ATPnovel Chapter 68 How Do the Workers of the Great Han Dynasty Work?
Chapter 68 How Do the Workers of the Great Han Dynasty Work?
Chapter 68 How Do the Workers of the Great Han Dynasty Work?
Zheng Fuguang led the main engineers of the Three Kingdoms to a small, separate waiting room to rest and wait for their train.
A circle of chairs was placed against the wall around the waiting hall, and two large square tables were placed in the middle, with fruit and snacks on them.
Faraday, Owen, and most others observed the architecture and objects native to the Han Dynasty with great interest.
But Stephenson and Smith were clearly preoccupied.
Stephenson had no interest in observing his surroundings. After sitting down, he took the initiative to strike up a conversation with Zheng Fuguang: "Excuse me for disturbing you, Secretary Zheng."
"I am Robert Stephenson. My father and I designed steam locomotives and organized railway construction in Britain."
"I have come at the invitation of His Majesty the Emperor of the Han Dynasty."
The translator standing next to Zheng Fuguang leaned forward and translated what Stephenson had said.
Zheng Fuguang noticed Stephenson's anxiety: "Oh, it's Mr. Stephenson. Thank you for the motorcycle you sent earlier, which provided us with design ideas."
"The Emperor has mentioned you before. Do you have any urgent business to attend to?"
Stephenson immediately asked very eagerly, "It is my honor. Thank you for Your Majesty's attention and invitation, and thank you for your appreciation."
"I have some questions I would like to ask you."
"While I was on the ship, I observed the operation of the trains in Dahan."
"Not only can it carry a lot of goods, but it also seems to be able to reach a very fast speed."
"If this were in Britain, this would have caused the railway tracks to break apart."
"I want to know how the Great Han's railways avoided breaking apart—"
After listening to the translation, Zheng Fuguang was somewhat surprised: "Why did the track break?"
The translator had the same question, so with his own genuine feelings, he turned to Stephenson and asked him the same question.
Stephenson was very surprised to hear this question.
Since the Han dynasty was able to build a train and maintain it at a relatively high speed, it's impossible that they didn't know why.
But judging from the other person's expression now, it doesn't seem like they're deliberately making things difficult for me.
Stephenson explained with a lot of doubt: "Because cast iron rails are hard and brittle, they cannot withstand too strong an impact."
"The train carriages with huge loads kept hitting the tracks without enough cushioning."
"This would obviously easily cause the tracks to break. Didn't the Great Han encounter this problem?"
After listening to the translation, Zheng Fuguang finally understood the reason, but a new question arose: "Why did Britain use pig iron to cast the rails?"
Stephenson looked utterly astonished, like a starving famine victim hearing the famous "Why not eat meat porridge?": "What else can we use besides pig iron? Wrought iron or even steel?"
The other engineers around noticed that when Stephenson and Zheng Fuguang were discussing engineering issues, they stopped their casual conversations and focused on listening to the two of them.
At this moment, most people felt the same way as Stephenson: what else could they use for railway tracks besides pig iron? They couldn't just use steel to build them, could they?
As a result, Zheng Fuguang said matter-of-factly, "Of course we should use steel. Cast iron is brittle and easily breaks, while wrought iron is soft and easily deforms."
Stephenson received a definite answer, but still found it utterly absurd and unreal: "Making tracks out of steel—how incredibly expensive that would be!"
"With limited steel production capacity from the key crucibles, how can we build a sufficiently long railway?"
Before the advent of converter steelmaking technology, steel was a very precious material.
Even steam locomotives themselves don't use much steel, let alone steel for laying tracks.
Other engineers shared the same idea and began to whisper in surprise and dissent around them.
Zheng Fuguang was already familiar with the confidentiality regulations, and Liu Yulong had specifically reminded him not to mention the converter steelmaking process to outsiders, so he couldn't answer the question directly.
However, Zheng Fuguang was able to become a Grand Secretary because he was a worldly-wise person who knew that the methods of keeping secrets would differ depending on the person.
