After years of development, Zhenhai Port has prospered, and the current business district has long broken through the city wall to live in that small area and began to expand to the periphery. Today, a large number of commercial buildings have sprung up around the city walls, providing a variety of services to the city, which has a population of more than 7,000.

Ventura walked up to a fruit stand, picked up a well-preserved coconut, shook it, and threw down a two-cent copper coin, turning and leaving.

"Lao Wen, the money is not enough, now it is marketized, and the price has risen! 3 cents a piece! A young man sitting in front of a fruit stand called out to him.

Ventura spat and reluctantly took another penny out, and then began his routine complaint again: "The marketization of shit, the price of everything that is marketed has risen dramatically, and it is not as good as before." Everything has risen, but wages have not risen, and this day is becoming more and more unbearable. ”

"You can't survive if you earn more than a dozen yuan a month, what if I only earn four or five yuan a month?" The young man also complained, and it was evident that he was more familiar with Captain Ventura, so he spoke more casually: "I can't live anymore, and now the daughter-in-law is given priority to the inland areas, and the people of our so-called big coastal cities are shit compared to them." Don't complain, I'm only going to be in this mess until the end of the month. The county is recruiting reinforcements for the Far East Army, and I am going to sign up, and then I will be pulled to Jinshan Port in Australia for training. The monthly income is 8 yuan, and various allowances during the war are doubled, which is much better than selling fruits. ”

Ventura sighed and didn't speak again. Although Zhenhai Port is a thriving new industrial city, in the end, not everyone has a happy life. Many people's income is just enough to feed on. This is especially true for the city's large group of ordinary shipbuilders. Their income is only hovering between 4-6 yuan. 70% of the monthly income is spent on necessities. Excluding some taxes, occasional luxuries, and unexpected expenses, there is not much money left over throughout the year.

Although this kind of life is much better than in the Ming Dynasty or the Old Continent, the Ming Dynasty will not talk about it, and there will be no food there; Let's just talk about the Old World, Captain Ventura used to eat some black bread every day, and sometimes when he was unemployed and unemployed, he could only go to the church or workhouse to see if he could eat and drink, and he was very depressed. Now it's on the East Coast. It was the same as life in the Old World, where at least they could have a full meal, and they could often eat some meat when beef was subject to price controls, so it stands to reason that they should be very satisfied.

However, they are afraid of comparison, and after seeing the quality of life of the rural farmers who are a step higher than them, their mentality is also unbalanced. I think it was the stupidest guys who were assigned to farm, and those of us who had a lot of brains or skills were left behind to work in the factory, but after a few years, we found out that those guys were much richer than us. Back then, the stupid people who were stupid to death in their hometown and didn't know anything can now afford whale leather shoes, which is really unbearable!

Such a contrast in life situations. It's no wonder that they want to go overseas to fight, after all, that income is much higher. Ventura Zhilu said. The neighbor of the young fruit stall owner has already remitted dozens of yuan to his home, which makes the neighbors envious. Patting him on the shoulder, Captain Ventura turned away, he still had to go to dinner.

"Captain Ventura!" Unexpectedly, there was another crisp shout in the distance, and Ventura turned her head to look at it, and couldn't help but shudder. It was a fellow villager he had known, a Sicilian who had gone to the army and, after being discharged from the army, was said to have worked in the Statistical Survey Unit of Syphilis Patients—an institution with a vague name.

"Hi Silvio." Ventura barely said hello, he didn't want anything to do with these guys in black skins. If it is known in the future that he has been investigated by the people of the Mei Agency, then how can he still mix in society? Others will point fingers at you, even if you haven't had syphilis.

"Nice to see you here, how are you doing?" As if noticing Ventura's ugly face, Silvio walked over and hugged him, then put his arm around his shoulder and said, "It's been a long time since I've seen you, you're always busy." Ha, I'm really lucky today, I just need your help with something, let's go, come with me to the office in the city. It's not far, it's just ahead. ”

"I ......," Captain Ventura was about to say something, but Silvio grabbed him and walked towards the city. There was no way, he could only follow hard. He knew in his heart that the Mei Agency was probably not as simple as it seemed, and they should have a lot of other things to do besides investigating syphilis patients. Ventura vaguely remembers that there was a Portuguese priest in Fort West, who seemed to have disappeared for no reason after being "invited" by the Mei agency to assist in the investigation, and it was rumored in the village that he had gone to Australia for "labor treatment".

