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Section 22 The Usefulness of the British
At this point, everyone on the executive committee understood a little bit and read the full text.
"What dirty work?" Zhan Wuya asked.
"It's just what the British are good at." Ma Jia said, "I don't agree with it. It's not cost-effective."
"Do we want them to sell opium? There are a lot of them in India. For medicinal purposes, the little goods shipped by Li Huamei will be enough." Ma Qianzhu objected, "Ade, you also want to engage in drug trafficking. Is this the case?" A double-edged sword, cutting others and cutting yourself."
"It's not drug trafficking, it's slave trafficking. The British are doing a really happy thing," Wu De said.
"We need to introduce Uncle Black." Zhan Wuya shook his head, "I don't want an African tribe to appear on the land of China in the future. Uncle Black's racial characteristics are so obvious that it will be difficult for him to be naturalized after several generations. We have to use slaves. I would rather have Japan and Korea, at least they will be easily assimilated in the future."
"Who said we wanted Uncle Hei?" Wu De said, "He is a native of Southeast Asia."
"No, not good." Ma Jia objected, "The hard work and physical strength of the Southeast Asian natives are not good. Besides, there are so many refugees on the mainland, why don't we spend more efforts to recruit them instead of traveling thousands of miles to use Southeast Asian natives? "
"Isn't it enough to use it in Tiandu and Shilu? In the future, we will also need Taiwan." Wu De said implicitly, "Besides, hard work is not an innate gene, it is entirely an acquired factor. After being brought to the mine, I was convinced I want to see who can still endure hardships and stand hard work.”
"The cost of capturing slaves and trafficking is very high and the price will not be low. Do we have the ability to pay?"
Wu De said: "Capture and trafficking are matters of the British, we don't care. As for payment, pay with sugar and tea. In fact, you can also use silver, but we don't have much stock."
"What do we need slaves for?" Ma Jia asked doubtfully. "When it comes to labor efficiency, slaves are far less useful than free workers. Moreover, after the death rate is too high, we still have to keep buying, and the ongoing cost is not necessarily less than labor."
"When used as consumables, slaves are obviously better than laborers." Wu De said, "Have you read the report sent by Sanya?"
Ma Jia said: "The incident has been solved. Carrots and sticks, everything is done - by the way, I don't agree with the killing order. In the long run, it is inappropriate. After the development and civil construction is completed, I propose to set up a formal one in Sanya." The court, not Wang Luobin, is talking about the Constitution and kills whoever says it. The basic rights of the indigenous people still need to be guaranteed. In addition, the report given to us by the General Administration of Political Security also said: The current emotional state of the labor force is blue. Introducing slaves no need."
"This commotion is just the beginning." Wu De said, "The independent development of the land has not yet entered the mining stage, and the mortality rate will rise again. Heavy manual labor, subtropical climate, and mountains and forests, these three combined, the death rate will increase." More people will die than during a malaria outbreak. Mining development in this environment is a waste of human lives."
"Manpower losses are acceptable as long as they are controlled within a certain range." Ma Qianxu flipped through his notebook, "I remember you submitted a plan for personnel losses and replenishment."
"Yes, but people have tempers, not just a number in a computer game." Wu De said, "Suppression is okay, but have you ever thought about how much time and material resources we have to spend on these people if no one is recruited until they can be put into use? They can be trained as industrial workers or soldiers - it is not worth using them in low-skilled manual labor like mining. It would be better to use slaves."
Wu De elaborated on his idea. The workers already in Sanya will be gradually trained. Some will become skilled workers and managers in the mines, and some will gradually be enriched in Sanya's industrial and agricultural enterprises. Let the most difficult and dangerous mining work be done by slaves in South Asia.
"This has two advantages. The first is to firmly control the labor in our hands. The labor team will become the basis of our rule in Sanya, rather than a potential stability maintenance group. Everyone, when we first prepared the Sanya Development Plan , is to prepare workers to form militias as a military supplement to the Sanya base. If a few more labor riots break out, Wang Luobin may not have the courage to let them serve as militia, but will have to send more troops to Lingao to maintain rule. The second is Avoid the energy consumed by constantly transporting population to Sanya. Let the British transport slaves directly to Sanya. We only need to transport enough sugar and other trade goods to Sanya. It will start with the slave trade and then gradually extend to other trades. The purpose is to attract foreigners to trade.”
