I have always read contemporary novels, mostly with the Mao Dun Literature Prize as a book list; but for Mao Dun, except for the "Poplar Praise" in the textbook, I know very little about his works, so I borrowed "Midnight" to read.
"Midnight" mainly tells the story of the national industrial capitalist Wu Sunfu and the comprador financial capitalist Zhao Botao engaged in a commercial war of speculating and buying public bonds during the Central Plains War in 1930, interspersed with the workers' movement and the romance of the young generation of the Wu family. Because I have recently been interested in the living standards of ordinary people in the Republican era, I will only make a superficial inquiry into the issue of "workers' wages" in the book.
According to the description in the book, due to the world economic crisis at that time, the market weakness, the decline in silk prices, coupled with the competition of Japanese silk, Wu Sunfu tried to reduce the cost of production, so he was ready to give workers a 10% discount on wages, and after the workers heard about it, they planned to organize a strike.
So what is the wage of a silk factory worker? The book does not directly say, only sporadic introductions of other factories, "The intended purpose of this money is to pay the eight factories a total of 2,560 workers and the new raw materials... In terms of wages, there are more than 50,000 yuan in total...", then 50,000/2550 = 19.61 yuan / month.
Match factory workers, "Hexagonal day's wages, this year's spring head lost a dime; today's surname Zhou and the list, saying that the cost is heavy, losing money, and then to reduce a dime!" ", 0.6*30=18 oceans/month
Later, checking the data, it was found that the hourly wage of silk weaving workers in Shanghai in 1930 was 0.096, so it should be between 0.096 * 8 * 26 = 20 oceans / month and 0.096 * 10 * 30 = 28.8 oceans / month. The wages of the silk factory are higher than those of the match factory, "the nominal wage of the Republic of China for 16 to 25 years (1927 to 1936): the total level of workers' wages in this period is higher than that before the 16th year of the Republic of China (1927), the daily wage is roughly 0.5 to 0.6 yuan, and the monthly wage is roughly 14 to 15 yuan. Among them, the monthly wages of printing, shipbuilding, machinery and silk weaving workers are higher, generally more than 20 yuan; the monthly wages of silk reeling, matches and cotton spinning workers are lower, generally below 12 yuan. (Shanghai Workers' Movement >> Title IV Wage Life and Welfare >> Chapter II Wage Levels)"
Female workers in the Republic of China Silk Factory took a taxi to work
In addition, the factory's basic manager Tu Weiyue only has 20 oceans / month (but it is estimated that the working hours are short, and there are Sundays off), "Moreover, I thought that the small staff who did chores with a salary of twenty yuan did not have to report these things." Later, he was promoted to executive, and there were only 50 oceans.
"Do you guess how much Chen Junweng is paid?" Two hundred and fifty pieces! The general manager of a silk factory that manages a silk factory with three hundred workers is only paid two hundred and five! "The general manager of a medium-sized factory earns 250 yuan a month, which is 10 to 13 times that of ordinary workers. The minimum wage in Shanghai in 2021 is 2590 yuan, 13 times is 33670 yuan / month, which seems to be not high.
What was the price of rice at that time? Continue Baidu, Shanghai Rice Prices (Shanghai Price History >> Chapter 1 Agricultural and Sideline Products Prices):
"In the 15 years of drought in Jiangsu and Zhejiang in the Republic of China, the Beiyang warlord Qi Xieyuan and Lu Yongxiang, Sun Chuanfang and Zhang Zongchang fought in a scuffle near Shanghai, resulting in the price of rice soaring. In August, it was as high as 17.85 yuan per stone.
From the 16th to the 17th year of the Republic of China, the price of rice fell to 14.77 yuan and 11.17 yuan respectively. In the 16th year of the Republic of China, a locust plague occurred, and the price of rice rose after the autumn.
Since November 18 of the Republic of China, each japonica rice has exceeded 15 yuan. From April to May of the 19th year of the Republic of China, grain prices continued to rise, reaching a maximum of 24 yuan, causing social unrest. "
The price of rice was about 15 oceans/stones before the Central Plains War, and one stone in the south was 160 pounds, about 0.094/kg. 20 oceans can buy 213 pounds, according to the current rice 3 yuan / catty calculation, 20 oceans to 213 * 3 = 640 yuan, each ocean is worth 32 yuan.
