Bringing the Railway to Daming

"How much does an ordinary weaver in Master Wu's factory earn in a month?" Liu Kuan asked.

“About two strings of cash,” Master Wu replied, then explained, “Mr. Liu, please don’t think this salary is too low—back when weaving workshops used ordinary looms, a skilled weaver’s monthly salary was only about two strings of cash.”

"Nowadays, factories use steam looms and spinning wheels, so the technical requirements for weavers are not as high as before, but they are still paid nearly two strings of cash a month, which is definitely a generous treatment."

"Moreover, the weavers' accommodation and meals at the factory are free. If you include this part of the cost, as well as the bonuses during the holidays, their monthly salary might exceed three strings of cash."

Upon hearing this, Liu Kuan and Zhu Yuanzhang exchanged a glance.

If a weaver could earn two or three strings of cash a month in the early years of the Hongwu reign, that would indeed be considered a "high salary".

But now it is the third year of Wenlong.

Over the past decade or so, people's living standards have improved significantly, and their consumption levels have naturally increased as well.

Therefore, even though the prices of basic commodities such as rice, meat, coal, and firewood in the Ming Dynasty did not increase much, people still needed to spend a lot of money on food, clothing, housing, and transportation, especially those living in the city.

For example, every three to five days, buy some meat and vegetables so that the children and elderly in the family can have some meat. Or, during holidays or festivals, buy one or two new clothes for the children and the elderly. In addition, there are school supplies and books for the children, as well as other needs for the labor force itself, and so on.

Liu Kuan did not send anyone to conduct a specific investigation, but according to the data he currently has, even for an ordinary citizen family of four, living in major cities such as the capital or Suzhou would probably cost one or two strings of cash a month.

Therefore, the monthly salary that Master Wu paid to ordinary employees was only enough to support a family of four with a little money left over, which was not much.

Wu Yuanwai's Wu Family Rongjin Silk Weaving Factory was already the largest private silk weaving factory in Suzhou. If the treatment of workers was so good, other silk weaving factories probably wouldn't be any better, and might even be worse than Wu's.

Liu Kuan then asked, "With such treatment, are the weavers highly motivated to work?"

"Motivation?" It seemed like he was hearing this word for the first time. After a moment of reaction, Master Wu said, "Excellent, of course it's excellent—Mr. Liu, didn't I say before that this monthly salary is already quite high?"

"Moreover, such weavers are easy to recruit—nowadays, countless young men and women from rural families outside Suzhou are trying every means to work in workshops in the city, and my workshop is their first choice."

"They were selected with great difficulty, so why wouldn't they cherish this opportunity? They are all very enthusiastic about their work."

Liu Kuan was somewhat speechless after hearing this.

He originally thought that since the Ming Dynasty was expanding overseas and was short of manpower, these factories should also have some labor shortages.

But it turned out that this was not the case; instead, the country was still in a stage where there were few factories but many people who wanted to work in them.

This undoubtedly shows that the mindset of the vast majority of ordinary people in the Ming Dynasty has not changed, or rather, they are habitually seeking stability and lack the mentality of pursuing new things and greater benefits.

Zhu Yuanzhang actually thought that a monthly salary of two strings of cash for weavers was quite good. If both husband and wife could earn two strings of cash, it would be enough to support a large family, not to mention that ordinary elderly people also worked to earn income.

He was more concerned about how much profit factory owners like Master Wu made.

He then asked, "How many bolts of silk can Master Wu's silk factory produce in a month, and how much money can it make?"

Although Master Wu guessed that Old Zhu was a retired high-ranking official, he was unwilling to reveal such a business secret, so he laughed it off and said, "Such a large factory can indeed produce a lot of cloth in a month, but the expenses in all aspects are also high."

"Putting aside everything else, just buying raw silk requires a lot of money, and there are also risks involved. Nowadays, some silkworm farmers take advantage of the government's favoritism towards them and deliberately sell inferior products as superior ones, which has caused me to suffer losses several times. I have no choice but to buy raw silk from Japan at a premium."

Silkworm farmers passing off inferior goods as superior ones is just like ordinary people selling other goods as superior ones; it's something that has existed since ancient times and is not surprising.

Normally, in such transactions, the buyer usually has the upper hand and advantage, so very few farmers can benefit from this. In most cases, the farmers end up losing out to the buyer.

For example, if a buyer says the market is bad this year and deliberately lowers the purchase price—farmers often don't have many connections and only know one or two buyers, then they can only believe whatever the buyer says and have no choice but to suffer losses.

The situation described by Master Wu is clearly an exception.

Zhu Yuanzhang then asked, "Why is the government favoring silkworm farmers?"

