Volume 4 is in the ascendant Chapter 518: The Dark King of Chu
The State of Chu also held the State of Wei accountable for looting foreign races, but the State of Wei firmly denied the incident, attributing it to civilian behavior and saying that it was completely unaware of it.
For the time being, the State of Chu could not overreact. It just began to publicize the unscrupulous exploitation of craftsmen by the northern aristocratic families in Chu, in order to arouse the sympathy of the people of Chu and their suspicion and hostility towards the Wei workshops.
He also gave a reminder, either explicitly or implicitly, to the new and old nobles of Chu that no matter where the workers came from or where the workshops were located, if they did anything that went against the spirit of Chu learning, even if it happened outside Chu, Bai Tu would directly dig up their roots in Chu and they would never have to think about coming back!
At least Bai Tu had to make sure that the workshop owners in Chu State had no intention of following suit...
At the same time, the public was also reminded that workshop owners outside the State of Chu treated craftsmen harshly and exploited them, just as was shown in the new drama with the theme of Chu. No matter how good Wei's woolen textiles were, they were also watered with the blood and tears of the workers.
It is both a commendation and a warning to the workshop owners of the State of Chu.
Of course, from a cultural point of view, even if the aristocratic families of Wei were temporarily "blinded" by the too-rapid expansion of interests, they would not easily take action against the Han people.
After all, if the "people's hearts" are completely lost, it means that the King of Wei can directly reap them.
Although Cao Cao set a bad precedent, his control over the country did not decline fundamentally.
Moreover, their per-acre yield is basically only half of that of Chu State, and the popularity of animal-powered farming is less than one-fifth of that of Chu State. Therefore, no matter how much the proportion of agricultural population is compressed, the results will be limited!
That is why they turned their attention to the ethnic minorities in the north. The ethnic minorities, grasslands, wool, etc. that they had previously looked down upon suddenly became popular. And because of the powerful industrial production of the Chu State, although "plate armor" was expensive, it also "flew into the homes of the nobles and the wealthy."
Just like the big merchants in the pre-Qin period, they often had dozens or hundreds of chariots - now for the local tyrants in Wei State, a set of plate armor is equivalent to a chariot in the pre-Qin period.
Using this to fight against aliens is just like bullying a small account, it's not difficult at all...
As for those big tribes that are difficult to deal with, they are also the objects of their trade. When it comes to interests, they don’t care whether these woolen products are watered with the blood and tears of their own people.
You can rob whatever you can, and you can use the robbed stuff to produce products, and then trade with those you can’t rob… You can easily harvest a large amount of resources and hard-working people, it’s simply addictive.
Bai Tu cannot control Wei for the time being, and it is not a good idea to cut off trade with Wei because of this matter - after all, Wei has already bought a lot of plate armor and ships, so even if the trade is cut off, there will be no substantial loss.
On the contrary, Chu was the party with an absolute surplus in daily transactions, with a large amount of resources flowing from Wei to Chu...
Even because Wei State now has experience in sucking blood from those foreign races, it began to question more quickly - Am I being taken advantage of by Chu State? He sold the finished product to me in exchange for more raw materials and funds, but he actually asked me to pay taxes?
It is estimated that it will not be long before import taxes or even import restrictions are imposed on the State of Chu. Now the State of Chu will cheat him for as long as it can.
Bai Tu had discussed this matter with the cabinet several times and had also brought it up at court meetings.
The information Ling Tong sent this time was actually the result of the matter having developed to a certain scale. Bai Tu also took this opportunity to hold an enlarged palace meeting again - in addition to the palace ministers, several ministers also participated.
"Minister Wang, please worry more recently and ensure that the 'Workshop Law' is implemented thoroughly. The Ministry of Rites should also pay more attention and resist the unhealthy tendencies in Wei." Bai Tu almost told Wang Lang that even if there was no example, he would find one to deal with him.
"Your Majesty, many textile workshops have been making losses recently and have begun to lay off workers, which has caused some shock among the people. I request that the court increase its purchasing power," Lu Su asked.
"Well, this year's relief gifts will focus on our native Chu brocade and fabrics, but the quality must also be strictly checked. In addition... temporarily give some tax subsidies to textile workshops." Bai Tu agreed.
Fortunately, Wei's cheap woolen products were only more suitable for keeping warm in the north. Considering the quality and transportation costs, they were not competitive at least in Chu.
It's just that the original markets in Yongliang, Guandong and the north have been squeezed...
"In addition, the Ministry of Civil Affairs should also actively coordinate with other workshops that want to recruit workers for unemployed female workers, and take the initiative to assist in connecting with other workshops that want to recruit workers. The Ministry of Rites... should also increase the efforts to open up craftsmanship schools. Official workshops should upgrade their industries and provide training when necessary. They should also communicate more with private workshops to popularize the benefits of craftsmanship training. If necessary... certain preferential treatment will be given, and the Ministry of Households will subsidize it." Bai Tu thought for a moment and added.
In short, the goal is to help the shrinking female workers in the textile industry find new jobs, and at the same time... to "move" some craftsmen into the craftsmanship school.
It not only lays the foundation for the future, but also alleviates the unemployment problem in the present - after all, some of the labor force has gone to study crafts, so we must recruit more labor!
Of course, the tuition fees for craftsmanship are mostly paid by the workshop, which is a commissioned training system...