This theory moved the minds of the executive committee members. However, Ma Jia still disagrees. Deep down, he is opposed to any form of slavery - he feels that this is going backwards.
"I don't think it means much. If there are more slaves, the pressure to maintain stability will not be less."
"If it is to maintain the stability of labor, much more energy will be spent. I have said: the cost of training a labor is much higher than buying a slave, and it is a pity to be used as a consumable. Secondly, labor has received military training and is organized and disciplined. They are much stronger than slaves, and the army must be used to suppress them; finally, the laborers and the soldiers in the army are compatriots, speak the same language, and may be fellow villagers - psychological factors must be taken into consideration. The slaves are natives of Nanyang, and once they are dispatched The army will not hesitate in taking action."
Wen Desi coughed: "I hope comrades can look at the problem from an overall perspective. Ade said a lot, but I think there is one thing he did not realize. Do we really need these slaves to mine and use slaves in the mine? Another benefit of the tough mines is the reduction of space. This will make room for future immigrants.”
Ma Jia gave in. He could see that the executive committee members were very interested in Wu De's proposal, so he had to settle for the next best thing: "I abstain from voting on this issue, but I am opposed to the full restoration of slavery."
"This issue will be decided by the Senate." Wen Desi said, "Let's vote."
After Liu San made some perfunctory remarks about Yang Shixiang's suggestion of recruiting people into the army - not to mention he wasn't interested, even if he was interested it was not up to him. Let the Senate consider this matter.
He found another topic and talked with Yang Shixiang about the "Ming Watsons Pharmacy Chain" that they had talked about last time. Yang Shixiang is very interested in this matter, but he is a little worried about setting up sites widely on the mainland.
First, they are afraid that the current situation will be unstable. The current situation in Ming Dynasty does not look like a peaceful and prosperous age - if there is a riot, not to mention making money, even the capital cannot be recovered; secondly, Semicolon Pharmacy is not easy to manage, especially Chinese patent medicines. The sales are not as good as the decoction pieces, and the quality of the pills cannot be seen. What I am most afraid of is that the manager of Semicolon will replace the products with peach paste and pass it off as a good product.
"Don't be afraid of this. The chaos is now in the north and west." Liu San had already negotiated with Li Mei in the office of the Ministry of Commerce, focusing on developing the Jiangnan market. Before the idiotic hair-cutting order was issued, the Jiangnan region was still a relatively stable and prosperous area during the entire Chongzhen Dynasty until the early Shunzhi 20 years. Of course, he couldn't say this to Yang Shixiang. He had to say: Jiangnan is a land of plenty and has always been a place of peace and happiness. There will be no large-scale war.
This is actually a very unfounded statement, but Jiangnan has always been a peaceful place in history, and it is a fact that the chaos in the world rarely affects it.
"As for things like shoddy goods, we can find ways to solve them. We can't give up because of choking." Liu San went on to point out that this time Li Luoyuan was a great opportunity - this person has brands and counters all over the country. If we can get his help, this matter can be done with twice the result with half the effort.
Yang Shixiang nodded. After he and Liu San formed a partnership, they had gradually been influenced by the thinking patterns of the traveling public and became willing to take risks.
"Okay, I feel relieved because of your good brother's words. As soon as the pharmaceutical factory is built, I will go to the south of the Yangtze River to do some on-the-spot investigation. Then I will go to the Qizhou Pharmaceutical Market to replenish some goods."
"Okay, I'll go with my eldest brother." Liu San had long wanted to visit the Qizhou Pharmaceutical Market.
"Brother, it's great if you want to go, but your hair is the best." Yang Shixiang said, "It's best to grow it up. It's inconvenient to travel far away. If you wear a fake bun, it may be exposed halfway."
"It's okay, I'll pretend to be a tutuo. Just spend money to buy Zhang Duduo." Liu San didn't want to have long hair that was hot and unmanageable. This is not the old time. There are hotels everywhere with hot water, and you can wash your hair at any time. Having been to Foshan once, he knew how difficult and inconvenient the journey was.
