The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 205 The most reliable guarantee is value

The leaders of various gangs, associations and industries in Yingtianfu City gathered together on the Chaoyang Gate city wall.

The labor boss explained the process of the previous negotiations and exchanges with the King of Wu, and showed the others the letter that the King of Wu wrote to the old emperor.

Then a group of people started discussing with different expressions and reactions.

"This letter was written a month ago? The King of Wu... actually took the initiative to suggest paying the workers?"

"Your Highness, King Wu, do you think that the court should be neutral? Should it stand between the workers and the employers? Should it not favor either side?"

"Those bosses, shopkeepers, and workers all said that the King of Wu was a living saint, Lu Ban. I used to think they were just bragging, but now it seems to be true."

"Ah... is this all true? Can the King of Wu really be trusted?"

"The King of Wu should really be willing to negotiate with us. If he is unwilling to give us this chance to survive, we can actually attack directly."

"King Wu's rocket launcher is very powerful..."

"What if the King of Wu changes his mind after we surrender?"

"We can't just stay like this forever. We can't hold on forever, and we can't break through the Forbidden City."

"The Forbidden City cannot be breached, so the emperor is still here... Will we be given a list in the future?"

"Is the emperor really willing to pardon us? Will the imperial edict of pardon be useful?"

Everyone was indeed tempted, but they still couldn't make up their minds. They couldn't completely trust the King of Wu, but they couldn't find any other way out now.

After debating for a long time, they decided to send someone out to talk to the King of Wu directly to see what guarantees he could give.

First, he took the initiative to shout on the wall and agreed to meet with the Wu State's staff outside the city.

Then the leader of the laborers came as a representative, accompanied by the leader of the dyeing workers, and the two of them went down from the city wall to the ground in a hanging basket.

The two men slowly left the city wall with extreme caution and carefully approached the shield fortress where the Wu state staff was speaking.

When passing by the ground that had been bombed by rockets and grenades, the two men took a look at the large pits left there and couldn't help but gasp.

The two slowly approached the side of the Wu State Hanhua staff team, and kept a distance of more than ten meters to communicate with the Wu State staff and the shouting soldier:
"Sir, we are the representatives of the workers in the city. We hope to meet His Royal Highness the King of Wu directly and hope to get a direct guarantee from His Royal Highness the King of Wu..."

The Wu State staff officer in charge of the call had already received Zhu Jianxuan's instructions and directly agreed to their request:

"The king wants to see you too, please follow me."

The group slowly moved away from the city wall along the road, keeping watch on each other and returning to the Xiaolingwei garrison.

At the entrance of the lobby of the Xiaolingwei garrison office, the guard officer of King Wu stepped forward and checked the belongings of the two worker representatives.

Let them put all their weapons on the platform outside the door, and then let them in to see His Royal Highness the King of Wu of the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Jianxuan did not sit behind the chief officer's desk, nor did he act as if he was judging these workers.

Instead, he stood in front of the desk, a little further back in the middle of the lobby.

In the eyes of other ordinary people, Zhu Jianxuan's status as a prince and a royal family is definitely the most important, a noble status that is incomparable in the world except for the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

But Zhu Jianxuan himself knows that his more important identity is the representative of industrialization.

My current posture is not like a prince of a feudal dynasty meeting with commoners, but a representative of factory owners meeting with representatives of workers.

Because workers and factory owners are naturally antagonistic, shrewd factory owners will instead adopt a friendly attitude to eliminate the workers' confrontational tendencies.

Just like the landlords in classical times, they usually created an image of themselves as kind-hearted people.

In Zhu Jianxuan's previous life, factory owners had to slowly change their stance and start various charitable activities amid the workers' continued confrontation.

In fact, it is just the superficial efforts of the ancient landlords who were "kind-hearted and couldn't bear to see others suffer."

Using superficial efforts to cover up fundamental conflicts of interest.

Zhu Jianxuan is now doing it both superficially and in reality. He wants to reconcile the conflicts between workers and factory owners during the era of industrial construction so that they can unite against the outside world.

Fight together against feudal lords and foreign forces.

Zhu Jianxuan was accompanied by his secretary Fei Chun, and several Wu guards stood on both sides of the lobby.

The two big boss representatives walked in nervously, and heard the staff officer who followed them introduce to them that the young man standing in the middle of the hall was the King of Wu.

The two bosses were obviously stunned. The young man was indeed wearing the dragon robe of the prince's group, but he didn't look like an official at all.

But at the same time, he was unlike anyone they had ever met, not like the boss, the shopkeeper, or the accountant, and he was completely different from the storytellers and the occasional scholar they met.

This King of Wu was as energetic as those scholars, but he also had a peculiar sense of friendliness that scholars did not have.

Although these people who serve as representatives and bosses in workers' gangs, associations, and industries have very limited cultural levels, they are also shrewd ones among the grassroots workers.

They can clearly feel the attitude of the people they are facing towards them.

The King of Wu looked at the two of them as if he were his relatives and friends, which was totally unlike the attitude of a prince or noble meeting a commoner.

This situation made the two worker leaders nervous and curious. They bowed and saluted awkwardly:
"See His Highness King Wu."

