Old-time musicians

This Llangevni workhouse has a large area and buildings with different functions. The greening is well done. The central main area is a rectangular square. Four four-story brown-grey buildings stand intersecting, dividing the large courtyard into several mutually isolated areas.

"Mr. Fanning, are you driving the car yourself?"

After the car stopped, factory owner Stanley stretched out his white-gloved right hand and held the half-open main driver's door with impeccable etiquette.

"Yes, I even eat in person."

After jumping out of the car, Fan Ning glanced at him expressionlessly, then walked to the back to pick up the two little girls.

Stanley's intuition told him that the first two sentences of the conversation were not pleasant, but he didn't understand what the problem was, so he could only smile.

Several people were walking slowly in the courtyard. During this period, several men wearing short cropped jackets dragged a transport truck loaded with vegetables past the four people. On the other side, Fan Ning saw a group of young women wearing gray rough canvas clothes. Clothes and sheets were dried in front of the low, wide red brick house, and there were skipping ropes and hoops for play in the open space in the distance.

Stanley continued: "I heard from my daughter that you have become the permanent conductor of the St. Lenia Symphony Orchestra. Are you satisfied with her recent performance?"

Fan Ning once again remembered that when he was conducting the orchestra, he sensed that the intensity of Julius' inspiration had reached the level of a knowledgeable person.

He didn't believe that this family had no connection with the secret organization. Even if there was no connection in this place, there was a connection in other places.

He had already seen many problems and activities after the battle at the watch factory. The reason why he did not choose to report the "violators" information to the Special Inspection Office now was that he had long discovered that this group of people appeared to be harsh to the outside world and to themselves. However, the interest group gave the green light, guiding the school to fail to win a big factory without substantial mysterious evidence. Secondly, he was wary of suspicion with them, and thirdly, he wanted to continue through Julius. Track down "Experience Officer" Erof or more members of the covert organization.

Besides, I was already wary of suspicion with the Special Patrol Office.

"She has made rapid progress recently, very quickly." Fan Ning turned her head to look at him with a half-smile.

"Please worry about her more." Stanley quickly expressed his thanks and kept talking:

"Mr. Fan Ning, you came all the way here and didn't call here to say hello in advance. Otherwise, I would have sent a car to pick you up. The reception was not good last time. I will arrange some food for you in a nearby town tonight." Authentic meal”

"Ms. Sheeran, we meet again. Is this the same beautiful lady who I need you to continue to guide the labor rights mediation work?"

The two girls responded softly and chatted. While Fan Ning silently looked at the surrounding environment, he was thinking about why he saw Stanley here.

This was both logical and unusual.

When appointing managers of urban poverty relief committees, the authorities would give priority to large business owners and large factory owners. Moreover, the newly introduced Urban Poverty Law encourages social forces to intervene in the relief system to fill the funding gap of the poor tax... Factory owners are often keen to improve their moral standards and political status through this approach.

In other words, factory owner Stanley is also a "philanthropist" or "social activist."

This is very logical, but not very common sense is that he, a man whose family business has spread all over the world, is here today.

"It seems that you haven't been busy with business recently? Did you come to the small town workhouse to inspect the workhouse over the weekend?" Fan Ning looked at the road ahead and said casually.

Stanley's tone was sincere and candid: "Although I am the main person in charge and the main investor here, I rarely come here in person on weekdays because it is not a non-profit industry, it is just a charity charity established by us out of social responsibility... By the way, The 834 version of the Poor Law Amendment Act has been repealed, and there is no longer a 'workhouse'. We now call this type of unit a 'poor relief institution'..."

"So, today was a spur of the moment?" Fan Ning asked.

"To be honest, Mr. Fanning..." Stanley shook his head, "The reason why I came here to spend the weekend is because the Special Patrol Office came over yesterday and they kept checking until late at night..."

"Oh?" Fan Ning raised his eyebrows, "Who led the team?"

"Mr. Joe Wasius."