"If you become a monk, what will happen to my younger siblings?" Yang Shixiang joked, "Since you want to stay here for a long time, I will ask Xuan Chun to come and take care of you."
Liu San wanted to say "no need," but he still didn't say it. In fact, he still misses Xuan Chun. Ever since the one-night stand, Xuan Chun's shadow has been lingering in his mind. Xuanchun is not a beauty, and he is not a hungry man who has been relying on five girls since the D-Day.
What moved his heart was nothing more than a night of tenderness and thoughtfulness.
"Emotional matters are really hard to understand." Liu San muttered, realizing that he had fallen in love with Xuan Chun. I couldn't help but sigh with a headache.
But Yang Shixiang said: "It seems that I have to deal with this shopkeeper Li tonight."
Liu San was thinking about Xuan Chun, and he was stunned for a moment before he realized: "I will be the host tonight and entertain them at the merchant house."
"No," Yang Shixiang shook his head, "Since you want to represent Australians, you can't be in a hurry to treat us."
Formal banquets were a big event in ancient times, and invitations were usually sent at least three days in advance. The so-called three days were "invitations," two days were "calls," and one day was "mentions." For a foreigner like Li Luoyou, it would be disrespectful to have a formal banquet on the day of arrival, at least the next day.
“Shouldn’t it be time to catch the wind and wash away the dust?”
"It's up to me to be the host. Brother, just arrange it for tomorrow night."
Yang Shixiang discussed with him again that people like Li Luoyou were probably tired of eating delicacies. The Yang family has a maid under the stove, and her craftsmanship is not bad, but she is afraid that it will not be to the appetite of the big shopkeeper. I don’t know how to make him eat satisfactorily
Eating was not something Liu San was interested in originally, but since he was the work team leader, he was also responsible for Li Luoyou's daily life. He thought about it and said, "How about some home-cooked dishes. I'm tired of eating dragon liver and phoenix marrow. Some porridge and side dishes will make it more appetizing."
"Okay, we must do it this way." Yang Shixiang was convinced, and added, "There are new Australian gadgets in the guest house. Brother Yu is afraid that his family won't be able to get them, so he also wants to ask for help and find a dedicated person to take care of them. Brother Yu will pay for all the wages and food. The family is responsible for it.”
The east guest house of Runshitang that entertained Li Luoyou was recently renovated and renovated by Lingao Construction Company, and bathing and sanitary equipment were added. There are no sewers in Lingao County, and even septic tanks cannot be used. Fortunately, drainage ditches were built on both sides of the county street during road reconstruction, and they can barely be used to discharge sewage.
The installation of a complete set of high-level water tanks, tap water pipes, and heating furnaces cost Runshitang a large amount of money - half of which was subsidized by the general office. The premise is that in the future, the general office will also receive customers from Chuanzhong when needed. guest. Some people with special status may feel more relaxed living in such a place.
There are no sewers in Lingao, nor running water. The water in the high-level water tank is manually pumped from the well. Yang Shixiang was originally doubtful about this set of things, but when the decoration was completed and he turned on the faucet and hot and cold water came rolling in, he was completely convinced.
When he was happy, he asked to have his own house transformed in the same way. Mo Xiaoan originally had the idea of promoting bathroom equipment. When Yang Shixiang delivered it to his door, he immediately placed additional orders and installed them one by one. In addition to the East Guest House used for entertaining distinguished guests, a set was also installed in the Suochunxuan in the newly built garden of the Yang family. Liu San also wondered why it was not installed in the main courtyard or inner study room where he lived, but in the garden. , and then I understood when I saw that there was a double jacuzzi in his order.
Shopkeeper Yang wants to take a mandarin duck bath.
Then I think of the fact that shopkeeper Yang's wife often looks hesitant recently, and rarely smiles when they eat together. Liu San probably understood a little bit. This sworn brother was nothing more than guilty of the four words "arrogant and extravagant" that men often have.
Recently, the Yang family has built a garden, built an additional building, and has also added a lot of servants to the family. This woman probably won't lag behind others when it comes to matters. He probably got his hands on the maid at home.
