Chapter 385 Productivity 2
“So, Lord Earl, how can we change this situation and make the distribution of food more balanced?”
Cecil raised this question quite appropriately.
Paul glanced at him with satisfaction, it was a suitable compliment, so he continued to talk: "To solve the contradictory situation of landlords starving to death and others starving to death, we must let others have something in their hands—— Valuable things that can exchange food from the landlords.”
“For example, porcelain, pottery, ironware, paper, clothing, machinery, alcohol, etc., and the industry that manufactures these things is. The so-called manufacturing industry, coupled with the mining of raw materials for the above-mentioned items, is industry. The more things the manufacturing industry produces, the more food can be exchanged, and the more it can change the problem of uneven food distribution. "< br>
Manager Ford shook his head: "I think it can only be regarded as relief. Those landowners who hoard food can't use too many manufactured goods. The food they are willing to exchange for is still limited."
Paul 1 Waved his hand: "So we are going to expand the sources of food. If our local landowners are not willing to exchange their surplus food, then we will exchange it with the landowners in other places in the Northwest Gulf, and with the landowners in other parts of the Aldo Kingdom." Exchange, even with foreign landowners."
Everyone understands what Earl Grayman means. In this way, as the urgency of demand decreases, the relative value of the food hoarded by the local landowners will decrease. In other words, it can be said to be depreciation, and thus they are forced to participate in exchange activities-if they do not want to see the wealth in their hands shrink further.
“This is the purpose of your proposal to establish a customs union?” Female consultant Ladi Setia suddenly thought of this.
Paul nodded, "Yes, this is one of the important reasons. Lowering tariffs will make it easier for our manufactured products to go out, and it will also make it easier for outside food to come in, thus promoting The exchange process just mentioned - I call it 'market economy'"
Market economy? Another new term coming out of the earl's mouth.
Guy Burns, the director of the Huxin Town Machinery Factory, sat in the corner thoughtfully. He usually only focused on technical issues and didn’t know much about other matters. Not long ago, the Earl suffered from the customs union. Seeing so many people's resistance, he was still wondering what made a group of people willing to offend the lord's authority. Now he understood that it was the landlords who had their cake and eat it. Once manufactured products and food circulated, they could no longer squeeze other people at will. These guys were really abominable.
Paul's next words further made him clear, "In the past human history, due to the underdevelopment of productivity, the food grown and the items manufactured that can be exchanged for food have always been limited, and food It is one of the most basic life needs of human beings. People do not need to drink, people do not need pottery, and people do not even need to wear clothes, but people absolutely cannot live without eating. All people who have food and means of production - such as land - always Occupy an advantage. If a place is relatively closed and has low productivity, then in the transaction process, life necessities such as food can easily form a seller's market - a market where the seller has an advantage. And if we improve manufacturing capabilities and open up domestic and foreign trade, It can change the seller's market in our place to a considerable extent. As for other places besides Alda, Bairding, and Emden, we can't control that much for the time being."
"But Lord Earl. ..." Paul's chief secretary Bernard thought a little longer: "Even if you can produce many valuable items after vigorously developing industry, the landowners are also willing to exchange. If the current overall food production is sufficient, it can fill the gap. Fill everyone's stomach. But if some people don't starve to death, the population will continue to grow, and there will still be so much food that the supply will eventually return to the situation, and people will still starve to death."
The Chief Secretary's statement is very close to the "Malthusian trap".
Paul explained: "As I just said, productivity also includes agricultural productivity. When our industry develops to a certain level, it can 'feed back' agriculture."
At this point, he glanced at Guy. Burns, "The harvesters, drills and other agricultural equipment manufactured by the Huxin Town Agricultural Machinery Factory are an example. With these agricultural equipment, more land can be reclaimed and more harvested while using the same amount of labor. We can even study planting technology to increase the yield per unit area to meet the growing needs of the population." Guy Burns proudly held up his chest. He has always believed that his work is great. Now the Earl finally explained its meaning in front of everyone.
“Agricultural equipment such as harvesters and seed drills were invented and mass-produced only with the development of the manufacturing industry. As long as the technology can keep up, we can Alleviating or even solving the problems mentioned by Bernard. As for what will happen when the technology reaches its end, I dare to say that none of you can foresee it, haha.”
With Paul’s efforts in the past two years, Alda has achieved great success. The mining industry, iron smelting industry, food processing industry, cotton textile industry, salt making industry, ceramic production industry, paper making industry, machinery manufacturing industry, and cold weapon manufacturing industry in both places have improved.
Due to technical confidentiality, the production of porcelain, cans, and paper is unique in the world. The production of other industries is also due to innovations in related technologies - such as small blast furnaces, flying shuttle looms, spinning Jenny, and the sun-salt method. Application - in a very advantageous position.
The start of manufacturing has given birth to a large number of people who make a living in this way. Although the proportion of the total population is still small, it has formed a certain scale in terms of quantity.
The production model of the original manufacturing industry in the Northwest Gulf is mainly based on single-family workshops. In the past two years, under Paul’s deliberate guidance and leadership, organized and large-scale workshops have begun to spring up like mushrooms after a rain. .
Under the repeated orders of the Earl, the Government Council strictly prohibited factory owners from purchasing slaves, so these factories mainly obtained labor force by hiring workers.
Not only can you maintain a certain degree of personal freedom, but you can also get remuneration to support your family. Working in factories has become a new trend in the three territories under the administration of the Government Affairs Council, especially for the vast rural population, where some harvests are not good or the harvest is poor. The peasants who struggled to survive under the oppression of big landowners sold their land and rushed to towns to make a living. This in turn promoted the concentration of cultivated land and the growth of the urban population - which was beneficial to both agricultural and industrial development.
Paul received sporadic reports, and some serfs even risked their lives to escape to the towns to change their fate.
“So everyone, under the current circumstances, where can we make breakthroughs in productivity? Does anyone have a good idea?”
Faced with setbacks, Paul thought it would be better to brainstorm ideas. Well, listen more to the opinions of the indigenous people of this world.
The author’s understanding of productivity and economic activities is relatively shallow. If there are any fallacies in this chapter, please don’t laugh.
(End of this chapter)