Chapter 401 Share Reform
Zhou Tieyi turned to look at Gu Yingtian, "Mr. Gu is in charge of the shipyard in Tangzhou Prefecture now, right?"

Gu Yingtian bowed slightly, "Yes."

He now admires Zhou Tieyi's methods more and more. With the help of the divine evil, Zhou Tieyi's political gains this time are really huge. He did not get entangled with the Confucians at all on the Tangzhou Prefecture and Huxin Academy cases. He just wanted to let the Confucians know that Zhou Tieyi let you go for greater benefits!

Both the interests of the court and the interests of the people were greater than the Huxin Academy case in Tangzhou Prefecture, so the Confucians could only grit their teeth and accept it.

"In the early stage, we need to worry about supporting the Ning Palace with technology, funds and talents, but I think the shares of the ironworks and shipyards in Pingjindu should be changed this time."

The shareholding system was proposed by Zhou Tieyi in Tianjing and has been developed and improved step by step. When Gu Yingtian heard Zhou Tieyi say that there would be changes in the shares, he was curious and worried at the same time.

Now the shares of the shipyard in Tangzhou Prefecture have become somewhat complicated. It is held by Tianjing Shipyard, Ningwang Mansion, and the local family of Tangzhou, while the Zhou family holds a part of the shares of Tianjing Shipyard.

Zhou Tieyi said, "This time is different from the previous ones because it is work-for-relief. Our ultimate goal is to benefit the people. We are occupying the people's land, not the land bought from the noble families. So I think the shares should be divided like this. One part will be held by the Tangzhou Shipyard as technical, financial, and personnel support, one part will be held by the Pingjindu County Government, and the last part will be held by the people of the occupied land and the initial workers. When the shipyard is profitable, the people and workers can obtain stable and long-term benefits through the shares in their hands. Of course, the county government will do the same."

Zhou Tieyi’s proposal is easy to understand, but the changes he made are undoubtedly exaggerated.

This will truly allow the means of production owned by the aristocratic families to fall into the hands of ordinary people. At the same time, after this reform, other factories reformed by Zhou Tieyi will gradually allow local governments and workers to take up a portion of the shares to divide the means of production held by the aristocratic families.

At the same time, allowing the people to hold shares in the early stages can also stimulate their enthusiasm for work and reduce the initial cost of building factories.

"This is a great thing to say!"

The head of the Pingjindu Finance Bureau was just counting the accounts, and when he heard what Zhou Tieyi said, his eyes were almost filled with tears. With this back and forth, the county government would probably not be short of money. As long as the factory was opened and could produce and operate smoothly, the finances of their Pingjindu County government would be even more relaxed.

Gu Yingtian was also constantly calculating the pros and cons. Generally speaking, even the Ning Wang Mansion would not take all the profits of the shipyard, just like Zhou Tieyi would not take all the profits of the Railway Chamber of Commerce.

Those who truly hold power and wealth are those who know how to distribute power and wealth. What they want is the right to distribute!

The Shipping Chamber of Commerce in Tangzhou Prefecture was an example. Even if the local families in Tangzhou Prefecture did not take the initiative to ask for it, the Ning Wang Mansion would take the initiative to give it.

Now Zhou Tieyi simply replaced the noble families of Pingjindu with the county government and the common people.

There are definitely many problems to be solved, such as what if the noble families forcibly buy from the people, what if the people do not trust the so-called shares, but these problems can be solved, but for the power distributors at the level of Ning Wangfu, they must understand whether they will rely on the noble families or the people to control the local areas in the future. After thinking about this clearly, Gu Yingtian took a deep breath. He has already realized how much changes will be brought to the world after this share reform. Thinking of Ning Wang's reminder to himself, since Zhou Tieyi is willing to take the lead and bear the huge pressure from all parties to complete the reform, they only need to follow closely.

Those who promote Taoism may not necessarily live to see the day when Taoism bears fruit!
Gu Yingtian said cautiously, "Lord Zhou, I'm afraid such a reform can only be implemented with your presence in person."

After Gu Yingtian finished speaking, the other officials around him did not react for a while. Even if the shares were to be distributed to many people, it would just be a troublesome process. It seemed that Zhou Tieyi would not be needed. Any official with a little talent could do it. Why did Gu Yingtian act as if this matter was very complicated and even he, a third-rank strategist, could not handle it?

If this is true, everyone will underestimate Gu Yingtian, a third-rank strategist.

When Gu Yingtian saw the expressions of the officials around him, he realized that they had not reacted yet, which meant that many aristocratic families would not react in the early stages. But the aristocratic families are not stupid, and the people of the world are not stupid. Once the situation develops a little, the aristocratic families will understand how huge changes the shares of ordinary people and workers will bring. They will definitely try their best to stop it, and by then, a third-rank strategist like himself will not be able to stop it.

Zhou Tieyi smiled and said, "I still have to go back to Shantong Mansion, but there is someone who can take my place here."

Zhou Tieyi smiled and looked at Wang Mingyi who was standing behind Deng Zhenquan. He brought Wang Mingyi to Shantong Mansion for training, not for Wang Mingyi to learn from Deng Zhenquan how to collude with local families, but for Wang Mingyi to represent Confucianism and learn how to deal with local families and how to set traps for them!

The moment Zhou Tieyi looked at Wang Mingyi, the officials around him showed a thoughtful look, and their expressions when they looked at the three Confucianists also changed slightly.

There were quite a few people present, but the Confucians had already instigated the officials in charge of suppressing Sha Youcheng from the Zhushen Division. Now that Zhou Tieyi had exchanged interests with the Confucians several times, it gave people the feeling that the Confucians and Zhou Tieyi might have already completed all the exchanges of interests.

Deng Zhenquan and the other two were speechless at this time. Zhou Tieyi asked Wang Mingyi to preside over the share reform, which was certainly a good thing. It meant that Zhou Tieyi agreed that their Confucianism could openly extend its hands into Zhou Tieyi's series of reforms. This was something that Dong Xingshu had not done in Tianjing for several months.

But when you seem to have no way out, there is always a way out. Wang Mingyi, the core of Zhou Tieyi's factory, was previously studying. If he now presides over the reform of the shares, he will be truly an expert.

Confucians will never give up this opportunity, even if they can't explain it!
Deng Zhenquan thought again about the distribution of Zhou Tieyi's shares. Let the local county government and the local people who occupied the land for work get a share of the pie. This might be the solution that Confucianism has never been able to find to curb the land annexation by local aristocratic families.

The only difference is that this time the change did not start from the land itself, but from the factory, which was something new that Confucianism had never encountered before.

Deng Zhenquan directly answered on behalf of Wang Mingyi, "This is a very good thing."

Zhou Tieyi withdrew his gaze. He had taken another crucial step forward in the entire process of industrialization reform.

(End of this chapter)