Chapter 630: Craftsmen enter government

"Hey, Orange, I didn't realize you were from a family of locksmiths!"

Li Le couldn't hold back and said this.

But no one said anything. After all, Li Le's words were like an Internet mouthpiece, expressing the thoughts of everyone present.

"In the eyes of us locksmiths, there is no such thing as a family. We just make a living with our craft. In the early years, our methods were all low-level and not presentable."

Orange talked freely, and once he touched on a familiar field, he was like a different person.

In Li Le's words, Orange was shining brightly at that time, making it difficult for people to open their eyes!

"But some people have indeed reached the top level in our industry!" Chengzi smiled innocently, and then asked a well-known question, "You have all heard of the imperial chef, right?"

"Imperial chef?!" Li Le couldn't help but get interested when he heard these two words. After all, his family runs a hotel. In addition to accommodation, the most profitable business is actually catering. "Who hasn't heard of that thing? Isn't it the chef who cooked for the royal family in ancient times?!"

"Well, chef, it's a profession, but it's also a craft. There was a popular saying in ancient times, learn civil and martial arts, and sell them to the emperor! In fact, there is another layer of interpretation!" Chengzi stopped abruptly, paused abruptly, and then subconsciously looked at Han Xu.

Han Xu smiled when he saw this, "Chengzi means that the words civil and military are easy to say, but the word art is a sea that embraces all rivers! It covers the skills of all walks of life in the world. Am I right, Chengzi?"

"Yeah, you are worthy of it, that's what I mean!" Chengzi laughed and gave Han Xu a thumbs up.

"Hey, can you two stop bragging all the time!"

Li Le got angry and almost forgot about Captain Qin, the King of Hell, who was standing beside him.

But Qin Fen didn't mean to argue with Li Le, but asked in confusion, "Chengzi, what do you mean by these?"

Chengzi saw that Captain Qin was a little anxious, so he had to explain, "In the Ming Dynasty, craftsmen could also become officials. Among them, a locksmith named Wang Minghai, relied on his amazing art to become the Minister of Industry!"

"Locksmith? Minister of Industry?!" When Lao Zhang heard these two words, he was a little confused.

Han Xu nodded and said, "In ancient Xia, there was indeed such a system. Chengzi was talking about craftsmen entering the government, not craftsmen entering the government. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the imperial examination system began to be opened to craftsmen, and craftsmen could also pass the examination and enter the government.

Craftsmen entering the government actually refers to ordinary craftsmen who did not pass the imperial examination, but entered the upper bureaucratic class simply by relying on their craftsmanship.

In addition to the imperial examination, the official selection system in the history of Xia included the twenty-rank system in the Qin Dynasty, the Fangzheng Xianliang system in the Han Dynasty, and the famous Jiupin Zhongzheng system in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. Later, there was the Boxue Hongci and Mingjing Shifu system in the Tang and Song Dynasties, etc. However, no matter what system it was, there was almost no standard for selecting people and appointing officials based on skill level.

Of course, this kind of official entry based solely on technical level is not unique in history, such as Yan in the Tang Dynasty. The two brothers, Lide and Yan Liben, entered the government with their craftsmanship. They were junior craftsmen, senior craftsmen, and later ministers of the Ministry of Works. However, this situation was very rare in the history of the Xia Kingdom and could be said to be short-lived.

As for the Ming Dynasty, the status of craftsmen had been greatly improved, which was also directly related to the founding emperor. However, I have never heard of Wang Minghai mentioned by Chengzi! "

After listening to Han Xu's words, Chengzi nodded frequently, "Wang Minghai is actually an outlier. Legend has it that because he offended a big shot, the six ministers of the dynasty were not spared, and in the end, his entire family was executed and his nine clans were exterminated!"

"Exterminate the nine clans? Damn, this was a serious crime in ancient times, and it must be treason!" Li Le still had some knowledge. When he heard about this ending, he couldn't help but sigh.

"As for what Wang Minghai did, I don't know, but according to folk history, when Wang Minghai died, he left behind something that shocked the world and made the gods cry!" Orange sighed.

At this point in the story, even the dumbest person should be able to guess what it is.

Captain Qin Fenqin just realized that Orange had gone around in circles, actually talking about the origin of the iron box in front of him!

No, to be precise, it should be the origin of the nine-child mandarin duck interlocking core mentioned by Orange!

"Fuck, Orange, you are not talking about this iron box, are you? Did people in the Ming Dynasty have such good craftsmanship?" Li Le's face was a little numb, full of disbelief.

"That's not the case, but this mechanism lock uses the structural principle of the nine-child mandarin duck interlocking core. You know, that thing has been lost for hundreds of years!" Orange picked up the palm-sized iron lump and his eyes became particularly deep.

"Hundreds of years, my goodness, why doesn't this thing rust?" Li Le still didn't understand.

Han Xu then explained, "Chengzi means that this iron lump was remade by later generations using the principle of the nine-child mandarin duck interlocking core, and it is not the lock that Wang Minghai left behind!" Li Le understood now, but was still amazed, "So the origin of this lock core is so bizarre, Chengzi, you've been tinkering with it for a long time, can you open it?!"

In fact, this is the result that everyone is waiting for.

However, Chengzi shook his head blankly, "Wang Minghai is a first-class locksmith. It is not an exaggeration to say that there is no one before or after. With my skills as a three-legged cat, let alone opening this mechanism lock." Oh, hey, to put it bluntly, I don’t even know what the structure is here!”

"Okay, you can't open it even after a long time of trouble!" Li Le was half-deflated when he heard this.

Han Xu glanced at Chengzi, who was frowning, "Is there no other way?"

Before Chengzi could say anything else, Captain Qin Fenqin already said, "Otherwise, we can break it apart with violence!"

Chengzi shook his head and said, "No, Captain Qin, once the lock cylinder structure is destroyed, the contents stored inside will also be destroyed!"

"What the hell, what do you mean? There is a self-destruction device in here? Doesn't that make him a Predator?" Li Le's thinking was so wild that he immediately thought of the self-destruction in the movie blockbuster.

However, Chengzi nodded, "Well, Li Le, you are right, it is not much different from self-destruction. Don't underestimate the wisdom of the ancients!"

Hearing this, Li Le looked at the iron lump held in Cheng Zi's hand and raised his brows at Lao Gao, "Good guy, I can't open it even if I hit it, and I can't hammer it with a hammer! What should I do?!"