The suburbs of the capital.

Private paper mill.

Boss Wang is from Zhejiang and he is very smart.

I have long been optimistic about the papermaking business.

A good friend told him that the Qunying Chamber of Commerce already had more than ten printing factories, so there was no need to open another one. He might as well run a cement factory.

But Boss Wang doesn't think so.

He roughly estimated the paper consumption of the Beijing Gazette in his mind, and found that even a dozen printing factories were working overtime day and night to rush the work.

This shows that the demand for printing in the capital is extremely high.

Moreover, as more and more schools were built in the capital, the demand was increasing day by day, so even though his friends tried to dissuade him, he resolutely decided to open a printing factory.

Instead of listening to his friend and buying cheaper printing tools, he found the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce and bought the latest copper mold printing mold.

Moreover, they use the most expensive ink from the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce for printing purposes.

The scale of the factory was not small. He invested all his fortune into it. There were hundreds of workers alone.

Even Uncle Zhang was shocked by the scale of this. After some negotiations, Boss Wang was able to connect with many businesses of the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce.

He was not wrong. Even the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce was a little stretched to meet the demand for printing. When the factory was opened, there was no shutdown at all, and a steady stream of orders came in.

With the support of the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce, the volume of orders is enough to fill his stomach, and he is thinking of ways to expand the scale every day.

The daily income is naturally very objective.

According to the rules set by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, he also paid the workers enough monthly wages.

It's just the foreman's business, so he doesn't care too much. As long as it doesn't delay his production and no one makes trouble, he is too lazy to care.

In just less than two months, thanks to a large number of orders, Boss Wang has already recovered half of his investment.

In other words, if he works for another two months, all the money he invested can be recovered.

Therefore, Boss Wang lives in the factory every day, keeping an eye on the production and not giving any chance to cheating workers.

"Master, something terrible has happened. Someone is coming from the government office."

A servant that he brought with him ran over in panic and shouted.

Boss Wang said unhappily, "Why are you so flustered? Aren't there people coming to the government office frequently these days? A few days ago, a nobleman's son came to investigate. Why do you look so ignorant?"

The servant said quickly, "They are not from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, but from the Ministry of Public Security, and there are also officials from the Ministry of Military Affairs of the Five Cities."

"There are a lot of people, probably about 20 or 30."

Hearing this, Boss Wang also became nervous, and hurriedly recalled whether he had done anything illegal during this period of time.

But after thinking for a long time, I still couldn't figure out what was going on.

At the moment, I had no choice but to go and receive them.

A person's reputation is like the shadow of a tree.

The Public Security Department and the Hardware City Military Department are not easy to deal with. Anyone who gets into trouble with them will never have a good time.

In the front hall, we saw Boss Wang appear, and the servant told us that he was the boss of the factory.

The chief constable headed by the Public Security Bureau came over and said, "Boss Wang, right? Today, the Public Security Bureau and the Five Cities Military Bureau are jointly carrying out an errand."

"Your Majesty the Crown Prince has issued an order to investigate the factories in the capital for those who are using the name of foreman to oppress and bully others and collect illegal proceeds."

"Please ask Boss Wang to gather all the workers here."

After hearing this, Boss Wang felt relieved but then became nervous again.

The problem didn't happen to him, but he knew what was happening on the foreman's side. It was obvious that something was going to happen.

He immediately ordered his servants to gather the workers, while he stayed in the front hall.

"Boss Wang, you don't have to worry about anything. The harm caused by the foreman is like a rat in a rice jar, which harms others. Now, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has issued an order to eliminate this harm, so that all merchants who run factories can operate better."

"If we let this go on for a long time, it will inevitably become a major disaster."

The chief constable of the Public Security Bureau saw that Boss Wang looked a little strange, so he came over and comforted him.

It is obvious from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's decree that he pays more attention to the businessmen who run factories, so there is no need for him to make things difficult for anyone.

As for accepting or giving benefits, that is even more impossible.

Whether it is the Public Security Department or the Five Cities Military Department, there are some new rules.

If you find that one of your colleagues or superiors has violated the law, you will be rewarded if you report it and it will be considered as meritorious service. If you conceal it and do not report it, those who are in cahoots with the corrupt will be severely punished.

If you are coerced by them, no prosecution will be conducted depending on the circumstances.

The official positions in the capital are very tight now, and with the improvement in salaries, even if you don't commit greed, you can still live a comfortable life. No one wants to have bad luck thrown on their head, so naturally everyone is thinking about how to climb up.