Zhu Jianxuan stood in the middle of the lobby, looking at the two heads of the workers' guild who were brought in by the staff officer.

Neither of them looked very strong, and they didn't look like professional bodybuilders. Instead, they looked more like construction workers or movers.

He was wearing coarse cotton trousers and a cotton jacket, with a coarse cloth short coat on the outside.

They all have their hair tied into a bun on top of their heads and then wrapped with a piece of cloth to prevent it from spreading and getting in the way.

Both of their faces were dark red, with wrinkles all over their faces. They looked weathered and it was impossible to tell their specific ages.

But it seems that he is a working worker instead of a thug hanging around in the streets.

Zhu Jianxuan also bowed to the two of them:
"Thank you for your hard work, let's get down to business. You all know the conditions I asked the staff to shout out, as well as the letter I wrote to my father, right?

"Can you and the rest of the city accept those terms?"

Zhu Jianxuan's words "thank you for your hard work" surprised the two workers' guild bosses again.

A prince, a prince, a king, actually spoke such words to a worker like himself in a very sincere manner?

Instead of banging the gavel and demanding me to surrender in a ferocious manner.

The laborer boss reacted first:
“We all know, and thanks to the king’s kindness, we can accept those conditions.

“But these things were given by you, not His Majesty and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince in Zijin City.

"So the brothers are worried about changes in the future... We can't rest assured."

Zhu Jianxuan knew that no matter what he did, the other party would never be completely reassured, so he could only make them as reassured as possible:
"I can draw up a document, write down all the conditions I proposed, sign it and seal it for you to keep.

“I will ask His Majesty the Emperor to issue an imperial edict to announce it to the world, and the imperial edict can also be given to you.

"Today is New Year's Eve. I hope to be reunited with my father and brother. Please make a decision as soon as possible.

“I can also order the defenders to lift the blockade of the outer city walls and gates, and let the workers in the city drop their weapons and go home.

“The ordinary workers from various guilds, the officials and soldiers of the imperial court did not recognize them at all, and after leaving the scene today, they had no idea who was who.

“The workers can be allowed to walk slowly, while the workers behind them continue to supervise on the city wall to make sure the army does not arrest the workers.

“As for you leaders, you can either blend in with the common workers and leave, or emigrate overseas by ship, or stay in the court and become an official.

“I intend to suggest that His Majesty the Emperor establish a number of civilian positions to allow workers from all walks of life to participate and supervise the actions of factory owners.

“Make sure the instructions and policies issued by the imperial court can be truly implemented in each factory, and whether the owners have tried to circumvent them.

"For example, the minimum wage table that is about to be implemented will require workers to check whether the employers have paid the full amount. "And are there any employers, shopkeepers, managers, and scholars who are secretly slandering the court?"

After listening to Zhu Jianxuan's previous assurances, the two workers' guild leaders further increased their trust in Zhu Jianxuan, the King of Wu.

Ordinary workers who participated in the uprising could indeed simply drop their weapons and disperse. The imperial court had no registration in this regard, and no one knew who participated in the uprising during these days.

However, the bosses of the various guilds, who were now the de facto organizers of the riot, had certainly been remembered by the official soldiers and officers, and they could not simply disappear.

Zhu Jianxuan gave several options: leaving on their own or emigrating overseas, but neither could avoid direct contact with court officials.

You might be arrested on the way to the dock after leaving the city wall, you might be arrested after boarding the ship, and you might be arrested again when you are overseas. In short, there is no absolutely safe plan.

It was not until Zhu Jianxuan talked about the final direction, asking the leaders of the workers' guild to go directly to the government office, that they were all stunned:
"The king wants us to work as officials in the government? Is this an imperial decree?"

"Let us supervise the owners for you? Of course we can do that..."

Zhu Jianxuan gave a very positive reply:

"Yes, I plan to turn the guilds organized by you workers into official organizations registered with the imperial court.

“I plan to set up a special government office to manage the affairs of all workers’ guilds, which can be called a trade union.

“The imperial court will allocate a certain amount of funds to your guilds through the Trade Union Office as salaries for your managers.

“Ordinary members of your guild in the afternoon will continue to work as workers in the factory and regularly report the situation of the factory and workers to the court through the guild’s internal channels.

"Which employers have withheld workers' wages, which employers have refused to carry out the court's orders, and which employers have been disrespectful to the court.

“You can all obtain evidence privately and hand it over to the court through the union.

“If workers encounter any difficulties, they can also report to the court through the trade union and seek help from the court.

“The government summoned workers and employers to the trade union office to discuss how to solve the problem face to face, instead of going to the streets to fight openly.”

Both leaders of the workers' guild believed that Zhu Jianxuan was serious.

Because Zhu Jianxuan spoke carefully enough and considered it comprehensively enough.

They felt that this was the Zhao'an, but the form was slightly different from what was described in the opera.

It was not a call for amnesty for the bandits who occupied the mountains and acted as kings, but a call for amnesty for the leaders of the urban industry gangs.

Although they would certainly not be able to become proper officials, the jobs they would get would certainly be low-ranking ones.

