Chapter 166 : Her Majesty the Empress Is a Good Person
Chapter 166: Her Majesty the Empress Is a Good Person
Hawes knew about quota slips, or rather, the visibly improving conditions of his family were also closely tied to the Ministry of Railways being extremely generous in supplying those slips.
Ankargas State and other newly established states were under immense pressure in material supply, so it was natural to differentiate priorities in material transportation. Guided by the principle of putting people’s livelihoods first, material quotas for different civilian needs were reduced layer by layer.
At the same time, in order to alleviate runs and hoarding that would further increase pressure on material supply, Mitia implemented a temporary voucher allocation system in the new states.
The vouchers generated each month were issued in fixed quantities. This allowed the government to directly intervene at the source to control the threshold of material consumption. While maintaining national consumption, it also ensured a certain level of emergency reserves.
This voucher system would continue until cities and factories within Ankargas State were able to produce the vast majority of required goods on their own, at which point it would be automatically lifted and formally integrated into the Alliance’s market economy model.
Otherwise, if they were directly connected to the market economy, these states that had not yet completed their transformation would see their nascent industrial and commercial ecosystems destroyed in an instant, becoming nothing more than wage laborers for other states.
In other words, this was essentially a beginner protection zone delineated under state leadership, preventing merchants and enterprises from more developed states from flooding the new states to speculate and manipulate the value of various materials for illicit profit.
It also gave state governments that were still sorting out industry, agriculture, and commerce ample time to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the regions under their jurisdiction, and to decide which industries to support in order to participate in competition within the Alliance.
Although it was a voucher supply system, the Alliance was actually very lenient in issuing vouchers for the four major livelihood necessities—grain, coal, cotton, and salt. After all, these four items were also the main focus of material delivery, and the goal was to maintain low prices and prevent price speculation.
For ordinary workers, aside from fixed wages, these four types of vouchers made up the largest portion of their income structure. The vouchers of a proper worker were more than enough to support a family of three, and with cash added on top, there was even considerable surplus.
Rural areas also had their own voucher calculation methods.
The government also implemented a “three exemptions” policy for citizens without children or without the ability to care for themselves: free vouchers, free housing, and free medical care.
Mitia had mentioned more than once, both in parliamentary sessions and in street-corner propaganda, the core governing ideology of the Seris Alliance:
【Seris is a great power】
【The reason a great power is great is not because it allows the rich to live more luxuriously, but because it allows those at the bottom to live with more dignity.】
【A society that is friendly to disadvantaged groups at the bottom must be more friendly to everyone!】
The price scissors of foreign trade allowed enterprises to earn huge profits and also provided the central government with ample tax revenue. Meanwhile, local state governments, by allowing speculative capital to take shares in certain local upstream enterprises, were able to maintain self-sufficiency while also gaining considerable benefits.
Together with the subsequently promoted provident fund and pension pools, under this triple layer of protection, Seris fully achieved the goal of continuously subsidizing vulnerable groups without placing an excessive burden on public finances.
Of course, the main subsidies in the new states were currently issued directly by the central government. Once local development caught up later, the previously issued funds would be withdrawn.
It was precisely because of long-term propaganda and personally experiencing the benefits that Mitia so easily gained the admiration and faith of the majority of citizens.
And this was exactly what puzzled Hawes. His mother might not be very clear about things, but he himself had gone through proper schooling, and his comprehension was certainly not a problem.
In the Alliance’s policy propaganda, a situation like that old man’s would absolutely not appear. Regardless of whether he was a worker or a farmer, it was impossible for him to end up scavenging coal slag.
On the contrary, young people actually had a higher probability of that happening. These days, if a young person could not find a job, calling them a loafer would almost certainly not be wrong. Everywhere was short of manpower—if you could not afford to eat, it was one thousand percent your own fault.
Unless…
‘Mom, can you tell me in detail about that old man? I remember the state government promised to issue them free vouchers.’
“Ah, they went to ask and were told they had already received them, so it wouldn’t work. The land they lived on used to be housing provided by the factory, right? The free vouchers were directly issued to the factory side, for the factory to distribute.”
“But the factory is shut down for reconstruction now. You can’t even find the people—who are they supposed to ask for them?”
Hawes could not help saying, ‘Shouldn’t they be issued directly to individuals?’