What Boss Wang is most worried about is that he won’t be able to actually find these foremen, and then the government will ask him to identify them.

He was of course aware of these people, but he did not dare to stand up and point them out for fear of retaliation afterwards.

Obviously, Boss Wang's idea was unnecessary.

When all the workers were gathered, about a hundred people gathered on the ground.

Under the arrangement of the Public Security Bureau, a three-sided wooden fence was simply built.

Inside the enclosure, there was a desk, pen, paper and inkstone, and two detectives from the Public Security Bureau were sitting inside.

Another wooden board was set up between the two detectives.

There is a small hole on the wooden board behind the constable, and I don’t know what it is used for.

When the simple wooden board is completed, a curtain is pulled up.

Many workers were discussing this, but they didn't know what it was for.

The chief constable of the Public Security Department stood up and shouted, "Silence!"

Suddenly everyone fell silent.

The constable cupped his fists and said to the east: "According to the order of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, we have found that the workers in various factories are oppressed by the foremen, and more than half of their monthly wages are robbed by others."

"Therefore, today, the Beijing Public Security Department and the Five Cities Military Department will jointly handle the case and conduct a thorough investigation of this matter."

"In order to avoid people worrying about retaliation afterwards, a fence is set up to record the incident."

"Everyone enters the curtain enclosure in turn and reports the name of the foreman to the recorder through the small hole in the wooden board."

"The recorder will not see the person, he will just record the record. After recording, he will leave the scene immediately and someone else will announce it. You can rest assured to tell us who stole your money on weekdays."

After hearing the captain's words, most of the workers showed excitement on their faces, but about seven or eight of them suddenly looked as pale as death.

In this way, they don't even know who reported them, so they can intimidate others.

This was the method of anonymous reporting that Zhu Ying came up with.

Because most people are illiterate, and the preservation of writing would also worry the workers.

Just talk and don't worry.

Even the yamen runners who heard the noise left after recording it last night, which also saved the risk of being recognized.

In order to prevent problems with the recorder, two people will be randomly selected to record together.

It is so strict that it must have put the workers at ease.

When the chief constable received the two lists and compared them to find no difference, he immediately ordered the arrest of the seven foremen with the highest number of votes.

What awaits them will be at least ten years of hard labor.

Not only that, illegal gains will also be fined and confiscated.

In prison, they had to explain in detail how their monthly pay went. Even if they spent it, they had to explain where it was spent and how much was spent.

These still need to be reviewed. If there is suspicion of concealing money, the number of years of labor will be increased.

Before this, criminals were sent to the army.

Now, due to the superiority of sergeants and the protection of honor and other factors, people who were convicted would no longer be sent to the army, but would be imprisoned in solitary prisons, reformed and forced to work in factories instead.

Factories based on prisons are the most profitable, because the prisoners serving their sentences do not need to be paid any wages. Although there are certain requirements for food, they just require enough to fill their stomachs.

In just less than seven days, almost all the foremen were arrested, quickly sentenced and sentenced to hard labor.

After this, progress began to be made in establishing trade unions.

For every factory with more than 30 employees, an anonymous vote based on reports from government offices will be used to select the most suitable foreman in everyone's mind.

The foremen will be organized by the government and join the newly established trade union.

The household registration of each foreman will also be adjusted separately.

The existence of trade unions is to protect the interests of workers to a certain extent. At the same time, they report innovative projects of workers and give certain rewards according to the circumstances.

When the establishment of the trade union was reported in the Beijing Gazette, there was no doubt that Zhu Ying's reputation reached a new height again.

Especially among the grassroots people, they have a stronger sense of belonging to the current eldest grandson of the Ming Dynasty and the future emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

"Your Highness, the Crown Prince, is a good prince who truly cares about the people."

"Son, remember this, you must obey whatever His Royal Highness wants you to do."

"If His Royal Highness wants to recruit soldiers someday, you will serve as a soldier to repay His Royal Highness's kindness."

A middle-aged man said to his eldest son who was about ten years old.

Things like this have become a very common phenomenon among many people.

At present, all the working class have regarded His Royal Highness the Crown Prince as their reborn parent. When many workers actually got the four-string banknotes in their hands, many of them cried bitterly with gratitude.

For a time, the Changsheng brand in the capital became a hot-selling product. All the stores that sold the Changsheng brand were sold out, and the demand completely exceeded the supply.

This is because the people do not know how to thank His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, and can only set up a longevity tablet for His Royal Highness the Crown Prince at home and burn incense to worship him.

