Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 48 The most effective way to motivate people is to increase their wages
The oven's bellows made a whirring noise.

The craftsmen thought they had heard it wrong and listened carefully.

However, the new boss did not continue.

He climbed down from the wicker basket using his hands and feet again, and whispered a few words to the dashing young man beside him.

The young man immediately rode away on his horse, leaving the young boss and another shifty-looking follower alone. The two of them found a bench and sat down in the stuffy printing shop.

The craftsmen also lowered their heads at the same time and continued with their work.

Even when a small disturbance occurred, no one whispered to each other.

It was too hot, too noisy, too hard and too tiring, making them lose the desire to communicate.

These carving masters are called "ziren" and can only do one thing, which is carving, all their lives.

Not only them, but also their fathers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers...all the way back to Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty, when the distinction between good and bad classes was first established in legal form.

The fate of their ancestors, themselves, and their descendants is destined to be bound to the clay.

The soil has long been integrated into their blood, and they seem to have turned into the soil, remaining silent and allowing themselves to be trampled upon.

To escape from lowliness and become a good person... Haha, I was just dreaming and confused.

How could a spoiled brat who I just met show me mercy for no reason?
Twenty strings of cash, minus the cost of maintaining vital signs from wages, would take a worker about forty years to save.

The craftsmen were depressing themselves while doing their work.

And the two kids were quite interesting too, just sitting by the hot, dirty stove, not urging anything, just watching.

After an hour, the workers gradually got used to the presence of these two little "supervisors".

The sound of hurried horse hooves came closer and closer, and the young follower came back in a hurry. Without even taking a sip of water, he handed a stack of papers in his arms to the young boss.

The young boss flipped out the first page of paper and walked around the workshop, calling out in a baby voice:

"Wang Ergou, is Wang Ergou here?"

When he reached the printing table, the old worker who was printing leaflets with engravings responded hoarsely:
"I'm Ergou."

The young boss stuffed the page of paper into the old worker's hand.

Wang Ergou looked at the paper with a confused look on his face.

The young boss seemed to finally realize that the workers were just printing according to the rubbings and were illiterate, so he patiently explained:
"This is your household registration, Wang Ergou. From today on, you are a good citizen."

His voice was not loud, but it echoed throughout the spacious and noisy printing house.

At this moment, everyone briefly stopped what they were doing and turned around to look in surprise.

Wang Ergou was trembling all over. He held the few light pages of paper tightly against his arms, as if they were his life, and tears flowed like rain.

The workers realized that things were really different.

From today on, their descendants can also read!
…………

"You still have tens of thousands of flyers. I hope to finish printing them all before tomorrow morning. Do you think it's possible?"

Li Ming sat on the ground and asked the workers in a soft voice.

He no longer had to stand on the slats or shout when he spoke.

The craftsmen listened to his every word with great concentration, while working non-stop.

Even the cruel official Lai Junchen felt that Li Ming was a little too cruel, and couldn't help but whisper a reminder:

"Mr. Ming, tens of thousands of flyers is not a small number, how about giving us some leniency..."

"Okay!" The workers answered in unison, drowning out Lai Junchen's voice.

"The new article has been written and is now being printed. Can the clay tablet be carved in one night?"

"can!"

"I will also buy some new printing equipment by then and try to double the output. Is there any problem?"

"without!"

The morale of the craftsmen was high, and they followed His Highness' orders.

For some reason, even though they hadn't eaten yet, they were full of energy, as if they had endless energy in their bodies.

Even Tao Ni, who had long been disgusted with him, began to look kind and lovable.

"besides……"

Boss Li wanted to assign more work, but Lai Junchen pulled him aside:
"Master Ming, forget it. If someone dies of exhaustion, you'll have to pay for it..."

The craftsmen were not happy about this, thinking that the wise ruler was being held hostage by corrupt officials, and they rolled up their sleeves to purge the emperor's side.

"Stop talking nonsense! Just listen to Li Lang!"

"Don't we have an idea of ​​how much work we have to do?"

"Are you going to make up for the missing overtime pay?"

There is no two suns in the sky, and in their hearts there is only one sun, His Majesty.

