What's worse is that it's not just farmers. Even the craftsmen and hired workers who are directly involved in the production also do not meet the requirements.

The artisans of Seris had the same habits as the peasants. Compared to their counterparts in England, they behave in a very distinctive way.

For example, the act of collective work and business closure is referred to as "resting". In the Ming and Qing dynasties, this was actually a very common move. And, perhaps thanks to their characteristic tradition of high organization, they soon developed a well-established set of ways of acting.

Unlike the English workers who liked to smash machines and destroy factories, the city hires in Seris did not have much hatred for production equipment. They prefer to organize and smash merchants' houses and smash the bosses themselves.

Moreover, unlike the traditional way in Europe, the government has always held an ambiguous attitude towards this kind of behavior. Even the Qing Dynasty, which was recognized as brutal, could ignore this, preferring to pretend not to see it.

In the thirty-ninth year of Kangxi (1700), there was a "rest" in Suzhou that affected the whole city. Craftsmen engaged in cloth dyeing, not satisfied with the low remuneration, announced the suspension of work. I don't know if this kind of behavior is a simple "strike", because hundreds of craftsmen quickly gathered and took the initiative to attack the owners of the dyeing houses and the contractors. A number of businessmen were brutally beaten, the entire industry came to a complete standstill, and no one dared to start work at all.

It stands to reason that Suzhou is one of the central cities of the textile industry in the south of the Yangtze River, and it was a city with great influence in the whole world at that time. This kind of behavior will undoubtedly hinder production and affect the entire industrial chain. However, the government has always remained silent about this, and no matter how the merchants requested, they were not willing to make a move.

As a result, this plagiarism incident lasted for a whole year. When everyone had enough, the government was late and said that it would come forward to mediate.

The government's attitude towards similar incidents is also quite unified. The officials were not happy to deal with the craftsmen who called them to beat people severely, as the merchants expected, but always characterized it as a "merchant-craftsman dispute", and the final verdict was often 50 boards each.

The number of such rulings is numerous and leaves a very rich record. The end result is often that the government comes forward and asks the merchants to increase the income of the craftsmen, and at the same time requires the craftsmen to stop making trouble.

For example, in the 21st year of Qianlong (1756), when there was a conflict between a craftsman and an employer in the paper industry, the government ruled that the workshop owner must give the craftsman a higher salary and distribute it truthfully, otherwise he would be punished with 80 rods. Craftsmen are also not allowed to cooperate to ask for a price increase, otherwise according to the law of controlling the market, they will also be eighty rods. In this way, the warning of "each playing dozens of boards" in the literal sense of the word was realized.

After mediation, the government did not know why, but also liked to engrave a tablet record, called "wage monument". The result of the mediation will be inscribed on it, and it will be announced that all parties have agreed to abide by it and will never change it.

The reality, of course, is that these kinds of results often don't last long. The two sides will soon become dissatisfied with each other and fight again, and the government will mediate again and repeat the above steps. Due to the repetition of this kind of thing too many times, a large number of "never change" tablets were left in the Jiangnan area, which provided a very rich material for later researchers.

In England at the same time, smashing machines would be severely punished. Parliament even set a law specifically allowing the death penalty for those who destroy machines. However, in the Jiangnan region at the same time, the government was not enthusiastic about this.

Even in this kind of large-scale beating of the workshop owner, the government insisted on characterizing it as a very small number of "outlaws" who were making a bad deal in it, and specifically "picking on the east and the west, and taking advantage of the scenery to make trouble", which caused contradictions. The vast majority of participants will not be punished, and even the "outlaws" of the leaders are generally repatriated to their places of origin, or flailed to the public.

At the end of the day, the government has little interest in protecting the interests of the workshop owners, and is more concerned with maintaining the stability of society as a whole – even if only superficially.

As long as the rebellion is not raised, the government is too lazy to take risks to suppress it. Once the actions of the craftsmen are loud, they will also take the initiative to sacrifice the interests of the merchants and force them to meet the conditions of the craftsmen, so as to prevent things from becoming more troublesome.

In Guo Kang's previous life, there was a popular saying that whoever wins the people supports whom. But judging from historical performance, the government is more like who wins and supports whom.

In fact, it is not difficult to understand which side is more capable of fighting, and after the contradictions are completely intensified, the greater the damage they may cause, and the higher the cost of repression. Therefore, as long as the bottom line is not touched, the government will subconsciously favor this side.

In the conflict between merchants and craftsmen in the Jiangnan region, the performance of merchants is very unbearable. The guild thugs and gangsters they nurture have little presence in front of the hordes of artisans. For hundreds of years, there has been no one that can work after the trouble...... Therefore, the attitude of the government is not difficult to understand.

This phenomenon is not limited even to the local government, nor is it only when dealing with private workshops.

During the Qianlong period, in the Jingshi area, the craftsmen of the Baoquan Bureau of the Ministry of Household Affairs had a break, which led to the Tong Guangrong case. These craftsmen were responsible for minting coins for the household and belonged to important government-run workshops. Due to the decrease in the wages issued by the imperial court, the craftsmen were dissatisfied and demanded that the wages be repaid and the previous arrears should be made up, otherwise they would not do it.

