Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 204 Sincerity is the greatest killer move! (Second update)
in the afternoon.

Xia Zhibai walked out of the study.

He had previously taken a look at the situation at the Kyoto Salt Shop and the Coal Factory.

Currently, there are about 300 people in the salt factory and the salt shop. The number of people in the coal factory and the coal movers is about 300, which is nearly half less than the beginning.

He thought about it and called Jing Man and others over.

Xia Zhibai looked at Jing Man and others who were puzzled, and said, "I just checked the situation of the salt factory and the coal factory. I am going to make some new arrangements for the salt factory and the coal factory. From now on, all factories will implement the civil service system."

“That is, compilation.”

“As the name suggests, it means a registered employee.”

“That is, a formal employee.”

Hear the words.

Jing Man and others looked at each other.

Full-time employee?

Aren’t they official employees now?

Xia Zhibai said: "In the past, you were all workers in the Jingdu Salt Shop, and you were indeed formal employees, but most of you were still registered as kitchen households. Now, you have seen the situation in the world. Salt companies have sprung up everywhere. Indeed, many local salt companies are poaching people now."

"Many of our workers in Kyoto Salt Industry have been poached."

"But you can also see that even with half the staff missing, the Kyoto Salt Industry can still operate normally."

"In the past, there were hundreds of thousands of salt farmers in the country, but now a factory with 300 people can supply the entire salt market in Yingtian Prefecture. There are only one or two hundred prefectures in the world, and only a few can enter the salt companies in various places. Most salt farmers will face the risk of unemployment."

“This unemployment is worse than before.”

"Because of the restrictions on household registration, it is basically impossible to find a job again."

“Since the advent of the steam engine, production relations have undergone certain changes.”

"Therefore, continuing to use the previous 'household registration' is disadvantageous to most of you, so I decided to change it and register most of you as public institutions, just like the post stations, but the post stations are funded by the court, and your salaries are borne by the salt companies."

"That's all. There's no need to come up with a new term."

"The biggest benefit of career employment is that it greatly reduces the risk of unemployment."

“We won’t fire employees easily.”

"Even if they work for a salt company for a certain number of years, the company will still provide them with a certain amount of pension after they retire."

Hear the words.

Everyone around was at a loss.

What Xia Zhibai said was too bizarre for them.

But they could also hear that this was a good thing for them.

But Jing Man was puzzled and asked, "Grandmaster, why do you have to do this?"

"Isn't the situation pretty good now?"

"According to what the scholar said, the salt enterprises will need to pay a lot more money and grain in the future."

He couldn't understand why Xia Zhibai did this. Wasn't this just giving money away for free?
They still owe the court 50,000 taels.

The annual interest is 10,000.

Xia Zhibai smiled and nodded, saying, "We originally had about a thousand households, but half of them have been poached in the past six months. This also means that our daily salary has been reduced by half. For the workers who continue to stay, I will give them enough rewards."

"Now that steam engines have been widely deployed throughout the country, most of the stove owners are facing a life-or-death moment."

“It’s just that many of them haven’t realized it yet.”

"If we continue to work alone as we did in the past, we will not be able to compete with machines. Moreover, I did not invent the steam engine to compete with people. I did it to improve productivity and free more people from heavy tasks to do other things."

“But it’s undeniable.”

"The current situation facing the kitchen owner is closely related to me."

"Of course I have to give them an explanation."

"I proposed to set up a career system. First, it is to reward the workers who stayed, so that they can work more attentively under me, without having to covet people from the south of the Yangtze River, nor envy others. Second, it is also to prepare for the future recruitment of southerners."

"The North is short of people."

"It is difficult to attract enough people to move north through ordinary means. We must find new ways and provide enough temptations."

“Not being unemployed is a big temptation.”

"I'm afraid that the kitchen owners in the south have gradually noticed it."

"Gradually, no one wanted the salt they produced, and the imperial court began to abandon them. The south would soon face a salt surplus, and the independent salt farmers would not be able to survive under the oppression of local gentry and local government, and most of them would eventually face unemployment."

"And my promise that they would not lose their jobs was undoubtedly a huge inducement for them."

"Of course it's a lie that there is no unemployment."

"If you really think that you can sit back and relax after joining the salt company, or even just give up, the salt company will pay a certain price and you can still be fired, but it won't be that easy. As long as you don't make mistakes and do the things you are assigned to do well, you won't be fired."

"At the same time, I will increase my salary accordingly."

“Not much, but there will be some.”

Hearing Xia Zhibai's words, the workers around him looked delighted.

Because they have a share as well. Who doesn’t like a pay raise?
Jing Man seemed to be thinking about something, then smiled bitterly and said, "Master, I'm afraid it's still difficult to get people to go north. The conditions in the north are harsh, and there have been wars for a long time. People in the south avoid it. Who would risk their lives to go north? Besides, Master, you can only provide for one person, not a whole family."

