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

Chapter 618: The Education of Factory Owners and the Age of Ideals
Most of the textile factories opened at the same time as the Brothers Textile Factory have basically gone bankrupt. These private factories are basically not seen in any industry with any technical barriers in the Han Dynasty. It is no wonder that the Mohists look down on such factories.

But it is obvious that the people in this survey report scoffed at their Mohist system, and even believed that this system was rigid and solidified, and hindered the development of productivity.

"Your Majesty, this person only has a cursory understanding and draws a generalized view. If the treatment of craftsmen is reduced, my Mo family's factories can also increase profits, but what's the point? Do we have to turn every factory into a workshop for the production of cattle and horses, and turn the craftsmen into cattle and horses?"

Xu Fan looked at the young Mohist in front of him and smiled: "What's your name? Where are you from?"

The leaders of the Mohists who were here were all about 40 years old, and Deng Tong was the only one who was relatively young, looking about 30 years old. He looked relatively young among a group of middle-aged and elderly people.

The young man said, "I am Deng Tong, a native of Nanyang County."

Deng Tong picked up the investigation report and said angrily, "My family was poor when I was young, and I worked in private factories when I was young. Some factory owners really treated us like cattle and horses, or even worse than cattle and horses. Cattle and horses were fed with a few handfuls of grass. When I was an apprentice, I didn't even get a salary. They said they would learn for three years, teach for three years, and work for three years. But these so-called masters only beat and scolded me and I didn't learn any skills. Later, I joined the Mohist School."

Deng Tong's family was also lucky. Their hometown was in Nanyang County, which was almost the place in the world where war ended the fastest. Therefore, their family was hardly affected by the chaos of the war at the end of the Qin Dynasty. Deng Tong's father, Deng Xian, was a blacksmith. In his early years, his family had a blacksmith shop and was well-off. However, when blast furnaces became popular, those small blacksmith shops almost went bankrupt. Those who kept up with the times built blast furnaces and became steel workshop owners. However, the Deng family did not keep up with the times and lived in poverty for the next few years.

After completing compulsory education, Deng Tong entered a private steel workshop and became an apprentice. At that time, the legal system of the Han Dynasty was not yet complete. Children who finished primary school were only 13 or 14 years old. In rural areas, they had to follow their parents to farm the land. In cities, they were arranged to work as apprentices in a factory according to custom. However, apprentices went to the factory to learn skills and were not considered craftsmen. In many areas, they did not even have a salary. These workshop owners liked such child laborers the most. Later, the Han Dynasty discovered this loophole and improved the situation.

Deng Tong experienced both the old and new systems, which were in sharp contrast. Deng Tong particularly hated these private factories, believing that they were places for training cattle and horses. After he joined the Mohist School in Nanyang County, he actively fought for the rights of craftsmen and helped them sue private workshop owners. He was very popular with local craftsmen and soon became an official Mozi, a local sage, and the leader of the Nanyang Mohists.

Xu Fan smiled and said, "If there is hatred, no wonder you are so excited."

Deng Tong admitted: "It is because I have been to a private steel factory that I know how valuable Mohists are. In the Han Dynasty, only the Shaofu factory and the collective factory of the Mohists treat us as human beings."

Xu Fan said: "My Han Dynasty's factories are not that bad, otherwise I would doubt the implementation of the craftsman's law."

Deng Tong said coldly, "It's not too bad, but this is because the court punished them and we, the Mohists, helped the craftsmen, so they increased their salaries and treatment. But even so, those factory owners still try their best to find loopholes. Workers can't relax at all, otherwise they will be bitten hard by them."

"And the so-called one-man management system is more of a deception to the craftsmen. Our Mohist philosophy is to let the craftsmen be the masters of the factory. The one-man management system is a naked betrayal of this philosophy. The managers in the factory have all the power. Even if we have a craftsmen's conference, they will gradually be squeezed out of the center of power. The younger generation can fully imagine what will happen next. The Mohist collective factory is still owned by the collective in name, but in fact it is the factory of those who are in charge. They can do whatever they want. They can increase their own salary by dozens or hundreds of times, but they will still say that they deserve it. They will also find ways to reduce the salary and benefits of the craftsmen, and say that this is for the good of the factory. The craftsmen cannot supervise them. The collective factory has become their disguise."

