"How should I lead them in the future?" Sergei humbly asked for advice, acknowledging his own naivety when it came to managing people.
"You can learn from your former boss. However poorly he treated you, that's how poorly you should treat us.
How are slaves made? By repeated whipping, making them realize their fate.
His Majesty the Tsar abolished serfdom, and yet those peasants cursed the Tsar for not allowing them to remain serfs. You see?
This is their servility! They will willingly exploit themselves; there's no need for you to actively say anything." The blacksmith patiently instructed.
Sergei looked puzzled; they had gained freedom, didn't that mean they had more choices?
Now they could take up any job, no longer having to be tenant farmers for landlords, with everything they earned belonging to the landlord.
"Finding work is very difficult! If there were any choice, how could I possibly have become a miner!
