"You give North Koreans four taels of grain a day, isn't it too much?" In the Korean Governor's Palace, the new commander-in-chief of the Korean Army, Yoshiichi Tanaka, said to the industrial and commercial representatives who were developing Korea with Japan.

Relying on the support of the army, the industrial and commercial representatives spoke very cautiously, "These North Koreans are very cunning and always try to escape. If too many troops are put in to guard it, the cost of the military is too high. But if they eat too little, they won't be able to work. ”

Tanaka Yoshiichi smiled and said: "The key is how many North Koreans want to work, how to make them work more." In terms of the use of Koreans, please recognize one thing. The Koreans who are sent to you are either criminals or political prisoners who oppose the Great Japanese Empire. At the end of the day, they are all people who don't have to survive. Make sure they do the most work in the shortest amount of time, this is the best way to atone for their sins. ”

Although the industrial and commercial representatives looked respectful, they were also a little apprehensive after listening to Tanaka Yoshiichi's words. These people came to North Korea to make money, not to slaughter North Koreans. It's one thing for people to die of exhaustion at work, but from the beginning of the fight, they used North Korean laborers with the idea of dying through labor, and these people have not been able to adjust to this mentality for a while.

Tanaka Yoshiichi saw that the industrial and commercial representatives had doubts in their hearts, so he put away his smile and said: "Gentlemen, if the railway is opened one day late, and the mine starts one day later, how many losses will you suffer. Everyone should imagine for themselves, and also think about the work of the Great Japanese Empire. ”

"But ......, the railways and mines need skilled workers, and these North Koreans are not skilled workers," the industrial and commercial representative said tentatively. If we want to improve labor efficiency, we have to recruit more workers from the country to North Korea. ”

Tanaka nodded slightly, "The War Department can help you in this matter, as long as we can complete the work faster, we will definitely do our best to support you." As for the matter of the Korean laborers mentioned by the gentlemen, everyone should not have any worries and use it boldly. ”

After seeing off the industrial and commercial representatives, Tanaka Yoshiichi breathed a sigh of relief, as he had heard that the People's Party's troops were not only fighting wars, but were also responsible for much of China's domestic infrastructure. In this matter, Tanaka Yoshiichi is still quite envious, and at the same time extremely despised. If the army can run the enterprise, it will be more effective to use it by more Koreans. The War Office now has control over Korea, and before the defeat in Manchuria, the War Office still hopes to digest Korea and make Korea part of Japan. The defeat in Manchuria made the War Department change its mind, and the Manchurian Railway had been operating in Manchuria for so long, and it was not still killed cleanly in the local area. The Japanese are the Japanese, the Koreans are the Koreans, and the Chinese are the Chinese. This is a fact that cannot be changed.

Thinking of this, Tanaka Yoshiichi turned his head and said to the current governor of North Korea, Hasegawa Yoshido: "Hasegawa-kun, I don't know how you arranged the matter of forming the Korean Pioneer Group mentioned last time. ”

Hasegawa Yoshimichi is an army general, and his position is naturally completely consistent with that of the War Department. Even so, after listening to Tanaka Yoshiichi's words, his brows couldn't help but wrinkle. After the War Department obtained the right to develop Korea, it discussed the proposal of a Japanese pioneer group. In general, by plundering the land in southern Korea, part of the land was given to local Korean landlords who had defected to Japan, and the other part was given to poor and landless Japanese peasants who had been recruited to cultivate.

Theoretically, this method can solve the problem once and for all, and it will be possible to wipe out all the Koreans who do not defect to Japan, and the land will be cultivated by the Japanese on a large scale, or it will not be long before Korea will completely belong to Japan. But the practical effect is obvious, because of the Manchurian War, Japan increased its plundering of grain in Korea, and now it has encountered many small-scale resistance. If the plan of the Japanese War Department is continued, it is entirely conceivable how large-scale resistance from the Koreans will be encountered in the future.

Seeing that Governor Hasegawa Yoshido was also so virtuous, Tanaka Yoshiichi sneered, "Hasegawa-kun, just send those rebellious Koreans to the mines, no matter how you look at it, the mines need people to work." Not only mines, but too many places have to be worked by North Koreans. ”

"But that wasn't the case in the original plan...... Hasegawa Yoshimichi still hesitated. After Japan's initial conquest of Korea, the plan was to try to recruit local Koreans to serve Japan, and to spend decades thoroughly digesting Korea. Such a sudden change was a complete change in Japan's original policy. It's not that Hasegawa has any protective intentions for the North Koreans, and sending troops to suppress it is also a very expensive thing. Resulting casualties incur additional costs. From an economic point of view, such a hard-line approach is not cost-effective.

