My son, Fusu, please abdicate the first emperor!

Chapter 875 Forced to Reduce Burden
The more perfect the rule of law in Qin State was, the longer people lived in a society ruled by law, the faster the moral standards rose, and the higher the level of mutual trust among people.

Only in this kind of social environment can people feel at ease leaving home to work, invent and create.

Only in a civilized society ruled by law can people adapt to the life and order of factories.

The city of Xianyang recruited a thousand female workers to work hard to complete the production of military uniforms for the soldiers before winter.

This involves recruiting long-term workers and making clothes for 400,000 soldiers, which is not an easy task.

This led to a series of early factory systems, including factory regulations, food, lodging, wages, etc.

When a thousand people gather together to do something, there must be a system to maintain order.

With so many female workers gathered together and having to eat, drink and stay here for a long time, it will naturally cause management problems.

In the past, everyone was engaged in small-scale production, and then the accumulation of small-scale production was gathered together.

Due to the lack of experience in large-scale production, everyone was confused.

In fact, the Qin State had experience in organizing large-scale production and even labor. Whether it was digging trenches in war, building the Great Wall, or constructing the underground palace of the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang, hundreds of thousands of people gathered together. The people of the Qin Dynasty should have been quite capable of managing these people.

But unfortunately, the result was not surprising to anyone.

There was something wrong with the Qin State's attitude towards these people. It treated the people of the defeated countries as enemies and slaves, and was afraid that they would live like human beings.

They have always been punished with sticks, guns and swords, threatened, oppressed and intimidated to do things for them.

This is equivalent to the Qin State creating an atmosphere of terror for the people, making everyone live in fear and panic every day.

If they did something slightly inappropriate, they would be beaten and scolded, deprived of food, and thrown into jail.

It is simply abhorrent that an empty-headed ruler has come to power.

Although Qin II came to power, advocating universal love and non-aggression, and establishing a new style of the empire, how much could the Qin rulers change?

Every time there is talk of reform, the people at the top and the people at the bottom are always happy, but the people in the middle are unmoved. They are in the middle class between the king and the decision-makers on the one hand and the broad masses of people and the ruled class on the other. They are the most critical class, but they are unwilling to take action.

So, when the industrial revolution of the Qin Empire began, something happened that surprised everyone.

As the saying goes, although immoral acts such as cheating and deceiving others may make you gain temporary benefits, the bitter fruit will fall on you sooner or later.

The Qin central government personally issued an order to recruit a large number of female workers to make clothes. The key was to provide them with food, accommodation and wages.

For the people of Qin, how could such a great thing happen to the vast majority of powerless people?

Naturally, the first to get there were women from middle-class families, who grabbed the spots early and crowded into the female workshops in Xianyang City.

What we already know is that under the Qin State's management system, workers were not treated as human beings but as animals.

This scale and system had not been changed at all during the second year of the reign of Qin II.

It is always the top leaders who give orders, the middle leaders pass the orders on to the lower levels, and the lower level people just stare into space with empty hands.

Thus, a horrible farce ensued.

These women from middle-class families leave their families to make money.

The factory system was very strict. Work started at dawn and ended at dusk, with only half an hour left for meals.

If it is a cow, the farmers all know that the cows should be sent home in the evening. The weather is too hot at noon, so the cows should be given at least two hours to hide under the woods or in the ditch to rest.

But these managers are used to abusing their power and treating these women like slaves, making them work from morning to night.

Problems will naturally arise over time.

After a month, two women had gone blind from overwork and three women had developed fever.

There were also some scandals that broke out in the women workers' dormitories.

Without rules and regulations, there is no restraint. Letting a group of men manage the dormitory for female workers is extremely dangerous.

A scandal occurred, and it was related to the wives of generals and mid-level non-commissioned officers, which naturally caused an uproar.

The female workers originally thought they were here to make money, but ended up nearly losing their lives.

Everyone felt so tired that they could not even straighten their backs, and their biggest feeling was that the reward they should get for the energy they put in was far higher than what they actually got.

These women immediately started crying and shouting, dropped their needles and thread, and said they wanted to quit.

