Chapter 167 Which Is More Important, Flour or Steel (1/2)

The young officials surrounding Roger did not feel the sudden drop in temperature around them at first.

Everyone is having a heated discussion around the issue of whether to "abolition" or not.

We are all young people, and this kind of thing is our deep love.

What's more, they are already official officials of the empire with a bright future, and their suggestions for many decisions can really influence the direction of the empire.

His Majesty's trust and bright prospects make them ambitious and confident, and they are also willing to contribute their talents to the empire.

Even though Roger held a high position of power, they gradually began to speak without any scruples.

When the mood is high, why should you take the occasion into account?

Not to mention the commander of the Dark Night Guard, even if the Queen of Evernight is here, young people full of enthusiasm for serving the country dare to confront her.

This means that newborn calves are no longer afraid of tigers.

In appointing these officials, the Queen not only values ​​their talents, but also hopes to use these energetic young men to open up a new situation for the empire.

Although Roger had already thought about it, he did not interrupt everyone's enthusiasm for discussion. It is not a bad thing to have such a discussion appropriately.

As long as it is not just a case of arguing, but rather a display of viewpoints from all sides, there will always be additional gains from adopting multiple opinions.

Officials from different regions of the empire will also bring new perspectives to solve problems when they see the actual local conditions.

The core of their discussion was that there were still more than 80 million slaves and serfs in the empire.

Here they are collectively called slaves.

Compared with free people, they have lost their personal freedom due to various reasons, and their race is not just human. Most of them were originally "assets" of the landed aristocrats.

Because the imperial aristocracy had returned the land and also banned their qualifications to keep slaves, these slaves were rescued from the nobles' territories and belonged to the direct leadership of the empire.

According to Angelina's kindness, she will definitely grant them the qualifications of free people and then guide them to resume production.

However, Roger directly arranged for these slaves to work on state farms on the grounds of harvest harvest.

It was indeed early autumn at that time, and to complete the harvest before winter came, even with Mo Kelu, enough manpower was needed. Angelina could not object to his arrangement.

Therefore, the issue of the identity of those slaves continued and was not resolved in any concrete way throughout the winter.

The new spring has arrived, and the empire has enough land to distribute to these free people. Angelina and most officials in the empire support the abolition of slavery.

Because according to the imperial charter, the nobles have been abolished from raising slaves on a large scale. Instead, the empire, which upholds justice, began to raise slaves. Isn't this how the dragon slayer turned into an evil dragon in the end?

Therefore, the slavery system that Roger persisted in has many doubts in all aspects of society.

"It's not like the empire can't support it. Free people are more productive than slaves. Mo Ke La has solved the problem of famine. We should let the light of the empire shine on a wider range of people."

Kind-hearted officials enthusiastically advocated the abolition of slavery. The current experience of the empire can already be said that slavery is a production method that is behind the times.

Whether it is the employment system of state-owned farms or the empire's low taxes that encourage farmers to contract land as a family unit and be responsible for their own profits and losses, the production value created by a single person exceeds that of slaves.

"I think these slaves cannot be treated equally. Humans should have the status of free citizens, but elves, dwarves, goblins and other races should be slaves by birth. Indulging them will cause serious public security problems."

Those administrative officials who served on the border, as well as young men in the military, believed that the racial problems of the slaves should be clearly identified and specific issues should be analyzed in detail, rather than one size fits all.

Although the empire is powerful, it has just been freed from the risk of rebellion in the seventeen countries. It is one step away from entering an endless uprising and being dragged down abruptly.

Although they are all from the human race, there are survivors from the seventeen countries who will not be loyal to the empire, let alone those races that are not human in the first place?

Either be deported or continue to be slaves. These officials who have come into contact with foreign races know very well that some guys are not worthy of sympathy at all.

Roger, who came from modern times, was different from these medieval brothers who had fierce disputes and would waver in their opinions. He firmly opposed the abolition of slavery from beginning to end.

At least, now is not the time to abolish slavery. The empire still needs a group of laborers who can be commanded to appear in any job.

