novelraw #191 - Section 191
#191 - Section 191
Even though she had resolved to accept Dio's peculiar preferences, Dio hadn't appeared before her since the day she stumbled upon his relationship with Roger.
Was it a coincidence, or was he deliberately avoiding her?
The absence of someone so important in her life inevitably led Margaret to wild speculation.
What she couldn't accept was that Dio's disappearance stretched into the New Year, a full four months without a word.
Her longing hadn't diminished; instead, it had intensified.
Judging by Roger's relaxed demeanor, he must have been in contact with Dio all along, right?
So, should she approach him and try to get some news about Dio from that blue-haired saint's brother?
"Regardless, he's someone Dio likes… I said I'd accept it, and I wish them well."
Little Margaret took a deep breath, hid all her grievances and pain, and walked towards Roger with a well-behaved smile.
Chapter 167: Which is More Important, Flour or Steel?
The young officials surrounding Roger initially didn't notice the sudden drop in temperature.
Everyone was engaged in a heated discussion about whether to "abolish slavery."
These young people were passionate about political discussions.
Moreover, they were already promising official of the Empire, whose advice on many decisions could genuinely influence the Empire's direction.
The Emperor's trust and the bright prospects ahead filled them with ambition and confidence, and they were willing to contribute their talents to the Empire.
Even with Roger's high position and authority, their speeches gradually became unreserved.
When emotions ran high, they didn't care about the occasion!
If things got heated, they would dare to confront the Eternal Night Empress herself, let alone the Commander of the Night Watch, with their patriotic zeal.
This was the fearlessness of youth.
The Empress employed these officials not only for their talents but also in the hope of opening up a new era for the Empire with the help of these energetic young people.
Although Roger had long had his own ideas, he didn't interrupt everyone's enthusiasm for discussion; engaging in such discussions appropriately wasn't a bad thing.
As long as it wasn't just pointless arguing but rather the presentation of various viewpoints, adopting multiple opinions would always bring additional gains.
Officials from different regions of the Empire, seeing the actual situation in their localities, would also bring new perspectives to problem-solving.
The core of their discussion was the existence of over eighty million slaves and serfs in the Empire.
Here, they were collectively referred to as slaves.
Compared to free citizens, they had lost their personal freedom for various reasons, and their races were not limited to humans; most of them were originally the "assets" of the landed nobles.
Because the Imperial aristocratic class had returned their lands and were also prohibited from keeping slaves, these slaves were rescued from the nobles' territories and placed under the direct leadership of the Empire.
According to Angelina's kindness, she would certainly grant them the status of free citizens and then guide them back to production.
However, Roger, using the excuse of rushing the harvest, directly arranged for these slaves to work on state-owned farms.
Indeed, it was early autumn at that time, and to complete a season's harvest before the arrival of winter, even with Mokola, sufficient manpower was needed, so Angelina couldn't object to his arrangement.
Therefore, the issue of the slaves' identities was prolonged and not specifically resolved even throughout the winter.
The new year's spring had arrived, and the Empire had enough land to allocate to these free citizens; Angelina and most Imperial officials supported the abolition of slavery.
Because according to the Imperial Charter, nobles had been stripped of the right to keep slaves on a large scale, and the righteous Empire itself was starting to keep slaves; wasn't this the dragon slayer ultimately turning into a dragon?
Therefore, the slave system that Roger insisted on maintaining faced many questions from all sectors of society.
"The Empire can afford to support them, and the production motivation of free citizens exceeds that of slaves; Mokola has solved the problem of famine, and we should let the Empire's light shine on a wider population."
Kind officials enthusiastically promoted the abolition of slavery; the Empire's current experience already suggested that slavery was an outdated mode of production.
Whether it was the employment system of state-owned farms or the encouragement of farmers to contract land as family units and be responsible for their own profits and losses under the Empire's low taxes, the production value created by a single person exceeded that of slaves.
"I think these slaves shouldn't be treated equally; Humans should have the qualifications of free citizens, but races such as elves, dwarves, and goblins should be slaves by birth; letting them go will cause serious security problems."
Those administrative officials who served in the border regions, as well as the young officers in the military, believed that the racial issues of the slaves should be recognized, specific problems should be analyzed specifically, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.
Although the Empire was powerful, it had just been freed from the risk of seventeen-state rebellion, and one step away would have stepped into an endless uprising, and it would be dragged down alive.
Being human, there were still remnants of the seventeen states who would not be loyal to the Empire, let alone those races that were not human?
