Chapter 381： productivity two

"Then, Lord Earl, how can we change this situation and make the distribution of food more balanced?"

Cecil asked the question quite appropriately.

Paul gave him a satisfied look, which was a suitable joke, so he went on to talk: "To solve the contradiction that the landlord is dying and others are starving to death, you have to let other people have something in their hands-to be able to take food from the landlord. Something of value in exchange."

"For example, porcelain, pottery, ironware, paper, clothing, machinery, wine, etc., and the industry that manufactures these things is the so-called manufacturing industry, plus the mining of the above-mentioned raw materials is industry. Manufacturing production The more things that are produced, the more food that can be exchanged, and the more we can change the problem of uneven food distribution.”

Manager Ford shook his head: "I think it can only be regarded as a relief. Those landlords who hoard food can't use too many manufactured products. The food they are willing to exchange for exchange is still limited."

Paul waved his hand: "So we have to expand the source of grain. If our local landlords are unwilling to exchange surplus grain, then we will exchange it with landlords in other places in the Northwest Gulf, and with other places in the Aldo Kingdom. Landlords exchange, even with foreign landowners."

Everyone understood what Earl Greiman meant. In this way, as the urgency of demand decreases, the relative value of the grain hoarded by the landlords in this area will decrease or it can be said to depreciate, and thus they will be forced to participate in the exchange activities. —if they don't want to see their wealth dwindle further.

"Is this the purpose of your proposal to establish a customs union?" Female advisor Ladi Setia suddenly thought of this.

Paul nodded, "Yes, this is one of the important reasons. Reducing tariffs will make it easier for our manufactured products to go out, and it will also make it easier for food from outside to come in, thus facilitating the exchange process just mentioned. — I call it a 'market economy'"

market economy? Another new term that came out of the Earl's mouth.

Guy Burns, the director of the Huxin Town Machinery Factory, sat in the corner thinking. He only pays attention to technical issues on weekdays, and doesn’t know much about other things. A while ago, Lord Earl’s establishment of a customs union was resisted by so many people. , he was still wondering what made a group of people willing to offend the authority of the lord. Now he understands that the cakes of the landlords are passive. Once the manufactured products and food are circulated, they can't squeeze other people at will. These guys are really disgusting.

Paul’s next words further made him clear, “In the past human history, due to the underdevelopment of productive forces, the food grown and the items that can be exchanged for food were always limited, and food is the most basic life of human beings. One of the requirements is that people don’t need to drink, pottery, or even wear clothes, but they must eat. Those who have food and production materials—such as land—always have an advantage. If a place is relatively Closed and low productivity, it is easy to form a seller’s market for necessities like food in the transaction process—a market where the seller has an advantage. And if we improve our manufacturing capacity and open up internal and external trade, we can change our place to a considerable extent It’s a seller’s market. As for places other than Arda, Bairding, and Emden, we can’t control that much for the time being.”

"But Earl..." Bernard, Paul's chief secretary, thought in the long term: "Even if you can produce a lot of valuable items after vigorously developing industry, at the same time the landlords are willing to exchange them. In the current situation where the overall food production is sufficient But if some people don’t starve to death, the population will continue to multiply, and there is still so much food, and eventually the supply will fall short of demand, and people will still starve to death.”

The statement of the chief secretary is very close to the "Malthus trap".

Paul explained: "As I said just now, productivity also includes agricultural productivity. When our industry develops to a certain level, it can 'fed back' agriculture."

Speaking of this, he glanced at Guy Burns, "The agricultural equipment such as harvesters and seed drills manufactured by the Huxin Town Agricultural Machinery Factory is an example. With these agricultural equipment, under the premise of using the same amount of labor , can reclaim more land, harvest more food, and we can even research planting techniques to increase the yield per unit area to meet the growing needs of the population.”

Guy Burns proudly puffed out his chest. He had always believed that his work was great, and now the Earl finally explained the significance in front of everyone.

"Agricultural equipment such as harvesters and seed drills were invented and mass-produced only when the manufacturing industry developed. As long as the technology can keep up, the problems mentioned by Berner can be alleviated or even solved. As for technology What will happen after the development comes to an end, I dare say that none of you here can foresee it, haha."

Thanks to Paul's efforts in the past two years, the mining industry, iron smelting industry, food processing industry, cotton textile industry, salt industry, ceramics production industry, paper industry, machinery manufacturing industry, cold weapon industry The manufacturing industry has improvedBecause of technical secrecy, the production of porcelain, cans, and paper is unique in the world, and the production of other industries is also due to the innovation of related technologies—such as small blast furnaces, shuttle weaving Cloth looms, spinning jenny machines, and the application of the sun-salt method—are in a very advantageous position.

The start of the manufacturing industry has given birth to a large number of people who make a living by this. Although the proportion of the total population is still small, it has formed a certain scale in terms of quantity.

The production mode 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 rain.

Under the Earl's repeated orders, the Government Council strictly prohibited factory owners from buying slaves, so these factories mainly obtained labor by hiring workers.

Not only maintaining a certain degree of personal freedom, but also being paid to support the family, working in the factory has become a new trend in the three territories under the administration of the Government Council, especially for the vast rural population, some of which have poor harvests or are oppressed by big landlords. The self-cultivating farmers who were struggling to survive sold their land and rushed to the towns to make a living, which in turn promoted the concentration of cultivated land and the growth of the urban population—beneficial to both agricultural and industrial development.

Paul received sporadic reports, and even serfs risked their lives to flee to the town to change their fate.

"So everyone, in the current situation, where can our productivity still break through? Does anyone have a good idea?"

Faced with setbacks, Paul felt that it would be better to brainstorm and listen to the opinions of the natives of the world.