Families that are really not short of money tend to choose to let the new generation study hard rather than choose craftsmanship. Families that want to choose craftsmanship often hesitate when it comes to spending money.
In addition, the Ministry of Industry also needs to think about how to upgrade the industry. For the first time, the Chu State has a rival in the textile industry. Although the rival is not very strong, with backward technology and concepts, it is a business with no capital.
Bai Tu was not worried. After all... before, there was no upland cotton, so there was no rush to upgrade the textile industry. There was still a lot of room for the technological dividends in the "hard drive" to be explored.
Especially now that small and medium-sized Qi machines and personal Qi-driven textile machines are gradually being used by the public, the industrial strength of the Chu State is steadily increasing, and there is also cotton from the Golden State waiting for Gan Ning to bring back.
If Chu had upland cotton and started spinning cotton, it could even bring down Wei's wool textile industry. After all, cotton has a better warming effect, and Jiangdong is more suitable for cotton planting, and cotton is more suitable for textile machines.
Even now, only the low-end market is squeezed, while Chu is still at ease in the mid-to-high-end market.
Bai Tu was more worried that Wei State had set a bad precedent...
In fact, in the view of Lu Su and others, Bai Tu was a little too nervous in this regard.
Even the aristocratic families of Wei State did not dare to attack the Han people now. They were more likely to plunder the foreign races, and to the Han people... they just did not make their lives better, but it was not so bad that they were exploited more.
After all, without Bai Tu's "foreknowledge", in the eyes of other Chu officials, it would be ridiculous that after the significant improvement of technology, people's lives became worse and more difficult.
However, Bai Tu seems to be always nervous about this?
Whether he was worrying too much or not, Bai Tu himself couldn't really say. After all, whether it was the Chu State or the late Han Dynasty itself, from the environment to the culture, they were completely different from the other world, the place where industrialization began.
However, the direction of Wei State sounded a wake-up call to Bai Tu. Regardless of whether it was groundless or not, it would definitely be right to restrain himself fundamentally, emphasize that the ultimate goal of Chu learning is to "make the four virtues as one", emphasize "the benevolent love others", improve technology to benefit ordinary people, and prevent problems before they occur.
Otherwise, if we make a lot of trouble and bring humanity into the industrial age ahead of time, the result will be that all the tragedies of the early industrialization will happen in other places?
Bai Tu is not interested in this...
Of course, that's what he said, but when Lu Bu proposed direct military intervention, Bai Tu chose to postpone it.
In fact, Lu Bu did not have a good impression of foreign races. He even felt secretly happy when he learned that the "people" of Wei State were very capable in plundering the Xiongnu and Qiang people in Bingzhou.
but……
If there is a chance to go to war with the State of Wei, Lu Bu will support it!
Of course, this does not mean going to war with Wei directly, otherwise Liu Xie would wake up laughing in his dreams, but it means going to the north and fighting the slave-catching team - didn't Wei say it had nothing to do ? Then just treat it as nothing...
However, Bai Tu did not agree immediately.
After all, Gongsun Kang would definitely not agree if we were to land in Liaodong. What? You are here to give justice to Wuhuan and Goguryeo? And you want to borrow the road? Do you think I believe you?
"First, send a message to Ling Tong, asking him to try to open a suitable port in the southern part of Chaohaixian Peninsula while patrolling the sea area on a daily basis... and to actively crack down on Wei's slave hunting within his capabilities to establish a positive image of the Chu army. The Ministry of Rites will also send more personnel to Liaodong to promote it."
Bai Tu did not immediately agree to Lu Bu's request for war on behalf of the Privy Council, but wanted to make preparations first.
First, interfering in the northeast of Youzhou on the Seafood Peninsula now may also bring pressure to Gongsun Kang. After all, if Chu wants to take action, it will not be like the "civilians" of Wei, who will hit the target and run away, but will try to stabilize their position and win over the hearts of the people. However, that is Gongsun's back garden. He can tolerate Wei coming to "pick flowers", but will not tolerate Chu coming to "rob the garden";
Secondly, after all, it has only been less than a year. The longer it takes, the worse the reputation of Wei will be, and the impact on the prestige of Gongsun in these places will be more serious. As long as it is delayed, many problems can be solved;
Thirdly... Bai Tu might have thought in his heart that it would be much easier to educate the slaves liberated from the Wei State than to educate a group of stubborn foreigners!
The State of Wei first played the bad guy and even "eliminated" those who were difficult to enslave. If the State of Chu then sent down divine soldiers with golden light and accepted them as Chu people and completely assimilated them, wouldn't it be easy to win them over?
Of course, Bai Tu would never admit the third point under any circumstances.
Although Bai Tu has always emphasized that the people from all over the country are all the people, even if they are not the people of Chu and do not have the same treatment as the people of Chu, they are at least within the scope of the national laws and military regulations. The Chu State will not harm them, and this is also the teaching for the generals of the army, but...
Bai Tu is not a saint after all. If it could reduce resistance and casualties of the Chu army, Bai Tu would not sacrifice himself for others.
As the King of Chu, Bai Tu was first responsible for his own soldiers and civilians, then for other Han people, and then for everyone.
Bai Tu could only guarantee that after joining the State of Chu, everyone would be a citizen of Chu, and insist on taking "the benevolent love others" as the core. As for "the eight wildernesses and six directions, the four good people are the same as one"... after all, it is a distant ultimate goal, and he cannot demand this of himself now.