The Changsheng Pai is not a spirit tablet, but a tablet set up for a living person. The purpose is to express gratitude for the person's kindness and pray for his happiness and longevity.

When Zhu Yuanzhang learned about this, he jokingly said, "It is said that every household in the capital has a tablet of immortality for you now."

"These people from north to south of the Yangtze River are still rising up. The happiness and longevity of the entire Ming Dynasty will be occupied by you alone."

All right.

Even Zhu Yuanzhang felt a little jealous. From the emperor's perspective, it can be clearly seen that today's workers, especially after the establishment of trade unions, have almost formed a new class, a class comparable to landlords.

Zhu Yuanzhang had a very high level of understanding of this point.

This was his eldest grandson, the future heir to the Ming Dynasty. If someone else did such a thing, Zhu Yuanzhang would definitely not hesitate to summon the army overnight, directly convict him of treason, mislead the people, and exterminate all nine generations of his clan.

But for Dasun, of course, it was completely different.

It's just inevitable that there will be some emotion.

When the Ming Dynasty was first founded, Zhu Yuanzhang tried every possible means to win over the landlord class, which made the foundation of the Ming Dynasty solid.

Compared with the current situation of the eldest grandson, it seems a bit mechanical.

The current situation of the working class is not that they are trying to win over the landlords, but that they are tied to the same boat with the Ming Dynasty.

On Da Sun's side, all the workers truly respect him from the bottom of their hearts.

Workers do physical labor and are the best source of soldiers.

Zhu Yuanzhang could easily imagine that his eldest grandson only needed to raise a call to action and easily mobilize an army of millions of workers.

Zhu Ying could naturally hear the sourness in the old man's words.

In fact, the working class has always been part of Zhu Ying’s plan.

Zhu Ying, who has memories of his past life, knows that even in later lives, the power of the working class as a group is beyond ordinary people's imagination.

Once they unite, it will be like the tide of history, and no one can stop it.

This will be Zhu Ying's strongest support in the Ming Dynasty.

…

The economy of the Ming Dynasty was booming, but at this time, the Ming expeditionary forces on the Kyushu Island in Japan were not living so happily.

"How long will this damn day last? I've been here for more than half a year, and I haven't seen any major battles."

"Ergou, I miss home."

In a village somewhere on Kyushu Island, Japan, Ergou and Daniu were appointed as local patrol officers.

Hearing Daniu's complaint, Ergou replied: "Brother Daniu, you can't say that now. If any of the superiors hear it, they will definitely give you a beating."

"Besides, I think this place is not bad either. Although I don't understand what they are saying, the general flag officer came to me a few days ago and said that he could assign me a Japanese woman."

"If you have a woman and give birth to a baby here, you can get a lot of land. Even if you go back, you won't get these."

When Da Niu heard what Er Gou said, he was furious.

Of course, what made him most angry was why the general officer shared the woman with Ergou but didn't give any to himself.

"Women, women, just women. When the war starts, they won't even know how they died."

"Don't blame me for not telling you. I heard a few days ago that a brother was killed by a woman in **. Although the army avenged him, the man is gone, and he died in this damn place. You should think about it carefully."

Daniu said threateningly.

Er Gou got scared when he heard that and said quickly, "Then I don't want women anymore. I'll go tell the general officer that I don't want them anymore."

Seeing Ergou's timid look, Daniu laughed and said, "What are you afraid of? I was just trying to scare you, but you took it seriously. Hahaha."

Laughing loudly, the two of them patrolled.

Although Ergou and Daniu also led the Ming expeditionary force, they were not actually combat soldiers but auxiliary soldiers.

For the Ming Dynasty, the garrisons were designated as combat soldiers.

According to the military system, every hundred households must have twenty-three combat soldiers. That is to say, these twenty-three people are the number of combat soldiers of this hundred households. These twenty-three people can enjoy fixed military pay, and be provided with armor, weapons and combat supplies.

The others did not receive this treatment, but had to work, produce and serve for these twenty-three people.

In other words, the Ming expeditionary force is said to have 500,000 soldiers, but only about 150,000 of them are actually combat soldiers. This is because of the expedition to Japan, so the number of combat soldiers is relatively higher.

"Ergou, stop, there's something ahead." Da Niu suddenly called out to Ergou.

Ergou didn't understand and turned to look at Da Niu.

Daniu pointed at the birds flying in the distance and said, "There must be a lot of people gathered there. Let's go and take a look."