Where there was profit, there would be people.
Therefore, whether it was individual citizens or the herding teams organized by the merchants, they all went north to apply for pasture.
In just two years, the entire Inner Mongolia region was completely rented out. Then, they moved to the Outer Mongolia region and even further north. A large number of pasture lands were rented out to the citizens and merchants.
These merchants were very smart. They had set up a chain of industries, from producing wool to knitting sweaters to selling them. They had their own set of processes. Their appearance also happened to provide a good place for the people who wanted to find work during the slack farming period.
During the slack farming period after the autumn harvest, the Daqin people did very little corvee labor. Most of the time, corvee labor was taken over by the Japanese and Northern Barbarians. They looked for work everywhere to supplement their family income. The official workshops didn't need so many workers. Therefore, large civilian workshops that made wool sweaters appeared without a hitch.
From the autumn harvest to the beginning of spring, it was the golden season for wool sweaters. At this time, wool workshops in the north and south of the Yangtze River recruited a large number of people who knew how to work.
From cleaning and drying the wool to knitting sweaters, not only did they need male labor, but they also needed a large number of female workers.
Weaving clothes had always been done by women. In Chinese tradition, men farmed and women weaved. Women basically knew how to weave clothes, while men basically didn't know how to do it. Therefore, during the slack season, housewives were more popular than male laborers.
The Chinese had always been hardworking. If they could earn more money, they would work hard to earn more money. During the slack season, the men and women of each family would work in the village. The whole village would go out to work for the merchants. There were many benefits to doing this.
The biggest benefit was that they didn't have to worry about the merchants bullying them or deducting their wages.
From the very beginning, Xiao Ruxun set a rule for the merchants who recruited farmers to work. Before working, the merchants needed to find the local farmers' association. Before hiring, they needed to discuss with the farmers' association about each person's wages and sign an employment contract. A copy of the contract would be sent to the township government for safekeeping.
Then, the president of the farmers' association would organize the free laborers in the village to work for the merchants. They would work together and work together. Once there was a problem, the president of the farmers' association would work with the township government to find trouble and protect the interests of the villagers.
The workers wouldn't cause trouble for you, but you couldn't bully the workers either. Otherwise, there would be government officials coming to question you and find trouble with you. Then, they would use the Commercial Law to reason with you. If you didn't go bankrupt, you wouldn't know the majesty of the law.
The regulations in this area were very strict. Xiao Ruxun had specifically stipulated such regulations in the commercial law. The grass-roots government had to fully exert its organizational role to protect the farmers. Merchants could not be allowed to operate freely. This was to avoid the phenomenon of not paying wages and abusing workers.
When the people of a village went out to work together, it would be convenient for everyone to band together when something happened. The merchants would not dare to bully them.
Xiao Ruxun did not have a good impression of these merchants at all. He had set strict rules early on, requiring the local grass-roots government to do something and not do nothing. Once something happened, the county headquarters would directly hold the local village government accountable and ask them what kind of officials they were.
Basically, if the chairman of the farmers' association and the village head wanted to be promoted, they had to pass this hurdle.
After the 13th year of Longwu, if there was a situation where merchants harmed the farmers and the farmers had no way to seek redress, it would be very serious. The grass-roots officials involved could pack up and leave. In serious cases, they could even be jailed.
If you couldn't prevent it before it happened, and you couldn't even seek redress for the people, then what was the point of having you?
Of course, Xiao Ruxun also knew the nature of these merchants, so he gave them a special channel.
If they felt that it was troublesome and didn't want to go against the government, or they didn't want to pay too much money, or they couldn't find enough labor, they could come to the government and apply to rent a group of Japanese or Northern Barbarians to work for them. They could pay the government directly and didn't have to pay them.
As for how they were used and how they were operated, the government didn't care. However, if they died, they would have to pay. If they couldn't be sent back when the time was up, they would have to pay. How much money did it cost per person? The government would send them back in one piece, and you would have to send them back in one piece, or else you would have to pay.
Of course, this was often more practical, and it was more convenient for merchants to save money. Therefore, this service provided by the government was quite popular and could provide the government with a lot of income.
However, because some merchants were too black-hearted and didn't listen to the government's advice, they abused the Japanese and Northern Barbarians too much, which led to riots. In Tianjin, the Japanese couldn't bear it anymore and set fire to workshops, burning many people to death.
The law of the Daqin only protected the people of Daqin, not the prisoners of war. The government didn't care about the lives of the prisoners of war, as long as they paid. However, once it involved the people of Daqin, things would get serious.
The owner of the merchant was punished to the point of bankruptcy and was sent to do hard labor. His family's property was used to pay the families of the farmers who were burned to death. As for the Japanese, they were immediately killed by the Tianjin police.
The law of the Daqin didn't care about the prisoners of war, but if there was a problem and the people of Daqin were harmed, the business would be directly held responsible. This method greatly deterred the merchants who didn't even give food to the prisoners of war, making their behavior more standardized.
At least let them eat some food, right?
They didn't even give them food, yet they forced them to work for more than 18 hours a day. No wonder the Japanese rioted regardless of the consequences.
However, if the Japanese didn't set fire to the working farmers, it was estimated that the merchant wouldn't be punished to the point of bankruptcy. He still had to do hard labor, and his family was also implicated. At most, he would be fined.
However, because it really saved a lot of money, in order to make more money, the merchants wouldn't give up this channel. They continued to rent the prisoners of war to work, and even trained a group of skilled prisoners of war for the government, which was very popular.
Because of this high-intensity method of not treating people as humans, the total number of Japanese decreased by one-third by the 20th year of Long Wu, and the number of Northern Barbarians prisoners of war also decreased by one-third. However, it was very gratifying that the construction and income of Daqin increased year by year.
The use of these people, regardless of the cost, greatly saved the government's funds, and made the construction faster and better. The changes in Daqin were changing with each passing day.
Many cities had built public toilets, and many places had paved brick roads. The burden of the people of Daqin had been greatly reduced, and the population had increased greatly. There were fewer and fewer diseases, and the average life expectancy had also increased significantly.
Therefore, it was better to eat outsiders than eat one's own people.
This was what Xiao Ruxun taught Zhenbang.
"If you don't treat the people well, they will remember it in their hearts. If they remember it too much, it will become hatred, and when the hatred is too much, it will explode. Once it explodes, things will be difficult to deal with. If you treat the people well, they will remember your kindness and support you. You will be omnipotent.
Therefore, you must win over the people of Daqin and treat them well. However, it's different for others. They are not the people of Daqin. You can treat them however you want, but the premise is that you have to be able to control them. Letting them work in Daqin is potentially dangerous. "
Zhenbang followed beside Xiao Ruxun, carefully listening to Xiao Ruxun's words, and nodding from time to time to show that he had learned something.
"I will remember father's teachings."
"Mm."
Xiao Ruxun nodded and said, "In two months, it will be the anniversary of your grandfather's death. How are the preparations going?"
"In reply to father, I have prepared the ceremony for the anniversary of my grandfather's death. I'm only waiting for that day."
"Good."
Xiao Ruxun sighed, "On that day, bring Zhigao, Zhiyuan, Zhixiong, and Zhiwei. Call Zhenwu back as well. Your grandfather loved having many children and grandchildren when he was alive. He was the happiest when he saw little ones running around."
"I understand."
Xiao Zhenbang nodded.
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