Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 633 Want both and want
To beat someone in the main hall and get away with it without any consequences is a serious matter.

The key issue is that the public opinion is the same; not only is no one speaking up for Bi Dingguo, but newspapers from all walks of life are criticizing him for being "ungrateful."

Privately, many people lament the decline of morality and the loss of traditional values, but they only dare to complain in private and no one dares to speak out.

It's not that civil officials have lost their integrity; it's just that truly principled people are mostly unwilling to associate with such people.

This is mainly because Jia Lian had a very good reputation among the common people.

The root cause lies in the fact that Jia Lian controlled numerous industries and projects, and forcibly required all workers to receive a guaranteed minimum wage.

Anyone who is sued for mistreating workers will be barred from getting any orders in the future.

It's important to understand that the industries and projects led by Jia Lian typically generate large contracts, and these aren't one-off deals; there are always many more to come.

The most typical example is railway engineering. The rail spikes, sleepers, sand, and gravel needed are all paid in cash, and there is never any delay in payment.

Bosses who take on construction projects love this kind of client the most. Those clients who drag their feet on final payments for a year or more are actually the good ones who eventually settle. In reality, many bosses have gone bankrupt because of unpaid construction fees. This has made many bosses hesitant to take on government projects.

After being sent home, Bi Dingguo was filled with shame and indignation and claimed to be ill, so he did not leave the house.

Jia Lian, on the other hand, goes to work as usual, busy with education every day, especially with the recent official opening of the Beijing Railway School, which is also the first railway school.

The railway school is now accepting applications from across Beijing. Those who pass the entrance exam can enroll directly. If you don't pass, you can attend a preparatory course.

All tuition and board are provided for formally enrolled students. Preparatory classes are tuition-free, but students are responsible for all other expenses.

With Jia Lian's rise to prominence, and under the prevailing emphasis on basic education, many schools were established in Beijing and its suburbs for the underprivileged. These schools were characterized by being tuition-free, open to anyone who wasn't intellectually disabled. This move was widely popular. Crucially, Jia Lian didn't establish these schools in his personal capacity, but rather in the name of the research and development department. These schools shared a common name: "primary school."

Nationwide free compulsory education is not realistic, but that did not stop Jia Lian from running primary schools in Beijing and the surrounding areas.

The railway school published an enrollment notice in the newspaper, which quickly attracted a large number of students aged thirteen to eighteen to apply.

That day, Jia Lian got up very early and rode out of the west gate in a seemingly inconspicuous four-wheeled carriage.

The architectural style of Beijing varies significantly from the inner city to the outer city and then to the suburbs.

Aside from widening and paving the roads as much as possible, the inner city hasn't changed much. It just looks a bit cleaner.

The outer city is divided into different areas. The west side of the city remains largely unchanged, while the south side is filled with newly planned construction sites. A number of two-story buildings with courtyards that have already been built have become the latest sights.

Once outside the city, everything is the same; three-story row houses are everywhere, and further afield there are even five-story row houses. These row houses are somewhat similar to the multi-story tenement buildings of modern society.

For workers in factories and mines outside the city, what more could they ask for than a place where a family of three or five could find shelter from the wind and rain?
Large areas of buildings resembling tenement buildings clustered together in one place, and as the number of people increased, a market naturally formed.

For this reason, the government specially allocated a large area and built a makeshift market, which was so crowded that it couldn't accommodate everyone on market days.

After Jia Lian's carriage left the city, it traveled along the cement road. Looking at the towering chimneys in the distance, he thought that in modern society, people would definitely criticize the pollution problem.

However, in this era, it is a symbol of industrialization, a source of national strength, and a guarantee of people's livelihood.

The road has four lanes, and at least ten meters of space has been left on each side. For now, only a row of trees has been planted, leaving room for future expansion.

The most noticeable change outside the city is in the mountains within sight. Thanks to Mr. Jia's tireless efforts over the years, forests can now be seen on the once barren hills, and more and more hills have been greened over time. Don't assume that all mountains in ancient times were covered in trees and teeming with prey. In reality, mountains in ancient times were often bare, with vegetation decreasing the closer to large cities. That's why coal was used on such a large scale—because there was no firewood left; the trees had all been cut down.

Initially, there were rumors that "Jia was just trying to gain fame and reputation" regarding the tree planting, but as time went by, these rumors disappeared. In their place came the rumor that "everyone on the hills around Beijing is surnamed Jia."

