Chapter 267 Questions
"Why is the road blocked again?"

Pan Guangfeng stayed in Jianye for three days to rest, and attended several welcome dinners held for him by local officials, businessmen, and old friends. He drank and socialized to the fullest, and his level of effort and effort was no less than what he had done in Europe. experienced a difficult foreign affairs negotiation.

Although the news of his upcoming appointment as Minister of Foreign Affairs has not yet been officially announced, as the political and economic center of the north, local officials and powerful businessmen with extensive channels in Jianye have already heard about it and invited them one after another. Drinking and banquets show good intentions, so that people can make friends, cling to each other, and connect with each other in order to form a common interest alliance.

After attending several more important banquets, Pan Guangfeng politely declined the subsequent invitations and prepared to rush to Chang'an as soon as possible to meet with His Majesty the Emperor and the cabinet ministers.

Of course, there is another important reason for wanting to leave Jianye as soon as possible, and that is that the climate here is too hot, making it very uncomfortable to stay there. It's just early summer, and the temperature has already exceeded 30 degrees. Whether outdoors or indoors, I'm sweating all over even if I sit still, and I can't stop holding the folding fan in my hand.

I don’t know how the workers in the factory and the many outdoor workers cope with this hot and humid weather.

If the factory wasn't equipped with several steam fans, everyone would be dehydrated and faint from the heat.

At nine o'clock in the morning on November 11, accompanied by Pan Guangtai, a clan brother who lives in Jianye, he took a luxury carriage and drove to the train station.

As the population of Jianye City increases year by year, the area of ​​the entire city continues to expand outwards, and a large number of houses and public infrastructure are constantly being expanded and renovated, making the city like a huge construction site.

When the horse-drawn carriage enters the city from the suburban manor, the road becomes crowded, with rail cars passing by, public carriages and private carriages competing for the right of way, pedestrians crossing the street from time to time, street vendors crowding the road... this All this makes traffic throughout the city noisy and congested.

There is a traffic jam in the middle of the road. If I miss the train, it will delay my important event!
"Master Pan..." The coachman bowed to Pan Guangfeng and replied respectfully: "Those workers originally went to the factory owner to ask for an explanation, but they were beaten out by the guards hired with money, and they also used Their unwarranted excuses deducted half of their unpaid wages. Therefore, the workers were dissatisfied and occupied the road to complain to the surrounding residents about the injustice of the factory owners, hoping to gain everyone's sympathy and support. To force factory owners to make concessions.”

"The workers want to ask for an explanation. Why don't they go to the factory owner directly? Instead, they gather on the road and block traffic?" Pan Guangfeng's face darkened when he heard this.

The nursing home only accepts disabled people who have lost the ability to work, as well as abandoned infants and young children and orphaned and disabled elderly people who cannot yet achieve independent living.

Pan Guangfeng had a big head, just for a few wages, he made such a fuss, what does it look like.

"...Sir, those workers may have approached the officials, but it was probably to no avail." The coachman said carefully: "Such things as arbitrarily firing workers and withholding wages have long been a common practice in various factories and trading companies in the city. It’s commonplace. Even if you report it to the government, it will probably not take care of it. After all, the hiring and firing of workers are matters decided by the factory owners themselves. How can the government get involved? "

This is a three-way intersection, with a city square in front of it. Even if there are many vendors and residents who come to hunt for goods on weekdays, the wide space will not block the entire road.

"Back home, workers from a nearby leather shoe factory were gathering to denounce the factory owner for dismissing workers without reason and withholding wages, causing them to lose their jobs and income." The driver who found out the situation quickly came back to report.

But the problem is that the original intention and idea of ​​the policy makers are good. They set up special skills training centers for unemployed workers so that they can acquire new skills and obtain new jobs in the job market.

In our country of Qi, there are not even beggars - even if there are beggars, they will be forcibly taken in by the local government and then shipped to a colonial territory overseas to replenish the population there - how can there be unemployed workers?
Have you ever thought about whether you don’t work hard enough? Is it because I don’t endure hardship enough?

The patrolmen wielding batons were struggling to maintain chaotic traffic order, with police whistles, curses, scolds, complaints... all resounding.

If you have lost your livelihood and your source of food and clothing, it is unrealistic to go to a welfare home run by the government to get free relief.

But at this time, a large number of people gathered in the square, and they all looked menacing, as if a large-scale rally was being held.