"As for the so-called supervision by the imperial court, this is simply a foolish dream. How can the officials of the imperial court, who are high up in Chang'an City, supervise the factories thousands of miles away? Moreover, there are many more factories in the world than the county government offices. The imperial court cannot even supervise the corrupt officials in the local areas, so how much energy can it have to supervise those who are in charge?"

After listening to this, Xu Fan clapped his hands and laughed, "It turns out that private factory owners are the best at educating people. Only those who have not experienced this personally can imagine these problems."

Xu Fan almost thought that Deng Tong was a time traveler. Compared with what he knew, this was simply a prophecy.

"So it is beneficial to keep those private factories, not only because of competitiveness. Without their exploitation, how can the craftsmen realize that they don't want to be masters? They will only be like slaves." Xu Fan sighed.

How many young people like Deng Tong were there back then?

There are simply too few of them, so many people end up losing everything without knowing what's going on.

Deng Tong saw that the emperor agreed with what he said and said, "Your Majesty, I can debate with Chao Cuo and point out all the mistakes in his judgment."

Xu Fan shook his head and said, "Chao Cuo has already gone to Chen County. Your debate is meaningless, because the real world is not spoken by mouth, but created by our hands."

"I also know that if we compare the morals, the Shaofu factory and the Mohist collective factory are ten or even a hundred times higher than the private factory. But the market is not about morality, it is about competition. The Mohist collective factory does have an advantage in high-end industries, but these real data also tell us that in those fiercely competitive industries, whether it is the Shaofu factory or the Mohist collective factory, they are no match for private factories."

"Why did Shaofu withdraw from the textile industry in the first place, and why did it withdraw from the garment market 10 years ago? It was because they could not compete with these private factories. As the saying goes, one general's success is the result of the sacrifice of thousands of soldiers. Each of these private factories that have made it has lost hundreds or even thousands of their peers. It's a bit of an exaggeration to say that they are one in ten thousand, but it's not an exaggeration to say that they are one in a thousand. To be honest, in these industries with low barriers to entry and accumulated competition, neither Shaofu nor Mohist collective factories can beat them. We cannot deny this, and the data speaks for itself."

"An industry is not only composed of high-end parts, its foundation is the majority of ordinary industries. The profits of Brothers Textile Factory can be compared with hundreds of private textile factories in the Han Dynasty, but the Mohist family only owns one Brothers Textile Factory, while there are tens of thousands of private textile factories. This scale is a huge force. When the Mohist family can cultivate tens of thousands of collective textile factories, they will be qualified to replace these private factories."

Deng Tong remained silent. This was simply impossible. Over the years, the number of official Mohists in the Mohist school had just exceeded ten thousand, and there were only 5 apprentice Mohists. Even if the apprentice Mozis were included, it was impossible for the Mohist school to manage tens of thousands of collective workshops.

Deng Tong was not convinced and did not understand: "Why doesn't the emperor replace these private factory owners with government-run factories? These people are like some low-quality copper coins. As long as they are in the market, they will lower the moral bottom line. These low-quality copper coins are circulating in the market. Our Mo family's factories have a high moral bottom line, but it is difficult to expand, and it is even more difficult to compete with them. But the court is fully capable of eliminating them."

Xu Fan shook his head and said, "It's useless. What this investigation report says is real. Even with the competition from private factories, the collective factories of the Mohists are still overstaffed. If there were no private factories, I guarantee that people would live ten times longer. This is human nature. When the whole world is government-run factories, the craftsmen in the factories will continue to expand like the Han officials in the court, but this expansion is unsustainable. The court can support millions of craftsmen and officials at a wealthy standard, but it is impossible to support tens of millions of craftsmen and officials at a wealthy standard. This is determined by the productivity of the world now. The current technology cannot meet the wealthy living conditions of tens of millions of craftsmen."