This thing is a bit strange and contradictory.

Investigators from the Special Inspection Bureau came all the way to explain what they thought was there. Today, the workhouse was peaceful, and Stanley was standing beside him, explaining that they didn't find anything here...

The vision of my three-person team may not be as good as that of the Special Patrol Office.

"Where did they check?"

"It's mainly our paint production line. Mr. Fan Ning, are you also interested in this place? Now even I am really curious... Do you want me to take you to visit now?"

"I'll go around by myself first."

Fan Ning walked into a building on the central square. There was bright light inside under the summer sunshine. There was a smell of washing water and vegetable leaves in the air. The walls were a little old and peeling, but overall it was pretty good. Neat and clean.

He saw the food room sign on the door. The temperature inside was a bit high and the boiler was already running. Several rows of wooden tables more than ten meters long were lined up in parallel. There were women in white coarse cloth and a few men who looked like chefs. Interspersed with busyness.

The black bread was lined up, cut into fixed shapes by the women, and packed into iron basins; a chef was stirring and stewing potatoes in a big pot, pouring salt into it as if it was free; another chef was chopping vegetable leaves and carrots on a big chopping board, picking up handfuls and throwing them into a big pot of boiling water, wrapping a wooden pestle in a white layer of lard barrel and then immersing it, and finally opening a bag of yellowish sugar and pouring it in.

"The Poor Relief Committee has formulated a total of six reference recipes, and we are completely following the highest standards here." Stanley said, "The staple food for breakfast is porridge, and the rest is bread, mainly black bread, and occasionally white bread. Vegetable soup with lard and sugar is basically available every day, and potatoes or broth are provided twice a week. The elderly can get extra butter, tea or sugar. On some major festivals, we will provide a small amount of bacon cakes, small cakes, hard-boiled eggs, candy and other snacks, and allow them to drink a small glass of beer or smoke one or two cigarettes..."

Joan looked at these foods, with a gleam in her eyes, as if thinking about something. Xilan tried to reach out and press the black bread on the table. It was cold, but still soft.

Using his spiritual sense to carefully scan everywhere, Fanning turned around and left after finding nothing unusual. Stanley and several managers hurried to follow the three.

Then Fanning went to another building where adult men lived. There were 16 beds in each room, the floor was clean, and cleaning tools were placed next to them.

The management system was printed and posted in prominent locations everywhere. At this time, a leader in coarse linen clothes led everyone to read it out loud, including regulations such as observing work and rest time, prohibiting the hiding of food, prohibiting random walking, prohibiting leaving without permission, prohibiting unnecessary conversation, and prohibiting feigning illness to avoid labor.

They were mainly elderly, disabled, or people with serious illnesses. Everyone glanced at Fanning secretly, then looked directly at the rules and regulations again, and read them out loudly. Even a few men who were obviously mentally ill, with crooked eyes and drooling mouths, imitated the posture.

"Many of the rooms you see are currently vacant, because most of the people who are physically able to work are working in the paint factory at this time. You will see them when you go there later." Stanley explained.

"How did these people get in?" Fanning asked.

"Explain it to Mr. Fanning." Stanley pointed to a manager next to him.

The gentleman who was pointed out stepped forward: "They applied, they applied. We have a special poor officer who is responsible for reviewing their degree of distress, physical condition, labor ability, whether they have bad habits, etc. Before entering the main building, those who meet the conditions will be searched and confiscated by the concierge. Their personal belongings and clothes will be bathed in a large barrel, shaved, and put on uniform clothes. At the same time, health officials will check their infectious diseases. We have done these procedures very standardized. Then they will be assigned to different areas to start living and working... Of course, if the applicant has his own family, the whole family must enter together and be managed separately."

"There is a big difference. They are free." Stanley corrected seriously, "The feudal era has long ended. The empire advocates the spirit of freedom everywhere. Every law-abiding citizen has the right to happiness and freedom... They voluntarily apply to stay and voluntarily abide by the management regulations. They can also apply for withdrawal at any time and take their family and personal belongings away from here."

