From Chief to Ball

"How to say?"

"It's mainly in two aspects. Killing the upper echelon of the slave city-state, liberating the slaves, and increasing the food production, that's for sure. But if the new land allocated to the free laborers does not use coercive means, they will Plant tobacco, indigo, or even cotton and other high-yielding crops as much as possible. Then those of us who have already cultivated cultivated land and large areas that can be used for large-scale horse farming must still ensure food production, that is to say, completely give up profits, reduced to a food protection area in the Great Deserted City area.”

The person who spoke smiled and said helplessly: "The problem we face in the Great Deserted City is how to keep people in the city. The life of hired workers is much worse than that of farmers. Large tracts of land suitable for reclamation should be distributed The life of the peasant households is far better than that of hired workers. Once it is fully liberalized, it will be difficult for our several large workshops in the Great Deserted City to retain people."

Several people who participated in the round-the-world voyage with Chen Jian, and those who had seen the Black Swan River and the nearby land also frowned.This is a question that needs to be considered at the beginning. It is different from places with less land and more people. In areas with less land and more people, when the charm of industrialized cities is far from being revealed, how to be a farmer with [-] mu of land? Dreams are not comparable to hired workers.

"One more thing. We have been committed to the ten-and-a-half-hour working system, and the bottom line of one day off every ten days. In addition to the cost of urban construction, the cost of our employment is much higher than that of the workshops in Mincheng. The child laborers and female workers here The wages are very low, and the cost of working [-] to [-] hours a day is beyond our comparison."

Chen Jian thought for a while and said: "It is true that selling cotton cloth and glass in China is not as good as building a factory in Mincheng. But we also have an advantage. It is very close to Europe, and the things produced by our workshop can be exported to Europe. This is worse than Shipping from Min County has the advantage of saving sea freight costs. Furthermore, we can produce the salt there ourselves, which is tax-free and the raw materials are cheaper. The labor enthusiasm of the first batch of immigrants is still very high, and the same hour The efficiency of the factory is definitely higher than that of the workshop in Min County."

The man also said: "We have also considered this issue, but we really have no advantage in this kind of unreasonable competition. If Xanadu is only self-sufficient, there is no problem, but the rules of the outside world have been determined, and we are not too sure." We may win the factory law and eleven-hour work system in a short period of time, but we will not be able to sustain the long-term competition.”

A person next to him let out a hey and said: "We have discussed this issue before. Some people's opinions are temporarily ignoring our philosophy. Other workshops work for fourteen or five hours, and our factory is the same. There is no such thing as law. Welfare will be cancelled, as long as we keep our goal unchanged, accumulate money to promote reform, and strive for the legislation of the [-]-hour work system. As long as our goal remains unchanged, we can give up some bottom lines when necessary. We are not trying to build a paradise, and it is impossible Built in one county, unless we close our doors and not participate in all external competition, we will no longer care about these domestic affairs, including the poor, the unemployed, and refugees, and put all our energy in those uninhabited places overseas... "

Someone immediately retorted: "In this case, as long as the purpose is determined, we can participate in the slave trade? Are you sure that we will stick to our beliefs?"

"But the problem now is that if this matter is not resolved, the many industries controlled by our party property that cannot monopolize technology are impossible to make money. We can only use those industries that monopolize technology to post money. If only internal needs are met, This can be done, basically it can be achieved that the cost is not higher than the outside. But if you want to participate in the external market competition, you can’t compete with those factories that have no bottom line. If you look at the current Mincheng, a child laborer only gets paid for a month How much? How do you compare?"

"Don't make noise, don't make noise. If you want me to say, this is also a good thing. At least one thing, we can be sure that the idea of ​​building a paradise is absolutely impossible, right? If the quarrel about this matter can change this opinion Unified, I personally think that the discussion triggered by this incident is worthwhile."

Chen Jian stood up and stopped the quarrel between the two parties. This issue is very important. It is not only an issue of the bottom line, purpose, and justice of the process, but also an issue of how to make money under the impact of unsolvable cheap labor.

"As for the matter of the Great Deserted City, let's discuss it slowly later. At least we need to go to the Great Deserted City to see the specific situation there. Today I just got a rough idea, but as for the way to make money, I thought of a way to make a fortune. , and it will definitely not touch our bottom line."

Glancing at the few people who came from the Great Wilderness, Chen Jian asked, "How is the northern coastline charted? How is the trading station established? How is the situation further north?"

"It's almost there. I dare not say that everything inside is known, but the mouth of the river, the latitude line of the map, etc. have all been drawn."

Chen Jian thought for a while and said, "That's right. In the Ming Empire, there was a kind of herb that was very valuable. This kind of herb only grows at a latitude between 45 degrees and 45 degrees north latitude. At least when I was in Quanzhou, someone gave it to me. I have a few, the price is ridiculously expensive, mainly obtained from the barbarians in the north. I wonder if there will be this kind of herb in the north of Dahuangcheng at about [-] degrees to [-] degrees? Or similar herbs ?”

Chapter 22 Food for Money

"Selling medicine?"

