Chapter 963: A Salary of One Hundred Taels Makes One an Outsider; One Li of Equity Makes One Family

The case of these five eunuchs was fully solved by early the eleventh lunar month. When the wind of anti-corruption blew toward the collective of eunuchs, everyone in the Great Ming knew that this anti-corruption drive was for real.

It was by no means a political maneuver to let the common people believe that justice had been served, but a self-initiated reform with the blade turned inward.

The five eunuchs were not detained in the Eastern Depot but were sent to the prison of the Northern Suppressing Guard. The thousand-household officer of the Suppressing Guard interrogated them, and Zhao Zhao Mengyou finally determined their crimes.

The reason it was handed over to the Suppressing Guard for interrogation was mainly to see if there was anyone behind these eunuchs, such as Li Li Yougong, Zhang Hong, or Feng Bao—whether it was the great eunuchs in the palace who had instructed them, which gave them the audacity to be so lawless.

Gao Tan and his foster son Gao Two Huai had embezzled the silver for winter padded jackets in Liaodong. It was only because the Emperor had issued full pay that Liaodong hadn't fallen into chaos. After the mutiny at Luomu Camp, the Great Ming was extremely sensitive about military pay, not just the Emperor, but the soldiers as well.

Finally, the Embroidered Uniform Guard interrogated them clearly: no one had instructed these eunuchs.

Through interrogation, it was discovered that the reason Gao Tan and Gao Two Huai did this was also very simple.

Because in their hearts, neither Jilin nor Joseon were actual commanderies or counties of the Great Ming; they were more like pacified regions. They would scrape together as much silver as possible, and when the tide of the Emperor Wanli Reform receded, these territories would be lost anyway.

Just like the former Nurgan Regional Military Commission, the Beiping Regional Military Commission, the Hetao region, the Seven Guards of Guanxi, and Jiaozhi.

Back then, the officials and eunuchs in Jiaozhi were all engaged in extortion for similar reasons: the land belonged to the imperial court, but the silver belonged to themselves. They would scrape it all up and leave. Anyway, the Emperor and the ministers didn't care about those places.

This reason was truly laughable.

When Zhu Zhu Yijun issued the decree for Xu Jue to make the arrests, he was also tacitly allowing Feng Bao to kill to silence them. After all, these were matters within the palace, and there were human relationships and mutual protection within the palace. It wasn't just about seeing each other every day; it was about the fact that one day, you might need the other person's people to settle a matter.

Zhu Zhu Yijun intended to clean things up bit by bit after the fact for the sake of political stability within the palace, landing the reforms slowly to prevent people from becoming suspicious.

But the fact that several culprits were successfully brought back to the capital and interrogated meant that the great eunuchs in charge of the palace not only failed to benefit from it but were also afraid of being implicated by these vermin, so they began their own self-investigation.

In early the eleventh lunar month, Feng Bao executed these five eunuchs and their several foster sons involved in the case, seventeen people in total, and the method of execution was—scalding.

Zhu Zhu Yijun was quite curious about this and went to observe the execution; he was curious about how exactly one "scalds" someone.

"Is that man Gao Two Huai?" Zhu Zhu Yijun looked at the line of culprits waiting to be executed and asked Feng Bao.

Feng Bao bowed his head and said, "Returning to Your Majesty, those are Gao Tan and Gao Two Huai."

"Whose people are they?" Zhu Zhu Yijun asked again.

Feng Bao took out the case file and bowed his head.

He said, "Please, Your Majesty, take a look."

"Bring them both here." Zhu Zhu Yijun flipped through the case file for a long time. Gao Tan and Gao Two Huai did not have deep entanglements with the great eunuchs in the palace.

Gao Tan, like Feng Bao and Zhang Hong, was an old hand from the Prince Yu's Mansion, having grown up there since childhood. Later, after Prince Yu ascended the throne, these people rose with him. Compared to the cautious Feng Bao and the ruthless Zhang Hong, Gao Tan hadn't made much of a name for himself.