Upon hearing Old Zhu's inquiry, Master Wu immediately became animated and began to speak at length.

"Master Huang, you may not know this, but the imperial court will send censors to inspect the local areas from time to time to understand the living conditions of the people, such as their income."

"Local officials, in order to achieve political achievements, would force us merchants to buy up the people's goods. For example, they would make me, a silk merchant, buy up the raw silk from a certain silkworm farmer."

"That's fine, but the key question is what kind of guiding price they will give, so that we can't buy it below a certain price."

"Seeing this, the silkworm farmers naturally became emboldened and sold inferior goods as superior ones—if we didn't buy them, some troublemakers might even take us to the government!" After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang and Liu Kuan both felt that the government had done a good job, and Liu Kuan even felt that it had the style of government in later generations.

Since you're capable of running a big business and making a lot of money, you should help the local people get rich too.

Of course, it's definitely wrong for a few silkworm farmers to sell inferior products as superior ones.

Zhu Yuanzhang then said, "Why didn't you tell the government the truth? If the officials are interested in achieving political achievements, they wouldn't let a few silkworm farmers disrupt the policy, would they?"

Master Wu smiled bitterly, "I've told the government, and the relevant authorities will punish the silkworm farmers who sold inferior goods, but this kind of thing can only be a minor punishment. Next time, someone will definitely do it again, which is very annoying."

Liu Kuan then said, "This policy of forcing merchants to purchase certain goods in a certain region and stipulating a minimum price is indeed a bit rigid and not conducive to improving production and economic development."

Upon hearing this, Master Wu's eyes lit up, and he said, "Mr. Liu is indeed a man of great knowledge and experience. What you said is excellent."

Master Wu secretly decided that he would spend some money another day to bribe a few newspapers to report on Liu Kuan's remarks and see if he could force the government to change its policies.

Zhu Yuanzhang then began to ponder.

Afterwards, Liu Kuan and Lao Zhu inspected other places and facilities within Wu's Rongjin Silk Weaving Factory before leaving with a respectful farewell from Master Wu.

However, Liu Kuan did not go far, but instead asked everyone to stop and wait nearby.

"What are you waiting for?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked curiously.

Liu Kuan said, "The silk weaving factory should be changing shifts soon. I asked before, and not all the weavers live in the factory. Some of them live nearby and will leave the factory to go home for meals and rest."

"Only by understanding the specific mental state of these weavers can we know whether they are satisfied with their work and life in the silk factory."

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed and said, "You lad, you really care about these ordinary workers."

Liu Kuan said, “Your Majesty…Father-in-law, as the technology of the Ming Dynasty continues to develop and the level of industrialization improves, there will be more and more workshops, and inevitably more and more workers.”

"It is estimated that in a few years, the working class will grow into a group comparable to the peasantry. If the court wants to maintain long-term stability, it cannot ignore the demands of the working class."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang showed a thoughtful expression.

Because Liu Kuan had calculated the time, he didn't have to wait long before he heard a bell ringing in Wu's factory. Then the silk factory gate opened, and a group of workers came out, most of them heading towards the Suzhou city area.

Liu Kuan did not go forward to ask anything, but simply observed.

The silk factory was mainly made up of female workers, mostly married women in their twenties to forties and fifties, but occasionally you could see a few girls with different hairstyles who were not yet married.

Most of them looked tired, but they were chatting and laughing, seemingly in good spirits.

Seeing this, Liu Kuan knew that Master Wu was not lying—these weavers were indeed quite satisfied with their current treatment.

Although some workers looked worried and seemed troubled for some reason, they were only a minority.

So, after watching for a while, Liu Kuan left with Lao Zhu.

On the way, Zhu Yuanzhang asked with a smile, "What did you just see?"

Liu Kuan said, "The people of our Great Ming are too easily satisfied, or rather, they have too few desires."

Zhu Yuanzhang asked in surprise, "If the people are easily satisfied, they will not cause trouble. In this way, the world will be peaceful and prosperous for a long time. Isn't that good?"

Liu Kuandao said, "If the country only pursues so-called 'long-term stability and security,' then the people's state of mind is naturally good. But if the country wants to develop continuously, or even develop faster and better, then the people's mentality needs to be guided and changed."

“Take those silk factory workers as an example. Some of them could have gained more knowledge through learning, thereby achieving a higher social status, enabling their families to have a better life, and at the same time creating more value for the country.”

"A country will become more and more prosperous and powerful when there are more people willing to create higher value."

Zhu Yuanzhang frowned, pondered for a moment, and felt that Liu Kuan's words made some sense. He then asked, "So how should this problem be solved?"

"Education and propaganda, or rather, further 'enlightening the people'!" (End of Chapter)