However, the currency of the Republic of China is the silver standard, calculated according to the silver price? A piece of ocean contains about 23.49g of silver, and now the spot price of silver is about 5 yuan / g, so the value of an ocean is 117.45 yuan, and the wage of 20 oceans is equivalent to 2349 yuan now, which is similar to the minimum wage in Shanghai.
Silver and copper dollars from the Republican period in the family collection
In 1930, Fudan University did a Survey of the Income of Shanghai Rickshaw Drivers, saying that the average monthly income of 54,000 coachmen was only about 10 oceans; and the average monthly salary of primary school teachers in Jiangsu and Zhejiang in the 1930s was 16 oceans, similar to that of workers. Therefore, the monthly salary of 20 oceans, like the "little white-collar" Tu Weiyue, is slightly higher than that of the coachman and the teacher of Jiangsu and Zhejiang primary schools, so although it cannot be counted as good, it is not bad.
Shoko the Camel on the Beach
But why do silk factory workers strike? Because the war broke out, the War in the Central Plains caused prices to soar, and the book mentions that "don't be too optimistic." Shanghai is also in crisis at this time. You think, the price of rice has soared to more than twenty yuan a carton, and hundreds of things are expensive." The price of rice has soared from 15 to more than 20 oceans and a stone, and 20 oceans can only buy 160 kilograms of rice, which is equivalent to only 480 yuan now. With another 10% discount, the workers will naturally be unable to survive.
But in the end the workers' movement failed, why? At that time, the environment was depressed, many factories had been shut down, many workers were unemployed, and there were really good jobs. Moreover Chinese has always been the most tolerant nation, eating only rice and vegetables, and can survive. It is precisely because of this that our party's policy was later changed to "the countryside surrounds the cities," and it should be known that nearly half of the "rich" jiangsu countryside at that time still had a monthly income of less than 10 pieces of ocean, and if there were wars and chaos in the barren years, the revolution would not be enough to support.
Even if calculated according to the silver price, the value of 20 oceans a month is now 2349 yuan, then the rice price is 15 oceans / stone, about 0.094 oceans / jin, which is equivalent to 11.1 yuan / jin now, which is nearly 4 times higher than the current 3 yuan / jin. Just like a person with a minimum wage in Shanghai, living in a world of 3-4 times the current price. The living standards of ordinary workers' families in Shanghai, republic of China, were absolutely classy compared to the whole country at that time, wearing warm clothes and eating rice, but far from being comfortable, and it was even more different from now. So I really have to thank the country for creating today's superior living environment, and don't believe the brainless remarks on the Internet that praise the Republic of China era.
Back to "Midnight", the name is obviously a metaphor for China is in the darkest era, but Mao Dun at that time did not expect that there would be darker and more miserable years in the future. Many of the characters in the novel do not give an ending, but until August 13, 1937, there is no egg under the nest, and there is no lucky person in the tragedy of the whole country.
Here are some details from the book about the purchasing power of the silver dollar:
"Three hundred thousand!" No matter how much, we will not do it; no matter how little, they will not do it. Ten thousand silver is a mile; thirty miles is three hundred thousand. Zhao Botao used 300,000 oceans to buy off a division commander of the Northwest Army and retreated 30 miles on the battlefield to reverse the situation of public debt and long and short. The capitalists regard war as a financial game!
"The month before, not to mention! Eighteen thousand yuan was spent, it was a tax commissioner, it was said to be fat, there were more than ten notes written on it; frightened, I rushed to take office, just two days, fucking opened fire! The enemy sent an aide-de-camp. "Li Zhuangfei spent 18,000 oceans to buy a position as the head of the tax bureau.
"Struggling with the eighty thousand yuan in vain, will you not do public debt in the future?" However, no, 80,000 yuan can run a good rubber factory! ”
"But the last one - the wage is 90% off, and the workers who are afraid will make trouble!" However, the cancellation of Sunday processing is already a 10% discount on the wages" It can be seen that the workers have no rest days, and their wages are settled according to the actual number of working days.
Saying, he picked up the box of matches on the broken table and slapped it hard, and scolded again: "Such a thing sells two copper boxes, and says that it is a loss!" ------------------------------------------------- Matches 2 copper, flatbread 8 copper, copper is ten copper dollars, the ratio of silver dollars to silver dollars is floating, from the Shanghai local history to check, in 1930 a ocean to 285 copper, according to 1 ocean value of 118 yuan to calculate, matches 0.83 yuan / box, flatbread 3.31 yuan / only, seems reasonable.