And this Gao Two Huai was a street rascal who originally made a living in Chongwen Sect by collecting debts—that is, when the banks couldn't recover the usurious loans they had lent out, these rascals would start going door-to-door to collect money. Gao Two Huai had a wife and two sons.

In the ninth year of Emperor Wanli, Gao Two Huai castrated himself and entered the palace, seeking refuge under Gao Tan to become his foster son, only then changing his surname to Gao.

It was this Gao Two Huai who incited Gao Tan to lay hands on the winter padded jacket silver, and most of the evil deeds were done by Gao Two Huai himself, with extremely ruthless methods.

"Your Majesty, spare my life! Your Majesty, spare my life!" Gao Tan knelt on the ground, kowtowing and begging for mercy incessantly, somewhat panicked. Logically, Feng Bao and Zhang Hong, who shared the same background, should have stepped forward to put in a good word, but the two kept their eyes on their noses and their noses on their hearts, not saying a word, fearing that they would bring fire upon themselves.

They had embezzled the silver without giving any tribute to the great eunuchs in the palace. Now that something had gone wrong, asking the great eunuchs in the palace to settle the matter was extremely difficult.

Zhu Zhu Yijun looked at Gao Two Huai. Gao Two Huai knelt on the ground but looked up at the hazy sky, muttering to himself: "Heavenly Father, Heavenly Father."

Gao Two Huai was feigning madness and playing the fool; everyone present knew Gao Two Huai was feigning madness and playing the fool.

"Execute them." Zhu Zhu Yijun did not inquire further and directly issued the decree for Feng Bao to do the work.

Gao Two Huai was clearly stunned for a moment, even forgetting to say his crazy, nonsensical words, his face full of disbelief. He had thought the Emperor would be curious about who was behind this and where the silver had actually gone. This was the only chance Gao Two Huai thought he had to survive.

But the Emperor didn't play by the rules at all, even skipping the questioning process.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I am wronged, the guilty subject is wronged! That silver, we father and son both gave it to..." Gao Two Huai finally panicked, knelt and crawled forward a few steps, and shouted loudly as if he had just regained his soul.

"Drag them away." Zhu Zhu Yijun waved his hand, interrupting Gao Two Huai's words. A young eunuch, seeing that His Majesty didn't want to listen, stuffed a square handkerchief into Gao Two Huai's mouth.

Gao Two Huai was playing tricks and deliberately putting on an act as if there were hidden secrets behind it.

When this father and son divided the loot, Gao Two Huai took over 70,000 taels of silver, all of which he gave to his wife and sons before entering the palace, while Gao Tan took 140,000 taels, of which more than 30,000 taels were thrown away at the Wanhua Pavilion, and the remaining 100,000-plus taels were all confiscated by Xu Jue during the house search.

"Your Majesty, the subject gave all the silver to the Liaodong Regional Commander Wang Wang Rulong! Your Majesty, please examine the truth!" Gao Two Huai struggled hard a few times, pulled the handkerchief out of his mouth, and shouted at the top of his lungs.

Gao Tan, however, had an ashen face. He kicked Gao Two Huai hard, knocking him to the ground, and returned to the crowd without saying a word.

【Missing text】

Facing death, he still wanted to fool the Emperor as if he were a fool. Having done evil and been caught, he should have accepted his fate, but instead, he wanted to randomly implicate others. It was somewhat a case of daring to do it but not daring to admit it.

Gao Tan and Gao Two Huai's biggest enemy in reselling military supplies was the Liaodong Regional Commander Wang Wang Rulong.

This time, it was also Wang Wang Rulong who submitted a memorial exposing their crimes. Embezzling a little silver was one thing, but their actions forced the "young, strong, and brave men of Liaodong to flee and work under the accounts of the barbarian chieftains." This was something Wang Wang Rulong could not accept.

If things continued to be tossed about like this, the Liaodong barbarians would likely rebel.

Wang Wang Rulong, relying on his relationship with Qi Qi Jiguang, told Qi Qi Jiguang about the matter. Qi Qi Jiguang, after leaving court one day, stopped Xu Jue and told him about it, selling Feng Bao a favor.

