1928: The rise of giant merchants

A symposium almost filled the hatred level of Ye Textile.

Most of the old-school bosses walked away as if they were fighting Ye's Textile to the end, especially the three big ones, Qiaojiao Sassoon, Rong's, and Sheng's, who left the table after Ye Luo handed out the contract and did not sign the contract at all. intention.

There were also a small number of old-school bosses who chose to stay, but after hearing the contents of Ye Luo's reforms, seven or eight of the few dozen people who remained left. In the end, only three were willing to sell the company.

Facing the messy venue, Sheng Aiyi was a little uneasy, feeling that the second young master might have pushed too hard and gone too far. But at this point, she had already boarded Ye Luo's boat and had no choice but to follow him to the end.

On the other hand, Mu Ouchu followed Ye Luo unswervingly and agreed with his reform direction.

"Improving quality and quantity is a problem we must face, and tariff independence will be completely implemented at the beginning of 1931. At that time, a large number of foreign companies will withdraw from the domestic market, but by then doing business will already be a step too slow. So. We must complete all reforms in these last two months."

Ye Luo noticed her anxiety, sat down with a smile and explained, it was also a shot in the arm for the three new companions.

"If you want to improve the quality and quantity of textiles, you have to introduce overseas imported technology and equipment, build more textile factories, and train more workers. Why can't you do it now? Why can't you compete with the textiles of Japan and other major powers? First, the technical equipment is not up to standard, and the bosses are reluctant to spend a lot of money to increase the cost of technology. Second, domestic textile factories are colluding and exploiting workers to the extreme. To put it bluntly, if there is no money, who would want to work in a textile factory. "

This is an indisputable fact that no one can refute.

But it is impossible for them to give up exploiting workers. This is a paradox. No one can guarantee that if workers are treated well, they will work more and produce more.

The thinking of entrepreneurs in the Republic of China was still in the pre-Qing Dynasty. Not to mention Ye Luo's ideas of later generations, they could not even accept advanced ideas from abroad. They still had the proper ideas of slave owners and big landowners.

This is increasingly unfeasible in today’s business world.

"Our employment system is divided into three categories. Among them, the labor contract system is an employment system commonly used by Japanese cotton mills such as Dakang Cotton Mill, Fuji Cotton Mill, Bora Cotton Mill and Longxing Cotton Mill to recruit workers and manage workers. Because Japan The people didn’t understand the language and didn’t understand the local customs, so they couldn’t directly manage the workers effectively, so they hired some pro-Japanese Chinese as foremen to recruit and manage the workers on behalf of the Japanese.”

“Some Japanese-style cotton mills are also divided into first-class, second-class and third-class foremans. They use gangs and fellow villagers to recruit unskilled workers and provide them with short-term training. The workers’ production process is also supervised by the foremans, who pay the workers’ wages. After deducting 50%, the remainder is distributed to the workers. This type of system is also adopted by the Rong family and the Sheng family.”

Ye Luo glanced at Sheng Aiyi, and she nodded slightly in agreement.

Contractors are like adding another layer of exploitative relationship, and they are greedy and like to kill people. The initial 50% commission means that workers can’t get much money at all. Under this model, workers can only be successful if they work hard.

"The bonded labor system is a special form of the labor contract system. The labor contractor goes to the homes of poor farmers in rural areas to recruit girls aged 12 to 15. These girls are sent to the factory by the labor contractor. They have a contract period with the labor contractor, which is usually three years. years, and some extend it until the female worker gets married.”

"After the bonded workers enter the factory, they first study for three months and then are assigned to different types of work. During the contract period, the foreman pays the female worker's family 30 to 40 yuan in installments. The bonded worker's clothing, food, and housing are all provided by the contractor. The factory provides the bonded worker with All wages and allowances are received by the contractor, and the contract workers only receive a few cents of pocket money every month. In addition, they work more than 12 hours a day and often go to the contractor’s house to help.”