You see, if someone wants to criticize another person, they can always find a suitable angle.

So, do you understand? Don't care about what others say.

In this society, there are plenty of people who are doing so poorly that they seek a sense of existence through momentary verbal attacks. Or there are those born with a wicked streak, unable to bear seeing others do well, and who find ways to spread rumors about those who are better off than themselves. In the internet age, this has given rise to the behavior of profiting from spreading rumors to gain traffic; these people are simply born with a wicked streak.

After parking his car some distance away, Jia Lian, dressed in casual clothes, walked to the railway school.

From a distance, you can see the three-story teaching building; as you get closer, you can see the three-meter-high wall and the crowd queuing outside the gate.

Approaching a young man who hurriedly ran up and stood at the end of the line, Jia Lian smiled and asked him, noticing the red pimples on his youthful face, "Young man, why are you here to register?"

Despite Jia Lian's gentle smile, the young man still felt the pressure and nervously pursed his lips, saying, "My dad said that studying here includes room and board, and after graduation, I can find a place to earn money and eat."

After glancing at this half-grown boy who was supposed to be living off his father, Jia Lian understood and nodded with a smile: "Keep it up!"

Whether it's a railway school or an engineering college, what attracts ordinary people the most is the free room and board. Therefore, most of the students queuing up now are in this age group, still growing.

Jia Lian's appearance alarmed the school staff maintaining order, disrupting his original plan to walk around and explore.

Jia Lian didn't mind this at all; if he showed up and wasn't recognized, that would be something to be truly wary of. School leaders came to greet him, and Jia Lian readily complied, entering to inspect the premises.

"Three hundred people have already registered for the entrance exam this morning. According to the planned budget, the first phase of enrollment is two hundred students. Any more than that would be too much for the school to handle due to insufficient funding."

Jia Lian listened to the report without saying anything. He first went to check on the dormitory and found it to be in good condition. There were no large communal sleeping areas; instead, there were bunk beds, ten beds per dormitory. The bunk beds were all made of wood, and because of the continuous influx of timber from outside the Great Wall, the price of timber in Beijing was not high at the moment.

Here, we must commend the Prince of Dongping. After his forces migrated north, they engaged in extensive land reclamation, planting, and logging, which not only impacted timber prices in the capital but also drove down the prices of soybean oil and soybean meal.

It is said that thousands of people died or were injured during the land reclamation, mainly Korean and Japanese laborers. King Dongpyeong was deeply distressed by the loss of human resources and greatly improved the laborers' treatment.

Upon hearing the news, Jia Lian had a strange feeling.

As for the lands pioneered outside the Great Wall in the early stages, they were largely seized by nobles and imperial relatives. Even ordinary people who migrated outside the Great Wall had to go even further to obtain land. The landlords outside the Great Wall treated immigrants far better than those inside. In any place with a large population and limited land, people are a precious resource.

Landlords impacted by emigration in recent years have been primarily concentrated in coastal areas. The further south one goes, the more "accommodating" the coastal landowners become. This is especially true for landowners in Guangdong and Guangxi provinces, who are even more "accommodating" because their tenants can leave at any time, even if it means taking a gamble at sea. The impact of factories on landowners has also been extremely severe.

Capitalists are no better, but because working for them offers more hope, the migration of people to cities becomes inevitable.

There's a benchmark in the market right now: the compensation and benefits offered by the industries led by Jia Lian. Because of this comparison, other private enterprises naturally become more restrained in their hiring practices.

In an era when merchants and factory owners had low social status, a bad reputation made it impossible to recruit workers.

Of course, this is all predicated on the existence of competition. In some inland factories, where competition is lacking, the capitalist nature is blatantly undisguised.

Even so, for many rural areas, working in a factory at least provides a way to make a living, which is better than the constant threat of starvation in the countryside.

Many things that seem incredible to modern people are not uncommon in this era.

Jia Lian studied "The Bonded Laborer" in high school and later read "Spring Fever," both stories about female factory workers struggling to survive in the city. The former could be described as barely clinging to life, while the latter at least had some semblance of humanity, yet still didn't want the factory to do well. What kind of mentality is it for someone working in a factory to not be grateful to the boss who provides them with the work?

I imagine that many workers who work for private bosses share this mentality.

It was the same when I was working.

Undoubtedly, because Jia Lian still had a conscience, the people who came here to study and work hoped that the company would thrive.

