After hearing this, Zhu Yijun frowned slightly and asked Zhang Jingxiu: "Why are they on strike?"
"It is reported that they are worried about being laid off and having their wages reduced due to the luxury tax. Moreover, some factories have already done this, which has caused panic."
Zhang Jingxiu replied at this time.
Zhu Yijun looked at Qi Jiguang: "What is the cabinet's response to this?"
"Your Majesty, the Cabinet Planning Department has indeed responded to the strike situation."
"According to the plan of the Cabinet Policy Department, once a strike occurs, the government-run commercial banks under the Du Branch will accept these workers and expand the scale of the government-run business."
"It's just that the government-owned commercial banks will bear the consequences of reduced profits caused by the imposition of the luxury tax."
"For the imperial court, the main purpose is not to make profits from the production of luxury goods, but to impose luxury taxes to curb the expansion of the powerful."
Qi Jiguang replied.
After hearing this, Zhu Yijun asked Qi Jiguang: "Do you know about the court discussions between the Han Dynasty minister Sang Hongyang and the Confucian officials?"
"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"
“Compared with private companies, government companies are prone to poor management and may suffer losses.”
"Because, although this dynasty has implemented the method of passing the examination, it is difficult to guarantee that the officials will have Tao Zhu's ability, and it is also difficult to guarantee that the bureaucrats will not be selfish for the public benefit, so that the luxury goods they produce will gradually not live up to their reputation, so that they will become nothing. Profit, or even loss, the state treasury has to provide money to support the craftsmen of these government-run firms, which is not conducive to the advancement of skills."
Shen Yiguan immediately put forward his different opinions.
Qi Jiguang said: "Your Majesty, I have also thought of this, but the national conditions of this dynasty are like this. If we let it go, it will only make the powerful powerful and powerful, and it will not enrich the country and benefit the people. Moreover, this dynasty has always been that officials and businessmen do not separate families, and business is noble. Those who are high-ranking officials must be engaged in business, so even if they are not taken over by the government, these industries are actually run by the world's bureaucrats."
"But letting things go will only allow the world's bureaucrats to be unsupervised in making profits. It is better for officials to advance and the people to retreat, so that the world's bureaucrats will be subject to supervision when making profits!"
"Your Majesty is the lord of the world, and all power in the world belongs to your Majesty. He is also the only one who can kill others. He is the one with strong soldiers and horses. Therefore, as long as he is aware of everything and is impartial, no bureaucrat will dare to let the government-run commercial firms suffer losses when managing business."
"In addition, before Tao Zhufan went into business, he was also a talented person in governing the country. Therefore, it is not that those who can govern the country and the people cannot benefit the country. If they do not know Tao Zhu's skills, they may be more able to benefit the country. Expectations will make the profit-making process more reasonable and better able to plan for the long-term, and will not damage the future foundation for immediate gains."
"What's more, luxury goods are necessary for the powerful. Officials don't dare to mess with the quality, let alone not increase production and let the powerful suffer. After all, they have the courage to offend the people, but they don't necessarily have the courage to offend the powerful. There can be a few.”
Qi Jiguang spoke again.
Zhu Yijun nodded: "The powerful bureaucrats want to incite workers to go on strike to resist the luxury tax. The court seems to have no other better way than to directly make luxury goods and impose luxury taxes. After all, this is better than massacring all the workers." Well, God has the virtue of a happy life, not to mention they are all my innocent children."
"Your Majesty said so."
Shen Guanyi replied.
Other ruling ministers also echoed.
None of them dared to say that it would be better to just slaughter the workers.
Zhu Yijun said here: "Let's do it this way. The advancement of officials and the retreat of the people is the general trend, and I can't stop it."
Then, Zhu Yijun looked at Qi Jiguang and said: "However, we cannot deliberately suppress the private sector. As long as they abide by the rules, it is better to protect them and even give them some support. After all, they are more willing to pursue profits, so they can serve as the official sector among their peers." As a reference for industry, all bureaucrats who run government-run commercial firms for the imperial court cannot be worse than private ones, otherwise, they should be considered mediocre and worthy of further investigation and disposal or direct transfer."
"What's more, the private sector is still responsible for the food and clothing of most workers."
"What your Majesty said is that the Policy Department has submitted a case to encourage private businessmen who are willing to cooperate with the imperial reform. The Department of Branch is preparing to allocate special low-interest loans to private merchants who can support the imperial reform in the future to support their overseas expansion. industry, and reward crowns and ribbons to those who excel in the private sector.”
Qi Jiguang replied at this time.
After hearing this, Zhu Yijun said: "To add something more, for anyone who cooperates, I will let the inner court and Guanglu Temple purchase their products first, and they will be listed in the front row at future expos. In addition, for high-quality products that are well known all over the world, I will give you a gold plaque and a medal to pass on to your heirs. If the business encounters difficulties in the future, you can use this to request assistance from the court officials to keep your business afloat."
"According to the order!"
Not long after, the edict to impose the luxury tax was officially promulgated by the cabinet to the tax departments of each province.
At the same time, there were also edicts issued to open several government-run commercial banks named after the state, such as Daming Central Commercial Bank, Daming Fuguo Commercial Bank, and Daming Huimin Commercial Bank, as well as imperial edicts to promote commercial development.
In order to let as many officials and people as possible understand the court's intentions, all the court issued were clear edicts, which were equivalent to playing bright cards.
