very unfair since he was a child.

Why did my father work so hard and endure so much hardship so that more people can enjoy a very good life?

All this is due to my father's day and night efforts. After all, the accounts at that time could not be separated from the property. Not only did you have to be responsible for your own family's life, but at the same time, if you were summoned by the government, you had to work for the government for free.

For example, if a river embankment somewhere is broken, you craftsmen must bring your own tools, your own means of production, and your own food and money to repair the embankment.

Not only do you not get a penny, you even have to pay for it yourself.

He saw all of this, but even though the craftsmen did so much, which common people remembered it?

Which common people doesn't think that this is what you craftsmen should do?

Since it's something you have to do, it wouldn't be manly of you to complain about the hardship and tiredness.

My father honestly agreed with this idea and did not respond for most of his life.

He lived like this for most of his life, until he made some contributions as a soldier.

Only then did my father realize that after he became a small centurion, earth-shaking changes had taken place in the family.

Those who looked down on their family finally began to look them in the eye.

There are even officials who come to our homes to ask about our well-being. This is the reality.

Captain Liu had seen too many such realities and understood it very well.

Why don't these public officials get the respect they deserve? It's because the so-called respect depends entirely on whether you can get money or power.

But he understood even more clearly whether ordinary craftsmen really had such an opportunity?
impossible.

Do ordinary craftsmen have the opportunity to go to the battlefield?
Have.

Maybe they just want you to run the business and repair weapons.

Maybe it means asking you to dig trenches in your business.

For example, if you need to dig down a city wall during a war, you have to carry a shovel and go down there, braving the countless rolling stones and logs and the burning manure to dig the wall.

This is the problem that craftsmen sometimes face on the battlefield.

Wasn’t his father like that back then?

Why were they drafted into the army?

Because they are craftsmen, they are needed to repair weapons.

Under such circumstances, his father was able to make great contributions and even became a centurion.

It was actually because his father suddenly realized on the battlefield that the first half of his life was too frustrating, and he must work hard for the second half of his life, and even fight for his family.

So he displayed abilities that he had never been able to display in his entire life.

He actually killed four enemies in a row on the battlefield.

So he was immediately promoted to the rank of a hundred households.

At that moment his fate changed, and so did the fate of his family.

Captain Liu jumped from being the son of a small craftsman to the son of a meritorious official in an instant.

After his father passed away, he successfully took over the position of centurion from his father.

From now on, the position can be inherited by the family. As long as he does not make any mistakes in principle, this position may be passed down to the end of their family.

this is the truth.

But are there really any craftsmen who are as lucky as their family?

Very few.

So, as the son of a former craftsman, the reason why Captain Liu was standing here was because he was pushed by Wang Dahai to express his thoughts.

It was because Wang Dahai was very familiar with Liu Baihu and he understood very well why Liu Baihu's family had achieved its current status.

I also understand more clearly that only Captain Liu can truly explain why the status of craftsmen must be changed.

Even the reason why Captain Liu was so loyal to the Duke during the Ming Dynasty was because the Duke truly carried out reforms.

It is to make a qualitative leap in the status of the craftsmen, because the Duke knows very well that if he wants to be truly powerful, he wants the Ming Dynasty to soar into the sky overnight.

It doesn't just rely on those literati who are good at talking.

It doesn't just depend on the generals who are ready to fight on the battlefield.

It does not rely on the so-called civil servants and talented ministers who can mount a saddle and command the army.

It also depends on craftsmen who have real skills, can do simple things to perfection, and can even double the efficiency.

Craftsmen are actually called engineers in modern society.

Sometimes these engineers remain unknown for their entire lives, but suddenly they have a flash of inspiration, and the things they invent can make a tool that has been popular on the market for hundreds or thousands of years undergo a radical change, turning it into a magical weapon.

That's the role of these craftsmen.

Chen Han understood this very well.

Therefore, we do not belittle the role of those craftsmen, nor do we discriminate against them.

They even opened the Daming Engineering College to gather them all together for training.

Only by doing this can we truly gain the support of the craftsmen.

Only in this way can we make those truly talented craftsmen willing to work with us.

Only in this way can the Ming Dynasty's industry take off.

Everything is done to enable the Ming Dynasty's industry to grow like a rocket.

Captain Liu said to the people below: "The reason why the Ming Dynasty values ​​craftsmen is because they know that craftsmen are more talented than ordinary people and can do more than ordinary people.

I don’t know if you are particularly unconvinced in your hearts.

I feel like what I said is exaggerating the status of craftsmen.

Then I have to tell you that what I said is not only not exaggerating the power of the public officials, but even belittling them.

Because they should have been the ones whom most of us respected, but they were put under the feet of all of us and we treated them as normal.

We have buried all their contributions in simple matters.”

After Captain Liu said this, many craftsmen present shed tears.

After all, isn’t that how their contributions were drowned out?
In the past, they could indeed shed blood without tears, and no one felt that it didn’t matter if they were not valued. Didn’t they just have to live their lives in silence?
Isn't it just for those one or two copper coins?
As long as I live a good life, it doesn't matter what others say. My status is already so low anyway, and this may be my destiny.

But now, after Captain Liu spoke up for them, they realized that this was not the case in the Ming Dynasty.