Even if he was entrusted with an important task, representing the attitude of the War Department, Tanaka Yoshiichi could not confront Hasegawa Yoshimichi in his position, and he tried his best to persuade him: "In the short term, we must gather the food of the five divisions of the Korean Army, and there must be enough minerals to transport back to China." Is there a better way for Hasegawa-kun? Just let these North Koreans eat idle food? ”

"The military crackdown also requires the support of the local people in North Korea." North Korea's Governor-General Hasegawa replied, "Now that the War Department has issued military tickets in North Korea, there are many complaints, and if the high-pressure measures continue to be adopted and cause unrest throughout Korea, what will China do?" ”

Tanaka replied: "The Empire of Japan endured great humiliation and made an agreement with China to deny China the opportunity to intervene in Korean affairs. It is not a bad thing for the Koreans to rise up and rebel, and after they are eliminated, the remaining Koreans will naturally submit to the Japanese Empire, which is also a good way to find the enemy. ”

After saying this, Tanaka Yoshiichi lowered his voice a little, "Hasegawa-kun, the War Department has more plans this time. Now that those who claim parliamentary politics have the upper hand at home, we at the War Department must prove in Korea that our methods can create a royal paradise for the Japanese Empire. Only in this way will we be able to gain new opportunities in the future. At this time, our army should not unite and complete our mission without fear of hard work and fatigue. ”

Hearing Tanaka Yoshiichi say such a solemn "royal paradise", Hasegawa Yoshimichi couldn't help but smile bitterly, it is still unknown whether the War Department's plan can build a royal paradise of the Great Japanese Empire, but it is completely conceivable to create an eighteen-layer hell for Koreans.

Seeing Hasegawa's hesitant appearance, Tanaka Yoshiichi simply told the truth, "What we want those industrial and commercial representatives to do this time is to find a way to effectively consume the Koreans, so that they can do their best for the Japanese Empire in the mines." As long as we can find this way, we will be able to help the Japanese Empire get out of the predicament as soon as possible. Not only did it reduce the consumption of the Great Japanese Empire, but it also provided more wealth to the Great Japanese Empire. Wasn't this the method used by Britain when it conquered the world? What else can you hesitate about? ”

As the governor of North Korea, Hasegawa naturally hopes that things will be as few as possible, and if there is a big thing that cannot be cleaned up, Hasegawa, the governor of North Korea, will eventually have to bear the responsibility. But the attitude of the War Department cannot be ignored either. In desperation, Hasegawa Yoshimichi first agreed to temporarily implement the War Department's approach at the mine. See how it works, and if it does, move on to other initiatives.

In June in North Korea, the weather is finally getting hot.

Japan has built some mines in North Korea so far, but due to Japan's technological level and Japan's desire for raw materials, mines do not use tunnels, and many of them are directly mined after open-pit blasting.

There are many such pits in northern North Korea, and Mr. Ri is one of the latest workers to arrive. He was arrested in Pyongyang on charges of "economic crimes". More specifically, he refused to sell his family's wooden wares to the Japanese. North Korea also has no habit of using banknotes, let alone the ridiculously low credibility of military tickets. So Li Yongchang resisted, then was arrested, and finally sent to the mine.

Here, he is no longer called Li Yongchang, but a 2018 laborer with shackles. The Japanese were responsible for mining with metal tools, and Li Yongchang was assigned a basket with a wooden frame, and his daily work was to transport ore from the bottom of the pit to the edge of the pit, and the amount of ore transported determined the amount of food that Li Yongchang could eat. Because a blasting had just been carried out, a lot of fine dust in the pit had not yet completely sunk, and Li Yongchang had already walked down the extremely solid road that had been trampled under the angry shouts of the overseers and the drive of the leather whip.

Many people are coughing, and Li Yongchang is also coughing. Some people cough because they choke on dust, while others cough because they are sick. Everyone's clothes are in tatters, and being cut by the sharp corners of the ore is certainly the reason, but tearing off the clothes to wrap the iron shackles around the feet and not letting the skin be worn too hard is the most important reason.

After more than a month of labor, Li Yongchang didn't even have the ability to think. Every day it's just two steamed buns and a little pickle. Hunger peeled Li Yongchang and didn't have the strength to think so much. All he could understand in his groggy mind was that he had to work every day, and if he couldn't finish it, he would starve. If you starve, you will get sick, and if you get sick or try to escape, you will disappear from the mine forever. In particular, those who fled were shot dead on the spot.