If Qi Qi Jiguang had truly filed a complaint himself, I'm afraid these great eunuchs like Feng Bao would have suffered the consequences.

Zhu Zhu Yijun had thought Feng Bao's scalding punishment meant throwing people into boiling water to boil them alive and then throwing them into cold water, but that was not the case.

Feng Bao simply drove these seventeen eunuchs to run incessantly, running until they were drenched in sweat, running until they were gasping for air, yet still driving them to keep running. After they had run for a full three hours, only then did he have people throw them into ice water—that is, into water vats filled with floating ice that hadn't completely frozen over.

Zhu Zhu Yijun naturally couldn't wait three hours to watch them run; he just came over to take a look at the very end.

As soon as these seventeen people entered the ice water vats, several died immediately, and those who didn't die were rolling their eyes and twitching incessantly.

Afterward, Feng Bao sent these seventeen people to the Dissection Institute. Great Ming people were not allowed to enter the Dissection Institute, but since these people were either dead or half-dead and no one was claiming their remains, it counted as their final contribution to Great Ming medicine.

Don't look at how these people seemed fine on the surface; in reality, their blood vessels had ruptured internally.

In the Great Ming, this is called "Armor-Shedding Wind." During continuous combat, when the body is extremely hot, one must not shed their armor; one must only squat in the shade of a tree and wait for the body to cool down. During this process, one must not drink cold water, especially well water.

If one sheds their armor, the wind will stimulate the body, and people's blood vessels will easily rupture—mild cases lead to a stroke, severe cases lead to death.

It is similar to the Great Sage Equaling Heaven fighting the Red Boy; after being burned by the Red Boy's Samadhi True Fire, falling into a deep pool and being stimulated by the cold water also caused him to lose his breath.

Feng Bao sending them to the Dissection Institute was also what the great physicians of the Dissection Institute needed, mainly to see exactly which blood vessels had ruptured. If any were alive, they wanted to see what impact the rupture of certain blood vessels would have on a person.

Or rather, the way these seventeen people died was custom-made by Fan Fan Wuqi, the Impermanence of Life, specifically to study "Armor-Shedding Wind," or what is known as a stroke.

"After the beheading, teach the Nine Frontiers a lesson to serve as a warning." The Ming Emperor was quite satisfied with this result and imposed further severe penalties, instructing the Nine Frontiers so that the soldiers, junior officers, generals, garrison eunuchs, and viceroys of the Nine Frontiers would clearly understand that drinking the blood of soldiers 【is unacceptable】.

【Missing text】

Zhu Zhu Yijun relied on soldiers to stand as Emperor, so naturally, he had to be the "Blue Sky" (upright official) for the soldiers.

After supervising the execution, Zhu Zhu Yijun returned to the Imperial Study in the Tonghe Palace. At this moment, there were three memorials in front of him. Two of these memorials were written by Gao Zhu Qiyu, and the other one was written by Shen Shiying.

These were not just three memorials; they were the fork in the road where the Emperor Wanli Reform now stood, requiring the Emperor to decide where the Great Ming would go from here.

These two memorials from Gao Zhu Qiyu were on the left and right.

The path on the left was the one the Great Ming was currently taking. This path utilized various welfare policies to regulate labor-capital conflicts, including the Huimin Pharmacy, official housing, schools, and the "opening silver" (start-up capital).

This path was truly difficult to walk. First, it required completing the transformation of the commodity economy and the transformation of production relations. In the foreseeable future, one would have to face endless contradictions, and the Emperor would even have to face an inevitable result: the betrayal of the emerging bourgeoisie.

Using welfare policies to regulate labor-capital conflicts, to put it bluntly, meant cutting the flesh of wealthy merchants and big capitalists to feed the poor and suffering laborers, maintaining basic social stability. In the eyes of the newly emerged wealthy merchants and big capitalists, this was a sin.

And the path on the right was the traditional route: suppressing all activities of laborers spontaneously defending their own rights without a bottom line. For behaviors like occupying factories or going down the mountain, the "First-Ascent Suppression Camp" would be dispatched for comprehensive suppression.

