warring states careerist

Chapter 751: Nothing To Do Today
the next day during the day.

as always.

It was neither calm nor too chaotic. Shangqiu has been like this for more than a year. People are used to this kind of day that is neither peaceful nor too chaotic. Many people think that there is no complete chaos but a day full of hope.

In the market, there are spontaneous righteous men who preach endlessly among the crowd, and there are also idlers who surround the righteous men and listen to the preaching.

A peddler carried a slender pole on his shoulders, and instead of staying beside the eloquent righteous man, he passed by.

The righteous man was talking about "equality" and "the sage and the people work together", and many people who listened to the speech applauded loudly and their blood was surging.

The small vendor carrying a shoulder pole leisurely shouted about his business, and the heavy bento trembled slightly with his steps. With the help of this tremor, he could save effort, which is not something that can be practiced in a day or two.

"Solder pot!"

"Solder pot!"

The cries sounded from the corner of the market. Today happened to be the so-called rest day of the Mohists. Many people in Shangqiu City were used to this kind of work and rest. Today is the day to buy goods in the market.

The vendors feel that there are a lot of people today, so they stay here for a while, and then walk around the streets after a while.

He put the pole on the ground, found a shady tree to rest his feet, took out a gourd from the back of the pole, opened it, and poured some hot water.

On his left is a sniper, that is, a monkey performer. His voice should be from Chu, because there are many monkeys in Chu, and many cities in Chu have monkey performers.

As the so-called "Sniper's Fu Fu, said: 'Go three times and go to four at night.' All snipers are angry. Said: "However, go to four and go to three at night." All snipers are happy. Because it is also."

The sniper in the little story of Zhuangzi in the later generations did exactly this kind of thing. In the witchcraft of the Chu people, they believed that monkeys could prevent horses from plagues, and witchcraft began to extend such a business.

People in Shangqiu had never seen this kind of monkey show before. With the continuous development of Shangqiu these years, the people in the city are much richer than before, and this kind of occupation that needs urban development to appear is enough to support themselves.

At this time, the performance has not yet started, and the sniper is feeding the monkeys with a few acorns, which attracts many children, and throws peanuts to the monkeys.

To the right of the small vendor of solder pots, a sugar kneader, surrounded by more children.

The sugar kneading craftsmen melted the cane sugar transported from the plantations in the South China Sea, and kept pulling the melted sugar with their strong arms, just like the people in the noodle shop next to them. Make it into a layered filament, which is full of air bubbles.

This is also a handicraft handed down from Si, and it is precisely because of the large amount of sugarcane planting in the South China Sea area and the continuous development of Shangqiu that it has both a foundation for existence and a foundation for continuation.

Farther away, there are quite a few people wearing short brown straw sandals. A large group of people are squatting under the trees. If you are born, if you are unemployed, you will die.

A group of people are waiting for those workshops to recruit people, or people with land to hire them to work.

Now is not a good time, and the cotton has not been harvested yet. When the cotton is harvested, they can have something to do every day, and they can drink a meal a day and get some money.

The vendor of the solder pot looked away, waited for a while, and finally a customer came.

A woman approached with what appeared to be a tin pot, a dark object in her hand.

No need to say anything, the merchant took the strange thing that was originally a tin pot, took out a small scale from the back, weighed it slightly, and said: "But it needs to add some money."

The woman nodded and murmured: "I was boiling water that day, and a tax collector came outside, so I let the child watch it. I never thought that the Mo family happened to come here to play a play, and the child ran out , I also forgot about it. When I came back, the tin pot had already been burned..."

The tin pot maker said with a smile: "Thanks to this child, otherwise your tin pot would not break after being used, so why should I eat?"

The woman just muttered a few words, beat and scolded, and laughed when the craftsman said this.

Tin pots became popular after drinking boiled water for the first time outside Shangqiu City 25 years ago, especially when the Mohists kept preaching that drinking unboiled water is easy to get sick, and because Shangqiu City is getting richer, this habit gradually spread the word.

The tin pot was the most common kettle at this time, because the melting point of tin is very low, and because there are many craftsmen who are familiar with tin in the bronze civilization of Zhuxia, and... Sishang has spent so far trying to get a very thin iron pot Price is too high.

After that, with the spread of spirits, many people like to drink hot wine in winter, and this kind of tin pot is more widely spread.

The tin pot craftsman is also a member of the Shangqiu Artisan Association. The craftsmanship of this tin pot was taught by the Mohists, free of charge.