"Even if this condition is achieved in a short period of time, it will bring about a huge backlash. At that time, any high-level official in the Han Dynasty will have to make changes, and the craftsmen will inevitably suffer, because they have to bribe hundreds of thousands of managers and tens of millions of craftsmen. This is an easy choice to make."

"Someone might even say to the craftsmen, since you don't want to work hard and want to fool around, then let the factory owners manage you and let the craftsmen have a taste of the factory owners' iron fist. That's why I've always said that craftsmen should make more progress. You should be able to outsmart these factory owners in the high-tech field, and you should also have an overwhelming advantage in the fiercely competitive industries. No one should underestimate this point. This may determine who the world belongs to. If the Mohists can lead the craftsmen to outsmart the factory owners, then the world will belong to the craftsmen. But if they can't win the competition, then the factory owners may become the masters of the world."

In fact, judging from what Xu Fan saw in the future, the future of Mohism was actually not optimistic. Whether Xu Fan was willing to admit it or not, in the timeline he knew, the factory owners still had the upper hand, and even an ultimate form appeared, where a country became a giant factory. The disputes in later generations were actually internal competitions between their capital.

This is also the reason why Xu Fan did not oppose Chao Cuo's experiment with the one-leader system. It is better to prepare more paths to be prepared for any eventuality, and one can always summarize more experiences.

Fang Hao said: "We Mohists are never afraid of competition. We also believe in craftsmen. Mohists regard craftsmen as human beings, while those factory owners regard craftsmen as cattle and horses. We can lead craftsmen to compete with those so-called cattle and horse factories. Now the Mohist factories are a little slack. We will change them again. We Mohists will not give this world to those who drive the people like cattle and horses."

Deng Tong and other Mohists also stood up and said, "Yes, we Mohists will not give the world to those who treat the people as cattle and horses."

On November 40, 11th year of the Han calendar, in Yangshuli, Liu Heng was surrounded by a group of local people. He was holding a pencil and a small notebook to record things. The people around him complained to him about their daily difficulties.

"The officials of the imperial court's county office cannot stagger their working hours with ours. We start work at 8 o'clock, so they also start work at 8 o'clock. We get off work at 5:30, so they also get off work at 5:30. We take holidays, so they also take holidays. Some time ago, someone's household registration was lost, and he wanted to reissue it. He went there several times but failed, so he had to ask for leave. If you can stagger your working hours by even one hour, it will be easier for us to do our work."

Liu Heng scratched his head when he heard this and said, "It's not easy for you to handle this matter. I'm just a small county magistrate, and I can't change the working hours of the entire government office. But I can propose to the higher-ups to make staggered hours more convenient for you."

Another young man complained, "My father reached the age of retirement last year. I went back and forth more than ten times to get this certificate. I took half a month off and had half of my salary deducted. I barely got it done. It was something that could be done in one go, but they always said I was missing some materials, some certificates, some certificates. They couldn't just say they could get it done all at once and asked me to bring enough at once. They kept asking me to run back and forth. I dare not complain. If I complain a little, it will delay the process."

This incident resonated with everyone, and everyone echoed: "Every time I go to the county office, I am terrified. It is rare to find a Han official as kind as you, County Magistrate Liu."

Liu Heng could only record this question and said, "I can help you solve this problem. I will go back and think of a solution with my colleagues, and try to solve your problem within one day."

"There are also problems with the community management. We built a small vegetable greenhouse in our community, and there are always naughty kids who come and smash the glass. We asked the management, but they said they were our own children and asked us to solve the problem ourselves. But the community is so big, where can we find these naughty kids? These people took our money and did nothing for us."

A large group of people from Chang'an City confided all the troubles they encountered in their daily lives to Liu Heng, and Liu Heng recorded these problems one by one.

After a long time, everyone dispersed. Liu Heng stood up and said in surprise: "The Emperor."

Xu Fan smiled and said, "It's rare for someone like you to get so close to the people."

Even with Xu Fan's improvements, there was still a huge gap between Han officials and ordinary people. If there was no other way, ordinary people in the Han Dynasty would rarely go to the government office. The most the Han Dynasty court could do was to manage the people, and the most Xu Fan could do was to try to eliminate those punitive measures.