“Who knows. Anyway, now the people can’t be found, there’s no money, and there are no vouchers either. I heard quite a few people really couldn’t go on living and directly committed suicide. We can only help as much as we can—help a little where possible.”
At this point, Hawes’ mother sighed. Seeing her son’s pale complexion, as if she had thought of something, she lightly slapped her own mouth: “Ah! It’s my fault for forgetting again—why bring up things like this?”
Hawes shook his head to stop her: ‘It’s all in the past. I’ve almost forgotten it. It’s fine, Mom.’
As he spoke, he went back into the room, put on his padded coat, wrapped a scarf around his neck, greeted his mother, saying he was going out for a walk to clear his head, and then left the house.
Forgot? How could he possibly forget? He had vaguely felt before that something was not quite right. That premonition was now growing stronger and stronger, leaving him extremely unsettled. He wanted to go out and walk, to dispel that feeling.
He wandered aimlessly through the snow for a while. At the entrance of the police station, he also saw the investigation notice, confirming that it was a case of suicide by lying on the tracks—the three deceased were a family of three.
The old man who had previously shown up at Hawes’ home, carrying a burlap sack with a small amount of coal stuffed into the bottom, was also standing there looking at the notice. He sighed, then shakily walked away.
After the integration, Mitia had continuously promoted literacy classes. Thanks to the stinginess of the former nobles, among the lower-class citizens there were hardly any who could read. As a result, her promotion of structurally simple simplified characters met almost no resistance.
Combined with phonetic spelling using initials and finals, most people could now simply spell their own names and read some articles.
Full of worries, Hawes arrived at the tavern he frequented, ordered a drink, and sat quietly in a corner sipping it.
Even the noisy, bustling tavern could not lift his spirits. Scenes from before the accident kept replaying in his mind.
Unexpectedly, someone in the tavern also brought up the incident. That was normal—after all, it counted as recent hot news.
However, one person’s sigh caught Hawes’ attention.
‘Sigh… I still remember that family of three, because they were tenants on my side. They used to come buy meat from me all the time. I just hadn’t seen them these past few months.’
‘On the day of the incident, that family’s kid came to steal meat from me and got caught. When the man came to take the child away, he dropped to his knees with a thud, saying the kid wasn’t bad-hearted, it was just that he hadn’t eaten meat for a long time and was craving it.’
‘Forcing a grown man into that state made me feel awful. I gave them a piece. I never thought that would be their last meal…’
Another voice spoke up:
“That family, I know them. They were employees of that factory that shut down for reconstruction. There were several hundred people like that. Their area doesn’t even have a single light on at night, and there’s no coal smoke either. They probably really have no money.”
‘Oh dear, then how do they get through such cold nights now?’
‘They grit their teeth and endure it—what else can they do? Otherwise, they die.’
The tavern fell silent.
With no road ahead, no way back.
Hawes could almost imagine what came next.
The man took the meat and brought the child home. That night, the family ate their most sumptuous dinner in months. The couple watched the child wolf it down, smiles appearing on their faces.
Then, accompanied by the biting cold wind, the family lay down on the icy tracks late at night. Perhaps when the train came rumbling through, the mother was still telling the child a bedtime story.
The train roared past, crushing poverty and dignity, grinding over that humble dream.
After a long while, Hawes finally mustered the courage to ask, “Aren’t vouchers supposed to be issued for free?”
Everyone in the discussion immediately turned to look at him, their eyes filled with surprise and confusion.
Hawes felt a bit uncomfortable: “Why are you all looking at me like that?”
‘Comrade, how long has it been since you last went to the market?’
“Ah?”
‘Nowadays, you can’t buy anything on the market with ordinary vouchers. You need approval slips.’
Hawes’ eyes were full of confusion: “I’ve been sick recently, so I’m not very clear. Approval slips? What are approval slips?”
‘Ah, it’s just spending money to find someone to buy specific approval slips. For example, if you want to buy coal, you go directly to the coal yard sales office to buy a slip, then use the slip to collect the coal.’
“Then what about vouchers?”
‘Of course you still have to give them vouchers! But you must have the slip. Without an approval slip, even if you bring vouchers, they won’t sell to you.’
‘That’s how civilian vouchers are used now. Only industrial vouchers can be exchanged for real goods.’
‘But no matter what, grain and coal and the like are still cheaper than before. Her Majesty the Empress really is a good person. It’s just hard on those without money~’