Qing Yao

Chapter 216 I'm on the same level as the old man?
The drinking session was very pleasant, and Ba Liu, who opened up and rediscovered himself, gained the unanimous approval of his brother-in-law and Zhao An.

An official who doesn't make money is a worthless official, especially since this money is legal income earned through hard work.

Although contracting out the canteen may involve using one's position to seek personal gain through back channels, it is certainly much better than directly embezzling or accepting bribes.

At least in this era, he can definitely be called a model of independent entrepreneurship.

Once the intention to cooperate is established, and the cooperation framework and methods are determined, the remaining task is to discuss the details of the cooperation.

That is, how this canteen is run, who manages it, who is in charge of finances, and who is in charge of procurement.

Doing business has never been Zhao An's main business; he focuses on cultivating people's hearts and networks, so he always lets go of the details and doesn't get involved in them.

Since Manager Shi can be the bank president, he can also be the canteen manager. Manager Shi will be fully responsible for the specific personnel arrangements.

The initial capital doesn't need to be 86 taels; Manager Shi and Zhao An will each contribute 3,000 taels. After the New Year, Manager Shi will take time to go to Jiangning to recruit people.

The governor is using the Suzhou Prefectural School as a starting point for large-scale construction in the new district. He can't finish the "selling the old and building the new" process in less than half a year. Therefore, Zhao An estimates that it will be at least two years before things move to Jiangning. So there's no need to wait for the governor. He should first promote the issue of temporary students throughout the province and grab the lucrative opportunity in front of him.

He left the subsequent legal battles to Fu Song and He Shen, not getting involved.

Whether it's the old campus or the new campus, teachers and students still need to eat.

As long as the school remains operational, the cafeteria will remain operational.

The main focus is on stability.

"Brother,"

Unexpectedly, after listening to her elder brother and Zhao An's specific arrangements, Shi made a request: could she take over the personnel for the canteen?

I don't want to be a human resources manager, but rather a recruitment intermediary.

And these women were none other than the Manchu women of Jiangning Manchu City.

"Does Sister mean to recruit Manchu women to work for us?"

Zhao An was stunned, finding Shi's idea somewhat unbelievable. Who were the Manchus?

Those were the carefree types who could enjoy tea and bird-walking while living off their meager wages, without having to do any work, and receiving a substantial monthly salary from the relevant departments!
This is what later generations called the parasitic class, the parasitic class that shares the fate of the nation.

From what Shi Shi said, it seemed that the Manchu people were so poor that they had to make their wives and daughters work.
"Lord Zhao thinks too highly of us Manchus. The imperial family and the Gioro clan are supported by the court and have no worries about food and drink, but we Eight Banners are all surnamed Aisin Gioro?"

The one speaking was Manager Shi, who, as a bondservant, knew more about the situation of the Manchus.

According to him, the Manchu people's wages were divided into two types: "sitting wages" and "traveling wages." "Sitting wages" were equivalent to a basic salary, while "traveling wages" were equivalent to a welfare subsidy. This welfare was only distributed when there was a war. If there was no war, the Manchu people only received the basic salary.

In addition, Manchus could receive a "quarterly rice" every quarter, which was equivalent to a quarterly bonus. There were also some other benefits, such as "ten taels of silver for happy occasions and twenty taels of silver for funerals".

In summary, an ordinary bannerman's annual salary and benefits, when not on campaign, would be at most around ninety taels, roughly equivalent to the statutory salary of a county magistrate.

Zhao An thought the salary level was quite good. In Yangzhou, due to its wealth and good soil and water, farmers could earn twenty or thirty taels a year. However, farmers in other poor areas could only earn a dozen taels a year, or even two or three taels. In comparison, a Manchu's annual salary was about ten to twenty times that of a poor farmer. Where else could one find such good treatment?

Moreover, the Manchus could receive wages regardless of gender or age!

If you calculate it for a family of five, they would earn several hundred taels a year, which is more than enough to be considered well-off. How could they possibly need their wife and daughter to work?

Shopkeeper Shi smiled and shook his head: "Lord Zhao, you may not know this, but on the surface, the salaries of Manchus are quite high, but first of all, you have to be a formal Manchu soldier to receive so much."

What does that mean?

Since entering the pass, the number of Manchus has increased several times, but the court does not actually need so many Manchu soldiers. Therefore, most Manchu men cannot be selected as regular soldiers in the cavalry or infantry and can only serve as reserve "surplus men". Children are called "nursing soldiers".

The "surplus men" could only earn a dozen or so taels of what the Han people called "iron-clad crops" a year. Women and soldiers who raised children received even less. Moreover, they lived in large cities with high cost of living, so that little salary was simply not enough. In order to make a living, many surplus men had no choice but to engage in farming, industry, commerce, and other occupations that were despised by the Manchus.

Only princes and nobles can live a carefree life, without any worries. Every year, the imperial court pays tens of millions of taels of silver just for the salaries and benefits of princes and nobles.

Zhao An suddenly realized why the old master had driven out hundreds of thousands of Han soldiers and Eight Banners troops; otherwise, the old master simply couldn't afford to support them.

Even with the remaining Manchu and Mongol Eight Banners, there are still several million people. If all of them were paid wages based on the surplus population, it would still cost tens of millions of taels a year, not to mention those with red and yellow belts.

