"For those of you who are skilled craftsmen and workshop directors, it would be ideal if your wages could be doubled or tripled."

As soon as Zhu Jingyuan said this, there was an exclamation of surprise at the scene.

Hao Zhongyi even shouted subconsciously:

"Impossible, absolutely impossible, how can you make so much money..."

Another workshop director also said:

"If you all become rich, then who will be considered poor..."

Zhu Jingyuan smiled and asked:

“Why must there be poor people? Why can’t everyone be rich?

"Although, if you compare each other, some people will definitely have more money and some people will have less money.

"But it's not impossible for everyone in the future to enjoy the life of the rich in the past, right?"

The craftsmen and workshop directors looked at each other, not daring to continue to refute Zhu Jingyuan, but finding it hard to accept and understand.

Lin Zexu and Niu Jian also found it very strange. Based on what they had learned from Zhu Jingyuan in the past two years, they vaguely felt that this idea seemed to be correct, but they could not understand the logic at once.

Zhu Jingyuan smiled and said:

“Before the Chongzhen Dynasty, a few taels of silver could buy an ordinary piece of silk, and a few taels of silver could buy fine silk and satin.

"Before the World War, two or three yuan of silver could buy a nice piece of silk.

"Before the Chongzhen Dynasty, a woman would weave a piece of silk a day and sell it for three taels of silver, not counting the cost.

"Before the World War, a woman could weave hundreds of pieces of silk a day with several looms.

“Things are still the same price, but the number of things a person can create has increased a hundred times.

"Then this person's income should increase by more than ten times, if not a hundred times, right?

"At the same time, the production of silk and satin has increased a hundred times, and the number of people who can wear satin clothes can also increase ten times, right?

"If our current production speed can continue to increase, shouldn't everyone's income also continue to increase?"

"Will the number of better clothes and supplies that everyone can enjoy continue to increase?

“In the past, only rich people could wear silk, but in the future, workers can all afford silk.

"In the past, silk was not wear-resistant, but now we have invented rayon, which makes it easier to wear and work on."

Several craftsmen and workshop directors were confused and felt that what Zhu Jingyuan said did make sense.

As long as everyone uses the same labor force in the same time, they can produce more things.

At the same time, if the price of the thing itself remains unchanged, everyone's income will rise accordingly.

Moreover, the things that everyone can enjoy will also increase simultaneously.

But they didn't immediately think of one key point.

That is, with the improvement of production efficiency, the value of production equipment is getting higher and higher, the importance of funds invested in production is getting higher and higher, that is, the production materials are becoming more and more complex and important.

What is the specific cost of capital and technical investment used to build the factory, as well as the subsequent proportion of sales profits, compared to the proportion of workers responsible for actual production.

If most of the income falls into the hands of investors and factory owners, workers will have no extra money to buy products produced by themselves or others, and the products will naturally be unsaleable.

Niu Jian and Lin Zexu, two top students, were thinking more at the same time as they understood Zhu Jingyuan's thoughts.

Lin Zexu said with some uncertainty:

"Your Highness, this logic is indeed reasonable, but the prerequisite for this cycle to continue is that enough people spend enough money to buy products produced by others."

Zhu Jingyuan immediately made a footnote to Lin Zexu:

“So the benefits brought about by improved production efficiency must be distributed in a sufficient proportion to enough workers for consumption, instead of being kept in the hands of factory owners as much as possible and used only to expand production and investment.

“No matter how many factories you build and how many things you produce, once you can’t sell them, what’s the use if no one buys them?

"So I have always advocated raising wages for workers. Of course, the premise of raising wages is that production efficiency has indeed improved. Otherwise, it will be like drinking poison to quench thirst and will only cause the actual production efficiency of the factory to decline.

“Workers must also be given a certain amount of time to consume, otherwise workers will have no time to spend even if they have money, so I once pushed to limit working hours and leave more time for them to consume.

"We, a big food country, must strictly implement Ming Dynasty's working hours and vacation regulations. I will continue to work hard to shorten working hours and extend vacation time in the future."

Hearing this, a group of craftsmen and workshop directors were speechless. They really had nothing to say.

They could not fully understand the deep logic contained in Zhu Jingyuan's words, but they could understand what Zhu Jingyuan wanted to do.

Pay more money to workers, allow them to rest more, and have time and money to enjoy themselves. Of course, it also requires workers to produce more and better things in less time.

Hao Zhongyi didn't know how to express his feelings, so he just said in Shandong accent:

"Your Majesty is really a living Bodhisattva..."

Happy Gregorian New Year!
Chapter completed!