For ordinary, unrelated people, you can simply say, "This is a government secret; do not inquire about it."
However, you can't casually tell visiting professionals that it's "confidential."
That would be equivalent to telling the other party that there is a secret in this problem, which would arouse their curiosity and wait for them to slowly uncover it.
So Zheng Fuguang smiled and said, "Our great Han Dynasty is rich in resources, with a vast territory, a large population, and abundant products."
"The steel needed to build the railway can still be supplied."
Stephenson and the surrounding craftsmen were all stunned.
If people from other European countries answered this way, they would think it was nonsense.
But the Han Dynasty was indeed like that; its area was comparable to the whole of Europe, and its population was even larger than that of the whole of Europe.
By pooling the wealth and manpower of all European countries, perhaps we could build railways using crucible steel?
But this was far too extravagant, a level of luxury that no European monarch could have imagined.
Stephenson was both shocked and relieved.
It's not that I'm incapable, it's just that the big guy is too outrageous!
Which European engineer would dare to imagine laying railways directly with steel?
The new locomotive we designed ourselves, when placed on this railway, might not necessarily lose in speed to the locomotives of the Han Dynasty.
I now have the opportunity to break the speed limit of the motorcycle without any restrictions!
The key point is that the millions of pounds invested on my shoulders may not necessarily be lost; there is always a chance to make money.
However, even at this moment, some people still feel that this explanation is not reasonable enough.
Robert Irving then spoke up: "Building a railroad in this way would be unprofitable due to its extremely high cost."
"The only way to cover such construction costs is through government spending."
"Once completed, it should only be used for transmitting government documents and intelligence."
After listening to the translation, Zheng Fuguang bowed to Owen and said, "Mr. Owen is right. The railway of the Great Han Dynasty was directly funded by the imperial court and constructed by the Academy of Natural Sciences."
"From mining to smelting to laying, including mechanical processing and production, everything was handled by the Gewu Institute."
"Currently, these railways are indeed used only for official government and military affairs."
When Zheng Fuguang's answer was translated, it sparked another round of unexpected discussion at the scene.
At that time, most European and American countries directly purchased the various things their courts needed.
Even in railway construction, the governments of various countries provided subsidies and allowed merchants to organize the construction.
Things produced and built by the royal family and court themselves are usually small items.
In the Han Dynasty, it was the other way around. Most of the large-scale items needed by the Han court were produced and constructed by the court itself.
The items purchased directly from the public are often unremarkable, common items.
Owen was equally surprised after hearing this: "The Great Han government is funding it? The Great Han Royal Society is undertaking the construction? They're directly paying for the workers?"
"How much does the training school pay its workers each month?"
Zheng Fuguang thought about it carefully and concluded that this matter should not be considered a confidential matter: "The workers of the Great Han Dynasty cannot be considered employees."
"After the founding of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Gaozu reorganized the land of the world and distributed it equally to the people of the world for cultivation."
"But the people who were granted land were required to perform labor for the imperial court on a regular basis."
"Basically, for every 10,000 families, 1,000 people are sent to work in mines and factories each time."
"The personnel are changed every three months, and the cycle repeats every two years."
"During the work period, the imperial court gave each worker one string of cash every month, which was a subsidy rather than wages."
"When the workers returned to their hometowns after their work was completed, the emperor would give them some rewards."
"There are coal, iron ingots, cloth, grain, oil, livestock and other necessities, as well as swords, armor, and..."
Semi-finished raw materials for kitchen utensils, agricultural tools, etc.
"The workers took these things back with them and distributed and processed them in the villages where they lived."
The engineers from Europe and America looked completely bewildered.
This was a production organization method they had never heard of, or even imagined.
"So, all the common people of the Han Dynasty are rural knights?"
"Owning land directly granted by the monarch can indeed be considered a rural knight."