Chen Jian nodded and said: "Sell medicine. That's what I think. According to the price, it is no problem to exchange a lot of silver and other handicrafts for a shipment of this kind of herbal medicine. We can also achieve a monopoly on this. If we can support more things we have to do, at least we can have a solid economic foundation to stick to our bottom line on the issue of the factory system, and we can have more time to discuss these things. Otherwise, we have to make a quick decision , It would be good to have more time to think about it.”

A person in charge of establishing a trading post with the local aborigines at the coastal estuary in the northern part of the Great Wilderness considered for a while and said: "This is a way. Now the trade with those aborigines is mainly fur. If you can let them To help gather herbs, let’s buy them... If it’s really as expensive as you said, the income from the trading post can support the immigration costs of more than [-] people every year, or some school expenses in Min County.”

Chen Jian said with a smile: "Buying wild ones from the aborigines is a bit inefficient. I wondered why we don't plant them? You see, we now have potassium fertilizers, and sulfuric acid workshops can properly produce some phosphate fertilizers. Once the saltpeter mines are mined, this Even though the three kinds of mineral fertilizers are still a bit expensive, and the profit of growing food is not high, is it not possible to grow this kind of thing? I reckon that in the wild state, it must grow slowly. If you use mineral fertilizers to grow, in the mode of temperate plantation, it may It grows almost as fast as a yellow radish."

"What do I mean by this method? That is to say, I support that we continue to maintain our bottom line, and we cannot give up the bottom line just because of the purpose. There are many ways to make money. In the past few years, I can also put most of my energy on In this regard, this can be regarded as a self-recommendation, I think I have the time, energy and ability to serve as a financial committee member."

"One more thing, about the Great Wilderness City, I have an idea, please share your opinion."

Everyone stopped what they were doing. Chen Jian took out a small notebook, flipped through it and said, "Min County is in a special situation. When I passed the street yesterday, someone rushed over and spit on me. Why? What? Because he used to work on a farm. Since the appearance of some horse-drawn threshers and other things, he has no job, can’t support himself, and flocks to Mincheng. , it’s not bad if you didn’t rush over to assassinate me.”

"Now there are more and more refugees, unemployed, and homeless people in Min County. We can't turn a blind eye to this matter. We must solve it. This is our belief."

"How to solve it? Relief? I don't agree that we put too much money on relief. It doesn't make sense. As time goes by and all walks of life develop, after this period of change, the manpower needed will also increase." More and more. The key question is how to survive this period of change?"

"Immigrating to the Great Deserted City is a good choice, but now we don't have enough funds, and there are too many things to do. It is impossible to invest all the money in things that have no short-term benefits. We can't last long in that way. .”

"I think this is the case. Since a new mining, metallurgy and infrastructure company has been established with external capital, some profitable canals, roads, etc. can be built in Min County. This can accommodate a large number of labor and unemployed people. They are now The requirements are very low, as long as you can survive."

"Then we can use the method of extending the payment of wages, let these people participate in the labor first, alleviate the chaos caused by the refugees at this time, and avoid being used by some people to oppose the use of machines."

"There is food in the Great Deserted City, but it cannot be turned into a commodity in the market. So as long as people who can eat the food appear in the Great Deserted City, can the food be turned into a commodity with trading significance? We can replace it with food. The money and a small amount of relief food are used to pay for digging canals, building buildings, and iron smelting plants, and after two or three years, they immigrate to the Great Deserted City in batches, and the grain is paid to them in the form of loans, and then the fruits of their labor will repay them.”

"We can harvest roads, canals, and factory buildings in Min County, and at the same time, we can turn the grain in Dahuangcheng into a currency that is paid in advance. As long as we have enough ships to send them to Dahuangcheng, it is equivalent to participating in the grain of Dahuangcheng. market transactions. The subsequent roads, canals, and factory buildings will continue to bring us long-term benefits.”

"We don't have the energy and ability to immigrate too many people now, but can we do it in three years? If we can, why not find a way for those who can't survive in Mincheng in advance?"

"After the establishment of the company, we can use our food tokens to exchange silver coins from the company to pay the expenses of the hired workers. And the hired workers can also bring hope to them when they get the money that can only be spent in the future, and they will accept it gladly , as long as you don’t starve to death temporarily. This is equivalent to exchanging our food tokens with the social capital raised, and the silver coins are back in our hands, so we can continue to build ships, or invest in the world of silver coins to continue to make profits.”

"Including some official funded renovations in Mincheng, we can undertake all of them. Those refugees with families can allow their children and wives to go to Dahuang City first to engage in some work such as picking cotton, picking, and weaving. .”

"In fact, there is neither more nor less money. It's just that we spent the food that we couldn't turn into silver coins in a disguised form, or turned it into silver coins in a disguised form, in exchange for the labor we wanted. Of course, in addition to labor We have to buy things with silver coins, but labor can create wealth, but the difference is whether the created wealth participates in the overall circulation.”

