Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 295 The Era of Transition from the Old to the New Part

Near noon, at the intersection of the main entrance of Nanhua First Women's College, groups of young women came out from different textile factories in small steps, in groups of three or five, covering their mouths with their hands and laughing softly as they walked.

"Master Sun, are they the silk spinners from the Suzhou, Changsong, area?"

Zhang Zhenxun stood at the entrance of the street, looking at a few young women with bound feet walking in front of him.

"Not entirely."

Sun Bin looked forward and explained, "Suzhou, Changzhou and Songshan are the bases of the Jiangnan textile industry. The government allocates a portion of its annual immigration funds to recruit female textile workers. However, the Qing government attaches great importance to Jiangnan's fiscal revenue and prohibits the outflow of female textile workers from Suzhou and Songshan. Therefore, only one or two thousand female textile workers immigrate to South America each year, which is far from meeting the needs of the development of the textile industry.

And as you just saw, Mr. Zhang, some female weavers from middle-class families had their feet bound since childhood. Although they were allowed to unbind their feet in South America under strict orders from the government, the damage left by childhood foot binding on their feet remained. Nearly one-third of the female weavers could not recover naturally after unbinding their feet, so they could only seek treatment from local doctors or apply to the government, which would issue a certificate for them to go to the medical university in person for treatment.”

After Sun Bin finished speaking, he pointed with his right hand in the direction where the bound-footed textile workers were walking and said, "Look, the building on the right in front is the medical treatment station set up by the Medical University in Xicheng District. If the textile workers and female students nearby get sick, they can go there for treatment."

Following the direction pointed by Sun Bin's right hand, Zhang Zhenxun turned his head and saw several young women coming in and out of the small building, and there were two security soldiers standing on both sides of the door guarding it.

"You are all fair-minded and serve the people. This is a blessing for overseas Chinese like me."

"As fellow overseas Chinese, we should help each other. Mr. Zhang, there is no need to look down on me like that."...

The textile industry is the most basic primary industry. In the early development of the textile industry in the Han Dynasty, all machinery and equipment were purchased from European countries such as Germany and France. By 1879, the industrial base of the Han Dynasty was initially established, and some simple textile machines and dyeing machines were able to be produced independently. As a result, ready-made clothing products produced by local machinery and equipment also appeared in the textile market in South America.

In the early 1870s, the textile industry mainly existed in the form of small family workshops. After the occupation of northern Argentina, overseas Chinese capital from Southeast Asia was gradually introduced. Small textile factories represented by mechanical production replaced traditional family workshops, became the mainstream of the textile market, and developed rapidly.

During this period, the textile industry was growing wildly because the government adhered to the development strategy of focusing on large-scale and letting go of small-scale industries and mainly developing heavy industries. Waves of overseas Chinese businessmen poured in and invested in the textile industry with small capital and fast returns. In order to obtain higher profits, reduce raw material procurement costs, suppress competitors, and exploit low-level Chinese female workers, textile owners who lacked limited supervision gradually revealed the nature of capital and greedily expanded their product market share.

The barbaric development of the textile industry gradually attracted the attention of government officials. In 1875, Li Mingyuan appointed a government commissioner to investigate the actual situation of the textile industry. According to the results of a three-month investigation in various parts of the country,
In private textile factories, about one-sixth of the workers are underage female workers who have not received any training or education. Most of the female workers usually work 12 to 14 hours a day and have two days off a month.

Moreover, after the female workers started working, the textile factory owners would deduct the resettlement fee that had been paid to their families earlier from their wages every month.

The investigation concluded that wages were withheld and female workers lived in poor living conditions, which made it impossible for the government to sit idly by and watch the textile industry continue to grow wildly.

In November 1875, the government promulgated and implemented the "Industrial and Commercial Management Law", which clearly stipulated that: first, female workers should not work more than ten hours a day, and factory owners should not use coercive means to force female workers to work overtime.
2. Prohibit the employment of women under the age of 15 and prohibit women from working late at night.
3. Women workers and other workers are granted one statutory rest day per week. …

Following the promulgation of the "Industrial and Commercial Management Law", the Han government immediately set about rectifying the chaos in the textile industry. Batches of textile factories that did not meet production requirements were ordered to close within a specified period of time. At the same time, the government and a group of powerful Chinese businessmen jointly invested in the acquisition and integration of textile factories in various places, and reorganized the textile factories under the name of the government into two major state-owned textile groups, mainly Susong Textile Factory and Jiangnan Textile Factory.