This alarmed Meng Tian.

The sexual scandal of his subordinates was also exposed at the first opportunity.

The woman who was violated was an old military lord who was serving abroad.

In military management, the most taboo thing is that soldiers are fighting in the front while their homes are being raided in the rear.

This matter immediately attracted the attention of the central government.

Meng Tian was originally just a military commander who accepted this task temporarily. He simply asked his generals to manage these female workers and urged them to complete the task as soon as possible.

But this is what happened.

The scandal of Nufang spread widely, and the people of Xianyang City were discussing it hotly.

Some of the female relatives who were able to work began to fear rumors and even their own personal safety, and many of them left at night.

In just ten days, half of the people in the women's workshop had left.

The task assigned by Qin II was already heavy, and now something like this has happened.

This forced Meng Tian, ​​the military commander, to start changing his career and studying some issues related to people's livelihood management.

Meng Tian was originally very kind to his soldiers. He always considered the safety of his soldiers and would never do anything to earn military merit for himself by requiring others to sacrifice their lives.

This is why Meng Tian has always been more well-received than Li Xin in the army.

Li Xin was not afraid of death and always wanted to lead the charge. However, leading the charge often meant a higher chance of death.

In Li Xin's eyes, soldiers should not be afraid of death. Those who are afraid of death are cowards.

This kind of thinking in leading troops naturally led to people's complaints about him.

On the contrary, Meng Tian was more normal because he always cherished the lives of his soldiers.

Meng Tian would not let his soldiers dig trenches in the rain, build fences in the hot weather, or carry out military defense unless it was absolutely necessary.

He cares deeply about his soldiers.

Completely different from those officers who do things to satisfy their own desire to show off and express themselves, some officers are not human at all. They live only to use the power in their hands to oppress and bully the soldiers, forcing the soldiers to do private work for them, forcing the soldiers to carry wood for them in the heavy rain, and beheading them if they fail to move all the wood.

The crimes are so numerous that they are difficult to list in detail.

The so-called great achievements and far-reaching reputation all depend on the support of peers.

Meng Tian was very particular about benevolence and righteousness when governing the army.

But unfortunately, he never had the opportunity to focus on the management of the army and even the people's livelihood. Until this incident happened.

A chaotic start will often end with a powerful person. This is the rule.

Chaos will inevitably lead to order.

After Meng Tian learned the whole story, he made a prompt decision to "execute the soldiers who violated the female workers by slicing them to death and hanging them in the army as a warning to the public."

Only the most severe punishment can show Meng Tian's intention to comfort and protect the soldiers guarding the border.

Soon, Meng Tian went to the women's workshop in person, and was astounded by the huge number of female workers.

Too many people means chaos, and chaos means inconvenient management.

Moreover, these people are all women, while all his subordinates are male soldiers.

It would be strange if nothing happened in this melon field.

Meng Tian realized that this matter was very difficult, so he had to report to the emperor.

Coincidentally, some unrest had occurred in the Mausoleum of the First Emperor not long ago.

Because the Mohists had previously been active in the Mausoleum of the First Emperor.

Mohism, a sect that makes people admire it just by hearing its name. The disciples of Mohism came in and out wearing black clothes. It would be fine if they were just researching instruments, but Xiang Liche was crazy and openly said such words, which put pressure on the emperor.

Those words kept Xiang Liche away from the political center, but unexpectedly gave the prisoners hope and the desire to resist.

At the same time, Xiao He and Meng Yi managed the Supreme Court, constantly dealing with unjust, false and wrong cases, and arresting Qin officials who relied on their law enforcement power to arbitrarily oppress the people and humiliate the people of the six countries. Many people who had not committed any crime were pulled out from the Mausoleum of the First Emperor.

This made the prisoners who were living in dire straits in the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor feel that they had hope of getting out, or that their treatment should be improved.

How did Zhang Han deal with this?

He chose bloody suppression and beheaded those prisoners who took the lead in speaking out.

This practice completely angered the prisoners who came from foreign countries. Just because they were defeated in the war, they lost the right to be treated as human beings. They were forced to eat soup and do the hardest and most tiring work.

They are not convinced.