Xia Zhibai nodded.

He smiled and said, "You are right."

"Nowadays, the world is based on families, and it is indeed not enough to just attract males to move north."

“We also need to recruit female workers.”

"The textile industry in the south is more developed, so many households have first-hand textile technology. Therefore, taking advantage of the sparse population in the north, textile factories were opened in the local area to absorb these female workers. In this way, both men and women can be absorbed, and the whole family can move north without too many problems."

"My move is to create a clear gap between us and the South."

"The Southern gentry has money."

"They only think about keeping the money for themselves, and won't think about giving a cent to the workers. And from what I've heard, these salt companies in the south are still requisitioning the former stove owners, and they only provide a small amount of money and food to meet their daily lives, and are not willing to pay more for employment."

“This squeeze is too harsh.”

“Not all kitchen owners can accept this.”

"With the obvious differences between the north and the south, as long as the temptation is big enough, there will definitely be people who want to go north."

"And not only the cooks, but also the coal miners, iron smelters, porters, etc. will receive the same treatment."

"This time."

"I want to take away hundreds of thousands of people from the South!"

Listening to Xia Zhibai's bold words, Jing Man couldn't help but smile bitterly.

Hundreds of thousands of people?

This is easier said than done.

And this is a real living person.

Even if these cooks agree to go north, local officials may not be willing to let them go. Population is political achievement, and the loss of such a large population is totally unacceptable to local officials.

Jing Man said: "Master, the local government will not agree to this."

Xia Zhibai said: "They will agree."

"Local governments are not monolithic. Some officials do want to keep the 'unemployed', but there are also officials who want to drive them away. As long as they are used properly, it may not be impossible."

Jing Man thought about it and nodded.

He said, "The bachelor's idea seems to be feasible. Over the past six months, there seems to be some problems in the south. Although the price of salt has dropped a lot, it has also squeezed the living space of the cooks. Many cooks in the south rely on surplus grain to survive."

"You can't be sure of your future. Sooner or later something will happen."

"By attracting people to move north, we can solve the population shortage in the north. Secondly, these people are experienced cooks. With a little guidance, they can get started quickly."

“It really helps us a lot.”

At this moment, Jing Man finally understood why Xia Zhibai cared so much about the textile machine before. He was afraid that he had thought about these things a long time ago and was just telling them these ideas now.

But Jing Man also looked confused.

Why did Xia Zhibai tell them these things?
This is completely unnecessary.

The entire salt industry belongs to Xia Zhibai. Xia Zhibai is clearly able to make decisions on his own. Why does he need to seek their opinions?
Xia Zhibai looked at the other shop assistants.

They have no objection.

Xia Zhibai seemed to see Jing Man's confusion, and said with a smile: "I'm glad you have no objection. I will sort it out and send you the details of the career establishment. You can take a good look at it and see if there are any problems. After a while, I will select some people from the salt enterprise and coal plant to follow me and Governor Zhou to the north."

“While promoting steam engines, we were also responsible for recruiting people in the south.”

Jing Man was stunned.

His expression suddenly became nervous.

This is no small matter. You will have to face a lot of people asking questions. If you don’t do it well, it might turn out badly.

The other shop assistants shrank back even more.

In the past, they only had one kitchen, so how could they have experienced such scenes?
They can't even speak clearly, and their legs tremble when they see officials. If they were asked to explain these things to others, wouldn't they be laughed at?
Seeing that everyone was timid, Xia Zhibai said in a deep voice: "Don't be afraid, just speak out your truest thoughts, what matters is the truth."

“Sincerity is always the greatest killer move.”

Xia Zhibai gave a few words of encouragement.

It would take at least half a year for him to go to the south by himself, and he couldn't afford to waste so much time. He only had three clerks, which was seriously insufficient, not to mention that he had been planning to train them.

After all, the power of one person is too small.

We must rely on the collective.

If he really opened up the northern salt market, he would need a lot of management personnel. He couldn't expect the court to arrange everything for him, could he? In the minds of many literati, doing business still had a derogatory meaning. It was better to train them by themselves than to expect the court to arrange everything for them.

Xia Zhibai said: "Don't think too much. You just need to know that what you are doing is to help other salt farmers get out of their current predicament. If you can do well, I will consider arranging you to be in charge of local salt enterprises in the north."

"People always have to grow."

After hearing the latter words, Jing Man's eyes lit up.

Now Fang Mo is in charge of the iron smelting factory in Beiping. He has been secretly envious of him for a long time. If he can seize this opportunity, he may be able to be like Fang Mo. Thinking of this, Jing Man nodded seriously and said, "I will definitely live up to the bachelor's trust."

Xia Zhibai smiled with satisfaction and returned to the study.

(End of this chapter)