Back to Ming Dynasty with Industrial Revolution System

Chapter 1014 The Machine Threat

After the start of industry in Suzhou City, the population has increased compared to a few years ago. The farm system implemented by the Kyushu Army turned many farmers into handicraftsmen. The use of agricultural machinery made the land unnecessary for so many farmers.

Although the commerce in Suzhou City became more and more developed, courtyard areas where poor workers gathered began to appear in the city. These brick and tile houses were wall by wall, often with only one roof, and several families crowded together.There is a clear channel with sewage flowing through one side, and no one has dealt with the accumulated sundries.

"Wu San's brothers were arrested for setting fire to their shopkeeper's textile factory. The government has not dealt with them yet, and they don't know if they will be beheaded." In a miscellaneous courtyard, more than a dozen coarse cloth workers gathered, What we are talking about is the sensational burning of the textile factory that happened a few days ago.

"Wu San and their shopkeepers have always had a bad reputation. They are famous iron cocks, and they try to squeeze them. According to Wu San, they work more than seven hours a day, and they have to arrive at the textile factory on time every day, and they are found lazy by the supervisor. If they do, their wages will be deducted. However, their way of setting fire is too extreme, and they also burned several houses near the textile factory, so I am afraid that they will not be able to escape the punishment of the government.” A worker said.

"I don't think it's necessary for them to do this. After being fired, it's a big deal to do other jobs. We men have hands and feet, so we won't starve to death, right?" Another worker said.

"What you think is really simple! Docks, construction sites, and mining sites do have jobs that only require strength, but most of those jobs are full, and some jobs are more tiring than in textile factories! The best place for us It is the government-run textile mills. The treatment of the government-run textile factories is better than that of private textile factories, but the number of government-run textile factories is smaller than that of private textile factories, and we have no way to enter. If it is not that there is no choice, how can they be in the iron cock? Do you work there for so many years?"

"Should we support the Wu San brothers? We textile workers are a group. If our shopkeeper fires us in the future, some people will support our negotiations with the shopkeeper. If we don't protest, those shopkeepers will think we are easy to bully. At that time, we will find ways to increase our working hours. I think it is better to take advantage of this incident to fight for the necessary interests of our workers, anyway, the law does not blame the public." A dozen workers thought about how to support Wu San and others. Fight for the rights of the groups they represent.

"But what should we do? Do we set fires like them? Our shopkeeper treats us well on weekdays, but doing so will not only make us lose our jobs, but also make the shopkeeper's family bankrupt. It's too unkind." One of the workers hesitated .

"My boss usually treats us well just to make us work harder, but the young boss doesn't treat us very well. Who knows if we will be fired after the young boss takes charge of the house, and now the working hours of six hours a day are already very long Every day we get up early and stay late every day just to earn a little money. Look at where we live now, in a dilapidated courtyard. The housing prices in Suzhou City have suddenly risen wildly, and we will never be able to buy a house here in our entire life. Get a net profit of thousands of taels of silver from the industry."

"It's more than a thousand taels. The owner was originally a big businessman. Even though the land was taken by the government, the government didn't take his property. He later bought several textile factories and a dye factory. There were hundreds of employees. If he earns ten taels of silver, he can earn several thousand taels of silver."

"If I had money, I would also like to own a textile factory, so that I could earn thousands of taels of silver by sitting at home without working."

"You are daydreaming, do you have the capital to buy a textile factory? You and I will not be able to buy half a textile factory after a lifetime of hard work!"

"We are just a group of bitter people. We are thankful to have work and a few more wages."

"But I heard that our boss will also buy a steam engine from the government to increase production. I don't know if we will be dismissed like Wu San and the others. The boss is good to us, but the steam engine does not need to eat, no You don’t complain even when you get paid, so why would we need a group of us with such a machine?”

"Aren't the steam engines sold by the government very expensive? Moreover, you need to register with the government before you can buy a steam engine. The procedures are very cumbersome. Our shopkeeper really wants to buy a steam engine?"

"It is very likely to be true. A steam engine is expensive, but it is enough to pay the wages of many people left, and it will not take long to recover the cost of buying the steam engine."

"What should we do? We're still talking about Wu San. If tomorrow we fall into Wu San's situation..."

When the workers in the courtyard mentioned that their boss wanted to buy a steam engine, they were all afraid of being fired, and they were suddenly panicked.Many textile workers like them saw their shadow in Wu San and the others, and worried about their future.

When they used to have their own fields, they were worried about the daily harvest, but after becoming handicraftsmen, they worried about whether they would be fired. They have become proletarians who live purely on wages.

"I have decided that we must ask the government to guarantee that we will not be replaced by machines, and we need to reduce our workload and increase our wages!"

"We need to find more artisans who have experienced the same situation as us, and protest to the government together. The government should not sell steam engines to textile factories. We can do what steam engines can do!"

Textile workers in Suzhou City are generally facing the threat of being replaced by machines. The workers in the Zayuan District who can barely survive have spread the idea of ​​making demands for rights, and soon set off a new round of solidarity in Suzhou City. The actions of textile mill workers.

Thousands of workers who had been replaced by machines or were about to be replaced by machines gathered in front of the Suzhou government to protest loudly to the Suzhou government, demanding that the government improve their situation and properly handle the burning of the textile factory.

"The workers of the textile factory are on strike!" Some owners of textile factories in Suzhou City found that their workers did not come to the textile factory as usual, but ran to the front of the government office to participate in the protest.

"This situation is getting more and more serious." Chen Hongmi and Wu Zhicai, two high-ranking officials in Suzhou City, saw the workers blocking the Suzhou government office, helpless.

What used to be a few conflicts of destroying machines has now become a city-wide workers' rights protection movement. If it is not handled properly, it will easily evolve into a larger-scale security incident.

"I've only heard of peasant uprisings before. What if the workers uprising?" Chen Hongmi said to himself.

(End of this chapter)