I am the king of the dead

Yu Qian thought for a while and said: "Your Majesty, let me stay and deal with it."

Mass work is another field that Yu Qian is good at. Right now, carpenters have gathered at least a thousand people. This one is not good, but it will cause big trouble, especially some scabs hiding in the craftsmen. These need to be vigilant .

Yu Qian has nearly 30 years of experience in dealing with this kind of matter. He knows what to do and how to say it so that the matter can be settled in a stable manner instead of side effects.

Zhu Qiyu came to the Quanzhou government office and has been waiting for news from all parties.

Zhu Qiyu didn't put down the dossier in his hand until all the subjects had arrived, and said to Yue Zheng, the prefect of Quanzhou, "You, the prefect, have done a good job."

Yue Zheng was a member of Shuntian Mansion, the No. 13 Jinshi in the orthodox [-] years, and a householder of the Fuwei Army in Huo County, Tongzhou. Yue Zheng's father was the commander of the Fuwei Army, Yue Xing, who died early. Yue Zheng lived in Xinglong Temple in Tongzhou as a child.

In the first year of Jingtai, he asked for an order to follow Yaolong into Fujian, and went to Anxi County, Quanzhou Prefecture to serve as the county magistrate. After nine years, he moved to the prefecture of Quanzhou Prefecture.

Yue Zheng is an official, although he is not as Chen Qingtian as Chen Zongqing was in Songjiang Mansion, but he still handles things fairly and is known as a virtuous man.

"Shiguo's salary is a matter of loyalty to the emperor, and I dare not slack off." Yue Zheng hurriedly bowed his head and said.

Zhu Qiyu was happy as soon as he raised his head. The owner of Qipanyuan Wood Factory, a total of five people came to the government office. Everyone was beaten with bruises and swollen cheeks. It's still very ruthless.

Most of the wood factories in Qipanyuan were run by the Hu family in Yongding. There were five brothers in total, and all five brothers were beaten up.

On the craftsman's side were three strong men who stood there like three hills. The leader was Chen Yin, who was from Jinxi, Jiangxi.

"Is the workshop destroyed?" Zhu Qiyu asked.

Yue Zheng looked around, stood up and said, "No."

"Hu Wenhu, tell me, is the workshop damaged?" Zhu Qiyu looked at Wuhu's owner and asked.

Hu Wenhu was the eldest of the five brothers. He stood up and said tremblingly: "No, no. Your Majesty, I have always paid my salary on time and never defaulted on it. Your Majesty, please be aware."

"Today, I went to the door to discuss with a few big leaders, and bring some people, just to make a big impact, there is absolutely no other intention."

Never defaulting on labor remuneration, such a matter of course, has become a kind of gift in Master Hu's mouth.

Zhu Qiyu sneered, paying salary on time, is it a manifestation of Mr. Hu's high morality?

In fact, after the war in Fujian, there were not many strong men at all. When Huang Qing refused to take over, the owners of Songjiang Mansion could shout, if you don't do it, some people will do it!

But the clubs in Fujian can't say that at all.

People are being robbed everywhere, and if you don't pay enough for your labor, the artisans will move away.

"Boss, tell me what happened." Zhu Qiyu looked at Chen Yin.

Chen Yin was a little dull, and opened his mouth and said: "This is not the first time the boss has approached us. The last time we came, we had a quarrel and almost got into a fight."

Chen Yin is indeed not good at words. This first sentence confirmed the reason why Wuhu brought people there. It was because he almost made a move when he failed to agree with the conversation last time. rhetoric.

The scale of clan fighting in Fujian has always been very large, and it is not uncommon for hundreds of people to be involved.

"Go on." Zhu Qiyu nodded and continued to ask.

Chen Yin said honestly: "Now I work day and night, it's better to earn more than my fellow villagers logging on Jilong Island!"

"Over there, the land will be given back after three years of working. Although there is no title deed, it is all good land. All of us plan to go to Jilong Island. There is more money there, or the owner is willing to give more money. "

Chen Yin is not good at expressing, in fact, in his words, there is also the industrial development of Jilong Island.

The industrial structure dominated by log export is the industry with the lowest added value, so Jilong Island is also investing in the construction of a large number of wood factories, and most of these wood factories are official factories. These wood factories are also willing to set up in order to attract craftsmen. Book.

