Chapter 168 Civil Administration of Haihan People
Wei Ping didn't care whether Li Nai and He Qiang came to Victory Port to buy salt or glass products, but one thing Wei Ping was sure about was that these merchants who came from afar would not let go of any profitable business.
"You two, the queue in front is so long, why don't we go to the side and find a place to sit and wait. I will ask my men to bring you two breakfast together later." Wei Ping took the initiative to show his kindness to them.
Li Nai quickly clasped his fists and bowed: "I don't dare bother Wei with his inspection."
"Little things, small things." Wei Ping immediately ordered his men, and then led the way to a big tree nearby. Wei Ping would also like to find a more private place to talk, but his range of activities is limited, so he does not dare to go too far to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings.
There are many strips of bluestone piled next to this big tree, which were transported by workers from the quarry at the foot of the nearby mountain and then transferred to the port for the construction of the wharf. The three of them each found a clean place to sit down, but they had different thoughts and no one spoke in a hurry.
After a while, Wei Ping finally couldn't bear it anymore. After breakfast time, the nearby workers would start working one after another, and there would be no secluded place here. He was not willing to wait until tomorrow morning.
"When you two came to the inspection department yesterday, I saw that you two seemed to be hesitant to speak. Do you have any doubts?" Wei Ping is also a figure who has been in society for several years. He did not mention his own affairs at first. Try to trick the other person into saying something.
Li Nai responded: "I originally planned to ask Inspector Wei about the local situation, but Mr. Shi from Haihan was always with me yesterday. It was inconvenient to talk, but Inspector Wei was worried."
Wei Ping smiled and said: "I wonder what kind of situation Mr. Li wants to know? I have lived here for more than a month, and I still know a lot about the local people."
Wei Ping's words are a bit bragging. It is true that he has lived in Victory Port for more than a month, but for most of this time he was imprisoned in the yard of the Inspection Department and was not allowed to go out. The scope of his involvement was extremely large. It is limited, and most of the "people's sentiments" that can be observed are only from what he observes from the yard.
However, Li Nai didn't know whether Wei Ping was really under house arrest. He was just guessing. Since Wei Ping showed such a willingness to communicate, he certainly would not refuse the other party's kindness and quickly asked: "Then, may I ask Wei Ping?" Inspection: What is the local people’s opinion of the Haihan people? Based on what Wei’s inspection found, are the people here stable? ”
Wei Ping mused: "The Haihan people are indeed unique in managing civil affairs. The local people obey their arrangements and arrangements, and it is rare to hear any complaints or dissatisfaction. But this is also reasonable. After all, they have food and clothing. We all rely on the Haihan people for housing and accommodation..."
Having said this, Wei Ping couldn't help but think that his situation was not exactly the same, so he quickly changed the topic and said: "As for whether the people's sentiment is stable or not, I think you two visited the area yesterday and must have seen many militiamen. ?”
Li Nai and He Qiang recalled their visit to the new military camp yesterday. Even the half-year-old children were trained like soldiers, and they nodded with lingering fear.
"The rule of law here in Victory Port is extremely strict. If the people make the slightest mistake, they will be thrown into hard labor in what is called a 'labor camp.' And in addition to the militia, there is another establishment used to maintain law and order. , Haihan people call them "security guards", you can see those people wearing black short clothes and short sticks on their waists. They usually patrol around the ports and people's residences, taking care of trivial matters. When new immigrants arrive at the port, they will also go to the dock to help the militia maintain order," Wei Ping explained to the two in detail.
Li Nai and He Qiang looked around, and sure enough they saw a few black-clad security guards that Wei Ping had mentioned standing in the distance. Li Nai thought to himself, this 'security' position is probably similar to the functions of the inspection department in Ming Dynasty. But in front of Wei Ping, this guess cannot be said casually.
"But why are these people willing to join the militia or work as security guards for those Haihan people when they first arrive in Victory Port? Could it be that the rewards given by the Haihan people are extremely high?" He Qiang asked in confusion.
Wei Ping explained: "I have always been puzzled by this before, but later I gradually learned that it turns out that the Haihan people use 'commune' as a unit to integrate local civilians, and all civilians who join the commune are called 'commune members'" , and the treatment is much better than that of ordinary people, so the people who come to work here aim to enter the commune. As long as one person in the family joins the militia or works as a security guard, the family can move into the commune. Enjoy various benefits of being a member.""That's it..."
At this time, Li Nai and He Qiang both thought of the farm commune they visited yesterday. The various institutional arrangements there left a deep impression on them, but they never thought that there was such a connection between the commune and the local militia.
