It was Bai Tu who brought up the matter of the official workshop, that is, the workshop run by the official family.
At this time, Lu Su and others also understood that it was almost equivalent to official farmland in farming, but the difference was that official farms were not compulsory for the people to work, or relied on corvees to maintain operations, but hired craftsmen like ordinary workshops.
, only the revenue is included in the government treasury.
There are already a number of workshops under the names of the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and they will all be classified as official workshops in the future. However, the expansion of official workshops will undoubtedly create some obstacles for local nobles and wealthy families.
Of course, the rise of this workshop now is due to the pace set by the General's Office bit by bit, and it has always been following the pace. However, no one dares to scold the official workshop with the blatant excuse of "competing with the people for profit."
However, we still have to "fight" for what should be "fighted", otherwise, wouldn't Baitu's previous encouragement of workshops, etc., become empty words?
Countless official offices are set up in every place and county, where is the space for them?
"That's right, within five years, we will strive to abolish the agricultural tax, and the expenditures of the Ministry of Industry and the Privy Council will not be small. By then, this official office will also be a major priority for the imperial court." Bai Tu saw Lu.
When Kang mentioned it, he didn't avoid the topic.
"Your Majesty, if it is just to cancel the agricultural tax, support scientific research, and maintain the army, in fact, it is enough as long as the workshops rise. Zijing has calculated this before. If your Majesty is worried, you can also raise some levels of workshop tax...
Of course, it would be better to hand over important national tools such as saltworks and smelting to the government."
Lu Kang now not only represents himself and the Lu family, but also represents the interests of all noble families and wealthy families.
This is not just arguing with Bai Tu, but also helping Bai Tu find a balance point. If he can convince him, he can find a way to balance the dissatisfaction within the Jiangdong wealthy family, and then allow Chu State's national policy to be promoted to Jing Yang.
It is impossible for Bai Tu not to play with the rich. Even if there is official education, it will not take a few years, but a dozen years to improve the quality of the whole people. In thirty years, the literacy rate can reach 50%, and 80% of young people can learn their own skills.
If you work hard, it will be considered a great success.
Therefore, it will definitely not work if the cake is not given to the nobles and wealthy families at all...
The meaning of Lu Kang's words was obviously that he was telling Bai Tu on behalf of the nobles that they had no intention of plugging in the phone, but... they couldn't let the imperial court take all the benefits!
"I have also thought about this matter. In short, government offices fall into five categories. First, those that have little effect, but the popularization of the market will benefit the people, and government offices must do their part; second, those that cause greater harm to employees and are dangerous.
Safety standards need to be strictly enforced; third, workshops related to military affairs, at least with core technologies, must be official workshops;
Fourth, if it involves government-owned resources, it must be dominated by official workshops, and at most cooperate with private workshops; fifth... it is huge profits." Bai Tu was also prepared and took out notes from the side.
Except for the last one, which is obviously about "having a meal" and "having a meal alone", the others are not considered an advantage.
When it comes to military affairs, it goes without saying that officials have resources. Now is the time when the Chu Kingdom has just been established and is full of vitality. No matter how ambitious the aristocratic families in various places are, they dare not make such ideas.
As for the first point with meager results...
In fact, when it comes to big Han aristocratic families, especially those with strong local foundations, they really don't mind doing it themselves - what's the point of losing money? If I occupy the hearts of the people, the court can't do anything to me! What's more, it's just a profit.
slow.
But Baitu doesn’t want to give them the chance, so Guanfang should do it!
This point is actually undisputed. After all, Bai Tu has shown that the court wants to lose money. What is the difference between rushing to lose money at this time... and going to reward the three armies without reporting it?
"The King is indeed a model of benevolence and love for others, but... this second point, in fact, as long as the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Punishment unite and strictly implement the regulations..." Lu Kang also wanted to explain.
After all, Bai Tu can't trust the second point of other people's opinions.
What do you mean by something that is very harmful and dangerous to employees? There are actually quite a few workshops that require frequent contact with harmful substances and dust. Normally, there are strict production safety regulations, but...
Bai Tu thought it would be better to bring all the most harmful parts under the control of the government!
The aristocratic families of the Han Dynasty and the workshop owners of the "brutal exploitation stream" and "bloody plunder stream" in the early stages of industrialization are fundamentally different in terms of their definition of existence and the foundation of their establishment.
Can a wealthy family exploit the people below them and then split accounts with the court to gain support from the court?
Stop dreaming...
That would only mean being attacked from both sides by the court and the people!
Only by winning over some people and becoming deeply entrenched in the local area, then... throwing the reputation of "exploitation" to the court, hiding behind to absorb nutrients, and becoming immortal for generations to come, this is what a noble family should do.
"They are called scholars and farmers, and they are called industry and commerce. These four people are the good of the country..." Bai Tu recited a sentence from his own (copied) Three-Character Sutra, then paused before continuing: "I have always believed in all of you here, and I am also willing to believe in Chu.
The goodness of the country, I believe that human beings are inherently good by nature...but I don’t want to test human nature.”
The meaning of the white picture is already obvious.
Just like the starting point of industrialization in another world, Western workshop owners wantonly treated hired workers as consumables in exchange for maximum benefits. Although accumulation could be completed quickly, it was obvious that Chu State would not do this.
Bai Tu understands this, but he cannot guarantee that in the wave of industrialization, this "shortcut" will change the attitudes of some aristocratic families, and then cause any chain reaction.
In order to prevent the scourge from being released, Bai Tu felt that it was necessary to take precautions. In the early stage, only the imperial court could be stable and not look at the shortcut.
Lu Kang heard this, thought about it carefully, and finally nodded. After all, the biggest problem is the fifth point...
"Then what does your Majesty mean by 'huge profits'?" Lu Kang asked.
"There are not many that have little technical content and can still make money... Hahaha, Mr. Lu, you don't have to think too much. It's just that you have suffered so much in the past, so you have to grab some money, right? In the end, the official income can be compared with the private industry tax
That's about right." Baitu Lion said loudly.
In fact, Bai Tu's bottom line is one-half...
"Your Majesty, official workshops also have normal employment expenses, but the net profits go into the national treasury. If it is really similar to the industrial tax, the scale will be several times larger than that of private workshops, right? This is not conducive to the management of the Ministry of Civil Affairs..." Lu Kang
In fact, I also know that this does not reach the bottom line of Bai Tu.
However, Bai Tu only gave a general direction. Since the Ministry of Civil Affairs was mentioned, Lu Su could negotiate on his behalf.
There are two more bargaining chips for Baitu. One is technology - technology is provided by Baitu. If we only look at the short term, Baitu can monopolize any industry with technology.
Theoretically, Baitu is just taking advantage of the situation to monopolize it, and does not directly take anything from them. The reason why it talks with them is just because it does not want to leave any future troubles. After all, the technology will be digested one day.
Another bargaining chip is that the official office system is a three-yuan system. In addition to the official offices directly under the Chu State, there are also county-level official offices and county-level official offices.
What kind of bargaining chip is this?
Everyone here except Lu Bu can understand this. This gives the local gentry and wealthy families room to live in rent, and at the same time it also differentiates them. For example, the Lu family and the Sun family are both in Wu County. It is foreseeable that there will be many county-level official houses in Wu County.
, it will not be as strict as the official office directly under the imperial court, that is... there are many positions!
Before the popularization of education, the gentry's advantage was not only in "financial resources" but also in "talent", and they could maintain their absolute advantage for a long time, so everyone had to "make ends meet" together to have food.
However, only those who stand in "Chu" have a place to come in and "have a meal"...