Chapter 606: The Foundation of the Millennium Empire (Second update, please subscribe)
How did the emperor's day begin?
There is no difference from ordinary people.
Get up, do morning exercises, then take a shower and have breakfast.
During breakfast, Emperor Zhu took the newspaper from the table as usual. Before the newspaper was delivered, it was carefully ironed with an iron. This was to ensure that the ink was dry and the hands would not be dirty when reading. Of course, it also had a sterilizing effect. The newspaper was usually delivered with breakfast. It was impossible to let Emperor Zhu get his hands dirty while reading the newspaper while eating.
"Ten million!"
Seeing the big bold words on the front page of the news, Emperor Zhu showed a smug smile on his face.
"Ten million!"
This number is neither money nor an object, but a person!
On December 1, 1872, with the birth of a girl in Taiyuan (Santiago) Hospital, the population of the Ming Dynasty... no, it should be said that the Chinese population in the Ming Empire finally exceeded 10 million!
From 6 million at the end of 1870 to 10 million at the end of 1872!
In just two years, the population of the Ming Dynasty almost doubled!
An increase of four million people!
What kind of speed is this?
It is definitely an unprecedented population explosion. In fact, this is also normal, because the immigrants in the Ming Dynasty are basically young and middle-aged people!
With millions of young and middle-aged people, as long as the gender ratio is right, it would be easy for them to give birth to a million children a year.
Moreover, there is an influx of 500,000 to 700,000 immigrants every year. This is absolutely normal!
"Next year's newborn population should exceed 2 million!"
Emperor Zhu started to calculate with some pride.
"The newborn population is 2 million, and with 700,000 to 800,000 immigrants, well, next year the population will be about 13 million, almost surpassing Brazil in population. That means by 1876, the population will be about 20 million..."
20 million people!
This population refers specifically to Chinese people!
By that time, the so-called European and European-Indian mixed-race people will become a real minority in the Ming Dynasty. By then, this land will truly become the land of China!
"Ten million, twenty million, thirty million..."
Emperor Zhu was in a good mood. He took a sip of milk and couldn't help imagining the near future!
This speed is very fast. After all, the immigrants of the Ming Dynasty are basically young and middle-aged people!
As long as... Suddenly, Emperor Zhu's face changed, and he stared at the newspaper and shouted.
“Shameless!”
Emperor Zhu slapped the newspaper suddenly and said in a deep voice.
"Go, shout..."
Who are you calling?
Emperor Zhu was a little confused, and he suddenly realized one thing - the Ming Dynasty did not have a Ministry of Labor at all, and of course there was no so-called labor welfare.
Does the Ming Dynasty have worker welfare?
It seems... maybe, there is... it seems, but... really not.
"You're really shooting yourself in the foot!"
Emperor Zhu was a little depressed and took a sip of tea. The tea was New Communist tea, but it tasted a little bitter and astringent in his mouth.
"It seems that I have never considered the retirement problem of workers... Oh my God! There are millions of workers all over the Ming Dynasty. If they don't have pensions, who will take care of them when they lose their ability to work? This... is definitely an unimaginable disaster!"
Facing His Majesty's annoyance, Zuo Zongtang began to wonder in his heart. When he was in Europe, he had never heard of any country that provided pensions for its workers.
"Your Majesty, it seems that no other country has it either."
What Zuo Zongtang said is indeed true. Which country in the world was the first to establish employee pension insurance?
It was Germany and Bismarck. The pension insurance system during Bismarck's time was the first in the world to provide universal social security to workers in a legal manner. However, it was not until 1889, sixteen years later, that Bismarck led the promulgation of the Disability and Old-Age Insurance Law.
Before this, workers around the world had few benefits.
"Just because other countries don't have it doesn't mean we can't have it!"
Emperor Zhu shook his head and said.
"It's not just medical care, but also pension and work-related injury insurance... Just like Zhang Dachun, an honest worker who was also named a "labor model" in the factory, was fired after he lost his ability to work! Zuo Xiang, this seems normal, but this normality is precisely the most abnormal part, because this is an injury at work, shouldn't the company be held responsible?"
When talking about Zhang Dachun's dismissal, Zhu Xianhai's tone was still full of anger. Although he was very clear about the faces of capitalists, he still found such faces a little unacceptable to him.
"I neglected it!"
When mentioning this sentence, Zhu Xianhai's tone was heavy. The reason why it was heavy was that besides Zhang Dachun, how many Zhang Dachuns are there?
"In the past, when we were at Nanhua, the company would arrange an idle job for workers who were injured on the job, such as simple jobs like guarding the gate or managing the warehouse, which was basically equivalent to half-support. But these years, there is more than just one company! There are so many private enterprises, and our corresponding laws and regulations have not been established until now. This is simply... a crime!"
"Your Majesty, please do not blame yourself. After all, there is no precedent for this."
Zuo Zongtang's advice seemed reasonable, but Zhu Xianhai still smiled bitterly.
"You don't understand, Left Prime Minister..."
After all, Emperor Zhu was a time traveler from later times. How could he not know about social insurance?
Uh... it seems that he only bought medical insurance for himself, and it seems that he really has never bought pension insurance!
"If Ming wants to have a real future, it must establish a social insurance system that covers everyone,"
After thinking about it, Emperor Zhu remembered what Bismarck said.
"Social insurance is an investment to eliminate revolution. A person who expects a pension is the most dutiful person and the easiest to rule. Social insurance is an investment to eliminate revolution. As long as healthy workers are given the right to work and are guaranteed medical care when they are sick and care when they are old, then... I dare say that this empire will become a true millennial empire."
Why should we wait for Bismarck to initiate it? For some things, Bismarck and others did them only because they were forced to do so by social crises. The Ming Dynasty could certainly wait, but why couldn't the Ming Dynasty be the pioneer of this cause?
Moreover, the most important thing about starting this business is that it can provide an extremely stable foundation for the future of the empire. This stable social foundation cannot be bought with money, and it is also a manifestation of social progress.
"Your Majesty is right. The reason why civil servants in our Ming Dynasty dare not be greedy and accept bribes is, firstly, because their salaries are very high, and secondly, because of strict supervision and generous pensions. With expectations, they naturally dare not be greedy..."
Before he could finish his words, Zuo Zongtang suddenly stopped talking because he found that the emperor's expression seemed really ugly.
How can it not be ugly!
Because that pension was originally proposed by Emperor Zhu himself, isn't this just exposing scars?
This is definitely a case of the head following the butt, dealing with the problem from the perspective of the ruler.
Now it's hard to say that I ignored it. I didn't even think about it that way.
Although his expression looked grim, Zhu Xianhai still spoke after hesitating for a moment.
"Left Prime Minister, the cabinet should study this and try to formulate a bill to ensure that our people have access to medical care when they are sick and care when they are old!"
(End of this chapter)
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