Chapter 88 Servant Market
According to Zhang Guang, there was definitely no way to go to the brothel, at least not under the guise of "business." This made He Xi very depressed for a few minutes. It was not that he wanted to go there to solve his physical problems, but he really wanted to see how different the Oriental nightclubs in the seventeenth century were from those four hundred years later. Even if he wants to go, He Xi can only wait until the salary system is determined in the future and pay for it himself. Otherwise, once the "public money for prostitution" thing is spread back to the base camp, it will be scolded by many depressed single men.
"Idle time is idle. Let's go to the talent market." After He Xi made the decision, he pulled Zhang Guang in reverse direction and headed towards the south gate.
Zhang Guangqi asked: "Is there a talent market in Yazhou?"
"Well... it should be said that the labor market is more accurate." He Xi immediately corrected his statement: "I heard the official mentioned that there is a place outside the south gate where unemployed people are waiting to be hired... …”
The term "unemployed idlers" may not be accurate. Every year, many prisoners are sent to Yazhou by prisoners, and these people often have families to take care of, so Yazhou has always maintained a considerable number of unemployed homeless people. If the whole family is sitting together, it will be easier to handle. They can just drag them all into the hard labor camp. However, those family members, subordinates, servants, etc. who are innocent but come to Yazhou will become a hidden danger to public security when their number increases. How to enable these unfamiliar outsiders to find a stable livelihood in Yazhou is also a headache for local officials.
In the end, in line with the principle of "treating headaches", Lord Zhizhou designated a piece of land outside the south gate for outsiders. One was to reduce the number of unemployed vagrants in the city as much as possible and use gentler methods to drive them out of the city. ; Secondly, it also gives these people the idea that at least there is a way to survive that they can try, so that they will not be forced by the pressure of survival to do some robbery. Over time, such a market for hiring labor has formed outside the south gate. Some local gentry businessmen who need to hire people will also come here to make selections.
The two of them walked out of the south gate and walked along the road for about half a mile before looking at the so-called "labor market". Of course, there are no seats for recruitment units here, and there are no government officials here to maintain order. I only saw about two to three hundred people sitting in groups on the roadside in the open space. These people are men, women and children. Most of them have numb faces and dull eyes. When someone approaches, they will stand up and bow their heads, hoping to win the favor of customers.
"When I first came to work in the city, I went to some labor markets, and they were almost the same." Zhang Guang said with emotion when he saw the situation in front of him.
"That's still different." He Xi shook his head and said: "In the labor market of later generations, most of them are migrant workers who want to go to the city to make money, but now we see these people just looking for something to do to make ends meet. Yes. For them, there is basically no way out when they come here, and the pressure to survive is much greater than that of migrant workers.”
"Do we really want to hire people here?" Zhang Guang asked with some confusion.
"If there are suitable ones, we can hire a few." He Xi has already made plans for this: "We are also overseas wealthy businessmen after all. Even if we can't take a car or a sedan when we go out, we will always have one or two servants to run errands and do odd jobs. Is it necessary? ”
"I don't think it's necessary. We can do anything ourselves. Why spend money to hire servants?" Zhang Guang paused and then added: "Of course, if you plan to buy a few maids, then I think you can still have them. ”
"You're so big, maid!" He Xi scolded with a smile: "Don't think too much, kid. This is for us to maintain our image and act conveniently in the future. Think about it, many of the people we will deal with in the future are wealthy businessmen, celebrities and gentry from Yazhou. Senior official, if you don't have anyone around you, do you think others will recognize your social status? When discussing business, the effect will definitely be different than going with a driver and secretary, right?" >
Zhang Guang had to admit that what He Xi said made sense. On the issue of whether to use servants, what needed to be considered now was the image of Chuan Zhong in Yazhou rather than the cost. Yazhou City, as a designated allotment place by the imperial court, receives a certain amount of population every year. The local labor force is actually surplus, which also results in the labor price in Yazhou staying at a relatively low level all year round. As far as Zhang Guang knows, the price of servants here in Yazhou is about five taels of silver a year. This is for healthy young and middle-aged servants. The price for children, the elderly and women is even lower than this. This fee is completely affordable for the Cliff Office. Even if food and accommodation are included, the cost of hiring a servant for a year will not exceed ten taels of silver.
Before the two of them entered the market, a man in Tsing Yi came up to them, clasped his fists and bowed: "Excuse me, gentlemen, are you planning to hire workers or buy servants? I may be able to help you."
"This place actually has a shopping guide!" Zhang Guang couldn't help but sigh. It seems that the ancients also had a strong business sense.