Liu Heng said: "I am also learning from the emperor. Only by getting close to the people can we understand their needs and govern with a clear purpose."

Xu Fan smiled and said, "You can also go a step further. What's the point of just listening by yourself? You should also bring your subordinates to the people. It would be better if you could find reporters from newspapers to supervise and see the problems raised by the people. See if you have solved them after listening to them. And how you solved them. All this can be displayed to the entire Han Dynasty, so that cases in other places will know how to deal with the problems of the people, and let the people in other areas know how the Han government offices operate and how to handle affairs."

"Do it a few more times, accumulate some experience, and see if you can promote it throughout the Han Dynasty. Times have changed. The contradictions in the industrial age are dozens or hundreds of times more than those in the agricultural age. The previous management-oriented government offices can no longer meet the needs of the new era. See if you can create an office that serves the people."

Liu Heng said: "Yes!"

Seeing Liu Heng leaving, Xu Fan smiled and said, "It's great to have young people with ideals. It's great to have an ideal era!"

Although the Han Dynasty has many shortcomings, it has a group of aspiring young people willing to fight for their ideals. Establishing a goal of Datong is the greatest wealth Xu Fan left to the world.

January 41, 1st year of the Han calendar, Chen County.

After Chao Cuo took office, he immediately paid a visit to the Legalist leader, Zheng Qi, the prefect of Chen County.

Zheng Qi saw Chao Cuo and smiled, "It's true that heroes emerge from youth. When I was your age, I was just a reporter for the Han Monthly."

Chao Cuo bowed and said, "If it weren't for the efforts of our predecessors, we, the Legalists, would not have been able to enter the Han court so quickly. My future also depends on the foundation laid by my predecessors."

Zheng Qi was very happy after hearing this, as it was obvious that Chao Cuo had touched the heart of his heart.

Then Chao Cuo told Zheng Qi what he was going to do in Chen County and asked for Zheng Qi's help.

Zheng Qi said: "You have been carrying out reforms in Chen County for 20 years. I have seen it. It can be said that those in charge are confused, but those who are on the sidelines can see things more clearly. You have seen many things that I have not seen. After 20 years of development, Chen County has indeed accumulated a lot of problems in various aspects. Reform is necessary, but you must be cautious. Now Chen County is still developing. Your reform is also to make Chen County develop better, not to completely ignite contradictions. Remember to tread on thin ice when reforming."

Chao Cuo bowed and said, "Yes!"

After gaining the support of Zheng Qi, Chao Cuo summoned the imperial court's Shaofu Manager, the county's Shaofu Manager, and the county's Shaofu Manager as soon as he took office.

Because Chen County was a government-run pilot project back then, most of the factories here had shares in government offices at all levels in the Han Dynasty, so hundreds of managers came when he summoned them.

Chao Cuo said to these officials in a serious tone: "The court is extremely dissatisfied with the profits of the government-run factories in recent years. You have the convenience provided by the court, but you cannot compete with those private factories, and your profits are not as good as theirs.

Now, Your Majesty has appointed me to reform the government-run workshops in Chen County. The goal of the reform is very simple, which is to make the profits of your factories above the industry average. If you are unable to do this, you should step down and merge your factories into more efficient ones."

"Mr. Chao, we who manage the factory are subject to various constraints, and we even have to help the court to place soldiers. Now that the profits are a little less, but all the responsibilities are put on us, is this fair?" The factory director of the Shaofu retorted dissatisfiedly.

The other factory managers also looked aggrieved. Workers can interfere with the factory, craftsmen can interfere with the factory, officials can interfere with the factory, and the court can interfere with the factory. Now that problems have arisen, the responsibility is put on them. Isn't this just putting the blame on them?

Chao Cuo said: "So the court must continue to reform. Clarify the main body of responsibility. From now on, you will be the main person in charge of the factory operation. You don't need to listen to orders from others. If the factory operates well, you will be rewarded. If the factory operates poorly, the court will also punish you."

(End of this chapter)