Ding Tingrang, the superintendent of the Baoquan Bureau, went to persuade and proposed to pay back wages, resume work first, and then slowly calculate the previous debts, but the craftsmen were not willing to accept it. The negotiations were fruitless, and Tobe Shiro Sanwa also tried to persuade him, but he still failed to succeed.

At this time, there was a conflict within the craftsmen. Zhang Wencang, a money grinder, wanted to collect money to work, and had a conflict with the leading Tong Guangrong and others. During the brawl between the two sides, Tong Guangrong stabbed Zhang Wencang by mistake, and finally died after ineffective treatment.

There was a murder in Jingshi, and the matter could no longer be covered up, and he was stabbed to Qianlong. Qianlong was very angry and ordered the infantry commander Yamen to send troops to suppress and deal with the case.

Shu Hede, the commander of the military department and the commander of the infantry, led the crowd to shoot into the sky, dispersed the craftsmen, and arrested Tong Guangrong. As for how to deal with it, Chen Dehua, the secretary of the household department, Sanhe, the waiter of the household department, Shu Hede, and others jointly signed a letter, saying that these craftsmen have been making trouble and beating people for wages since the Kangxi period, and they can't manage it at all, just send money to calm down the situation.

But not long after Shu Hede left, another craftsman, Liu San, led the crowd to make trouble again, and the Baoquan Bureau stopped work again. Sanhe could only go on another trip to persuade him, but the craftsman still threw bricks and bricks and drove Sanhe away. In the end, the matter actually went to the military aircraft, and the troops could only be sent again.

Qianlong was furious, rejected the twist, and accused Shu Hede of being too weak, and asked him to seriously suppress it, so he should shoot at Diao Min, and not let it go indiscriminately, otherwise these will be even more unscrupulous.

Others, however, are very negative about it. Qianlong's attitude has aroused more opposition from people. Prince Yunqi, Prince He Hongday, University scholar Ortai, Zhang Tingyu and others all came forward to write. Everyone believed that this was all caused by the corruption of the foreman, so it was enough to deal with the foreman who embezzled wages. Don't check the rest, hurry up and give money.

Although Qianlong was still stubborn, the household department had reached an agreement with the craftsmen, agreed to the requirements such as repaying the arrears, and deliberately used cash to distribute it directly. The matter has since been closed.

The two calls for a break incident alarmed the emperor himself, and led to the royal family, a large number of civil officials and the Beijing army, but the result ended in peace. The imperial court itself was weak in the face of craftsmen, and it was difficult to imagine how difficult it was for them to support the merchants strongly.

And the reason for this situation is actually not difficult to understand.

In the aforementioned Qingshui uprising, there was an "interesting" conflict. After the Qing army was dispatched to surround the rebels, it was hoped that through the decapitation operation, the problem would be solved at the lowest cost, so as not to cause greater losses in the melee.

For this reason, the Qing army proposed to negotiate with Wang Lun, the leader of the rebel army, and Wang Lun agreed. The two sides met in a courtyard, and the Qing army specially mobilized second-class guards Yin Jitu, Bang Altu and others to organize elite commandos. Wang Lun actually came forward alone, and the commando team immediately climbed over the wall and entered the hospital, trying to arrest him.

So far, it's like a traditional European story.

However, then, more than a dozen volunteers rushed out of the chamber and fought with the Ouchi guards. The guards were defeated, and hurriedly abandoned Wang Lun and fled. After the Qing army investigated, it was found that Yin Jitu and other eight people were injured, and several people were seriously injured, and they all relied on running fast to save their lives. Therefore, although he returned in vain, he was rewarded with a silver reward, and the head of the company, Yin Jitu, was also promoted to a first-class guard.

In this way, the Ouchi guards seem to be fish belly, and they can't even beat the armed peasants. But in reality, these people are not pampered waste. Most of them, all from the Jingshi Jianrui Battalion, were the elite of Qianlong's personal attention to training, and they performed prominently in the battles of pacifying Jinchuan and Daxiao Hezhuo.

And the one who commanded this failed battle was the soldier Squire Schuhed.

As a veteran of many battles, he clearly has a clear understanding of his army. A group of peasants made a fuss like this, and if the craftsmen of the Jingshi were forced to rebel, the devil knows how big a thing would happen. For the imperial court, it is obviously a matter that can be settled with a little money, can it be committed to taking such a big risk?

If you look at an example alone, you may not be able to get a clear picture of what was going on. But these examples can tell a lot about each other. As witnesses at the time, the officials clearly understood the stakes and the stakes were clear, so it was natural for them to make this choice.

Compared to England at the same time, the attitude of the Ceris government towards craftsmen can be called conniving. As a result, merchants and workshop owners will naturally not be able to reduce their costs, accumulate capital at a slower rate, and their profit margins will reasonably fall.

Later generations generally liked to condemn the Ming and Qing dynasties for not protecting merchants, which led to the inability of capitalism to develop. But there is no way to put anyone in charge of the government at that time, because the craftsmen are too capable of fighting. It's a no-brainer......

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(End of chapter)