Either expel them from the country, or continue to be slaves, these officials who had been in contact with foreign races knew very well that some guys were simply not worth sympathizing with.
Roger, who came from modern times, was different from these medieval guys who argued fiercely and would shake their own views, he always firmly opposed the abolition of slavery.
At least, now was not the time to abolish slavery, the Empire still needed such a group of laborers who could be directed to appear in any job position.
The reason he gave everyone was: "The Empire doesn't need so many farmers. Mokola, large agricultural machinery, and continuously improved crops, the discovery of more excellent varieties, only large farms plus a small number of free citizens are enough to meet the Empire's food consumption. More population should flow to industry."
His views were opposed by many people, regardless of the abolition of slavery, simply the population ratio he expected:
"Too radical, people will starve to death if they don't farm!"
"Industry should develop, but it needs to be gradual, and there should always be enough agricultural population."
"Reform should come step by step, we've just eaten our fill, Your Excellency is too optimistic…"
Everyone earnestly advised Roger, in this scene, if he wasn't the Commander of the Night Watch, and the Duke personally appointed by the Empress, there might be many upright guys who would curse his ass.
The more officials from the bottom, the clearer the importance of agriculture, even many fallen nobles had starved.
They might be aggressive in military affairs, but they always maintained a cautious attitude towards agriculture, keeping the New Year without famine, that was victory, and they must not be greedy for success and rash advance.
In their opinion, Roger's hope that more people would turn to industry was typically a blindly optimistic, layman's view that could cause huge problems.
Roger didn't seem surprised by their opposition at all, and spread his hands helplessly: "Your reaction has further strengthened my determination not to abolish slavery."
His voice was not loud, and his half-smiling expression was very calm, but it made these stubborn Empire people feel that their impulsiveness was a bit stupid.
"So Roger expected our reaction… You keep the slaves, hoping they will join the factory and not crowd out the current agricultural population?" A deputy governor in charge of agriculture in a province asked curiously.
Everyone was smart, and immediately realized the hidden meaning in Roger's words.
The people present were the most progressive officials of the Empire, they were the staunchest supporters of the Empress's policies, of course, they knew the dream of the Empire's magical industrialization.
But under the threat of "not being able to eat enough", they also stingyly controlled the proportion of the agricultural population, and maintained a limited optimism about the Empire's agricultural increment.
Stability, everyone working hard together to farm, step by step.
Although simple data calculations can calculate exactly how much agricultural population the Empire needs to maintain the food needs of the national population.
But this change was too fast after all, this year's famine almost happened, and in the past there were too many countries that were militaristic, drawing too much population to fight, resulting in the tragedy of starvation in the rear.
Just say that the wise and martial Emperor Wu of Han, in the later period, had to issue a sin edict 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?
The officials dare not take too big steps.
Under this thinking, "enough" food is certainly good, and if "excess" food is produced, it doesn't matter.
Whether it is stored or sold to neighboring countries, it is a profitable business.
Only drawing the agricultural population to engage in industry, in case there is no famine in the country, but people starve to death on their side, it will become a big joke.
Don't say the official position is not guaranteed, being an official, it is not worthy of the people under his command, is it?
This new generation of Empire officials all thought so, then the bottom people who want to see the changes in the Empire, will be even more worried about the problem of eating enough and wearing warm.
Not being hungry is only one year, but being hungry has been the past few decades.
As long as they can still work, these people will definitely use all their strength on the farmland next year, striving to create brilliance again.
Don't think that propaganda is omnipotent, the inertia of death, the horror of hunger, the limited trust in the rulers… will not let those free citizens give up farming and move towards industry.
But industry, compared to agriculture, needs a concentrated unprecedented large number of labor force, especially skilled workers who have been trained for a long time, otherwise it can't be done at all.
So Roger's maintenance of this group of slaves is also a helpless move.
When officials and free citizens value agriculture, and hold a cautious wait-and-see attitude towards industry, looking at the Empire, only slaves are a brick of revolution, where it is needed, it is moved.
At least, we have to survive these years first, prove the power of industry, the agricultural output enters stability, prove that only a small number of people can prevent famine, officials and people will have enough confidence to invest in industrial production with confidence.
Magic is not omnipotent, unless Roger casts charm on all the people of the Empire, otherwise no matter how loud the slogan is, there is no white rice that can better overcome the fear of death.
The earth also has a similar stage, in the early stage of industrial development, capitalists tried their best for enough labor force.