The reason he told everyone is: "The empire does not need so many farmers. With magic crops, large-scale agricultural machinery, and constantly improving crops, discovering more excellent varieties, only large-scale farms and a small number of free people are enough." To meet the food consumption of the empire, more people should move to industry."

His views were opposed by many people. It had nothing to do with the abolition of slavery, but simply the proportion of the population he expected:

"It's too radical. People who don't farm will starve to death!"

"Industry should develop, but it needs to be gradual, and a sufficient agricultural population should always be maintained."

"Reform should be carried out step by step. We have just finished eating. Your Excellency, you are too optimistic..."

Everyone tried their best to persuade Roger. In this situation, if he were not the commander of the Night Guard and a duke whom the Queen favored, there might be many upright men who would take the risk of swearing and fucking him in the buttocks.

The lower the officials are from, the more they understand the importance of agriculture. Even many down-and-out nobles have gone hungry.

They may be aggressive in military affairs, but they are always cautious in agriculture. Keeping the New Year without famine is victory, and they must not be greedy for success and aggressive.

In their view, Roger's hope that more people will turn to industry is a typical blind optimism, and the confused view that laymen instructing experts may cause huge problems.

Roger seemed to be completely unsurprised by their opposition, and helplessly spread his hands: "Your reaction has further strengthened my determination not to abolish slavery."

His voice was not loud, and his expression was also very calm, which made these stubborn imperial people feel that their impulse was a bit stupid.

"So Lord Roger expected our reaction... You keep slaves because you hope they will join the factory and not squeeze the current agricultural population?" The deputy governor in charge of agriculture in a province asked curiously.

Everyone is also smart, and they realized the hidden meaning of Roger's words in a blink of an eye.

The most progressive officials present in the empire are the most staunch supporters of the Queen's policy, and of course they know the dream of the empire's magic industrialization.

However, under the threat of "not having enough to eat", they also stingily controlled the proportion of agricultural population and maintained limited optimism about the increase in agriculture in the empire.

Stability, everyone worked hard to farm, step by step.

Although simple data calculations can calculate how many agricultural population the empire needs to maintain the food needs of the national population.

But this change is too fast after all. This year's famine almost happened. In the past, too many countries were warlike and mobilized too many people to fight, resulting in the tragedy of starvation in the rear.

Even the wise and powerful Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had to issue a self-criticism edict in the later period to reflect on such problems.

What's more, the level of civilization of the regime is far inferior to the eternal night world of the Han Dynasty?

Officials dare not take too big steps.

Under this idea, "enough" food is definitely good, and if "excess" food is produced, it doesn't matter.

Whether it is stored or sold to neighboring countries, it is a sure-win business.

If we only draw agricultural population to engage in industry, what if there is no famine in the whole country, but people starve to death here, it will become a big joke.

Not to mention that the official position will be lost, it will be unfair to the people under the official position, right?

The new generation of officials in the empire think so, and the lower-class people who can't see the changes in the empire will be more worried about the problem of food and clothing.

There is only one year of not starving, but it takes decades to starve.

As long as they can still work, I guarantee that these people will definitely use all their energy on the farmland next year and strive to create glory again.

Don't think that propaganda is omnipotent. The inertia of death, the horror of hunger, and the limited trust in the rulers... will not let those free people give up farming and move towards industry.

But compared with agriculture, industry requires an unprecedented large number of labor forces, especially skilled workers who have been trained for a long time, otherwise it can't be done at all.

So Roger kept this batch of slaves, which was also a helpless move.

With officials and freemen attaching importance to agriculture and taking a cautious wait-and-see attitude towards industry, looking at the empire, only slaves are a brick of revolution, and they are moved wherever they are needed.

At least we have to get through these few years first, prove the strength of industry, the stability of agricultural output, and prove that only a small population is needed to eliminate famine, so that officials and the people will have enough confidence to invest in industrial production.

Magic is not omnipotent. Unless Roger uses charm to seduce all the people in the empire, no matter how loud the slogans are, they will not be able to overcome the fear of death by white rice.

The earth also has a similar stage. In the early days of industrial development, capitalists have tried their best to have enough labor.