This naturally affected the wood factories in Fujian.

Zhu Qiyu sat up straight, the matter finally came to the critical point of the contradiction, the negotiation of labor salary, he asked with a smile: "How much do you make a year now?"

Chen Yin made a serious calculation and said, "A skilled worker gets [-] big silver coins a year, while an apprentice only gets [-] silver coins a year."

Zhu Qiyu was stunned. Twenty large silver plates a year were twenty imperial silver coins. The salary of ordinary soldiers in the Beijing camp was about the same as this.

Wuhu knelt on the ground, his face swollen like a pig, and he shouted hoarsely: "Your Majesty, if this rises further, we can't do it anymore!"

"Oh? Really? You have to know that lying in front of me is tantamount to deceiving the emperor, come and settle accounts!" Zhu Qiyu immediately showed a playful smile when he heard this.

If you raise your salary again, you can't continue working?

He didn't believe it.

Zhu Qiyu wanted to make an account for him, and he couldn't survive after seeing whether it was a salary increase workshop.

The current focus of Daming is the shipbuilding industry. As the upstream of the shipbuilding industry, if the workers are paid more, the workshop will not be able to survive. Zhu Qiyu 1 don't believe it!

Standing on the tuyere, pigs can also fly.

"Your Majesty, this, this..." Hu Wenhu finally realized that he had met a real emperor, and he became impatient.

Of course, he exaggeratedly described the current situation of the industry, and the well-trained Tiqi led the officials of the Daming Household Department, and it didn't take long to settle the accounts.

Within five years, Yongding Hu's woodworking workshop in Qipanyuan earned half a 23 lanes. This kind of fireworks industry is famous for its expensive, worth about 50 imperial silver coins.

The gross profit margin of the wood workshop is extremely high at about 57%. After the round logs from Jilong Island to Fujian are processed in the carpenter workshop, the supply to various shipyards can earn about half of the profit.

After excluding all costs, the annual net profit margin of Wuhu's Qipanyuan carpenter workshop is as high as 33%, which is the result of standing on top of the trend.

Zhu Qiyu threw the final result in front of Wuhu, and said with a smile: "Hu Wenhu, you are so courageous! Come on, tell me, what do you mean if you raise your salary again, you won't be able to survive?"

"Your Majesty, please forgive me." Only then did Hu Wenhu realize what kind of mistake he had made in his argument.

Under the feudal monarchy, if you tell lies in front of the emperor, and you are exposed, that will touch the justice of injustice. Your Majesty can cut off their whole family for the word of deceiving the emperor.

What is the end of bullying?Zhu Qiyu didn't need to say much, several Tiqi had already held Wuhu down.

Zhu Qiyu waved his hand to signal Tiqi to let go of Hu Wenhu and the others, and said: "Since the salary is paid on time, I will not punish severely. After returning, discuss it carefully and don't fight again. If you can do business, you can do it. If you can't do it, just do it together." Just take two episodes."

"Why is there such a situation?"

"Thank you for your majesty's grace, thank you for your majesty's grace." Hu Wenhu knelt on the ground, crying and kowtowing.

Zhu Qiyu said to Chen Yin, the leader: "In the future, it is time to go on strike. If you pay less, ask for more, which is in line with the law."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." In fact, Chen Yin has been very worried. Their actions have caused the court's dissatisfaction. After all, it involves the supply of timber to the shipyard, but what His Majesty means is to support them to suspend work and suspend business to demand remuneration.

This made Chen Yin's hanging heart finally let go.

Zhu Qiyu did not choose to punish Wuhu severely, because the current labor conflicts in Ming Dynasty mainly focused on whether the labor remuneration could be paid properly.

In order to solve this problem, the Ministry of Household Affairs came up with a plan to save labor remuneration in advance, following the example of the Ming Dynasty Beijing Camp, but Zhu Qiyu did not agree.

In this case, Zhu Qiyu did not punish anyone.

Doesn't this mean that the excitement is in vain?

That's not the case. If you make an action, trillions of people will look up to it and think it will be done.

After watching Zhu Qiyu's lively trip, he confirmed two routines.

The first owner who earnestly fulfills the contract and pays labor remuneration will not be embarrassing;

The second rule is that the craftsmen of Ming Dynasty united to suspend work and business, which is in line with the law.

