Chapter 397 A sudden spring breeze comes overnight
Early the next morning, outside the most prosperous Changmen in Suzhou City, Guanqian Street, Xuanmiao Temple and other places, various pawn shops, gold and silver shops, silk and satin shops, tea shops, Nan goods shops, garment shops, bathhouses... the door panels were removed.
When it opened, most of the shops looked the same.
A sign was put up saying ‘Our store welcomes the use of food stamps’.
In order to attract customers to use food stamps to make purchases, some stores even write on their signs, "Use food stamps to get a 10% discount."
This large-scale abnormal behavior naturally aroused the curiosity of Suzhou citizens. People asked the storekeepers one after another, what are food stamps?
The store owner's answer was even more outrageous. They had never seen what food stamps looked like. The boss had given the order overnight. They only knew that the food stamps could be exchanged for food from the three reserve warehouses in Suzhou City.
"I heard that it seems to be issued by the Weaving and Dyeing Bureau, and the county government is responsible for cashing it." Finally, a well-informed shopkeeper revealed:
"Don't even think about printing it yourself. I heard it's like being beheaded for counterfeiting!"
"I don't even know what food stamps look like, so how can I print them myself?" the crowd laughed.
Since they couldn't see the real thing, everyone gradually dispersed. Moreover, their attention was quickly attracted by a piece of great news——
Various factories that have been shut down since the New Year actually started recruiting workers at the same time!
And not only those factories related to the silk weaving industry, but also those shops and workshops in cotton spinning, printing, papermaking, and ironmaking, all came to Guanqian Street to recruit workers...
Lao Liu and Luo Ben, who were conducting a private visit incognito on the street, even saw that even the entrances of brothels and bathhouses had slogans of 'recruiting talents and favorable treatment'.
Of course, the most sought-after workers are those in the silk weaving industry, because the only place known to get food stamps is the Suzhou Weaving and Dyeing Bureau.
Therefore, when large households hire workers from other industries, they can only satisfy the assessment of "promoting citizen employment". But if they hire workers from the silk weaving industry, they can also take into account the other assessment of "obtaining food stamps".
As for the third assessment, 'amount of donation', the big investors are not stupid, but as smart as monkeys. At the beginning of the assessment, they will not throw away money in vain.
You have to wait until the end and make a one-time recharge to improve or keep your ranking according to the actual situation.
It's too early to spend money now. The effect will not be good, and it may be targeted...
~~
Therefore, those unemployed weavers squatting on Guanqian Street, starved to death, suddenly changed from an unloved roadside weed to a sought-after piece of meat.
The unemployed weavers who had experienced a long drought were crazy about joy at first. As long as someone asked for it, they would follow them wherever they went.
But they were not stupid, and they soon came to their senses. They were all working for big companies, and of course whoever paid the higher wages got the job.
"How much do you charge?" Faced with the "managers" who usually ignored them, the unemployed weavers finally straightened up.
"Forty coins a day, one meal in charge, and a reward at the end of the month if you do a good job." A fat steward said, "How about that, are you kind?"
Forty cents a day was considered the current market price. Moreover, they heard that the food steward would receive a reward at the end of the month, so the unemployed weavers flocked to the fat steward.
"We pay fifty cents a day." Seeing that the skilled workers were about to be overtaken by the fat steward, the skinny steward from another company hurriedly raised the price loudly: "We also take care of the food, and we will also receive a reward at the end of the month!"
"We have sixty cents..." This was like opening Pandora's box. In order to compete for workers, various companies began to continuously increase their quotations.
"I am seventy cents..."
"Eighty cents!"
The unemployed weavers were stunned. Why did the other party double their wages before they even negotiated the price?
You know, even when the market is at its best and labor is in short supply, ordinary weavers cannot earn eighty cents a day. Only the most skilled Kesi masters and dyers can achieve this price.
"You are not lying, are you?" The happiness came so suddenly, which made the weavers feel unreal.
"As I said, what reputation does our employer have to deceive you? Besides, what can we deceive you?" The stewards looked unhappy.
In fact, they were also very unhappy. They didn't know what kind of tricks the boss was using. Suddenly, the work was about to start in a hurry, and they were asked to recruit as many workers as possible at all costs.
It doesn't matter if you don't need so many people at the moment. You can find some jobs for them first. Even if you ask them to count millet, you have to support them first. You must not let others recruit them...
Under the guidance of this kind of thinking, why can’t wages go to heaven?
It’s really interesting how the spiritual capitalists feel distressed while still having to process money.
~~
The weavers' wages are sky-high, and another very important factor is the competition between the return-to-the-natives faction and the behind-the-scenes faction.
The Returning Home Faction is very motivated to prove their abilities in front of His Highness, and they even want to regain their position in the Suzhou silk weaving industry. Of course, they also have a desire for revenge against the Behind Bars Faction.
In short, due to various reasons, the Returning Home Faction was willing to sell the iron at the risk of losing everything.
The Behind Bars Faction is more motivated and stronger than the Returning Home Faction, so naturally they cannot let the latter compete.
So after you have raised the price, I have raised the price; after I have raised the price, you have raised the price again... Together we have pushed the workers' wages to an eye-popping one hundred yuan a day...
"Isn't this too much?" At this time, even Luo Guanzhong couldn't stand it anymore. He reminded Zhu Zhen: "Who can bear such high wages? It won't make them bankrupt, right?"
"No." Zhu Zhen chuckled, patted Lao Luo on the shoulder and said, "Your family has never had much money, and you don't know anything about how rich the big families in Suzhou are."
As he spoke, he looked up at the sealed Lu Garden in the distance, and sighed quietly: "That's the wealth accumulated over the past two hundred years."
Zhu Zhen had heard a saying before that the reason why ancient times suffered from long-term deflation was because the rich liked to hoard the gold, silver and copper coins they earned. A large amount of hard currency was withdrawn from circulation, eventually leading to economic depletion.
He has always been doubtful about this statement. How many gold, silver and copper coins can the rich hide, so that the national currency can be depleted and the economy can collapse?
But the third brother told him that the gold, silver and copper coins found in the Lu family's hoard were worth more than one million yuan...and that didn't include the jewelry, calligraphy and paintings, gold, silver and jades.
His Royal Highness the King of Chu was completely stunned.
When King Chu told Luo Guanzhong about this, it was Teacher Luo's turn to be shocked.
Suddenly, Teacher Luo raised his hand and gave himself a slap in the face.
"Teacher Luo, don't be like this." Zhu Zhen hurriedly advised: "Don't be like this, Teacher Luo."
"It's okay, I'm calm." Luo Guanzhong said with great depression, despite the red mark on his face: "I was thinking of the time when Zhang Jiusi asked me to persuade the wealthy people to pay for the labor force, and they kept asking for money, and a total of 20,000 yuan was paid. I
I even told Zhang Jiusi that it was already a lot...it turned out that they were treating me like a monkey!"
