Back to Ming Dynasty with Industrial Revolution System

Chapter 1013
"Two more incidents of destroying machines broke out in Suzhou City. Fortunately, the damage caused was not serious, and it was not as serious as the burning of textile factories." The conflict made these officials who had never been exposed to similar incidents at a loss.

"This matter must be properly handled, otherwise how will we end up with it?" Suzhou prefect was very anxious.

"Do we need to report to the capital? If the capital can have a unified countermeasure against this type of incident, then we will know the bottom line and handle this matter properly." An aide asked.

"Where did the other two incidents of destroying machines take place?" the prefect of Suzhou asked.

"One vicious incident happened in the same textile factory, and another vicious incident happened in a private mining field, causing losses as high as thousands of taels." The official who came to report said.

"Are there any casualties?" The prefect asked again.

"Fortunately, only a few people suffered some skin injuries, and no one was killed. The factory owner has already come to them to claim compensation, and is causing trouble outside the government office. Our office servants have temporarily accepted the pleadings and handed them over to the local court. Trial." said the official.

When the prefect of Suzhou learned of the two new vicious incidents, the commander-in-chief Wu Zhicai entered the Suzhou Yamen.

"Chen Hongmi, you are the parent official of Suzhou City. The government office must quickly take measures to curb the smashing incident. As far as we know, some workers have already thought of a joint strike, and the current situation needs to be stabilized quickly. .”

Soldier Wu Zhicai sat down, complaining non-stop.Although he is a magistrate, he is facing his own people, fellow countrymen, and it is impossible to use force to suppress them.

The plan for now is to let the government government come up with a suitable solution that can allow the factory owners and workers to reach a settlement.

"Basically, the troublemakers are hired workers from private workshops and factories, while workers from government-run factories are rare. The reason is that the management of private workshops and factories is not standardized, and the interests of workers cannot be guaranteed. Coupled with the recent sale of machines by the government to the private sector and the opening up of some textile technologies, many of the original handicraft workers have been replaced. Private handicraft workshops and factories are pursuing profit. After having machines, there will be no need for so many workers, so naturally they have to quit. The workers either choose to leave the handicraft workshops, or choose to accept lower wages. The handicraft workshop owners, factory owners and other big businessmen are doing nothing wrong, and the workers are not doing anything wrong in pursuing their own interests. This is where the difficulty lies.” said Chen Hongmi, the prefect of Suzhou. .

"Is there no way for the prefect of Suzhou to do this? Do I need to report to the Yamen of the Jianghuai Chief Secretary? Or even report to the capital? We have a telegraph station in Suzhou City, and the news can be conveyed to the capital immediately. For these people, it is reasonable to say It doesn’t work, and force doesn’t work, it’s given me a headache for a few days.” Wu Zhicai complained.

"Brother Wu Xian, I have already reported to the Jianghuai Chief Secretary's Yamen, and I am waiting for the provincial government's handling opinions. In the next period of time, please ask your security forces to patrol the streets and try to stabilize the situation. It is estimated that the provincial government will report this matter to the capital. It is related to the stability of the Jiangnan area. The Jiangnan area has always been a heavy taxpayer. The tax paid by a county may be equivalent to the tax of a large prefecture in the north of the Jiangnan area. If there is an accident in the handicraft workshops and factories in the Jiangnan area, the tax collection target for this year will be reached. If not, our Suzhou Yamen will not be able to bear the consequences." Chen Hongmi also had a sad face.

"Will this incident alarm the capital?" Wu Zhicai asked.

"I'm afraid that the provincial yamen will eventually report to the capital, because even the provincial yamen cannot afford this responsibility." Chen Hongmi said.

"It seems that the position of Suzhou Chief Soldier is not peaceful. I was promoted to this position less than two years ago, and this happened again in Suzhou City. I am afraid that your name and mine will be known by the military leader. What the military master knows is not a good reputation." Wu Zhicai said with emotion.

When his former boss Lu Zhiyu was in office, the Huqiu meeting held by Donglin and Fushe happened, and after he took over, the fire of the textile factory happened. Suzhou City is the richest and most unstable place in the Jiangnan area. .This instability was not due to the famine, but because Suzhou City was the most active place in the commodity economy at this time, especially when new textile machines and steam engines were used in Suzhou City.At the same time, the widespread use of kerosene lamps and generators began to appear in Suzhou City, which greatly lengthened the working hours of workers.Technological progress has brought greater prosperity to the economy, while upheavals have produced a series of unprecedented social problems.

"We have a lot of handicraft workshops in the city of Suzhou. Before the Kyushu Army came to power, there were many big employers. The number of textile workers employed ranged from a dozen to hundreds. After the Kyushu Army came to power, there were more handicraft workshops." , and opened a lot of private factories, and the proportion of workers is not low in our Suzhou city, so it is understandable that such an incident happened first in our Suzhou city." Chen Hongmi said.

The city of Suzhou is rich and rich, and the number of workers is large. Naturally, some workers are not treated well, and they unite to put forward their own group demands.

"Yes, who doesn't know that there are as many as [-] workers in our Suzhou City. These workers are not only local people from our Suzhou Prefecture, but also refugees from Jiangbei in the past, and people who moved to Suzhou City from Yiwu and other places. In the past, General Qi Jiguang went to the local area to recruit soldiers to fight against the Japanese pirates. People from different places gathered in small groups, and it was easy to respond to everyone. After the burning of the textile factory, some people expressed solidarity with the arrested textile factory workers. .” Wu Zhicai said.

"I heard that similar incidents happened in Hangzhou City, and the Hangzhou Yamen is also deeply troubled by this. I don't think the capital city will blame us too much. This kind of thing needs to be announced by the capital city to solve it fundamentally. What do you think of the arrested textile factory workers being held in prison first and the trial delayed?" Chen Hongmi looked at Wu Zhicai.

"Let's deal with it like this for the time being. I will go to the streets to patrol the streets. It is best to implement a curfew during this period. If a vicious incident occurs at night, the consequences will be very serious. The most terrible thing is that someone sets fire at night, and the entire city of Suzhou will suffer heavy losses. "Wu Zhicai came to Suzhou Yamen to drink a sip of tea, and he left with peace of mind after knowing that he had reported to the provincial Yamen.

Chen Hongmi watched Wu Zhicai leave, and worriedly said to the subordinate officials: "Send another telegram to Nanjing City Chief Secretary's Yamen to ask for instructions. Can our Suzhou Government Yamen be used by the public security forces when large-scale incidents occur in the city?" the power of force."

(End of this chapter)