The pie is only so big, so we can only focus on the basics first, which inevitably leads to a huge wealth gap within the Eight Banners.

What else could the lower-class Manchus do besides abandoning their noble status and finding their own way out?
Living hand to mouth at home? Suddenly, something felt off, because the Qing court, in order to ensure the military capabilities of the Eight Banners, seemed to forbid Bannermen from engaging in any profession. This restriction wasn't completely lifted until the late Qing Dynasty, but by then the Qing Dynasty was nearing its end.

“I’ll tell Lord Zhao a story, and he’ll understand.”

Shopkeeper Shi picked up his small wine cup, took a sip, and said that a few years ago, a man from the Plain White Banner originally worked in the Imperial Household Department, but was later kicked out for some unknown reason and lost his livelihood.

"This man had no choice but to lie and say that he and his wife were commoners, that is, Han Chinese, and then sold himself and his wife to a wealthy family in the Plain Yellow Banner for sixteen taels of silver to be their servants."

The male head of the household was violent and would beat his wife and son at the slightest provocation. Eventually, the couple couldn't take the beatings and ran away, only to be caught and brought back shortly after. Left with no other option, the man revealed that he was actually a Manchu, which frightened the Manchu head of the Plain Yellow Banner, who paid him one hundred taels of silver to settle the matter. Otherwise, if the man had gone to the governor's office to accuse a Manchu of buying a Manchu into slavery, the Plain Yellow Banner family would have been in deep trouble.

Shopkeeper Shi said that although such things don't happen often, what does it mean that they do occur?
This shows that life was really tough for the lower-ranking bannermen. If we really want to compare their living standards, to put it bluntly, the bondservants of the Imperial Household Department were much happier than the lower-ranking bannermen of the Five Banners.

"Can those people in Beijing be any worse off than us?"

Perhaps it was the alcohol taking effect, but Ba Liu became more talkative, saying that the Eight Banners of the Beijing Garrison were much better off than them, at least they had the banner lands left by their ancestors who had seized land to squander, while they, the garrisoned Eight Banners, had nothing and could only live on a fixed salary.

If they were to go on an expedition, at least there would be various benefits and rewards for meritorious service. However, ever since the campaigns against the Jinchuan and Dajinchuan, the Eight Banners of Jiangning have not been mobilized. Apart from the generals and officers who are doing well, the people below them are dirt poor.

"I don't know about other places, but here in Jiangning, there are quite a few Manchus who secretly go out to rob and plunder, work for the Han people in the outer city, and even sell their wives and daughters in the Qinhuai River. They say they are degrading themselves, but how else can they live?"

At this point, Eighty-Six snorted coldly, clearly dissatisfied with the current situation.

This situation is due to both his own frustration and the difficult lives of the lower-class Manchu people today.

"My neighbor Desong, that scoundrel, didn't get selected for the vest, but he hangs a piece of pork skin behind his door. Every morning before he goes out, he wipes his mouth on the pork skin, then picks up his birdcage, hums a little tune, and walks out. When he meets someone, he says something like, 'This meat is too greasy, I need to go out for a walk to digest.'"

These words were spoken by Shi Shi, who probably found Desong so funny that he laughed at himself.

"."

Zhao An was truly astonished. The old master was still alive, yet the foundation of the Qing Dynasty had already deteriorated to this extent.

However, from what I remember, the Jiangning Eight Banners performed poorly in suppressing the White Lotus Rebellion, and later they were completely wiped out by the Taiping Army during the Taiping Rebellion. These two events show that the Jiangning Eight Banners had really become corrupt and decadent.

This also indirectly proves that what the couple said was true: the lower-class Manchu people in Jiangning had begun to find their own way out and would do anything to make a living.

When a member of a militarized organization starts struggling to make a living, how can you expect him to risk his life to maintain the organization?

To put it in modern terms, if you're only making a few hundred yuan a month, why would you risk your life?

“The Manchu people below are in a terrible state. I know many wives who secretly sew clothes for others outside the city. If I, as the wife of a Zuo Ling, were to recruit some women to work in the canteen, I wouldn’t need to pay them much, just like the common people. Those women would definitely be happy, and the men wouldn’t say anything.”

Shi was very serious about this matter. She couldn't care less about the other captains, but she still wanted to take care of this captain as much as possible.

Since it's all about hiring people to do work, what's the difference between hiring Manchus and hiring civilians?

So what if the higher-ups find out?

Are you going to pay them or assign them work?

If you're going to regulate even this, why don't you go and investigate how many Manchu women with old surnames are drinking and having sex with Han men along the Qinhuai River?

Eighty-six people who supported his wife's suggestion were all from the local garrison. They knew him well, were easy to use and manage, and he wasn't afraid of him causing any trouble.

This can be considered a "benefit" he, as the captain, provides to his subordinates, so they won't keep saying that he, as the captain, is incompetent and doesn't care about his subordinates.

"I think I can."

The biggest reason why Manager Shi thought it was possible was not because Manchu women were more capable than Han women, but because he believed that if there were more Manchu women in the canteen, then no one would dare to mess with them.

He does not mean that.

Zhao An was seriously considering a question: if the lower-class Manchu people in a certain place, including their wives and children, were secretly working for him, then who was paying his wages?

boss?

The answer is obvious: he is the boss.

Isn't this on par with the old man?

(End of this chapter)