Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

"What a peaceful place!"

After the workers' association set a date for certification, Luo Liu returned to the resettlement center and gathered with some people, sighing.

Others shared the same feeling. The prosperity of the new district goes without saying, but what they envied most was that the new district had no city walls, yet no one worried about its safety.

This was completely different from what they had seen before, and it filled them with genuine envy and admiration.

Thinking of the war and chaos he had witnessed along the way, a dark-skinned man said:
"How can the people here be so bold? Aren't they worried about bandits?"

Luo Liu glared at him and said:

"What bandits? They're the rebels!"

"There are indeed fewer rebel armies in the Jiangnan region compared to the Northwest."

"That's probably why they didn't build the city."

"It is almost impossible for the rebel army to attack from the northwest."

This is his guess, and that's part of the reason.

It's not that there are no bandits in the Su-Song area; a few years ago, there were still remnants of Japanese pirates on the island.

However, after the current emperor ascended the throne, he both recruited and attacked the pirates, and used the pacification of Zheng Zhilong and others to wipe out the pirates at sea.

Cao Wenheng, the governor of Jiangnan in the Suzhou-Songjiang area, was also capable. He not only wiped out the Japanese pirates on the islands, but also eliminated the bandits on the land.

This has greatly improved public security in the Suzhou-Songjiang area, and ordinary people no longer need to worry about being robbed.

When the new district was first established, the focus was on building houses to accommodate the hired workers, and the repair of the city walls was completely neglected.

Later, with the planning of various industrial parks, it became even more inconvenient to build a city. The area of ​​one industrial park is comparable to that of a small city.

Ultimately, with the emperor's approval, the Suzhou-Songjiang New Area became a city without walls, with no restrictions on the urban area.

All the land in the new district can be considered urban land. Not a single acre of the high-standard farmland designated by the imperial court for growing grain is located here.

The reason for this is to allow the new district to have open land use so that there is no need to worry about not having a place to build factories.

Therefore, it was difficult to build city walls. Instead, some easily defensible fortified areas were built along the boundaries of various industrial parks.

In addition, the imperial court sent a new army to train soldiers and equipped the garrisons and troops stationed in the Suzhou-Songjiang New Area with new firearms.

Even some members of the workers' guard were equipped with firearms, serving as a reserve force for the new district.

With such a powerful military force, the new district certainly doesn't need to build city walls. What we're more worried about is someone attacking from the sea. Currently, we're planning artillery forts at the river mouth and along the coast, concentrating our forces there.

Luo Liu and the others, who knew nothing about this, naturally couldn't understand it and could only guess according to their own ideas.

"I'm really interested in this bustling place without city walls," the dark-skinned man said.
"The people here are so rich, should we do a heist and rob them and take them to other places?"

"I looked around the streets today, and the banks in the new district are the richest; they're full of silver."

“Every day, large carts transport silver out. If we just rob one cart, we can live off it for the rest of our lives.”

Thinking of the information he had gathered on the streets and the cartloads of silver that had been brought in, he couldn't help but drool and felt that he should snatch it away.

But upon hearing these words, Luo Liu slapped him hard across the face and angrily rebuked him in a low voice:
"Don't you have a brain?"

"I didn't see the security team escorting the silver carts; they were all carrying muskets."

"Have you forgotten how you lost in Shanxi? Now you want to rob them?"

He was severely reprimanded, and his proposal was rejected.

When they were in Shanxi, they joined Wang Jiayin in a righteous uprising, which at one point grew to more than 30,000 people.

Initially, due to the incompetence of Shanxi officials, they won every battle.

However, after Sun Chuanting led the Qin army into Jin, the good days were over.

Ultimately, as they continued to hide and flee, their numbers dwindled.

Luo Liu clearly remembers that the one who dealt them the heaviest blow was Zhou Yuji's new army.

In that battle, tens of thousands of rebel soldiers charged forward, only to be shot down by muskets fired by the enemy.

Just thinking about that battle filled Luo Liu with fear.

If he hadn't been lucky, he might have died there.

It could be said that that battle shattered Luo Liu's courage. After surviving by sheer luck, he disguised himself as a refugee and fled to Yunyang, then traveled to Macheng, and finally arrived here.

Throughout the journey, he frequently pondered what kind of muskets had defeated the rebel army. After several days of conversations with Liu Xinguang and the workers' guard, he finally understood their power:
"Those muskets were more powerful than bows and crossbows, and their rate of fire was even faster."

"Don't even think about robbing unless you can withstand a musket."

“This place is different from others; even the workers’ guards have firearms.”

He gestured to demonstrate the power of the musket, and everyone present who had experienced that battle couldn't help but feel fear.

However, some restless people said:
"They have firearms, so why can't we?"

