[Pride and Prejudice] Mary's Pride and Prejudice

Alfred was holding Mary's "plan" while crossing it, and said something to hurt her: "You can donate to those orphanages, but you don't have to spend so much, because most of them will be embezzled. .”

Orphanage Donation Program, Failed!

"The idea of ​​running a literacy school is really good, but it needs a lot of money, and it cannot be sustainable if it is less than 5000 pounds. At present, it may be difficult for you to spend such a large amount of money at once."

School building plan, failed!

"Establish endowment insurance and work-related injury insurance for your factory workers?" He stopped suddenly, holding this piece of paper and asked Mary, "This idea is interesting."

Finally, there is a feasible one, and Mary is very happy. She talked about her plan to Alfred enthusiastically, which benefited from the insurance paid by her later generations. Although there is no insurance company doing this business now, but She has thought for a long time and thinks it is not impossible. Even the fixed deposit in the bank has an annual return rate of [-]%. If you find a good project and use the money to make a good investment, then the money will roll in more and more .

"Establish a nursing home for the children of workers in your factory..." Mr. Alfred carefully read her plan. In fact, this part is only about ten lines of text. Mr. Alfred read it carefully , After thinking for a while, he said to Mary: "I think the only feasible thing among your plans is to build a canteen for your workers."

?Mary is in a hurry, so many things, is this one feasible?

Alfred explained to her in detail: "I have never heard of pension insurance, but even if the insurance company is willing to cooperate with you to develop this new project, your workers may not buy it."

Mary wondered: "This is a good thing, why are they unwilling to buy it? This is related to the issue of pension, which can greatly reduce their burden and worries in old age."

Alfred shook his head: "They can barely solve their current food and clothing problems, but it's a good thing that you have to withhold part of your wages to buy them some kind of endowment insurance, but they probably won't understand. less money."

"But I also took most of them for them, and I paid the bulk!"

"They only care about having less money in their pockets." Alfred looked at her quietly.

Mary thought for a long time and had to agree with him. The poor can only see the present, so they can't see so far. It's not that they don't care about the future, but their conditions don't allow it. They are starving to death now, so they don't care about the future. Does old age starve.

Alfred continued to ask: "You have to pay a lot of money for this. I'm afraid it's not easy to convince your partner. Moreover, the time is too long, and it's hard to say what effect you can achieve in the future. Even if The money is stored in the bank, and no one guarantees that you will be able to get your money back from those bankers smoothly after 20 years. After all, there are many bankrupt banks, so I advise you to give up this plan. But for you The fact that workers save for medical bills is very feasible, something that has more immediate impact than pensions, and workers should respond."

Mary was a little discouraged. She wrote these things based on her previous knowledge and experience. Many of them were indeed inconsistent with the current situation.

"What about opening a nursery school?" Mary asked cautiously.

"Oh," Alfred raised his eyebrows, thought for a while and said, "If the canteen plan is implemented smoothly, this would be a good idea."

Finally got affirmation, Mary began to talk about it: "Centralized procurement can reduce costs. If workers eat together in the cafeteria, the cost will be much lower than when they eat at home, and they save time on the way back and forth, which can save more money." Take some time to rest and work better."

"Well, good." Alfred nodded.

Mary became more interested in going on: "If their children are taken care of together, women can use their time to work. As long as they get paid more than what they pay for the nursery, they will definitely be willing. I miss you If the nursery only needs to find a small safe house and a few loyal and honest nannies, as for the chef, if it is convenient, it can be combined with the complication of the canteen. If it is not convenient, you can hire a chef alone. Many workers are willing to let their children receive education, so as long as we run this nursery and school, we should not lose money, and it will also enable workers to work with more peace of mind and create more value.”

Mr. Alfred said appreciatively: "It seems that you have found a good way to persuade the employer association."

"Employers' association?" Mary asked with her eyes wide open, "What's that?"

"You don't know the Employers' Association?" Alfred smiled: "I thought you liked to worry about these daily affairs, but now it seems that Mr. Lake is doing very well, and it doesn't make you worry about it at all."

Now there are guilds in all walks of life, butchers have butchers' guilds, barbers have barbers' guilds, spinning mills have weaving guilds.Although their canning factory is a new industry and there is no corresponding association, they are definitely not motherless children. There are still many associations willing to absorb them, such as the Employer Association. Anyone who employs more than a certain number of workers can join this Association, and then everyone holds regular gatherings, can exchange news, and often can reach several orders.

But if you enjoy the benefits, you have to take responsibility. The employer association has also formulated some rules to regulate members and encourage everyone to advance and retreat together, especially when everyone gathers to discuss how to deal with the group of undisciplined workers!

Due to the industrial revolution, many workers have been squeezed out of many jobs by a large number of machines. The working hours are long, the intensity is high, and the wages can only barely make ends meet. Therefore, incidents of workers, the exploited class, rebelling against the exploiting class—factory owners, emerge in endlessly. , They even formed a trade union to fight against the factory, but unfortunately the trade union was illegal at this time, and many workers had to sneak around during assembly, and they would be arrested by the sheriff if they accidentally leaked information.As a result, labor-management relations have become increasingly tense.The workers resent the exploitation and exploitation of the capitalists, and the capitalists hate the workers' disobedience.Mary's whole article is about how to help workers improve their benefits. These ideas are of course very good, but I am afraid that once implemented, they will cause dissatisfaction from the employers' association.But if there is a good reason, such as enabling the workers to produce more products and creating more economic benefits for the factory, this kind of dissatisfaction will be greatly reduced. If the effect is significant after the implementation, then everyone will recognize Mary’s practices and emulated them.

