After Zhu Jingyuan finished reading the things, he sat down at the conference table, and then invited Lin Zexu, Hao Zhongyi, and several other craftsmen and workers to sit down with them.
Zhu Jingyuan also asked Hao Zhongyi to sit next to him and asked him about his situation like a chat:
"What's your name? Where are you from? Where did you come from? What do you usually do in the factory?"
Hao Zhongyi was obviously a little nervous, but he actually likes to talk, so he spoke intermittently for a long time:
"I... tell you, Your Majesty, my name is Hao Zhongyi, my hometown is Caozhou Prefecture, Shandong Province, and I came from Edo.
“Now I am mainly responsible for the third workshop, which is the circular knitting workshop, which is responsible for knitting socks and sweaters.
"In addition, I am also responsible for the trial production of new technologies and products, as well as recruiting new workers. I have a lot of work to do."
Zhu Jingyuan was a little surprised. Hao Zhongyi's experience was very complicated:
"Then you do a lot. How much does the factory pay you per month for doing so much work?"
Hao Zhongyi said quite confidently:
“I now have basic salary, money from the job of workshop director, money from the job of new product development, and money for bringing in new people.
"To add up all these miscellaneous things, I can now get 108 yuan in banknotes a month, which is nearly 1,300 yuan a year."
When Hao Zhongyi said this, Lin Zexu felt a little guilty.
The craftsmen and workshop directors at the back felt even more guilty now.
They felt that the money was a bit too much, and they felt that Hao Zhongyi should not show off so directly.
The basic salary alone is more than fifty silver notes a month, which is already quite high.
A few years ago, I would never have had the chance to make so much money.
Mainly because when Lin Zexu introduced it to Zhu Jingyuanyan just now, he mentioned the cost issue several times.
It is because the cost is high that it must be sold at a high price, so it is difficult to promote it.
These workshop directors were worried, and Zhu Jingyuan thought that the workers were being paid too much, so he tried to find ways to reduce wages.
If you can't get so much money in the future, it must be this Hao Zhongyi's fault.
This guy has a smart mind and nimble hands and feet, but he is a bit loud and dares to say anything.
Zhu Jingyuan was quite surprised after hearing this, but he nodded with great satisfaction and said:
"Okay, okay, with this income level, the family can live more comfortably."
Lin Zexu immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Zhu Jingyuan still had the same character, thinking about a salary increase all day long.
The other craftsmen and workshop directors were even more surprised. Did this tone mean they didn't mind at all?
Here Zhu Jingyuan continued to ask Hao Zhongyi:
"Then how much can the workers under your supervision, ordinary workers in the factory, earn per month?"
Hao Zhongyi thought for a while and said:
"It depends on where the person comes from. If you are from the Ming Dynasty like me, the basic wage in the factory is fifteen silver notes.
"Don't care what you do, don't care if there is any work, the minimum is fifteen silver notes.
“He tribesmen, Koreans, including those of mixed race, that’s twelve yuan, and other barbarians ten yuan.
"Then as long as there is work, people in the Ming Dynasty will be directly raised to twenty-five silver notes, and the production line can be circulated, even if they become skilled workers, they will all have twenty-five silver notes.
"Twenty for He tribesmen and Koreans, eighteen for other Hu people..."
Zhu Jingyuan was stunned after hearing this. This salary level is barely acceptable, and the wages of assembly line workers should be able to increase.
But the bigger problem now is that this natural way of allocating wages makes Zhu Jingyuan feel that there is a big problem.
These people all work together and do the same work, but because of their different backgrounds, they receive different wages.
The key is that this is a wage determined by different backgrounds rather than ability, giving them no chance to smooth out the differences through hard work.
I supported Lin Zexu in setting up a multi-ethnic mixed immigration area because he wanted to integrate them into the ethnic groups dominated by Ming culture.
The current division of labor and wages according to origin will naturally cause ethnic divisions and prevent them from truly integrating.
The disparity in wages will remind them that they are not from the Ming Dynasty when they are paid every month.
And you will never be able to become a Ming Dynasty person. This is decided from birth, and there is no way to change it the day after tomorrow.
This can make people feel hopeless, especially in the cultural circles of Ming Dynasty, rather than in cultural circles like Tianzhu.