He was drawing a line, drawing two basic bottom lines in labor relations.

Cannot fail to pay, craftsmen can go on strike.

The trade union is an organization of craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty. This kind of organization exists widely among the people. The famous craftsmen among the craftsmen are called big bosses. Strikes are a means of struggle, and it is also an extremely gentle means of struggle.

The artisan city is to ensure that workers do not have to pay reproduction costs; while the trade union organizes artisans to fight for labor remuneration in a more orderly manner.

There are many methods of struggle, and work stoppage is the most gentle method. If even work stoppage is not allowed, the means of struggle will become more intense and disorderly.

This is also what Zhu Qiyu, as the emperor, does not want to see.This runs counter to his goal of making Daming great again.

Zhu Qiyu returned to the imperial study in Bieyuan, Yu Qian has been thinking about why His Majesty is uncharacteristically.

After confirming that the five Hu brothers of the Hu family in Yongding were deceiving the emperor, he thought that the Hu family in Dingxing would be ransacked and wiped out, but obviously His Majesty did not do that.

This made Yu Qian a little confused. According to His Majesty's ruthlessness in the past, it is really rare for the Hu family to be able to keep his life and family property.

Zhu Qiyu sat on the soft rattan chair, looked at the expression on Yu Qian's face, and said with a smile: "Hu Wenhu didn't do anything, when they went to talk to the big guys for the first time, they quarreled, and they took someone to go there for the second time. , and was beaten."

"I went to check the accounts today, and I also visited Tiqi. Hu Wenhu pays his salary regularly every month. In the past five years, he has never been in arrears."

"Although most of the reasons are due to the special labor-capital relations in Fujian, the Hu family can be regarded as the conscientious one among the bustle I have watched over the years."

Zhu Qiyu is not a murderous maniac, nor is he a bloody massacre. As the emperor, his main duty is to reconcile and balance the contradictions between various classes.

Since the boss was able to pay labor remuneration in a law-abiding manner in this era of wage arrears, Zhu Qiyu didn't need to be too strict, because with one sentence, Hu's family was ransacked and wiped out.

He continued: "The monarchs and ministers of the Yuan Dynasty indulged in leisure and pleasure until they perished. The loss lies in the indulgence and leniency. It is roughly the way of a sage king. It is lenient and restrained. It is not lenient to abandon it. It is simple but restrained. If it is moderate, there will be no harm."

This passage is a dialogue between Gengzi in the first month of the second year of Hongwu and Emperor Gao of the Ming Dynasty Yu Yuan’s old minister Ma Yi in the teachings of Ming Taizu. , nor blindly indulge in leniency.

Yu Qian still looked at His Majesty in confusion and said: "I am still confused, will Your Majesty allow the craftsmen to suspend work?"

The suspension of work and business will inevitably affect the normal production of several major shipyards in Daming, and even affect the entire industry chain.

Today's suspension of work and business is still short. If it takes a little longer, the consequences will be unimaginable, and it will even affect the launching of the Daming Navy's ships.

Zhu Qiyu thought for a while and said: "The formation of the craftsman class is by no means achieved overnight. We need to encourage the birth of this class, and the means of encouragement is to allow them to have gentle and spontaneous means of struggle."

"The suspension of work and business is the most gentle means."

Only then did Yu Qian suddenly realize that he bowed his head and said, "Your Majesty is wise."

What method is not gentle?

At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, natural disasters and man-made disasters caused the people to live in dire straits. In April of the 11th year of Zhengzheng, the imperial court forced the people to repair the Yellow River breach.

When migrant workers were digging the river, they found a one-eyed stone man. At that time, there was a folk saying: "The Mo Dao stone man has one eye, and the Yellow River is stirred up by the world."

If craftsmen or peasants are not allowed to use mild strikes to express their interests, then the peasants can only use the most drastic means to express their interests.

For Dayu to control the water, blocking is worse than dredging. If he is not willing to let the conflict between labor and capital be released and eased by gentle means, then he will build a barrier lake. When the day of the breach, it will be unstoppable.

Chapter 751 Aristocratic craftsmen?There is such a good thing? !

Yu Qian has always been firm about the fact that His Majesty is a saint.