The number of personnel in this mining area is fixed, and each number is fixed. As North Koreans are killed every day for trying to escape, there are also sick North Koreans who are taken away because they cannot continue working. So every day new North Koreans are being sent.

The decision on whether or not to get sick was in the hands of the doctors in the Japanese mines, and all Koreans who pretended to be sick or were not seriously ill would be punished in public, or whipped or starved. And none of the seriously ill North Koreans who were taken away never returned. No one among the North Korean workers believed what the North Korean foremen said that they would actually be taken away for treatment when they became seriously ill. If the Japanese foreman was so cruel to Koreans who were not sick, what would be his attitude towards those seriously ill Korean laborers? People can't imagine it at all.

Almost subconsciously, I looked up at the sun, but saw that the sun had not yet turned west. Putting down the basket and letting the Japanese workers and the North Korean foreman load the ore inside, Li Yongchang just wanted to take a few more breaths. His body was numb, and the only thing he could feel was that his physical strength was not enough to carry the heavy ore.

"2018, hurry up!" The North Korean foreman brought a face towel to protect him from dust, so the shouting voice was quite dull. The baskets and wooden frames are numbered, and although the labor is changed quite frequently, it is not necessary for the foreman to know everyone. Abandoning the heavy basket, Li Yongchang dragged his shackles towards the road to climb out of the pit.

In the overseer's room set up near the mine, several Japanese were doing calculations.

"Barbed wire has to continue to buy ......"

"There are more damaged baskets and wooden frames......

"How did I hear recently that the price of the War Department selling mine slaves is going to rise......

"The cost of mining a new pit ......"

"The cost of explosives ......"

"The shackles are more worn......"

All kinds of cost calculations are the summary of experience over the past few days, and after a good call with the abacus crackling, the person in charge of the mine looked at the last amount and frowned deeply.

"Uncle, if we add the approval fee to the War Department, we can actually not make much money." The young man next to him couldn't help but say.

Of course, the Japanese, known as "Uncle," knew this, and his eyes wandered back and forth over a series of lists, trying to find a way to reduce costs. Every time he saw the wear and tear of the back basket and the wooden frame, his brow couldn't help but furrow deeper. But this is not a problem he can solve. Since slave labor was used, it was naturally impossible to expect these "mine slaves" to pay attention to the consumption of tools. It's really an unavoidable loss.

But at the moment, the miners really can't be given a chance to escape. These people are all criminals sent by the War Department, and the War Department wants to see people in life and corpses in death. In the previous paragraph, in order to improve efficiency, the miner was put in charge of mining stones, and there was a case where the miner tried to attack the guards with tools. In the communication between the mine owners, such matters were brought up many times. In the end, the result of the discussion was that only the miners should carry the ore.

In addition to this kind of thing, the pit owners also came to a consensus in the exchange of experiences that the food supply of the more honest miners must be increased. Some mines have resorted to extreme food supplies, only to change personnel too quickly. There was a collective attempt by the miners to escape. It took a large number of troops from the War Department to capture and kill all the miners. The mine owners who had the accident were fined a lot of money. If a group of honest miners can be maintained, it will be of great benefit to the effective operation of the mines. It costs money to buy mine slaves from the War Department.

Seeing that his uncle was so anxious, the young Japanese whispered: "Uncle, I heard that China's mining baskets use a very special kind of rattan, which is very strong and durable. The price is not high, and some mines have already bought it and used it. Not only the mine baskets, but also their barbed wire prices are ...... lower than those in China"

This is not a particularly secret news, Chinese goods, or People's Party goods, are selling quite well in Japan. For example, the price of a hot ball machine is at least 20% lower than in Japan. In addition, the People's Party provided a wealth of accessories, from generators that could be driven by hot ball machines, to gas generators that provided fuel, and the quality was much higher than that of shoddy Japanese products. The price is much lower. In this barren mountain, the maintenance of machinery is a big problem. In the event of a mechanical failure, a lot of work is often delayed. If you get two spare pieces of machinery, you can solve the problem, but this greatly increases the cost. It is extremely cost-effective in terms of cost accounting.

Therefore, the cheap and durable Chinese hot ball machine is a very must-have product.

The only difficulty is that these products can only be obtained by "very well-connected" Japanese businessmen, and the War Department is very strict about this.

"Let's try again to see if we can make the War Department loosen its mouth." The Japanese pit owner said with a sigh.