Fanning went to the second floor of another house again and came to a large room that served as a children's classroom.

Different diagrams were drawn on the light-colored floor and doorposts, and the walls were decorated with colorful children's paintings. The middle-aged female teacher was trying to explain the characteristics of the compass. When she saw a few people coming, she stopped teaching, but the children were as quiet as ever.

The girls' hair was cut very short, and the boys were almost shaved. They all wore blue wool serge with a harder texture, which could be said to be old and ugly.

The children looked very hygienic. Although they were thin overall, their faces were not as malnourished as Fanning had expected. The only problem might be in their spirit and behavior... They seemed particularly inactive, and there was not much agility in their eyes that belonged to this age.

Several people squatted down and chatted with some older children for a while. They did not have a strong desire to communicate with Fanning, but the conversation between the two girls and them had some effect, and there was no obstacle to obtaining basic information. Some of them were illegitimate children whose parents were missing, and some of their parents were once craftsmen, including carpenters, tailors, blacksmiths, miners and shipbuilders, and even two of them were clerks and land managers.

However, these parents either died in an accident, or lost their ability to work in the previous bad working environment, or were lazy, wasteful, or addicted to gambling and alcohol. Even if their parents were alive, the whole family had to be managed separately in the workhouse, and they could only meet a few times.

In order to eliminate the possibility of hidden knowledge pollution, Fanning specifically asked about the study arrangements and checked the content of the textbooks. They had 4 hours of study time every day, mainly learning reading and spelling as well as common sense. The rest of the time was spent on labor, eating, and sleeping. They had a holiday every Wednesday afternoon. If the weather was fine, they would go to the square to play under the guidance of the teacher.

"The children here are aged 2-7, and there are children aged 8-14 in another building." Stanley explained, "We will let the older boys read some historical materials and learn arithmetic and grammar. , forms and use copybooks to practice calligraphy; girls learn sewing, knitting, telling time and domestic work... Of course, the institution provides them with food and shelter. As compensation, the rest of their time should be spent on my factory labor or institutional life affairs..."

Looking at Fan Ning's thoughtful look, factory owner Stanley asked: "Mr. Fan Ning, overall, is this very different from the workhouse you imagined?"

"Oh? What do you say?" Fan Ning asked him.

"Three meals of porridge are given out every day, an onion is given out twice a week, and half a bread roll is given out on Sunday... The brick-paved ground is full of poor women and children crawling around with dirty faces... Old women were lying on the bed panting, unable to move, or sitting around the stove coughing loudly, while old men were hunched over and busy at work, lingering for breath... Children who did not have enough to eat were beaten to death for asking for more food..."

Stanley described a bunch of scenes as if they were familiar, and then said, "These stereotypes used to exist, but they don't exist now... Maybe there are exceptions in dark corners, but that is definitely an accident... In short, there are bad people among business owners. , I hate those managers who are rude or do not follow the rules most in my life. They lower the overall impression score of the people."

"Fortunately, the era when the poverty relief system was criticized as the 'poor-class bus' is a thing of the past." Stanley seemed to recall, but also seemed to sigh, "It is now the year 913 of the New Calendar, and they can have enough to eat and live in relative comfort." A clean environment. When they are threatened by serious diseases, there is a brand-new institution 'City Mental Illness Committee Hospital' to treat them... They will no longer be ordered to engage in meaningless deterrence such as smashing rocks, breaking bones, grinding corn, and pulling flax. Sexual labor, but engaging in real productive labor and receiving on-the-ground education of 'striving to become an industrial laborer'..."

Speaking of this, Stanley looked a little proud: "From meals to life to education, you have also seen... The management and conditions of our Llangevni poor relief institution have been highly praised by the national committee. This is something to be proud of... Our efforts in the field of charity can withstand the scrutiny of every citizen of the Empire.”