They believed that Qin II intended to let them live a good life, but Zhang Han and the generals under his command were all pretending to obey.

As a result, after Zhang Han's bloody suppression, a general strike of 200,000 prisoners broke out.

What they wanted to fight for through the strike was nothing more than better treatment. They demanded improved food treatment and meat at least once a month. They also did not want to sleep in holes anymore. They wanted mats and did not want rats, scorpions and snakes crawling all over them.

This incident has a huge impact.

Two hundred thousand prisoners is such an astonishing number. If they riot, the Qin people will not be able to suppress them at all.

Even though the Qin people locked them up in the underground palace and divided them, the palace was not completed, they were still very young and strong, and were full of dissatisfaction with the Qin people.

The situation is likely to get worse.

Everyone can predict what will happen when people's lives become extremely difficult, they completely lose hope in the managers, and their last fantasy is shattered.

Zhang Han had no choice but to tell these things to Qin II.

"Your Majesty, I am afraid I will have to ask you for money from the treasury."

Qin II naturally didn't want to.

"The construction of the underground palace of the First Emperor's Mausoleum has reached its end. Isn't it said that the next step is to fill the palace. I just received the money accumulated from the national debt. Why are you asking me for money now?"

What's more, there had always been conflicts between Fusu and Zhang Han, and they had not yet settled the issue of the national debt.

Fusu did not ask for too much from Zhang Han, but Zhang Han asked for too much from Fusu.

Zhang Han was originally hesitating whether or not to tell the truth.

Seeing that Qin II was so reluctant, he told Fusu the true situation he was facing.

Fusu was naturally furious.

"What did you say? Two hundred thousand prisoners rioting?"

Zhang Han swallowed the lump in his throat and lowered his head, "Your Majesty, this is a strike and a protest."

Fusu was so angry that he laughed. "Is there any difference?"

"They still believe in you, Your Majesty, and have been clamoring to see you and tell you something in person."

"Where are the people?" Fusu's face was gloomy.

"I have already killed them all, but it didn't work. I have no other choice, so I came to see Your Majesty. I beg Your Majesty to take action personally, otherwise these prisoners will not give up until they achieve their goal."

When faced with problems, Zhang Han always suppressed or covered them up. As long as the problem was not brought to the surface, it was not a big problem.

As a result, the problem became even bigger after repeated suppression. In fact, Zhang Han also thought about the reason. These prisoners had been living well in the mausoleum and never dared to resist him. Why did they suddenly become so excited?

After thinking about it, it must be Qin II's own fault.

If he had not adopted the Mohist doctrine of universal love and non-aggression, and let Xiang Li Che step forward and let Xiao He re-handle the case, how could these brainless prisoners have such a big reaction.

Ultimately, it was Qin II himself who brought this upon himself.

Zhang Han already had some grievances against Qin II, so it was natural for him to let Qin II solve the problem directly at this time.

Qin II was stunned when he heard this. He appointed Zhang Han as the Minister of Justice to do this job, but Zhang Han wanted him to solve the problem.

Qin II stood up and said, "I gave you 200,000 prisoners to manage, and you made such a big mess out of such a big job. And you still want me to deal with it. How should I deal with it?"

"Such a big thing happened, and you're just telling me now!"

Zhang Han was severely reprimanded by Qin II.

In the end, Qin II gave Zhang Han some money with great unhappiness and asked him to improve the prisoners' meals that year.

In fact, Fusu knew that the funds originally allocated were enough for the prisoners to live a good life, but unfortunately, many people wanted to take the money, and Zhang Han had to take it as well.

So Zhang Han had no choice.

He came here today to ask for money from his brothers.

Qin II naturally understood the ins and outs of this, so he gave the money to Zhang Han.

This is actually an old story.

But eight months later, a big mess broke out in the women's workshop, which affected the development of the handicraft industry. The harm caused forced people to pay attention to the grassroots governance of the entire empire.

The prisoners united and stood up in resistance, and eventually obtained an order from the rulers of the Qin Empire to reduce their burdens.

This unknown great victory has laid the foundation for Fusu to carry out further reforms now.

(End of this chapter)