In the past fourteen years, the emperor of Ming Dynasty introduced a large number of immigrants from China in order to strengthen himself. Fourteen years ago, there were only more than a thousand Chinese in Nanhua, but now there are more than ten million Chinese, and
Millions of people are born every year, and millions of new immigrants flow into the New World.
The Emperor of the Ming Dynasty established many factories to provide people with employment. Under his orders, millions of Chinese became farm workers, cultivating land and grazing cattle and sheep. It is believed that there are more than 5 million workers in this country, both
There are factory workers and there are farm workers.
Workers are the main body of this country. Such a huge proportion is unprecedented in any other country.
This is also the group of people I want to know about during this trip. Last year, when London newspapers reported on their promulgation of the Sickness Insurance Act, the Workers' Compensation Act, and the Disability and Pension Insurance Act, it caused unprecedented controversy in Europe.
Sensational, you and I, as well as our friends in France, North Germany and many other places, have discussed these bills extremely seriously.
We once thought that these bills were just games made by the rulers of the Ming Dynasty to win over people's hearts. I myself once thought that we would see harsh exploitation by capitalists and miserable scenes in the slums in the Ming Dynasty.
But when I came here, I found that everything was completely different from what we imagined...
In the Ming Dynasty, most factories belong to the "Nanhua Consortium". The predecessor of this consortium is the "American Company". It is believed that most people in the Ming Dynasty work for it. And its founder is the emperor of the Ming Empire.
.The role this company played in the founding process of Ming Dynasty no longer needs to be reiterated.
May 1st is a Sunday and a rest day. On this point, enterprises in Ming Dynasty strictly abide by the relevant laws. It is a rest day without working. However, a few factories still need to work.
For example, in the Imperial Steel Company, the founders of this company are believed to be a group of imperial nobles. They founded the company in 1870. Its monthly output is 60,000 tons and there are a total of 4,000 workers. In a chat with the workers
I learned that they are very happy to work on rest days, because a shift can get 1.5 times the usual salary. If it is Chinese New Year or Mid-Autumn Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and other festivals, it is double the salary. Each of their shifts is 12
hours, although it is far more than the "8-hour work system" you proposed, but I have to admit that this is already the shortest working hour in the world.
In the Imperial Steel Company, the capitalists provided cheap breakfasts and lunches to the workers. The workers only needed to pay one yuan a month to enjoy relatively sumptuous meals, including Chinese bread, beef, vegetables and other dishes. Their
Life is far beyond the standard of food for ordinary British workers.
There is a special living area in Ming Dynasty, called "community". I heard that this kind of "community" first appeared in Nanhua and was designed by the Emperor of Ming Dynasty himself in order to solve people's accommodation problems. Each community can be regarded as a building.
Parks, apartment buildings are located between parks.
After visiting the steel company, I came to a nearby community. In the community, I saw with my own eyes the living environment of the workers here. Not only did it far exceed that of workers from other European countries, even many middle class people could not compare with them. Those four-story buildings
Or four-and-a-half-story apartments are divided into four- or six-bedroom suites. In the suite, there are at least a living room, a dining room, more than two bathrooms and a laundry room. The bathroom not only has a ceramic toilet, but also a shower.
——Hot water is provided by the solar water tank on the roof, which is why they maintain good hygiene.
In their kitchens, I saw gas stoves, which are extremely advanced stoves. The gas used by the residents comes from the by-product of coking in coke factories.
Perhaps because they invented electric light, they used electric light in every room, which was extremely rare in Britain. While most Europeans were still in the Middle Ages, they had entered modern civilization.
In their room, I saw that the workers’ homes were fully furnished, with landscape paintings hanging on the walls and exquisite porcelain placed in the cabinets. During the conversation, I learned that this ordinary worker, he spent every month
With a salary of 24-26 yuan, thanks to the bill introduced last year, he enjoys a series of royal benefits - according to the official statement, as a supplement to social insurance, the royal family takes 10% of its income to subsidize social insurance
Welfare. Not only can he enjoy work-related injury, pension and other insurances, but he and his family can also enjoy medical insurance. They only need to pay a small amount of insurance premiums to get medical treatment. Moreover, his children can also receive compulsory education for free, which improves their lives.