Fan Ning couldn't help but retorted: "If you don't flatter me like this, I think this state is higher than expected, but since you even use the words pride...you don't think this is far from the normal life that people say ”

"The inmates deserve to be treated worse than the poorest independent laborers." Stanley said sternly: "Someone who has bad habits, is short-sighted, is dissolute by nature, or is lazy and stupid... No matter what the reason, people who do not create wealth It is shameful. The poor are responsible for their own poverty, and our responsibility is to help them realize their responsibility..."

"But children don't have this kind of responsibility." Sheeran frowned and said, "I just learned that some of the parents of these children do have bad habits, and many of them are even illegitimate children whose parents have disappeared... But in the end, the children entered the workhouse, not Because they are lazy, wasteful, uneducated or short-sighted… they are not responsible for their poverty.”

"Miss Sheeran, you are absolutely right!" Stanley agreed with deep understanding. "This is exactly how the empire practices it. If the officers carefully compare the food, health, education and other conditions, we will find that we The protection standards for children are higher than those for adults, and they are required to strictly abide by the principle of separation, live, eat and sleep completely separately, and minimize contact with their parents to avoid getting into bad habits that lead to poverty... In the final analysis, times have changed. We advocate gentle education for the poor rather than barbaric survival of the fittest, emphasizing spiritual rather than material 'inferior treatment', so that they can spontaneously regard entering poor institutions as a turning point in life and reputation... The empire encourages these hopeful descendants A generation of children should get rid of the influence of their inferior families as soon as possible and become self-reliant and independent workers with dignity..."

"You call the workers at Jinlangnia Watch Factory dignified?" Fan Ning stared at Stanley and sneered.

"Every day, some people enter the workhouse because they cannot support their whole family, and at the same time, some people choose to accept factories with worse conditions and lower treatment because they cannot tolerate the workhouse. Is this your pride? Your pride is to keep the two sides competing. Shit, complete your inner circle? ...Sir, if you have business in your heart, it’s better not to talk too much about it.”

Stanley was stunned: "...But you have to know that whether it is this gate or the factory gate, more families or individuals who want to enter are still unable to get in line... My biggest headache every day is to manage the poor officials or personnel staff. Bribery issues related to review of admission qualifications..."

His voice became smaller and smaller as he spoke.

Because he read from Fan Ning's expression that the officer was considering whether to take out a pistol and put it to his head, so that he could handle certain things according to his requirements.

His tone finally softened: "Sir, no matter how you look at it, it would actually be a good thing if there were more people like me in the empire... It would not only increase the average income of workers, but also lead to unemployment at the age of 35. The rate and salary reduction will be reduced, and the 3-day maternity leave benefit system for women will be better popularized... More intuitively and realistically, even the protection level of the Imperial Poverty Relief Agency will be significantly increased, and everyone will have more choices, so there is no need to squeeze them all. Come to me and apply..."

Fanning did have this idea, but he suddenly realized the next moment that the factory owner's tone softened not because he thought he was wrong, but purely because of the force... On the contrary, he was still confused about why he reacted to his ideas in this way. And apart from resorting to violence, he seemed to have no idea where to start refutation.

Stanley sighed again: "If even people like me become unpopular and become less and less for subjective and objective reasons, it means that this hopeful and prosperous Theolian Empire is about to start to decline..."

"Lead the way to the paint factory." After a short silence, Fanning spoke calmly.

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Thanks to Senzz, book friend number 4553, Ercang, Xingyue Qingfeng, How can a pigeon coo at you, Sister-control gentleman, Bersbudo, Not forgotten after separation, book friend number 0869, The cold is hard to calm down, Wang Situ Bentu, Mouse Commander-in-Chief, Cat in the bowl, Piaomiao Apprentice 1, Wushang Yumo, book friend number 7154, Youth is not photogenic, book friend number 4943 for their monthly tickets~Thanks to Kuxing Painter for the reward~