At the end of Qin, I became a son of the plane

Chapter 488: Craftsmen’s Shareholding

But at this time Tian Yang stood up and said: "I oppose the court's approach."

Zhou Bo was surprised and said, "After the court takes over these workshops, the treatment of Chenjun craftsmen will also be improved. Why do you Mohists oppose it?"

He thought that these merchants would object, but he did not think that the Mohists, who represented the interests of craftsmen, would oppose this policy. Isn't this major good news for the Mohists?

Tian Yang said, "Because your reform did not consider the interests of hundreds of thousands of craftsmen in Chen County. The court can convert debt into shares, but the situation of craftsmen like us has not changed. The court could have taken these workshops away, so why did it leave 2-3 layers of shares for these merchants? Isn't it just to let these merchants continue to run these workshops with their heart? In fact, they have also become the stewards of the court. But they are also working for the court. Why can they get shares, but we don't? Does the Prime Minister want to treat them differently?"

What Zhen said left Zhou Bo speechless. He couldn't say that these merchants were of use and giving them shares would allow them to work for the court with peace of mind. Ordinary craftsmen were too easily replaceable and had no value, so there was no need to give them shares.

This is the current business atmosphere in the Han Dynasty. Capable managers can not only receive generous salaries, but also must use shares to attract these talents. Because if you don't do this, other workshop owners will do it.

Ordinary craftsmen do not have this treatment because they are too easily replaceable, especially after the Han people began to widely use assembly line operations. This method greatly improved production efficiency, but at the same time also greatly reduced the cost and time of learning a technology.

If a craftsman wants to make a carriage by himself, he may not be able to master it even after ten years of study. However, if he only learns how to make wheels, or even one step of processing wheels, he can become proficient in a few days. Even a farmer can do this. There is no technical threshold at all. Naturally, it is difficult for craftsmen to increase their salaries.

Why did the Han Dynasty continue to expand outward in recent years? It was to limit the unlimited growth of the number of craftsmen, so as to ensure the salary of the craftsmen.

This is the difference between small countries and big countries. If small countries want to develop industrialization, they will find ways to obtain sufficient labor. So they dare to use the method of sheep eating people to obtain labor.

But if a big country dares to do this, Li Zicheng is watching you. China's industry sprouted twice, but was interrupted twice. One of the important reasons was that the backlash of industrialization was not handled properly. Millions of farmers can't even get enough food, and you still want them to starve to death peacefully!

Although this is the most real reason, it cannot be said out loud because it goes against the Han Dynasty's political philosophy that the world belongs to all people.

Zhou Bo said helplessly: "What do you want to do?"

Tian Yang said: "I demand that the craftsmen in these workshops should have shares, at least not less than these merchants. I think that the contribution made by craftsmen like us is higher than that of these merchants, so the shares we get should not be less than theirs."

Zhou Bo shook his head and said, "It doesn't make sense for the court to pay for you to take the shares. The Mohists can't be so unreasonable."

Tian Yang said: "This time the court is trying out the government-run economy, not to make money, but to solve the economic crisis. The economic crisis is caused by the unfair distribution of wealth. Craftsmen like us have too little wealth, while merchants have too much wealth, which leads to insufficient purchasing power in the world, resulting in the current economic crisis.

Only when we, the craftsmen, hold shares in the workshops, can we enjoy the benefits brought by the development of these workshops, and only then can we have more wealth in our hands and curb the outbreak of the economic crisis. Otherwise, the workshops will become larger and larger, and more and more goods will be produced, but the craftsmen who produce these goods will be unable to support their families. If this contradiction is not resolved, the economic crisis will never stop. "

Zhou Bo showed an embarrassed expression. He had never expected that the Mohists would suddenly appear and now they wanted to seize the shares of the workshops. With one more force, the court would have an absolute advantage. He was worried that the court could not control these workshops.

Seeing Zhou Bo's expression, Tian Yang said coldly, "My Mohist School can also convert debt into equity. Since these merchants don't want these factories, we craftsmen will want them ourselves, and we will run them ourselves and be responsible for them. Collective workshops are also very popular in Guanzhong now. The court only holds 30% of the shares, and these workshops are doing very well. When the court sold the workshops, the first choice was also craftsmen like us. It can be seen that the emperor also approves of this model. This is already a good demonstration. Why doesn't Prime Minister Zhou learn from the example of Guanzhong?"