"Each service lasts three months, with a two-year cycle, averaging one and a half months of service to the monarch each year, which is perfectly normal."
"But to send a country knight to work as a laborer? That's just too unbelievable."
The workers in European factories were mostly bankrupt farmers or expelled serfs.
They have no other means of survival besides working, so they naturally suffer the most extreme oppression.
Their living conditions in the city were extremely poor, especially since the life expectancy of British workers was only twenty years.
The workers of the Han Dynasty owned land and took turns working in the factories, much like knights serving a monarch.
They didn't need wages, just a basic allowance and a reward of weapons and tools.
The key point is that the rewards include weapons and armor materials, which really resemble those of medieval European knights.
Such a huge difference has thrown many engineers into a state of confusion.
After a few seconds of stunned silence, Owen asked the question that concerned him most: "What are the living conditions of these landowners in the Great Han?"
"For example, how many hours do you need to work each day?"
Zheng Fuguang couldn't help but glance at Owen. Why did this Westerner always focus on such trivial matters?
But since this person was someone the emperor had taken care of, Zheng Fuguang couldn't just ignore him. So he recalled what he knew: "Emperor Taizu Gao believed that working in mines and factories was more arduous than working in the fields."
"Therefore, two to three shifts of workers need to work in shifts every day."
"If it's low-intensity, continuous work, then there's one shift from dawn to noon, and another shift from noon to dusk."
"For high-intensity work, there are a total of three shifts of workers, rotating every one to two hours."
"Based on the calculations, each person works a maximum of eight hours a day, and a minimum of about four hours."
Irving and the engineers around him listened to the translator relay Zheng Fuguang's words, becoming increasingly bewildered and astonished.
"The entire day, from dawn to dusk, is divided into two or three shifts?"
"That means one person only needs to work four to eight hours?"
"This is so easy!"
At that time in Europe, workers did not have many working hours restrictions; they had to work as long as they could see clearly.
Irving is trying to shorten it to ten hours, but what is the big man doing?
They work a maximum of eight hours, a minimum of four hours, and most of the time around six hours.
Such working hours were short, not only for Europeans at that time, but also for modern people.
Liu Desheng believed that with a large enough population, there was no need to prioritize a small group of people.
That approach was extremely unfair, and it was criticized more than two thousand years ago.
"Under the vast heaven, all land belongs to the king; on the shores of the earth, all people are subjects of the king; though the officials are not equal, I alone am virtuous."
This statement was not intended as a declaration, but rather as a complaint from the subjects and the people against the king.
Isn't the whole world the king's land? Aren't people from the ends of the earth all the king's subjects?
Why is the work assignment so unfair? Why am I given the most troublesome and numerous tasks?
Based on these considerations, after Liu Desheng became emperor, he chose to conscript as many people as possible to work in mines and construction sites in shifts.
This reduces the workload and complaints of those doing the work, while also using a rotating work system to improve the organization of the community.
In the future, when there is a special need, a sufficient number of skilled workers can be quickly recruited.
The key point is that Liu Desheng and Liu Yulong both knew that mines and factories in the early industrial era were extremely dangerous.
The work is very demanding, and it's easy to develop various occupational diseases, plus the income isn't very high.
Farmers who own their own land are unwilling to work in factories.
The situation will only change when productivity increases significantly during the Second Industrial Revolution.
During the First Industrial Revolution, the Han Dynasty could only use a system similar to conscription to organize able-bodied men in militia garrisons to take turns working in factories.
Just like how emperors in the past conscripted laborers to build palaces and construct river embankments and dams.
However, the workers could also get a share of what the factory produced, which they could take back and share with their fellow villagers.
Britain used extreme land consolidation to force most peasants and serfs to lose their land and make a living by working in mines and factories.
This approach simply wouldn't work in the Han Dynasty.
If the Han Dynasty had experienced a land annexation like that of Britain, the massive number of displaced peasants would have overthrown the court long ago.
It's not up to capitalists to exploit them with mines and factories.