The sworn brother did this openly, but he did it secretly. Comparing people to each other makes people angry. Liu San sighed again.
"There's always something wrong with things, and asking you for help all the time is no solution." Yang Shixiang was still whispering in his ears.
Of course, the Time Travel Group spent all this time in Runshitang to shock Li Luoyou. "Toilet determines the level of modernization of a country", this famous saying is believed by many people. Travelers are planning to use the 21st century bathroom to impress the wealthy businessmen of the 17th century.
New things are good, but they are quite troublesome to use and maintain. First, there are issues with usage habits, and secondly, the various equipment manufactured by Chuangzhong are limited to materials, and quality issues are quite prominent, especially for plumbing hardware materials, and the use of substitutes is still in the exploratory stage. Only a few days after it was put into use, Liu San had to find someone to open the sewer, repair the faucet, and mend the joints.
"Why don't you just send someone out and I'll arrange for him to learn it?" Liu San couldn't bear the trouble and came up with this legal system once and for all.
"Okay, dear brother, you are so polite." Yang Shixiang thanked him repeatedly. In his opinion, this sworn brother was trying to save face. In the consciousness of the ancients, any skill could not be learned without spending money. White teaching and white learning are simply doing good deeds.
Before Liu San returned to Bairen City, he went to the farm first and asked Fu Wuben to tidy up and go to Runshitang together. I have been too busy during the day recently, and Bairen City does not allow the natives to come in and out at night. I have not had time to educate this apprentice properly. Liu San decided to take this opportunity to check his homework and give some pointers.
Liu San's education on Fu Wuben was based on medicine and supplemented by medical treatment. The method used is endorsement. He was asked to memorize several materia medica and Chinese herbal medicine pharmacopoeia, and remember the curative effects, mutual complementation, processing methods and appearance characteristics of various Chinese herbal medicines. Once you have accumulated enough, let’s talk about other things.
In addition to the endorsement, he was doing gardening in the medicine garden every day. Fu Wu was originally from a farmer's family, and planting was his specialty. Liu San did a good job with a little guidance. After having this apprentice, Liu San can basically ignore the gardening work and focus on the development of new drugs.
Fu Wuben was very happy to get personal guidance from his master this time. He packed his luggage early and waited at the gate of Bairen City. As soon as Liu San came out with the luggage roll on his back, he greeted him:
"Master."
"Let's go." Liu San looked unhappy. When he was packing his luggage, he had another quarrel with Wu Yunhua. The reason for the quarrel was just a trivial matter between lovers.
Wu Yunhua has a bad temper, and Liu San has been having troubles in his mind recently, and he can't help but be evasive in his words and deeds. It even aroused Wu Yunhua's suspicion. He used guns and sticks in his words, and would make noise if he was not careful. Liu San was tired of dealing with it. Originally, running around for a day was very tiring, but after returning to the dormitory, the woman he faced was neither gentle nor considerate, and she kept making noises for three or two days, which made Liu San feel exhausted both mentally and physically. Being the team leader of Liu's work allows him to temporarily escape from his family life. This gave him a feeling of relief.
Seeing his master's unkind expression, Fu Wu didn't dare to say anything. He just tied his master's luggage to the car and got up.
"Master, we really want to live in Runshitang"
"Of course, the house is in order."
"Master, you are really amazing with such a large font size." Fu Wuben looked at him with admiration. Runshitang was originally a small name that no one knew about in Guangdong, but in Lingao it is a Fortune 500 company in the eyes of local villagers.
"What does this mean?" Liu San looked at the admiration on his disciple's face and couldn't help but smile, "Let's go, there is still a long way to go."
Liu San walked with him to the county town. On the way, he often asked him about his knowledge in the book, and sometimes stopped to ask him to identify the plants on the road. This is no longer difficult for Fu Wuben. On weekdays, in addition to memorizing medicine books and growing medicines, he also went to Lingao to collect medicines according to Liu San's instructions. In addition to exercising his ability to identify medicines, Liu San also hoped to use this to gradually grasp the distribution of Chinese herbal medicines in Lingao. ,.
