Chapter 348 Iron House

Zhou Tieyi and the others digested the information he had just said first.

There is naturally no problem with his entire logical chain.

The biggest problem is actually where the money for expansion will come from, that is, how to accumulate the initial original capital.

Therefore, this requires local families to take the initiative to pay.

Therefore, Baizhishan, the pilot area, which is a special zone, must be done beautifully even if it has to use interests from other places to fill the gap and provide support!
Let everyone see and enjoy the results of the reform, so that more people will get involved.

This was also Zhou Tieyi's original plan, to transform some of the local gentry who were willing to follow him into capital gentry, and then let the capital gentry fight with the original land gentry. In this way, starting from the struggle within the gentry, the current clan system would be disintegrated. Of course, this process might involve repeated pulls and might take dozens or even hundreds of years to complete.

But at least this process is covered with a layer of superficial peace, so that the lower-class people do not have to live in fear in the storm.

Seeing that everyone had almost digested the information, Zhou Tieyi looked at the person in charge of the Construction Bureau and asked, "How do you calculate the corvée labor this time?"

The director of the Bureau of Industry and Construction hesitated for a moment, and finally said, "It will be counted as their labor service twice a year, not an additional tax."

The corvée system of this era was extremely complex. Not only were there many types, but they were also very different in different places, making it feel like two different eras.

In an advanced city like Tianjing, even though the industrial revolution had not yet begun, the urban economy had already taken shape, and even silver could be used to offset corvee labor.

In backward areas, ordinary people only see silver a few times a year, so how can they use silver to offset the tax? Therefore, there are various types of corvee labor, short-term, long-term, and various types. If they encounter a cruel prefect or the weather is unfavorable, additional levies will often occur.

At this time, it was the local clans and major families who would persuade the prefect to reduce corvee labor, because they had the most people with the same surname. Therefore, the existence of this clan system itself had a certain rationality, and it was a means for the people to limit the imperial power.

Zhou Tieyi asked again, "Many of the people doing the corvée this time are miners?"

Shantong Prefecture, and even Taihang Mountain, are famous for having many mines and little land. The number of people tied to the land is far less than that in other places in Daxia, which is similar to the situation in Tianjing, but the reason is exactly the opposite.

There are few people in Tianjing who are tied to the land because the people earn little from farming, while in Shantong Prefecture, the people have no land to farm, so they have to go into the mines.

These are all special cases in the entire Daxia.

But no matter what the reason is, there is one benefit to Zhou Tieyi's industrial reform, that is, because of their respective regional characteristics, both places have liberated the people from the land, allowing Zhou Tieyi to have a large number of mobile and cheap labor forces to use.

This is also one of the main reasons why Zhou Tieyi chose Shantong Prefecture as the starting point of local reform after Tianjing.

Otherwise, just the step of liberating the people from the land would be enough to keep Zhou Tieyi busy for several years.

This may even be more difficult than fighting against officials and clerks.

If you have not lived in this era, it is difficult to understand the people's obsession with and dependence on the land.

Qian Bingrui, the director of the Industrial Construction Bureau, said, "Reporting to Lord Zhou, yes."

Zhou Tieyi asked again, "Who will pay for the materials?"

The head of the iron factory just now, together with Min Huorong, the current manager of Baizhishan, said, "We will all get the materials nearby, and our two families will bear the cost."

Zhou Tieyi smiled again and said, "Then would you two mind paying a little more?"

The two stewards bowed their heads and said, "Please ask Lord Zhou for instructions."

Zhou Tieyi said, "My idea is that you should pay these corvées a salary. The salary doesn't have to be a lot, but you have to give it."

Then Zhou Tieyi continued, "Isn't the iron factory going to expand? How are you going to recruit workers?"

The manager of the pig iron factory was stunned. Zhou Tieyi had just given a complete blueprint, but the specific details still needed to be improved. With his intelligence, he was unable to connect the two things for a while when asked by Zhou Tieyi.

Zhou Tieyi continued with a smile, "Let me give you an idea. Going down into the mines is dangerous. Many ordinary people probably wouldn't be willing to go down into the mines unless they were doing it for a living."

The officials around nodded slightly, they all knew this.

There are many jobs that are far better than being a miner even if they pay a little less.

If it weren't for the fact that there are so many mines and so little land in Shantongfu, not many people would be willing to work in the mines. "The ironworks is expanding, so we will tie the opportunity to expansion to this house."

"You can divide the selling price of the house into two parts, one is the principal and the other is the mortgage. The principal is the money they originally had, which is why I want you to pay them wages. The mortgage can be tied to the recruitment wages. After they borrow the money, they will go to work in the factory. The wages you pay later can be used for their living and for their mortgage repayments. In this way, you can recruit workers at a very low price."

After listening to Zhou Tieyi's grand blueprint, the officials around came back to their senses, looked at the open space in front of them, and then looked at Zhou Tieyi again with an incredulous look.