Whether it is moving black uncles to grow cotton, destroying the local small peasant economy, or even attracting child laborers to come to the factory to make money - in fact, to some extent, it is to rob laborers of people's fear of starvation.

The emergence of child labor is not only the black heart of capitalists, but also the instigation of their parents: in the era of backward productivity, children over ten years old are already laborers, and it is rare not to follow their parents to work in the fields.

Of course, due to their strength, the contribution of half-grown children is limited. When they realize that they can earn more income in factories, their parents will take the initiative to send their children to work in factories.

For farmers who are always on the verge of starvation, they don’t think about how hard their children work and the safety hazards they leave. As long as they can survive, they will win.

As for adult laborers, unless their families are really unable to make ends meet and even have no seeds, they are absolutely willing to go to factories.

Even if they go, they will only go through the motions. After working for a few months and earning enough money to buy seeds, they will come back to farm...

This is a helpless tug-of-war. The earth took a hundred years to complete this process, change the division of labor in society, and balance the contradiction between flour and steel, but the empire did not have such a big time.

For Roger, there are still slaves in hand who can be stuffed directly into the factory. Why turn them into free people and then go to great lengths to lock them up in the factory?

That would also be a kind of mental slavery for their desire to farm (shock)!

So why bother? Let’s just not abolish slavery and continue to let them play their remaining heat.

Plantation owners have proven through practice that in the early stages of industrial development, reasonable slavery is necessary, even essential, in order to expand output and production scale.

His kindness is not to actively create new slaves, not to start wars to plunder the population, and to give these slaves the highest possible preferential treatment.

After all, this is his precious industrial population, with enough food, labor protection tools, literacy night schools, and room for advancement. They will have everything that free people should have.

Anyway, the empire can afford it. The wealth accumulated by the nobles, the harvest of the seventeen countries, and the expected monopoly of production status give Roger enough confidence to support this cycle.

Leaving the identity of slaves, just not giving them land, not allowing them to have the opportunity to choose to farm independently.

When the industry develops well, these slave workers will have high incomes and good lives, and will also become living advertisements to attract farmers to invest in industry.

Otherwise, the people still prefer farming.jpg.

Especially the most hardworking and hardworking main ethnic group in the empire, even if the factory wages are much higher than farming, they will think it is an unreliable thing...

Don't you see that after getting rid of hunger for decades, weight loss has become a daily routine, and the rabbit people will still pay much more attention to the price of grain, vegetables and meat than other fields.

Be careful of starving to death!

Similar warnings, like the fear of firepower, are probably written into the DNA of that nation.

The people of the Empire are warlike and enthusiastic about war, but their eager expectations for agriculture are no less than those of the Rabbit Country.

With Roger's on-site demonstration of their own choice, even the officials who agreed to abolish slavery fell into thought and understood the labor mobility issue that Roger was worried about.

State-owned farms have free people and even military settlements, which are enough to produce food to ensure the minimum supply.

The existing slaves are put into industry, and it will not affect the agricultural structure of the empire in the next few years...

So if they don't abolish it, then don't abolish it. In any case, in today's empire, their quality of life will be much improved. As long as they are well fed and clothed and there is no rebellion, they will not disobey the central government's orders.

When the intensity of the discussion here subsided, someone finally found that the temperature around them had dropped, and there was always a pair of cold eyes looking at them.

"Key politics" was too happy, and no one noticed that Margaret had been standing here for a long time, and the smile she tried to put on was stiff on her face, looking quite unhappy.

After all, she is a beauty, and she is also the noble Left Prime Minister of the Empire. As a result, everyone is discussing slaves, and no one realizes her existence...

It is really hateful. The resentment keeps coming out of her body, which scares many people!

Seeing that her real target is Roger, the officials present don't want to take the knife for him, and some even misunderstand that this is a romantic debt owed by Lord Charles!

After all, she is at the same age as him, and they can be considered a handsome man and a beautiful woman~

Everyone dispersed, leaving Roger and Margaret face to face.

"Lord Margaret, what's the matter?" Roger asked politely. For some reason, he felt that the look this little devil gave him was not just hostility, but complicated and numbing.

What new misunderstandings have arisen between me and her?