"If we can seize their firearms, we can have a big fight."

"Sixth Uncle, you're not really going to build houses, are you? You're going to become a bricklayer?"

He looked at Luo Liu with both eyes, waiting for his reply.

Luo Liu knew what these people were thinking. He thought about everything he had seen and heard in the past few days and said:

"Let's get started first, and we'll talk about the rest later."

"Let's settle down first, at least we'll be more familiar with this place."

"If... I mean if, there really is a chance to become a scholar, I think I should give it my all."

Thinking about the announcement he had heard during the day, he felt a strong sense of longing.

The dark-skinned man, puzzled, shouted:

"What use are scholars?"

"Is it food or drink provided?"

"Sixth Uncle, are you going to abandon us?"

Luo Liu, fearing that his loud voice would attract others, lowered his voice and said:

"Keep your voice down, are you afraid people won't hear you?"

"Furthermore, scholars are indeed provided with food and drink. I've never heard anyone from the labor association say that social security is used to support scholars."

"Engineers are scholars, and they are also within the scope of supporting scholars!"

The thought that his skills might lead him to become a scholar filled him with a strange feeling.

During his impoverished days before joining the rebel army, he never thought his skills could bring him wealth.

If this policy were implemented in Shaanxi, why would he need to join any righteous army?
He thought so because of his superb skills, but the others who followed him for thousands of miles did not believe that they could become engineers on their own, or even become senior craftsmen.

Their specialty is fighting, or rather, killing.

But since that's what Luo Liu, the leader, thought, and they were used to following him, they didn't change their minds.

Ultimately, the only decision was to settle down here for the time being.
-
At the same time, Liu Xinguang was reporting the situation of these people to Liu Lishun.

Officials in the Suzhou-Songjiang New Area paid close attention to this group of people from Macheng.

They didn't know if the arrival of these people was an accident or if it meant that a large number of laborers from Huguang would be arriving.

Liu Xinguang, as a high-ranking member of the Laborers Association, stayed with them because he had been given the task of finding out their background: "These people have complicated accents, some from the Hubei and Hunan areas and some from Shaanxi. They seem to be refugees who have fled here."

"It's really puzzling how they ended up together."

Liu Lishun's concern about these people stemmed from his worry about a large influx of people. He frowned and said:
“Macheng and Yunyang are both in Hubei Province, and there are many migrants from Shaanxi in the Yunyang area.”

"Could it be that some refugees went to Macheng to work, but then ran away because they didn't want to be slaves?"

This is very puzzling, and I have come up with what I believe to be a reasonable explanation.

However, Liu Xinguang said:

"Although we haven't figured out their background, this group is not simple."

"They traveled thousands of miles and arrived safely in the new district; they are all resolute people."

"In particular, Luo Liu, who is in charge, is very capable; at least he can lead and manage the team."

He gave a detailed account of the group, claiming that Luo Liu was their leader.

Luo Liu's ability to organize hundreds of people to come to the new district should not be underestimated.

Even if you don't pass the engineer exam, you can at least organize a team to be a contractor and manager.

Liu Lishun nodded and gave the instructions:

"Since this person wants to take the engineer exam, then let's arrange for him to take it."

"It would be best to find someone to train him and try to make him a scholar."

"A laborer who fled from Macheng has become a scholar in the Susong New District. If word gets out, it will attract many people to come here. The New District will no longer lack people."

The plan is to take Luo Liuli as an example and spread the reputation of the Suzhou-Songjiang New Area for its preferential treatment of workers to places like Hubei and Hunan.
-
Liu Xinguang responded verbally, then asked somewhat hesitantly:

"Master Liu, this..."

"If engineers become scholars, how will elections be conducted?"

Liu Lishun didn't realize what was happening at first and was somewhat confused.

Liu Xinguang explained in detail:
“Our new district is an industrial city, and we focus on developing industry. The farmers are all on farms, so they are considered agricultural workers.”

"Therefore, the proportion of workers in the council is 40% of the total number of workers and peasants, the same as that of scholars, with the remaining 20% ​​allocated to commerce and service industries."

"Now that engineers have become scholars, which side will they be considered on in the future?"

Scholars are of course considered scholars. Liu Lishun was about to answer when he suddenly realized that 40% of scholars were civil officials, 20% were military officials, and the remaining 0.5% were missionaries and other scholars.

If engineers are included, their proportion is too small, and they simply cannot compete with civil and military officials.

Moreover, with fewer engineers, the number of scholars among the workers will decrease significantly. Given the rule that only scholars can be elected as members of parliament, it might be impossible to gather enough people.

Thinking about this, Liu Lishun felt that there was a big problem with the newly formulated household registration policy of the imperial court:

"The imperial court divided household registration into scholars, farmers, artisans, merchants, and soldiers, precisely to facilitate the future election of councilors."