Lai Dongbin was scolded so much that he remained silent.

Li Ming smiled and tried to smooth things over:
"Okay, today is only the first day, we really need to proceed step by step and do what we can.

"I'll treat you to mutton tonight to replenish your energy."

mutton!

Isn't this something only the rich and powerful are qualified to enjoy? Can we workers also eat it? Everyone cheered.

Wei Daijia said nothing, but opened his eyes wide, as if he wanted to engrave all of this in his mind.

This time, the shock he felt was far stronger than when he was at the soup kitchen stall.

Because he was present and witnessed the entire incident.

Just a few hours ago, these workers looked half dead.

His Highness Li Ming only used a little trick to win the loyalty of these people.

How can we not learn from such superb political skills!
He carefully reviewed every detail of the whole process in his mind.

In addition to spending a lot of money on everyone, His Highness Li Ming also established a series of rules.

For example, wages are paid every ten days and are divided into several difficult parts such as "basic salary, performance-based salary, monthly, quarterly, annual bonuses, and high temperature allowance."

It not only ensures basic living, but also encourages work enthusiasm.

For example, if you work four hours a day, you can receive "overtime pay" for working beyond that time.

Carving workers and older workers can also receive additional "position allowances" and "seniority wages"...

After all the calculations, an ordinary worker could earn at least 100 coins a day, which was worth half a piece of cloth or ten dou of rice.

This is already a pretty decent living.

A low-class pariah who was bought and sold here and there turned into a petty bourgeois in Beijing.

The magnitude of the class leap is no less than that of being admitted to a prestigious university or entering the dragon gate.

In addition to the financial system, His Highness Li Ming also took the trouble to formulate something difficult to understand and strange... "Safety Production Management Standards".

Not only are they posted everywhere, but everyone is required to memorize them and they are checked regularly.

Although it was very confusing, the workers also felt that the new boss really cared about them.

"If you want a horse to run fast, you have to feed it well."

Li Ming taught the stunned Wei Daijia earnestly:

"You are going to be a high-ranking official in the future, so learn more."

Wei Daijia drank the bowl of chicken soup happily and nodded heavily.

He felt that he had learned a lot today.

Lai Junchen, who had been watching from the sidelines, also quickly did a calculation in his mind.

Although he is illiterate, he has rich experience and a sharp mind. In addition, he has been in contact with various bookstores during this period, so he is particularly sensitive to money.

Li Ming put almost half of the work of the bookshops in Chang'an City on this one printing shop.

Although the treatment of individual craftsmen has been greatly increased.

But overall, the total cost actually decreased!
I can only say that Mr. Ming is really generous to his workers.

But he is not soft-hearted when it comes to assigning tasks...

He also nodded heavily, feeling that he had learned a lot.

"Come Junchen."

Li Ming carefully chose his words:

"So you are also... you are not a good person either?
"Why didn't you tell me earlier? I could have redeemed it a long time ago... Well, I'll take care of it for you."

Lai Junchen shrugged nonchalantly:

"I am different from those common households. I am a private slave and my household registration is not in the government. Even if you want to pay the money, you can't find a place."

Li Ming didn't know what to say.

Shouldn't a private slave be locked up in the mansion by his master? Why is he running around the streets... Wei Daijia muttered to himself.

He immediately noticed the problem, but considering that they were all comrades from the 14th Party, he pretended not to hear it.

"The status of nobles and commoners is just a piece of paper, it is of no consequence." Lai Junchen was quite carefree:

"But this workshop is too hot, Master Ming, how about we do this first?"

However, Li Ming had no intention of backing down.

"We have only just begun our work."

Lai Junchen and Wei Daijia looked at each other, then looked at the sun outside.

The sun is hanging in the west, it must be the afternoon.

In another hour or two the sun will set.

"Xiao Lai, pick out a few young masters with experience and good skills from among the craftsmen.

"Awei, go to the soup kitchen and call everyone over so we can brainstorm together."

Li Ming gave orders quickly, and the fire danced happily in his clear eyes.

“Don’t forget, the original intention of buying this printing house was to improve printing technology.

“In the future, we need to be able to update it every day.”

(End of this chapter)