Under Pan Guangtai's repeated instructions, the coachman changed several streets in succession and avoided several serious congestion points. However, when the carriage entered Beicheng District, which was still two or three miles away from the train station, it unfortunately got stuck in a traffic jam. On a not very wide street.

As for what will happen to them after they lose their jobs, no one cares. These poor workers are thrown into an insecure existence.

With the advent of the steam engine, workers in Qi gradually became a tool in the eyes of their employers. If the employer is looking for a hundred people to work this month and pays them a month's salary, and if it feels dissatisfied, it will find a hundred people again next month and throw away the first hundred people casually, as if it is throwing away a whole group of people. Like hundreds of discarded old shuttles.

Although the State of Qi has successively promulgated many laws related to labor security, such as the Factory Labor Law, the Welfare and Security Law, and the Labor Disability Protection Law, there are still many issues regarding the handling of the relationship between labor and management, especially how to avoid arbitrary dismissal by factory owners. Regarding workers' issues, no relevant binding laws have been promulgated.

It is sad to say that before the emergence of large-scale industrial production represented by steam engine technology in Qi, whether in mainland China or Western European countries, the traditional relationship between employers and workers may have been relatively harmonious. Some employers in handicrafts or primary factories still maintain personal relationships with their workers. The employers also pay a little attention to the lives of their employees, including what they eat, where they live, etc.

But after so many years, the so-called government-run skills training institutions have changed beyond recognition, and some have closed down due to lack of government funding. Moreover, the learning conditions in these skills training centers for unemployed workers are also extremely poor, and the labor they are assigned to do is extremely heavy, which discourages many unemployed workers. They are called "preparatory coolie camps" for workers.

"Why don't they go to local officials and take care of this?"

Perhaps in the eyes of the court officials, both domestic and foreign markets are booming in supply and demand, and industrial and commercial development is also booming. Many new factories and trading companies are established every day, and the demand for manpower seems endless, even if workers are employed by a certain company. Even if workers are laid off and unemployed at the factory, they can quickly find a new employer.

If you really lack skills and can't find a job, you can also report to the local government, or enter a government-run skills training center and receive some skills training before re-entering the job market, or sign up to go to an overseas territory and wait for immigration. Be part of the Empire's pioneers through the ministry's targeted immigration program.

As for workers who have hands and feet and are still in their prime, whether they are men or women, they are simply not eligible to receive assistance from the almshouse.

As a strong laborer, even if you go to the dock to carry bags, you can still earn food for your family every day.

To put it bluntly, with the rise of a large number of factory owners and merchants, many laws in Qi are more inclined to the property-owning class, or the industrial and commercial capital class. The purpose of legislation has also changed from the purpose of helping the poor and the weak during the Taizu period. principles, making relief daunting and even more difficult to obtain.

The essence of more labor-related legislation is to make all labor "free" and have a sufficient reserve army of labor at all times, so that the factory owner (capital) can be called upon at any time when it needs it, and can be called upon when capital does not need it. Can be discarded at any time.

As Qi's economy continued to surge forward, it also caused an ever-widening gap between the rich and the poor, and the entire society gradually became polarized, making Qi's society looming with some degree of social division. At present, Qi has produced the largest working class in the world. Although, they have not yet realized that they need to pursue political rights to safeguard their own interests, or to force the government to formulate and promulgate laws that are in the interests of workers, thus changing the miserable life fate of workers.

However, they took various economic measures to protect their interests, including organizing factory mutual aid associations, labor cooperatives, launching collective denunciations and protests, and... general strikes.

A few years ago, thousands of workers took to the streets to demonstrate in Xunyang County, Shaoliang Prefecture. Although it was instigated by some unscrupulous businessmen trying to resist taxes, it shocked the country and attracted the attention of countless workers.

Although the cabinet government and Shaoliang local officials quickly quelled the massive workers' demonstration with thunderous means, the incident had a huge impact and spread throughout the country at an extremely fast speed.

Later, under the organization and instigation of some "enlightened people" in society, workers also launched small-scale street movements, demanding that factory owners abide by the working hours prescribed by the government, improve the working environment, and protect apprentices (mainly those who have just reached the minimum minimum wage). employ young apprentices of working age) and female workers, increase wages, etc.

Due to political pressure and local public opinion, after punishing those who took the lead in agitating, local governments in Qi are often forced to "persuad" those factories or trading companies that caused trouble to adopt countermeasures that are slightly beneficial to the workers in order to try their best. quell workers' dissatisfaction.