After Alfred's careful explanation above, Mary finally understood the twists and turns. She had never paid attention to these before, and rarely heard Mr. Lake talk about it with Uncle Gardiner. It's up to them to deal with it. They probably think that Miss Investors like Mary just need to worry about spending money.

Mary discussed the feasibility of the plan with Alfred in detail, and finally decided to set up the workers' canteen first.It was almost noon when the two finished chatting.After a sweet date meal together, Alfred sent Mary home.

As soon as Mary entered the door, she saw that the living room was full of people. Mr. Bingley and Jane were standing by the fireplace, not knowing what to say, while his good friend Mr. Darcy was talking with Mrs. Bennet with a serious face. This scene Slightly horrifying, it frightened Mary a little.But she soon understood the reason for Mr. Darcy's condescension—a tall young lady sat beside them, listening intently to what they had to say.And Mary didn't know until she was introduced that it was Miss Darcy!It seems that Mr. Darcy is really a good brother. In order to save his sister from talking to such an ignorant person as Mrs. Bennet, he had to put on the armor himself and feed the tiger with his body.

Miss Darcy is shy, so she seldom speaks. Although her character is incompatible with Lydia and Kitty, Mrs. Bennet likes such a well-behaved lady very much, so she takes the initiative to talk to her over and over again. Miss Darcy is not very kind. In communication, Mrs. Bennet is superficial and often speaks out of bounds, which makes Miss Bennet do not know how to deal with it. Fortunately, Mr. Darcy took over the conversation, and Miss Darcy is responsible for smiling.

But Miss Darcy was very happy when she saw Mary, and she took the initiative to say: "Miss Mary, I don't think you remember me, but you should have the impression that I was in the City Hall in London three years ago. I got lost and met you, and then Miss Jane and Miss Elizabeth took me home."

Is there such a thing?Mary thought about it carefully. She and her sisters went to the city hall only a few times, all for the canning patent... Ah, I remembered!That girl who looks like a bunny!

"Oh, I remember, Miss Georgiana."

Mary looked at Miss Darcy carefully, and her memory of her face was too vague, but she turned out to be Mr. Darcy's younger sister, which surprised Mary very much!There are still such coincidences in the world. Could it be that Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth are really a match made in heaven, and they can run into each other every minute?No, in fact, Elizabeth did not meet Mr. Darcy at all.

Mary glanced at Darcy indiscriminately, and felt sorry for him. This guy had a chance to embrace a beautiful woman a few years earlier...

But after thinking about it, it’s not necessarily true. Love is not necessarily effective if it leaves a specific time and place. If Mr. Darcy hadn’t been mean to Elizabeth at the ball and she heard her, she would only be so arrogant to Mr. Darcy The human race keeps a respectful distance, doesn't pay special attention to him at all, and even hates him.

Miss Darcy's face was flushed, and her tone was much more cheerful: "Miss Bingley invited me to Grace Church Street for lunch at noon. I met Miss Jane there, and I recognized her at a glance. After all, she Such a pretty person is always impressive. I am so glad that Miss Jane should remember me! I heard Mrs. Bennet was in London with Miss Mary, Miss Kitty and Lydia, so I took the liberty of telling Jane Miss came together."

She seemed to seldom talk so much, her face was getting redder and redder, and she said regretfully in an excited tone: "I just heard from Miss Jane that Miss Elizabeth is not in London, what a pity."

Jane and Elizabeth accompanied the lady back home, which made her very grateful. Unfortunately, some incidents happened at home, which made her and her brother's wish to visit the door to thank her in vain. Even if she returned to London, she would not want to inquire about it. The well-meaning ladies and gentlemen of the whole family couldn't find out.

It was a great surprise to meet Jane. Miss Darcy summoned up the courage to tell her brother that she wanted to visit the Bennet family. Although Mr. Darcy did not want his sister to contact Mrs. Bennet and her young daughters, he never refused His sister's wish, not to mention that he also very much hoped to meet a playful and beautiful lady here, but unfortunately Jane told him that the beauty he most wanted to see was not here, and Mr. Darcy's disappointment was beyond words surface.

"Yes, Lizzie went to Hunsford," said Mary to them. "Her friend married the Reverend Collins there."

"Oh, Mr. Collins." Georgiana, impressed by the obsequious clergyman, felt at once sympathetic to his wife, "I know him, I have seen him a few times at Rosings Park. "

Mr. Darcy frowned when he heard this. Elizabeth lived so close to Rosings Manor that it might be necessary to pay a visit to his aunt. Mr. Darcy believed that this would not please Miss Elizabeth. experience.

Georgiana stayed for more than ten minutes before leaving. She promised Mrs. Bennet that she would come here often in the future. She was afraid that her brother would not agree, but Mr. Darcy didn't seem to hear it. Georgiana quietly relaxed. Take a breath.She did not know that Mr. Darcy was preoccupied now, and since he knew that Elizabeth had gone to Hunsford, an irresistible urge had been aroused in him. It is determined that he will not be able to dispel his thoughts about such things as his aunt.