The path on the right was easy to walk because it had been walked for thousands of years and possessed extremely rich experience. The imperial court and local wealthy merchants and big capitalists were like snakes and rats in the same hole, colluding with each other, and could maintain local basic stability and the court's rule until before large-scale civil unrest.

The left is to continue the struggle; the right is to stop the struggle.

The path on the left was very rugged; the path on the right was a smooth road. As long as it was chosen, everyone in the ruling class would sing the praises of the Emperor, shouting "Wise!"

Gao Zhu Qiyu used thousands of words to describe the benefits of choosing the path on the right. For example, immediately, the Emperor's younger brother, Zhu Zhu Yiliu, the most beloved youngest son of Empress Dowager Li, would not have to go to Brother Jinshan City to be enfeoffed, and the imperial heirs would not have to be enfeoffed overseas;

For example, the Great Ming would not have to continue expanding, and there would be no need to worry about the problem of overseas viceroyalties losing control.

The Great Ming could rely on the exploitation of the poor and suffering laborers to maintain sufficient production cost advantages and commodity advantages, keeping industries firmly in the Great Ming, and rely on Spain, the empire on which the sun never sets, to obtain sufficient markets and raw materials overseas.

There would be no need to pay extra military expenditures for maintaining the safety of shipping routes and the stability of overseas markets. Just sitting at home, one could make money.

But if the path on the right were really as good as he said, there would be no need to submit another memorial.

"Is Gao Zhu Qiyu planning to become this historical sinner himself?" Zhu Zhu Yijun drew a big cross on the memorial on the right.

The Emperor had presided over the Emperor Wanli Reform for eighteen years; it was very tiring, very busy, and very difficult. If the Emperor wanted to rest, he would approve Gao Zhu Qiyu's memorial. In the future, the sinner who destroyed the Emperor Wanli Reform would be Gao Zhu Qiyu, and all historical blame would be borne by him alone.

Continuing to maintain overseas expansion, maintaining the safety of shipping routes, and maintaining the stability of overseas markets required huge military expenditures, which would roll larger and larger, forming huge pressure on the Great Ming's finances.

At the same time, it would inevitably face the dilemma of overseas viceroyalties losing control. The more invested, the faster the loss of control.

With high pressure internally, there would be no need to worry about these costs at all. One only needed to place goods at the ports, and the Spanish fleets would come to the Great Ming one after another, taking the Great Ming's goods to all parts of the world.

Zhu Zhu Yijun chose the path of continuing the struggle. It wasn't that he didn't want to lie down and win; it was that he knew there was no way to be a dog that lies down and wins.

"Gao Zhu Qiyu and Shen Shiying are competing for the qualifications to enter the Cabinet." Feng Bao explained concisely why Gao Zhu Qiyu submitted these two memorials. It wasn't to test the Emperor, but to prove who was qualified to enter the Cabinet!

Zhu Zhu Yijun looked at the memorial on the left. In this memorial about continuing the struggle, Gao Zhu Qiyu proposed that the "body-share system" should be fully implemented across the Ming Dynasty, and that all workshops, including government-run factories, must implement this system.

Equity could earn dividends, but it could not be transferred or inherited. If the person is there, the equity is there; if the person leaves, the equity disappears.

Clearly define the scale of profit sharing downward, clearly define the system for calculating dividends, clearly define the levels for downward profit sharing, clearly define the criteria for equity system grading, etc.

For example, the equity system grading criteria divided equity into nineteen levels ranging from one li to ten li. After verifying contributions, equity would continuously rise, and dividends would gradually increase. This greatly avoided the dilemma of official factories eating from the "big pot."

The dividends from the "opening silver" stimulated the production enthusiasm of official factories, but at the same time, the method of non-graded dividends and equal rewards became an obstacle to production enthusiasm.

After all, whether one worked more or less, one received the same amount of money, so the improvement of production enthusiasm by the "opening silver" was gradually decreasing.

Gao Zhu Qiyu believed that the equity system was the greatest prerequisite for using various welfare policies to regulate labor-capital conflicts. Without this prerequisite, all actions were futile.