Merchants like Zhaoyun were stunned when they saw the aggressive Tian Yang. In the past, they also thought that the Mo family was annoying because they always brought craftsmen to cause trouble for them and made their business difficult.

But now it seems that people still give them face. The prime minister of the dynasty was forced to lose face by the Mohists, so what can these merchants do for them?

Zhou Bo could not accept it even more. He worked so hard to set up the pilot project but in the end all the benefits went to the Mohists. Even the imperial court worked for them. Isn't this going against the will of heaven?

The most important thing is that if we agree to Tian Yang’s request today, what will happen to other workshops in the court that operate normally?
Things in the world are like this. What is worrying is not the lack of resources but the inequality of resources. In this time of economic crisis, the court workshops are still operating normally. These court craftsmen are both fortunate and proud. They think that working for the court is a stable job, and stability is also the best condition for the court to recruit master craftsmen. Otherwise, the salary given by the court to the master craftsmen is worse than death.

There are more than half as many private workshops as there are private workshops, and that is what people value: they can work in the imperial workshops until retirement.

But if they found out that other craftsmen had taken shares in the workshop, these old craftsmen would definitely feel unbalanced. If Chen Lei's steel mill also required craftsmen to take shares. The equipment factory also required it. The Shaofu controlled six large factories in Chen County, and the annual turnover of each factory exceeded hundreds of millions. If they also wanted to share shares, the court would lose more than 10 billion yuan.

The key point is that this only happened in Chen County. What would the craftsmen in other official workshops do if they knew about this?
You should know that the Shaofu has hundreds of large workshops throughout the Han Dynasty. The assets of these workshops add up to hundreds of billions, and the profits they earn for the court every year are as high as 170 billion, which has become the de facto first fiscal revenue of the Han Dynasty.

This has become the cornerstone of the stability of the Han Dynasty. Even if Zhou Bo's official reforms failed, he did not dare to easily mobilize this pillar of the Han Dynasty, as this would be a major event that would truly shake the foundation of the country.

At this time, Zheng Qi, a legalist, asked, "There are more than 100,000 craftsmen in the entire Chen County. There are dozens of people in small factories and hundreds of people in large factories. How can the equity be managed with such a dispersed structure? Should we leave it all to you, the Mohists, to manage?"

Tian Yang said: "My Mohist School will not infringe upon the interests of craftsmen. Equity is difficult to manage, so we should unify them and set up a craftsman conference in each workshop. The craftsmen will select people they trust to become shareholder representatives to protect the interests of the craftsmen."

Xie Yu said: "What if the craftsmen rely on their status as shareholders and refuse to obey the discipline?"

Tian Yang said coldly: "You are making trouble out of nothing. According to what you said, I can also ask a question in return, what should we do if the manager relies on his power to encroach on the interests of the factory?
I don't deny that there are bad apples, but if there are craftsmen in the factory, everyone will regard the factory as their home, and most people want the factory to be good, so they will naturally drive away these bad apples. Not to mention that the factory has rules and regulations, and violations of any rules will be dealt with according to the rules. There is no reason to use something that hasn't happened yet to prevent craftsmen from getting shares."

Zhou Bo shook his head and said, "The conditions proposed by you Mohists are too high. The court cannot accept them. The best I can do is to guarantee that your salaries will be paid normally."

Tian Yang said: "Then we, the craftsmen, will withdraw from these workshops, and you, Prime Minister, can open a workshop with these merchants."

Zhou Bo said, "Now the streets are full of unemployed craftsmen. Do you really think this can threaten the court?"

Tian Yang sneered and said, "Today, I can teach you, Prime Minister Zhou, a lesson. It's not only the management of the shopkeeper that is indispensable. If the master craftsmen of Chen County go on strike, all the workshops here, big and small, will have to stop production, including the Chen County Steel Plant."