"They wear 'live uniforms' (marked clothes), and more than a dozen of them live in a dormitory. They are not allowed to go out at ordinary times. If they go out for important reasons, they have to ask for leave, and they move under the supervision of the contractor. In general, contract workers lack personal freedom. When the contract period expires, the contractor often uses the excuse that there are not enough working hours and needs to supplement and help the factory with voluntary production. "

To put it bluntly, this is no different from the maids who sold their bodies in ancient times, and because most of the workers are female, the contractors often use them as tools for sexual pleasure. There are often rumors of female contractors being made pregnant by the contractors and being abandoned in the end. Rumors circulate in textile factories .

"The grooming system is most popular in cotton yarn mills of foreign companies. They entrust foremans to go to inland rural areas to recruit and recruit male and female child workers, aged between eighty-nine and fifteen or sixteen years old. These child workers are groomed workers. Bankruptcy In order to make a living, farmers have no choice but to hand over their children (mostly girls) to job recruiters to work in coastal cotton mills.”

"After arriving at the factory, the trainees are trained for 3 to 6 months. During this period, in addition to working under the supervision of the foreman, they also receive certain education and training. During the trainee period, the factory provides food and accommodation without wages. Only a small stipend is paid.

After the training period is over, you still need to work in the factory for one year before you can become a regular worker. Some workers may even take three years to become a regular worker. During the regularization period, workers' wages were very low, only half that of ordinary workers.

It is worth noting that during the training period, the factory sends dedicated personnel to centrally manage and supervise the training. After work, the trainees return to their designated residences and are guarded by guards. They have no freedom of entry and exit, and outsiders are not allowed to enter.

The foster-work system makes full use of the weaknesses of child workers such as their youth, ignorance, distance from their parents, and geographical distance, and can better control workers. "

Ye Luo's rhetoric was naked and mercilessly exposed the inhumane behavior of domestic textile factories, or most factories.

In fact, these three labor systems are slave owners and slaves in disguise.

And it has been used by later generations.

The contract work system is often used in Fengyue factories. Isn’t the contract work system the later apprenticeship system and the recruitment system of many factories? It's just not as twisted and harsh as it was during the Republic of China.

As for the training system, aren't the so-called concepts of "managing students" and "regularization" in later generations just to make it a little more noble and humane?

"Our biggest competitors, the Rong family and the Sheng family, like to use the contract work system and the body work system, and there have been many accidents. I believe the workers below have already complained." Ye Luo glanced at Sheng Aiyi and found that she did not dare to look up at him. Then he smiled.

Sheng Aiyi probably felt that this was how she had lived a life of fine clothing and fine food since she was a child, and she felt a little unbearable and guilty.

"In response to them, Miss Seven will list their charges, and then keep going to the Concession Court, the Police Department, the Patrol Room and other places to file complaints. She does not expect to be able to sue them, as long as the matter becomes big and makes a noise. Then I will arrange for someone to do so. Make a big splash among the workers and ask them to leave the Rong family and the Sheng family. Without the workers, what will they have to compete with?"

These are the competitive skills commonly used by later generations. Ye Luo picked them up easily, but they still opened their eyes.

"The Sassoon Company likes to use the labor-training system. They think they are more humane, but in fact they are more vicious and vicious. The so-called recruitment notices are high-sounding, but in fact the treatment given to the workers does not meet the written standards at all, haha, All interpretations are in the hands of the merchants. Due to poor food and poor working conditions, many workers in the textile factories owned by Sassoon Company suffered from work-related injuries and death. "

Ye Luo has conducted in-depth investigations on them all. He said it simply, but in a few words, he didn't know how many dead people he had brought over.

"Our first reform is the employment system. Weekends, no more than 12 hours of working time a day, clear remuneration and benefits, basic living guarantees for workers, food and accommodation issues, etc. These are all written by their textile factories, that is If we can’t do it, we just have to do it, and that’s the first step.”

Ye Luo raised a finger,

"In the second step, I will send people overseas to purchase the most advanced textile equipment and completely eliminate those old equipment. This will also reduce the casualty rate of workers."

"The third step is to embed corporate culture into the hearts of workers. The factory is not only a place where they work, but also a place where they live and socialize." (End of Chapter)