The state-owned textile factories introduced the European seven-day work cycle, with one day off on Sunday, ten days off at the end of the year and in the summer, and nine working hours a day. The state-owned textile factories provided free food, dormitories, medical expenses and uniforms.

The working environment and life of female textile workers in state-owned textile factories are much more fulfilling than those in private textile factories. Every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday, state-owned textile factories will take out two hours of working time to arrange for female textile workers to study in night schools.

The government provided funds for the construction of the state-owned textile mills in the early years, and the textile mills were public works with a deficit that was not accounted for. Therefore, it is more appropriate to say that the state-owned textile mills were boarding schools for women's textile industry rather than factories that mass-produced raw silk and fabrics.

Led by the two state-owned enterprises, after three years of integration and development, Susong Textile Factory and Jiangnan Textile Factory have successively turned losses into profits and no longer need government financial subsidies.

Not long after the female workers of Susong Textile Factory got off work, the gate of Nanhua No.1 Women's College slowly opened. Because Nanhua No.1 Women's College had not yet been completed, only less than a hundred people walked out sparsely after the gate opened.

"Master Sun, the girl wearing the light green skirt under the big camphor tree at the main entrance is my daughter."

About twenty or thirty meters away, Zhang Zhenxun pointed forward and introduced.

"Gentle and elegant, with a natural appearance, your daughter is truly a perfect match for Your Majesty."

Sun Bin looked at the young woman standing under the camphor tree and sighed.

"Haha, I would like to thank Mr. Sun for his praise on behalf of my daughter." Zhang Zhenxun smiled and thanked him. ...

"Sister Youlan, we are here." Zhang Zhenxun and Sun Bin were having a pleasant conversation at the entrance of the Women's College. Wu Lingxuan saw a young woman coming from the Susong Textile Factory and shouted.

"Ms. Wu." The young woman came over and saw Zhang Baoyi next to Wu Lingxuan. She smiled and greeted her, "Ms. Zhang, you are here too."

"I was originally staying in the backyard helping my father with household chores. Miss Wu heard that the Nanhua First Women's College was holding a preparatory event today, so she invited me to come out and accompany her."

"Hehe, I was the one who dragged Baoyi over here. If I hadn't tried so hard to persuade her, she wouldn't have come."

Wu Lingxuan was laughing, with the expression of a little girl still on her face.

"Hehehe, you have no shame. You're going to be a princess soon, but you're still acting like a child."

"What kid? I'm already sixteen years old. And Brother Han Wang said that he likes my simple personality. I'm not afraid."

Wu Lingxuan didn't care at all and said proudly.

Although Zhang Baoyi is the same age as Wu Lingxuan, she is precocious and usually treats her as a younger sister, not minding her naive behavior.

"Sister Youlan, when did you arrive in South America? I remember you were still with Uncle Huang in Selangor half a year ago."

Seeing that Huang Youlan, the daughter of Huang Ping, the leader of the Taiping Society branch, was also here, Zhang Baoyi asked curiously.

"Kuala Lumpur Kapitan Yap Ah Loy was determined to seize the tin mines in Selangor. Dad was worried that it would be dangerous to stay there, so he sent mom, brother and me to the mainland."

"The situation in the South Pacific is not good. The English have blocked maritime traffic between South America and the South Pacific. There has been no news from the South Pacific for two months."

"It's not good. The foreigners have blocked maritime transport for several months. Not only has the connection between the mainland and overseas been cut off, but many locally produced products cannot be sold and have been piled up in warehouses. I don't know when the blockade will end."

Huang Youlan and Zhang Baoyi are both descendants of officials and businessmen with ties to the Han government. Having been influenced by them for a long time in their family, they have some understanding of the current situation in the Han Kingdom.

"Ah, you two are talking about something incomprehensible again. Come on, stop talking and go over there to eat."

Wu Lingxuan didn't understand what the two were talking about, so she tried to change the subject.

"Okay, okay, I'll listen to you today and accompany you to dinner."

Zhang Baoyi smiled and joked with the other party, and then the three of them walked towards a nearby inn together. …

"Hey, where's Bao Yiren?"

Zhang Zhenxun and Sun Bin chatted for only a few words, then turned to look at the crowd, but did not see his daughter.

"Mr. Zhang, don't be in a hurry to find your daughter. I have just seen Miss Zhang from a distance, and His Highness also has a good impression of Miss Zhang. When Mr. Zhang returns to see your daughter, he only needs to explain. There is no need to rush and go to great lengths to look for Miss Zhang on the streets."

"Mr. Zhang is right. I will tell my daughter about this after she returns home."

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(End of this chapter)