Volume 4 is in the ascendant Chapter 383 Official Square
The matter of official workshops was first proposed by Bai Tu, which refers to workshops run by the government.
At this time, Lu Su and others also understood that it was almost equivalent to the official fields in farming. However, the difference was that the official workshops did not require the people to work there on a voluntary basis, or rely on corvée to maintain their operation. Instead, they employed craftsmen like ordinary workshops, and the revenue was only included in the government treasury.
There are already a number of workshops under the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and they will be included in the list of official workshops in the future. However, the expansion of official workshops will undoubtedly cause some trouble for local gentry and wealthy families.
Of course, the rise of this workshop today was originally initiated bit by bit by the General's Mansion, and it has always been moving at a controlled pace. However, no one dares to blatantly criticize the official workshop under the pretext of "competing with the people for profits."
However, we still have to "fight" for what we should "fight", otherwise, wouldn't the previous encouragement workshops in Baitu and so on become empty words?
There are countless official offices in every place and county, so where is the space for them?
"That's right. Within five years, we will strive to abolish the agricultural tax. The expenses of the Ministry of Works and the Privy Council will not be reduced. By then, this official workshop will also be a major item for the court." Bai Tu did not avoid the topic when Lu Kang brought it up.
"Your Majesty, if you just want to abolish agricultural taxes, support scientific research, and maintain the army, then it is enough to just develop workshops. Zi Jing has done the math before. If Your Majesty is worried, you can raise the tax level for workshops... Of course, it is better to leave important national equipment like salt fields and smelting to the government workshops."
Lu Kang now not only represents himself and the Lu family, but also represents the interests of all the gentry and powerful families.
This was not considered a confrontation with Bai Tu, but was also to help Bai Tu find a balance point. Only if he could convince him could he find a way to balance the dissatisfaction within the Jiangdong nobles and then allow the national policy of Chu to be extended to Jing and Yang.
It is impossible for Bai Tu to not play with the wealthy and powerful. Even if there are official schools, it will not take a few years or even more than ten years to improve the quality of the entire nation. It will be a great success if the literacy rate can reach 50% and 80% of the young and middle-aged can learn their own jobs within 30 years.
Therefore, it would not work if we did not give up the cake to the nobles and powerful families...
The meaning of Lu Kang's words was obviously that he was speaking to Bai Tu on behalf of the nobles, saying that they had no intention of interfering with the cell phone, but...the court couldn't take all the benefits!
"I have thought about this as well. In short, the official workshops are divided into five categories. The first category is those that are not very effective, but will benefit the people if the market is popularized. The second category is those that are harmful to employees and dangerous, and require strict implementation of safety standards. The third category is those related to military affairs, and at least the workshops that produce core technologies must be official workshops.
Fourth, it involves government-owned resources, so it must be mainly government-owned, and at most cooperate with private workshops; fifth... it is extremely profitable. "Bai Tu was also well prepared and took out a notebook from the side.
Except for the last one, which is obviously about "eating for a living" and "eating alone", the others cannot be considered as taking advantage.
Needless to say, as it involves military affairs and official resources, now is the time when the State of Chu has just been established and is full of vigor and vitality. No matter how ambitious the local families are, they dare not have such ideas.
As for the first point which had little effect...
In fact, if it were the Han noble families, especially those with strong local roots, they would not mind doing it themselves - what's the big deal if they lose money? If I win the hearts of the people, the imperial court can't do anything to me! What's more, I just make money slowly.
But Bai Tu doesn't want to give them the chance, so let the official shop do it!
This point is actually indisputable. After all, Bai Tu has shown that the court is going to lose money. What is the difference between rushing to lose money at this time... and rewarding the three armies without reporting to the emperor?
"Your Majesty is benevolent and righteous, and is indeed a model of a benevolent person who loves others. However... as for the second point, as long as the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Justice work together and strictly enforce the regulations..." Lu Kang wanted to explain.
After all, Bai Tu’s second point is somewhat unreliable.
What does it mean to cause great harm to employees and be dangerous? Nowadays, there are many 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 take over the most dangerous part of it!
The aristocratic families of the Han Dynasty and the workshop owners who engaged in "cruel exploitation" and "bloody plundering" in the early days of industrialization were fundamentally different in the definition of their existence and the basis of their existence.
Can the aristocratic families gain the support of the court by exploiting the common people and then splitting the profits in a 30:70 ratio?
Stop dreaming...
Then you will be attacked from both the imperial court and the people!
Only by winning over a part of the people and taking root in the local area, and then... throwing the bad reputation of "exploitation" to the imperial court, hiding behind and absorbing nutrients, and lasting forever from generation to generation, this is what the aristocratic families should do.
"Scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, these four classes are the good of the country..." Bai Tu recited a line from the Three Character Classic (which he copied), and then paused before continuing, "I have always believed in all of you here, and I am also happy to believe in the goodness of the Chu State. I believe that people are inherently good... But I don't want to verify human nature."
The meaning of the white picture is already very clear.
It was like the starting point of industrialization in another world. Western workshop owners treated their employees as consumables in exchange for maximum profits. Although this could quickly accumulate wealth, it was obvious that the Chu State would not do so.
Bai Tu understood this, but he could not guarantee whether this "shortcut" would change the attitudes of some families in the wave of industrialization, and then cause any chain reaction.
In order to avoid unleashing a catastrophic disaster, Bai Tu felt that it was necessary to prepare for a rainy day. In the early stages, only the imperial court could remain stable, so he did not look at that shortcut.
After hearing this, Lu Kang thought about it carefully and finally nodded. After all, the biggest problem was still the fifth point...
"What does your Majesty mean by 'huge profits'?" Lu Kang asked.
"No, there are only some that don't require any technical expertise and can still make money... Hahaha, Mr. Lu, you don't have to think too much about it. It's just that you've suffered so many losses before, you have to grab some that make money, right? In the end, it will be fine if the government revenue can be almost the same as the private industrial tax." Bai Tushi said loudly.
In fact, Bai Tu’s bottom line is half…
“Your Majesty, government workshops also have normal employment expenses, but the net profits go into the national treasury. If they are really similar to industrial taxes, their scale would be several times larger than that of private workshops, right? This is also not conducive to the management of the Ministry of Civil Affairs…” Lu Kang actually knew that this was not up to Bai Tu’s bottom line.
However, Bai Tu was only stating the general direction. Since the Ministry of Civil Affairs was mentioned, Lu Su would be the one to negotiate on his behalf.
Bai Tu has two other bargaining chips. One is technology - the technology is provided by Bai Tu. If you only look at the short term, Bai Tu can monopolize any industry with technology.
Theoretically, Baitu is just taking advantage of the monopoly and is not taking anything directly from them. The reason for negotiating with them is that we don't want to leave any future troubles. After all, the technology will be fully digested one day.
Another bargaining chip is that the official workshop system is a tripartite system. In addition to the official workshops directly under the Chu court, there are also county-level official workshops and county-level official workshops.
What kind of bargaining chip is this?
Everyone present except Lu Bu could understand that this gave space for local nobles and wealthy families to profit, and at the same time it also caused division - for example, the Lu and Sun families were both in Wu County, so it was foreseeable that there would be many county-level official offices in Wu County, which would not be as strict as those directly under the imperial court, which means... there would be quite a few positions!
Before education became universal, the gentry had an advantage not only in financial resources but also in talent and ability, which allowed them to maintain an absolute advantage for a long time. Therefore, everyone had to eat together.
However, only those who stand in the "Chu" position can come in and "eat"...