Therefore, as soon as such an edict was promulgated, it did not take long for the powerful officials and gentry who took the initiative behind the scenes to strike out many workers producing luxury goods in Suzhou. They guessed the motives of the imperial court through these explicit edicts.
"When we open a new government-run trading house, the court does not intend to deal with the striking workers, but directly steals our business!"
"It's so poisonous!"
Nandu.
After Hui'anbo Zhang Yuanshan saw the content of such a decree, he spoke to his disciple Cheng Tianlie with yellow teeth.
Cheng Tianlie also said with some disappointment: "Today's people are really benevolent. They don't want to use cruel methods to push forward reforms on workers, but would rather the officials advance and the people retreat!"
"That's why Qi Jiguang and Li Chengliang, two old and cunning sycophants, cooperated so that the soldiers and brave men in the world would not participate in business, and even bribed the brave soldiers first. In this way, it would be easier for the officials to advance and the people to retreat. Take advantage of the world! Don’t worry about a mutiny."
Zhang Yuanshan started talking.
"Fortunately, we have corresponding arrangements."
Cheng Tianlie said and looked at Zhang Yuanshan: "Uncle, it seems that now we can only let the mine thieves we bribed take action, pretend to be officers and soldiers, pretend to spread the imperial edict, and massacre all the striking workers!"
"In this way, the fake show will be real. By then, workers may not only riot in Suzhou, but also in Songjiang, Nandu, Changzhou, Foshan, Luzhou, Weifang, Linqing and other places with developed commerce."
Zhang Yuanshan nodded and said: "Then let them take action."
…
"The imperial court's imposition of luxury tax is not to reduce your income, but to curb luxury and allow dignitaries to pay more taxes, which in turn will allow the imperial court to benefit more ordinary people."
"Why don't you understand? You must resist the national policy!"
Li Yaomin, the leader of the East Factory, came to Changmen and was persuading the striking workers gathered in Changmen.
An old employee named Xue Qin sneered after Li Yaomin said this: "But doesn't the court know that the taxes imposed on dignitaries will also be imposed on us?"
"Of course I know!"
"So the imperial court has issued an order to send Liu Quexian, the former right minister of the Ministry of Commerce, to lead the Ming Central Commercial Bank with the title of Shangshu of the Ministry of Commerce. He came to Suzhou to open corresponding workshops and recruit you as employees of the imperial government-run commercial bank with better treatment."
Li Yaomin said at this time and handed over a copy of "Di Bao": "You guys can circulate it to each other and have a look."
"real?"
Xue Qin was very excited after hearing this and asked a question quickly. Then he took the "Di Bao" and read it carefully, and circulated it to other employees.
"Sure enough, the court has considered us."
"The Emperor really does take us workers at heart."
"Yes, the employees in government-run trading companies have always been the most reliable. They have many benefits during the holidays and holidays, and they also use the attached school. Naturally, we are willing to go to the government-run trading companies."
…
For a while, many of these striking employees became excited.
"Don't believe the lies of the imperial court!"
"The imperial court may be using it as a delaying tactic to paralyze us. Maybe they are deploying troops now!"
"You know, we have a lot of people on strike this time. How can they get so many hired workers?"
"The people in charge of the country now are warriors, and they will only solve problems through murder and bloodshed!"
"So, we must not believe it!"
However, at this time, scab Cui Xianxue and others who were bribed by Hui Anbo and other powerful bureaucrats put forward different views.
Li Yaomin looked at him with cold eyes.
Cui Xianxue felt a little uneasy when he saw him.
But at this time, a large number of awning boats suddenly appeared outside Changmen, and soon after, many mine thieves armed with wild goose feather knives or large spears jumped out of the awning boats.
Under the banner of the official army, these mine thieves jumped ashore and surrounded the striking workers.
Cui Xianxue was quite excited when he saw this and said hurriedly: "I just said that the court was lying. They had been preparing to kill us for a long time."
Xue Qin also looked at Li Yaomin: "What is going on?"
Bang bang!
Bang bang!
At this time, many officers and soldiers also rushed out from the private houses next to the meeting place of these striking workers at Changmen.
These officers and soldiers quickly stopped between the striking workers and the mine thieves.
At the same time, many officers and soldiers in boats appeared on the water, and they also came ashore to surround the mine thieves.
Li Yaomin laughed at this time and said to Xue Qin: "What else could it be? It's just that someone wants to make a fake show and collude with the mine thieves who dare to mine privately. They pretend to be government soldiers and massacre you workers. Okay. Put the blame on our officers and soldiers! But they don’t even think about it. Although there are many peaceful people in our factory guards, it doesn’t mean that they are really useless!"
"Are you a factory guard?"
Xue Qin asked.
Li Yaomin replied: "Of course, now you are more willing to believe us, right?"
"believe!"
Xue Qin hurriedly replied and said: "These dignitaries have such dark hearts! If it weren't for you, would we all be dead today?"
"Not necessarily. If we unite as one, we may be able to deal with these mine thieves."
Li Yaomin replied.
"Unity sucks!"
"Those guys named Cui are usually the most flattering and obedient people. They always like to speak for the bosses. Many workers actually believe it and really feel that if they follow suit, the boss will increase their wages."
Xue Qin cursed and was about to go back to catch Cui Xianxue, but saw that Cui Xianxue and the others had disappeared.
Bang bang!
At this time, the sound of cannons had already sounded.
(End of chapter)