The man probably didn't understand what Zhang Guang meant by "shopping guide", so he took out a piece of paper from his arms and said: "Two Mingjian, this is a dental post issued by Yazhou Yamen. I am a serious official." Ya, specializing in the business of hiring workers. If you hire workers or buy servants here, the documents signed by the two of you must be signed by such an official as a witness before they can be effective."
Zhang Guang and He Xi looked at each other and said in unison: "Intermediary!" The middlemen who introduced transactions for buyers and sellers in the market and took commissions were called "Yaxhang" or "Tooth Merchant" in ancient times, and Yaxin must be Holding a dental post issued by the government and paying taxes also started in the Ming Dynasty. A man in Tsing Yi like this who can produce an officially issued toothpaste is an official toothbrush, while those who operate without a license are private teethers. This is similar to the formal agency companies and black agencies in later generations. In comparison, of course, those who operate are private teethers. Licensed official teeth are more reliable. In order to eliminate the existence of private teeth, this labor market directly stipulates that employment documents need to be witnessed by official teeth to be valid, which leaves no room for private teeth to operate.
After understanding the other party's intention, He Xi asked: "Then how is your commission calculated?"
The man was not busy quoting, but first introduced: "Although there are many people coming to this place to look for errands, their quality varies. Some people are experienced in working all year round. They can start working immediately after being hired. Some of them don't know anything, and they just come here to find a way to make a living. If outsiders don't notice, they may not be able to hire suitable candidates. I can find people and negotiate prices at your request. It only costs two coins a day. , It’s past noon today, and it’s the first time for both of you to come here, so you’ll only have to pay one penny.”
Zhang Guang calculated in his mind that the offer didn't sound high, but even if this guy only received one group of customers a day, he only had two taels of silver. In a month, he would still have six or seven taels of silver. His annual salary was higher than that of Luo Shengdong, the boss. It's much higher. It seems that this agency is quite profitable.
Seeing that they didn't respond, the man thought that his quotation was too high, so he continued to persuade: "You two, the price I said is the actual price set by the state government, and I am not just shouting it casually. You know, everyone here After receiving one tael of silver, you have to hand over half to the state government as payment, otherwise you will not be able to operate here. ”
He Xi's heart moved and she asked him: "Please show me the dental post again. I didn't see clearly who signed it just now."
The man took out the dental card and handed it to him as he was told. As expected, the manager column on the dental card filled in the name of Kong Li. He Xi smiled and said: "I wonder why this guy is so enthusiastic. He immediately recommended this place when he heard that I wanted to hire someone. He wished he could bring me here in person. It turns out that he is also good at it... Okay, one penny, right? ? That’s you.”
The man was overjoyed, took the money from He Xi, put it into his arms, and led the two of them toward the crowd: "Here are you two, what kind of person are you looking for?"
"Two or three men who are younger, honest and obedient, in good health and have a clean family background." He Xi thought for a while and then added: "If there are girls suitable to be maids, you can also take a look. ”
Zhang Guang bumped He Xi with his elbow and said, "Didn't you say you didn't want to buy a maid earlier?"
"I didn't plan to buy it for myself." He Xi explained: "Zhao Xiaoruo, a girl living in the same courtyard as us, a group of grown men, would be somewhat inconvenient. Buying her a maid would, firstly, make her She has a female companion who can take care of her life. Secondly, if anything happens, it will be more convenient if there is a woman in the courtyard.”
"Ah... I was overthinking it." Zhang Guang scratched his head in embarrassment, admitting that he had misunderstood, but he obviously overestimated He Xi's integrity.
"...If you really like him, it would be a good idea to buy yourself a bed heater to keep in your house. This is always more serious than going to a brothel to solve problems." He Xi added shamelessly.
With Na Yashang's leadership, the two of them save the time of wandering around like headless flies. He Xi's conditions have been made very clear, and the search for suitable candidates will be faster.
Soon they settled on two young servants, one fourteen and one fifteen, both of whom came from the north to follow the assigned master's family. These two teenagers were sold into slavery when they were young. Their master was convicted by the court and sent to Yazhou. They had nowhere to go and could only follow thousands of miles to get here. But now the master’s family no longer has the financial resources to support them as servants. , so we simply let them fend for themselves. This kind of situation is also the most common in this servant market. Almost 60% of the people have a similar experience. When the three of them were negotiating with the two teenagers, there were also many self-recommended people who kept begging them to hire them. For a time, the scene was chaotic.
(End of chapter)