"And once the slavery city-state is transformed by us, our workshop industry can also develop under the surge of effective working population. Even if we don't participate in some external competition, internal consumption is still no problem. The Great Deserted City directly broke the That kind of smallholder management model, no matter what those people who set aside new land to plant, they have to wear clothes, use iron, and buy glass, right? How can we say that our cotton mills can always compete for small ones? Spinning wheels for individual households, right? And there is a large area of ​​land, so it is meaningless to engage in textiles for independent use, and the gains outweigh the losses.”

Everyone discussed for a while, and generally agreed. Chen Jian said again: "When I come back from the capital, I will sort out my property and hand it over to the party property management. The annual income seems to be quite a lot, but it is impossible to spend all the money Invest in things that are meaningless in the long run, such as the Great Deserted City and relief. On the one hand, we must expand production, on the other hand, we must continue to invest in some industries that can only get returns in the long term, and on the other hand, we must invest a large part of it. Money puts education in Min County and several coastal counties in its hands."

"Education is a bottomless pit. But in terms of a ten-year or even longer cycle, the hidden rate of return is the highest."

"Since our previous discussion has determined that we will not build Xanadu, or that Xanadu will not be built at all. Then the investment in education here is necessary, long-term, and long-term. There are not enough young people who understand the common sense of nature and our worldview. What we're after is impossible."

With regard to the issue of education investment, everyone supported it intentionally, but Chen Jian just found an explanation that fits the long-term purpose and necessity.

This also means that a large part of the money is responsible for training young teachers in simple new schools such as enlightenment and natural knowledge, physical chemistry, biogeography, etc.Let this new-style teacher become a profession, open normal schools under the control of the party, and establish new-style schools supported by profits from various industries.

A large number of excess new-style graduates trained in previous years can serve as new-style teachers.But if it is not officially recognized, it can only organize itself to pay for it.This is unsolvable. If there are not enough people, it cannot be recognized, and if enough people are temporarily not recognized, the recognized organizations can only spend their own money.

Students who learn the new textbooks written by Chen Jian and others are bound to be different from those who have come out of the previous schools.Even without considering the hidden advantage of being more liberal and radical in ideology, the painstakingly written basic textbooks of natural subjects can give these students more advantages in future competition.

In addition to these reasons that can be directly discussed and will not cause heated debates, there is another more important reason for Chen Jian.Even if there is nothing to do here, he must ensure that there are enough precious metal reserves, and once the time is ripe, he will continue to support Wangbei City and infiltrate the Ming Empire.The graduates handed over by these planned new normal schools will also become the seeds for the popularization of natural science education there, and people can be continuously transferred from Wangbei City for further study and systematic training.

At the end of the meeting, the host came forward to read out the focus of work for nearly half a year after the discussion.

Chen Jian and other people going to the capital have their own things to do in the capital, and the focus here is to sort out the accounts of Chen Jian's industry, take the lead in establishing a mining smelting and infrastructure joint company, and send people to the capital as soon as possible to discuss about overseas investment.

In Min County, a large-scale iron smelting plant based on a new pump and blower was established, and a large-scale joint enterprise was established for pig iron casting, wrought iron mixing, crucible steel ingots, and agricultural tools and knives mechanical assembly.

Build a much-needed canal linking the iron ore and coal fields, and develop the best excavation plan from a cost and transportation point of view.

Send people back to the Great Deserted City with ginseng and patterns, organize a group of expeditions to go deep into the mountains between 45 degrees and [-] degrees north latitude or ask the local aborigines to find this kind of herbal medicine that can be exchanged for a lot of silver or similar herbs.

Sprinkle phosphate fertilizers on a large scale in some non-drinking rivers with low fluidity in Mincheng, and try to make some inland rivers and lakes in Mincheng undergo severe deterioration within a year, causing algal blooms and achieving an unbearable stench effect, so as to use Facts forced the Fujian County Council to decide to build a new drainage system and inland river reconstruction to accommodate some unemployed people.

Reconnected with the Progressive Alliance faction that had quarreled many times before, and united them to get the Min County Council to agree to some infrastructure construction and funding for Min County to replace the original relief plan.

Try to calm down the anger of more and more bankrupt small handicraftsmen and unemployed farm laborers in a short period of time by relying on infrastructure construction, and temporarily survive the increasingly dangerous small-scale armed uprisings that may break out at any time from utopian or machine-destroying factions. , The transitional period of undercurrents.

Chapter 23 Dominance ([-])

The boat to the capital is moored at the port, and people who need to go to the capital gather from various places in Mincheng in various ways.

This is not an ordinary navigable sailing ship, but a special ship for the people who participated in the global voyage with Chen Jian to go to the capital to participate in the grand welcome ceremony.

People in the capital are very anxious. They urgently need first-hand information to determine their future relatives and interests overseas.

Many people in Mincheng are also very anxious. Foreign trade is closely related to the lives of many people. They hope that the country will build a powerful navy to ensure their own interests.

In the anticipation or resentment of many people, Chen Jian's carriage drove slowly and low-key on the hard road of gravel and cement leading to the port.

The horseshoes rattled, and the carriage was well maintained. Even though there were no bearings, there was no creaking or annoying noise.

There is a layer of sun-proof cloth curtain hanging on the glass window, which can block the harsh sunlight, but it can't block the noise outside.