Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

"Conscripting laborers?"

"What does it mean?"

"They clearly promised a five-year tax exemption, but is the government trying to trick us into coming to the new district to be ripped off?"

After Liu Lishun informed the businessmen in the new district about the conscription of laborers, the businessmen were immediately in an uproar.

They already had little trust in the integrity of the government, and upon hearing this request, they immediately felt that the court was going to slaughter them.

Seeing the excited businessmen, Liu Lishun hurriedly explained to them:

"It's not that the imperial court wants to exploit you, but taxes and corvée labor are not the same thing."

"Previously, we didn't know how to make industry and commerce perform service, so we just levied taxes or converted service into silver. Now the court has finally determined the method of service."

"This method of conscripting laborers is only a trial; it will need to be approved by local councils in the future."

After much persuasion, the emotions of these people were finally calmed down, and the Federation of Industry and Commerce of Suzhou-Songjiang New Area was able to elect representatives to discuss the matter with the government.

As one of the most famous businessmen in the new district, Wu Shirui was naturally chosen as a representative. He asked Liu Lishun:
"Paying taxes and serving in the military are the two major obligations of citizens, and we will naturally not evade our duties."

"But we have already paid the exemption fee. If we collect it again now, wouldn't that be double-dipping in the forced labor?"

Most of the merchants present were former landlords and gentry who had naturally paid exemption fees in their hometowns.

In response, Liu Lishun said:
"This conscription of labor is mainly aimed at legal entities such as enterprises, treating them as entities like citizens."

"The method is to levy taxes on goods from enterprises at the flat price, with a markup not exceeding one-tenth."

"Just think of it as a procurement by the supply and marketing group, similar to forced purchases during wartime."

Upon hearing this, the merchants present immediately understood. Shen Tingyang said:

"Is the imperial court worried that some enterprises would not cooperate, so it is using the guise of corvée labor to force them to purchase?"

Liu Lishun immediately nodded and said:

"exactly!"

"Just like your shipping company, when business is busy, it may not cooperate with the imperial court's transportation."

"Now the imperial court has mandated that a certain amount of transport capacity must be provided to the court for transportation, with profits not exceeding 10%."

"Because the imperial court is overwhelmed with the task, it will authorize the supply and marketing group to compile statistics on the conscription of corvée labor for enterprises. The procurement of the logistics department and the equipment department will also be handled through the supply and marketing group in the future."

"This is also for the benefit of the entire supply and marketing system, to prevent unexpected events from causing the supply and marketing group to go bankrupt."

This explanation resonated with many businessmen, who, as beneficiaries of the supply and marketing system, were naturally worried about the bankruptcy of supply and marketing groups.

Considering that the so-called conscription of laborers was purchased at a fair price, and that they were even given a one-tenth profit, many people no longer felt resistant to it, and even welcomed it.

Wu Shirui then asked:
"How much corvée labor is required for enterprises, and how is it calculated?"

Liu Lishun said:

"It is now roughly determined to be one-tenth of the product, or one month's production capacity."

"However, this applies to industrial enterprises; for commerce and services, it needs to be calculated separately."

"For example, in the shipping industry, it's roughly one-tenth of the capacity or one month of shipping time."

"The overall corvée labor burden shall not exceed the tax rate."

This was a mandatory regulation by the imperial court to prevent excessive conscription of laborers from placing too heavy a burden on enterprises.

Zhu Youjian had a great distrust of the integrity of Ming Dynasty officials. He set a maximum limit for both tax collection and corvée labor, and anyone who exceeded this limit could resist paying taxes.

However, while this method is popular for taxation, it is less desirable for business owners when it comes to conscripting laborers.

Wu Shirui then shouted:

"What does it mean?"

"Does this mean the imperial court will only buy one-tenth of my ships in the future?"

"What about the other ships? Who should I sell them to?"

Representatives from industries such as shipbuilding and textiles have spoken out, expressing their disagreement with this ratio.

They felt that levying one-tenth was far too low, and wished the imperial court would monopolize the sale of their goods.

Some companies also had very good sales and were not very willing to accept the government's forced purchase of one-tenth of their products at a fixed price.

However, there are very few of these enterprises in the new district. The newly built district is mostly comprised of new enterprises, which rarely have traditional sales channels and need to be purchased by the imperial court.

They also voiced their opinions and encouraged representatives of individual businesses to oppose the conscription of laborers.

These small-scale individual businesses operate on a very low profit margin, and the imperial court rarely makes purchases for them. They are also unwilling to sell their goods at a low price or serve the imperial court for a month.

A hair comb maker said:

"Lord Liu, how can someone like me, who combs hair for others, be required to perform corvée labor?"