However, we cannot directly give everyone the same treatment. Otherwise, how will Ming's advantages be reflected?
The point is, being nice without any reason will not make people appreciate it, nor will it make the other person cherish it.
Only the results that you have worked hard for and won the approval of the other party are the most cherished.
After Zhu Jingyuan thought about it, he turned to Lin Zexu on the other side and said:
"It's not okay to distribute wages like this..."
Lin Zexu said subconsciously:
"Your Highness, I have conducted a survey and found that the wages of ordinary workers cannot be lowered. If the wages are lowered, immigrants will not be hired..."
Zhu Jingyuan was stunned for a moment, then immediately waved his hand and said:
“I don’t think you are being paid too much, I am saying that this division method is not good, I can even say that you are not being paid enough!
“My idea is to hold a Ming Yayan application proficiency test in Meng County. The standard is to be able to live and work in the Ming language completely freely.
“The offspring of Koreans, He people, South Vietnamese, Luzon people, Burmese, Siamese, and Ming people and their women will be issued a certificate as long as they pass the examination.
"With this certificate, you can enjoy the treatment of vassal citizens in the Mozhou area of the great food country, and the wages are the same as those of Ming people.
“Then the Nanyang people, Tianzhu people, Persians, Tatars, Cannibals, Ottomans, and Thais, the local indigenous people themselves were unable to take this exam.
"But the offspring of women from their clan and Ming people can take this exam and enjoy the same treatment."
Zhu Jingyuan supports integration, but integration also pays attention to methods, scope and goals.
Zhu Jingyuan's suggestion surprised Lin Zexu, Niu Jian, Hao Zhongyi and other workers and craftsmen.
While everyone else was thinking, Hao Zhongyi was the first to speak:
"In this case, my brother will be treated the same as me right away.
“My brother’s mother is from the He clan, but he grew up with me.
"You can't speak Heyu at all, you can only speak Shandong dialect. Shandong dialect can also be regarded as Daming dialect, right?"
Zhu Jingyuan smiled and said:
"Shandong dialect counts, of course. That's the official dialect of the Central Plains. Do you want your brother to get the same treatment as you?"
Hao Zhongyi said naturally:
"Of course I want to! It would be great if the Ming Dynasty could do this too!"
Zhu Jingyuan was stunned for a moment:
"In the Ming Dynasty, this will have to wait until later..."
At this time, Lin Zexu next to him spoke:
“Such an exam and setting such a goal should be able to stimulate the work enthusiasm of the corresponding ethnic group.
"It should be able to improve work efficiency, but the actual cost may not increase. I thought I could give it a try."
The other craftsmen and owners also nodded.
Most people in the Ming Dynasty pursued practicality and did not take the treatment of citizens of a vassal state very seriously.
And after passing the Ming language assessment, you will definitely be able to communicate with the Ming people, and your overall work efficiency will definitely improve.
The extra wages can be earned back by doing more work.
The key is that this is Zhu Jingyuan's request. Zhu Jingyuan is the king here.
There are no big problems with the plan proposed by the king, but the ministers are deliberately going against it. Is that just looking for trouble?
No one mentioned the issue of the descendants of the Tianzhu, Persian, Dashi, Ottoman, and Taixi ethnic groups whose men married Ming women.
Because the cultural tradition of the Ming Dynasty is male inheritance, women’s bloodline is not particularly important.
The children of his own son and foreign women are basically treated as normal grandchildren of his own family.
However, he pays special attention to male blood, and there is no thought of his grandson as the heir of his family.
Seeing that no one objected, Zhu Jingyuan smiled and nodded and said:
“That’s it, let’s go back and make a plan and conduct a small-scale test.
"Now we continue to talk about the matter at hand, about the wages of ordinary workers."
Lin Zexu agreed, and Zhu Jingyuan looked at Hao Zhongyi again:
"Actually, in my imagination, our ordinary workers can also get a monthly salary of one hundred silver notes.
"For those of you who are skilled craftsmen and workshop directors, it would be ideal if your wages could be doubled or tripled."
As soon as Zhu Jingyuan said this, there was an exclamation of surprise at the scene.
Hao Zhongyi even shouted subconsciously:
"Impossible, absolutely impossible, how can you make so much money..."
