People in the Ming Dynasty are lawless

Chapter 555: Scholars are the most difficult to deal with
Craftsmen are actually ordinary people at the bottom of society. If they don’t see real benefits, they will not give up.

So Captain Liu did not bother with these small favors and spoke to them directly.

If they go to gather those craftsmen and publicize the current national policy of the Ming Dynasty, we are willing to reimburse them for the necessary expenses.

This not only shows the Ming Dynasty's sincerity after coming to Mandala City, but also allows these craftsmen to see that the Ming Dynasty is willing to spend money on this matter.

In this way, these craftsmen would be more willing to work for the Ming Dynasty.

After hearing these conditions and seeing that Captain Liu and Wang Dahai were indeed showing enough sincerity, the craftsmen immediately changed their attitude towards Captain Liu.

At the beginning, these craftsmen also thought that as a craftsman, Captain Liu didn’t know what kind of situation the craftsmen were facing now?

The craftsmen are now penniless, and while Mandala City is still functioning, they can still get some work to make a living and keep themselves going.

But now Mandala City has just experienced war, and everyone is undecided. What will the future be like?

Or after the Ming Dynasty comes, will Mandala City become something different?

So not to mention those craftsmen who want to work have no certainty, even ordinary people don’t know what their future will be like.

Although the former Mandala City was controlled by landlords and aristocrats, life was still relatively orderly.

It means you can’t eat too much, but you won’t starve to death either.

Not too warm, but not too cold to death.

But now that the Ming Dynasty has come, who knows if this situation will change.

Who knows what everyone’s life will be like after the change.

It is very difficult for them to find work because of this kind of anxiety.

So now that they had received the promise from Captain Liu and Wang Dahai, the craftsmen below finally breathed a sigh of relief.

One craftsman even said, "Oh, I was shocked. I thought we were going to have to pay for it."

"That's right. We really want to help the Ming Dynasty to promote their national policy of reform, but we have the will but not the power. Who among us has any extra money in our family now?"

"Don't even mention the extra money, there isn't much extra food."

When it comes to this, everyone feels helpless.

Even ordinary people laughed after hearing this.

"Who says it's not true? If we have a little extra food at home, those local landlords, nobles, and officials in Mandala City will definitely keep this in mind.

Even though they seem high and mighty, they still care very much about our harvest and our pieces of cloth.

Without these little things from us, they will starve or freeze to death."

The last two words are very serious and actually have a mocking meaning.

That is to say, those officials seemed to be living on the little food they had.

It is precisely because of this that everyone hates those noble lords so much.

Just because these guys are vegetarians and live by exploiting themselves, everyone hates them so much.

That’s why I can smile knowingly when I hear this kind of ridicule now.

No one has any money left, and no one has the energy to promote the Ming Dynasty's national policies or offer suggestions.

"But General Liu is considerate of us. He knows that we have no money, so he specifically said that as long as we are willing to help them with publicity, we will get a lot of money and rewards. This is very real."

"Why do you say that we are craftsmen? It's because they know what kind of craftsmen we are, or they know that we are all in dire need of money, so they are willing to give us a little favor."

"This favor is still good. At least they are willing to give it."

Others nodded, "That's not right. Some people say they work for the country and the people, but they say one thing and do another. They will never give us anything, but only promise us something. They make us fall into despair after being disappointed again and again."

"Isn't it? That's what those masters did. They thought we were all fools, so they fooled us like fools. But in fact, each of us is very smart. It's just that we have to do those things for them because of the pressure of life.

In the final analysis, none of us are stupid, we just have no other options."

When it came to this, many people's faces turned gloomy.

Just like what the person just said.

Yes, in fact, we are not fools, but why do we have to surrender to those nobles?

Just because of living.

Because even if you are smart, what good is it? If you are too smart, it will be difficult for those people to accept you. If they don’t accept you, then you will not be able to make money from them.

If you can't make money from them, you will starve or freeze to death.

This is what they are most helpless about, because they know very well that they have no other choice but to make a living. They have to earn money from their hands to support their families.

Some people may ask why can't you do other things?
Isn't it possible not to go to them to earn this little money, not to care about their faces, or even not to hang out with them?

It really doesn't work.

The city of Mandala implements a strict household registration management system.

Without a household permit and a pass issued by the government, there is no way for you to leave Mandala City.

After you leave, you will become a refugee, and other places will not welcome you or recognize you.

And if you want to come back, that is impossible, because after you come back, you still need to look for a pass.

If you don't have it, you will be arrested and either imprisoned or sent to exile, and your family will also be implicated.

Your family’s land, properties and real estate will be confiscated, and your family members will be arrested and imprisoned or sent to join the army.

With such a strict household registration management system, all the people in Mandala City dare not leave easily.

If you want to live, if you want to survive, you can only rely on them.

This is the most helpless aspect for the people here.

Because they have no way to leave here, because they have no other way to survive.

So they could only accept the exploitation of these landlords.

They can only endure the oppression silently.

And not only them, but even their descendants and great-grandchildren will have to live under this curse.