A salary of one hundred taels makes one an outsider; one li of equity makes one family.

Only equity could allow craftsmen to become masters of the workshops, and only then could craftsmen participate in the major decisions of the workshops. The "Labor Alliance" and "Craftsman Assembly" that Wang Wang Chonggu had explored for a long time would truly be able to take root, sprout, and bear fruit.

If this step were not taken, it would be better to directly choose the path on the right of lying down and waiting for death.

Just like not surveying the land before returning it; no matter how loudly you shout about returning land, it's just a means of deceiving the people with words. Only by surveying and determining who holds the land can the land be thoroughly returned.

Even in official factories, only by truly implementing the equity system could it be the foundation of the welfare system, rather than the grace and alms of the Duke of Wen Cheng.

【Missing text】

If the person leaves, the equity disappears, which greatly avoided the disorderly expansion of profit-seekers in official factories and curbed the adverse influence of the profit-seeking faction on official factories.

"Shen Shiying's memorial is based on contract theory. He believes that signing a contract and completing the content defined by the contract is the key to the current labor-capital conflict." Zhu Zhu Yijun flipped through the other memorial.

Shen Shiying also had his own insights into labor-capital conflicts. He hadn't served as the Provincial Governor of Songjiang Prefecture for nothing.

It wasn't that Shen Shiying didn't know about the equity system. In Shen Shiying's view, only official factories, banks, and maritime trade with stable profits had the foundation to implement the equity system, while some small workshops, especially newly established workshops and emerging industries, did not have the conditions to implement the equity system.

When Wang Qian was an investigating censor at Yanxinglou, he once formulated "Nine Don'ts" for Yanxinglou. Only workshops that met the nine entry requirements had the prerequisites for implementing the equity system.

In Shen Shiying's view, a contract based on contract theory that detailed the rights and obligations between workshop owners and laborers was the policy the imperial court should promote at present. The equity system was too radical and also a bit unrealistic.

Zhu Zhu Yijun held the two memorials—one for the equity system, one for contract regulations. No matter which one was chosen, it had significance for regulating the current labor-capital conflict.

"I am actually more inclined toward Gao Aiqing's equity system." Zhu Zhu Yijun held Gao Zhu Qiyu's memorial.

Reason told Zhu Zhu Yijun that choosing Shen Shiying's method would be more stable, but Gao Zhu Qiyu's path on the left was more in line with Zhu Zhu Yijun's personality and more in line with the background of the Emperor Wanli Reform.

"I had Xu Jue go to the Quanchu Guild Hall to ask the Grand Secretary about why Gao Zhu Qiyu was like this." Feng Bao explained concisely. Gao Zhu Qiyu was like a shining, conspicuous package, afraid that others wouldn't see him.

"Oh? What did the teacher say?" Zhu Zhu Yijun asked curiously.

Feng Bao said in a low voice, "The Grand Secretary said that the reason Gao Zhu Qiyu is so desperate is actually because he is afraid of becoming a breakthrough point for the Emperor Wanli Reform. He must climb to a high position step by step to make people fear him, so as to ensure that the things the Emperor didn't care about back then won't become reasons to attack the Grand Secretary."

With Zhang Zhang Juzheng acting as regent, Gao Zhu Qiyu set an examination question at the Yingtian Prefecture provincial examination: "Shun also used this to command Yu." Once Zhang Zhang Juzheng passed away, this would be ironclad proof that Zhang Zhang Juzheng intended to usurp the throne.

Gao Zhu Qiyu used all his strength to climb up because he was afraid of destroying the hard-won success.

Gao Zhu Qiyu knew clearly what kind of hardships the monarch, ministers, and all the people had paid for the Emperor Wanli Reform. He had personally gone to the capital of the Japanese state and forced Toyotomi Hideyoshi to surrender.

"Send these two memorials to the Wenyuange and see what the Cabinet ministers have to say." Zhu Zhu Yijun didn't make a decision immediately but let the Cabinet ministers express their views.

Zhu Zhu Yijun was more inclined toward Gao Zhu Qiyu, but Shen Shiying's method also had its merits and was equally reasonable. He would synthesize the opinions of the Cabinet ministers and think thrice before acting.