Another workshop director also said:
"If we all become rich, then who will be considered poor..."
Zhu Jingyuan smiled and asked:
"Why must there be poor people? Why can't everyone be rich?
“Although, if you compare them with each other, some people will definitely have more money and some people will have less money.
"But it's not impossible for everyone in the future to enjoy the life of the rich in the past, right?"
The craftsmen and workshop directors looked at each other, not daring to continue to refute Zhu Jingyuan, but finding it difficult to accept and understand.
Lin Zexu and Niu Jian also found it very strange. Based on what they had learned from Zhu Jingyuan in the past two years, they vaguely felt that this idea seemed to be correct, but they could not understand the logic at once.
Zhu Jingyuan smiled and said:
“Before the Chongzhen Dynasty, a few dollars of silver could buy an ordinary piece of silk, and a few taels of silver could buy fine silk and satin.
"Before the World War, two or three dollars would buy a nice piece of silk.
“Before the Chongzhen Dynasty, a woman would weave a piece of silk a day and sell it for three taels of silver, not counting the cost.
"Before the World War, a woman operating several looms could weave hundreds of pieces of silk a day.
“Things are still the same price, but the number of things a person can create has increased a hundred times.
“Then this person’s income should increase by more than ten times, if not a hundred times, right?
"At the same time, the production of silk and satin has increased a hundred times, and the number of people who can wear satin clothes can also increase ten times, right?
"If our current production speed can continue to increase, shouldn't everyone's income also continue to increase?"
"Will the number of better clothes and supplies that everyone can enjoy continue to increase?
“In the past, only rich people could wear silk, but in the future, workers can all afford silk.
"In the past, silk was not wear-resistant, but now we have invented rayon, which makes it easy to wear while working."
Several craftsmen and workshop directors were confused and felt that what Zhu Jingyuan said did make sense.
As long as everyone uses the same labor force in the same time, they can produce more things.
At the same time, if the price of the thing itself remains unchanged, everyone's income will rise accordingly.
Moreover, things that everyone can enjoy will also increase simultaneously.
But one key didn't immediately occur to them.
That is, with the improvement of production efficiency, the value of production equipment is getting higher and higher, and the capital invested in production is becoming more and more important, which means that the means of production are becoming more and more complex and important.
What is the specific cost of the capital and technical investment used to build the factory, and the subsequent proportion of sales profits, compared to the proportion of workers responsible for actual production.
If most of the income falls into the hands of investors and factory owners, workers will have no extra money to buy products produced by themselves or others, and the products will naturally be unsaleable.
Niu Jian and Lin Zexu, two top students, were thinking more at the same time as they understood Zhu Jingyuan's thoughts.
Lin Zexu said with some uncertainty:
"Your Highness, this logic is indeed reasonable, but the premise for this cycle to continue is that enough people spend enough money to buy products produced by others."
Zhu Jingyuan immediately made a footnote to Lin Zexu:
“So the benefits brought about by improved production efficiency must be distributed in a sufficient proportion to enough workers for consumption, instead of being kept in the hands of factory owners as much as possible and used only to expand production and investment.
“No matter how many factories you build and how many things you produce, once you can’t sell them, what’s the use if no one buys them?
“So I have always advocated raising wages for workers. Of course, the premise of raising wages is that production efficiency has indeed improved. Otherwise, it will be like drinking poison to quench thirst and will only cause the actual production efficiency of the factory to decline.
“Workers must also be given a certain amount of time to consume, otherwise workers will have no time to spend even if they have money, so I once pushed to limit working hours and leave more time for them to consume.
"We, a big food country, must strictly implement Ming Dynasty's working hours and vacation regulations. I will continue to work hard to shorten working hours and extend vacation time in the future."
Hearing this, a group of craftsmen and workshop directors were speechless. They really had nothing to say.
They could not fully understand the deep logic contained in Zhu Jingyuan's words, but they could understand what Zhu Jingyuan wanted to do.
Pay more money to workers, allow them to rest more, and have time and money to enjoy themselves. Of course, it also requires workers to produce more and better things in less time.
Hao Zhongyi didn't know how to express his feelings, so he just said in Shandong accent:
"Your Majesty is really a living Bodhisattva..."
