This was not good news.

Although chaos had its advantages, she had just developed glass, and trade required a relatively safe and stable environment. With such turmoil outside, it was very unfavorable for making money.

Fu Tinghan had people prepare plenty of materials, and with the unlimited supply of materials, the artisans’ glass-blowing skills improved daily. Combined with his continuous adjustments to the formula, the workshop could now blow different types of glass.

One type could rival the exquisite glazed products of the time.

Clear as crystal yet gleaming with luster, one artisan had deliberately added some color during the heating and cooling process, producing a glass horse with a touch of brownish-red flowing through it. With its front hooves raised, it appeared even more spirited and magnificent.

Such beautiful glassware surprised not only Ji Yuan and the others, but even Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan.

Zhao Hanzhang looked at the glass horse that had been carefully presented to her and asked, “Who made this?”

The artisans’ hearts tightened at her tone. Artisan Ding immediately knelt down, saying somewhat fearfully, “It… it was this humble one.”

Zhao Hanzhang’s gaze swept across the other artisans’ faces as she leaned forward. “Was it really you?”

A young man who had been silently standing at the very back suddenly dropped to his knees with a thud. “My lady, it was this humble one who made it, not my father.”

“You’re quite talented,” Zhao Hanzhang said, stroking the crystal-clear glass horse. “Besides horses, can you blow other things?”

The young man paused, and seeing that Zhao Hanzhang didn’t intend to blame him, quickly said, “As long as there are designs and some molds, this humble one can blow them. It’s just…”

He glanced timidly at Fu Tinghan and said quietly, “It’s just that it wastes glass solution.”

“Then research more and try to improve efficiency,” Zhao Hanzhang said. “From now on, any artisan who makes progress in their skills will be rewarded.”

True to her word, Zhao Hanzhang immediately asked the young man, “Do you want land or money?”

The young man couldn’t help but look at his father.

Artisan Ding asked nervously, “Would that land be tenanted to us?”

“Since it’s a reward, naturally it belongs directly to you,” Zhao Hanzhang said. “I can change your slave registry to artisan registry, and the land rewarded to you will belong to you.”

Artisan Ding was so excited his hands began trembling slightly. He pulled his son along and kowtowed repeatedly. “Thank you, my lady. We humble ones would like the land.”

Zhao Hanzhang nodded slightly to Chengbo, having him handle this matter.

The artisans standing behind Artisan Ding were also somewhat excited. If their skills also improved, wouldn’t they also be rewarded with land?

The land was secondary; the most important thing was being able to change from slave registry to artisan registry.

The artisans’ eyes became determined, their hearts churning with ambition.

The artisans bowed and withdrew. Once outside, they immediately surrounded Artisan Ding and his son, full of envy. “Old Ding, you’re still the capable one. You’ve really leaped through the dragon gate now.”

Artisan Ding smiled so widely his teeth showed. “Not at all, not at all. I don’t have much ability; it’s all thanks to Ding Yi being promising.”

“He is promising indeed. I thought people like us could only be slaves for three generations, but I never expected the lady to be so generous as to directly give us artisan registry.”

“Do you think if we make great contributions after becoming artisans, the lady might grant us commoner status?”

These people had all been artisan registry before, but due to various reasons had sold themselves into slavery, dragging their whole families into servitude with them.

From the day they became slaves, they constantly thought about returning to artisan registry, but how easy was that?

Their masters had spent so much money buying them—how could they easily let them go?

Although changing from slave to artisan registry didn’t mean they could easily leave, their status was much freer. Most critically, artisans could not be arbitrarily bought, sold, or killed.

Chengbo also came out of the room, took out their contracts and returned them. “Find a time to go with me to the yamen to change your household registry. Before that, we need to sign a work contract.”

He asked with a smile, “Do you want to sign for ten years or twenty years?”

Artisan Ding and Ding Yi exchanged glances and asked, “What about the wages…”

The artisans also quieted down, pricking up their ears to listen.

“The lady said that if you sign for ten years, you father and son will each receive three strings of cash per month. Your family members can rent ten mu of land at half the normal tenant rate using your quota. In the future, if you can improve your skills or train an apprentice, the minimum reward will be five strings of cash or two mu of land.”

“If you sign for twenty years, the later conditions remain the same, but each person’s monthly wage is at least four strings, and wages can increase based on years of service.”

The artisans couldn’t help but whisper amongst themselves, quietly saying to Artisan Ding, “Sign for twenty years directly. We’re artisan registry—even if we don’t work here for the lady, we’ll be conscripted by the yamen anyway. If they sell us to others then, that would be terrible.”

“And besides, even outside we couldn’t earn four strings a month, and we can rent land at reduced rates too.”

Not all family members could learn their skills. Some children simply lacked the talent—what could be done then?

Naturally, they could only farm the land.

But the reality was that as slaves, the land they worked belonged to their masters. They could only work for free and receive a small amount of grain rations each month—just enough not to starve.

As artisan registry, if they rented land, the tenant rate they had to pay would be half to one percent higher than for commoners.

The artisans didn’t understand why, but this had always been the custom among the people. Even for labor service, artisan registry had to serve longer than commoners, not to mention they had to register at the yamen and be subject to conscription at any time.

Although they earned more money than ordinary commoners and seemed to live better, they also gave more.

So Zhao Hanzhang doing the opposite—reducing their tenant rates and even gifting them good land—completely won their hearts.

Although according to regulations, the yamen could still conscript registered artisans under contract, beyond law and regulation was human sentiment. The yamen would have to go through Zhao Hanzhang for conscription.

If Zhao Hanzhang disagreed, given the Zhao family’s influence in Runan, they could very likely escape the yamen’s conscription for hard labor.

This was one reason why artisans liked to seek the protection of great families.

The artisans all nervously swallowed and looked at Artisan Ding.

After brief consideration, Artisan Ding also felt that following Zhao Hanzhang would be better, so he said, “We’ll sign for twenty years.”

Chengbo nodded in agreement. “Then you all go back and pack. Tomorrow, follow me to the yamen to cancel the old registry and register the new one.”

Artisan Ding excitedly agreed, turning to look at his son with shining eyes.

The artisans surrounded Artisan Ding as they left. “Old Ding, isn’t your cousin in Xiping County about to change to commoner status? Now that you’ve changed back to artisan registry too, in the future have your cousin help make some connections—perhaps your family could also change to commoner status.”

“That’s right. If we become commoners, not only will we pay less in taxes, we won’t be arbitrarily conscripted anymore.”

—