So they hated Mandala City, but they couldn't live without it. This was their most painful place, and it was also the place that they could not change.

After solving the problems of the craftsmen, the scholars jumped out again.

"I say, Generals, you treat the craftsmen so well, setting up projects and academies, and allowing them to receive a lot of subsidies even when they are promoting them. What about us scholars?"

"Yes, the imperial examination you mentioned doesn't seem to satisfy us at all. Are we scholars really going to be reduced to the lowest class of people?"

This is a particularly provocative statement.

If this nature is characterized, many people will begin to have different opinions.

You have to know that these scholars have the right to speak after all.

They can even write books and biographies and distort a lot of things.

To be honest, since ancient times, the pens of scholars are sharper than knives. They are the real powerful ones.

Soldiers on the battlefield fight with the enemy with real swords and guns. There may be blood, and bones may be broken. It is a bloody business.

But no matter how much blood and killing there was, it was all done openly, but they could not escape being attacked by these scholars behind the scenes.

We can never defeat those who like to plot behind the scenes, so this is why everyone is more afraid of these scholars.

These scholars are not simple.

Even though Mandala City or the entire Sanfuqi has fallen, these scholars still dare to rush out and stand at the front.

Although before, these scholars could only serve as the landlords' staff and work behind the scenes.

But they were so proud and arrogant that they would never allow only the craftsmen to be promoted in status after the Ming Dynasty came.

What they want is for everyone's status to be improved. One can even say that they want the status of their scholars to be improved even more.

After all, they have always believed that scholars should be higher than any other workers.

No matter where they are, intellectuals will always have a sense of superiority.

Because there will always be someone who thinks there is more in his or her head than in yours.

So you guys do the hard work, while we sit in our study and comment on world affairs.

This is a stereotype.

But there is no other way.

Because scholars hold the power of public opinion.

It is precisely because of this right to public opinion that the status of scholars has become increasingly higher.

Because in the minds of many ordinary people, scholars are naturally more sensible than them.

Sometimes, even when they had a quarrel with their neighbors, they could persuade them by finding a scholar to act as a peacemaker.

This does not mean that scholars are smarter than ordinary people.

It is because scholars can indeed learn from books some methods that ancient people used to deal with disputes.

So they just copy and paste and can make some things clear.

That's why we need to study history.

Because we can indeed find some solutions to problems from history.

The human species has evolved to this point and there is no further evolution in terms of intelligence or body.

So what we do is always repeated over and over again. Because of the repetition, we can find more opportunities and get some solutions from the lessons of history.

Perhaps it is because these scholars can learn more lessons from history, or perhaps these scholars know more than ordinary people, so they have more sense of superiority.

Even in the city of Mandala, they felt that they were only slightly lower than the nobles, but much higher than ordinary people.

Now that we see that ordinary people and craftsmen are receiving preferential treatment from the Ming Dynasty, shouldn’t we scholars also receive preferential treatment?
Are we scholars still only able to serve as behind-the-scenes staff?

this is not fair.

So the scholars stood up and said, "We still want to hear your opinion on how we can become officials after passing the imperial examination.

You just said that as long as craftsmen contribute their unique skills and obtain the so-called patent application, they can get subsidies. What should we scholars do?
Do I, a scholar, have to go through hardships and spend money to study?

We have said before that all the aristocrats in today's officialdom have entrapped us in an invisible net.

Even if some scholars break through this network, we still cannot do better if we don't integrate with them.

You have just raised this issue, but it has not been resolved, and the issue has been diverted to the craftsmen. Now the craftsmen can go to Daming Engineering College to study, and their problem has been solved. Now it is the turn of us scholars.

I think even if craftsmen can manage the technical issues of the project in the future, if we want to coordinate and make more craftsmen work in a more orderly manner, we scholars will still need to be officials to coordinate. Do you think what I said is right?"

I have to say that this scholar's logic is very clear, and what he said seems impeccable.

He said two very correct points. The first is that the craftsmen have now received relatively good arrangements. They can enter Daming Engineering College, contribute their own skills to apply for patents, and receive patent subsidies.

In the future, they will receive a lot of compensation, and when there is no work for craftsmen, they will be able to lie down and live their lives.

The wishes of this group of people have been achieved, and it can even be said that their wishes have been achieved beyond expectations.

But what should scholars do?
Just let them take the imperial examination?

Someone just pointed out that if the interests of the landlords and the nobles are not properly separated, things will probably remain the same as before.

So they raised this question.

Before Captain Liu and Wang Dahai could answer this question, a scholar stood up again.

“I think this problem should be difficult to solve, these two problems themselves cannot be mixed together.

The opportunity for craftsmen to become officials has never been available since ancient times, so this is equivalent to an innovation. No matter how hard they try, they will have a broader world.

However, there is a precedent for scholars serving as officials, but this precedent has also formed a very narrow network above our heads.

Our way out is very narrow, so I would like to ask General Liu and General Wang how will your Ming Dynasty solve our problem?
I think if you fail to resolve this issue, and something so-called unfairness or injustice occurs, it would be a failure.”

……

(End of this chapter)