Whether it is transporting black uncles to plant cotton, or destroying the local small-scale peasant economy, or even attracting child labor to the factory to earn money - in fact, to some extent, it is competing with people's fear of hunger for labor.
The production of child labor is not only the black heart of capitalists, but also the support of their parents: in the era of backward productivity, children over ten years old are already labor force, it is rare not to follow their parents to work in the fields.
Of course, because of the strength, the contribution of half-grown children is limited, when they realize that going to the factory can earn more income, then the parents will actively send their children to work in the factory.
For farmers who are always wandering on the verge of starvation, they will not think about how hard the children are, and leave safety hazards, as long as they can survive, it is victory.
And adult labor, unless the family is really unable to make ends meet, and there are no seeds, they are absolutely willing to enter the factory.
Even if they go, they will only go through the motions, work for a few months to earn enough money to buy seeds, they will still come back to farm…
This is a helpless tug-of-war, the earth uses a hundred years to complete this process, change the division of society, balance the contradiction between flour and steel, but the Empire does not have this great time.
For Roger, there are still slaves in hand that can be directly stuffed into the factory, why should they be turned into free citizens, and then painstakingly put them in the factory?
That is also a kind of spiritual slavery to their desire to farm! (earth-shattering sound)!
So why bother, let's not abolish slavery, and continue to let them play their residual heat.
Plantation owners have proved with practice that in the early stage of industrial development, a reasonable slave system is necessary, even necessary, in order to expand production and production scale.
His kindness is not to actively create new slaves, not to launch wars to plunder the population, and to give these slaves as high preferential treatment as possible.
After all, this is his precious industrial population, enough food, labor protection props, literacy night school, rising space, they will have what free citizens should have.
Anyway, the Empire can afford it, the wealth accumulated by the nobles, the harvest of the seventeen countries, and the expected monopoly production status, give Roger enough confidence to support this cycle.
Leaving the identity of slaves, is just not giving them land, not letting them have the opportunity to choose to farm independently.
When the industry is well developed, the income of these slave workers is high, the life is good, and it will become a living advertisement to attract farmers to invest in industry.
Otherwise, the people still prefer to farm.jpg.
Especially the most diligent and hardworking main ethnic group of the Empire, even if the wages paid by the factory are much higher than farming, they will feel that it is an unreliable thing…
You don't see that after getting rid of hunger for decades, losing weight has become a daily routine, the people of the rabbit country will still have far greater attention to grain prices, vegetable prices, and meat prices than other fields.
Be careful of being starved to death!
Similar warnings, I am afraid, like fire phobia, have been written into the DNA of that nation.
The Empire people are militaristic and warlike, but their eager expectations for agriculture will not be less than that of the rabbit country.
With Roger using their own choices for live demonstrations, even the officials who agreed to abolish slavery are now thinking, understanding Roger's concerns about labor mobility.
State-owned farms have free citizens and even military settlements, which are enough to produce food to ensure the minimum supply.
The existing slaves invested in industry will not affect the agricultural structure of the Empire in the next few years…
So if you don't abolish it, you won't abolish it, anyway, in today's Empire, their quality of life will be improved a lot, as long as they are full and warm and there is no rebellion, they will not go against the central government's orders.
When the intensity of the discussion here subsided, someone finally noticed that the temperature around them was dropping, and there was always a pair of cold eyes watching them.
Engaging in political discussions was so enjoyable that no one noticed Margaret had been standing there for quite a while, the smile she had painstakingly arranged now stiff on her face, revealing her displeasure.
After all, she was a beautiful woman, and a distinguished Imperial Left Chancellor, yet everyone was discussing slaves, and no one realized she was there…
It was truly infuriating, and her resentment radiated outwards, startling many people!
Seeing that her real target was Roger, the officials present had no desire to shield him, and some even mistakenly thought this was a romantic debt owed by Lord Charles!
After all, considering her age and his, they could be considered a talented and beautiful couple~
Everyone scattered, leaving only Roger and Margaret facing each other.
“Lady Margaret, is there something you need?” Roger asked politely. He didn't know why, but he felt that the little devil's gaze was not simply hostile; it was complex enough to make his scalp tingle.
What new misunderstanding has arisen between her and me?
Anniversary Bounty, Happy Sixth Birthday!
Since Pigeon Station is having an event, I can't keep postponing, can I?
The previous bounty has been fulfilled, so let's join the fun and start another one.
Bounty Period: From now until the end of the anniversary celebration at the end of September.