Because of the comparison, both the workers and the students sincerely hoped that Lord Jia would enjoy longevity and high rank!
There was a small train station near the school. Standing on the platform, watching the railway tracks stretching into the distance towards the edge of the Yanshan Mountains, Jia Lian specifically asked, "How profitable is this road?"

"The profits are good, and we expect to break even in ten years. However, the Shanxi merchants have strong opinions and are constantly clamoring for a railway to connect Taiyuan, Datong, Zhangjiakou, and Suiyuan." The railway bureau's vice minister stood beside Jia Lian, speaking with a disdainful tone. To put it simply, because of Jia Lian's influence, the Shanxi merchants were not well-liked by his faction.

Jia Lian didn't speak, and walked out with his hands behind his back. The Railway Vice Minister caught up with him and said, "Kulun has recently submitted a series of petitions, hoping to extend the railway there and further extend it to Beihai."

Jia Lian did not express his opinion. The pressure on Li Ni's side mainly came from Tsarist Russia. The two sides had fought many small-scale battles over the furs.

As Jia Lian walked out of the station, he stopped and said, “Let the Court of State Ceremonies whine about it. They want to build a railway but don’t want to spend the money. They’re dreaming. In the southern desert, promoting and introducing long-haired sheep is the priority right now. Although goats are easy to raise, they are more destructive to the grasslands. We also need to pay attention to the greening along the railway line and plant grass wherever it’s suitable. The land around Beihai is fertile and produces a very high yield of potatoes. The late emperor pardoned Li Zicheng, but that’s not an excuse for him to bargain. Also, the railway bureau needs to work on the technology of building railways on permafrost. The railway will have to be built there sooner or later.”

Jia Lian wasn't just spouting nonsense. In those days, there was no family planning; as long as there was food, population growth was rapid. With the introduction of cold-resistant crops like potatoes, corn, and sweet potatoes, the Great Zhou Empire's population growth over the past century had been astonishing. Although no statistics had been compiled, Jia Lian vaguely sensed that the Zhou Empire's growth rate over the past hundred years certainly exceeded that of the Qing Dynasty. Thanks to the development beyond the Great Wall and immigration from Southeast Asia, the population was estimated to be at least three or four hundred million now.

According to the latest report, the total number of immigrants from mainland China to Southeast Asia is only about ten million, which is far from enough.

The strong attachment Chinese people have to their hometowns is indeed a significant obstacle to immigration. Unless faced with a natural disaster, it is difficult to persuade people to voluntarily migrate.

During the reign of Emperor Chenghui, the policies on people's livelihood were implemented to a less than satisfactory degree, which made immigration more difficult.

But it doesn't matter, the population growth rate is there, Jia Lian isn't worried at all.

Now, Jia Lian's biggest worry is not that the population is too large, but that the population is too small.

In order to boost their political achievements through immigration, mainland governments are encouraging the buying and selling of people.

Jia Lian was aware of this situation, but all he could do was instruct the Xue family trading company to offer a higher price, making the human traffickers hesitate a bit. After all, every person was valuable if they were successfully delivered to Guangzhou and other places. Currently, the Xue family's focus on maritime immigration wasn't Borneo or Java, but Australia. They had already emigrated over three million people, mostly native immigrants, with about half having purchased their status.

To improve connectivity between coastal areas, construction has begun on the first railway between Guangdong and Guangxi. The railway will start from Guangzhou, detour through Wuzhou and Guilin, and then head towards Changsha.

The railway will eventually be extended to Wuchang, but for now it will be extended to Changsha to attract local investment.

Jia Lian is already planning to establish a stock exchange in Guangzhou to attract investment in railway construction. This is still in the planning stages. Similar plans exist in the Jiangnan region, but there's no rush. After all, the local Jiangnan population is powerful and its local strength is not easily swayed; building a railway there would be too much trouble. They'll wait until the railway reaches Pukou, making the wealthy people of Jiangnan green with envy, before forcing them to submit.

Although it was the Great Zhou Dynasty, Jia Lian did not want a Great Zhou version of the Railway Protection Movement to occur.

This idea is by no means alarmist, but a real crisis. At present, there are some private collusion between the gentry and the government in Jiangnan. They want the railway and they also want the control of the railway.

This is something Jia Lian absolutely cannot accept. Only Jia Lian can do something like this; anyone else can only dream about it!
(End of this chapter)