Zhou Bo stood up quickly and scolded: "The economic situation of the entire Han Dynasty is not good now. You dare to mess around in the court's workshop. Do you Mohists still have a sense of the overall situation? Do you think that Chenjun is the only industrial zone in the world? When Chenjun's economy declines, Nanyangjun, Handanjun, Sanchuanjun and other large counties will replace it. When Chenjun declines, you craftsmen will have an easier time." Tian Yang sneered, "This is the overall situation of the court and the merchants, but it is not the overall situation of us craftsmen. If the overall situation does not protect the interests of craftsmen, then we don't have it. What the prime minister said makes sense. There is more than one industrial zone in the world. If Chenjun does not protect the interests of craftsmen, we will go to Nanyangjun and the counties in Guanzhong that can protect the interests of craftsmen. If not, we can go to Jiangnan and Nanyang. There are more craftsmen there, and they value talents more, and the salaries are higher."

"Prime Minister Zhou thought that this rhetoric could threaten us craftsmen, but without the shackles of Chen County, we craftsmen can get a wider world. I want to see whether we craftsmen can't do without you, or you can't do without us craftsmen."

The argument between Zhou Bo and Tian Yang became more and more intense, and all the merchants present were shocked.

The Mohists were still tough, they would never dare to say such words. Then they were a little envious in their hearts, it was still good to have a backer, Tian Yang had the support of a huge Mohist family, even if it was the face of the prime minister, he would not give it.

Where is the backstage of these merchants? These people thought about it and it seemed that there was a Fumin School in the south that stood on the side of them. In the future, they should have more contact with the people of Fumin School.

Just when the communication between the two sides was about to break down, Zhang Hui came to the venue and said, "My master invites Tian Mozhe to have a chat."

Tian Yang nodded and followed Zhang Hui to a study.

Li Si sat in the middle and said, "You Mohists are still the same, you haven't changed at all. In the words of the emperor, you are too stubborn. You always do some radical actions, and both sides suffer losses."

Li Si looked at Tian Yang and fell into memories. The Legalists and Mohists had a honeymoon period. In the Qin State, the Legalists were responsible for formulating policies and directions, while the Mohists were responsible for implementing a series of Legalist ideas. The two sides united to create the unprecedented war machine of the Qin State.

After the world was unified and it came to the stage of dividing the cake, the Legalists and Mohists gradually became estranged. Then the Mohists implemented the strategy of assassinating the First Emperor, which led to the complete separation of the two schools. Of course, the Mohists also suffered a devastating blow.

But things in the world are like this, with fortune and misfortune interdependent. When the Mohist school was about to die out, they met the emperor of the day. With the emperor's support, the Mohist school revived again in less than 20 years, and its strength was further improved, and it once again became a prominent school in the world.

On the contrary, the Legalists who once dominated the Qin State saw their power collapse under the attack of the current emperor and could only lie dormant.

Now the Legalists want to return to the mainstream of the Han Dynasty. Technical schools such as the Mohists and the Agriculturalists are their best allies. By forming an alliance with these two schools, the Legalists do not have to worry about losing their dominant position.

Qin Bo, the leader of the Mohist school, was originally the Minister of the Imperial Household of the Han Dynasty. If he had not withdrawn from the Han court, he would most likely have been the second prime minister of the Han Dynasty. However, Shang Nong, the head of the Farmers' School, had already become the prime minister of the Han Dynasty, but he still voluntarily withdrew.

Both schools of thought were good at technology but poor at government affairs. It was impossible to give full play to the technical advantages of these two schools of thought if they were to lead the government and guide the major policies. The Legalists were good at making policies, but they needed the assistance of highly skilled technical bureaucrats to implement their policies without distortion. So now Li Si wanted to renew his previous relationship.

Tian Yang said: "Mohism is still changing. Every failure makes one wiser. The First Emperor taught us Mohists the best lesson. If we want peace in the world, we cannot pin our hopes on one person.

The monarch is not the foundation of our Mohism. The ancestors of the Mohism were too naive to see the problem, so they regarded the war machine of the Qin Dynasty as the hope of unifying the world. Now our Mohism has found its own foundation. The butt determines the head. Although the emperor said this in a vulgar way, it is a wise saying. Our Mohism comes from craftsmen, and we must speak for the interests of craftsmen. This is the foundation of our Mohism. "

Li Si nodded and said, "This is also because your Mohist school has caught up with the trend. In the past 20 years since the establishment of the Han Dynasty, the current emperor has taken industry as the foundation of the country, built a large number of workshops, and encouraged merchants to build workshops. The number of craftsmen in the world has increased dozens of times compared to years ago. This has led to the prosperity of the Mohist school today."

