Daming Town Haiwang

Chapter 1530, Difficulty recruiting
"There are a lot fewer people?"

Hearing Wang Shouren's words, Liu Jin was seldom confused. Looking at the crowds returning to the city on the road, the flow of people was not small. They were all people at random, so why did they say that there were a lot fewer people?
"There are a lot of people."

Liu Jin was very puzzled.

"No, a lot less!"

Wang Shouren said firmly: "Nanjing is currently the largest city in Jiangnan, and it is also the city with the most factories and workshops. Although it cannot be compared with Beijing and Tianjin, it is definitely the third largest city in Ming Dynasty, with a population of more than five million."

"So every year around the annual vacation, the number of migrant workers returning to their hometowns and cities is very large, two to three million."

"Today is the last day to return to the city. In the past, the flow of people on this road was very large, and sometimes it was difficult for a four-wheeled carriage to pass."

"But looking at the flow of people on this road now, although there are many, it is much worse than before."

Wang Shouren frowned.

As the chief envoy of Southern Zhili, he is very concerned about this aspect.

The safety of migrant workers who return to their hometowns and cities after the year and year after year is a major issue. During the winter rush, the post stations and government offices along the way need to make preparations in all aspects.

So he will go to ask and arrange in person, and every time he will walk a certain distance in person to see how the post stations and government offices are doing.

"It shouldn't be so, maybe many people came back early, and the city is developing rapidly now, and many people buy houses in the city and then settle down in the city."

Liu Jin thought for a while and guessed.

"There are these possibilities, but I still feel very abnormal. The flow of people is much less than before."

Wang Shouren nodded, but his frown still remained on.

If the population of a city is greatly reduced, this is not a good thing. It means that the city will soon enter decline. Without people, there is nothing, and there are people who have everything. This is the simplest truth.

"Yeah~"

Liu Jin looked at the passers-by on the road and pondered for a while. He didn't see the problem wrongly.

But who is Lao Wang?

He is the most awesome person in this era, since he said so, he must be right.

"Could it be because we hit Jiangnan's local capital too hard, and many people are worried that they can't find a job in Nanjing?"

Liu Jin thought so in his heart.

But he quickly denied his own conclusion, because although the local big businessmen, gentry, big landlords, and big families in the south of the Yangtze River were hit hard, a large number of factories and workshops were seized.

But not everyone here in Nanjing is like Zeng Qing, Jiang Cheng, and Zhang Yuanting. In order to overthrow Wang Shouren, they deliberately unite without paying wages and cause workers to make trouble.

Most of the factories and workshops here, especially those small and medium-sized factories, still followed the agreement with everyone, and paid the workers' wages for a year's hard work in full a year ago.

After all, for most of the owners of small and medium-sized factories and workshops, what they consider is how to make a profit, how to make money, and they dare not go up to the level of going against a big official like the chief minister.

As for things like paying taxes, just follow the rules and regulations. The Yankees can pay taxes according to the rules and regulations. They can also become bigger and stronger, and they can also make a lot of money. Why can't we southerners?
They are different from Zhang Yuanting, Zeng Qing, Jiang Cheng and other top big families, big wealthy families, big businessmen, and big gentry. They dare not do such a thing, and they are not capable of such a layout.

Therefore, it is necessary to do things honestly and according to the law, and pay the wages that should be paid. If the wages are not paid, the workers will cause trouble and the government will intervene. If their network is not enough, then I am afraid it will be over.

This is the thinking and practice of most small and medium-sized factories, workshops, and business owners.

What they can do is to do things according to the law and earn their own reasonable profits.

Small and medium-sized factories and workshops are the mainstream, the largest in number, and the largest number of employees. This is why there were only hundreds of thousands of workers rioting before the end of last year.

These hundreds of thousands of workers are all workers in large factories and workshops. If the factories and workshops in Nanjing all work together, it will not be hundreds of thousands of workers, it will be millions of people.

With this kind of doubt, Liu Jin and Wang Shouren's carriage returned to Nanjing very quickly, but before entering the city, they saw many people recruiting workers on the road into the city.

"Hiring, hiring~"

"Zijin Textile Factory is recruiting workers, with food and housing included. The dormitory is a newly built building, clean and tidy, and couples' rooms are also provided."

"I pay five taels of silver a month, and an extra month's wages at the end of the year, for a total of sixty-five taels of silver."

A guy wearing Zijin Textile Factory's clothes was holding a tin horn and shouting loudly on the side of the road. At the same time, beside him, there were more than a dozen guys wearing the same clothes, desperately saying hello to passers-by and asking for advice. Don't go to work in your own factory.