Yu Qian also highly agrees and supports the political wisdom that blocking is worse than sparse.

But some problems are still on the table, and they have to be faced, that is, what should Daming do in the future.

"Yu Shaobao is still worried." Zhu Qiyu signaled Xing'an to serve two cups of good tea, and wanted to break this matter up and discuss it.

The more you argue, the clearer you are.

Zhu Qiyu thought about it seriously, and he said with a smile: "Yu Shaobao's worry, I think the first one is that the craftsmen will gradually become nobles, right?"

"Yes." Yu Qian nodded. He was quite worried about this. He sat up straight, leaned forward halfway, and said with piercing eyes: "In fact, craftsmen such as Shijing Factory and Bingzhan Bureau, especially those with The craftsmen at the top of the craftsmen have become nobles."

"They are literate, have a favorable economic and social status, and usually act as a political force to ease labor-capital conflicts."

The first characteristic of the nobility is that it is hereditary, with the world certificate in hand, and the descendants are supported by the emperor's favor and the people; secondly, they have privileges such as judiciary, taxation, corvee, etc.; People respectfully call him a master.

The problem of craftsmen and aristocrats mentioned by Yu Qian is real.

The craftsman class itself is not a homogeneous and homogeneous whole, but is composed of many groups of different nature and different interests, which leads to differences in economic and social status.

Craftsmen in Ming Dynasty can be roughly divided into two types, one is skilled workers and the other is unskilled workers.

The work of skilled workers is irreplaceable, with low mobility, high professionalism, relatively high technical requirements, a good life, and even participation in some political activities.

The more typical ones are the silver workers of the Bingzhan Bureau, the steel workers of the Shijing Factory, the gunpowder workers of the Gunpowder Bureau, the engravers of the Sanjing Factory, the Xiu Niang of the Weaving Bureau, the carpenters of the Qipanyuan, and so on.

The reason why the craftsmen of Qipanyuan dare to bargain with the owners is that they are irreplaceable. They can also eat enough food everywhere, and even eat more, so they can bargain.

The jobs of non-skilled workers have high substitution, high mobility, low professionalism, and low technical requirements. Their lives are difficult, and they only care about their own basic necessities of life. Because of the loss of land, they do not even have the most basic living security.

For example, the loading and unloading workers at the wharf, the coal mine company's desperate coal workers, the trackers of water transport tugboats, the carters pulling goods, and the civilian laborers who dig rivers and ditches, etc. Liu Qi that Zhu Qiyu met was a typical unskilled worker. And Xu Siqi in the Liaodong factory is a typical skilled worker.

Zhu Qiyu shook his head and said: "The aristocraticization of craftsmen is foreseeable, even an inevitable trend. In my opinion, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages."

"Let's put aside the fact that craftsmen are aristocratic for the time being, and consider it from other aspects."

"From a political point of view, scholars, farmers, businessmen, and people are the pillars of the country. From the earliest official system, the guest minister system, the recommendation system, the nine-rank system, and the imperial examination system, the controllers of power are constantly descending. Craftsmen The power holders born in the past have always been absent in the Central Plains dynasties."

To make up for shortcomings, for example, after Shi Pu, the Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry, claimed to be sick, Zhu Qiyu arranged for Wang Qian, who was a craftsman, to fill in the position of Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry.

The reason for this absence can really be traced back to the struggle between Mohism and Confucianism.

"From a military point of view, artisans are undoubtedly the best reserves. They have both strength and organization, and they are born law-abiding. Artisans who do not follow the rules are killed or injured in production accidents during production. Now, it is equivalent to the son of a good family in the Qin, Han, Sui and Tang dynasties."

"From an economic point of view, internally, laborers are the largest consumers, and the so-called aristocratization, from the point of view of the domestic market, they are active, active, and protracted consumers, and are the basis for vast and heavy domestic demand. plate."

"Externally, in order to maintain the interests of craftsmen after the aristocraticization, the entire Ming Dynasty needs to obtain enough resources from the lands of Liuhe and Bahuang to meet the interests of craftsmen. If they cannot meet the interests of craftsmen, they will be deeply involved in conflicts and cannot extricate themselves."

"Judging from the strike at the Qipanyuan wood factory this time, the craftsmen are not easy to deal with."