"But Tian Mozhe was a little too aggressive today. You only considered that the Chenjun craftsmen had a share, but you didn't think that this would cause dissatisfaction among the other craftsmen in the Shaofu. The Shaofu is already the pillar of the Han Dynasty. Even Prime Minister Zhou dare not shake this pillar. If you don't give in, Prime Minister Zhou may really abandon your Mo family."

Tian Yang suddenly realized what was going on. No wonder Zhou Bo was so firmly opposed.

But he still said: "We all know that the situation in the world has changed. The wealth that can be produced by the fields is far less than that of the workshops. The workshops are the fields in the past. Those large workshops with high profits are rich fields, and small workshops are poor fields. Occupying a workshop is equivalent to being a landlord in the past. The court is the biggest landlord, and the big and small merchants of the Han Dynasty are small and medium-sized landlords. We craftsmen are tenants. Although all the goods are produced by our hard work, most of the wealth is occupied by the court and these merchants. We can only leave some leftovers to feed ourselves."

"We craftsmen are not even as good as farmers. In the past, the court would at least distribute land to farmers to become self-cultivating farmers. But now the court will not divide workshops and let craftsmen become shopkeepers. It is not too much for craftsmen to ask for shares. We just want a guarantee of life, so that we don't have to starve to death when the economic crisis breaks out like this."

"I can tell you clearly, Master Li, that even without the reform of the government-run workshops, our Mohist School has been constantly promoting the construction of workshops belonging to the collective of craftsmen. Now it has achieved considerable results in Guanzhong. Later, our Mohist School will promote this model of collective workshops to the whole world. In today's world, those who do not occupy workshops will always be the object of oppression. The primary task of our Mohist School is to lead the craftsmen of the world to change their own fate of being oppressed."

Li Si thought for a moment and asked, "How much of the workshop do you want to own?"

Tian Yang said: "The minimum is 30%. At the same time, the craftsmen also have the right to supervise the operation of the workshop to prevent the court and the stewards from infringing on the rights and interests of the workshop."

Then Tian sneered, "You are worried that we, the craftsmen, will infringe upon the interests of the workshop, but you don't know that we are more worried about you. In this world, only the common people at the bottom are good people, because if we do something a little bit out of line, our families may be ruined. On the contrary, the upper class tyrants have always been unscrupulous and lawless, and dare to do anything. I even dare to guarantee that in the future, any infringement of the rights of the workshop must be done by the court and these managers. They have the right and ability to do such things, and they will not work for others."

Li Si really did not refute. He, the Legalist, formulated so many strict laws in the past just to arrest some common people at the bottom of society and make them work for the court for free. As for those nobles and powerful people, none of them were wrongly arrested.

Soon Li Si invited Zhou Bo to come over and said, "By introducing the power of craftsmen into the workshop, the three forces will be more balanced and stable. These craftsmen can help the court supervise those in charge."

"As for the problem that the prime minister is worried about, it is easy to solve. The craftsmen have also invested money to buy shares, so no one can say anything. Moreover, Chen County is a pilot project after all, which is equivalent to exploring the way for the court. Exploring the way not only requires walking along the main road, but also walking through the ditches and valleys beside it. This can find out the wrong way and accumulate experience for the court. This must do something unconventional. If the prime minister abides by the rules, why would the court give Chen County a pilot project?"

Zhou Bo thought for a moment and said, "This matter is of great importance. I must report it to the court."

Li Si smiled and said, "It's just right for us to submit the reform memorial to the court and see what the emperor thinks."

So Zhou Bo used Guangbao to report the reform policy, which was roughly that the court would hold 51% of the shares and control the rights, and the remaining 49% would be divided among the management and craftsmen of the workshop.

Two days later, the imperial court sent a message, and the emperor said, "Yes!"

With the emperor's endorsement, Zhou Bo finally breathed a sigh of relief.

(End of this chapter)