"Could it be that you're combing hair for government officials for a month? Or that one-tenth of your customers are government officials?"

These words drew laughter from everyone, and Liu Lishun also laughed and said:
"That's possible, but it's not limited to officials."

"Soldiers in engineering battalions and prisoners in jail also need services such as combing hair. We will recruit you at a fair price, and we will discuss the specifics in the future."

"However, the court has always treated individual households preferentially, and has made special provisions for conscripting corvée labor: individual households can pay an exemption fee like farmers to replace corvée labor."

"This exemption fee is the same as the exemption fee for farmers. After paying it, they are exempt from corvée labor."

"The imperial court will not require you to perform corvée labor while you are busy making money."

This statement immediately cheered the self-employed individuals, who felt they were being treated favorably by the imperial court.

Although they have to pay a sum of money, the fact that they are not required to serve in the military is seen as a privilege.

Otherwise, like the artisans of the past, who were forced to serve in the military after working for a period of time, how would they make a living?
Those companies unwilling to serve also began to ponder:
Could we register employees as self-employed individuals and have them pay their own exemption fees, thus shifting the burden of corvée labor to them?

This was something Liu Lishun hadn't anticipated; he was currently answering a question from a grocery store owner.

Regarding how a business like a grocery store should function, Liu Lishun said:

“Your grocery store sells goods. As long as at least one-tenth of the goods sold are purchased from the supply and marketing group, then you have completed your service.”

"After all, the products that the supply and marketing group buys at fair prices are meant to be sold, and you in the sales industry also need to contribute."

This statement caused all the sales personnel present to look worried, while the factory owners cheered.

They were actually worried that the products purchased by the supply and marketing group would not be able to be sold. Now that the sales industry is required to purchase the supplies from the supply and marketing group, they are immediately happy.

With this regulation, they will have no trouble selling one-tenth of their products, and many people even want to increase the percentage.

Wu Shirui then shouted loudly again:
"Master Liu, one-tenth is far too little."

"Let's increase the proportion!"

"I am willing to dedicate all my productive capacity to performing corvée labor for the imperial court."

This request left Liu Lishun speechless. He truly hadn't expected that the merchant who had just resisted corvée labor would now be so eager to perform it.

This was something the imperial court hadn't anticipated, he hesitated:
Do you really think that way?

"The imperial court stipulates that corvée labor should not exceed one-tenth of the total."

Wu Shirui and a group of businessmen shouted:

"One-tenth is too low. We are willing to dedicate all of our companies to corvée labor!"

They asked the supply and marketing group to buy their products and place orders with them.

Unable to make a decision, Liu Lishun could only send his request back to the imperial court.
-
Han Kuang had not expected this to happen. He had actually prepared for the merchants to boycott his service and for troops to suppress them.

This was so as to show the emperor that he was willing to take on responsibilities and was not afraid of offending merchants.

He was truly puzzled by the current stance of business owners in the Suzhou-Songjiang New Area:

"Are the merchants in the Suzhou-Songjiang New Area different from those in other places?"

"Do they really enjoy performing corvée labor that much?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Pu smiled and said:
"Although this was unexpected, it was actually quite reasonable."

"The businessmen in the Suzhou-Songjiang New Area are different from those in other places; most of them are former landlords who have transformed into factory owners."

"For these people, the most important thing is to sell the products and obtain a stable income."

"The imperial court purchased conscripted laborers at a fair price, which was actually helping them solve the problem of finding a market for their laborers."

"The reason why the supply and marketing group's orders were previously snatched up by them was precisely because of this."

As Zhang Pu explained the differences between the Suzhou and Songjiang merchants to Han Kuang, he said:
"In fact, it is much clearer to separate industry and commerce."

"Although industrial and commercial owners are referred to together, sometimes all of them are referred to as businessmen."

"But the demands of factory owners and merchants are actually different. The biggest demand of factory owners is to increase production and sell all the products they produce."

"Those who are resisting corvée labor this time are mainly businessmen; most factory owners welcome the conscription of corvée labor."

"Those products that sell very well, although they complain about being forced to buy, do not object."

"Because they don't know when a crisis will occur."

"This one-tenth mandatory purchase limit is a safety net."

"With this guarantee, they will be able to weather future crises more easily."

These words made Han Kuang thoughtful, and he said:

"So what these Suzhou and Songjiang factory owners are actually demanding is to increase the minimum guaranteed income."

"Should we agree to their offer? The imperial court can control more resources."

Zhang Pu considered the matter carefully and said:
“These people are loyal to the court, and their demands cannot be ignored.”

"However, it is not feasible for the imperial court to purchase all the goods at fair prices. If their sales channels are completely controlled by the imperial court, they may be extorted by corrupt officials, and some enterprises may also abandon production and produce inferior products."

