Chapter 57 - Maintenance of Slaves

If one wants to build up his own power, it's not enough to rely on himself alone. As a transmigrator coming from the modern society, Chen Heng deeply understood this truth. Therefore, since reaching a cooperation with the northern lords, he had bought many slaves from them. Slaves are an excellent source of manpower. All the rights of slaves bought and sold are deprived and belong to their masters. No matter how they are treated, no one will investigate. Under normal circumstances, except for a small number of slaves with special value, the vast majority of slaves are not valued by those lords. Because as lords, they have the right to control their own subjects to a certain extent. Whether it's for war or other things, they have free and cheap cannon fodder at their disposal. Although slaves are cheap, in their view, they still need to be purchased with money, so it's naturally not cost-effective. However, in Chen Heng's view, it's not the case. As a modern person, he has many ways to develop and squeeze the surplus value of those slaves. Therefore, a considerable number of the slaves under the northern lords were absorbed by Chen Heng and bought by him. Over the past year or so, most of the profits he earned in Kutu City have been spent on this. He settled the purchased slaves in his own manor, set up simple workshops in it, used water power and the assembly line method for production, and then sold the things produced in his manor through his own connections. Baron Kesen didn't know about these things. However, at this moment, he could also feel the specialness of the people under Chen Heng's command. Compared with ordinary people, these black-haired slaves under Chen Heng were too capable. Moreover, not only were they capable, but their looks and expressions when they looked at Chen Heng were also very unusual. Baron Kesen had seen slaves before. There were quite a number of slaves on his own manor, engaging in heavy agricultural labor. But in his impression, the looks and expressions of those slaves were often numb and fearful. It was as if they had lost hope and future, showing no vitality at all. However, the ones under Chen Heng were a bit different. Although they were slaves, they looked particularly lively, worked very actively and were full of energy. They didn't look like slaves at all. Moreover, the bodies of these slaves seemed to be in good condition, without the weakness and decadence of other slaves. "How did you do that?" After observing silently for a while, Baron Kesen couldn't help asking this question out of curiosity. He felt that there were too many things about his child that he couldn't understand. His ability was so strong that many of the things he did couldn't be understood by others. "Give them hope." In response to Baron Kesen's question, Chen Heng's answer was very straightforward. "People and tools are different after all." He looked at the hardworking black-haired slaves in front and said gently, "Tools can be used repeatedly, but they also need daily maintenance." "Slaves, as a special kind of tool, also need maintenance." Speaking of this, he said casually, "Give them enough sleep and rest time, and relatively sufficient food. This is daily maintenance, so that they won't break down and have physical problems." "Besides, give them a little hope and let them see the possibility of making their lives better through their own efforts." "If these points are done well, coupled with appropriate means, the efficiency of their work can be greatly improved..." Baron Kesen was stunned for a moment. He seemed to understand a little, but also seemed to be unable to understand. Give slaves enough rest time and sufficient food? This didn't seem to match what he had imagined. In order to save costs, who wouldn't hope that slaves would eat the least and simplest food and do the most and tiring work? It would be best if they didn't even have a bit of their own time every day, so as to earn the most benefits for themselves. But when it came to Chen Heng, it seemed a bit different. "The human body needs maintenance." Looking at Baron Kesen, Chen Heng continued to speak and explained to him, "If you want slaves to work well, a good body is the key." "And if you want to keep the body healthy, appropriate food is also necessary." "If inferior food is used for a long time, the body will become weaker day by day. At that time, even if you use a whip to drive them, they won't be able to do more work." "And using a whip to drive them is not an efficient management method in itself." He said gently, explaining to Baron Kesen. Hearing his explanation, Baron Kesen nodded, seeming to understand a little. "I've always been at ease with the things you do." Finally, he didn't continue to ask about this matter, but instead said, "Take Omando with you when you go to Baron Myra's place this time." "Coincidentally, let him do something too." "Okay." Chen Heng nodded, seemingly not caring about this issue. A few days later. After all the goods arrived this time, Chen Heng set off again. Compared with previous times, this time the matter was very important. In the previous few times, because the trade had just started, the surrounding lords were just tentatively carrying it out, and the transaction volume was not large. But this time it was different. This time when going to Baron Myra's territory, Chen Heng took almost all the goods transported during this period with him. Their value was extremely high. To put it bluntly, it was a figure that would make even Baron Kesen's heart skip a beat. Once any mistakes occurred, the losses would probably be extremely huge. Precisely because this transaction was so important, Baron Kesen brought out almost most of the guards in his territory when setting out this time. Baron Kesen and Omando were also traveling with the team. "So many..." Riding a horse on the road, Omando looked at the boxes pulled by oxen and horses around him, and his heart was full of eagerness. He knew very well what was in these boxes. So he also roughly understood how huge a fortune was contained in them. And once this transaction was completed, how huge a profit his family would obtain. Whenever he thought of this, he couldn't help feeling excited and his whole body became hot. At this moment, he didn't know that the ownership of these things didn't belong to his family behind him, but to Chen Heng himself. In his opinion, the value of this batch of goods was so huge that it was impossible for Chen Heng to own them anyway. Most likely, it was Baron Kesen who funded Chen Heng to purchase them from the northern lords, and they belonged to the whole family. And the wealth belonging to the family would naturally be his in the future. Whenever he thought of this, he couldn't help feeling excited and his heart became hot.