However, this identity, which they felt was not worthy of being shown in public, just suited them and made them believe that they were useful to the court and the King of Wu.

If the King of Wu told them to be county magistrates or generals, they would not dare to believe it.

Collecting intelligence through workers and reporting to the court or King Wu was not a serious job in their eyes.

But as long as they are really useful, they will not be disposed of casually.

You can even take this opportunity to rise to prominence.

According to previous knowledge, they were completely useless to the imperial court and were nothing more than rebel leaders.

According to the typical practice of the imperial court in the legend, whether you remember it or not, they would force their followers to surrender and then kill the main culprits.

Even if the court temporarily accepted their conditions because of the hostages and concerns, they could retaliate at any time afterwards.

So no matter how good Zhu Jianxuan's words were or how many promises he made before, they couldn't feel at ease.

But now they finally discovered that they were useful to the imperial court and to His Royal Highness the King of Wu.

The most reliable security guarantee in human society is actually to demonstrate the value of the parties involved.

Especially since this matter was organized by the King of Wu, I will be the King of Wu's man in the future, not the court or the prince's man.

Even if the imperial court changes its mind in the future, they can escape to the State of Wu.

So after Zhu Jianxuan explained the union's ideas in detail, they both finally felt relieved.

At the same time, the mentality of the two men also changed. They quickly put themselves in the position of servants and subordinates and became more respectful to Zhu Jianxuan.
The two of them basically did not hesitate any longer, and both excitedly cupped their hands and said:

"I am willing to serve the king."

Zhu Jianxuan smiled and nodded:

“Okay, I will arrange for someone to go into the city and meet up with your representatives to persuade representatives from other industries.

"Then we will go to the palace together to see my father, the Emperor, and ask him to issue an imperial decree of pardon.

"We will try to resolve the matter before tonight and let the ordinary workers go home as soon as possible so that we can all go home and celebrate the New Year."

After Zhu Jianxuan said this, he turned back to the desk and wrote the documents he had promised to write on the spot.

Then he wrote a proposal to his father, mainly about how to deal with the workers in the city, including the demand for amnesty for the workers and the idea of ​​establishing a trade union.

At the same time, the clerk of the Secretariat was asked to draft a batch of appointment letters on the spot with blank names, including "Yingtian Prefecture Trade Union Manager" and "Yingtian Prefecture Trade Union Secretary".

The guild bosses of various industries now serve as union managers, all of whom are at the ninth rank and receive a monthly salary of thirty silver dollars.

The small leaders who participated in the action and the foremen who led a group of people could be appointed as union secretaries, with a low rank and a monthly salary of ten silver dollars.

The names of the two bosses on the scene were filled in directly, and the name spaces on the appointment letters of others were left blank, so that they could take them back and fill in their names with the bosses of other workers' guilds.

After receiving the appointment letter for changing their status, the attitudes of the two workers' guild leaders have completely changed.

They bent their bodies slightly, stood beside the desk where Zhu Jianxuan was writing, and very carefully took the appointment letter handed over by Fei Chun.

Zhu Jianxuan gave a few instructions:
“These appointments are only temporary. Once the affairs in the city are resolved and the court opens after the New Year, we will issue you a formal document.

“And this ninth rank is just the beginning. If you do well and make more contributions in the future, you will continue to be promoted.

"Even if you don't have any special contributions, as long as you work diligently, you will be promoted according to the rules when your years of experience are up."

The two guild bosses excitedly saluted and said:
"Thank you for your grace, my king. Write about your grace."

Zhu Jianxuan was quite satisfied and handed the letter to his father to Fei Chun beside him:
"Mr. Fei, take a few people with you and go into the city with these two stewards to meet the emperor and convince him to accept my suggestion."

Zhu Jianxuan has already accepted these guild leaders, so this mission is basically risk-free.

Even if there are risks, Fei Chun will not shirk:

"The minister obeys the order."

Fei Chun made some preparations, took the letter Zhu Jianxuan wrote to the emperor, and said goodbye to Zhu Jianxuan together with the two temporary managers of the Yingtian Prefecture Trade Union.

He left Xiaolingwei under the escort of a team of soldiers and went to Yingtianfu City to negotiate with the imperial palace.

In Zhu Jianxuan's view, these naturally formed workers' organizations in the Ming Dynasty had strong traditional gang characteristics, and most of them were not very clean folk organizations.

They will continue to do so for a long time until they experience an economic crisis and a large number of elites are integrated into the theory building based on their tests.

The primitive workers' organizations in this state can be easily recruited by powerful rulers like themselves and used for their own purposes.

The industrialization of the Ming Dynasty will continue to deepen and expand, and the number of Ming Dynasty workers will become larger and more concentrated.

There will certainly be more and more spontaneous or organized workers' movements; this is inevitable.

Rather than letting things take their own course and treating the symptoms without addressing the root causes, it is better to intervene early.

Prepare a controllable platform in advance, actively pull them to this platform, and let them solve the problem within the rules.

Avoid completely blocking the channels of communication between the upper and lower classes, forcing them to continue to spontaneously take the path of violent confrontation.

(End of this chapter)