Feng Bao took the two memorials to the Wenyuange and handed them to Zhang Zhang Juzheng, but he did not mention the Emperor's inclination, leaving the cabinet ministers to discuss it themselves.

"I choose Gao Zhu Qiyu. If possible, I will support his actions. In my view, averaging without regard for contribution, mediocrity, or talent is unfair to the diligent and capable. It can be considered that the favor of the Duke of Wen Cheng is too heavy. I think the equity system is extremely reasonable." Ling Ling Yunyi was the first to express his attitude.

Official factories must complete the transformation from human relationships to systems. Relying solely on human relationships won't go very far.

The equity system was undoubtedly an excellent opportunity.

"I choose Shen Shen Shixing. He has served in Songjiang Prefecture for many years; he is not shooting at shadows. Clearly, this is the most suitable method at the current stage. I believe Shen Shen Shixing is right. Currently, most private workshops do not meet the conditions for the body-share system, and most government factories do not either." Zhang Zhang Juzheng chose Shen Shen Shixing's memorial.

Shen Shiying wasn't balancing things; Shen Shiying was more realistic and easier to achieve.

"I choose Gao Zhu Qiyu." The Grand Minister of Works Zhang Zhang Xueyan hesitated between the two for a long time before choosing Gao Zhu Qiyu's memorial.

Zhang Zhang Xueyan continued, "Admittedly, Shen Shiying is very right. The equity system requires conditions. If some official factories without prerequisites see the implementation of the equity system and are stimulated to take the initiative, these official factories will then have such conditions."

"The equity system is a great banner, a banner to drive the reform of official factories. Standing this banner up is more important than executing it."

As the empire's accountant, Zhang Zhang Xueyan actually knew very clearly that the current improvement in the Great Ming's finances mainly relied on the profit turnover of official factories and the monopoly economy of coke and steel, not land tax.

Because of the celestial changes, the Great Ming imperial court was gradually reducing the collection of land tax. The Great Ming's fiscal and tax system was completing its transformation in the direction originally envisioned by Wang Wang Guoguang.

Whether the equity system succeeds or not is not important; the key is to stand the banner up. Only then can one do it bit by bit. If one doesn't even dare to stand the banner up, it will never be done.

"I choose Shen Shiying." Shen Li flipped through the two memorials and finally chose Shen Shiying's. He was silent for a moment before saying, "The reform and self-salvation of past dynasties always failed because the reformists became increasingly radical and extreme in their continuous changes, and then met with widespread opposition in that extremity."

"I don't think there are conditions for the equity system at present, just as it is impossible to fully return land at present."

The return of land in Zhejiang had great particularity; it was a punishment for the assassination of the Emperor in the thirteenth year of Emperor Wanli, a disciplinary and pacification measure by the monarch in economic terms, and did not have universality.

"I don't choose." Lu Lu Shusheng looked back and forth, and as if he had seen a ghost, he hurriedly returned the memorials to the Grand Secretary.

Lu Lu Shusheng entered the Cabinet to oversee the Anti-Corruption Department. He was originally watching the fun and had never thought that one day he would become the decisive vote!

In the eighteenth year of Emperor Wanli, the number of times His Majesty said "I have decided" was very limited.

He rarely opposed the collective resolutions made by the Cabinet.

Lu Lu Shusheng never expected that he would become that "key man." He chose to abstain, and he made up his mind that he would abstain from everything in the future!

The struggle between the Grand Secretary and the Junior Secretary—he, a small character, absolutely must not participate.

Lu Lu Shusheng had already thought it through: do a good job in anti-corruption and leave a good name in history.

"Grand Secretary Lu, you must share your views." Zhang Zhang Juzheng had no intention of letting Lu Lu Guangzu off the hook. Returning the memorial to Lu Lu Guangzu, Zhang Zhang Juzheng said very clearly: "Cabinet ministers cannot choose not to choose, cannot be vague; they must have a clear attitude."