Your plan is really great!
How did you come up with this unethical plan to tie houses and workmanship together so that only people who own houses can get good jobs?

Zhou Tieyi's previous proposal made them almost think that Zhou Tieyi was a true sage who was admired by Confucianism as a saint in appearance and a king in heart. But after hearing these words, even the landlords who hired long-term workers in their homes remained silent.

No wonder Zhou Tieyi wanted to build a house, it turns out he was waiting here!
For a moment, they couldn't tell whether Zhou Tieyi was good or evil.

However, this plan is indeed considered from the perspective of their officials and aristocratic families, and it is indeed a feasible plan. Ordinary people will not make a fuss after hearing it. After all, we have already given you a house. Although this house was built by you, we also gave you a safe job opportunity!
Zhou Tieyi continued, "The price of coal will rise in the future. The quality of coal now is definitely not good. We have to build a coke plant, plus the railway workers... You have to build more houses, so that you can build more factories and make more money. This is beneficial to the country and the people!"

He said this earnestly.

In previous lives, there was the enclosure movement, also known as the sheep-eating-people movement.

Zhou Tieyi, based on the actual situation in Shantong Prefecture, also carried out a land enclosure movement, but instead of using sheep to eat people, using houses to eat people was enough.

"The wisdom of Zhou Hou is truly unfathomable."

The officials around sincerely admired that they had really learned a lot from following Zhou Hou today. They felt that the methods they had used before were not worthy of being mentioned in public. Compared with Zhou Tieyi's methods, they were far inferior, whether in governing the country or governing the people!
Among the crowd, only Li Jianhu stepped forward, clasped his fists and said amid the singing of praises, "Lord Zhou, there is something wrong with this matter."

The surroundings fell silent. They had previously thought that Li Jianhu had been completely "tamed" by Zhou Tieyi, but now it seemed that things had changed subtly.

The world is changing and people's hearts are complicated. It is difficult to judge the reasons with just one or two sentences or one or two things.

Zhou Tieyi asked with a smile, "What's wrong?"

Li Jianhu said nothing, but just clasped his fists, because during this process, he stood beside Zhou Tieyi, looked at the smiling faces of the officials, and knew that the lower-class people were oppressed and exploited. However, from the perspective of the Hundred Schools of Thought today, Zhou Tieyi's theory was already a benevolent policy. Even though the Mohist School had not found a new way for the miners after so many years, Zhou Tieyi found it!
"You little brat, this is a matter of national importance, how can you speak nonsense?"

Qian Bingrui from the Bureau of Industry and Construction scolded him, not caring at all that Li Jianhu was now the "legitimate son" of the Confucian family.

What he originally thought was a difficult matter was easily resolved with just a few words from Zhou Tieyi. Anyone who opposed this proposal now would be the same as killing his parents!
Although a Confucian official present was also dissatisfied with Li Jianhu's interruption without thinking carefully, he still decided to protect "his own people" first. This is the academic clique that formed the doctrine.

"Master Qian, Marquis Zhou is asking questions, why are you interrupting?"

Qian Bingrui looked at the Confucian official who spoke with hatred. Originally, the two of them had never interfered with each other, but today they had a grudge against each other. He must not let him find an opportunity in the future, otherwise he will definitely avenge him for what he said today!
Seeing that Li Jianhu was silent, Zhou Tieyi chuckled and said, "If you can't figure it out, go back and think about it carefully. Tell me when you have figured it out."

Of course he knew that his theory had many fatal loopholes.

For example, if housing and work are tied together, what if someone cheats? This will eventually reduce the factory's production efficiency, and eventually it will not be able to catch up with the social average production efficiency, causing the factory to lose money and be unable to maintain a complete credit expansion system.

Other issues include personal fairness, corruption during the construction of the house, people who bought the house but could not get a job, or people who bought the house at an extremely high price...

There are too many questions to list all.

But this is all solvable.

As the industrial revolution that we have promoted expands, a large amount of new social wealth will be generated. As long as the overall social wealth grows at a high speed, then all problems will not be problems and can be solved through negotiation. Because only when everyone cooperates from top to bottom can more wealth be generated. Who can go against money?

Only when the dividends of the steam revolution end and growth slows down will various problems erupt, and this will take at least 20 to 30 years.

By that time, Zhou Tieyi would have initially completed the industrial revolution and possessed enough power to begin liquidating the aristocratic families and redistributing social wealth. It would be much easier to make changes then than it is now.

It's not like the factory can't go bankrupt and be liquidated, and it's not like the houses can't be demolished and compensated. There will always be new solutions.

The most important thing now is to let the noble families willingly take out their capital first, let the people get rid of the old production system, and let their new production system run with the combustion of the steam engine, opening a new chapter in history.

All sacrifices are inevitable and will ultimately be worthwhile for the greater good.

(End of this chapter)