In Liu Jin's house in the capital, Liu Jin was lying comfortably on his master's chair. After working at the Miyun Iron Factory for more than a month, he finally got the Miyun Iron Factory in some shape, and he could safely transport the iron.
The factory was handed over to Huang Jinquan to take care of, while he returned to the capital to enjoy a corrupt life.
"Teacher, some slaves from Datong have recently appeared in the capital. They are all captives of the prairie people. I heard that they can be sold for eighty taels of silver each."
Beside Liu Jin, Tong Yuan was reporting to Liu Jin with some information in his hand.
"Prairie prisoner?"
When Liu Jin heard this, he immediately became energetic.
"Yes, the last time the little prince went south to attack Datong, he lost his troops at the gate of Datong City. Tens of thousands of people died, and thousands more were made prisoners. Unexpectedly, they were trafficked to the capital, and all of them went into those coal plants and cement plants.
Inside the factory.”
Tong Yuan nodded and said.
"Would anyone want a slave worth eighty taels of silver each?"
Liu Jin thought for a while and then said, in Liu Jin's view, the Ming Dynasty lacked everything except people. It was short of food and silver, but it was not short of people. Eighty taels of silver was enough to hire many people to work for him.
.
"Of course, there are a lot of people who want it. They are all robbing people."
Tong Yuan said matter-of-factly, then thought for a while and said: "Teacher, you may not be there yet. Now there are large and small workshops, cement plants, coal plants, four-wheel carriage factories, specialized freight shipping companies, etc. around the capital.
Manpower is needed everywhere, and you can see signs of recruiting workers everywhere, and the wages are rising again and again."
"But many factories, workshops, etc. still can't recruit enough people, and when the farming season comes, the people they recruit will go back to farm, so many factory and workshop owners are dying of panic."
"These prairie captives are all strong and strong, so they are perfect for working. Eighty taels of silver each is not expensive at all. Everyone needs as much as they have."
"So that's it~"
"I understand~"
When Liu Jin heard this, he immediately understood.
These workshops and factories in the Beijing-Tianjin area have already begun to have the momentum of capitalism sprouting, especially the many industries under Liu Jin's command.
The germination and development of capitalism will inevitably bring about the demand for a large amount of manpower. Historically, the British relied on the sheep-eating man movement to drive a large number of farmers into the city and became cheap labor in factories.
In the later colonial era of navigation, the need for the development of colonies, especially the development of the Americas, led to the rise of the slave trade. Cheap slaves also helped capitalism complete its original bloody accumulation.
“Is the evil capitalism now going to turn into a beast?”
Liu Jin couldn't help but think like this in his heart.
Once the current labor shortage trend is not resolved, these emerging capitalists in the Beijing-Tianjin area will definitely try their best to get enough manpower, whether it is driving rural farmers into the city or using a large number of slaves. In short, the problem of labor
It must be solved.
But the process of solving the labor problem will inevitably be accompanied by countless blood and tears, especially if the slave trade arises, it will be a heinous crime.
Liu Jin could already imagine some scenes in his mind. In order to obtain enough manpower, the emerging capitalists in the Ming Dynasty used various methods to get farmers into factories.
At the same time, he extended his evil hand to the grasslands in the north, Korea and the Japanese country in the east. In the future, he will extend his evil hands to a wider area, and the slave trade will inevitably gradually rise.
"Once this huge empire of the Ming Dynasty transitions to capitalism, its power will be far from comparable to that of a small British island. In the future, the whole world may become a slave farm for the Ming Dynasty people."
Thinking of this, Liu Jin also shook his head slightly. It's still early. Capitalism can only be regarded as a bud, and even the most primitive accumulation has not yet been completed.
"Teacher~"
Tong Yuan looked at where Liu Jin was in a daze and reminded him softly.
"Oh~oh~"
Liu Jin came back to his senses, thought for a while and said: "Go ahead and tell me that all the industries below are not allowed to buy these slaves, no slaves are allowed, we can only use our own Ming people."
Regarding slaves, Liu Jin knew that slaves could promote the primitive accumulation of capitalism, but there were too many powerful countries that had been destroyed by slaves since ancient times. The once mighty Roman Empire was destroyed by the slave system.
Even later generations of Westerners began to suffer from the sequelae of slavery, and the white Gallic chickens were about to turn into black silk-bone chickens.
As a time traveler, Liu Jin knows this very well, and many industries under Liu Jin's command will become the benchmark and banner to lead the development of this era, so we cannot use slaves, but we must lead everyone to improve productivity and develop technology.
Focus on technology instead of using a large number of slaves to reduce costs.
Technology is the primary productive force.
"Yes, mentor~"
Tong Yuan nodded solemnly, then he thought for a while and said: "Teacher, can the construction of the cement road from Beijing to Miyun start?"
"It happens to be winter now, so it is easier to recruit workers. Although construction is more difficult in winter, after spring, it will be more difficult to recruit people even if the wages are high."
"Organize people to repair it, but it doesn't need to be too extensive. It's generally fine."
Liu Jin thought for a while and nodded.
"In addition, the first phase of construction at Changlu Salt Farm has been completed. Master, could you please take some time to go over and see how the salt should be dried? The people below still don't have a clue."
Tong Yuan began to report many things to Liu Jin one by one. Now Liu Jin has many industries. Here in Beijing there are Xishan Coal Industry, Cement Factory, Miyun Iron Works, and in Tianjin there are Tianjin Port, Tianjin Cement Factory, Tianjin
Shipyards, etc., and now the Changlu Salt Farm is being built in Changlu, and Liu Jin is also building a textile factory in the capital.
It can be said that Liu Jin is now an out-and-out capitalist. He has a huge industry and has many things to be busy with.
"You arrange a time for me to go to Changlu Salt Farm~"
Liu Jin thought for a while and decided to go to Changlu Salt Farm to take a look. Originally, he thought that drying salt was actually very simple, and with artifacts like cement, it would not be difficult to build a salt farm.
I didn't expect that the people below had the plan given by Liu Jin, but it still didn't work. They had to go there in person. The investment in the Changlu Saltworks was even greater than that of the Miyun Iron Works. Just the daily payment to
The imperial court's tax revenue was two million taels of silver.
If it didn't make money, Emperor Hongzhi would probably eat up Liu Jin. Emperor Hongzhi took up the bulk of the Changlu Saltworks.
"I'm so busy that I feel like I'm running out of things to do. Now that the steel bars have been built, we still need to build the Qing Palace for Emperor Hongzhi, build a textile factory, and build a spinning jenny."
It took half an hour before Tong Yuan finished reporting all the matters and left the Liu Mansion.
When Tong Yuan left, Liu Jin also felt that his head was heavy and there were too many things to be busy with. Then he looked at the two letters on his desk and suddenly felt even more heavy. There were still two girls to deal with. .