Chapter 168 Civil Administration of the 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 of was that these merchants who came from afar would not let go of any profitable business.

"You two, the queue is so long in front of us, 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."

"It's a small matter, it's a small matter." Wei Ping immediately ordered his men, and then took the lead to walk under a big tree nearby. Wei Ping also wanted to find a more private place to talk, but his range of activities was limited, so he didn't dare

Go too far to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings.

There were many strips of bluestone piled next to the big tree, which were transported by workers from the quarry at the foot of the nearby mountain, and would later be transferred to the port for the construction of the dock. The three of them each found a clean place to sit down.

However, the two sides 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, but do you have any doubts?" Wei Ping is also a figure who has been in society for several years. He didn't mention his own affairs at first.

Try to trick the other person.

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 would like to know? I have lived here for more than a month, so I know a little bit about the local people's conditions."

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 reject the other party's kindness and quickly asked: "Then, may I ask Wei Ping?"

During the inspection, what is the local people's opinion of the Haihan people? Based on what Wei inspected, are the people here stable?"

Wei Ping pondered: "The Haihan people are indeed unique in managing civil affairs. The local people obey their arrangements and rarely hear any complaints or dissatisfaction. But this is also reasonable. After all, they have food and clothing.

We rely on Haihan people for housing and accommodation..."

Speaking of this, Wei Ping couldn't help but think that his own 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 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.

, the Haihan people call them "security guards". Just look at those people wearing black short clothes and short sticks on their waists. They usually patrol around ports and people's residences, specializing in trivial matters. If

When new immigrants arrive at the port, they will also go to the dock to assist the militia in maintaining order." Wei Ping explained to the two people in detail.

Li Nai and He Qiang looked around, and sure enough they saw a few black-clothed security guards that Wei Ping had mentioned standing in the distance. Li Nai thought to himself, this 'security' position is probably the same as the function of the inspection department of Ming Dynasty.

It's close. 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 puzzledly.

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'"

, 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 a family joins the militia or works as a security guard, the family can move into the commune.

Enjoy various benefits of club members.”

"I see……"

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 number of workshops inland more than ten miles away, and it is said that they also opened an iron mine. The income from working in the workshops is higher than working at the port or opening up wasteland for farming, but it's just that

It is not easy to enter the workshop and work, and you must first qualify as a 'member' before you can accept further selection by Haihan people." Wei Ping continued to explain.

After Wei Ping's explanation, Li Nai and He Qiang roughly understood the social structure of this place. After these new immigrants arrived in Victory Port, they were screened and were first assigned to work on various construction sites. Among them,

Some of the better people will be selected into the "commune", and those who perform better in the commune will be selected to work in higher-level workshops. As for what kind of settings are there above the workshops, Li

Nay would have thought of it even without 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

The Han people designed an ascending channel system for ordinary people. No matter what level these people strive to reach, there will definitely be new bait placed in front of them to induce them to work hard for it.

There is actually nothing new about this social structure. There is also such an upward path in Ming Dynasty society. For example, He Qiang, the senior steward of "Fu Ruifeng", worked his way up step by step from a boy 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, it would generally only manage civil affairs. As for how the people work to make a living, the government has no time to care about it. Unless it is a project that requires a lot of labor such as building roads and water control, the government will never organize the people to start work.

——After all, organizing large-scale projects is a very labor-intensive matter. Unless it is absolutely necessary, few local officials are willing to take the initiative to do such a thing.

And commercial firms that are good at making money generally do not organize people to produce. This not only encounters many difficulties in management, but also can easily be labeled as "gathering people, network people's hearts, and having evil intentions". Even if it is like

A trading firm with deep roots in Guangzhou such as "Fu Ruifeng" can at most organize a caravan and a militia in its hometown. It will never set up a "commune" like the Haihan people to organize hundreds of people together.

Building villages and fortresses has its own system. If this kind of thing happened in Guangzhou, Li Nai can guarantee that all the Haihan people would have been arrested and imprisoned pending trial.

But 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. All the farmland here is cultivated uniformly.

, unified harvesting, and all harvested grains are also put into public granaries, and are uniformly arranged by the Haihan Executive Committee.

The Haihan people's arrangements for agricultural production were astonishingly detailed. Li Nai even discovered 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 just think that Gao Huan's claim that the rice yield per mu per year could reach one thousand kilograms was a boast.

Based on the way the Haihan people do things, it is not difficult for Li Nai to imagine that they must also adopt a management method similar to a farm commune in the production of refined salt and glass. In fact, at the reception banquet the day before, Schneider had already told him

It was revealed that they would be arranged 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 very 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 agricultural technical committees, health committees, red and white councils, and so on. When he was introduced at the time, Li Nai’s head was pounding. Looking back now,

When I got up, I 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 have the privilege of Haihan

In Li Nai's view, the salary paid by the Han people was similar to that of petty officials who worked for the yamen - that is to say, the Haihan Executive Committee had completely replaced the functions of the local government in local civil administration.

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 the local government. In turn, the people's adequate food and clothing ensured the stability of the people and good social order here.

, and this is exactly the trait that businessmen like Li Nai value.
Chapter completed!