Far more superior than we imagined.
Yes, unlike what we imagined, although this is a country monopolized by a big capitalist, the emperor himself, the life of workers here is extremely superior.
For comparison, workers in the UK generally work 14-16 hours a day. Especially after the invention of the electric light, their working hours have been extended. What is certain is that electric light may be an advancement of human science, but for ordinary workers, it is not common.
It has to be a good thing.
But here, the Ming Empire passed legislation to ensure that their workers could only work a maximum of twelve hours a day, which was undoubtedly a great progress.
...Maybe one day in the future, maybe this is also a social model, and I look forward to gaining more gains here.
Your most sincere friend Friedrich
…
After finally writing this letter, Friedrich stood by the window sill and stared at Yingtian outside the window. In fact, during his visit and inspection of Yingtian, he discovered that there are some things in this city or in this country.
Invisible discrimination, what is discrimination?
The Chinese occupy the vast majority of high-quality jobs, but as the conquered Argentines, it is difficult for them to get a decent job. Unless they can speak fluent Chinese and write Chinese characters, they can only
Do the simplest, lowest paying job.
Of course, this is not a public statement, but in this country, all the best quality jobs are owned by Chinese companies, and of course they will favor their own people.
Just like the British will hire British people first, and the Germans will hire Germans first, this is the simplest national sentiment, and you cannot say it is a form of discrimination.
Because everyone is like this.
"Perhaps this is a common problem among conquerors!"
Not just the conquerors, in fact Friedrich knew very clearly that in many European countries, discrimination against people of color and Jews was ubiquitous, even worse than here.
There is no perfect place in this world, perfection only exists in dreams.
"At least here, if they learn Chinese and can write Chinese characters, they can still get a decent job."
An idea suddenly popped into Friedrich's mind: fairness is never absolute, only relative fairness.
After thinking about this point, he said to himself.
"At least it's more fair here than in Europe..."
This is what Friedrich thinks is the saddest thing. Even though there are problems here, it is still fair compared to Europe.
Here, although the factories here still bear heavy labor, they are paid well and they can live a better life. Even the capitalists pay them overtime. In Europe, this is absolutely
impossible.
Like workers are paid overtime?
Being able to give workers a high enough monthly salary is already a very good treatment.
What's more important is that the life that ordinary workers here live is a life that many people dream of. In a way, this is the future.
future!
Friedrich suddenly had such an idea in his mind. Deep in his heart, he even felt that it would be very good if the workers could live such a life like in the Ming Dynasty.
Even if they need to work 12 hours, at least their income can support the whole family, and their living environment is commendable, even enviable.
Friedrich even believed that if European workers could live the same life as the workers of the Ming Dynasty, then everything would be perfect.
Even the goals they worked hard for will be achieved.
When this idea came to his mind, Friedrich's expression became a little complicated.
"Is this really the future?"
Staring at the city outside the window, Friedrich said to himself again.
There seems to be an answer in his heart, but there seems to be no answer. In other words, he is not sure whether the answer is in line with the answer he is pursuing.
"To a certain extent he is."
After thinking for a while, Friedrich once sat at the table and continued to add a few words to the letter.
"At least to a certain extent, everything presented here is what we are pursuing, but it is still far away from our requirements, so I sincerely invite you to come here and let us carefully observe this together.
In a strange country, maybe we can find a new answer here, who knows? In short, this country has brought too much impact to me, and I believe that one day, it will also bring impact to the entire world."
As a businessman, Friedrich believed that if the workers in Europe fully understood that they could live such a prosperous life here in the Ming Empire, they would definitely abandon everything and come to this new, strange empire.
.
Start their new life here. Of course, not every European has the opportunity to enter the Ming Dynasty, unless he is a Chinese.
This chapter has been completed!