In fact, in the process of Qi's rapid economic development, many sociologists are thinking: What is the purpose of economic development? What is the purpose of industrialization?
What is the point of economic development and industrialization if its purpose is not to benefit society as a whole?
If the purpose of economic development and industrialization is only to benefit a few people and harm the many people, is it better that such development and industrialization do not happen?

The purpose of capital and commercial economic activities is to increase value. This can only be accomplished through the exploitation and squeezing of hired labor. Labor consumes its own value while producing greater value. Capital must occupy the surplus value to increase value, so investing capital makes it possible. The first condition for its ability to add value is to first possess labor, that is, hire workers.

Qi's factory owners (capital) have no end to their pursuit of surplus value, and they measure their own value-added by profit margins.

If workers could live off the air, factory owners would not pay wages. Therefore, the worker must rely on certain means of living to continue to survive, and he must receive a certain share of wages. This is the first limit on profit margins.

If a worker can stay awake all the time, the factory owners in Qi will let him work non-stop. However, because the work must be repeated every day, and there must be enough rest time every day, this is the second restriction.

Labor is a consumption of energy and physical strength, which must be replenished after consumption, which requires sleep, rest, and entertainment. The recovery time of energy and stamina is the third limit on profit margins.

The second limit cannot be exploited because there is a limit to how many hours anyone can work. Therefore, factory owners in Qi made a fuss about the first and third restrictions. In order to increase profit margins, they tried to extend working hours and withhold wages.

Of course, some clear-minded business class people also know that their survival and development depend on the survival of the working class, or in other words, sustainable exploitation and oppression.

If all the workers are exhausted, who will make profits for them and who will run the machines for them? There should be a parasitic relationship between the two parties.

Therefore, the royal family and the cabinet government, which represented the interests of the entire industrial and commercial class, followed the public opinion and promulgated a number of laws to limit working hours and improve workers' working environment and living conditions. A series of nominal legal systems for workers' labor protection were gradually established. .

Various professional and technical schools have even been opened specifically for the children of workers. The more workers are accustomed to working from an early age, the more beneficial it is to the capitalists.

Now we see that the "wolf" has become cunning. In order to ensure that it has a long-term "food source", it must ensure a healthy "flock", which is most beneficial to its own prosperity.

However, as an independent factory owner or trading company owner, in order to obtain more profits, he will generally be in an extremely selfish class nature and will not see that far ahead.

The various restrictions mentioned above will reduce their business profit margins, so factory owners have been waging a covert and tenacious struggle with the government.

These greedy and stupid factory owners do not know the good intentions of the government. All these laws that protect certain rights and interests of workers are actually to allow them to obtain more viable labor force.

Many social elites and scholars, including the descendants of some factory owners, will feel ashamed of the phenomenon of poverty in such a rich and powerful country. I feel angry, and I feel uneasy about the ruthless oppression of the industrial and commercial class in the process of amassing wealth.

They hoped to correct this situation, so they began to pay attention to workers' issues and social poverty issues, and conducted many social investigations on this, wrote a large number of investigation reports, and published them through books and columns.

These investigations revealed to a considerable extent the serious problems of poverty and polarization that existed in Qi society at this time, and also exposed the various sufferings experienced by the working class.

"Give dignity to workers, fairness to society, and peace to the royal family and cabinet."

A certain scholar expressed very concisely the solution to workers' problems and social contradictions.

Because for the rulers, a society divided between rich and poor and the working class's continuous struggle outside the system is ultimately detrimental to them.

During the post-Tai Ping period, the cabinet government began to take measures to try to improve the living and working conditions of the working class, thereby alleviating social conflicts and the growing polarization between rich and poor.

This process may take a long time and involve many aspects. It is a "system engineering".

In addition to solving workers’ unemployment, medical, and elderly problems (these are the main reasons why ordinary families fall into poverty or return to poverty), we also need to solve working environment issues, labor safety issues, working hours issues, wage issues, etc.

In addition, the government may also need to regulate labor relations, regulate wage income, and resolve labor conflicts. When formulating and promulgating certain laws, it is necessary to consciously tilt the balance of the law towards disadvantaged groups so that they can maintain some of their rights in unequal social relations.

In addition, there is another very important aspect, which is the issue of the political rights of the working class.

Do workers want it?
Will the imperial elite and business class give it?
(End of this chapter)

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