“We can set a ratio, for example, 50%, and stipulate that the other 50% must be sold by them themselves.”

This consideration does indeed make some sense. Just as Han Kuang was about to agree, Cheng Jiming, who was concurrently serving as Minister of Rites, said:
"Although they demanded that the proportion of corvée labor be increased, it was still a contribution to the imperial court."

"His Majesty has repeatedly emphasized the unity of rights and obligations. Since they fulfill more obligations, what rights should be granted to them?"

Zhang Pu hadn't expected this, because he thought these people had volunteered, so he made them serve longer.

However, Cheng Jiming's words do have their merits. If we don't reward these industrialists and businessmen who have served more, how can we encourage them to serve more in the future?
"Should we let them offset future corvée labor obligations, or give them the exemption money we received?"

"But spending money to buy corvée labor doesn't seem to align with the purpose of conscripting corvée labor?"

Bi Ziyan, the Minister of Revenue, pondered this.

Corvée labor was essentially unpaid labor, a form of labor requisition by the imperial court.

Zhang Pu's proposal to collect labor at a fair price already involved costs incurred due to the special nature of industry and commerce, and no official would be willing to spend more money.

This problem was not resolved until it was brought to the imperial court and discussed with the emperor.
-
Looking at the methods for levying corvée labor on industry and commerce devised by Zhang Pu, Han Kuang, and others, Zhu Youjian was quite satisfied with their creativity.

In particular, Zhang Pu's use of corvée labor to forcibly conscript productive and service labor broadened Zhu Youjian's horizons. Even he hadn't imagined that this method could be used to conscript manpower.

Regarding compensation for extra service, Zhu Youjian considered the carbon trading system of later generations.

Many new energy companies have made huge profits by relying on carbon credits.

The same principle applied to corvée labor. Zhu Youjian decided to issue corvée labor points to enterprises that performed more corvée labor, allowing them to sell these points.
"For companies that require more service, substitute service vouchers can be issued."

"These vouchers can be used to offset corvée labor, with each voucher representing one year's worth of corvée labor for one person."

"Enterprises that do not wish to perform corvée labor can purchase substitute corvée labor certificates at the stock exchange and pay the corvée labor to the imperial court."

"Enterprises that serve more can obtain additional benefits through service vouchers. The imperial court can simply issue service vouchers to them without incurring any additional costs."

This suggestion immediately caught the attention of the court officials, who then understood the emperor's intention.

Getting all businesses to serve is actually very difficult. Some industries simply haven't found a way to conscript labor, while others have very complicated and costly methods.

For self-employed individuals with large numbers of employees and diverse occupations, the imperial court specifically stipulated that they could pay a tax exempt from corvée labor, just like farmers. This was the simplest way to collect taxes and avoid financial losses.

However, whether other industries are also allowed to pay exemption fees needs to be discussed on a case-by-case basis.

Now that the substitute service certificate has been issued, things are much simpler.

The imperial court could obtain corvée labor without incurring additional costs.

However, this method still has many problems. The production efficiency of different enterprises varies, and the amount of corvée labor per person per year also varies greatly.

Ultimately, based on the concepts of average labor productivity and per capita output value proposed by Zhu Youjian, the court officials decided to issue service vouchers according to industry.

One-tenth of the productivity of all industrial enterprises was levied, and the use of labor service vouchers was not permitted.

A service fee of one-tenth of the value of goods or services, or a voucher equivalent to one-tenth of the output, is levied on commerce and service industries.

Many issues were resolved during their enthusiastic discussions. The imperial court decided to pilot the program in the Suzhou-Songjiang New Area, with local authorities issuing service vouchers.

Those companies that actively served their quotas were overjoyed. They hadn't expected that exceeding their quotas would bring them benefits.

This made them even more enthusiastic about service. However, in order to prevent them from producing shoddy goods and stuffing them into the supply and marketing groups, the imperial court mandated that private enterprises sell at least half of their products themselves, and that they could have priority in selecting the corvée goods requisitioned by the supply and marketing groups.

Only enterprises completely controlled by the imperial court could exceed this ratio. These enterprises were also eligible for labor service vouchers as a worker benefit.

Workers in these factories could receive a substitute service voucher for each month they worked, which could exempt one family member from military service or be sold.

This led to a slight increase in the attractiveness of state-owned enterprises, and workers received additional benefits.

However, the biggest impact was on private factory owners. Merchants who previously found running a factory arduous were now actively investing in industry in order to obtain labor service vouchers.

They set up factories not to make money, but to obtain service certificates for their other businesses.

The trading of service duty certificates on the stock exchange was also booming, attracting more capital to be invested in industry. (End of Chapter)