"Not only that, it is said that the Haihan people built a large workshop more than ten miles away inland, and even opened an iron mine. The income from working in the workshop is higher than working at the port or opening up wasteland for farming, but It is not easy to enter the workshop and you must first be qualified as a member before you can be further selected by Haihan people," Wei Ping continued to explain.
After Wei Ping's explanation, Li Nai and He Qiang roughly understood what the social structure of this place was. After these new immigrants arrive in Victory Port, they will be screened and will first be assigned to work on various construction sites. Some of them who perform better will be selected into the "commune", and those who perform better in the commune will be selected. Enter a higher-level workshop to work. As for what kind of settings there are on top of the workshop, Li Nai can think of them without even asking.
It is said that there are only a few hundred Haihan people here. To manage the increasing number of people, it is definitely necessary to promote some local people to do grassroots management work. From new immigrants, ordinary workers, corporate members, workshop workers, to higher levels of employment, Haihan has designed an ascending channel system for ordinary people. No matter which level these people strive to, there will definitely be new baits for them. In front of them, induce them to work hard for it.
There is actually nothing new about this social structure. Such an upward path also existed in Ming society. For example, He Qiang, the senior steward of "Fu Ruifeng", worked his way up step by step from serving tea and running errands. If there is any difference, Li Nai believes that the Haihan people's local management methods are more like combining civil and political governance and doing business to make money.
If it were the local government of the Ming Dynasty, they would generally only manage civil affairs. As for how the people worked and made a living, the government did not have the time to care. Unless it is a project that requires a lot of labor such as road construction and water control, the government will never organize the people to start the project - after all, organizing a large-scale project is a very laborious and laborious task, and few local officials will be willing to do so unless it is absolutely necessary. Take the initiative to do this kind of thing.
Commercial firms that are good at making money generally do not organize people to produce. This not only encounters many difficulties in management, but it is also easy to be labeled as "gathering people, network people's hearts, and having evil intentions." Even a trading firm with deep roots in Guangzhou like "Fu Ruifeng" can at most organize a caravan and a militia in their hometown. They will never set up any "commune" like the Haihan people, organizing hundreds or thousands of people. Together they build villages and villages to form a system of their own. If this kind of thing happened in Guangzhou, Li Nai could guarantee that all the Haihan people would have been arrested and imprisoned pending trial.
However, the Haihan people have integrated civil administration and commercial operations, and the local people have been organized to carry out large-scale production. Li Nai realized this from the farm commune he visited yesterday. The farmland here is all cultivated and harvested in a unified manner, and all the harvested grain is put into the public granary and arranged uniformly by the Haihan Executive Committee.
The Haihan people's arrangements for agricultural production were astonishingly detailed. Li Nai even found that they had made very detailed plans for the frequency, quantity and type of fertilization. This was something he had never seen in any rural area in the past. Phenomenon. If he hadn't seen the operation of the farm with his own eyes, Li Nai would probably have thought that Gao Huan's claim that the rice yield per mu per year could reach 1,000 kilograms was a boast.
Based on the way the Haihan people did things, it was not difficult for Li Nai to imagine that they must have also adopted a management method similar to a farm commune to organize production in the production of refined salt and glass. In fact, at the reception banquet the day before, Schneider had already revealed to him that he would arrange for them to visit the local salt farm commune the next day to enhance their confidence in long-term cooperation in private salt sales.
Li Nai learned from yesterday's visit to the farm commune that there is only a small "commune management committee" as the farm management organization, but this management committee only plays a coordinating role, and specific affairs are handled by the members. Various organizations with detailed functions formed by them are responsible for implementation, such as the Agricultural Technical Association, the Health Association, the Red and White Council, and so on. Li Nai's head was pounding when he was introduced at that time, but looking back now, he realized the profound meaning of Haihan people's actions.
Judging from the local development speed of the Haihan people, whether it is a farm commune or other production site, it is only a matter of time before the scale continues to expand, and the following grassroots management agencies are also expanding accordingly. The Haihan people have begun to appoint some local People serve as managers of civil affairs. This is fundamentally different from the folk Baojia system of the Ming Dynasty. The communes here are not private joint guarantees of autonomy, but are organized and managed by the Haihan Executive Committee. At the same time, these staff now enjoy the wages paid by the Haihan people. In Li Nai seems to think that they are almost like petty officials who work for the yamen - which means that the Haihan Executive Committee has completely replaced the functions of the local government in local civil affairs management.
From the perspective of an onlooker, Li Nai had to admit that the Haihan people had done an excellent job in civil administration, and their results far exceeded those of local officials. The people's abundant food and clothing in turn ensures the stability of the people and good social order here, which is the trait that businessmen like Li Nai value.
(End of chapter)