Normal carpenters, blacksmiths and the like are now a good craft, and they don't have to worry about food.

On the other hand, crafts such as solder pots are new, and the threshold for joining is very low. You only need to participate in the group activities of the artisan association twice a year, and listen to stories together.

In many industries, if you don't join the artisan association, you can't get along at all, just like the sugar puller next to you, or the tin pot maker, the threshold of this industry is actually very low.

It is impossible for the Shangqiu government to be so lenient. Even collecting taxes is difficult, let alone handicraftsmen.

But just because the threshold is low, if you don’t join the craftsman’s association, you can’t do it yourself. People inside the craftsman’s association will crowd out those who don’t join the craftsman’s association and do it themselves.

The craftsmen's association is the uncrowned government of the industrial and commercial people in Shangqiu City. It is a bit like a feudal guild that hinders progress, but at this time it is the cheapest way to control grassroots organizations.

Only by joining the craftsman's association can one have one's own territory and scope, and only then can someone stand out when encountering oppression by others.

There are many uncrowned invisible government organizations like the Craftsman Association in Shangqiu City, including many organizations such as villages that collectively sacrifice to the Emperor of Heaven, which are profitable when they are outside.

The craftsman of the soldering pot is very satisfied with this, which can guarantee his income, and those people in the craftsman's association are all handicraftsmen like them, and they can be regarded as congenial to each other.

He has only learned the craft of soldering pots for only four years, and he can be regarded as inheriting his father's business. Although the time is not long, the craft is not low.

The black tin ingot brought by the woman quickly melted and spread out in his hands, and some more tin material was added, which melted into a thin tin cake, which was skillfully rolled up after cooling.

He didn't ask if carving was needed, he just needed to look at a woman's attire to know what a woman was supposed to do, so he didn't need to ask about carving.

While the tinsmith was waiting for the tin to cool down, he asked casually, "Have you paid the tax this year? The cloth tax for weaving has also increased this year?"

As soon as the woman heard this, she opened up the chatterbox and muttered, "Isn't it rising? Nowadays, cotton yarn is controlled by those businessmen who are close to the nobles, and we can't buy it, and we don't have the money to buy it."

"When my husband followed someone to deliver goods to Sishang, he said that Sishang is not like this. Now we have to pay this tax in autumn? As long as it is packaged to buy, we have to pay it. "

The women were engaged in the well-developed cotton textile industry in Shangqiu, but it was not a handicraft factory, but some contract merchants who were close to the nobles controlled the cotton and veils, and the women had their own looms at home.

The merchants who bought these packages gave women such as cotton veils, and the women spun them into cloth, and then obtained their own labor income.

In this process, the outsourced merchants are no longer mere merchants, and what they earn is actually the value of the labor force of these weaving women, because the labor turns the yarn into cloth, and the value-added part is obtained by the outsourced merchants. .

A small reform of the tax system involves thousands of households, and women are also affected.

Originally, they only needed to pay the cloth tax in autumn, but now they need to pay a certain amount of tax in advance for every package purchase. The tax on the yarn, but the wages paid by the contractors are still so much.

The woman asked curiously: "You solder pots, are you also taxed?"

The solder pot man nodded and said, "Why didn't you increase it? The autumn tax has to be paid, and some military taxes have been added. There is not much money left every year, and now they have to pay more."

The woman also said: "That's right, the army pays the army, we are so close to Sishang, no one dares to beat us. Back then, my father and the others defended the city and revolted to help the son to take the top position. At that time, it was agreed. Exempt from the military tax, as long as there is an obligation to defend the city."

"It's good now. The royal father's family wants to raise soldiers, but let us take the money. What's the reason? Besides, why do those nobles not pay taxes, but let us pay them first? They have to pay taxes on Sishang. , I heard that even the giants have to pay taxes...that is the equality of all the ministers of the emperor of heaven."

Don't worry about scarcity but inequality, especially when it comes to tax payment. After more than 20 years of publicity and the baptism of non-governmental association activities, the people of Shangqiu City have long been different from what they used to be.

Strong dissatisfaction filled the most ordinary conversations, and the tin pot craftsman complained a few words along with the woman, but he didn't stop working, and soon finished a brand new tin pot.

After handing over the money and getting some money, the woman looked in a hurry, eager to go back to weaving to make money, each with their own busy life.

Not far away, with the sound of a gong, the sniper began to play monkeys; nearby, the craftsman stretching sugar ushered in his first business of the day; Surrounded by a client who came to hire...

This is how the day begins.

Nothing today.

(End of this chapter)