Now that the scholar-official class has expanded, what should be done?

With this worry in mind, Liu Lishun did not elaborate to Liu Xinguang, but instead said to him:
"Your question is excellent. You can submit it along with other questions."

"This policy of the imperial court was originally being piloted in Suzhou and Songjiang, and there are some imperfections."

"As the emperor's subjects, we must work together to help the court improve."

He praised Liu Xinguang a few times and told him to talk to the workers more and find out more problems.

Then, he reported the problem back.

A few days later, we received a reply from the Planning and Development Committee:
Scholars with industrial backgrounds and engaged in industry can run for industrial councilors. They are also allowed to run for councilors as scholars, depending on their wishes.

Similarly, those registered as farmers or merchants, who were identified as originating from or still engaged in those industries, could still represent those industries.

Furthermore, the members of parliament were required to distinguish between property owners, permanent property owners, and the poor, ensuring that permanent property owners comprised half of the membership.

In a letter sent by Zhang Pu at the same time, he also mentioned Qian Qianyi's latest suggestion, which was to cultivate scholars into people with stable property to ensure that they would not lose their jobs or go bankrupt.

This went a step further than using social welfare to support clerks, and caused a great deal of controversy in the imperial court.

Most scholars were overjoyed, believing that this was the true way to support scholars, rather than some inexplicable form of social security.

Even the emperor privately expressed that scholars could become property owners and even get rich first.

Then, the wealthy will help the less fortunate, leading more aspiring scholars to become scholars with stable property, ultimately ushering in an era where everyone is a scholar and everyone has stable property.

Under this policy, the imperial court naturally encouraged an increase in the number of scholars.

Scholars from the three major industries of agriculture, industry, commerce and commerce are allowed to run for councilor in their original household registration category as long as they continue to work in that industry.

He also reiterated that only scholars could become members of parliament.

Only when there is a shortage of scholars can reserve scholars and ordinary citizens be elected, but they can only become temporary members of parliament.

The proposal by some to allow prospective scholars to participate in the selection process on the same level as established scholars was rejected by the court without hesitation.

Once the parliament is established, it will be an era in which the emperor and the scholar-officials jointly govern the country.
-
This reply made Liu Lishun understand the reasons why the imperial court formulated this policy.

As a scholar, he naturally supported this, but considering the emperor's earlier statement about the emperor, ministers, and the people governing the country together, he felt that allowing only scholars to be elected as members of parliament was somewhat of a deviation from this principle.

The emperor had previously criticized the Song dynasty emperors for ruling in tandem with scholar-officials. Now, he was ruling in tandem with scholar-officials. What was the difference between this and the Song dynasty?
Where are the true representatives of the people?

He wrote this question in a letter, but ultimately did not send it.

Firstly, using carrier pigeons to deliver messages is relatively expensive, and ordinary messages are not worth using this channel to transmit.

Secondly, after discussing it with Liu Xinguang, he realized that his question was not a problem at all.

“The people’s representatives in Congress are, of course, those who are not officials.”

"Look at me, I'm a scholar now, aren't I? And I even have the treatment of a knight."

"But aren't I a workers' representative?"

"I represent the workers better than most people!"

Speaking these words with righteous indignation, Liu Xinguang believed that even if his identity had changed, he could still represent the workers.

He considered himself still a hired hand, working for the benefit of the workers.

Upon hearing his words, Liu Lishun seemed to understand why the emperor had bestowed noble titles upon the high-ranking members of the Laborers' Association.

This also explains why the emperor insisted on having scholars as councilors, while those who were not scholars could only serve as temporary councilors, and those who passed the examination after three years would be granted the status of public scholar:
"They're trying to bribe them!"

Whether they are representatives of workers, farmers, or businessmen.

"Once they become scholars, they will be more supportive of the court, not to mention there's social security now, and they might even own property."

"Take Liu Xinguang, for example. After acquiring this identity, he became extremely loyal."

"If someone tries to disrupt this situation, he will report it."

Reflecting on Liu Xinguang's actions, he began to understand why the man was so proactive.

This person is a beneficiary of the new policies and is actively protecting the power he has gained.

If the leaders of various industries and associations, and even members of parliament, are all like this, what does the imperial court have to worry about?
Thinking of this, he put his letter away and did not send it out again.

He also praised Liu Xinguang's report on arranging for Luo Liu to learn the trade from the engineers in Xiangshan. He encouraged Liu Xinguang to do a good job and to promote it vigorously after Luo Liu passed the engineer exam, in preparation for welcoming the workers from Huguang.

The Suzhou-Songjiang New Area welcomes outsiders; as long as you work hard here, you can become a citizen of this industrial city. (End of Chapter)