May's office was soon there. Even though it was winter, Captain Ventura felt a little sweat oozing from his back, because he felt some of the passers-by on the street looking at him strangely.

"Xiao Li, two cups of yerba mate." Silvio hung his tweed coat on a hanger and ordered Ventura to sit across from his office. Ventura took a deep breath and sat down across from Silvio.

"Chief, yerba mate." Xiao Li quickly brought two cups of warm tea and placed them in front of the two of them.

Silvio pulled out a stack of papers from his drawer, and after a cursory glance, filled it with something. After filling it out, he looked at it twice, then looked up at Ventura and said, "Sorry to disturb your lunchtime." But I really have something to ask you for, because the data sample of this survey has not been collected enough, and the pressure is urgent, so I have no choice but to ask you for help. ”

Captain Ventura smiled and motioned for him to continue.

Silvio coughed, then said, "Then let's go, this is a questionnaire, I'm going to ask you a few questions, be sure to answer them truthfully." First, do you spend more than two-thirds of your daily expenses on necessities? Well, the definition of necessities I think you already know very well, that is the part of the goods that are subject to price control. ”

"No, I don't need that much, I'm a captain, and my income is pretty good." Captain Ventura replied truthfully.

"Thank you. The second question is, have you regularly consumed some meat in your diet over the past three months – whether it's fresh or cured? Do you think that the government's heavy investment in the market will lead to a decrease in the price of meat in the market? ”

"Yes, I eat beef a lot, and although it's not cheap, my kid Mario loves it. I have to complain here, the price of beef has more than doubled in this year, what is going on? Is it the people of La Plata who refuse to lower the price? Then we should press their heads and make them submit! As for putting a lot of whale meat, I think it's necessary! Although people do not have the habit of eating whale meat, well, we don't even know what it tastes like, but if it is sold at a low price, it will inevitably reduce the demand for beef in the market. As a result, the price of beef will inevitably go down, although I doubt that beef will ever return to the price it was a year ago! ”

Silvio looked at the gushing Captain Ventura in amazement, and wondered how the guy who was so restrained just now was so talkative all of a sudden, this guy is really a typical Italian guy!

"What do you think of the higher quality of life and the faster rate of wealth accumulation of ordinary food farmers compared to ordinary workers? Do you think they should be treated in a way that is not commensurate with their status? ”

"No, I don't think so, Silvio. In fact, I agree with Pravda's statement that the laborers are honorable and that they deserve the fruits of their labor. It is not the peasants who are getting unreasonably high incomes, but the wages of the industrial workers who are not high enough. Especially when they have created great wealth, they don't share in it all. The government exchanged their produce from the Ottoman Empire for a large number of female slaves, but these slaves were eventually distributed to the peasants in the countryside, which justified all their complaints. It is clear that they have been treated unfairly! ”

"You...... What a smart and special guy. Silvio finished recording, then sighed, looked at Captain Ventura with strange eyes, and said, "I think you should come to work in the Plum Agency, it's a shame that you should be the captain." ”

"It's not funny, Silvio." Ventura shrugged her shoulders and said.

"Well, the last question, do you think that workers with a monthly income of less than 4 yuan should be provided with a price subsidy for the necessities of life?"

"It's necessary, Silvio." Captain Ventura thought for a moment and then said, "In fact, I know that many of the workers in those small private factories and workshops do not work all the time. If he doesn't catch the good times, I mean the new settlements in the interior, he's often unemployed for some part of the month. It is important to know that their wages are paid daily, and many private owners even like to hire Guarani and Italians with temporary identification because of their low wages. As a result, their wages remain low for a long time, and they are often unemployed. For these people, I think the government should introduce some laws to protect them, and the current laws are so imperfect that the bosses can fire them at any time without any responsibility, which makes their lives very insecure. (To be continued......)