As a court official, you can reserve your opinion, but as a Cabinet minister participating in confidential matters, you cannot be vague in your stance. You can't muddle through; being a Cabinet minister requires political responsibility.

"Must choose one?" Lu Lu Shusheng asked with a furrowed brow.

Zhang Zhang Juzheng shook his head and said: "It is that one must have a clear attitude and opinion for His Majesty to consider. One cannot hedge, nor can one be ambiguous. It is not that one must choose one of two."

Lu Lu Shusheng hesitated for a long time and said, "In that case, I choose both, or neither."

"These four government factories in the capital can begin the body-share system reform. In private workshops, it should mainly be based on Shen Shen Shixing's contract system. In this way, by advancing side-by-side, whichever works well will be used, whichever works well will take the lead, and the rest will coexist."

"The Ming Dynasty is vast, and the situation in the Ming Dynasty is very complex. It cannot be simply generalized. In the capital and in the north, the body-share system might be more suitable; in Songjiang Prefecture and in the south, the contract system might be more suitable. Generalizing is not conducive to the implementation of the system."

Feng Bao returned to the Imperial Study in the Tonghe Palace and told His Majesty the Emperor what the Cabinet ministers had said: two votes for Gao Zhu Qiyu, two votes for Shen Shiying, one vote for abstention. This voting pattern meant the Emperor's opinion was very important.

After weighing it again, Zhu Zhu Yijun circled Gao Zhu Qiyu's memorial. If he did as Lu Lu Shusheng said and chose both, it would be equivalent to the left hand hitting the right hand. Two methods, and neither would be done.

Following Ling Ling Yunyi's opinion, the nineteen levels of the equity system were reduced to nine.

The nineteen-level equity system Gao Zhu Qiyu talked about, from one li, one and a half li, and so on up to ten li, was the original setting of the Jin merchants' equity system. So many levels were entirely to make people unable to climb, and the excessive levels made people spend their whole lives climbing levels.

By the time they climbed to a level with significant dividends, they were already old, and leaving meant that their past efforts were all dreams and illusions.

Reducing the levels and clearly stipulating what kind of performance could lead to promotion was to reduce the time spent climbing levels.

The design of the system was not rigid but was constantly corrected in practice. If the nine-level system didn't work well, they would return to nineteen levels. After all, it was the successful experience of the Jin merchants.

Zhu Zhu Yijun looked at the memorial in front of him and said with a solemn expression, "After passing the written examination, there must be an oral examination. Fifteen years old or older, twenty years old or younger, five feet tall, clean family background, regular facial features, fluent language, agile manners, and must be recommended by skilled craftsmen in the official factory. If something goes wrong, the guarantor will be punished severely. Only then can one pass the oral examination."

The conditions for official factories had become higher again. In the second year of Emperor Wanli, there were no requirements for age or family background, nor was there a requirement for recommendation. In the ninth year of Emperor Wanli, there was no recommendation. Now the threshold was still rising.

Just a height of five feet (170cm) could block many people outside.

Because the official factories in the capital had already passed the period of rapid expansion, the threshold for entering official factories was getting higher year by year. Entering an official factory was almost equivalent to having one's life taken care of, and with such high standards, there were still endless applicants.

"Do weaving women also need to be five feet tall?" Zhu Zhu Yijun looked at this threshold and asked Feng Bao.

Feng Bao said in a low voice, "Your Majesty, regardless of gender, they all have this requirement. This threshold can only be a one-size-fits-all approach."

"Then approve it." Zhu Zhu Yijun pondered for a moment and still approved the high threshold set by Ling Ling Yunyi and Gao Zhu Qiyu. The threshold was the qualification to cross this line and enter the field.

Either don't set it, or it can only be one-size-fits-all. ===== CHAPTER 964 =====

Feng Bao whispered: "Your Majesty, regardless of gender, this requirement applies to all. This threshold can only be applied uniformly."

"Then approve it." Zhu Zhu Yijun pondered for a moment and still approved the high threshold set by Ling Ling Yunyi and Gao Zhu Qiyu. The threshold is the qualification to enter the field only after crossing this line.

Either don't set one, or it can only be applied uniformly.