"My fellow, go to the city to work~"

"Come to our capital textile factory, the dormitories are all brand new, if you are a couple, we will provide you with a couple's room."

"Zijin Textile Factory?"

"Small factory?"

"Yes, yes, our factory is not big, but it's not a small factory either. It's a medium-sized factory. There were more than a thousand workers last year."

"Isn't a factory with more than a thousand people a small factory?"

"What's your boss's name, where is he from, did you pay everyone the full salary last year?"

"Our boss is called Xia Liangsheng. He is from Yangzhou Prefecture. It is also a big family in Yangzhou. You can rest assured that the workers who worked in our boss last year all got their own wages. If you don't believe me, you can ask someone who knows People from our factory."

"Who knows, big factories like Jinling Cement Factory and Textile Factory didn't pay us wages last year. If Mr. Wang didn't come forward in the end, we would have worked for nothing for a year."

"Yes, yes, if it wasn't for Mr. Wang, we would have worked for nothing for a year, and some people would be beaten and disabled for wages."

"I don't plan to enter the factory this year. In Nanjing, there are not many conscientious employers. It's fine if they don't pay wages and beat people. I will never work for them again."

"I'll take a boat to Songhu later. I heard that there are many large factories run by northerners in Songhu. The salary is good, the reputation is good, and the owner treats our workers well. I have long wanted to go to Songhu."

"Me too, me too, brother, let's go together later, I have a brother who works here in Songhu."

"Okay, let's go together, let's go~"

"A few fellows, a few fellows~"

"Although our Zijin Textile Factory is not a big factory, our owner is very kind to everyone. Not only did we build a new dormitory, but we also specially took care of the husband and wife, leaving a room for the couple. The wages have also been raised for everyone. Why bother to go to Song Dynasty? Shanghai, not to mention the extra travel expenses, I know a little bit about Songhu, so it may not be better than Nanjing.”

"Those northern owners are northerners after all. If something really happens, they lose money and have no money to pay wages. They pat their ass and leave. We can't find anyone, but our local owners are different. They are all My fellow countrymen, those who leave can’t leave the temple.”

Seeing that they were about to leave, the clerk of Zijin Textile Factory became anxious and said quickly.

"Go, go, don't stop us, we are rushing to take the boat."

"Whether the northern club is good or not is not up to the mouth. Everyone has the eyes to see and the heart to feel. At least they pay enough wages at the end of the year. Unlike you Nanjing people, if you don't pay wages and beat people, the devil will give it to you." You do things."

"Yes, yes, many of my fellow villagers have gone directly to Songhu, and some have simply gone to sea this year. Everyone has said that they will never work for your Nanjing boss again."

A few people dropped a few words, and walked straight to the Nanjing Wharf, where there are ships going to and from Songhu, and they can quickly go to Songhu.

"My fellow, are you going to work in the city?"

"Come to our Zijin Textile Factory. The salary is good, the dormitory is good, and the food is good."

The staff of Zijin Textile Factory also sighed helplessly when they saw this, and then went to recruit people with a smile on their faces.

It just seemed that none of these people who came to the city came to work in Nanjing, and it was very difficult for them to recruit people.

And the same scene continued to be staged on both sides of the road. A large number of factories and workshops were on both sides of the road, just like the people in the Capital Textile Factory.

While constantly yelling, he told about the generous treatment from his factory.

Some have increased wages, while others have emphasized their work, living environment, etc. They are all trying to recruit people, but almost all of them are similar to the people in Zijin Textile Factory, and it is difficult to recruit workers.

This scene was also seen by Liu Jin and Wang Shouren who were sitting on the carriage.

"Have all the recruits come to this road?"

Looking at the lively scene on both sides of the road in front of him, Liu Jin frowned immediately.

There is only one explanation for this situation, that is, the factories and workshops here are in great need of workers, and they have not recruited enough workers, so they can only find a way to recruit people on the way into the city, wanting to take the lead in recruiting more workers some workers.

If there are enough workers, it is absolutely impossible for these factories, workshops and the like to come here to recruit people, just like in later generations, when it was just beginning to become popular to work in cities, there were few factories and many migrant workers at that time. Those factories all have harsh conditions, but there are still countless people who want to enter the factory with their heads sharpened. In many cases, they have to rely on their connections to work in the factory.

Because there are many people and few jobs, the factory can offer harsh conditions, and some people will still do it.

Now it's the other way around, with more factories and fewer workers, these factories and workshops have to offer better conditions to attract workers to come to work, and even come to the road to snatch people.

(End of this chapter)