At this moment they finally realized that they seemed to be able to change their destiny.

Although they had always believed that their fate was nothing more than being ridiculed by others.

But at this moment, they seemed to have received a little inspiration from Captain Liu. The fate that they had always believed could not be changed seemed to be slightly loosened at this moment.

When did I and others in the past ever think about these things?

For the sake of their own lives, for their families, and to make their lives less sad, they have begun to silently admit it.

So this is my destiny.

I should be such an unknown person.

I shouldn't have such fantasies.

Why do you have to fantasize about those things? Can't you just quietly be a lowly person like yourself?

They think like this, and even doubt themselves. Sometimes they have a dream to become the greatest craftsman in the world.

However, this dream was soon shattered by the reality of life. No one wanted the emergence of a so-called great craftsman.

No one wants to see the so-called great craftsmen, and no one is willing to pay for the great craftsmen.

Without those craftsmen silently recognizing that they are just ordinary, mediocre, or even incompetent and mediocre people, would these craftsmen be able to work so hard?
Only then can we devote our entire lives to those landlords.

This may be the reality.

At this moment, no one knew what force was pushing them, but after listening to Captain Liu's words, they actually felt a glimmer of hope.

I hope that we can achieve a qualitative leap as Liu Baihu said.

From now on, I will no longer be looked down upon by others, and I can be more upright.

Captain Liu understood this feeling all too well.

Because his father was once unable to get out of this predicament of worrying about gains and losses, and silently feeling that he was just an ordinary person.

Then he finally found relief on the battlefield.

It turns out that I am not an ordinary person, and I can also become extraordinarily great.

It turns out that I can live an upright life without having to care about other people's opinions.

There is no need to think that you are just an ordinary mediocrity. It turns out that as a craftsman you can also create a career.

It turns out that I am not an ordinary person either.

Captain Liu looked at the common people below and said, "I don't know how many of you are craftsmen, and I don't know how many of you have been looked down upon by many people because of your identity as a craftsman.

But I just want to tell you, why has our Ming Dynasty reached this point now?
To be honest, it was thanks to the reforms of the Duke, but more importantly, it was thanks to the hard work of us craftsmen who pushed the industry of the Ming Dynasty step by step to its peak.

What is the peak?

Just like what you can see, these muskets and cannons today.

I don't know if you have seen it anywhere else, but I don't think so.

Because of these muskets and artillery, we can not only confront Chen Zuyi head-on.

Even during the naval battle in Guangdong, we shot it into pieces with one shot, and we couldn't even put it together.

This is the strength of the Ming Dynasty today.

Now we have come to your country, Srivijaya, and even pulled two red cannons and opened the gates of Majapahit, just to inform all of you.

If you want to be as powerful as the Ming Dynasty, you must first pay attention to the craftsmen.

The common people didn't feel much at the moment, but the craftsmen below were extremely excited after hearing this.

Finally someone spoke up for us.

Finally, someone thinks we are making a real difference.

Finally someone can see the true effectiveness of us.

In fact, they have always been very resentful.

Those so-called landlords and city lords all think that the city walls are very strong and can withstand thousands of troops.

But how did the city wall come about?

Don't they know?

Don’t they know how much effort was put into building those city walls?
But how many of them are craftsmen, among all the hard work they put in? Don’t they know this?
In fact, they all know.

But why do they have to drown out these achievements?

Why must the craftsmen’s contributions not be revealed at that moment?

They even go so far as to belittle the craftsmen here.

Why should all the credit be given to them, these so-called great designers, for completing a wall like that?
What good would it be if the designer’s drawings were not as precise as they were without the hard work of the craftsmen?
That is just a moon in the water and a flower in the mirror.

You can see it but you can't touch it.

Only when craftsmen make it can it be truly realized.

Only in this way can the city wall truly play a huge role.

But why can't some people see this?

Why do people always praise the city wall, saying that it was built by the city lord and the landlords in the city who spent some money.

Isn’t this the result of the hard work of us craftsmen?

Aren't we, the craftsmen, building it brick by brick?
And the casualties were among us craftsmen.

Liu Baihu looked at the craftsmen below and saw their eyes were red with tears. He said loudly, "So if we want Majapahit to become as powerful as the Ming Dynasty and make the same leap as the Ming Dynasty, we must attach importance to reform.

We must attach importance to the role of craftsmen.

The status of craftsmen must be improved to a certain extent.

We must reduce taxes for the common people.

The rich people had to pay more taxes to support the operation of the entire Majapahit Kingdom.

We must make the people feel truly happy.

The business of Majapahit must be truly developed, instead of letting those wealthy landlords, city lords and bigwigs enjoy the fruits of the common people's labor while the common people are ignorant behind their backs.

If those people are allowed to enjoy all the benefits while the common people are left feeling aggrieved, then what is the point of such reforms?

Our Ming Dynasty’s Duke also said something very well, which is that only when ordinary people feel happy, then the reform can be considered a truly good reform.

Only then can it truly gain the support of the people. I don’t know what you think of this statement. I only know one thing, that is, the people of the Ming Dynasty are now living very well.

Do you want to live like this? Or do you want to go back to the situation before Majapahit when the landlords and tycoons ruled the country? Which would you choose?"

……

(End of this chapter)